Chapter III

EXTENSION OF THE REFORM IN THE PAYS DE VAUD.

(END OF 1536.)

The assembly of Lausanne was a great event for the Vaudois; it was talked of in every village. Berne, by her ordinance, ‘that all priests, monks, and other people of the Church, whatever they might be, should appear,’ had awakened universal attention. While there was one great disputation at Lausanne, there were many little ones in the towns and villages. They discussed the _pros_ and the _cons_, and they wondered whether the priests on their return would be converted to the _new faith_ or not. At Lausanne itself, hardly had a session closed, and the crowd passed out of the doors of the beautiful cathedral, than the debates were renewed in the streets and in private houses.

[Sidenote: RESULTS OF THE CONFERENCE.]

The results of the conference were not long in showing themselves. Some, like the Cordelier Tandy, owned themselves convinced, took the side of the Reformation, and became in their turn its missionaries. Ministers and laymen were seen traversing all the land, reporting the discussions, showing that the evangelical religion is indeed the true, and intensifying the universal excitement. The two deputies sent by the parish of Villette, Sordet and Clavel, were so much impressed by the truths expounded by Farel and his friends, that they took Viret back with them to Cully, that he might preach there. The whole country, indeed, was not converted, but the light was penetrating from place to place, even into the remotest corners. Not only was there the bright flame in those fair regions, but there was also the warmth, which was further diffused than the light, quickening and transforming hearts.

At Lausanne itself the first effect of the disputation was remarkable, and showed clearly that morals were quite as much as doctrine the business of the Reformation, and that they were possibly its most distinctive characteristic. Only two days after the close of the disputation, on October 10, the council, very much engrossed by the great event which had just taken place, resolved ‘to destroy once for all the houses of ill-fame which existed in the town,’ to drive away the foul women who lived in them, as well as all others who were known to be leading an evil life. On Thursday, October 12, the order given to those ‘unfortunates’ to quit the city and the bailiwick was published with sound of trumpet in all the streets.[414] It has been said that morals are the science of man.[415] The Lausannese edileship thought that they were especially the science of the magistrate. Those discussions, in which justification by faith had been the chief subject in question, had for their first consequence works of Christian morality. This proceeding of the magistrates gave great joy to those who had taken part in the disputation. They saw in it the apology for their doctrine. ‘When justification by faith is spoken of,’ remarks one of them,[416] ‘the mind of man takes the matter the wrong way, and is shocked, like a ship which, instead of keeping to the right course marked out for it, drives on to strike first on one rock then on another. The death of Christ is efficacious for extinguishing the evil of our flesh, and his resurrection for originating in us a new condition of better nature.’

The people drew from the disputation another consequence. The most ardent even of the reformers had, while the debates lasted, tolerated the images in the cathedral. Viret had shown that God prohibited them, and that they turn men away from the true service of God. ‘The priests,’ he had said, ‘for their convenience set in their own place preachers of wood and of stone, the images, arraying them in rich garments at the cost of the poor. And as for themselves, they sleep, they make good cheer, and are free from care. These images are their vicars, they do their work, and they cost nothing to feed. And the poor people are stupefied and kiss the wood and the stone.’[417] No one had answered Viret. It was in vain that the defenders of images had been invited to come forward; not one appeared. For the reformed it seemed therefore a legitimate course to remove them from the cathedral. A sinister rumor of this project alarmed the canons, and they resolved to do their utmost to resist the impious proceeding. They took the keys of the cathedral and, running to the sacred edifice, closed the doors that no one might be able to carry off the objects of their veneration. In spite of all their precautions one of the images was removed. The fact was immediately noised over the town. The most grievous blow had just fallen on our great Lady of Lausanne! The reformed honored the mother of the Saviour as a blessed woman, but they refused to make a goddess of her. The clamor and threats of the priests recalled to mind the cries of the worshippers of Diana at Ephesus, spoken of in the Acts of the Apostles, who said, ‘The temple of the great goddess Diana is in danger of being despised and her magnificence of being destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worshippeth.’[418] The canons not feeling themselves strong enough for the occasion, betook themselves to the council, gave up to them the keys of the cathedral, and implored them to protect the building and what it contained.[419] But the reformed, who earnestly longed to see worship given to God alone, turned their back on those figures of wood and stone:

Dès maintenant, trompeuse idole,
D’un culte honteux et frivole,
Nous n’entourons plus tes autels.

[Sidenote: BERNESE ORDINANCES.]

It was the intention of the authorities to oppose the arbitrary removal of images by private persons. But these same authorities lost no time in suppressing them by their own act throughout the country. A few days later, Thursday, October 19, the chief magistrate and the councillors of Berne addressed all their trusty subjects of Vaud, and announced to them by proclamation that being bound to govern them not only by means of ‘corporal and outward ordinances, but also by exercising all diligence to see that they walked according to the will of God, in the true and living faith which brings forth good works; considering that the ten conclusions which had been discussed at Lausanne were based on Holy Scripture, they enjoined everyone to abstain from all papistical ceremonies, sacrifices, and institutions; to cast down all images and idols, as well as the altars, and this in an orderly manner without disturbance; to hear the Word of God, to receive the preachers with kindness, and not to molest and worry them, so that all may dwell together in true peace, brotherly love and union.’[420] These ordinances in the matter of religion and worship would seem strange in our day; and we might wonder whether such would be tolerated even in Japan. But they were in accordance with the spirit of that time, and the rulers of Berne were doing their best.

The Reformation achieved greater triumphs still than the abolition of images. It could count souls won to the Gospel, not only among the general population of the country, but also among the very champions of Rome who had encountered Farel. The amiable captain of the youth, Ferdinand de Loys, embraced the glorious promises of the Gospel, and subsequently exerted himself with great earnestness to maintain Protestantism in France. Moreover, a brilliant testimony to his zeal was given him. Soubise sent him grateful acknowledgment, as well on his own behalf as on behalf of the prince of Condé, the Admiral (Coligny) and other princes and lords.[421] By arrangement with the lords of Berne, Valais, and Neuchâtel, he had sent to him some men; these men (_gens_), however, we must add, appear to have been not evangelists but soldiers. A priest who had taken part in the defence of the papacy, but who had been convinced by the powerful words of the reformers, Dom Jean Drogy, also embraced the evangelical faith. He became afterwards pastor at Bevay in the territory of Neuchâtel. Megander, too, wrote on October 19, to the ministers of Zurich, ‘The disputation of Lausanne has had the happiest results.’

[Sidenote: CAROLI AND VIRET.]

These successes encouraged the friends of the Reform, and the Bernese government demanded of the authorities of Lausanne the definitive establishment of the evangelical faith and worship. The canons opposed the measure with all their energy, alleging that reverence is due to all old customs and religions; they conjured the rulers of Lausanne not to allow their city to be faithless to Rome. At the same time they sent deputies to Berne. But the council was already treating with the lords of Berne, partly swayed by conviction and partly by prudence. The Bernese were disposed to grant various rights, advantages, and privileges to their new subjects, on condition of their renouncing the foreign authority of the pope, with which they well knew that it was impossible to be on good terms, and of their receiving the Gospel, which enlightens the mind, gives peace to the soul, and promotes the prosperity of nations. They knew also that in order to persuade men, it is necessary to act kindly towards them. Consequently, on November 1, a contract was concluded at Berne, by virtue of which their excellencies conceded to the burgesses of Lausanne the higher, middle, and lower jurisdiction in civil and criminal causes, various convents and abbeys, the châlet and the mill of Gobet, and certain vineyards. With these gifts the Bernese coupled the promise that, as soon as ‘popery and its mummery should be abolished,’ their excellencies would exercise generosity towards the priests. This _grande largition_ was read on the 5th of the same month in grand council at Lausanne, and was solemnly ratified. Meanwhile the chiefs of Berne presented, November 5, to the chiefs of Lausanne, as first pastor, Caroli, who was a doctor of the Sorbonne, and whose fluent talk and engaging manners prepossessed men in his favor. At this choice the friends of the Gospel were indignant. Viret, who had for so many years labored for the diffusion of the light in his own country, and had done so with perfect earnestness, wisdom, and self-renunciation, at the risk of his life--Viret, the true Vaudois reformer--saw this new man, unfit as he was for the work to be done, preferred to himself. The pastors of Geneva wrote to Lausanne--‘Everyone knows the labors, the faith, the zeal of Viret, and we are astonished to learn that they are treating him in that way. We cannot endure it without complaining. If ever it becomes us to be indignant, surely it is on this occasion.’[422] The Bernese lords settled Caroli comfortably in the house of the canon Benoît de Pontareuse, which had beautiful gardens in which he might philosophize and entertain himself as Epicurus did of old. They assigned him, besides, an annual salary of five hundred florins. His wife displayed a degree of luxury which was offensive. Viret was joined with him as second pastor, but no tithe was assigned to him, nor any means of living. De Watteville contented himself with requesting him to show respect for the great merit of his colleague. The Bernese, however, very soon discovered that they had been mistaken in this matter. They therefore wrote to Viret, December 1, that since he was already well acquainted with the country, and Caroli was a sort of novice, they advised him to give Caroli a gratuity, ‘advancement and service, and this by way of charity.’[423] This was not giving Viret a sort of guardianship of Caroli, as has been said. On the contrary, Farel complained a few days later that it was difficult to say whether the Bernese or the Lausannese cared least for Viret.[424] The Bernese merely admitted that the Vaudois reformer, being a native of the country, had more experience of its customs, ‘of the popular way of doing things.’ Viret subsequently received a lodging in the Franciscan convent, with a salary of thirty florins and a certain allowance of wine and wheat. It was not one-third of the pay of Caroli. Some of the reformed lent furniture to the humble minister for his room, because he had no means of buying any.[425]

[Sidenote: REFORM AT VEVEY.]

Of all the districts of the Pays de Vaud, Vevey, a town situated in that lovely region which, at the extremity of the lake of Geneva, is so rich both in grace and in brilliancy, appears to have been the most inclined to embrace the Reform. For eight years past Aigle and the surrounding villages had heard the Gospel by the ministry of Farel. The ministers who came and went from Berne to Aigle, and from Aigle to Berne, passed through Vevey, and left light behind them in their passage. Moreover, there was frequent intercourse between the people of the government of Aigle and the people of Vevey. One historian worthy of credit is even led to believe that the dean Michod and the regent J. Mimard returned from Lausanne to their own town convinced of the truth of the theses which they had at first attacked.[426] Even if they were not themselves much troubled, they might by their narrations awaken in the people the desire to become acquainted with the Gospel which had been proclaimed with so much life by Farel, Viret, and Calvin. At that epoch of the Reformation there was no other public disputation at which so large a number of the champions of papal dogmas passed over to the banner of the Gospel. The men of Vevey spontaneously asked for a pastor; and one was sent them, November 24, whose name was Daillé. This name became distinguished in the seventeenth century as that of one of the most learned ministers of the Reformed Churches.

The Gospel met with opposition in the district of La Vaux, which lies between Vevey and Lausanne. At a consultative meeting, held October 15, the deputies of La Vaux had demanded a general assembly, and had declared that they would oppose ‘any innovation in the churches.’ Those of Lutry, a small town bordering on Lausanne, were of the same mind. But when the bailiff of Lausanne came three days after to dine there, the wind began to change. The magistrates, flattered with this visit, offered him with high compliments the wine of honor (_vin d’honneur_); and all their zeal was limited to getting the papacy buried in the most decorous manner possible. When the bailiff presented himself, November 2, to burn the images and destroy the altars, the municipal officers demanded permission to remove them themselves, desiring to do it with more delicacy. They caused the _Corpus Domini_ to be carried into the _Grotto_, where they gave it an honorable position, and lighted lamps just as if it were in the church. They also put there the vessel of holy water, covering it up carefully. Some weeks later, January 16, 1537, there appeared, on the part of Berne, one Matthieu de la Croix, a converted monk, a man of discretion and benevolence. He said to the council, ‘I offer to preach, if you approve it, and even to preach every day if you will assent to it; and further, when any one dies I will deliver a sermon for the consolation of the family.’ Anxious still more powerfully to work upon their hearts, he added, ‘I propose that a request be addressed to the lords of Berne in favor of the poor.’ One might fancy that De la Croix did nothing more than put in practice the proverb, _More flies are to be caught with honey than with vinegar_. But there is nothing to show that his gracious way did not proceed from a sincere charity. This zeal for their commune touched the hearts of the Lutry people, and they accepted the ministry of this man of goodwill, and at the same time added to their acceptance the express request to Berne to maintain the poor. On February 8, 1537, the church was cleansed, and the stones of the altar were removed to a place apart.[427]

[Sidenote: SEARCH FOR MINISTERS.]

The great transformation was being effected in the whole country. The lords of Berne, understanding, doubtless, that their hands were not the right ones for the task, had wisely intrusted to Farel the care of providing for the spiritual wants of the people. Unfortunately it was not a very easy matter. ‘He looked round on all sides for faithful ministers, but could hardly find any.’ The nomination of Caroli by the Bernese magistrates had annoyed him. He was afraid that men who preached in its purity the cross of Christ would not be accepted. ‘They do not care much for those who preach Jesus Christ purely, and they praise to the skies braggarts and hypocrites.’ However, he was not disheartened. ‘Write,’ said he to his friend Fabri, ‘beseech, come to our aid; send us competent men.’ One circumstance, unhappy in itself, facilitated Farel’s work. Persecution was driving many evangelical Christians out of France; and these men, full of love for the faith which they had confessed in their native land, rejoiced in the opportunity of preaching it in the beautiful valley of the Leman. Farel, who was at that time the real bishop of these churches, was indefatigable in his inquiries. As soon as he had found any pious ministers, he recommended them to the lords of Berne, and the bailiffs settled them in the various parishes. But as there were not ministers enough for all, the same pastor had frequently to preach in three different churches. A few priests were called to the ministry, who did not seem to be mere deserters, with Christ on the lips only. These were, in addition to those already mentioned, Tissot, Gredat, Goudot, Meige, Malingre de la Molière, Motin, and Jacques d’Yverdon. Some others also took charge of souls. Dubois was sent to Payerne, Du Rivier to Moudon, Le Coq to Morges, J. Vallier to Aubonne, Melchior d’Yvonant to Rolle, Morand to Nyon, Furet to Coppet, Colomb to Concise, Masuyer to Cossonay, Epilon to Yvonant, and Eustache André (also named Fortunat), to Cully.[428] For the most part they were foreigners. Some of them had attended the disputation, and had been gained over by the Christian eloquence of Farel, Viret, and Calvin. But whether they came from the battle of Lausanne or from the ruder battles of France, they all desired to publish the good news of the Gospel; and some of them were inflamed with a zeal so ardent that ‘that one passion swallowed up all others.’ They were well aware that they would have to face a keen opposition; but ‘they were going willingly to offer their heads, to receive all the obloquy which evil-minded men cast on God.’ The following is the formula, somewhat free in character, which the lords of Berne usually employed in their letters to these evangelists:--‘Have ordered that thou, forthwith on receiving these presents, go to our bailiff of ----, who will present thee to our subjects of ----, and then thou wilt exercise the office of minister of the Gospel, according to the grace which God has given thee.’ The bailiffs, for the purpose of preparing people’s minds, went frequently beforehand with Viret and other ministers into parishes that were to be provided for. They preached and endeavored to make evident the great benefits of the Reformation. But there was many a village in which the curé endeavored to keep the people away from the sermon, excited his friends, who threw stones at those who were hearers, and did the worst they could.[429]

[Sidenote: TRIALS OF FABRI.]

Farel persevered in his exertions, exhorting and consoling. Fabri, pastor at Thonon, in the Chablais, had to pass through trials of special severity. He wrote to Farel, ‘I cannot tell you how cruel are the crosses which so violent an opposition lays upon me.’ Farel was prompt to offer him consolation, and he shows in his answer how well he had himself learnt to profit by the blows struck at him by the enemies of the Gospel. ‘There is no ground for dejection,’ said he, ‘although so many distresses weigh on you. It is in this way that the Lord teaches us to depend entirely on him, and to call down by our sighing the favor of our heavenly Father, which we are so backward to do.’ At the same time Farel communicated to his friend his own experiences, and made fresh allusion to the case of Caroli and Viret, which appears to have greatly troubled him. ‘I am bidden,’ he said, ‘to call ministers from all quarters, but where to find them I cannot tell. People slight those who are the fittest, and who always breathe Jesus Christ; but they exalt to the skies those who are mere masks, and breathe nothing but arrogance. Some ministers, of too fastidious taste, are unwilling to come into this country; they would rather bury themselves in the tombs of Egypt than eat manna in the desert and be led by the pillar of fire.’[430] At the same time that Farel wrote to Fabri at the foot of the Alps, he wrote also to Hugues, pastor of Gex, at the foot of the Jura. ‘Act with firmness,’ he said to him, ‘but with wisdom and without passion. Put forward weighty proofs drawn from Scripture, and let your words always be accompanied with the moderation of Christ.’[431] He wrote likewise to many others. Calvin began at this time to exercise the functions pertaining to the government of the Church. A minister, Denis Lambert, formerly a monk, but who having been since 1534 pastor in the country of Neuchâtel, had been chosen almoner to the little army which marched in 1534 to the aid of Geneva, and fought the battle of Gingins, had been settled by the Bernese as pastor in the neighborhood of that town. He had remained full of monkery (_moinerie_), and he had a wife of sorry reputation; so that their life and their manners might ruin, but could not build up the Church. Some better ministers, particularly Henry de la Mare, having been preferred to him, he flew into a great rage at a colloquy held at the beginning of December, 1536. ‘Everybody persecutes me,’ he exclaimed; ‘it is not on the part of men that I am sent!’ And he loaded his colleagues with insults, threats, and innumerable calumnies. ‘Truly,’ said Farel, ‘the man speaks like a Mars or a Bacchus.’[432] ‘It is not I,’ Farel said to him, ‘that made you a preacher; I always suspected you too much.’ ‘No,’ replied Denis, ‘I was sent by the Bernese, and we shall see whether you dare resist them.’ Calvin then rose to speak, and we must notice it as the first occasion of his taking part in the government of the Church. He entreated Denis in the name of them all to resign the holy ministry, promised that he should be provided for. Denis cared nothing for this young doctor, and refused to comply with his request. Farel desired to separate him from the population to which his life was a scandal. The Bernese bailiff of Thonon thought that Denis was monk from head to foot, and that he ought to be relegated to the convent of the Augustinians of that town.

Although they were influenced quite as much by political as by religious motives, and made some mistakes, as in the case of Caroli, the lords of Berne neglected no means of enlightening the Vaudois, and of leading them to accept with their heart the evangelical doctrines. They enjoined on all fathers and mothers, all pastors and bailiffs, the duty of seeing that children were well instructed according to the Gospel. Without going so far as to say, as some have alleged, that education is everything, the Bernese did believe that _if a child be trained up in the way he should go, he will not depart from it_.[433]

[Sidenote: BERNESE EDICT OF REFORMATION.]

To crown its work, the council of Berne made, on Christmas eve, December 24, 1536, a complete edict of reformation for its new territories; and at the beginning of 1537 it caused proclamation to be made in all the country that the ministers were to preach purely the Word of God; that they were to celebrate only two sacraments, baptism and the supper; that it was lawful to eat flesh at any time; that ecclesiastics were not forbidden to marry; that all popish ceremonies, masses, processions, lustrations, pilgrimages, and ringing of bells for the dead and for bad weather, were abolished. These were followed by many ordinances against gluttony, drunkenness, impurity, adultery, blasphemy, gaming, military service abroad, and dancing. Three modest dances for marriage festivals were, however, conceded.[434] Priests and monks were at liberty to remain in the country, where they received fitting allowances, or if they preferred it, to withdraw into a Catholic country. The canons of Lausanne having no wish to be witnesses of such a reform, took the latter course. They crossed the lake and settled at Evian. The sisters of Sainte-Claire of Vevey did the same.[435]

Calvin and the other ministers of Geneva and its neighborhood watched with interest the changes which were taking place in the Pays de Vaud. But they did not conceal from themselves how much there still remained to do. On October 13, Calvin, before he started for Berne, whither he was summoned, wrote from Lausanne to one of his friends--‘Already in many places the idols and the altars of the papacy have begun to totter, and I hope that ere long all the superstitions that still prevail will be abolished. The Lord grant that idolatry may be altogether uprooted in all hearts.’[436] These words characterize the condition of the Pays de Vaud at that epoch.

On November 21, 1536, a conference was held at Geneva, at which the pastors of the surrounding districts appear to have been present. Those of the Pays de Gex and of the Chablais undoubtedly attended.[437] A letter addressed by the conference to their brethren of Lausanne and of Vaud sufficiently refutes the calumnies cast upon the Reformation, and shows to what extent the reformers took heed of the purity of the Church. ‘The pontifical tyranny has been overthrown,’ they said; ‘silence has been imposed upon the monks, because of their doctrines and their unchaste lives. Brethren, take heed lest another tyranny erect itself in place of the former. See that order and discipline be maintained among you, and everything that becomes a holy assembly. To that end seek your directions, not from any pontiff, nor in the rites of the pope, but from Jesus Christ and in his Word.... Examine with the utmost care the brethren whom you accept as pastors; see that their doctrine be pure and their lives spotless. Inform yourselves even of their family and the family of their wives, as St. Paul enjoins. Without such care you will prepare your own ruin and that of your people. As for ceremonies, let them be wholesome. Exercise your Christian liberty, but in such a way as to cause offence to no one.’ The pastors of Geneva, they said, had received two letters in which they found no Christian charity or moderation at all, but which savored of pontifical authority. This passage doubtless refers to Caroli.