Chapter XXXIV

CONFERENCE AT THE LOUVRE FOR THE UNION OF TRUTH AND CATHOLICITY IN THE CHURCH. (1534.)

The Wurtemberg affair being ended, Du Bellay thought of nothing but his great plan; that is, a Reformation according to the ideas of the Queen of Navarre—the combination of catholicism and truth by the union of France and Germany. They were not the only persons who entertained such thoughts: Roussel, Bucer, and many other evangelical christians asked themselves whether the great success obtained in Germany would not decide the reformation of France. Intercourse was much increased between the two countries. Frenchmen and Germans were continually crossing and recrossing the Rhine.

[Sidenote: A WITTEMBERG STUDENT.]

In the month of July 1534, the Queen of Navarre was in one of the chambers of her palace: before her stood a bashful timid young man, and she had a letter in her hand which she appeared to be reading with the liveliest interest. The young man was a native of Nîmes, Claude Baduel by name. He had just come from Wittemberg, where he had found, at the feet of Melanchthon and Luther, the knowledge of the Saviour. He was not an ordinary student. Of reserved manners,[612] generous heart, rare disinterestedness, and great firmness in the faith, he had at the same time a highly cultivated mind. He spoke Latin not only with purity, but with great elegance, and his discourses were as full of matter as of harmony.[613]

Like many other young scholars, Baduel was very poor, not having the means of studying and scarcely of living. Often during his residence at Wittemberg, he found himself in his little room reduced to the last extremity. He had uttered many a groan, and had prayed to that heavenly Father who feedeth the birds of the air. As the moment of his departure approached, his distress had increased. How could he perform the journey? What would become of him in France? He had asked himself with sorrow whether he ought not to abandon letters and devote himself to some manual labour. On a sudden, he conceived the idea of applying to the Queen of Navarre; and going to Melanchthon, he said to him: 'Ill fortune compels me to forsake the liberal arts for vulgar occupations, which my nature and my will abhor with equal energy.[614] In vain have I zealously devoted myself to the study of Holy Scripture and of eloquence; in vain have I ardently desired to make further progress; a cruel enemy—poverty—lays its barbarous hands upon me, and compels me to renounce a vocation which transported me with joy.[615] Yet I am determined to make a last and supreme attempt. The Queen of Navarre is a sort of providence, almost a divinity for the friends of letters and of the arts.[616]... Pray, dear master, give me a letter to her.'

Melanchthon, grieved at the destitute condition of a young man whose fine understanding he appreciated, did not hesitate to accede to his request. In those days there was less etiquette and formality and more familiarity between princes and the friends of letters than there has been since. On the 13th of June, 1534, a month after the battle of Laufen, the master of Germany wrote to the sister of Francis, to introduce the scholar to her. It was this letter which Baduel had delivered to the queen, and which she, delighted at entering into direct communication with Melanchthon, was reading with the greatest interest.

'It is certainly a great boldness,' wrote the illustrious reformer, 'for a man like me, of low condition and unknown to your highness,[617] to dare recommend a friend to you; but the reputation of your eminent piety, spread through all the world,[618] does not permit me to refuse an upright and learned man the service he begs of me. The liberal arts can never be supported except by the generosity of princes.' Melanchthon ended by saying: 'Never will alms more royal or more useful have been bestowed. The Church, scattered over the world, has long counted your highness among the number of those queens whom the prophet Isaiah calls the _nursing mothers_ of the people of God, and will take care to hand down the remembrance of your kindnesses to the most distant generations.'[619] But the student, that living message of the reformers, interested Margaret no less than the letter itself. Baduel had seen and heard them, in their homes, in the street, and in the pulpit. 'Talk to me,' she said with that amiable grace which distinguished her, 'talk to me about Melanchthon and Luther; tell me how they teach and how they live, what are their relations with their pupils, and what they think of France.' Margaret desired to know everything. She questioned him on several points, a knowledge of which might be useful for the projects she had conceived in conjunction with Du Bellay.

[Sidenote: MARGARET'S PATRONAGE.]

The queen did not forget the young man himself: observing the beauty of his mind, the liveliness of his faith, and the elevation of his soul, she thought that to protect Baduel was to prepare a chosen instrument to propagate evangelical principles in France. Thanks to her care, the young man, recommended by Melanchthon, became erelong a professor at Paris. Subsequently, when a college of arts was founded at Nîmes, the youthful doctor resolved to sacrifice the advantageous post he held in the capital to devote his services to the city of his birth. The queen recommended him to the consuls of that city for rector of their new institution. 'I provided for his studies,' she told them. But persecution did not allow Baduel to serve France unto the end; he was obliged to take refuge at Geneva, where he became professor in the academy founded by Calvin.[620]

[Sidenote: THE MISSION OF CHELIUS]

The communications of the young man of Nîmes strengthened Margaret, the king, and Du Bellay in their plans, and Francis resolved to send across the Rhine a confidential person, empowered to ask the doctors of the Reformation for a sketch of the means best suited to found an evangelical catholicism in Europe. It was not Baduel whom Du Bellay selected for this mission: he was too young. The diplomatist cast his eyes on Ulric Chelius, a doctor of medicine and native of Augsburg, at that time living at Strasburg, a great friend of Sturm and Bucer, and more than once employed by the King of France in various negotiations. Intelligent, active, and animated like Bucer with the double desire of reforming and at the same time of uniting christendom, Chelius was well suited for such a work. Although a German, and consequently knowing Germany thoroughly, he had all the promptitude of a Frenchman; and the circumstance that he was not of exalted rank rendered him fitter still for entering into negotiations that were to be carried on secretly. He left Strasburg and arrived at Wittemberg in July 1534.

Melanchthon was at that time greatly agitated. The divisions which separated catholicism from reform, and the quarrels between the Zwinglians and the Lutherans, filled him with anguish. He often stole away from that crowd of every age, condition, and country which continually filled his house, eager to see him.[621] His wife's anxious heart was wrung when she saw her husband's sadness, and even the children could scarcely cheer him by their innocent smiles. The future alarmed him.... 'What sad times are hanging over us,' he exclaimed, 'unless there be somebody to remedy the existing disorders!... We are moving to our destruction.... They will have recourse to arms ... and State and Church will perish!'[622]

As soon as Chelius reached Wittemberg, he called upon Melanchthon. 'King Francis,' he said, 'desires truth and unity. In almost every particular he is in accord with you, and approves of your book of _Common-places_.[623] I am authorised to ask you for a plan to put an end to the religious dissensions which disturb christendom; and I can assure you that the King of France is doing, and will do, all he can with the pope to procure harmony and peace.'[624] Nothing was better adapted to captivate Melanchthon. At this period the _moderates_ had not yet renounced the idea of preserving external unity; they desired to maintain catholicity: even Melanchthon saw no other safety for divided and agitated christendom. Accordingly, never had message arrived at a more suitable time. Chelius was to him like an angel come from heaven; a beam of joy lighted up the great doctor's clouded brow. He went to see Luther, and conversed with him and other friends about the proposals of the King of France. 'If a few good and learned men,' said he, 'brought together by certain sovereigns, were to confer freely and amicably together, it would be easy, believe me, to come to an understanding with each other.[625] Ignorant men know nothing about the matter, and make the evil greater than it is.'[626]

[Sidenote: DIFFERENT OPINIONS ON THE UNION.]

Melanchthon thought that he could unite catholics and protestants. We must not be surprised at it, for in our days very estimable, though not very clear-sighted men, entertain the same idea. Truth was dear to the doctor of Germany, but concord, unity, and catholicity were not less so. The Church, according to Melanchthon and his friends, ought to be universal; for redemption is appointed for all men, and all have need of it. The Church ought therefore to strive to unite all the children of Adam in communion with God, on the foundation of Christ, the only Redeemer. It possesses a power which can embrace all humankind and keep all differences in subjection. Such were the thoughts by which Melanchthon was inspired: if there were any sacrifices to be made to preserve the catholicity of the Church, he would gladly make them; he would recognise the bishops, and even the head of the bishops, rather than destroy unity. 'There is no question of abolishing the government of the Church,' he said; 'the chief men among us ardently desire that the received forms should be preserved as much as possible.'[627] Luther's friend took the matter so much to heart that he began to address Du Bellay personally: 'I entreat you,' he said, 'to prevail upon the great monarchs to establish a concord which shall be consistent with piety.[628] The dangers which threaten us are such that so great a man as you ought not to be wanting in the cause of the State and of the Church.... But what am I doing?... What need to urge you to walk who are running already?'[629] _Catholicity and truth_: such was the device graven on the arms borne by the champions who, under the auspices of the King of France, were to appear between the two camps of Rome and the Reformation.

Melanchthon busied himself with sketching the plan of the new Church, which, with God's help and the support of the _great monarchs_ (Francis I., Henry VIII., and probably Charles V.), was to become the Church of modern times. It might be eventually one of the most important labours ever undertaken by man. Not only the politicians, but all pious, loving, and perhaps feeble hearts, who feared controversy more than anything, ardently hoped for the success of this heroic attempt. The _chief men_, said Melanchthon, shared his opinion and encouraged his projects. Yet there were simple, earnest, christian men, with minds determined to set truth above everything, who saw with uneasiness these theologico-diplomatic negotiations. Neither Farel, nor Calvin, nor probably Luther, was among those who rallied round the standard raised by Du Bellay and grasped by Melanchthon.

That pious man, however, was far from wishing to sacrifice the truth. 'I am quite of your opinion,' said he to Bucer, 'that there can be no agreement between us and the Bishop of Rome.[630] But, to satisfy the worthy men who are endeavouring to bring this great matter to a happy issue, I shall lay down what ought to be the essential points of agreement.' Melanchthon then believed, and many evangelical christians in France, and particularly in Germany, believed also, that if a reform, though incomplete, were once established, the power of truth would soon bring about a complete reform. He therefore finished his sketch and gave it to Chelius.

[Sidenote: NOTES OF THE THREE DOCTORS.]

The latter, imagining that he held the salvation of the Church in his hands, hastened to Strasburg to communicate Melanchthon's project to his friends. On arriving at Bucer's house (17th of August), he found him writing his answer to the _Catholic Axiom_ of the Bishop of Avranches, a great enemy of protestantism. Bucer put aside his own papers and took those of the Wittemberg doctor, which he was impatient to see. He read them eagerly over and over again. 'Really there is nothing here to offend anybody,' he said, 'if people have the least idea of what the reign of Christ means. But, my dear Chelius,' he added, 'a union is possible only among those who truly believe in Christ. That there should be a superior authority, well and good! but it must be a holy authority in order that every man may obey it with a good conscience.[631] If we are to unite, all additions must be cut away, and we must return simply to the doctrine of Scripture and of the Fathers.'

Chelius desired Bucer to give him his opinion in writing. The reformer hastily drew up a memoir, which, being approved by his colleagues, he handed to his friend on the 27th of August.[632] Francis's agent had fixed that day for his departure; but at the last moment he changed his mind, and remained twenty-four hours longer in Strasburg. There was another doctor in that city, a meek, pious, and firm man, an old friend of Zwingle's:[633] it was Hedio, and Chelius asked him for his opinion also. Then, taking with him the memoirs of the three doctors, he started without delay for Paris, convinced that catholicity and truth were about to be saved.

On reaching the capital Chelius gave the papers to William du Bellay, who immediately laid them before the king. The latter ordered that the Bishop of Paris and certain of the nobles, men of letters, and ecclesiastics, who desired to see a united but reformed Church, should have these documents communicated to them. The arrival of this ultimatum of the Reformation was an event of great importance; and accordingly the memoirs of the three doctors were anxiously perused at the Louvre, in the bishop's palace, and in other houses of the capital. Perhaps history has made a mistake in taking so little note of this. Three of the reformers, with England, Francis I., and some of the most eminent men of the epoch, demanded one only catholic but reformed Church. A great evangelical unity seemed on the point of being realised. Shall we not set forth in some detail a proposal of such high interest? There are individuals, we are aware, who are always looking for facts and sensations, never troubling themselves about principles and doctrines; but the wise, on the contrary, know that the world is moved by ideas, and, whatever may be the objections of curious minds, history must perform her task, and give to opinions the place that belongs to them.

At this time several meetings of an extraordinary kind were held at the Louvre, and upon them, as some thought, the future of christendom depended. The opinions of Melanchthon, Bucer, and Hedio, demanded by the king, brought by Chelius, and laid before the monarch by Du Bellay, were in his majesty's closet. The walls of the Louvre, which had witnessed such levity of morals, and which hereafter were to witness so many crimes, heard those holy truths explained in which everlasting life is to be found. Around the table on which these documents lay, there were politicians no doubt who in this investigation looked only to temporal advantages, and Francis was at their head; but there were also serious men who desired for the new Church both unity and reform. We will let the reformers speak. They were not present in person, it will be understood, before the King of France; it is their written advice which he had asked for, and which was probably read by one of the Du Bellays. But, for brevity's sake, we shall designate these memoirs by the names of their authors, since it is the authors themselves who speak, and not the historian.

[Sidenote: THE PROPOSALS EXAMINED.]

Francis I., eager both to emancipate France from its subordination to the papacy, and to form in Europe a great united party capable of vanquishing and thwarting Austria, listened with goodwill to Melanchthon and his friends; yet he found the language of the reformers a little more severe and _heretical_ than he had imagined. Some of the persons around him were pleased; some were astonished, and others were scandalised, and not without reason. To place the moderate Melanchthon by the side of the pacific Bishop of Paris, well and good! but to hope to unite the unyielding Luther and the fiery Beda, the pious elector and the worldly Francis ... what a strange undertaking! Let us listen, however; for these personages have taken their seats, and the inquiry is about to begin.[634]

BUCER.

'There can be no concord in the Church except between those who are really of the Church.[635] There is nothing in common between Christ and Belial. We cannot unite God and the world.... Now, what are the majority of bishops and priests?... I grieve to say.'

This introduction appeared to the king rather high-flown; but he said to himself that Bucer doubtless wished to make protestation of his loyalty at the very outset. Perhaps his colleagues will be more conciliating.

MELANCHTHON.

'The catholic doctrine, say some, has a few trifling blemishes here and there; while we and our friends have been making a great noise without any cause.... That is a mistake. Let not the pontiff and the great monarchs of christendom shut their eyes to the diseases of the Church.[636] They ought, on the contrary, to acknowledge that these pretended trifling blemishes destroy the essential doctrines of the faith, and lead men into idolatry and manifest sin.'

BUCER.

'If you wish to establish christian concord, apply to those who truly believe in Christ.[637] Those who do not listen to the Word cannot explain the Word.... What errors have been introduced by wicked priests! Shall we apply to other priests to correct them, who perhaps surpass the former in wickedness?'

Really the pacific Bucer and Melanchthon speak as boldly as Luther and Farel. The king and his councillors were beginning to be alarmed, but more conciliatory words revived their hopes.

BUCER.

'All that can be conceded, while maintaining the faith and the love of God, we will concede. Every salutary custom, observed by the ancients, we will restore. We have no desire to upset everything that is standing, and we know very well that the Church here below cannot be without blemish.'[638]

[Sidenote: CHURCH GOVERNMENT.]

The satisfaction of the king and his councillors increased when they came to Church government. There must be order in the Church, said the protestants. There must be a ministry of the Word; an inspection of the pastors and of the flocks, in order to secure discipline and peace. The service, the time appointed for worshipping in common, the place where the Church should assemble, the holy offices, the temporal aid necessary for the support of the ministry, the care of the poor: all these things require an attentive and faithful administration. These principles were set forth by the reformers, the Strasburg doctor insisting most on this point.

BUCER.

'The kingdom of Christ ought not to be without a government. In no place ought order to be stricter, obedience more complete, and power more respected.'

Francis I. and his councillors heard these declarations with pleasure. They had been told that the _pretended_ Church of the protestants was composed of atoms that had no cohesion with each other. Others affirmed that the only superior power recognised in it was that of certain theocratic prophets, like Thomas Munzer and others. Francis, therefore, was satisfied to learn that while they acknowledged a universal priesthood, by virtue of which every believer approached God in prayer, protestantism maintained a special evangelical ministry. But what was this ministry, this government? This the king and his advisers desired to know. Here, in our opinion, the mediating divines went wrong: the king's wishes were to be almost satisfied.

MELANCHTHON.

'As a bishop presides over several Churches, no one can think it wrong for a pontiff to preside at Rome over several bishops. The Church must have leaders to examine those who are called to the ministry, to judge in ecclesiastical causes, and watch over the teaching of the ministers.... If there were no such bishops, they ought to be created.[639] One sole pontiff may even serve to maintain harmony of faith between the different nations of christendom.'

Francis was delighted; but the more decided evangelicals looked upon this idea of an _evangelical_ pope as a dream to be consigned to the Utopia described by Sir Thomas More. An accessory declaration of another kind was to please the king even more.

MELANCHTHON.

'As for the Roman pontiff's claim to transfer kingdoms from one prince to another, that concerns neither the Gospel nor the Church; and it is the business of kings to combat that unjust pretension.'

Now that these concessions were granted, the reformers were about to make the loud voice of the Reformation heard.

BUCER.

'The first of doctrines is the justification of sinners.'

MELANCHTHON.

'Remission of sins ought to be accompanied by a change of life; but this remission is not given us because of this new life; it comes to us only through mercy, and is given to us solely because of Christ.'

BUCER.

'Thus, then, we have done with the merits ascribed to the observances and prayers of the monks and priests: we have done with all vain confidence in our own works. Let the grace of God be obscured no longer, and the righteousness of Christ be no more diminished! It is on account of the blood of his only Son that God forgives us our sins.'

[Sidenote: JUSTIFICATION AND THE MASS.]

Francis and his advisers thought that _orthodox_ enough. Even the schoolmen (they said) have used this language in some of their books. They raised no opposition to the opinion of the reformers upon justification by faith.[640] But one point made them uneasy.... What will they say of the mass? This important subject was not forgotten.

BUCER.

'What! to be present every day at mass without repentance, without piety, even without thinking of the mysteries connected with it, will suffice to obtain all kinds of grace from God!... No! when we celebrate the sacrament of our Lord's body and blood, there must be a living communion between Christ and the living members of Christ.'[641]

[Sidenote: PROTEST AGAINST ABUSES.]

MELANCHTHON.

'The mass is the only knot we cannot untie;[642] for it contains such horrible abuses ... invented for the profit of the monks. All impious rites must be interdicted, and others established in conformity with the truth.'

'The mass must be preserved,' said Francis; 'but the stupid, absurd, and foolish legends abolished.'[643]

The Frenchmen were anxious to learn the doctrine of the reformers on the sacraments: it was, in fact, the embarrassing point, in consequence of the different opinions of different doctors. The enemies of the Reformation spread the rumour through France that the sacraments were to protestants mere ceremonies only, by which christians show that they belong to the Church. 'No,' said the doctors, 'these outward forms are means by which grace works inwardly in our souls. Only this working does not proceed from the disposition of the priest administering the sacrament, but from the faith of him who receives it.' And here came the great question: 'Is Christ present or not in the communion?' Bucer and his friends cleverly extricated themselves from this difficulty.

BUCER.

'The body of Christ is received in the hands of the communicants, and eaten with their mouths, say some. The body of Christ is discerned by the soul of the believer and eaten by faith, say others. There is a way of putting an end to this dispute by simply acknowledging that, whatever be the manner of eating, there is a real _presence of Christ_ in the Lord's Supper.'[644]

By degrees the reformers became more animated.

MELANCHTHON.

'We must teach the people that the saints are not more merciful than Jesus Christ, and that we must not transfer to them the confidence due to Christ alone.

'The monasteries must be converted into schools.

'Celibacy must be abolished, for most of the priests live in open uncleanness.'[645]

BUCER.

'The Church must have a constitution in which everything will be decided by Scripture; and a conference of learned and pious men is wanted to draw it up.'

HEDIO.

'That assembly must not be composed of divines only, but of laymen also; and, above all things, no forward step should be taken so long as the pope and the bishops persist in their errors, and even defend them by force.'[646]

When the reformers drew up these articles, they had gradually begun to feel some hope. It is possible, perhaps probable, that unity will be restored.... Moved at the thought, they lifted their eyes towards the mighty arm from which they expected help.

MELANCHTHON.

'O that the Lord Jesus Christ would look down from heaven and restore the Church for which he suffered to a pious and perpetual union, which may cause his glory to shine afar!'[647]

Francis and his councillors were satisfied upon the whole;[648] but the doctors of Rome looked with an uneasy eye upon these (to them) detestable negotiations. There was agitation at the Sorbonne and even at the Louvre. All the leaders of the Roman party who had a voice at court made respectful representations. Cardinal de Tournon added remonstrances. Du Bellay held firm; but it was not so with Francis. He hesitated and staggered. An event occurred to give him a fresh impulse, and to legitimatise in his eyes the reforms demanded by his minister.

[Footnote 612: 'Mores modestissimi.'—Melanchthon to the Queen of Navarre, _Corp. Ref._ ii. p. 733.]

[Footnote 613: 'Non solum mundities et elegantia singularis, sed etiam quædam non insuavis copia.'—Ibid.]

[Footnote 614: 'Ad quasdam alias operas, a quibus et natura et voluntate abhorret.'—Ibid. p. 735.]

[Footnote 615: 'Paupertas, quasi manus injecit.'—Ibid. p. 752.]

[Footnote 616: 'Velut in quodam numine.'—_Corp. Ref._ ii. p. 752.]

[Footnote 617: 'Homo infimæ sortis et ignotus Celsitudini tuæ.'—Ibid.]

[Footnote 618: 'Fama tuæ eximiæ pietatis quæ totum terrarum orbem pervagata est.'—Ibid.]

[Footnote 619: 'Et recensebit ad posteros universa ecclesia.'—_Corp. Ref._ ii. p. 733.]

[Footnote 620: He died there in 1561. See Senebier, _Hist. Litt. de Genève_. Ch. le Fort, _Livre du Recteur_, p. 371. Haag, _France Protestante_, which contains a list of Baduel's numerous writings.]

[Footnote 621: 'Videres in ædibus illis perpetuo accedentes et discedentes atque exeuntes aliquos.'—Camerarius, _Vita Melanchthonis_, p. 40.]

[Footnote 622: 'Quanta dissipatio reipublicæ et ecclesiæ.'—_Corp. Ref._ ii. p. 740.]

[Footnote 623: 'In plerisque dicebat regem esse non alienum a libro Philippi quo _locos_ ille tractat _communes_.'—Gerdesius, _Hist. Evang. renov._ iv. p. 114.]

[Footnote 624: 'Regem Gallorum apud pontificem de pace et mitigatione tantarum rerum acturum esse.'—_Corp. Ref._ ii. p. 976.]

[Footnote 625: 'Si monarchæ aliqui efficerent ut aliqui boni et docti viri amanter et libere inter se colloquerentur.'—_Corp. Ref._ ii. p. 740.]

[Footnote 626: 'Et interdum præter rem tumultuantur.'—Ibid.]

[Footnote 627: 'Usitatam ecclesiæ formam conservare, quantum possibile est.—Ibid.]

[Footnote 628: 'Ut Celsitudo tua, propter Christi gloriam, hortetur summos monarchas.'—_Corp. Ref._ ii. p. 740.]

[Footnote 629: 'Sed nihil opus est, _te currentem_, ut dici solet, adhortari.'—Ibid.]

[Footnote 630: 'Assentior tibi, mi Bucere, desperandam esse concordiam cum pontifice romano.'—_Corp. Ref._ ii. p. 275.]

[Footnote 631: 'Dass die obere Gewalt eine heilige sey.'—Schmidt, _Zeitschrift für Hist. Theol._]

[Footnote 632: 'Consentientibus symmistis meis.'—Consilium Buceri, Strasburg MSS.]

[Footnote 633: _Hist. of the Ref. of the Sixteenth Century_, vol. ii. bk. viii. ch. viii.]

[Footnote 634: Melanchthon's memoir will be found in the _Corpus Reformatorum_, published by Dr. Bretschneider, ii. pp. 743-766. I am indebted to Professor Schmidt for a copy of Bucer's memoir, which is in the Strasburg library. The volume containing Hedio's memoir has disappeared from the archives; we have, however, found a few extracts.]

[Footnote 635: 'Concordia esse non potest nisi inter eos qui sunt de ecclesia.'—Consilium Buceri MS.]

[Footnote 636: 'Pontifex et summi reges agnoscant ecclesiæ morbos.'— _Corp. Ref._ ii. p. 743.]

[Footnote 637: 'Nisi inter eos qui Christo vere credunt.'—Consilium Buceri.]

[Footnote 638: 'Nec etiam ut nulla omnino labes tolleretur.'—Ibid.]

[Footnote 639: 'Creari tales oporteret.'—_Corp. Ref._ ii. p. 746.]

[Footnote 640: 'Locum de justificatione, ut a nostris tractatur, _probare regem_.'—_Corp. Ref._ ii. p. 1017.]

[Footnote 641: 'Viva vivorum membrorum Christi communione.'—Buceri Consilium MS.]

[Footnote 642: 'Hic unus nodus de missa videtur inexplicabilis esse.'— _Corp. Ref._ ii. p. 781.]

[Footnote 643: 'Orationes et legendas multas ineptas et impias abrogandas aut saltem emendandas.'—Ibid. p. 1015.]

[Footnote 644: 'Veram Christi in cœna præsentiam exprimi.'—Buceri Cons.]

[Footnote 645: 'Plurimi in manifesta turpitudine vivunt.'—_Corp. Ref._ ii. p. 764.]

[Footnote 646: Schmidt, _Zeitschrift für Hist. Theolog._ 1850, p. 35.]

[Footnote 647: 'Ut Christus ecclesiam suam ... redigat in concordiam piam et perpetuam.'—_Corp. Ref._]

[Footnote 648: 'Hos articulos Francisco regi non displicuisse multa sunt quæ suadent.'—Gerdesius, _Hist. Evang. renov._ iv. p. 124.]