Letters of John Calvin, Volume II

441

Michael Girard. In a note in the History of the Martyrs, this Michael Girard did not persevere.

442

The rigour of the judges of Servetus could not fail to extend to the book which served as the basis of the judicial prosecution directed against his person. From the confession of the accused, there had been printed a thousand copies of the Christianismi Restitutio, of which a certain number were deposited at Frankfort. Calvin did not forget the latter portion of this acknowledgment, confirmed besides by a letter from the printer at Vienne, but wrote immediately to the Church of Frankfort, desiring the sequestration and destruction of this dangerous deposit. A clerk of the celebrated printer, Robert Stephens, then resident at Geneva, was charged with this mission, which he accomplished with so very great success, that there are only three copies of the original edition to be found at the present day; one in the Imperial Library of Paris, another in that of Vienna in Austria, and a third in a private collection. – Rilliet, Relation du Procès de Servet, p. 9.

443

A serious conflict came to be raised between the ministers and the magistrates of Geneva. A chief of the Libertins, Philibert Berthelier, was excommunicated by the Consistory for his irregular habits, and appealed to the Council of State, which annulled the ecclesiastical sentence, and gave Berthelier authority to go forward to the Supper. The experiment was decisive; it was made to know whether or not Calvin would abandon ecclesiastical discipline, or resist the government. This letter of the Reformer to Viret, shows us with what energetic resolution and heroic constancy he resolved, in this instance, to maintain the honour of Christ. This conflict, which mutually divided the representatives of the spiritual and civil powers, could only be terminated by the solemn intervention of the Helvetian Churches. – Registers of Council, anno 1553. See also the various histories of Geneva, Spon, Picot, &c.

444

In a letter to Theodore Beza of 30th August 1553, he gave eloquent expression to his deep anxiety for the Church of England: – "Scarcely has any other thing so much distressed me as this English affair. Let us earnestly implore mercy of God, that he may have pity on us, and upon his most afflicted Church. But where is our Martyr? where John A Lasco? where is Hooper, Bishop of Worcester? where is Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury? where is the Duke of Suffolk? where are numberless other excellent men? Lord, have mercy upon them. I cannot easily express how greatly these things distress me." – Zurich Letters, 1st series, vol. ii. p. 741.

445

"The London Church has more than 15,000 foreigners. Where will these miserable ones flee to, should the Pope gain the day? We must pray God therefore…" – Letter of Bullinger to Calvin, of 26th August 1553. – Eccl. Archives of Berne, vol. vi. p. 312.

446

Cardinal Pole was at that time preparing to leave Rome to return to England: – "An English nobleman was sent lately by Queen Mary to recall that Reginald Pole, who is too well known both to you and myself; for that English Athaliah desires the benefit of his presence and his counsel." – Bullinger to Beza, letter already quoted.

447

At the session of the 5th September, the Council of Geneva had decided, contrary to the wish of Calvin, upon consulting the Churches of Berne, Basle, Sebaffhausen, and Zurich, respecting the culpability of Servetus, but this decision was realized just a fortnight too late. – Rilliet, Relation du Procès de Servet, p. 84.

448

Rudolph Gualter, minister of the Church of Zurich, and son-in-law to Bullinger.

449

The Lesser Council of Geneva, acting upon the proposition made a few days previously, (note 1,) prepared to write to the Churches of Berne, Zurich, Sebaffhausen, and Basle, to ask their advice regarding the culpability of Servetus. It was not, however, till the 21st of September, that the messenger, charged with the various papers relative to the trial, had put into his hands the circular letter addressed to the magistrates or pastors of the four towns. These letters were accompanied by a copy of the Christianismi Restitutio, a copy of the works of Tertullian, and one of those of Irenæns, as well as the questions put to Servetus, together with his replies, and the refutation of the ministers. In those circulars, the council gave expression to its entire confidence in the intelligence of the pastors of Geneva, but desired, before coming to a decision, to have fuller information on the point, by consulting the other Churches. The fate of the prisoner evidently depended on the result of this supreme measure. Calvin, addressing Bullinger and Sulzer alternately, insisted strongly on the alleged culpability of Servetus, and on the necessity of a punishment, which should be, as it appeared to him, a solemn consecration of those truths which had been shaken by the attacks of the audacious Spanish doctor. The messenger charged with the letter to Sulzer was the Treasurer Du Pan, one of the most devoted disciples of the Reformer.

450

These last words betray Calvin's want of confidence in the Pastors of the Church of Berne, with certain of whom he was found to disagree upon certain points of doctrine, and who had given expression to principles of great toleration in the reply relative to Bolsec.

451

See letter, p. 418.

452

Notice in the handwriting of Charles de Jonvillers: – "He wrote this letter to a good young lady, personally unknown to him, who having set out on the way to Geneva, was arrested by a relation of her own, who wished to deprive her of her liberty. Two of her brothers came hither to get letters from him. But fearing lest they might ask them for their own ends, and to the injury of the young lady, he wrote and adopted this style for the express object he had in view."

453

"To the faithful dispersed in some isles of France." The peninsula of Arvert on the coast of Saintonge, peopled by fishermen and pirates, received the first seeds of the Gospel from some refugees driven away by persecution from the neighbouring towns. "The seed sown was afterwards fertilized by some monks preaching a kind of half truth, as regarded doctrine, and reproving vices; so that in a little time we saw (in that country) a strange alteration." – Beza, Hist. Eccl., tom. i. p. 101. From the point of Arvert, the Reformation spread into the adjoining islets, and there made numerous disciples, in spite of the rigours of the Parliament of Bourdeaux. A great missionary, Philibert Hamelin, regulated this movement. From Tours originally, he at first preached the Reformed doctrine with success at Saintes. Seized in that town, he miraculously escaped death, and sought an asylum at Geneva, where he followed the calling of a printer. But the ardour of his zeal soon led him to betake himself once more to the perilous apostolate, which was to close with martyrdom. He revisited La Saìntonge, visited his brethren dispersed among the islands, organized their churches, and taken a second time, he perished at the stake at Bourdeaux, the 18th April 1557. The journal of another glorious missionary of the Reformation, Bernard Palissy, may be consulted as to the ministry and death of Hamelin.

454

Philibert Hamelin.

455

See the letters, pp. 422, 427. They were then waiting at Geneva for the reply of the Swiss churches to the circular letters which had been addressed to them concerning the case of Servetus.

456

Farel arrived at Geneva a few days afterwards, where was reserved for him the melancholy mission of accompanying Servetus to the stake.

457

Galeazzo Caraccioli, Marquis de Vico.

458

The state messenger charged with the delivery of the documents relative to the trial of Servetus to the Swiss Churches, had visited in succession those of Berne, Zurich, Schaffhausen, and Bâle, and had now returned to Geneva with their replies. The churches were alike unanimous in their judgment of the theological culpability of Servetus, and in their testimonies of affection and confidence towards Calvin and his colleagues. Without giving expression to the nature of the punishment which should be inflicted on the accused, they were unanimous in advising them to rid the Church of a pest, which had already brought ruin to so great a number of souls. Their various replies will be found in Calvini Opera, tom. ix. p. 72, et seq. The magistrates of Berne, who had counselled toleration to Bolsec, manifested an inflexible rigour towards Servetus, exhorting those of Geneva not to act unworthily of Christian magistrates. The ministers of Zurich were still more decided: "We think," said they, "that you ought in this case to manifest much faith and zeal, inasmuch as our churches have abroad the bad reputation of being heretical, and of being particularly favourable to heresy. Holy Providence at this time affords you an opportunity of freeing yourselves and us from that injurious suspicion, if you know how to be vigilant and active in preventing the further spreading of that poison, and we have no doubt but that your Seigneurs will do so." After such replies the sentence against Servetus could not be long doubtful; and the magistrates, in condemning him to death, were only the interpreters of the stern thought of an age in which persecution, that sad legacy of the Middle Ages, was the avowed jurisprudence of all Christian communions. The day following that on which Calvin penned these lines addressed to Farel, (27th October 1553,) Servetus was led forth to hear his doom pronounced at the gate of the Hotel de Ville, and mounted the fatal pile erected at Champel, bequeathing a mournful souvenir to the Reformation, and an eternal subject of accusation to the enemies of the Reformer. The error of Calvin in the death of Servetus was, we may say, altogether that of his age, inasmuch as men of the most conciliating and moderate dispositions, viz., Bucer, Œcolampadius, Melanchthon, and Bullinger, were at one in their approval of the condemnation of the unfortunate Spanish innovator. One may deeply deplore this error without insulting the Reformation, and combine in a just measure that pity which a great victim demands, with respect for those men whom an unhappy time made the accusers and the judges of Servetus.

459

May not the personage in question be Antoine de Pons, Lord of Maremme? He had taken for his first wife Anne de Parthenay, daughter of M. de Soubise, and had embraced the Reformed faith at the Court of Ferrara. Having afterwards married the lady of Montebenu, he fell away from Protestantism, and even became one of its persecutors. – Bèze, Hist. Eccl., tom. i. p. 199.

460

After the accession of Queen Mary to the throne of England, the Continent was filled with religious exiles, who did not hesitate to sacrifice their country for the free profession of their faith in a strange land. A great many English Churches were established in Germany and Switzerland. Those of Frankfort and Geneva were the most important. – See on the origin and history of the latter, the Memoir published by a Genevese savant, M. Heyer, in the Recueil de la Société d'Histoire et d'Archéologie de Genève. 1854.

461

"The whole of the Lesser Council, the gentlemen of justice, M. Calvin, and a great number of the more eminent men of the town, dine together, in order to cement the peace, and it has been decided upon that if any one violate it all the others may oppose him." – Registers of the Council for 1553.

462

See the letter to Viret, p. 423. After having solemnly refused the Supper to Philibert Berthelier, Calvin presented himself before the Council, and demanded a general assembly of the people. The Council could not, he said, annul a discipline which the entire people had sanctioned. Intimidated by this step, the Council adopted the course which it had already followed in the case of Servetus, and expressed the intention of consulting the other Reformed Cantons. Charged with a secret mission by the Reformer, his friend John de Budé set out for Zurich, to solicit in that place, a decision favourable to the views of Calvin. Bullinger was active in his exertions to gain over the magistrates of his country, as well as in giving Calvin wise counsels of moderation: – "We have laboured with all our might," he wrote to him, "to prevent our Seigneurs from acting in any way derogatory to the excellent laws of your Church; we have besides exhorted you to continue faithful, using moderation in all things, lest you lose those whose salvation is desired by the Lord, who does not break the bruised reed nor quench the smoking flax." – Bullinger to Calvin. 12th December 1553.

463

While giving an energetic deliverance against the errors of Servetus, the ministers of Zurich had paid, in their reply to the Seigneurie of Geneva, a very beautiful tribute to Calvin: – "We trust that the faith and zeal – in a word, the distinguished services among the exiles and the pious – of our brother, your pastor, Calvin, is too illustrious to be obscured by such very disgraceful calumnies, whether in the estimation of your honourable Council, or in that of other good men." – Calv. Opera, tom. ix. p. 74.

464

See the preceding letter. The Council of Zurich having received the letter of that of Geneva, and having consulted Bullinger and his colleagues regarding the reply which they would require to make, did not hesitate to give a deliverance in favour of Calvin, and against the demands of the Libertines. They accordingly exhorted the magistrates of Geneva to maintain their ecclesiastical laws, "as good and conformable to the prescriptions of the Divine word, and as particularly necessary in an age in which men are becoming more and more wicked." Although the discipline then in operation at Zurich differed essentially from that of Geneva, in being less rigorous, yet the Seigneurs of Zurich pronounced a eulogy upon that of the latter, "inasmuch as it was framed in a manner adapting it to the time, the place, and the persons; and that every Church ought to persevere in those usages which she has received and holily established, according to the word of God." – Ruchat, Hist. de la Reformation, tom. vi. pp. 67, 68. The reply of the Seigneurs of Berne was less explicit. They limited themselves to the declaration, that excommunication was not in force among them, but that they had certain regulations, of which they forwarded them a copy.

465

Farel, while preaching at Geneva, had addressed severe language to the youths of that city; and he said they were "worse than brigands, murderers, thieves, plunderers, atheists." A crowd of young men presenting themselves before the Council, menaced it to its face, and demanded that Farel should be summoned from Neuchatel to give an account of his insolent language. A great tumult followed this proposition. Some made bold to stand up and call to their recollection the services Farel had rendered to the republic, and the shame of an accusation directed against the spiritual father of the city. Meanwhile, Farel arrived, calm as usual. The cry got up of Justice! Justice! and the citizens leaving their shops, hastened to rally round the venerable pastor, and preserve him from all disgrace. He had little difficulty in justifying himself and even Perrin was compelled to proclaim his innocence. – Registers of the Council, Nov. 1553; Roset, tom. v. p. 53; and Hist. de la Suisse, tom. xi. p. 381.

466

In Calvin's own hand.

467

This is the book against the errors of Michael Servetus. – Opera, tom. viii.; and Opuscules, p. 230. The Registers of Council contain the following intimation on the subject of this work: – "Calvin has represented to the Council, that at the request of the Swiss Churches, he is about to publish a book, containing an account of the opinions of Servetus: and that he has not been so bold as to commit it to the press without the permission of the Council, assuring it that this book contains nothing not conformable to the word of God, or dishonourable to the city. Agreed to permit Calvin to print it; 11th December 1553." This book, as establishing the right of magistrates to punish heresy by the sword, has given occasion to the most violent controversies.

468

Calvin had written, what he then suppressed: De Curione et Similibus. The condemnation of Servetus was disapproved of by certain of the professors of the Academy of Bâle, among whom is to be found the celebrated Italian refugee, Celio Secondo Curione, and Sebastian Castalio.

469

Whilst the number of refugees was increasing at Geneva and the other towns of Switzerland, their wants were provided for by liberal charitable donations. This was the origin of the Bourse Etrangère founded at Geneva, and whose revenues are applied, even in our own day, to the support of poor students, or to the establishing of new schools.

470

No date. Printed with this designation: D. Agneti Anglæ. But the text of the letter itself proves that it is addressed to an Italian lady named Agnès. We find a person of this name among the members of the Reformed Church of Ferrara. Opera Olympiæ Moratæ. Edit. of 1580, p. 115. Is it not to this lady that is addressed the message of the Reformer, the date of which ought apparently to be placed in 1553, the time of the dispersion of the Evangelical church formed in the capital of the Dukes of Este?

471

To a Seigneur of the neighbouring Isle of Normandy. Without date: 1553?