HISTORY

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN THE TIME OF CALVIN VOL. 3

by J.H. Merle d’Aubigne

HISTORY

OF THE

REFORMATION IN EUROPE

IN THE TIME OF CALVIN.

BY

J. H. MERLE D’AUBIGNE, D.D.,

AUTHOR OF THE ‘HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY.’ ETC.

‘Les choses de petite duree ont coutume de devenir fanees, quand elles ont passe leur temps.

‘Au regne de Christ, il n’y a que le nouvel homme qui soit florissant, qui ait de la vigueur, et dont il faille faire cas.’

CALVIN.

VOLUME 3

PREFACE

THE time at which this volume appears would seem to require a few words of introduction.

A day which closes a great epoch in the history of modern times, will soon be called to the remembrance of Protestant Christians. The registers of the Consistory of Geneva for the year 1564, bear under the name of Calvin these simple words:

Alle a Dieu le Sabmedy 27 de May, entre huit et neuf henres du soir. fg1

The author of this volume, having been invited by the Evangelical Alliance to deliver an address on The Reformation and the Reformer of Geneva, during the (Ecumenical Conference held at Geneva in September, 1861, observed, in the course of his preparatory work, this important date, and proposed to the assembly that on the tercentenary of the Reformer’s death, Geneva, and the Reformed Churches in general, should return thanks publicly to God that he had raised up John Calvin in the sixteenth century, to labor at the reformation of the Church, by re-establishing Holy Scripture as the supreme authority, and grace as the only means of salvation. The members of the Conference, about two thousand in number, adopted the resolution by acclamation. ^fg2

As Christian Protestants were preparing to celebrate the anniversary, the author desired to contribute something according to his ability towards reviving the memory of the great doctor. Almost at the very time when the idea of this Protestant festival occurred to his mind, he proposed to describe in a special work, The Reformation of Europe in the time of Calvin. Having published the first two volumes more than a year ago, he looked forward to issuing another before the 27th May, and he now presents it to the public. May it occupy its humble place among the memorials destined to commemorate the Lord’s work.

The persecuting jesuitry of the seventeenth century, and the superficial incredulity of the eighteenth, have calumniated the great Reformer of the West. Times have changed, and the nineteenth century is beginning to do him justice. His works, even those still in manuscript, are sought after and published; his life and character, his theology and influence, are the object of numerous studies which in general bear the stamp of fairness; and even distinguished painters have found the subject of their finest pictures in his life.

We entertain no blind admiration for him. We know that he has sometimes used bitter language. We acknowledge that, sharing in the faults of his century, or rather of ten centuries, he believed that whatever infringed on the respect due to God ought to be punished by the civil power, quite as much as any firing that might be injurious to the honor or the life of man. We deplore this error. But how can any one study with discernment the Reformer’s letters and other writings, and not recognize in him one of the noblest intelligences, one of the most elevated minds, one of the most affectionate hearts, and in short, one of those true Christian souls who unreservedly devote themselves to duty? An eminent scholar, whom Scotland still laments — Dr. Cunningham, the successor of Chalmers — said, in a work published a short time before his death, ‘Calvin is the man who, next to St. Paul, has done most good to mankind.’

No doubt he will always have his enemies. A journal of high character and great circulation in Germany, speaking of a libel (Schmaehschrift is the word used), published some time ago against Calvin, asks, ‘From what camp does it proceed — from jesuitical Romanism or atheistical libertinism?’ It is, indeed, from these quarters that the enemies of the Reformer principally come; but Re acknowledge that a man may be opposed to Calvin, and yet not belong to either of these schools.

Let us not disquiet ourselves, however, about such attacks; Calvin’s master has said,

If they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry? ( ^<421831> Luke 18:31)

The author of the present volume thinks that the best way of doing justice to his memory, is to make him known. The reader will meet in this work with many sayings and doings of this great man, which are not to be found in other histories. If a writer had the good fortune to lay before the German public some unknown trait of Luther’s life, all Germany would be taken up with it. Shall we be more indifferent to the life of our great Reformer? Certainly there are more striking actions in the life of Luther, who so easily gains possession of our hearts; but we may ask whether there are not features in the life of Calvin, which are less frequent in that of the Wittemberg doctor; the manner, for instance, in which the young doctor of Noyon, wherever he happens to be (at Angouleme, Poitiers, etc.), is at once surrounded by distinguished men, whom he wins over to the truth?

The author desires, however, to remind some of his readers, that this book is not the history of Calvin. The title expresses that clearly enough: History of the Reformation IN EUROPE in the time of Calvin. It is the second series of a work of which the History of the Reformation of the Sixteenth Century, was the first. The Reformation of the Western nations, of which Calvin was the soul, having a special character, we thought it our duty to devote a special work to it; but we shall not confine ourselves to relating the facts of the Reformation in which Calvin took a direct part. One portion of the fourth volume will describe the Reformation in England, from the fall of Wolsey. We purpose also to continue retracing the leading features of the Reformation in Germany, as we have already done in the first two volumes of this work, in which the alliance of Smalkalde, the peace of Nuremberg, the emancipation of Wurtemberg, and other analogous events have found their place. ^fg4 It is the Reformation as a whole which the author desires to delineate.

After speaking of France and Calvin, the author relates, in the present volume, facts which concern Latin Switzerland (Suisse Romande), the Waldensian villages of Piedmont, and finally Geneva.

He does not think it proper to pass by unnoticed certain reproaches which the first two volumes have brought upon him. ‘It is a strange idea,’ some have said, ‘to devote so much space to Geneva. Is it not doing too much honor to a little city of a few thousand souls? History requires great people and mighty personages. We meet with these at least around Luther; but in Geneva, we find none but humble syndics and petty citizens.’

True, it is so. In this part of our history we have to deal with a little city and a little people; and even in this democratic age, there are persons who will put up with nothing but electors and kings. May we be permitted to reply that what is small, as regards outward appearances, is sometimes important as regards moral influence. This is a truth often reverted to in Holy Scripture:

The ships, though they be so great, yet are they turned about with a very small helm. ( ^<590304> James 3:4)

This portion of our narrative contains two parts: one is devoted to a man

— Calvin; the other to a city — Geneva. These two existences seem in the eyes of many persons to evolve separately, as if they were never to meet. But there is a close relation between them: from the very beginning they are destined to unite. Each is energetic, though without parade, and their alliance will in some future day double their strength. When Calvin and Geneva are one, many men and nations will feel their powerful and salutary influence. It is a marriage that will produce a numerous and active posterity. Whatever the friends of worldly greatness may say, this union, when it took place, was an event of more importance to the human race, than that which led a panegyrist of Louis XIV. to exclaim, in reference to a celebrated event —

Les Bourbons, ces enfants des dieux, Unissent leurs tiges fecondes! fg6

The idea expressed above will not be generally accepted. The smallness of the scene which it unfolds will prevent the second work from interesting so much as the first. And yet there have been critics who have felt the importance of the history of Geneva. May we be permitted to give a few examples?

The London Review says: ‘For the narrowness of the field — a small city

— the variety of characters presented may well astonish us. The dewdrop is big enough to hold an image of the heavens and earth; and a city closely studied mirrors an empire. The story is crowded with incidents and surprises, with heroic deeds and endurance, and also with foul deeds and shames.’ Some reviewers have gone so far as to place the facts of the second work above those of the first. The New York Observer says: ‘The story of the times in which the Swiss Reformation was wrought is surrounded with a sublimity, romantic grandeur, and interest that attach to no part of the great German movement under Luther.’

We omit the remarks of other journals, particularly of the Saturday Review, which rejoices to see ‘the Genevese champions of liberty brought to light.’ We must, however, quote one more, the Patriot, which says: ‘Geneva is one of the smallest and one of the most heroic cities of Europe. Had it been predicted, its history would have been incredible. Geneva defied not only the Duke of Savoy and the Pope, but the Emperor Charles V., and dared also his scarcely less powerful rival Francis I.; and in spite of them all it won, first, its political and then its religious liberties, and not for itself only but for Northern Europe. More than once it was the Thermopylae of Protestantism and freedom, bravely held by an heroic little band scarcely more in comparison with those who sought to destroy them than the three hundred men of Leonidas in comparison with the Persians.’

But if the opinions of some were favorable to the little city, the criticisms of others were not so; and as the author will again speak of Geneva in this volume, and (God willing) in others, he desires to say a word of explanation with reference to these objections.

If the work is found uninteresting, the fault must be ascribed to the historian, not to the history. The talent of one of the great masters of history would have prevented all reproach; but the workman damaged the work. Can the present generation have become so fastidious as to cease to feel interest in what is great and beautiful of itself, and to need all the refinements of style in order to revive its morbid tastes?

Geneva is a republic, and this, perhaps, may also have told against our narrative, Some persons have fancied that when the author spoke of liberty, he meant liberty in the republican form alone, and that may have displeased them. But that is a mistake; the author has always had in view that constitutional liberty which includes all modern liberties, and not any particular form of it. He even believes that the monarchical form is the most favorable to the liberties of a great nation. It has been his lot to see side by side a republic without liberty and a monarchy in which all were free. ^fg7

The coldness, however, of some readers for the annals of a little people, proceeds in the main from another cause. There are in reality two histories: one which is external and makes much noise, but whose consequences are not lasting; the other which is internal, has but a mean appearance, like the seed when it germinates; and which nevertheless, bears most precious fruit, Now what pleases the general public is a. narrative in which great armies maneuver; while, on the other hand, what touches the author is the movement of the soul, of strong characters, enthusiastic outbursts, the low estate of humble and tranquil hearts, holy affections, life-giving principles, the faith which gains victories, and the Divine life which regenerates nations — in a word, the moral world. The material world, physical and appreciable forces, parks of artillery and glittering squadrons, possess but a secondary interest in his eyes. Numerous cannons, it is true, give more smoke; but to those external powers, which destroy life, he prefers the internal powers which elevate the soul, warm it for truth, for liberty, and for God, and cause it to be born again to. life everlasting. If these internal forces are developed in the midst of a little people, they possess all the more attraction for him.

If humble heroes are not popular, shall I therefore leave their noble actions in obscurity? Shall I limit myself henceforward to bringing princes and kings on the stage, with statesmen, cardinals, armies, treaties, and empires? No: I cannot do so. I shall have to speak, indeed, of Francis I. and Charles V., of Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII., and other great personages; hut I shall still remain faithful to little people and little things. It is indeed a petty city whose struggles I am relating; but it is the city that for two centuries made head against Rome, until she had resigned the task entrusted to her into the hands of more powerful nations — England, Germany, and America. Let the liberals despise her who at this very time most enjoy the fruits of her severe struggles... Be it so... As for me, I have not the courage to follow them. I call to mind the refugees she has entertained... the asylum they found there, and which their children still enjoy... and I desire to pay my debt. Oh! if she would only understand that she cannot exist with honor in the future, unless, while loving liberty, she loves the Gospel more than everything else.

Let me say a few words more on the principles which have guided me in composing this history. What it is necessary for us to study above all things is, in my opinion, the beginnings. The formation of beings, the origin of the successive phases of humanity, possess in my eyes an importance and interest far surpassing the exhibition of what these things have afterwards become. The creative epoch of Christianity, in which we contemplate Christ and His apostles, is to me far more admirable than those which succeeded it. Similarly the Reformation, which is the creation of the evangelical world in modern times, has greater attractions for me than the Protestantism which comes after. I take a pleasure in watching life in its commencement. When the work is done, its summa momenta are over. In the first lines of the first volume of my first work, I said that I should follow this rule. I shall not be reproached for remaining faithful to it.

An objection has been raised that this history is too full of details. I might reply that it is not good to leave facts in vagueness; that they must be analyzed end described. The surrounding circumstances can alone give an accurate knowledge of events and impress on them the stamp of reality. The author may here quote an authority which no one will dispute. He remembers, that being in Paris at M. Guizot’s, just as the first volume of the History of the Reformation appeared — about thirty years ago — that illustrious writer said to him; ‘Give us DETAILS, the rest we know.’ We do not think that many of our readers will fancy they know more than he does.

Another conviction also exercises some influence on the character of my narrative. It seems to me that the study of the unknown has a peculiar charm. Geneva and its struggles for liberty and the Gospel, are a terra incognita, except to its citizens and a few men of letters. When historians describe ancient or modern times — for example, the Revolution of the Netherlands, of England, or of France, — they can only say a little better what others have already said before them. Perhaps there is some advantage in exploring a virgin soil — in adding new facts to that treasury which ought to be the wisdom of nations. The author is not, however, blind to the truth there may have been in some of the criticisms upon his work — and while following the principles he has laid down, he will endeavor to profit by them.

He had hoped to publish the third and fourth volumes together this year. Having been forced to pass the winter of 1862-63 at Nice, with injunctions to abstain from work, he publishes one only now; bat the next, God willing, will not be long delayed.

On returning from Nice, the author passed through Piedmont, partly to be present at a synod in the Waldensian valleys, which reminded him of the one described in this volume; and partly to make researches among the General Archives of the kingdom at Turin. The valuable collections there contained were liberally thrown open to him, and he was able to select and transcribe some precious documents hitherto unknown, of which, as will be seen, he made immediate use. While thanking the various persons who have been useful to him in his researches, the ;author desires also to express his acknowledgements to the translator of this work, Dr. H. White, who has spared no pains in conveying to the English reader a faithful and animated copy of the original. The translation has been carefully revised by the author with great care, line by line and word by word, and some changes, not in the French edition, have been introduced.

Will this work obtain a success similar to that which attended the former one? That treated of the Reformation in Germany, with Luther as its hero; this treats especially of the Reform in Western Europe, with Calvin as its head. The scene of the latter being nearer home, ought to have more interest for British readers; or shall a new-born pass, on for Germany and the Germans make them look with indifference on all that does not directly concern the country of Luther?... France, Holland, England, Scotland, Switzerland should possess some attraction for them. The history, hitherto almost unknown, of the Reformation of Geneva is not only attractive in itself, it is also of importance with regard to England. Geneva is the representative of a Christian system, of a great doctrine, — that of the supreme authority Of Holy Scripture, and of the pure Gospel. The final triumph of this doctrine is of the greatest consequence for the English churches. A well-known British theologian of our day has said: ‘Two Systems of doctrine are now, and probably for the last time, in conflict —

fg8

the Catholic and the Genevan.

May this work be of some little use in determining the issue!

LA GRAVELINE, EAUX VIVES: GENEVA, MAY 1864.

CONTENTS

OF THE THIRD VOLUME.

BOOK 4

TIMES OF HOSTILITY TO THE REFORM IN FRANCE.

CHAPTER 1.

CALVIN, THE FUGITIVE, IN HIS RETREAT AT ANGOULEME.

(NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER 1533)

Rights of Conscience, claimed by Protestants, repudiated by Rome

— Calvin in Flight — Accepts the Cross — Tillet’s house, Rue de Geneve — The Library — A new Phase — Doxopolis — The quiet Nest — Calvin’s Studies — The Forge in which Vulcan prepares his Bolts — Men who rank themselves among Beasts — Calvin attacks them — Noble intercourse of Friendship

CHAPTER 2.

THE EXILE TURNS PREACHER.

(DECEMBER 1533 AND JANUARY 1534.)

The Greek of Claix — Men of Mark gather round him — Conferences at Gerac — Prayer and the Search for Truth — Those who believe and those who know — Calvin supplies Sermons for the Priests — He preaches in Latin

CHAPTER 3.

CALVIN AT NERAC, WITH ROUSSEL AND LEFEVRE.

(WINTER 1533-34.)

Religious Awakening in the South — Margaret arrives at Nerac — Evangelical movement around her — Refugees, the Poor, and Children — Calvin goes to Nerac — Roussel’s Concessions and Calvin’s Firmness — A candid old Man — Lefevre predicts Calvin’s Future — A Lesson received by Calvin — He rebukes the unequally yoked

CHAPTER 4.

A DRAMATIC REPRESENTATION AT THE COURT OF NAVARRE.

(WINTER 1533-34.)

The Lord’s Supper at Pau — Opposition of the King of Navarre — The Mystery of The Nativity — A Carpenter and a young Jewess — They are ill-received at Bethlehem — They Lodge in a Stable — The Lord sends His Angels — Joseph returns and worships the Child — Amusing Interlude — Conversation between the Shepherds — The Angels announce the Nativity — Shepherds and Shepherdesses go to Bethlehem — The Shepherds discover the Child — Adoration

— Satan Appears — He denies the Incarnation — Satan conquered, and Christ triumphs — Effects produced by the mystery

CHAPTER 5.

CALVIN AT POITIERS, AT THE BASSES-TREILLES, AND IN ST. BENEDICT’S CAVE.

(SPRING 1534.)

Calvin and Du Tillet at Poitiers — Calvin at the University — Awakening and Renewal — Friends and Enemies — Calvin’s successful Teaching — Invited to the Lieutenant-General’s — Conversation about Luther and Zwingle — Garden of the Basses-Treilles — The first Calvinist Council — Calvin’s Grotto — Earnest Prayer — Calvin speaks against the Mass — Interruption

— Appeal — The Lord’s Supper

CHAPTER 6.

CALVIN AND HIS DISCIPLES BEGIN THE EVANGELIZATION OF FRANCE.

(SPRING 1534.)

Calvin and the four brothers St. George — They desire to remain Abbots, although Evangelical — They sacrifice a brilliant Position — France on the point of awaking — The Missionaries sent out — Babinot and Veron — The Reformation and the Young — The Reformation and Science — How Faith and Science should unite — Abusive Language against Calvin — Calvin leaves Poitiers — His Letter to the Church of Poitiers — He will not be the Pope’s Vassal

— Poitiers regrets Calvin — Calvin resigns his Benefices — His influence at Noyon

CHAPTER 7.

THE EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANS OF PARIS IN 1534.

(SUMMER 1534.)

Progress of the Gospel in France — Calvin arrives in Paris —

Martyrdom of Pointet — Milon the Paralytic — His Gaieties and

his Fall — His Conversion — His Christian Life — Du Bourg, the

Draper — Valeton, the Receiver of Nantes — Giulio Camillo and

his Machine — Contrary Opinions of Sturm and Calvin — A

Scholar and a Bricklayer — Catelle — A characteristic of Calvin

CHAPTER 8.

CALVIN’S FIRST RELATIONS WITH THE LIBERTINES AND WITH SERVETUS.

(SUMMER 1534.)

The Spirituals or Libertines — Calvin a Conservative — Murder

and Theft — Calvin begins the Struggle — False Liberality of the

Spirituals — Treatise against the Libertines — Servetus — He

desires to win Calvin and France — Calvin and Servetus on the

Trinity — Luther, Zwingle, and Bucer against Servetus — A

Discussion appointed — Servetus stays away — Psychopannychia

—

Character of Calvin’s Divinity — His happiness at La Forge’s

—

Determines to leave Paris — The Travelers robbed — They arrive at Strasburg

CHAPTER 9.

THE PLACARDS.

(OCTOBER 1534.)

Temporisers and Scripturists — Feret sent by the Christians of Paris to consult Farel — Movement in Switzerland — Farel writes the Placards — Examined by the Paris Christians — Shall they be published? — Posting of the Placards — Their Contents — Their violence neutralizes their success

CHAPTER 10.

THE KING’S ANGER.

(AUTUMN 1534.)

Commotion caused by the Placards — A new missive — Placard posted on the King’s door — His Indignation — The King’s Orders — Anguish of the Reformed-Morin lays his Plans — The Sketch-maker betrays his Brethren — Arrests — Valeton and his Books are taken — Du Bourg and the Paralytic seized — Numerous Arrests — Duprat and De Tournon excite the King — Grief of Queen Margaret — She intercedes in Roussel’s favor — Beda accuses the King — Mass of Seven Points — The Queen’s Preachers before the King

CHAPTER 11.

EXPIATIONS AND PROCESSIONS.

(END OF 1534 AND BEGINNING OF 1535.)

Milon’s Martyrdom — Du Bourg at the Stake — Poille’s Sufferings and Courage — Terror and Emigration — Quality of the Fugitives — Hardships of the Flight — Roussel, Berthaud, and Courault — The King urged to persecute — Preparations for the Procession — The Procession — Calvin on the Relics — Penitence of the King — The Two Januaries 21

CHAPTER 12.

ELOQUENCE AND TORTURES OF FRANCIS I.

(JANUARY 21, 1535.)

Dinner at the Bishop’s — The King’s Speech — Effects of the

King’s Rhetoric — The Procession on its Return — The Strappado

— Martyrdom of Valeton — Torture at the Halles —

Proclamations and Punishments — La Forge and other Martyrs —

La Gaborite — The Holy Candle — The King’s Motives — France

prepared for the Reform — Sturm’s Sorrow — His Letter to

Melanchthon — Luther’s Sentiments — The King’s Hatred — His

Letter to the Germans

CHAPTER 13.

CALVIN AT STRASBURG, WITH ERASMUS, AND AT BASLE.

(SUMMER AND AUTUMN 1534.)

Calvin’s Mission — Strasburg — The College and Matthew Zell —

The Pastor’s Wife — Bucer and Capito — Deficiencies in the

Strasburg Divines — Calvin leaves Strasburg — Erasmus — His

Interview with Calvin — Catherine Klein at Basle — Peter Ramus

on Calvin — Inward Work in Calvin — Cop at Basle — Grynaeus

and Calvin — Fabri — Calvin exhorts to Peace — Translations of

the Bible

CHAPTER 14.

INSTITUTES OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION.

(WINTER 1534.)

News of the Paris Martyrs — Calvin advocates Compassion — Fresh Vietims — Indignation in Germany — Oswald Myconius — His first Sermon — His Opinions on the Martyrdoms — Du Tillet’s

Anguish — Effect of these Cruelties on Calvin — Determines to

plead the Cause of his Brethren — Theology Restored — The

Reformation is a Creation — The Institutes — A Consciousness of

Divinity within us — Cavillers and Testimony of the Holy Ghost —

Expiation — Faith and Charity — The Flame in the Heart —

Assurance of Victory — Grace is everything — God does not

ordain Evil — Morality restored in Religion — The Church —

Appreciation of the Institutes

CHAPTER 15.

CALVIN ADDRESSES THE XING AND DEPARTS FOR ITALY

(AUGUST 1535.)

The Martyrs Cornon and Brion — Letter to the King — The

Evangelical Doctrine is Truth — Truth Attacked and not Defended

— Reign of Brigandage — The Invincible Doctrine — Cause of the zeal of the Monks — Is the Doctrine new? — Testimony of the Fathers — State of the World — Where the True Church is to be found — Satan quiet or active — Tortures and Patience — Printing of the Institutes — Calvin starts for Italy — His Motives for going

BOOK 5

STRUGGLES OF THE REFORMATION.

CHAPTER 1.

EFFORTS IN THE PAYS DE VAUD.

(1521.)

Uses of Opposition — Conciliation needful — Stagnation and new Struggles — Vaud and Geneva — Farel — His Portrait — Greatness of the beginnings of the Reform — The General prepares for Conquest — Fabri visits Farel — Farel desires to return to the Combat — The Indulgence Seller at Orbe — Farel preaches the Pardon of the Savior — Friar Michael aroused against him — His first and second Sermon — Hollard gives the lie — He is severely beaten

CHAPTER 2.

PLOT OF THE WOMEN AGAINST REFORM; FAREL’S PREACHING.

(1531.)

The Bailiff of Berne arrives at Orbe — The Monk in Prison — Romain compelled to run for his Life — Beaten by the Women — Intercession in the Monk’s favor — Farel arrives at Orbe — Tumult — Plot of the Women — Friar Michael’s Examination — Michael liberated and Farel preaches — Singular Congregation-Procession and Sermon — Farel preaches on Penance, Indulgences, Confession, Images, and a Worldly Life — Farel hard to please with regard to the Ministry

CHAPTER 3.

A NEW REFORMER AND AN IMAGE-BREAKER.

(1531.)

Pierre Viret goes to Paris — Converted and returns to Orbe — His Straggles — Conversion of his Parents — Farel and Viret — Viret preaches at Orbe — The Peter, Paul, and John of Switzerland — Conversion of Elizabeth d’Arnex — Conversion of a Priest — The Lord’s Supper at Orbe — All the Images thrown down — Arrest of the Priests — The Banneret appeals to the People — Release of the Priests — The Iconoclasts imprisoned

CHAPTER 4.

THE BATTLES OF GRANDSON.

(1531-32.)

Malady of petty Questions — Farel’s Wisdom — How he raised Recruits — War-cries of the Reformers — Farel marches to Battle

— Battle of Grandson in 1476 — Farel tamed out by the Grey Friars — Straggle in the Benedictine Convent — The Church opened to the Reformers — The Reformers imprisoned — Reinforcements from Yverdun and Lausanne — The Grey-Friar’s Sermon — Fresh Struggle beginning — The Sentinel-Monks — Conspiracy of the devout Women — Conversion of the Monks — Christmas Festival at Orbe — Disorders of the Catholics — Council of the Reformed — First Act of Religious Liberty

CHAPTER 5.

THE WALDENSES APPEAR.

(1526 TO OCTOBER 1532.)

The Waldenses enquire about the Reform — Deputation to Ecolampadius. Confession of the Barbes — Origin of the Waldenses — Marriage — Work — The Mass — Natural Strength — Brotherly Love of Ecolampadius — Proposals for a Synod — Martyrdom of Masson — Farel’s Danger — His Journey and Arrival in the Valleys — Conversations — Opening of the Synod — Election and Works — Farel’s Opinions gain ground — Discussion on Compromises-Harmony between the Waldensians and Reformers — Old Waldensian manuscripts — Translation of the Bible determined upon — Farel desires to go to Geneva

CHAPTER 6.

PLANS OF THE EMPEROR, THE DUKE OF SAVOY, AND THE

BISHOP AGAINST GENEVA.

(1530-32.)

Bellegarde arrives at Augsburg — His Audience with Charles V. — The Emperor’s Anxieties — His Answer — Bellegarde’s Letter to the Duke of Savoy — His Designs against Geneva — Revolutionary Measures — The Bishop sends his Secretary to Geneva — His constant Agitation and Anger — His displeasure against B. Hugues — Charles V. orders Geneva to expel the Sectarians — The Zwing-Uri of Geneva — Freedom in sight

CHAPTER 7.

THE REFORMERS AND THE REFORMATION ENTER GENEVA.

(OCTOBER 1532.)

Farel and Saunier go to Geneva — Farel consults Olivetan — Farel calls upon the Huguenot Leaders — They go to hear Farel — He shows them their Deficiencies — Farel and his Hearers — Sensation in the City — His second Lecture and its Effects — The Women of Geneva opposed to the Reform- Farel before the Town Council — The Council divided — The name of Berne protects him

—

The Episcopal Council deliberates — Conspiracy against Farel

—

Farel summoned before Clergy

CHAPTER 8.

THE REFORMERS ARE EXPELLED FROM GENEVA.

(OCTOBER 1532.)

Farel before the Episcopal Council — Speech of the Official — Veigy’s Invectives — Farel’s Answer — A clerical Tumult — Syndic Hugues interposes — Danger of Farel and his Friends — Olard tries to shoot Farel — Farel turned out of Geneva — A Storm — A Priest tries to stab Farel — He is protected by the Magistrates — Farel’s Departure

CHAPTER 9.

A JOURNEY TO THE VALLEYS OF PIEDMONT, AND STRUGGLES NEAR NEUCHATEL.

(END OF 1532.)

Farel desires to send Froment to Geneva — Recollections of their common Dangers — Olivetan requested to translate the Bible — He fears the Critics — Olivetan departs for the Valleys — An inhospitable Woman — Olivetan and his three sick Friends — A Monk of St. Bernard — Olivetan in the Valley — Neuchatel — A Fight in the Church — Decree of the Council — A strange Christmas Festival — The Cure heads the Battle — A Christmas Sermon — Lode — The Oxen of the Brenets

CHAPTER 10.

THE SCHOOLMASTER AND CLAUDINE LEVET.

(NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER 1532.)

Froment departs for Geneva — Bad Reception at first — Desires to leave the City — His Prospectus Great Success — Froment Teaches — Difference between Rome and the Reform — The bewitched Paula takes Claudine to bear Froment — Claudine crosses herself and listens — Shut up three days and three nights with the Gospel — Her Conscience finds Peace — Her Conversion and Interview with Froment

CHAPTER 11.

FORMATION OF THE CHURCH. FRIENDS AND OPPONENTS.

(MIDDLE TO THE END OF DECEMBER 1532.)

The Bishop’s Anger — Progress of the Gospel — Claudine lays

aside her costly attire — The Ladies of Geneva — Conversion of

many of them — Little Assemblies — The Church without form and

the Church formed — A Monk preaches the Gospel — Th. Moine

and a Sermon at the Madeleine — Four Huguenots demand a

Disputation — Discussion with the Vicar — The Armed Priests —

Tumult at the Madeleine — The Vicar of St. Germain’s — Froment

forbidden to preach — St. Sylvester’s Eve

CHAPTER 12.

THE SERMON AT THE MOLARD.

(NEW YEAR’S DAY, 1533.)

Crowd at Froment’s Lodgings — He is called to preach at the

Molard — Invites the People to pray — His Text — Sermon at the

Molard — The Interruption — The False Prophets — God the sole

Judge — The Magistrates interfere — Froment’s Escape and

Concealment — Meeting of the Council — Serious posture of

Affairs — Froment assaulted — Forced to leave Geneva

CHAPTER 13.

HOLY SCRIPTURE AND THE LORD’S SUPPER AT GENEVA.

(JANUARY AND FEBRUARY 1533.)

Romish Reaction — Friar Bocquet sent away — Baudichon de la

Maisonneuve — Evangelical Meetings — Two kinds of

Protestantism — Olivetan’s Work — Translation of the Bible —

The Word and the Sacrament — Guerin — First Sacrament at Pre l’Eveque — Guerin forced to leave — The Two Winds

CHAPTER 14.

FORMATION OF A CATHOLIC CONSPIRACY.

(LENT, 1533.)

Olivetan’s Remonstrance and Exile — Preparations of the Clerical Party — De la Maisonneuve at Berne — Berne demands freedom of Worship — Two Hundred Catholics before the Council — They ask for Justice — Agitation against the Lutherans — The Conspirators assemble — Secret Plots — Speeches of the Leaders

—

Solemn Oath — Catholics meet at St. Pierre’s Church — The Reformed at Maisonneuve’s — Goulaz and Vaudel exhort to Peace

—

Vandel wounded

CHAPTER 15.

FIRST ARMED ATTACK OF THE CATHOLICS UPON THE REFORMATION.

(MARCH 28, 1533.)

The Catholics prepare to fight — The Standards of the King go forth — The Troops are formed — An Alarm — Muster at the Molard — The three Corps — The Artillery and the Banner — The Prayer of the Nuns — Agitation in the City — A Cruel Husband — Reinforcement of Women and Children — Scene at Maisonneuve’s

—

Consolation and Prayer — Fight between Philippe and Bellessert — The St. Gervaisians retire — Claudine Levet pursued

—

Plan to burn out the Huguenots — Veigy’s Troop change their Road — The Reformed in Line of Battle — The Cannons planted — The Trumpet Sounds — Tears and Prayers

CHAPTER 16.

TRUCE BETWEEN THE TWO PARTIES.

(FROM MARCH 28 TO MAY 4, 1533.)

Mediation of the Friburgers — Their language to the Syndics and the Priests — A Consultation — Joy and Murmuring — Plan of Reconciliation — Articles of Peace — Dominican Song of Victory — The Sacrament on Holy Thursday — Alarm of the Catholics — The Dominican at St. Pierre’s — Embassy to Berne — Is followed by Maisonneuve — His Speech to the Council of Berne — The Syndic is Dumb

CHAPTER 17.

SECOND ATTACK, IN WHICH THE LEADER PERISHES.

(MAY 4, 1533.)

War of the Tongue — Huguenots depart for Lyons — Festival of the Holy Winding-Sheet — High Mass — Importance of the Struggle-Ideas become Acts — A Holiday Evening ends in a Brawl — An Agent of the Clergy excites the Crowd — Marin de Versonay — The Tocsin sounds — Wernli arms for the Fight — Decisive Moment — His Appeals — His first Challenge — Skirmish in the Dark — Wernli heads the Fight — His Death — How the Night was spent

CHAPTER 18.

THE CANON’S DEATH MADE A WEAPON AGAINST THE REFORM.

(MAY TO JULY 1533.)

The Corpse discovered — Distress of the Catholics — Arrival of Wernli’s Relations — The Burial — A Miracle — Preparations to crush the Reform — The Bishop at Arbois — The Pope orders him to Return to Geneva — His Indecision — Determines to go — Importunity of the Mamelukes’ Council — A Coup d’Etat necessary

— Two Victories to be won — Friburg demands the Trial of Wernli’s Murderers — Declaration of Religious Liberty

CHAPTER 19.

CATASTROPHE.

(BEGINNING OF JULY 1533.)

Preparations to receive the Bishop — His Entrance — The Bishop at the General Council — Agitation — The Magistrates consult the Charters — The Bishop’s despotic Intentions — Proscriptions — The Huguenots entrapped — Escape of many — One of their Wives imprisoned — Strange Request of the Bishop — Levet’s Flight — He is pursued and taken — Various Rumors — The Bishop cites the Prisoners before him — Attacks on the Huguenots — The Courage of the Genevese — Eiders of Geneva before the Bishop — The Bishop persists in his Illegality — Firmness of the Genevese — The Friburgers call for Vengeance — G. Wernli’s Speech — Refusal of the Two Hundred — Arguments for the Temporal Power

— Opposition to Absolute Power — The Prisoners in their Dungeons — Impatience of the Mamelukes — Attempt to murder Curtet — Dangers accumulating — Geneva and Calvin — Triumph and Tribulation — Hope

BOOK 4

TIMES OF HOSTILITY TO THE REFORM IN FRANCE.

CHAPTER 1

CALVIN, THE FUGITIVE, IN HIS RETREAT AT ANGOULEME.

(NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER, 1533.)

RELIGION needs liberty, and the convictions inspired by her ought to be exempt from the control of the Louvre and of the Vatican. Man’s conscience belongs to God alone, and every human power that encroaches on this kingdom and presumes to command within it is guilty of rebellion against its lawful sovereign. Religious persecution deserves to be reprobated, not only ill the name of philosophy, but above all in the name of God’s right. His sovereign Majesty is offended when the sword enters into the sanctuary. A persecuting government is not only illiberal, it is impious. Let no man thrust himself between God and the soul! The spot on which they meet is holy ground. Away, intruder! Leave the soul with Him to whom it belongs.

These thoughts naturally occur to us as we approach an epoch when a persecuting fanaticism broke out in France, when scaffolds were raised in the streets of Paris, and when acts of terrible cruelty were enthusiastically applauded by a royal cortege.

These rights of conscience, which we record, are not new. They date neither from our century, nor from the sixteenth. The Savior established them when he said: ‘Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesars, and UNTO GOD THE THINGS THAT ARE GOD’S.’ Since that hour they have been maintained by many courageous voices. During three centuries the martyrs said to the pagan emperors: ‘Is it not an irreligious act to forbid my worshipping the God whom I like, and to force me to worship the god whom I dislike?’ ^fg9 In the fourth century Athanasius and Hilary told the Arian princes: ‘Satan uses violence, he dashes in the doors with an axe… but persuasion is the only weapon truth employs.’ ^fg10 In later years, when the barbarians desired to bend the Church under the weight of brute force, the hitherto servile clergy declared as loudly as they could that religious doctrine did not fall under the dominion of the temporal sword.

When, therefore, in the bloody days of the Reformation, the power of Rome, uniting in some countries with the power of the princes, wished to constrain men’s souls and force them to submit to its laws, the evangelical christians, by claiming liberty in their turn, only asserted the great principle of Jesus Christ formerly adopted-by the Church herself. But strange to say! this principle which she had found so admirable, when she had to employ it in self-defense, became impious when it was appealed to in order to escape from her persecutions. Such inconsistencies frequently occur in the history of fallen humanity. We must call them to remembrance though it be with sorrow. There have always existed many generous persons in the bosom of catholicity who have protested with horror against the frightful punishments by which it was attempted to make our forefathers renounce their faith; and there are still more now, for the laws of religious liberty are gradually becoming established among nations. But we must never forget that two centuries of cruel persecution was the welcome the world gave to the Reformation. When the day of St. Bartholomew saw the streets of the capital of the Valois run with blood,

— when ruffians glutted their savage passions on the corps of that best and greatest of Frenchmen, Coligny — immense was the enthusiasm at Rome, and a fierce shout of exultation rang through the pontifical city. ^fg11 Wishing to perpetuate the glory of the massacre of the huguenots, the pope ordered a medal to be struck, representing that massacre and bearing the device: Hugonotorum strages. The officers of the Roman court still sell (as we know personally) this medal to all who desire to carry away some remembrance of their city. Those times are remote; milder manners prevail, but it is the duty of protestantism to remind the world of the use made by the court of Rome, on emerging from the middle ages, of that preeminence in catholic countries, which she contends belongs to her always, and which she is still ready to claim ‘with the greatest vigor.’

Resistance to this cruel preeminence cost the Reformation torrents of the purest blood; and it is this blood which gives us the right to protest against it.

Before we describe the scenes of horror that defiled the streets of Paris at this period, we must follow in his flight that young doctor, who, though illustrious in after years, was now the victim of persecution.

The feast of All Saints being the day when the university celebrated the opening of the academical year, Calvin (as we have seen), through the channel of his friend Cop the rector, had displayed before the Sorbonne and a numerous audience the great principles of the Gospel. University, monks, priests had all been excited, scandalized, and exasperated; parliament had interfered; and Cop and Calvin were obliged to flee.

That man whose hand was one day boldly to raise the standard of the Gospel in the world, whose teaching was to enlighten many nations, and whose eloquence was to stir all France; that man who was yearly to send forth from Geneva some thirty or forty missionaries, and whose letters strengthened all the Churches; that man, still young, pursued by the lieutenant-criminal and his sergeants, had been forced to steal out of his chamber into the street and disguise himself in strange garments; and in the beginning of November, he retold himself in the back streets on the left bank of the Seine looking on every side lest there should be any one on his track. He had never been more tranquil than at the moment when struck by this sudden blow. Francis I. resisted the insolence of the monks; the Sorbonne had been compelled to disavow their most fanatical acts; many Lutherans were able to preach the Gospel freely to those around them; a reforming movement seemed spreading far and wide through France… when suddenly the lightning darted forth and struck the young reformer. ‘I thought I should be able to devote myself to God’s service without hindrance,’ said he in his flight; ‘I promised myself a tranquil career;… but at that very moment, what I expected least, namely persecution and exile, were at the door.’ ^fg12

Calvin did not regret, however, the testimony he had borne to the truth, and resigned himself to exile. Far from resembling the unbroken horse (to use his own expression) who refuses to carry his rider, he voluntarily bowed his shoulders to the cross. ^fg13 Never tire in the middle of your journey, was his maxim always. ^fg14 Yet as he traveled along those rough by-roads of the Mantois, he often asked himself what this severe dispensation was to teach him. Was he to retire from Paris and renounce the idea of making that city the center of his christian activity? That would, indeed, be a hard trial for him. His people seemed to be waking, and he must leave them!... Still he kept on his way. On arriving near Mantes, he went to the residence of the Sire de Haseville, to whom he was known, and there remained in hiding several days. He then resumed his journey, either because he thought himself too near his enemies, or because his host was afraid.

Calvin took the road to the south; he crossed the charming plains and valleys of Tournine, entered the pasturages and forests of Poitou, and thence turned his steps towards Saintonge and the Angoumois. ^fg15 This latter province was the end of his journey. On a hill at whose foot the Charcute ‘softly flowed,’ stood the cathedral, the old castle and city of Angouleme, the birth-place of Margaret of Navarre. Calvin entered the gates of this antique town, and made his way to one of the principal streets, which afterwards received in his honor the name it still bears — Rue de Geneve. In that street was a large mansion whose principal apartment was a long gallery in which more than four thousand volumes, printed or manuscript, were collected: it was one of the most valuable private libraries then existing in France. ^fg16 The fugitive halted before this house. Learned works were doubtless well calculated to attract him; but he was animated by another motive also. This mansion belonged to the family of Du Tillet, whose members were reckoned among the most learned in the kingdom. The father and two of his sons were detained in Paris by their duties in the Chamber of Accounts, at the Louvre and in parliament; but another son, Louis, canon of the cathedral, was at Angouleme, and lived alone in that large house, when he was not at his parish of Claix. Louis was Calvin’s friend, ^fg17 and it was the remembrance of this gentle, mild, and rather weak young man, whose disposition was very engaging, that had induced the fugitive to bend his steps towards the Angoumois.

Calvin stopped in front of his friend’s house and knocked at the door, it opened, and he went in: we can not say whether he found the canon there or not, but at all events the latter was filled with joy when he heard of the arrival of the young doctor, whose ‘great gifts and grace’ he admired so much, and whose intimacy had been so sweet to him. Calvin told. him how he had been obliged to flee from the attacks of the parliament, and of the danger to which those who gave him refuge were exposed. But Du Tiller thought himself the happiest of men, if he could but shelter his friend from the search of his enemies. Once more he was about to enjoy those spiritual and edifying conversations which he had so often regretted and could never forget. ^fg18 Even the persecution Of which Calvin was a victim made him all the dearer to his friend; and Louis introduced him into the vast gallery, installed him in the midst of the most eminent minds of all ages, whose celebrated works loaded the numerous shelves, and established him, as in a safe retreat, in that beautiful library which seemed prepared for the lofty intelligence and profound studies of the theologian.

Calvin, who needed retirement and repose, felt happy. ‘I am never less alone than when alone,’ he used to say. ^fg19 At one time, he gave thanks to God; at another, taking the precious volumes from the shelves around him, he opened and read them, assuaging the thirst for knowledge which consumed him. A learned retreat, like that now given him, was the dream of his whole life. Pious reflections crowded into his heart, and if during his flight he had felt a momentary darkness, the light now shone into his soul. ‘The causes of what happens to us are often so hidden,’ he said in after times, ‘that human affairs seem to turn about at random, as on a wheel, and the flesh tempts us to murmur against God, because he sports with men, tossing them here and there like balls,… but the issue shows us that God is on the watch for the salvation of believers.’ ^fg20

A new epoch, a new phase, was beginning for Calvin: he was leaving school, he was about to enter upon life, and a pause was necessary. The future reformer, before rushing into the storms of an agitated career, was to be tempered anew in the fire of the divine Word and of prayer. Great struggles awaited him: the Church was waking up from the slumber of death, throwing back the winding-sheet of popery, and rising from the sepulcher. One universal cry was heard among all the nations of the West. At Worms, a monk had demanded the Holy Scriptures of God in presence of the imperial diet; a priest had demanded them at Zurich; students had demanded them at Cambridge; at Spire, an assembly of princes had declared that they would hear nothing but the preaching of that heavenly Word; and its life-bearing doctrines had been solemnly confessed at Augsburg in the presence of Charles V. Germany, Switzerland, England, the Low Countries, Italy — all Europe, in a word, was stirred at the sight of that new faith which had come forth from the tomb of ages ... .France herself was moved. How could a young man so modest, so timid, who feared so much all contact with the passions of men — how could Calvin battle for the faith, if he did not receive in the retirement of the Wilderness the baptism of the Spirit and of fire?

And this baptism he received. Alone and forced to hide himself, he experienced an inward peace and joy he had never known before. ‘By the exercise of the cross,’ he said, ‘the Son of God receives us into his order, and makes us partakers of his glory.’ Accordingly he gave a very extraordinary name to the obscure town of Angouleme: he called it Doxopolis, the city of glory, and thus he dated his letters. How pleasant and glorious this retirement proved to him! He had found his Wartburg, . his Patmos, and unable any longer to hide from his friends the happiness he enjoyed, he wrote to Francis Daniel of Orleans: ‘Why cannot I have a moment’s talk with you?’ he said, ‘not indeed to trouble you with my disputes and struggles; why should I do so? I think that what interests you more just now is to know that. I am well, and that, if you take into account my known indolence, I am making progress in my studies.’ ^fg21 Then after speaking of Du Tillet’s kindness, of his own responsibility, and of the use he ought to make of his leisure… the joy which filled his heart ran over, and he exclaimed with thankfulness: ‘Oh! how happy I should think myself, if the peace which I now enjoy should continue during the time of my retirement and exile. ^fg22 The Lord, whose providence foresees everything, will provide. Experience has taught me that we cannot see much beforehand what will happen to us. At the very moment when I promised myself repose, the storm burst suddenly upon me. And then, when I thought some horrible den would be my lot, a quiet nest was unexpectedly prepared for me. ^fg23… It is the hand of God that had done this. Only let us trust in him, and he will care for us!’ Thus the hunted Calvin found himself at Angouleme, under God’s hand, like a young storm-driven bird that has taken refuge in the nest under the wing of its mother.

The young canon took the liveliest interest in the fate of his guest, and hoped to see the hospitality he showed him bear precious fruits for learning and the Gospel. Calvin, too humble to believe that Du Tillet’s cares had any reference to himself, ascribed them solely to his friend’s zeal for knowledge and the cause of Christ; it seemed to him that he could never repay such kindness but by constant labor, and that was all he ever had to give. ‘My protector’s kindness,’ he said, ‘is sufficient to stimulate the indolence of the laziest of men. ^fg24 Cheer up, then! let me make an effort, let me struggle earnestly. No more carelessness!’ ^fg25 Then he shut himself up in Du Tillet’s library, gathered round him the books he wanted, and said: ‘I must give all my attention to study; this thought is constantly pulling me by the ear.’ If he took a moment’s leisure, he felt ‘his ear pulled,’ that is to say, his conscience was troubled; he hurried to his books, and set to work with so much zeal, ‘that he passed whole nights without sleeping and days without eating.’ ^fg26 This was his indolence!

A great idea was at that time growing in his heart. Parliament accused and even burnt his brethren for pretended heresies. ‘Must I be silent,’ he said, ‘and thus give unbelievers an opportunity of condemning a doctrine they do not know? Why should not the Reformed have a confession to lay before their adversaries?’ ^fg27 As he examined Du Tillet’s library, he came upon certain books which seemed to him to bear particularly on the existing state of suffering among evangelical christians. He saw that apologies had formerly been presented to the Emperor Adrian by Quadratus and Aristides, to Antoninns by Justin Martyr, and to Marcus Aurelius by Athenagoras. Ought not the friends of the Reformation to present a similar defense to Francis I? If Calvin’s mouth is shut, he will take up the pen. God was then setting him apart for one of the great works of the age. He did not indeed compose his Christian institutes at this time, even under the elementary form of the first edition, but he meditated it; he searched the Scriptures; he drew out the sketch, and perhaps wrote some passages of that work, the finest produced by the Reformation. And hence one of the enemies of the Reform, casting a severe look on the learned library of the Du Tillets, was led to exclaim: ‘This is the forge where the new Vulcan prepared the bolts that he was afterwards to scatter on every side… That is the factory where he began to make the nets that he afterwards fixed up to catch the simple, and from which a man must be very clever to get out. It was there that he wove the web of his Institutes, which we may call the Koran or the Talmud of heresy.’ ^fg28 While Calvin was writing his first notes, he heard some strange rumors. Men spoke to him of certain materialists in whose opinion the soul died with the body. At first he hesitated as to what he should do. ‘How,’ he asked, ‘can I join battle with adversaries of whose camp and arms and tactics I know nothing, and of whom I have only heard some confused murmur? ^fg29 Another consideration checked him. Allied to them were Christians who, while rejecting these errors, said that time did not exist for the soul separated from the body, and that the moment of death was followed instantly by the moment of resurrection. ‘I should not like these good people to be offended against me,’ he said. Calvin refused to fire a shot against his enemies lest he should wound his brethren.

But one day he was told of enormous and degrading sophisms. These teachers said to their followers: ‘God has not placed in man a soul different from that of the beast. ‘The soul is not a substance; it is only a quality of life, which proceeds from the throbbing of the arteribs or the motion of the lungs. It cannot exist without the body, and perishes with it, until man rises again whole.’ ^fg30 Calvin was thunderstruck. To be a man and to rank yourself among beasts, seemed to him foolish and impious. ‘O God!’ he exclaimed, ‘the conflagration has increased, and thrown out flakes which, spreading far and wide, have turned to burning torches… O Lord, extinguish them, we pray thee, by that saving rain which thou reservest for thy Church!’ ^fg31

It was this gross materialism which absorbed Calvin’s attention at Angouleme. He saw the evil which these teachers might do the Reform, and shuddered at the thought of the dangers which threatened the simple. ‘Poor reeds tossed by every wind,’ he exclaimed, ‘whom the slightest breath shakes and bends, what will become of you?’… Then addressing the materialists he said: ‘When the Lord says that the wicked kill the body but cannot kill the soul, does he not mean that the soul survives after death? ^fg32 Know you not that, according to Scripture, the souls of the saints stand before the throne of God, and that white robes were given unto every one of them?’ ^fg33 Then resorting to irony, he continued: ‘Sleepy souls, what, I pray, do you understand by these white robes? Do you take them for pillows on which the souls recline that are condemned to die?’ ^fg34 This mode of arguing was not rare in the sixteenth century.

Calvin, agitated by these errors, took up his pen, and committed to paper the reflections which he published shortly after.

Calvin loved to repose from these struggles on the bosom of friendship. In the society of Du Tillet at Angouleme he found once more the charms which that of Duchemin had procured for him at Orleans. All his life he sought that noble intercourse, those offices, those kindnesses which friendship procures. ^fg35 Even when deep in study, he loved to see the library door open, a well-known face appear, and a friend sit down by his side. Their conversations had an inexpressible sweetness for him. ‘We have no need,’ said the young canon, ‘of those secrets which Pythagoras employed to produce an indissoluble friendship between his disciples. God has planted a mysterious seed between our souls, and that seed can not die.’ ^fg36

CHAPTER 2

THE EXILE TURNS PREACHER.

(DECEMBER 1533 AND JANUARY 1534.)

BY degrees, however, Calvin came out of his retirement. Shut up in his library, he began to sigh for country air, like Luther in the Wartburg. He went out sometimes, alone or with his friend, and rambled over the hills and quiet meadows watered by the Charente. The neighborhood of Angouleme did not present the grandeur he was one day to find on the shores of the Leman; but to him everything in creation was beautiful, because he saw the Creator everywhere. He could even be profoundly touched by the beauties of nature: ‘In the presence of the works of God,’ he said, ‘we are overcome with astonishment, and our tongues and senses fail us.’ ^fg37 Not far from the city was a vineyard belonging to the canon, to which Du Tillet one day conducted his friend. The delighted Calvin returned there frequently; the remembrance of these visits still lingers to those parts, and the vineyard still goes by the name of La Calvine. ^fg38

About this time their circle was increased: John Du Tillet, afterwards bishop of Meaux, arrived at Angouleme. He too became attached with his whole heart to Calvin: the latter, wishing to make himself useful to the two brothers, offered to teach them Greek, and while teaching them to read the New Testament, he led them to seek Christ. John listened greedily to the young doctor’s words; hence he was long suspected by the Romanists, and having published in 1549 a very old manuscript, ascribed to Charlemagne, Against Images — the Libri Carolini are known to be opposed to them — he occasioned loud murmurs: ‘A man who has been Calvin’s pupil,’ said the famous Cardinal du Perron, ‘cannot well have any other opinion.’ ^fg39

These lessons, begun at Angouleme, were continued at Claix, where Du Tillet used to spend a part of the year. People asked in the village who that short, thin, pale young man was, who looked so serious and meek, and whom they often met with the Du Tillets. The best informed said that he gave them lessons in Greek. This study was a thing so extraordinary in the Angoumois, that the country people, ignorant of the professor’s name, called him the Greek of Claix, or the little Greek. Some of the better people of the neighborhood of Claix occasionally met the friends: they entered into conversation, and, says a contemporary, ‘all who loved learning esteemed the young scholar;’ ^fg40 his knowledge of the classics, his taste so fine and accurate, attracted them to him. Certain friends of the Du Tillets, ecclesiastics of good family, men of letters and of feeling, soon shared this admiration of his virtues and his talents: they were Anthony de Chaillou, Prior of Bouteville, the Abbot of Balsac (near Jarnac), the famous De la Place, the Sieur de Torsac, Charles Girault, and others. Calvin’s appearance, his simple dress and modest look interested these good men at first sight; and that clear and penetrating glance which he preserved until the last, soon revealed to them the keen intelligence and uprightness of the young Greek. They conceived the most hearty affection for him. They loved to hear him speak of the Savior and of heaven, and yielded to his evangelical teaching without a thought of being faithless to that of the Church. This was the case with many Catholics at that time. They did not find in Calvin the things that make fine talkers in the world — ‘nonsense, merry jests, bantering, jokes, and all sorts of foolery, which pass away in smoke,’ ^fg41 but the charms and profitableness of his conversation captivated all who heard him. De la Place in particular received a deep impression: ‘I shall never forget,’ he wrote years after, ‘how your conversation made me better, when we were together at Angouleme. Oh! what shall I give you in this mortal life for the immortal life that I then received?’ ^fg42

The frequent visits paid to the Greek by persons of consideration were soon remarked by the clergy; on the other hand, Bouteville desired to substitute more regular conferences for these simple conversations. He lived at the castle of Gerac, situated in a less frequented district. ^fg43 ‘Come to my house,’ he said to his friends, ‘and let each of us state freely his convictions and objections.’ Calvin hesitated about going: ‘he was fond of solitude, and spoke little in company;’ but the thought of bringing his friends to the Gospel decided him.

One day, therefore, the modest doctor appeared in the midst of the Prior of Bouteville’s guests; one idea had absorbed him on the road to Gerac. He thought that ‘truth is not a common thing; that it rises far above the capacity of the human understanding, and that we ought to purchase it at any price.’ At last when he joined his friends, after mutual greetings had been exchanged, he spoke to them of the subject that filled his heart. He opened the Bible, placed his hand on it, and said, ‘Let us find the truth!’ ^fg44… ‘The whole conference,’ says Florimond Remond, a staunch Catholic, ‘had no other object but the investigation of truth, a phrase which he had generally in his mouth.’ Calvin, however, did not set himself up as an oracle: addressing the conscience, he showed that Christ answered all the wants of the soul; the conversation soon became animated, his friends bringing forward objections. He never was at a loss; ‘having a marvelous facility,’ they said, ‘in penetrating suddenly the greatest difficulties and clearing them up.’ The visitors of Gerac departed joyfully to their homes.

After these conferences, Calvin returned quietly to his retreat, and prayed for those to whom he had spoken and for others besides. ‘If sometimes we are cold in prayer,’ he said, ‘let us at once remember how many of our brethren are sinking under heavy burdens and grievous troubles; how many are oppressed by great anguish in their hearts and in all extremity of evils… We must have hearts of iron or steel, if such sluggishness in prayer cannot then be expelled from our bosoms.’ ^fg45

Calvin felt the necessity of giving a solid foundation to the faith of his friends. ‘A tree that is not deeply rooted,’ he said, ‘is easily torn up by the first blast of the storm.’ he then committed to paper, as we have said, the first ideas of his Christian Institutes. One day, as he was starting for Gerac, he took his notes with him, and read what he had just written to the circle assembled in the castle. ^fg46 He did this several times afterwards; but the notes served merely as a text on which he commented with much eloquence. ‘No one can equal him,’ they said, ‘in loftiness of language, conciseness of arrangement, and majesty of style.’ He was not content with stating this doctrine or that: his fine understanding grasped the organic unity of the Christian truths, and he was able to present them as a divine whole. ^fg47 It was no doubt the cry of his conscience which had led him to seek salvation in the Holy Scriptures; but he had not been able to study, compare, and fathom them without his understanding becoming, enlightened, developed, and sanctified. The moral faculty is that which is first aroused in the Christian, but it immediately provokes the exercise of the intellectual faculties. The citizens of the kingdom of God are not those who know, but those who believe; not the learned, but the regenerated. A church in which the intellectual faculty is above the moral faculty, does not bear the stamp of the Protestant and Christian principle; but every church in which the divine faculty of the understanding is neglected, and where learning is viewed with distrust, will easily fall into deplorable error.

Calvin’s explanations, so deep and yet so clear, were not without their use. Du Tillet, Chaillou, De la Place, Torsac, and others mutually expressed their admiration and joy after the young doctor had retired; then, at their homes and apart from the world, they meditated on the consoling truths they had heard. Many of the most notable men of the district were won over to evangelical convictions, ^fg48 The Prior of Bouteville, in particular, showed from that time so much faith and zeal — he was, after Calvin’s departure, so much the father and guide of those who had received the seed of truth, that he was called throughout the province: ‘The Lutherans’ Pope. ^fg49

Calvin’s sphere widened gradually: he wrote to those to whom he could not speak; ^fg50 and ere long his friends asked why they should keep for themselves alone the bread of life on which they fed?… One of them giving utterance to this thought to the young doctor, added: ‘But you can only reach the people in the churches.’ It was scarcely possible that Calvin, a fugitive from Paris, could visit the churches of the Angoumois as an evangelical missionary. ‘Compose some short Christian exhortations for us,’ said his friends to him, ‘and we will give them to well-disposed parish priests to read to their congregations.’ ^fg51 He did so, and humble clerks read these evangelical appeals from their pulpits, as well as they could. Thus Calvin preached through the mouths of priests to poor villagers, as he had addressed the imposing Sorbonne by the mouth of the rector.

This encouraged certain church dignitaries, especially the prior, who were at once his disciples and his patrons. If Calvin could not preach in French, why should he not teach in Latin? They surrounded the young doctor, re. presenting to him that Latin, the language of the Roman Church, could not occasion ally scandal, and asked him to deliver some Latin orations before the clergy. Calvin, firmly convinced that the reform ought to begin with the teachings of the priest, preached several Latin sermons in St. Peter’s Church. ^fg52 In this way he inaugurated his career as a reformer. All this could not be done without giving rise to murmurs. The faithful followers of Rome complained of him, of the prior, of all his friends, and this opposition might become dangerous. ‘Fatal instrument,’ says a Romanist with reference to Calvin’s stay in the Angoumois, ‘which was destined to reduce France to greater extremities than the Saracens, the Germans, the English, and the house of Austria had done. ^fg53 He was not, however, the only one who was assisting in this excellent work.

CHAPTER 3

CALVIN AT NERAC WITH ROUSSEL AND LEFEVRE.

(WINTER OF 1533-34.)

WHILE Francis I. was endeavoring to stifle the Reformation in the north of France, it was spreading in the south, and many souls were converted in the districts bordering the Pyrenees. Evangelical Christians of other countries, some of whom were ministers, had taken refuge there, and ‘towns and villages were perverted suddenly by hearing a single sermon,’ says a Roman Catholic historian. On certain days, the simple peasants and even a few townspeople, arriving by different paths, would meet in a retired spot, in the bed of some dried-up torrent or in a cavern of the mountain. They had often to wait a long time for the preacher; the priests and their creatures forced him to make a wide circuit; sometimes he did not come at all. ‘Then,’ says a Catholic, ‘women might be seen trampling on the modesty of their sex, taking a Bible, reading it, and even assuming the boldness to interpret it, while waiting for the minister.’

At this epoch the Queen of Navarre arrived in the south. The noise caused in 1533 by the rector’s sermon and Calvin’s disappearance, had induced her to quit St. Germain for the states of her husband. Her brother, the king, was then at a distance from Paris; her nieces with their governesses, Mesdames de Brissac and De Montreal, and the somewhat gloomy and oppressive etiquette which prevailed at the court of Queen Eleanor of Portugal, was not much to the taste of the lively and intelligent Margaret of Navarre. She therefore started for Nerac. Two litters with six mules, three baggage mules, and three or four carriages for the queen’s women ^fg54 entered the city, and took the road that leads to the vast Gothic castle of the D’Albrets. It was a very scanty retinue for the sister of Francis I.

Margaret alighted from her litter, and was hardly settled in her apartments before she felt quite happy, for she had escaped at last from the pomps and struggles of the court of France. She laid aside her showy dresses and her grand manners; she hid the majesty of her house beneath a candor and friendliness that enchanted all who came near her. Dressed like a plain gentlewoman, she quitted the castle, crossed the Baise which flows through the city, and rambled along the beautiful walks of the neighborhood, having for companions only the seneschaless of Poitou or one of her young ladies of honor. But she had come for something more than this. Having fled far from the palaces and cities where the persecuting spirit of Rome and of the parliament was raging, she occupied herself more particularly in giving a fresh impulse to the evangelical movement in the southern provinces. Her activity was inexhaustible. She sent out colporteurs who made their way into houses, and while selling jewelry to the young women, presented them also with New Testaments, printed in fine characters, ruled in red and bound in vellum with gilt edges. ‘The mere sight of these books,’ says an historian, ‘excited a desire to read them.’ Around the queen everybody was in motion, laboring and murmuring like a hive of bees. ‘Margaret,’ says the king’s historiographer, ‘was the precious flower that adorned this parterre, and whose perfume attracted the best spirits of Europe to Beam, as thyme attracts honey-bees.’ ^fg55

The queen might often be seen surrounded by a troop of sufferers, to whom she showed the tenderest respect. These were the refugees: Lefevre of Etaples, Gerard Roussel, converted priests and monks, and a number of laymen, obliged to leave France, which they had been able to do, thanks to the queen who had assisted their flight. ‘The good princess,’ said a Catholic, ‘has really nothing more at heart than to get those out of the way whom the king wishes to deliver up to the severities of justice.’ If I attempted to give the names of all those whom she has saved from punishment I should never finish.’ ^fg56

The Christians exiled for the Gospel did not make her forget the wretched of her own country. One day, when Roussel was describing to her the unfortunate situation of a poor family, Margaret said nothing; but returning to her chamber, she threw a Bearnese hood over her shoulders, and, followed by a single domestic, went out by a private door, hastened to the sufferers, and comforted them with the tenderest affection. ^fg57 She took pleasure in founding schools. Roussel, her chaplain, would visit the humble room in which the children of the people were learning to read and write, and going up to them, would say: ‘My dear children… the death of Christ is a real atonement. There is no sin so small as not to need it, or so great that it cannot be blotted out by it. ^fg58 Praying to God,’ he would add: ‘is not muttering with the lips: prayer is an ardent and serious converse with the Lord.’ ^fg59

There was one feature, however, in this awakening in the south which, in Calvin’s eyes, rendered it imperfect and transitory, unless some remedy were applied to it. There was in it a certain halting between truth and error. The pious but weak Roussel manifested a lamentable spirit of compromise in his teaching. Wearied with the struggles he had gone through, he sheltered himself under the cloak of the Catholic Church. He did not pray to the Virgin, he administered the Holy Sacrament in two kinds; but he celebrated a kind of mass — a mournful and yet touching instance of that mixed Christianity which aimed at preserving evangelical life under catholic forms.

Calvin at Angouleme was not far from Nerac, and his eyes were often turned to that city. He longed to see Lefevre before the old man was taken from the world, and was uneasy about Roussel, whom he feared to see yielding to the seductions of greatness. One of the christian thoughts that had laid the strongest hold on his mind, was the conviction that the wisdom from on high ought to reject every compromise suggested by ambition or hypocrisy. ^fg60 Ought he not to try and bring back Roussel into the right path from which he appeared to be wandering? Calvin left Du Tillet’s house probably about the end of February, and called upon Roussel as soon as he arrived at Nerac.

The most decided and the most moderate of the theologians of the sixteenth century were now face to face. Calvin, naturally timid and hesitating ‘would never have had the boldness so much as to open his mouth (to use his own words); but faith in Christ begot such a strong assurance in his heart, that he could not remain silent.’ He, therefore, gave his opinion with decision: ‘There is no good left in Catholicism,’ he said. ‘We must reestablish the Church in its ancient purity.’ ^fg61 — ‘What is that you say?’ answered the astonished Roussel; ‘God’s house ought to be purified, no doubt, but not destroyed.’ ^fg62 — ‘Impossible,’ said the young reformer; ‘the edifice is so bad that it cannot be repaired. We must pull it down entirely, and build another in its place.’ ^fg63 — Roussel exclaimed with alarm: ‘We must cleanse the Church, but not by setting it on fire. If we take upon ourselves to pull it down, we shall be crushed under the ruins.’ ^fg64

Calvin retired in sorrow. Type of protestant decision in the sixteenth century, he always protested freely and boldly against everything that was contrary to the Gospel. He displayed this unshakable firmness not only in opposition to catholic tendencies, but also against rationalistic ideas. It would not be difficult to find in Zwingle, in Melanchthon, and even in Luther, some sprinkling of neology, of which the slightest traces cannot be found in Calvin.

Nerac, as we have said, sheltered another teacher — an old man whom age might have made weaker than Roussel, but who under his white hair and decrepit appearance concealed a living force, to be suddenly revived by contact with the great faith of the young scholar. Calvin asked for Lefevre’s house: everybody knew him: ‘He is a little bit of a man, old as Herod, but lively as gunpowder,’ they told him. ^fg65 As we have seen, Lefevre had professed the great doctrine of justification by faith, even before Luther; but after so many years, the aged doctor still indulged in the vain hope of seeing Catholicism reform itself. ‘There ought to be only one Church,’ he would frequently repeat, and this idea prevented his separation from Rome. Nevertheless, his spiritualist views permitted him to preserve the unity of charity with all who loved Christ.

When Calvin was admitted into his presence, he discerned the great man under his puny stature, and was caught by the charm which he exercised over all who came near him. What mildness, what depth, what knowledge, modesty, candor, loftiness, piety, moral grandeur, and holiness, had been said of him! ^fg66 It seemed as if all these virtues illuminated the old man with heavenly brightness just as the night of the grave was about to cover him with its darkness. On his side, the young man pleased Lefevre, who began to tell him how the opposition of the Sorbonne had compelled him to take refuge in the south, ‘in order,’ as he said, ‘to escape the bloody hands of those doctors.’ ^fg67 Calvin endeavored to remove the old man’s illusions. He showed him that we must receive everything from the Word and from the grace of God. He spoke with clearness, with decision, and with energy. Lefevre was moved

— he reflected a little and weeping exclaimed: ‘Alas! I know the truth, but I keep myself apart from those who profess it.’ Recovering, however, from his trouble, he wiped his eyes, and seeing his young fellow-countryman ‘rejecting all the fetters of this world and preparing to fight under the banner of Jesus,’ he examined him more attentively, and asked himself if he had not before him that future reformer whom he had once foretold: ^fg68 ‘Young man,’ he said, ‘you will be one day a powerful instrument in the Lord’s hand. ^fg69… The world will obstinately resist Jesus Christ, and everything will seem to conspire against the Son of God; but stand firm on that rock, and many will be broken against it. God will make use of you to restore the kingdom of heaven in France.’ ^fg70 In 1509 Luther, being of the same age as Calvin in 1534, heard a similar prophecy from the mouth of a venerable doctor.

Yet, if we may believe a catholic historian, the old man did not stop there. His eyes, resting with kindness on the young man, expressed a certain fear. He fancied he saw a young horse which, however admirable its spirit, might dash beyond all restraint. ‘Be on your guard,’ he added, ‘against the extreme ardor of your mind. ^fg71 Take Melanchthon as your pattern, and let your strength be always tempered with charity.’ The old man pressed the young man’s hand, and they parted never to see each other again.

Did Calvin see the Queen of Navarre also? It does not appear that Margaret was living at Nerac at that time; but he had some relations with her. It has been said that she felt an interest in his exile; ^fg72 and it is possible that she had some share in the resolution he soon formed of quitting the south. She may have assured him that he had nothing to fear in Paris, if he committed no imprudence. But we have found nothing certain on these points.

For the present, Calvin returned to Du Tillet’s. The visits made to Roussel and Lefevre had taught him a lesson, He comprehended that it was not only souls blindly submissive to Rome that incurred imminent danger; he conceived the liveliest alarm for those minds which floated between the pope and the Word of God either through weakness or want of light. He saw that as the limit between the two churches was not yet clearly traced, some of those who belonged to Rome were lingering beneath the fresh and verdant shades of the Gospel, while others who ought to belong to the Reformation still wandered beneath the gothic arches of Romish cathedrals and prostrated themselves at the foot of Romish altars. This state of things — possibly approved of by many — Calvin thought dangerous, and his principles going farther, he undertook ‘ to rebuke freely (as he says) those who yoked with unbelievers, keeping them company in outward idolatry.’ ^fg73

CHAPTER 4

A DRAMATIC REPRESENTATION AT THE COURT OF NAVARRE.

(WINTER OF 1533-34.)

HENRY and Margaret having quitted Nerac for Pau, where they intended passing the winter; had reached those picturesque heights, separated by a ravine, on which the city stands, and had entered the castle. The queen had found pleasure in adorning it with the most magnificent gardens then known in Europe, and liked to walk in them, conversing with Cardinal de Foix, the Bishop of Tarbes, and many other distinguished persons who admired her wit and grace. And yet these ecclesiastics often caused her ‘much vexation.’ Surrounded by persons who made a regular report to Francis I., watched by the king her husband and the dignitaries of the Church who were at her court, this pious but weak woman bent under the weight. She began the day by attending morning service in the catholic church of the parish; then in the afternoon she privately collected in her chamber the evangelical members of her court, and the little band of exiles, with a few men and women of the people who, coming forward awkwardly, took their seats timidly on the handsome furniture of the queen. Roussel, Lefevre, or some other minister, delivered an exhortation, and the little assembly separated, feeling that God had really been present in the midst of them. ^fg74

One day some of these humble believers desired to partake of the Lord’s Supper. The queen was embarrassed: she did not dare celebrate it in the church, nor even in her own room, lest one of the cardinals should enter suddenly… After some reflection Margaret thought she had found what was wanted. Under the terrace of the castle there was a large hall called the Mint, a sewer underground place that could be approached without attracting notice. By the queen’s orders her servants privately carried a table there, covered it with a white cloth, and placed a basin on it containing ‘a few slices of plain bread,’ and by its side some cups full of wine ‘instead of chalices.’ ‘Such are their altars!’ ironically exclaims the Catholic historian.

On the appointed day, the believers, silent and agitated; came and took their places not without fear of being discovered. The queen, forgetting the pomps of the Louvre, sat among them as a simple Christian. Roussel appeared, but not in sacerdotal costume, and stood in front of the table. ‘Those who believe that there is nothing but an empty sign in the Sacrament,’ he said, ‘are not of the school of faith.’ ^fg75 ‘He took common bread,’ says the indignant catholic narrator, ‘and not little round wafers stamped with images.’ — ‘Remember,’ continued Roussel with a grave voice, ‘that Christ suffered and died for us.’ He then handed round the cup ‘without making the sign of the cross!’ The worshippers, deeply moved, bore a heavenly expression on their faces, and felt the presence of the Lord: ‘The same Christ dwelt in the minister and in the people.’ No spy nor cardinal appeared, and the communicants, after presenting an offering for the poor, withdrew in peace. ^fg76

Notwithstanding its secrecy, this celebration was talked about in the castle. The King of Navarre was quite annoyed at it. A thoughtless, changeable, and ever violent man, and liable to occasional worldly relapses, he began to grow impatient at his wife’s piety, and especially at the ‘feastings in the cellar.’ He was habitually in a bad humor, and found fault with all that Margaret did.

One day as he returned to the castle from a hunting party, he asked where the queen was. He was told that a minister was preaching in her chamber. At these words the king’s face flushed. A faithful servant ran to warn the queen: ministers and hearers escaped by a back way, and they had hardly left the room, when Henry entered abruptly. He stopped, looked round him, and seeing only the queen, agitated and trembling, he struck her in the face, saying: ‘Madame, you desire to know too much.’ He then left her indignant and confounded. This affront offered to the dignity of the royal family of France did not pass unnoticed: Francis ‘scolded Henry d’Albret soundly,’ says Brantome. ^fg77

Margaret, eager to win over her husband and to be agreeable to her court, resolved to have a representation of some biblical dramas. Possibly she might by this means reach those who would not come to the sermons. She took for her subject The Birth of the Savior, and having completed her poem distributed the parts among certain noble maidens. These biblical representations, which displeased Calvin, because of their theatrical form, and the Romish clergy because of their evangelical truths, charmed the middle party, and as they belong to the religious history of the epoch, we cannot pass them by unnoticed. Margaret fitted up the great hall of the castle as a theater. The scenery was prepared, and shortly after Christmas placards announced the representation of ‘The Nativity of Jesus Christ.’

fg78

When the day came the hall was crowded. In the front rank of the amphitheater sat the king and queen, the latter wearing a plain dress trimmed with marten’s fur and a Bearnese hood. Near them were the Cardinals De Grammont and De Foix with other members of the clergy. Around the royal pair were Margaret’s inseparable maids of honor — Mademoiselle de St. Pather, the usual distributor of her alms, Mademoiselle de la Batenage, Blanche de Tournon, Frangoise de Clermont, Madame d’Avangour, the greatest ‘eaves-dropper’ of the court, the chancellor, chamberlains, and almoners. Her ten stewards, her esquires and thirty-eight maids, her seventeen secretaries, and her twenty valets-dechambre were most of them present. ^fg79 The invited strangers occupied seats according to their rank. A first representation has rarely excited more curiosity.

The first act begins. The scene is placed at Nazareth, in the house of a poor carpenter. A man in the prime of life and a young woman are talking together. A proclamation has just been published in the market-place ordering every one to go to the city of their family to be registered. But these poor people belong to Bethlehem, and Bethlehem is a long way from Nazareth. The woman is soon to become a mother, and the man is uneasy about the consequences of the journey. The young Israelitish woman, whose calm meek features indicate the serenity of a pious soul, says to him:

… Us no danger shall come nigh, For he whose power o’ershadowed me, Holds in his hand both fruit and tree. ^fg80

The scene changes, and we are at Bethlehem. It is quite dark, but a few lights are visible through the windows of the houses. The same man and woman — they are Joseph and Mary — have just arrived from Nazareth after a fatiguing journey. Joseph, still anxious, begins:

It is late and already night… Let us approach the nearest light.

He knocks at the door, and asks to be admitted. The owner of the house looks contemptuously on them and says that he lodges none but rich people. Joseph goes a little farther on and knocks at another door:

Will you please lodge my wife and me? For the poor woman, as you see, Is near her time.

This man looks as contemptuously upon them as the other, and answers that he takes in none but noblemen. Joseph, still undiscouraged, points out a third man to his wife and says:

Here is a man with pleasant look.

He speaks to him, but the man is a bon vivant, and is annoyed by the careworn appearance of the travelers. ‘I like,’ he says,

Dances, sports, women, good-cheer… No kill-joys are wanted here. Pass on, my friends;

Joseph, with a deep sigh:

Onward then, and God will tell Where he pleases we should dwell.

But wearied by the journey, and uneasy about her condition, Mary begins to change countenance:

Woe’s me, I feel the hour draw near For the long-looked-for fruit t’appear.

At these words, the startled Joseph looks round him, and discovering at last a poor stable which the wind penetrates on every side, he presses Mary to enter it:

I will take care To shelter you from every hurtful air.

He settles the young woman as comfortably as he can in the rude shed, and prepares to go into the town to get what she requires.

MARY.

Go, go, my friend: I shall not be alone, For where God is, there also is my home.

Mary remaining alone offers up a touching prayer to her heavenly Father; then, yielding to her fatigue, she lies down upon the straw and falls asleep.

The scene changes to heaven. The eyes of the Lord, which ‘look upon the sons of men,’ are turned upon the earth, and are fixed with kindness on Mary, whose sleep is gentle and peaceful. Then as the great moment approaches, He orders the angels to leave heaven and announce to mankind the news of a great joy. He gives each of them a message; some are to go to Mary, others to Simeon. The humblest of them says:

…And I, Lord… I will go see the least of all, And tell him how great he has become Since the great one has become small.

Hymns of praise immediately resound through heaven:

Glory to Thee, Almighty Lord!

And the angels depart upon their mission.

The scene changes, and we are once more in the stable at Bethlehem. Mary awakes and is still alone, tier heart is agitated by the most astounding thoughts: the mystery of God which she discerns surprises and confounds her.

Strange! a virgin… yet a mother Of a son above all other, Very God and very man! Emanuel! of the Father dearest Son… May my hands be joined with thine? May thy lips be touched by mine?

At this moment the animals sent by God arrive: they enter the wretched stable, filling it with their glory, and each salutes the poor virgin of Nazareth in his own fashion. One of them says:

All hail, happy dame, Mother of the Son thou lov’st so dearly!

Another, whose character appears to be humility, addresses the new-born child:

Little child, pray spare me not…

Though I’m small I shall delight

To wait upon you day and night,

To wash you or to warm your bed ^fg81…

At this point Joseph returns with the provisions he has bought; he is distressed at his inability to receive becomingly this child of heaven, but resolving to give all that he has, he advances towards the stable. On a sudden he stops in surprise… he looks… a divine light fills the humble shed, and shines all around.

What a strange gleam There comes from within! I’m like a man in a maze: I am quite sure I never before Saw such a glorious blaze.

He stops at the threshold and looks in. The angels have disappeared, and he says:

Mary, I see, Has not lost her glee, Her face with joy runs o’er… But why does she stare, This virgin dear, So constantly on the floor?

Joseph looks more carefully, as he stands motionless at the door, and discovers Jesus who has just been born:

Yes! ’t is the child!

The honest carpenter does not know what to do; he dares not approach, and yet he cannot remain apart; a struggle takes place in his soul.

Here will I stay… No! I must go in.

At last Joseph comes forward: he looks at the child, and kneeling humbly before him, worships and kisses hint.

With this kiss I would cool My heart with charity burning. What a charming child, So handsome and mild, And that’s the truth, I assure you.

Mary is uneasy: she looks at the child, so weak and tender, and is distressed at having nothing to wrap him in,

For the night is cold.

JOSEPH.

I shall light this taper.

He then lights the lamp.

Where shall we put him? In the manger here… No better place in all the inn.

This was the end of the first act. The spectators expressed the interest they felt in the drama, at once so serious and so holy; and even the cardinals De Grammont and De Foix found nothing in it contrary to the doctrines of the Church. As that was a time when people were very fond of diversion, joke and jest followed. Several comic characters appeared in the interlude, especially a poor monk, who was the soul of the farce. ^fg82 This was not Margaret’s composition: even the catholics did not charge her with it. The jesters retired at last, and the drama proceeded.

The scene represented the fields round Bethlehem, where shepherds and shepherdesses were keeping their flocks during the watches of the night. One shepherd worn out with labor, another with ‘hunting the wolf’ had fallen asleep; some shepherdesses followed their example; but one shepherd and one shepherdess were awake and communicating their thoughts to each other.

THIRD SHEPHERD.

A something keeps me wide awake; My usual sleep I cannot take. It is not my flock, I’m sure, For the fold is quite secure; In my heart a joy I feel And I seem good news to hear… Meanwhile I shall turn my eyes To the star-bespangled skies.

He contemplates the firmament.

FIRST SHEPHERDESS.

What seest thou, brother, when thine eye Thou turn’st admiring to the sky?

THIRD SHEPHERD.

I admire the great Creator Who hath made all things, and we Are his temple…

FIRST SHEPHERDRESS.

Tell me, shepherd, what He promised To the patriarchs who waited Patiently for ages?…

THIRD SHEPHERD.

He has promised the Messiah, His true Son, through whom alone Life to us has been restored, And salvation.

FIRST SHEPHERDRESS.

Would to God the hour was nigh!

THIRD SHEPHERD.

Come, Lord, and no longer tarry!

Suddenly a bright light shines over the fields of Bethlehem, and a heavenly voice says:

Shepherds, awake, arise! Behold the happy day, When God by works for ever new Shall his great love display.

The sleeping shepherds and shepherdesses awake; they look about them and perceive the angels surrounded with a heavenly glory.

FIRST SHEPHERD.

Heavens! what means this brightness here? I am almost numbed with fear.

SECOND SHEPHERDRESS.

By this clear and glorious light My weak eyes are dazzled quite.

FIRST ANGEL.

Gentle shepherds, do not fear, I am come your hearts to cheer, With glad tidings… For to you upon this morn The Savior Jesus Christ is born. As ‘twas writ; and this the sign How to know the child divine; Wrapped in swaddling bands, the Son Has a manger for a throne… The Jesus whom the Lord has sent To fulfill his covenant.

All the angels then sing the hymn of praise:

Glory be to God most high.

SECOND SHEPHERD.

Let us haste and feast our eyes

Where the hope of mortals lies.

THIRD SHEPHERD.

In a hut so mean and poor, If we cannot pass the door, We can through some crevice spy ^fg83 Where our Lord and King doth lie.

The shepherds and shepherdesses converse as they go on the reception they will give to the Messiah, with a simplicity that may appear excessive, but which is not devoid of grace and genuineness.

FIRST SHEPHERD AND SHEPHERDRESS.

Let us from our plenty bear Presents to their scanty fare.

THIRD SHEPHERD.

Here’s a cheese I’ll take with me In this basket.

SECOND SHEPHERD.

And you see, This great bowl of milk I’ll carry, And I hope ’t will please sweet Mary.

FIRST SHEPHERD.

I shall give this cage and bird.

SECOND SHEPHERD.

I this faggot, for, my word! The weather’s cold.

THIRD SHEPHERD.

This rude toy, This rustic flute will please the boy.

FIRST SHEPHERDESS.

I will kiss his very cheek...

SECOND SHEPHERD.

Nay! ‘t is honor sure enough But to kiss him in the foot. ^fg84

Shepherds and shepherdesses all leave the fields and hurry to Bethlehem.

The scene again changes to this town, where the shepherds and shepherdesses arrive and look for the place where the child lies.

SECOND SHEPHERD.

In this house with paint so gay, The holy child would never stay.

THIRD SHEPHERD.

Nor in this palace would he rest, But rather in some humbler nest.

FIRST SHEPHERDESS, searching carefully.

There’s a place in this rude rock; Can it be the honored spot?

Shepherds and shepherdesses draw near, and looking through the cracks in the wall of the poor stable, discover Mary and Jesus. The second shepherd exclaims with rapture:

There’s the child… and there’s the mother…

THIRD SHEPHERDESS.

See how mild Hangs on his mother’s breast the child.

SECOND SHEPHERD.

Call you man to ope the door… (to Josevh) Hola! Master…

JOSEPH.

What means that noise without?

FIRST SHEPHERD.

The true fruit of heaven we seek.

MARY.

If God hath this great fact revealed, By us it must not be concealed; For to believers we the Christ must show; Open the door…

JOSEPH, opening the door.

You can come in.

The shepherds and shepherdesses approach respectfully, and puny as the child appears, they recognize in him the height of the eternal Majesty, and worship him:

THIRD SHEPHERD.

… Thou art the promised seed To Adam after his misdeed. Abraham and David on this relied, And both alike were justified.

SECOND SHEPHERD.

The eye beholds a weak and powerless child; But faith which comes of knowledge bids us bow In honor and in adoration at his feet, As the true God.

After the adoration of the shepherds, the shepherdesses, a little curious, surround Mary and enter into conversation with her.

THIRD SHEPHERDESS.

How is ‘t no costly robes he owns: Silver and gold and precious stones?

MARY.

Simplicity he liketh best, Nor will he in choice clothes be dressed.

The first streaks of dawn begin to appear.

SECOND SHEPHERD.

The day is near… I must begone.

FIRST SHEPHERDESS, approaching Mary.

May I just give his little toe One single kiss before I go. ^fg85

THIRD SHEPHERD.

Our hands have touched, our eyes have seen, The Lamb who takes away our sin.

The shepherds and shepherdesses then present their humble offerings.

FIRST SHEPHERD.

Serving thee we’ll live and die, For without thee life is naught.

The second act being finished, a new interlude was introduced to make the spectators merry. The jesters reappeared and recited several rondeaux, always containing some piquant and unexpected joke, which called forth the laughter of the audience. The burden of the virelais (poems composed of very short lines, and with two rhymes) usually turned on some monk, which greatly diverted the spectators. The cardinals and the catholics who took pleasure in the drama were annoyed by the satires. ^fg86

The third act began. Satan, who was making the tour of the world, arrived over the fields of Bethlehem, whither the shepherds had returned, and absorbed in his own thoughts, said to himself:

I have reigned until this hour And subdued earth to my power; With God above have warred unceasing, And my triumphs are increasing.

The shepherdesses, to whom he was invisible, expressed their joy in hymns:

Shepherdesses, maidens fair, Listen to the song we sing: Tidings of great joy we bring, That take away all mortal care.

Satan stopped and listened: becoming alarmed, he exclaimed:

This is a hymn that chills my blood… What tidings have they heard?

The shepherdesses, still unconscious of Satan’s presence, continue singing:

Hail! to the Virgin-born, Hail! to the Lord and Son, Who in this happy morn, The veil of earth puts on. Loud praise to God be given Who makes us heirs of heaven.

Satan listening, and still more uneasy:

To learn this secret, how I’ve toiled! Shall it be hidden from me now?

He disguises himself, and approaches the shepherds under the form of a great lord, and says to them:

Whence come you?

FIRST SHEPHERD.

From seeing Christ, the Savior of mankind, By whom in God we are regenerate. Will you not go and see him, mighty lord? I’ll show the way.

SATAN.

Can this be true, or is it all a dream?

SECOND SHEPHERD.

Go and see for yourself…

SATAN.

God from his throne on high For this world does not care… I am its king… yes, I… ……… Come with me and make good cheer… But you must believe no mo’ That God can ever stoop so low.

THIRD SHEPHERD.

He is my father, brother, all… I am his from head to foot. ^fg87 God is for me, and no false one Shall this heavenly faith uproot.

SATAN.

Fools and madmen! are ye gods?…

FIRST SHEPHERD.

To the Son we leave the glory Of being God. Enough for us To be whatso’er he pleases, And to know that He’s the