Chapter XX: Book XV: Switzerland--Conquests. 1526-1530 (4)

On this platform the people of Neuchatel were in commotion, paying little attention to these noble scenes of nature. The governor, whose castle adjoined the church, was compelled to remain an idle spectator of the excesses that he could not prevent; he was content to leave us a description of them. "These daring fellows," says he, "seize mattocks, hatchets, and hammers, and thus march against the images of the saints." They advance--they strike the statues and the altars--they dash them to pieces. The figures carved in the fourteenth century by the "imagers" of Count Louis are not spared; and scarcely do the statues of the counts themselves, which were mistaken for idols, escape destruction. The townspeople collect all these fragments of an idolatrous worship; they carry them out of the church, and throw them from the top of the rock. The paintings meet with no better treatment. "It is the devil," thought they with the early Christians, "who taught the world this art of statues, images, and all sorts of likenesses."[1014] They tear out the eyes in the pictures of the saints, and cut off their noses. The crucifix itself is thrown down, for this wooden figure usurps the homage that Jesus Christ claims in the heart. One image, the most venerated of all, still remains: it is our Lady of Mercy, which Mary of Savoy had presented to the collegiate church; but Our Lady herself is not spared. A hand more daring than the rest strikes it, as, in the fourth century, the colossal statue of Serapis was struck.[1015] "They have even bored out the eyes of Our Lady of Mercy, which the departed lady your mother had caused to be made," wrote the governor to the Duchess of Longueville.

[1014] Diabolum sæculo intulisse artifices statuarum et imaginum et
omnis generis simulacrorum. (Tertullian, de idolatria, cap. 3.)

[1015] Socrates v. 16.

The Reformed went still further: they seized the patens in which lay the _corpus Domini_, and flung them from the top of the rock into the torrent; after which, being desirous of showing that the consecrated wafers are mere bread, and not God himself, they distributed them one to another and ate them......At this sight the canons and chaplains could no longer remain quiet. A cry of horror was heard; they ran up with their adherents, and opposed force to force. At length began the struggle that had been so much dreaded.

[Sidenote: REFLECTIONS.]

The provost Oliver of Hochberg, the canons Simon of Neuchatel and Pontus of Soleilant, all three members of the privy council, had repaired hastily to the castle, as well as the other councillors of the princess. Until this moment they had remained silent spectators of the scene; but when they saw the two parties were coming to blows, they ordered all "the supporters of the Evangelical doctrine" to appear before the governor. This was like trying to chain the winds. Besides, why should the Reformers stop? They were not acting without legitimate authority.[1016] "Tell the governor," replied the townspeople haughtily, "that in the concerns of God and of our souls he has no command over us."[1017]

[1016] "Par les quatre du dit Neuchatel," by the Four (the municipal
authorities) of the said Neuchatel, remarks the priest Besancenet. See
also the _recess_ of the council held at Neuchatel by MM. of Berne,
4th November 1530.

[1017] The Governor's letter to the Princess.

George de Rive then discovered that his authority failed against a power superior to his own. He must yield, and save at least some remnants. He hastened therefore to remove the images that still remained, and to shut them up in secret chambers. The citizens of Neuchatel allowed him to execute this measure. "Save your gods," thought they, "preserve them under strong bars, lest perchance a robber should deprive you of the objects of your adoration."[1018] By degrees the tumult died away, the popular torrent returned within its channel, and a little after, in commemoration of this great day, they inscribed these words on a pillar of the church:--

L'AN 1530, LE 28 OCTOBRE, FUT OTEE ET ABATTUE L'IDOLATRIE
DE CEANT PAR LES BOURGEOIS.[1019]

[1018] Cur vos sub validissimis clavibus, ingentibusque sub claustris
conservatis, ne forte fur aliquis irreptat? (Arnobius contra gentes,
vi. p. 257.)

[1019] On the 23d of October 1530, idolatry was overthrown and removed
from the church by the citizens.

[Sidenote: PLANS OF THE ROMANISTS.]

An immense revolution had been effected. Doubtless it would have been better if the images had been taken away and the Gospel substituted in their place with calmness, as at Zurich; but we must take into consideration the difficulties that so profound and contested a change brings with it, and make allowance for the inexperience and excesses inseparable from a first explosion. He who should see in this revolution its excesses only, would betray a singularly narrow mind. It is the Gospel that triumphed on the esplanade of the castle. It was no longer a few pictures or legends that were to speak to the imagination of the Neuchatelans: the revelation of Christ and of the Apostles, as it had been preserved in the Holy Scriptures, was restored to them. In place of the mysteries, symbols, and miracles of Popery, the Reformation brought them sublime tenets, powerful doctrines, holy and eternal truths. Instead of a Mass, void of God, and filled with human puerilities, it restored to them the Supper of our Lord Jesus Christ, his invisible yet real and mighty presence, his promises giving peace to the soul, and his Spirit, which changes the heart, and is a sure pledge of a glorious resurrection. All is gain in such an exchange.

VIII. The governor and his trusty friends had not, however, lost all hope. "It is only a minority," said they at the castle, "which has taken part in the destruction of the images; the majority of the nation still obeys the ancient doctrine." M. de Rive had yet to learn that if, in a popular movement, only the minority appears, it is in some cases because the majority, being of the same mind with it, prefers leaving the action to others. However that may be, the governor, thinking himself upon sure ground, resolved to put the preservation of the Mass to the vote. If the majority were doubtful, the combined influence of the government and clergy would make it incline to the side of Rome. The friends of the Reformation perceiving this trick, and feeling the necessity of securing the integrity of the votes, demanded the presence of Bernese commissioners. This was at first refused. But Neuchatel, divided into two hostile parties, might at any time see her streets run blood: De Rive therefore called Berne to his aid.

[Sidenote: THE GOVERNOR'S DIFFICULTIES.]

Anthony Noll and Sulpice Archer, both members of the council, with Jacques Tribolet, bailiff of the Isle of St. John, all three devoted to the Reform, made their entry into Neuchatel on the 4th November,--an eventful day for the principality, and one which would decide on its reformation. The deputies proceeded to the castle, and there spoke with haughtiness.[1020] "Their excellencies of Berne," said they to the governor, "are much astonished that you should oppose the true and pure Word of God. Desist immediately, or else your state and lordship may suffer for it."[1021]

[1020] Trois ambassadeurs qui me tinrent assez gros et rudes propos.
(The Governor to the Princess.)

[1021] Ibid.

George de Rive was amazed; he had thought to summon helpers, and he had found masters. He made, however, an attempt to escape from the strait in which he was caught. The Roman-catholic cantons of Lucerne, Friburg, and Soleure, were also allies of the state. The governor insinuated to the Bernese deputies, that he might well claim their intervention. At these words the deputies indignantly arose, and declared to M. de Rive, that if he did so, he might be the cause of his sovereign's losing Neuchatel. The governor saw the impossibility of escaping from the net into which he had fallen. There remained no alternative but submission, and to watch the current of events which it was impossible for him to direct.

It was not thus with the canons and the nobles. Not considering themselves beaten, they surrounded the Bernese; and mingling, as they always do in similar cases, religion and politics, endeavoured to shake them. "Do you not see," said they, "that unless we support the spiritual power, we shall compromise the civil power? The surest bulwark of the throne is the altar! These men, whose defenders you have become, are but a handful of mischief-makers: the majority are for the Mass!"--"Turn which way you like," replied one of the stubborn Bernese, "even though the majority should be on your side, still you must go that way; never will our lordships abandon the defenders of the Evangelical faith."[1022]

[1022] Chambrier, Hist. de Neuchatel, p. 296. (The governor's letter.
Quand bien _le plus_ sera des votres, si passerez vous par là, &c.)

[Sidenote: HATRED AND DIVISION.]

The people assembled at the castle for the definitive vote. The destiny of Neuchatel was about to be decided. On one hand were crowded around the governor the privy council, the canons, and the most zealous of the Romanists; on the other were to be seen the four aldermen, the town-council, and a great number of the citizens, gravely ascending the steep avenue leading to the government-house, and drawing up in front of their adversaries. On both sides there was the same attachment to the faith they had embraced, the same decision; but around the canons were many anxious minds, troubled hearts, and downcast eyes, while the friends of the Reform advanced with uplifted heads, firm looks, and hearts full of hope.

George de Rive, wishing to gain over their minds, began to address them. He described the violence with which the Reformed had broken the images, and thrown down the altars; "And yet," continued he, "who founded this church? It was the princess's predecessors, and not the citizens. For which reason, I demand that all those who have violently infringed our sovereign's authority, be obliged to restore what they have taken away, so that the holy Mass, and the canonical hours may be celebrated anew."[1023]

[1023] Choupart MS.; Reces du MM. de Berne.

Upon this the _prudhommes_ of Neuchatel advanced. They were not a troop of young and giddy persons, as the Papists had pretended; they were grave citizens, whose liberties were guaranteed, and who had weighed what they had to say. "By the illumination of the Holy Ghost," replied they, "and by the holy doctrines of the Gospel, which are taught us in the pure Word of God, we will show that the Mass is an abuse, without any utility, and which conduces much more to the damnation than to the salvation of souls. And we are ready to prove that by taking away the altars, we have done nothing that was not right and acceptable to God."[1024]

[1024] (Ibid.)

[Sidenote: PROPOSED DELAY.]

Thus the two parties met face to face with "great hatred and division," says the Bernese report. The arbitrators consulted together. The governor persisted, feeling that this movement would decide the future. A few votes would suffice for the triumph of Rome, and he reckoned on gaining them by his assurance. "You should understand," said he, "that the majority of this town, men and women, adhere firmly to the ancient faith. The others are hot-headed young soldiers, vain of their persons, and puffed up with the new doctrine."[1025]--"Well!" replied the Bernese deputies, "to prevent all mischief, let us settle this difference by the plurality of suffrages, in accordance with the treaty of peace made at Bremgarten between the cantons."

[1025] Devez entendre que la pluspart de cette ville, hommes et
femmes, tiennent fermement à l'ancienne foi. Les autres sont jeunes
gens de guerre, forts de leurs personnes, remplis de la nouvelle
doctrine, ayants le feu à la tête. (Choupart MS.)

[Sidenote: THE ROMANIST PROTEST.]

This was what the Reformed desired. "The vote! the vote!" cried they according to the expression consecrated to such cases.[1026] But the lord of Prangins and the priests, who had desired it when they were alone, shrunk back in the presence of Berne. "We ask for time," said they. If the Reformed allowed themselves to be cheated by these dilatory measures, it was all over. When once the Bernese had quitted Neuchatel, the governor and the clergy would easily have the upperhand. They therefore remained firm. "No, no!" said they, "now!--no delay!--not a day! not an hour!" But the governor, in the face of a proceeding that would decide the legal fall of Popery, trembled, and obstinately opposed the cries of the people. The magistrates were already indignant, the burghers murmured, and the most violent looked at their swords. "They were resolved to compel us, sword in hand," wrote the governor to the princess. A fresh storm was gathering over Neuchatel. Yet a few more minutes' resistance, and it would burst forth upon the church, the town, and the castle, destroying not only statues, images, and altars, but "there would have remained dead men," said the lord of Rive.[1027] He gave way in trouble and affright.

[1026] _Le plus_, the majority.

[1027] The Governor's letter to the Princess.

At the news of this concession, the partisans of Rome saw all their danger. They confer, they concert their measures, and in an instant their resolution is taken: they are resolved to fight.[1028] "My lord," said they, turning to M. de Rive, and touching the hilt of their swords, "all of us who adhere to the holy Sacrament are resolved to die martyrs for our holy faith."[1029] This demonstration did not escape the notice of the young soldiers who had returned from the Genevese war. One minute more and the swords would have been drawn, and the platform changed into a battlefield.

[1028] Ibid.

[1029] Ibid.

Monseigneur de Prangins, more wily than orthodox, shuddered at the thought. "I cannot suffer it," said he to the most violent of his party; "such an enterprise would forfeit my mistress's state and lordship."[1030]--"I consent," said he to the Bernese, "to take the votes, with reserve nevertheless of the sovereignty, rights, and lordship of Madame."--"And we," replied the townspeople, "with the reserve of our liberties and privileges."

[1030] Ibid.

The Romanists, seeing the political power they had invoked now failing them, felt that all was lost. They will save their honour at least in this great shipwreck; they will subscribe their names, that posterity may know who had remained faithful to Rome. These proud supporters of the hierarchy advance towards the governor; tears course down their rough cheeks, betraying thus their stifled anger. They write their signatures as witnesses at the foot of the solemn testament that Popery is now drawing up in Neuchatel, in the presence of the Bernese deputies. They then added, with tears in their eyes, "that the names and surnames of the good and of the perverse had been written in perpetual memory, and declared that they were still good and faithful burghers of Madame, and would do her service unto death."[1031]

[1031] Alors iceux dirent en pleurant que les noms et les surnoms. des
bons et des pervers fussent écrits en perpétuelle mémoire, et qu'ils
protestoient être bons et fidèles bourgeois de Madame, et lui faire
service jusqu' à la mort.

[Sidenote: MAJORITY FOR REFORM.]

The reformed townspeople were convinced that it was only by frankly bearing testimony to their religious convictions that they could discharge their debt before God, their sovereign, and their fellow-citizens. So that the Catholics had scarcely protested their fidelity towards their lady, when, turning towards the governor, the Reformed cried out: "We say the same in every other thing in which it shall please our Mistress to command us, save and except the Evangelical faith, in which we will live and die."[1032]

[1032] Governor's letter. Nous disons le semblable en toute autre
chose où il plaira à Madame nous commander, sauf et reserve icelle foi
évangelique, dans laquelle nous voulons vivre et mourir.

Everything was then prepared for taking the votes. The church of our lady was opened, and the two parties advanced between the shattered altars, torn pictures, mutilated statues, and all those ruins of Popery, which clearly foretold to its partisans the last and irrevocable defeat it was about to undergo. The three Lords of Berne took their station beside the governor as arbitrators of the proceedings and presidents of the assembly, and the voting began.

George de Rive, notwithstanding the despondency of his friends, was not altogether without hope. All the partisans of the ancient worship in Neuchatel had been forewarned; and but a few days previously the Reformed themselves, by refusing the voting, had acknowledged the numerical superiority of their adversaries. But the friends of the Gospel in Neuchatel had a courage and a hope that seemed to repose on a firmer basis. Were they not the victorious party, and could they be vanquished in the midst of their triumph?

[Sidenote: PROTESTANTISM PERPETUAL.]

The two parties, however, moved forward, confounded one with the other, and each man gave his vote in silence. They counted each other: the result appeared uncertain; fear froze each party by turns. At length the majority seemed to declare itself;--they took out the votes,--the result was proclaimed. A majority of eighteen voices gave the victory to the Reformation, and the last blow to the Papacy!

The Bernese lords immediately hastened to profit by this advantage. "Live henceforth," said they, "in good understanding with one another; let the Mass be no longer celebrated; let no injury be done to the priests; and pay to your Lady, or to whomsoever they may be justly due, all tithes, quit-rent, cense, and revenues." These different points were proclaimed by the assembly, and a report was immediately drawn up, to which the deputies, the governors, and the magistrates of the city of Neuchatel affixed their respective seals.[1033]

[1033] Reces de MM. de Berne, MS. Et que l'on paie à Madame ou à qui
il sera dû justement dîmes, cens, rentes et revenus.

[Sidenote: THE IMAGE OF ST. JOHN.]

Farel did not appear in all this business: one might have said that the reformer was not at Neuchatel: the citizens appealed only to the Word of God; and the governor himself, in his long report to the princess, does not once mention him. It was the Apostles of our Lord, St. Peter, St. John, St. Paul, and St. James, who by their divine writings re-established the true foundations of the Church in the midst of the people of Neuchatel. The Word of God was the law of the prudhommes of Neuchatel. In vain will the Roman Church say, "But these very Scriptures,--it is I who give them to you; you cannot therefore believe in them without believing in me." It is not from the Church of Rome that the Protestant Church receives the Bible. Protestantism has always existed in the Church. It has existed alone in every place where men have been engaged in the study of the Holy Scriptures, of their divine origin, of their interpretation, and in their dissemination. The Protestantism of the sixteenth century received the Bible from the Protestantism of every age. When Rome speaks of the hierarchy, she is on her own ground: as soon as she speaks of the Scriptures, she is on ours. If Farel had been put forward in Neuchatel, he would not perhaps have been able to stand against the Pope; but the Word of Christ alone was concerned, and Rome must fall before Jesus.

Thus terminated, by a mutual contract, that day at first so threatening. If the Reformed had sacrificed any of their convictions to a false peace, disorder would have been perpetuated in Neuchatel. A bold manifestation of the truth and the inevitable shocks that accompanied it, far from destroying society, preserved it. This manifestation is the wind that lifts the vessel from the rocks and brings it into the harbour.

The Lord of Prangins felt that, between fellow-citizens, "it is better to touch one another, even if it be by collision, than to avoid each other continually." The free explanation that had taken place had rendered the opposition of the two parties less irritating. "I give my promise," said the governor, "to undertake nothing against the vote of this day, for I am myself a witness that it has been honest, upright, without danger, and without coercion."[1034]

[1034] Ungefährlich, ungezwringen, aufrecht und redlich. (Berne to the
Governor, 17th Dec. 1530.)

It was necessary to dispose of the spoils of the vanquished party: the governor opened the castle to them. Thither were transported the relics, the ornaments of the altars, the church papers, and even the organ; and the Mass, expelled from the city, was there mournfully chanted every day.

All the ornaments, however, did not take this road. Some days after, as two citizens, named Fauche and Sauge, were going out together to their vineyards, they passed a little chapel, in which the latter had set up a wooden figure of St. John. He said to his companion, "There is an image I shall heat my stove with to-morrow." And, in fact, as he returned, he carried away the saint and laid it down in front of his house.

[Sidenote: A MIRACLE.]

The next morning he took the image and put it on the fire. Immediately a horrible explosion spread dismay through this humbly family. The trembling Fauche doubts not that it is a miracle of the saint, and hastens to return to the Mass. In vain does his neighbour Sauge protest to him upon oath that, during the night, he had made a hole in the statue, filled it with gunpowder, and closed it up again. Fauche will listen to nothing, and resolves to flee from the vengeance of the saints. He went and settled with his family at Morteau in Franche Comté.[1035] Such are the miracles upon which the divinity of Rome reposes!

[1035] Boyve Annals, MS.

By degrees everything became settled: some of the canons, as Jacques Baillod, William de Pury, and Benedict Chambrier, embraced the Reformation. Others were recommended by the governor to the priory of Motiers, in the Val de Travers; and, in the middle of November, at the time when the winds begin to rage among the mountains, several canons, surrounded by a few singing-boys,--sad relics of the ancient, powerful, rich, voluptuous, and haughty chapter of Neuchatel, painfully climbed up the gorges of the Jura, and went to conceal in these lofty and picturesque valleys the disgrace of a defeat, which their long disorders and their insupportable tyranny had but too justly provoked.

[Sidenote: POPERY AND THE GOSPEL.]

During this time the new worship was organized. In room of the high-altar were substituted two marble tables to receive the bread and wine; and the Word of God was preached from a pulpit stripped of every ornament. The pre-eminence of the Word, which characterizes the Evangelical worship, replaced in the church of Neuchatel the preeminence of the sacrament, which characterizes Popery. Towards the end of the second century, Rome, that ancient metropolis of all religions, after having welcomed the Christian worship in its primitive purity, had gradually transformed it into mysteries; a magic power had been ascribed to certain forms; and the reign of the sacrifice offered by the priest had succeeded to the reign of the Word of God. The preaching of Farel had restored the Word to the rights which belong to it; and those vaulted roofs, which the piety of Count Ulric II. had, on his return from Jerusalem, dedicated to the worship of the Virgin, served at last, after four centuries, to nourish the faithful, as in the time of the Apostles, "in the words of faith and of good doctrine."[1036]

[1036] 1 Tim. iv. 6.

IX. The convention, drawn up under the mediation of Berne, stipulated that "the change should take place only in the city and parish of Neuchatel." Must the rest of the country remain in darkness? This was not Farel's wish, and the zeal of the citizens, in its first fervour, effectually seconded him. They visited the surrounding villages, exhorting some, combating others. Those who were compelled to labour with their hands during the day went thither at night. "Now, I am informed," writes the governor to the princess, "that they are working at a reformation night and day."

George de Rive, in alarm, convoked the magistrates of all the districts in the earldom. These good folks believed that their consciences, as well as their places, depended upon Madame de Longueville. Affrighted at the thought of freely receiving a new conviction from the Word of God, they were quite ready to accept it from the countess as they would a new impost. A sad helotism, in which religion springs from the soil, instead of descending from heaven! "We desire to live and die under the protection of our lady," said the magistrates to the Lord of Rive, "without changing the ancient faith, _until it be so ordered by her_."[1037] Rome, even after her fall, could not receive a deeper insult.

[1037] Choupart MS. Nous voulons vivre et mourir sous la protection de
Madame, sans changer l'ancienne foi, _jusqu' à ce que par elle en soit
ordonné_.

[Sidenote: FAILURE OF THE PLOT.]

These assurances of fidelity and the absence of the Bernese restored De Rive's confidence, and he secretly prepared a reaction among the nobles and the lower classes. There is in every historical catastrophe, in the fall of great establishments, and in the spectacle of their ruins, something which excites and improves the mind. This was what happened at the period in question. Some were more zealous for Popery after its fall than in its day of power. The priests gliding into the houses said Mass to a few friends mysteriously called together around a temporary altar. If a child was born, the priest noiselessly arrived, breathed on the infant, made the sign of the cross on its forehead and breast, and baptized it according to the Roman ritual.[1038] Thus they were rebuilding in secret what had been overthrown in the light of day. At length a counter-revolution was agreed upon; and Christmas day was selected for the restoration of Roman-catholicism. While the Christians' songs of joy should be rising to heaven, the partisans of Rome were to rush into the church, expel the heretical assembly, overthrow the pulpit and the holy table, restore the images, and celebrate the Mass in triumph. Such was the plan of the Neuchatelan vespers.[1039]

[1038] Berne to Neuchatel, 17th December.

[1039] Berne to the Governor, 23d December.

The plot got wind. Deputies from Berne arrived at Neuchatel on the very eve of the festival. "You must see to this," said they to the governor: "if the Reformed are attacked, we, their co-burghers, will protect them with all our power." The conspirators laid down their arms, and the Christmas hymns were not disturbed.

This signal deliverance augmented the devotion and zeal of the friends of the Gospel. Already Emer Beynon of Serrière, where Farel had one day landed from a small boat, ascending the pulpit, had said to his parishioners: "If I have been a good priest, I desire by the grace of God to be a still better pastor." It was necessary for these words to be heard from every pulpit. Farel recommenced a career of labours, fatigues, and struggles, which the actions of the apostles and missionaries alone can equal.

[Sidenote: FAREL'S LABOURS.]

Towards the end of the year 1530, he crossed the mountain in the middle of winter, entered the church of Valangin, went into the pulpit, and began to preach at the very moment that Guillemette de Vergy was coming to Mass. She endeavoured to shut the reformer's mouth, but in vain, and the aged and noble dowager retired precipitately, saying: "I do not think this is according to the old Gospels; if there are any new ones that encourage this, I am quite amazed."[1040] The people of Valangin embraced the Gospel. The affrighted lieutenant ran to Neuchatel, thence to Berne, and on the 11th February 1521 laid his complaint before the council; but all was useless. "Why," said their excellencies of Berne to him, "why should you disturb the water of the river? let it flow freely on."

[1040] Chambrier, Hist. de Neuchatel et Valangin, p. 299. Je ne crois
pas que ce soit selon les vieux évangiles; s'il y en a de nouveaux qui
fassent cela faire, j'en suis esbahie.

Farel immediately turned to the parishes on the slopes between the lake and Mount Jura. At Corcelles a fanatic crowd, well armed and led on by the curate of Neuchatel, rushed into the church where the minister was preaching, and he did not escape without a wound. At Bevay, the abbot John of Livron and his monks collected a numerous body of friends, surrounded the church, and having thus completed the blockade, entered the building, dragged the minister from the pulpit, and drove him out with blows and insults. Each time he reappeared, they pursued him as far as Auvernier with stones and gunshots.

[Sidenote: THE PASTOR MARCOURT.]

While Farel was thus preaching in the plain, he sent one of his brethren into the valley; it was John de Bély, a man of good family from Crest in Dauphiny. Beyond Valangin, at a little distance from Fontaine, on the left side of the road to Cernier, was a stone that remains to this day. It was here in the open air, as if in a magnificent temple, that this herald of the Gospel began to proclaim salvation by grace.[1041] Before him stretched the declivity of Chaumont, dotted with the pretty villages of Fenin, Villars, Sole, and Savagnier, and beyond, where the mountains fell away, might be seen the distant and picturesque chain of the Alps. The most zealous of his hearers entreated him to enter the church. He did so; but suddenly the priest and his curate "arrived with great noise." They proceeded to the pulpit, dragged Bély down; and then turning to the women and young persons of the place, "excited them to beat him and drive him away."[1042]

[1041] It does not appear that Bély could have stood and preached on
this stone, as is generally said, unless what now remains is but a
fragment of the original.

[1042] MS. AA. in the Choupart MS.

John de Bély returned to Neuchatel, hooted and bruised, like his friend after the affair at Valangin; but these evangelists followed the traces of the Apostle Paul, whom neither whips nor scourges could arrest.[1043] De Bély often returned to Fontaine. The Mass was abolished erelong in this village; Bély was its pastor for twenty-seven years; his descendants have more than once exercised the ministry there, and now they form the most numerous family of agriculturists in the place.

[1043] 2 Cor. xi. 24, 25.

Farel, after evangelizing the shores of the lake to the south of Neuchatel, had gone to the north and preached at St. Blaise. The populace, stirred up by the priests and the lieutenant, had fallen upon him, and Farel escaped from their hands, severely beaten, spitting blood, and scarcely recognisable. His friends had thrown him hurriedly into a boat, and conveyed him to Morat, where his wounds detained him for some time.[1044]

[1044] De Perrot: L'Eglise et la Réformation, ii. p. 233.

At the report of this violence the reformed Neuchatelans felt their blood boil. If the lieutenant, the priest, and his flock have bruised the body of Christ's servant, which is truly the altar of the living God, why should they spare dead idols? Immediately they rush to St. Blaise, throw down the images, and do the same at the abbey of Fontaine-André,--a sanctuary of the ancient worship.

[Sidenote: DISGRACEFUL EXPEDIENT.]

The images still existed at Valangin, but their last hour was about to strike. A Frenchman, Anthony Marcourt, had been nominated pastor of Neuchatel. Treading in Farel's footsteps, he repaired with a few of the citizens to Valangin on the 14th June, a great holiday in that town.[1045] Scarcely had they arrived when a numerous crowd pressed around the minister, listening to his words. The canons, who were on the watch in their houses, and Madame de Vergy and M. de Bellegarde from their towers, sought how they could make a diversion against this heretical preaching? They could not employ force because of Berne. They had recourse to a brutal expedient, worthy of the darkest days of Popery, and which, by insulting the minister, might divert (they imagined) the attention of the people, and change it into shouts and laughter. A canon,[1046] assisted by the countess's coachman, went to the stables and took thence two animals, which they led to the spot where Marcourt was preaching. We will throw a veil over this scene: it is one of those disgraceful subjects which the pen of history refuses to transcribe.[1047] But never did punishment follow closer upon crime. The conscience of the hearers was aroused at the sight of this infamous spectacle. The torrent, that such a proceeding was intended to check, rushed out of its channel. The indignant people, undertaking the defence of that religion which their opponents had wished to insult, entered the church like an avenging wave; the ancient windows were broken, the shields of the lords were demolished, the relics scattered about, the books torn, the images thrown down, and the altar overturned. But this was not enough: the popular wave, after sweeping out the church, flowed back again, and dashed against the canons' houses. Their inhabitants fled in consternation into the forests, and everything was destroyed in their dwellings.

[1045] This incident is generally attributed to Farel, but Choupart,
following an older manuscript, says, _le ministre de Neuchatel_, by
which title he always means Marcourt, and never Farel.

[1046] Some historians say "the coachman of the countess;" but
Choupart, on three different occasions, writes _a canon_. The latter
is no doubt more revolting; but there is nothing incredible in it.

[1047] De equo admissario loquitur qui equam init.

[Sidenote: THE REFORM ESTABLISHED.]

Guillemette de Vergy and M. de Bellegarde, agitated and trembling behind their battlements, repenting, but too late, of their monstrous expedient, are the only ones who have not yet suffered the popular vengeance. Their restless eyes watch the motions of the indignant townspeople. The work is completed! the last house is sacked! The burghers consult together.--O horror!--they turn towards the castle,--they ascend the hill,--they draw near. Is then the abode of the noble counts of Arberg about to be laid waste? But no!--"We come," said the delegates standing near the gate of the castle, "we are come to demand justice for the outrage committed against religion and its minister." They are permitted to enter, and the trembling countess orders the poor wretches to be punished who had acted solely by her orders. But at the same time she sends deputies to Berne, complaining of the "great insults that had been offered her."[1048] Berne declared that the Reformed should pay for the damage; but that the countess should grant them the free exercise of their worship. Jacques Veluzat, a native of Champagne, was the first pastor of Valangin. A little later we shall see new struggles at the foot of Mount Jura.

[1048] Curate of Bezancenet's chronicle. Des grands vitupères qu'on
lui avait faits.

Thus was the Reformation established at Valangin, as it had been at Neuchatel: the two capitals of these mountains were gained to the Gospel. Erelong it received a legal sanction. Francis, Marquis of Rothelin, son of the Duchess of Longueville, arrived in the principality in March, 1581, with the intention of playing on this small theatre the part of a Francis I. But he soon found out that there are revolutions which an irresistible hand has accomplished, and that must be submitted to. Rothelin excluded from the estates of the earldom the canons who had hitherto formed the first power, and replaced them by four bannerets and four burgesses. Then, availing himself of the principle that all abandoned property falls to the state, he laid his hands upon their rich heritage, and proclaimed freedom of conscience throughout all the country. All the necessary forms having been observed with Madame, the politic M. de Rive became reformed also. Such was the support Rome received from the State, to which she had looked for her deliverance.

[Sidenote: GATHERING TEMPEST.]

A great energy characterized the Reformation of French Switzerland; and this is shown by the events we have just witnessed. Men have attributed to Farel this distinctive feature of his work; but no man has ever created his own times; it is always, on the contrary, the times that create the man. The greater the epoch, the less do individualities prevail in it. All the good contained in the events we have just related came from that Almighty Spirit, of which the strongest men are but weak instruments. All the evil proceeded from the character of the people; and, indeed, it was almost always Popery that began these scenes of violence: Farel submitted to the influence of his time, rather than the time received his. A great man may be the personification and the type of the epoch for which God destines him: he is never its creator.

But it is time to quit the Jura and its beautiful valleys, brightened by the vernal sun, to direct our step towards the Alps of German Switzerland, along which thick clouds and horrible tempests are beginning to gather. The free and courageous people, who dwell below the eternal glaciers, or on the smiling banks of the lakes, daily assume a fiercer aspect, and the collision threatens to be sudden, violent, and terrible. We have just been witnessing a glorious conquest: a dreadful catastrophe awaits us.