Chapter CLIX: To Theodore Vitus.36 (8)

You ought not to impute to my negligence your not having received a letter from me since you set sail from this place; for I have found no one setting out in your direction. It is not quite safe, moreover, in these times, for a letter to be carried about by a variety of hands. In the next place, I hardly know what to write to you, because there is nothing that is not fitted to cause you much more annoyance than satisfaction. The prefect Molard is here, with whom are joined as assessors the eldest son of Balthazar and a certain Rigot of that faction. You see, therefore, that there will be no danger this year to the wicked from the severity of the judges. We wait, however, to see in what channel their licence will break forth. On the same day our comic friend Cæsar again donned the socks.[210] Being now rendered somewhat more ferocious, he boasts among his stage-players after his own Thrasonic fashion. Finally, there appears to be no hope of speedy amendment, whatever we may essay. Nor is it to be doubted that they are labouring to effect a great revolution in the republic at the next assembly of syndics; but the Lord in heaven is vigilant.

[210] Deprived, the preceding year, of his office of councillor and
captain-general, Amy Perrin had contrived, by the force of intrigue,
to recover his former dignities.

The commotions at Bourdeaux are settled, or they are at least lulled for a season.[211] For examples of extreme cruelty have been exhibited, which may in a short time boil forth in greater tempests. The people of Saintonge keep themselves concealed in the isles. Bucer lately wrote to me that Antiochus was looking forward to a day of purification. As far as I can gather from his letter, the council have no heart for that.[212] I also received a letter from Bullinger yesterday. When I reply you will know all. Should our council by chance permit what has been adduced against the Interim of the sons of Cæsar[213] to be printed here, I shall send you a copy by the first messenger I can find. But as Trolliet maintains among his own friends that there is no need of so many books and sermons, I am afraid lest his authority prove so powerful as to force us to seek a press elsewhere. Adieu, brother and most sincere friend, along with your colleagues Fatin, Michel, Thomas, and the rest of the co-presbyters. May the Lord continue to guide you all by his Holy Spirit. You will salute your whole family in my name and in that of my wife. All my city colleagues salute you. The others conduct themselves piously and uprightly, with the two exceptions of Philip and Ludovic Siliniac. James Bernard had lately a quarrel with a grandson of Wendelin, because he allied the latter too closely with us. His brother left this for another place three days ago. In haste, yours,

JOHN CALVIN.

[_Lat. orig. autogr._--_Library of Geneva._ Vol. 106.]

[211] The city of Bourdeaux having risen in revolt against the
authority of the king on the ground of fresh taxation, the Constable
Montmorency, being commissioned to suppress the disturbances, acted
with relentless severity, and signalized his entry into the capital
of Guienne by frightful executions.--De Thou, Lib. v.

[212] Bucer wrote to Calvin:--"Earnestly entreat the Lord for
this republic that it may learn to put away its own will and obey
him."--Calv. _Opera_, Lib. ix. p. 46. But the magistrates had
already resolved to make their submission, which involved the
suppression of the Gospel in that unhappy city.

[213] Is the reference to the partisans of the Imperial Alliance?

CCXXXI.--TO JOHN STURM.[214]

[214] Without date. This letter appears to have been written at the
moment when Strasbourg, menaced by the victorious army of Charles
V., was disposed, in spite of the counsel of Bucer, to accept the
_Interim_, and avoid by a voluntary submission the punishment
inflicted on the leagued cities of Germany.--(December 1548.)

John Sturm, a learned humanist and able politician, born at
Sleida in 1507, passed through a brilliant course of study at the
University of Louvain. Famous from his youth for learning and
eloquence, he was nominated in 1529 Professor of Belles Lettres
in the College of France, founded by Francis I., and became in
1537 Rector of the celebrated Academy of Strasbourg. Connected
thenceforward with the German and Swiss Reformers, he occupied an
important place in the religious negotiations of the age, maintained
a correspondence with the principal European sovereigns, and died in
1583.

Calvin and Sturm were known to each other, and associated together
during the sojourn of the French Reformer at Strasbourg. From
this period date the relations they maintained during many years,
numerous precious memorials of which are to be found in the
correspondence of Calvin. See on the subject of Sturm the curious
and learned work entitled:--_La vie et les travaux de Jean Sturm,
Premier Recteur de l'Académie de Strasbourg, par C. Schmidt_. 1 vol.
in 8vo, 1855.

Evidences of faith and Christian steadfastness, amid the dangers
that threaten the Church.

[GENEVA, _December 1548_.]

If the rumour that has suddenly been spread among us be true, it behoves us to hold ourselves ready for the clash of arms. Would that the world were wise, for in that case it would long ago have been accustomed to cultivate peace under the favour of God. But since a good part of it takes too much pleasure in a war with God, it is but just that all those who refuse peaceably to submit themselves to the Author of Peace, should perish wretchedly in their mutual tumults. We ought at least to take this consolation in the midst of evils, that those stormy troubles bring some cessation of hostilities to the Church of God. The power of Antiochus will be ruined; our Pharaoh, being conquered, will turn his violent assaults elsewhere, and relax perchance somewhat of his severity at home. New friends also will be able to effect some mitigation. I refrain from exhorting you to use your efforts in the particular quarter to which I refer, because I am persuaded that there is already sufficient willingness. As to the rest, whether a final dispersion be imminent, or, what is more pleasing to forecast, whether the Lord has resolved to gather together, by means of earthly commotions, into his heavenly kingdom, all those who are now scattered and wandering wretchedly abroad, we shall have cherished a friendship in good faith, the bond of which is inviolable....[215]

[_Lat. orig. autogr._--_Library of Geneva._ Vol. 107a.]

[215] Conclusion wanting in the original manuscript.

CCXXXII.--TO MADAME DE CANY.[216]

[216] Peronne de Pisseleu, wife of Michel de Barbançon, Seigneur
de Cany, one of the personages of most importance in Picardy. This
lady, instructed in the Reformed faith by Laurent de Normandie,
lieutenant of the king at Noyon, and the friend of Calvin, had for
a long time to endure the severity of her husband, who afterwards
came at a later period to be a partaker of like faith.--_Bèze, Hist.
Eccl._, tom. ii. p. 244.; De Thou, lib. xxv. Madame de Cany, sister
of the Duchess d'Etampes, favourite of the late king, had possessed
an unbounded influence at court, which she always used for generous
purposes. Her ordinary residence was the Château de Varanues,
situated on the Oise, near to Noyon.

Exhortation to a courageous and honest profession of the truth.

_This 8th January 1549._

MADAME,--I would not have taken the liberty to write to you, if a man, whom I ought to trust among all others, had not emboldened me to do so, by assuring me that my letter would be agreeable to you. That is, Monsieur de Normandie, who, feeling himself obliged to you for the kindness you had shewn him, had a special desire to do you service, so far as he had the means, and besides, has such a care of your salvation as he ought to have who knows that you have loved him, as partaker of a common Christian faith. On this account he has induced me to write to you, thinking that not only you might take pleasure in my letters, but that they might perhaps be profitable for you, as well for your consolation in present extremity, as to exhort you to perseverance so needful in the midst of such manifold temptations. And would to God I might have more ample opportunity of compliance with his request. But seeing that it is his pleasure that we should be separated by so great a distance, which does not permit more frequent communication between us, I beseech you, Madame, to take what I do write as a testimony of the earnest desire which I have to promote your salvation. If, because of the confession you have made of your Christianity, murmurs and threatenings rise up against you, you must bear in mind to what we are called, which is, that notwithstanding all sorts of contradiction on the part of the world, we must render to the Son of God the homage which belongs to him. These indeed should be to you as so many warnings to prepare yourself for greater things, for neither great nor small ought to seek exemption from suffering in the cause of our Sovereign King, in which his honour is as much involved as our salvation. Above all, since himself has begun by shewing us the way, who among us shall dare to refuse to follow him? Where is the greatness, or the elevation, that can bestow greater privilege upon us than on himself? And more than that, if we can appreciate the honour he confers upon us in making use of our service to maintain his so precious truth, we shall hold it to be a peculiar advantage, rather than be annoyed on account of it. True it is, that the human understanding cannot apprehend that; but, seeing that the infallible wisdom of God pronounces, that those who are persecuted for the testimony of the Gospel are most happy, at all hazards we must needs acquiesce in that judgment. And indeed, who are we that _we_ should maintain the cause of God? Where is our sufficiency for it, seeing that we are altogether inclined to falsehood? How should we be witnesses for his truth, unless by his own special gracious permission? On the other hand, seeing that we deserve on account of our sins to suffer all shame of face and ignominy, every sort of misery and torment, yea were it even a hundred thousand deaths, if that were possible, have we aught to complain of, ought we not rather to rejoice, when, forgetting our faults, he wills that we should suffer for his name? Therefore, inasmuch as we are so froward and carnal that we cannot reach such elevation, let us beg of this gracious God that he would please to imprint in our hearts that which naturally we find so strange. Furthermore, let us take to ourselves the example of the Apostles, who counted the reproach of the world as a great honour, and even gloried in it. In short, let us never think that we have fully received the truth, if we do not prefer, above all worldly triumphs, to fight under the banner of our Lord Jesus, that is to say, to bear his cross.

Even so, Madame, consider, I beseech you, if hitherto you have taken pains to serve and honour so good a master, how you can strive more earnestly than ever to arm yourself against opposition, to take courage against all difficulties in order to surmount them; for, since the worldly often manifest invincible constancy in the pursuit of their vanities, patiently enduring so many labours, troubles, and dangers, it would be too shameful were we to grow weary in the midst of the way of salvation; albeit that this is by no means all that is required of us, that we shew ourselves steadfast in the midst of persecutions; for, even if there were no enemies to make open war upon us, we find enough of aversion and indisposedness in ourselves and all around, to hinder us in making our calling sure, which all those who have a true zeal to devote themselves to God, experience more fully than any one could tell them. Inasmuch, then, as I hold you to be of the number, I entreat you to exercise yourself continually in the doctrine of renouncing the world yet more and more, in order to come nearer to our Lord Jesus, who has once for all purchased us to separate us unto himself. I mean the world, such as we carry it within ourselves, before we are made again after his likeness. And seeing that our whole nature, inasmuch as by the corruption of the plague it has been depraved, is enmity against God, the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ cannot be duly established, until all which is ours has been beaten down; and not only the open vices which are condemned of men, but also even our own reason and wisdom. I am aware that I do not speak to you of any new thing, and that by the grace of God you have long ago begun to follow in the way of the holy heavenly calling. But the study of holiness is one of which we must avail ourselves even to the end. And as I have ample cause to praise God for the graces he has bestowed on you, and whereby he magnifies himself in you, by making his own glory to shine forth therein; in also looking to the frailty which we all feel, I think it no superfluous trouble to exhort you to follow on, as indeed you do. And even as it is becoming in Christians to submit in all humility to receive the admonitions which are addressed to them in the name of God, even that the most learned should gladly submit to be taught, I hope that you will receive the whole with a benign and kindly heart. Believe me, when I hear that God has wrought so powerfully in you, and that he has vouchsafed you such commendable qualities, I am incited all the more to desire that he would increase his work in you, until he has quite finished it; and this it is that has constrained me more freely to declare to you my desire and affection.

In conclusion, Madame, having humbly commended me to your kind favour, I entreat our good Lord to have you in his holy protection, to guide you by his Holy Spirit in all strength and prudence, to vouchsafe you grace to promote his honour, until he gather us all unto himself.

Your servant and humble brother,

CHARLES D'ESPEVILLE.

[_Fr. Copy, Library of Geneva._ Vol. 107.]

CCXXXIII.--TO MADEMOISELLE DE....

Exhortations to steadfastness in the faith--acknowledgment of
liberality.

_The 12th of January 1549._

MADEMOISELLE MY SISTER,--I am very glad that your letter has afforded an occasion for my writing to you, so that without further excuse access and freedom have been given me, were it for nought else than to declare the affection I have for you. Therein, that is in your letter, I can perceive evident and clear signs of spiritual vitality; and I have not a doubt but the heart speaks therein quite as much, or rather more than the mouth. Besides, you shew convincingly that you have no longer mere passing convictions, such as many people have now-a-days, but that you have been touched to the quick, and moved with the desire of dedicating yourself wholly to God and to his will. It is very true, as you say, that while clinging from worldly fear to the superstitions which in the world reign paramount, you are still very far from that perfection whereto our gracious God doth call us. But yet it is to have made some progress even to acknowledge our sins, and to be displeased with them. You must now advance farther, and condemning your own weakness, set yourself in earnest about getting rid of it; and if you cannot succeed all at once in compassing your wish, yet nevertheless you must persevere in seeking the remedy for it, until you have been completely cured. To do this, you will find it to be of advantage to call yourself to account day by day, and while acknowledging your faults, to groan within yourself, and mourn over them before God, so that your displeasure against whatsoever is evil may become more intense, until you are quite confirmed and resolved to renounce it as you ought, even as indeed I feel assured you labour hard to do. And it is not in vain that you beg of me to join my prayers with yours, to seek with importunity to God that he would be pleased to have compassion upon you, and to deliver you from this unhappy captivity. Let us continue then with one accord to put up this request, and he will at length make manifest that you have not altogether lost your time. True, sometimes he lets us grow faint, and before declaring effectually that he has heard our prayers, he seems to keep at a distance, as much to sharpen our desire, as to make trial of our patience; and, therefore, you need not reckon that hitherto your prayers to him have been in vain, but much rather take encouragement, and strive even more and more, knowing that if perseverance be required throughout our whole life, it is specially desired in prayer. And, besides, you must also take care in real earnest to fan the flame which God has already begun to kindle within you; for all the gracious affections he breathes into us, are just so many sparks which we must not extinguish, or allow to go out by our heedlessness. Since, then, God has already opened your eyes so far, that you admit we ought to be his peculiar ones, and dedicated to him in righteousness, so as to glorify him as well in our bodies as in our souls; seeing also that he has touched your heart, so that you have some feeling of our unhappiness in alienation from him, unquestionably you must not now go to sleep or trifle away at your ease, but even as we stir fire when it does not burn as it ought to do, it is quite right that you be upstirred yet more and more, until the longing desire to devote yourself wholly to him and to his righteousness, overcomes all hindrances either from the flesh or from the world. I see, or at least take into view, the very great difficulties you have where you are; but since these considerations do not excuse you in the sight of God, when the question is of obedience to his word, and also in a thing of so great importance as the rendering unto him the glory which is due, and the making confession of your Christianity,--if I desire your salvation as I ought, as God is my witness that I do, it is my duty to awaken you, so far as I possibly can, not that I can teach you any new thing, but that on my part I may assist you in making a right use of that knowledge which God has vouchsafed you; to wit, how reasonable it is that his honour be preferred to our life, and also that we endeavour to put away all those subterfuges, which our flesh suggests to us, for turning aside from the path which he points out. That we may do so, we must learn a habit of forgetting ourselves, for the allurements of the world are no less dangerous than open war. The most humble have their share. You, on the other hand, owing to the high condition wherein God has set you, have a larger portion. But you must consider that this is a discipline God sends you, in order that you may all the better manifest the strength and vigour of the savour of our heavenly life, when you shall have surmounted those great obstacles, following out in spite of them your heavenly calling. However, Mademoiselle, when you feel your own infirmity so great, that in the midst of dangers you are unable to give glory to God, do not neglect the remedy, which is to betake yourself to the cross, where you may be joined to the flock, and hear the voice of the Shepherd; whatever may happen, shun to be as a sheep straying in the wilderness. When you are in such a disposition, there is no doubt that God will have compassion upon you, that himself will provide when you shall see no means of doing so; for it is thus that he withdraws his own not only from the mouths of wolves, but from the very depths of hell.

I have received the ten crowns which you have sent for the support of the poor believers who have need of it.[217] I have intrusted them to a discreet hand, to make distribution according to your intention. May the Lord vouchsafe acceptance of this alms at your hands, as a sacrifice of a sweet savour, and cause you one day to rejoice in the spiritual benefits which he has imparted to those you are thus helping in their earthly poverty.

[217] The donations which a pious liberality daily multiplied at
Geneva, gave rise to the foundations known by the name of French,
German, and Italian _Bourses_. The names of Margaret de Valois, and
the Duchess of Ferrara, shine in the first rank upon the list of
foreign contributors.--Bolsec, _Life of Calvin_, c. xi.

And now, Mademoiselle, having commended me humbly to your kind favour, with prayer to our good Lord to uphold you in his protection, to govern you always by his Spirit, and to assist you in every way and evermore, I shall conclude for the present. My wife also desires to be humbly commended to your kind favour.

Your servant and humble brother,

CHARLES D'ESPEVILLE.

[_Fr. copy._--_Library of Geneva._ Vol. 108.]

CCXXXIV.--TO THE MINISTERS OF THE CHURCH OF MONTBELIARD.[218]

[218] To the Faithful Servants of Christ, the Ministers of the
Church of Montbeliard, dearest Brethren and Fellow-Ministers.

George of Wurtemberg, Count of Montbeliard, having fallen under
the disgrace of the Emperor, at the end of the war of Smalkald, in
which he had taken part in the ranks of the Protestant princes,
was stript of his Principality in 1548, and withdrew to the Canton
of Berne.--Ruchat, vol. v. p. 368. At the termination of that
revolution, the Churches of the Pays de Montbeliard were dispersed,
and their ministers, among whom was to be remarked Pierre Toussain,
were banished, and sought an asylum in the different Reformed
Cantons of Switzerland, until the period of the restoration, both
political and religious, that replaced them some years afterwards in
their native country.

Exhortations to discharge to the end their ministerial duties.

[GENEVA, _16th January 1549_.]

Grace to you, and peace, from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.--Very dear brethren, deserving of my hearty reverence, what we so long feared has at length come to pass, for Satan has, by the aid of his ministers, overturned among you also the order of the Church as established by God. Yet your letter was consolatory--so far as there could be any consolation in so very sad a state of things--for we learned from it that you were all faithful to the last in the discharge of your duty. In denouncing, as you say you did, those seducers who were making themselves busy in defiling the purity of sound doctrine, you acted with a decision worthy of the ministers of Christ. You now give a bright example of the sincerity of your faith, in preferring even exile to perfidious dissimulation. For when he who had hitherto given a hospitable reception within his dominions to the Church of Christ, and had granted you full permission to preach Christ, now deprives you of the office of teachers, there is no use in pushing the matter farther, as we think, especially when there is no hope of making progress, and when the sheep, over which Christ had made you pastors, no longer desire your services. As he is a traitor who voluntarily yields up and deserts his post, so it is our duty, when forced, not to offer resistance, unless perhaps we should be expressly called upon by the Church to undergo the extremity; for it is a hundred times better to die, than for those who were prepared to follow Christ to make vain their vows. But your case is far different; for so long as you were pastors, you were faithful and assiduous in your attention to your flocks. Now when there is no use in desiring to persevere, and when the sheep themselves, to whom your faith was pledged, do not consider it profitable for you to proceed farther, you are certainly free from all further obligation. It remains, therefore, for you to commend to Christ the charges committed to you, that he alone by his Spirit may give guidance when you have no longer any opportunity of carrying on your labours. Henceforward we may imagine what your sorrow must be, seeing that nothing presents itself to you but exile and poverty. But your greatest affliction will be caused by the misery of the Church, for whose interests you have evinced greater regard than for your own. And we indeed are equally affected--as we ought to be--by your public and private misfortunes. Would that we could extend a helping hand to you! For the rest, we exhort you to hold on to the end in this your testimony of Christian sincerity. Your lot, however hard, will be more blessed than if you maintained a name and a place where the Son of God was exiled. Yet we shall soon see him so reigning in heaven, as to make his power appear also on the earth. Meanwhile, it becomes us to be ready for the warfare, since it is not yet the hour of triumph. Adieu, best and most upright brethren. May the Lord Jesus Christ be with you, may he comfort and support you in your devoted steadfastness.

Your brethren truly in the Lord, the Ministers of the Church of Geneva.--In the name of all,

JOHN CALVIN.

[_Calvin's Lat. Corresp._--Opera, tom. ix. p. 50.]

CCXXXV.--TO HENRY BULLINGER.[219]

[219] The year 1549 is remarkable for the tendencies to union
manifested by many of the Swiss Churches, and for their happy issue!
Several persons, says Ruchat, zealous for religion, imagined that
the clergy of Zurich and Geneva did not hold the same doctrine
on the Supper, on the ground of some slight difference in the
expressions they made use of; and this divergence caused them pain.
Accordingly, as they held Bullinger and Calvin in great esteem,
and desired to be able to profit equally by writings published by
theologians of both churches, they deemed it necessary to institute
conferences with a view to union; and Calvin, ever full of zeal for
the interests of the Church, did not hesitate to subscribe to this
petition.--_Hospinien_, tom. ii. p. 367; Ruchat, tom. v. p. 369.

Hope of union with the theologians of Zurich--dedication of
several writings.

GENEVA, _21st January 1549_.

I at length received your former letter, which I thought had been destroyed, three days before the latter of the two reached me. For when the person who married the other sister[220] sought Hooper's[221] letter from his companion, observing another small packet, he immediately laid hands on it. His companion, either from modesty, or from some cause I know not what, did not dare to take it from him. I have read your annotations, from which I have discovered what you regard as wanting in my method of treating the subject. I have endeavoured briefly to satisfy you, because the matter itself did not demand a long discourse. I shall know how far I have succeeded in this, when I have received your reply. I may at least on good grounds wish to obtain this of you, viz., that you will not allow yourself to become entangled in baseless suspicions. For I observe that, owing to this cause, you are perplexed in regard to many points which present difficulty, simply because you put upon the majority of my statements a different construction from what you have any ground for doing. A pre-conceived opinion regarding me leads you to imagine and attribute to me what never occurred to my mind. Besides, while you are concerned to maintain your own opinions, whatever they may be, to the very last, you sometimes consider more what is in harmony with them, than what is the truth on the subject. If simplicity pleases you, I certainly take no delight in disguise and circumlocution. If you love a free declaration of the truth, I never had any mind to bend what I wrote, so as to receive its acceptance with men. If there be any who have flattered Luther and others, I am not of that number. Our most excellent Musculus knows, that even when wise men were in fear, I was always free [from apprehensions]. But had it not been for the obstacle of an unprofitable distrust, there would by this time have been no controversy between us, or none to speak of. Although, however, I differ from you in opinion, that does not imply the least severance of affection; just as I cultivate the friendship of Bucer, and yet am free to dissent occasionally from his views. You are accordingly too severe in saying in your letter that the matter can only go well, provided you understand that you are not regarded as our enemies. On what grounds you form that surmise, I know not. This indeed I know, that I both think and speak of you in a friendly spirit. This, moreover, is known to very many who have heard me speak. It may indeed be that I have found fault with you in private letters to my friends, or that I have not concealed my conviction, that what they censured was deserving of reprehension. There was always, however, such an admixture of praise, as qualified any bitterness, and afforded proof of good intentions. Others may form what opinion they choose, but I shall never have to repent of lack of integrity on my part. If Master Blaurer[222] shall undertake Provence, which is offered to him, and Musculus accept the Professorship of Theology, I shall not only congratulate the Church of Berne, but hope that this will prove a bond of closer relationship between us. I beg you will inform me of your affairs, whenever an opportunity occurs. You would have had my Commentaries on the Five Epistles of Paul before this time, had I not thought that they were for sale with you. As messengers rarely go and come between this and your quarter, I was afraid that the carriage would cost more than the purchase of them. I now send you the Commentaries on the Second Epistle to the Corinthians, and the four [Epistles] immediately following. I have yet published nothing on the Epistle to Titus, and the two Epistles to the Thessalonians. I also send my reply, which is highly approved of by Brentius, whose opinion I do not mention to you in the way of boasting, but that you may therefrom form a conjecture as to how much more moderate he is in his doctrine of the Sacraments than he formerly was. Adieu, most illustrious sir, and dearest brother in the Lord. May the Lord Jesus always guide you and your colleagues, all of whom you will salute respectfully in my name. Ours in turn desire best greetings to you, of whom Des Gallars presents for your acceptance a small treatise he has composed. The best greeting to Master Musculus, and other pious brethren.--Yours,

JOHN CALVIN.

[_Lat. orig. autogr._--_Archives of Zurich._ Gest. VI. 166, p. 19.]

[220] Valeran Poulain, brother-in-law of Hooper, whose sister
he espoused at Zurich. He became this same year minister of the
congregation cf Foreign Protestants at Glastonbury, near London. We
shall find him afterwards minister of the Church of Frankfort.

[221] John Hooper, formerly chaplain to the Duke of Somerset,
withdrew to Zurich during the latter years of the reign of Henry
VIII. He was at this time disposed to return to England.

[222] Ambroise Blaurer, formerly minister of the Reformed Church of
Constance, at this time minister of the Church of Bienne.

CCXXXVI.--TO BUCER.[223]

[223] This undated fragment should, we think, be referred to the
month of February 1549; that is, to the period at which Bucer,
compelled to leave Strasbourg, by the establishment of the Interim
in that town, was making preparations for his departure for
England. In one of his letters to Calvin we discover the following
passage:--"We are only hindered by the tears and sighs of the
pious--of whom there are still a great many here--from leaving this
place before we get orders. For, if the Lord will, we wish rather to
seal than to break up our ministry. You see how our affairs stand,
and how much we need the assistance of your prayers, both in our own
behalf and on that of this very unfortunate Church."--_Calv. Opera_,
b. ix. p. 233.

Sadly disappointed in the dream of his whole life--the union of
the Reformed Churches of Germany and Switzerland--forgotten by
parties who could not forgive his moderation in an age of hatred
and intolerance, Bucer carried with him into exile the respect
and affection of Calvin, who in a letter, of which we have here
only a mere fragment, addressed to him the highest consolations of
Christian philosophy.

Consolations to be found in the study of divine and everlasting
truth.

[_February 1549._]

As truth is most precious, so all men confess it to be so. And yet, since God alone is the source of all good, you must not doubt, that whatever truth you anywhere meet with, proceeds from him, unless you would be doubly ungrateful to him; it is in this way you have received the word descended from heaven. For it is sinful to treat God's gifts with contempt; and to ascribe to man what is peculiarly God's is a still greater impiety. Philosophy is, consequently, the noble gift of God, and those learned men who have striven hard after it in all ages have been incited thereto by God himself, that they might enlighten the world in the knowledge of the truth. But there is a wide difference between the writings of these men and those truths which God, of his own pleasure, delivered to guilty men for their sanctification. In the former, you may fall in with a small particle of truth, of which you can get only a taste, sufficient to make you feel how pleasant and sweet it is; but in the latter, you may obtain in rich abundance that which can refresh the soul to the full. In the one, a shadow and an image is placed before the eyes which can only excite in you a love of the object, without admitting you to familiar intercourse with it; in the other, the solid substance stands before you, with which you may not only become intimately acquainted, but may also, in some measure, handle it. In that, the seed is in a manner choked; in this, you may possess the fruit in its very maturity. There, in short, only a few small sparks break forth, which so point out the path that they fail in the middle of the journey,--or rather, which fail in indicating the path at all,--and can only restrain the traveller from going farther astray; but here, the Spirit of God, like a most brilliant torch, or rather like the sun itself, shines in full splendour, not only to guide the course of your life, even to its final goal, but also to conduct you to a blessed immortality. Draw then from this source, wherever you may wander, and as soon as he finds you a settled abode, you ought to make that your place of rest....

[_Calvin's Lat. Corresp._ Opera, tom. ix. p. 50.]

CCXXXVII.--TO THE PASTORS OF THE CHURCH OF BERNE.[224]

[224] While Calvin was engaged in active negotiations with the
ministers of Zurich for the adoption of a common formula regarding
the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, he addressed to the ministers of
the Church of Berne a statement of what the Church of Geneva held
on that important question, in the hope of leading that Church into
the proposed union. But the Bernese clergy, placed in a position
of absolute dependence on the seigneury, could not adopt any
formula without its authority; and the seigneurs, jealous of their
influence, regarded with a distrustful eye any communication with
the ministers of Geneva. The approaches of Calvin, also, were not
well received, and the noble desire of the Reformer for the union of
the Helvetian churches, realized at a later period by Bullinger, met
with no response.--_Ruchat_, tom. v. pp. 578, 579.

Desire of union between the Churches of Berne and Geneva.

GENEVA, _13th March 1549_.

Seeing that we have, unsolicited, offered you a reading of our views on the sacraments, it seems desirable to furnish you, briefly, with some reason for our resolution in this matter; although, indeed, no lengthened introduction is needed in dealing with us in so just a cause. When your illustrious senate has publicly called upon you to deliberate, among other matters, regarding the peace of the Church, of which the peculiar bond is harmony in purity of doctrine, it is probable there will be some discussion regarding the sacraments, as that subject has for a long time occupied the attention of the Bernese Church. And while we are not required to make any exposition of our doctrine, we have, nevertheless, thought it our duty, even though unasked, to take part with you in bearing testimony on a matter in which we have all been completely unanimous. For since we both preach the same Christ, both profess the same gospel, are both members of the same church, and have both the same ministry, there ought not to be that diversity of authority among us to which we have been subject, either to break up the unity of our faith, or to hinder from flourishing amongst us so many rights of holy fellowship consecrated to the service of Christ. That proximity of residence, also, which is so influential among the children of this world, in drawing them into close friendship, ought not, at least, to be less powerful among us. We are, in reality, so commingled, that even the situation of the two places brings us, as it were, within a bond of mutual union. So far is this the case, that there is a federal union between the two cities. Some of our ministers, moreover, supply the churches of the Bernese district, just as certain of your body, again, have some of the churches of Geneva under their charge. It is, consequently, to a great extent, as much your interest as it is ours to become intimately acquainted with those doctrines to which we conform. At all events, in this way--passing by other considerations--many unfavourable suspicions will be counteracted, and malicious men will be deprived of a source of abuse. We confidently trust that our wishes will be agreeable, not only to yourselves, but also to your most illustrious senate. It only remains that you receive this communication calmly and with forbearance. And if you do so, as there is the highest hope you will, it will not be found to contain anything which you may not easily comprehend. Adieu, dearly beloved and estimable brethren and fellow-ministers; may the Lord Jesus long preserve, by his strength, the Bernese republic in a most prosperous condition. May he uphold the illustrious senate, under whose auspices ye have been assembled. May he direct and bless your assembly, and guide you by a spirit of wise zeal and uprightness to promote the advancement and edification of the Church.

Signed in the name of all your brethren and fellow-ministers of the Church of Geneva,

JOHN CALVIN.

* * * * *

Then follows an exposition of the sacraments, corrected by the hand of Calvin.

[_Lat. Copy._--_Archives of Zurich_, Gest. VI. 105, p. 390.]

CCXXXVIII.--TO VIRET.[225]

[225] A peculiar interest attaches to this and the following letter,
written under a load of great domestic affliction. Early in April
1549, Calvin lost the worthy partner of his life, Idelette de Bure,
whose frail and delicate health gave way under the pressure of a
protracted illness, and whose last hours are known to us by the
touching picture given of them by the Reformer. The consolations
of friendship, and the consideration of the important duties he
had to discharge, supported Calvin in this affliction, and the
self-control which he manifested during the first days of his
bereavement, excited the admiration of his friends. Viret wrote him
on this occasion as follows: "Wonderfully and incredibly have I been
refreshed, not by empty rumours alone, but especially by numerous
messengers who have informed me how you, with a heart so broken
and lacerated, have attended to all your duties even better than
hitherto ... and that, above all, at a time when grief so fresh,
and on that account all the more severe, might have prostrated your
mind. Go on then as you have begun ... and I pray God most earnestly
that you may be enabled to do so, and that you may receive daily
greater comfort and be strengthened more and more."--Letter of 10th
April 1549. _Calv. Opera_, tom. ix. p. 53.

Death of Idelette de Bure, the wife of Calvin.

_April 7, 1549._

Although the death of my wife has been exceedingly painful to me, yet I subdue my grief as well as I can. Friends, also, are earnest in their duty to me. It might be wished, indeed, that they could profit me and themselves more; yet one can scarcely say how much I am supported by their attentions. But you know well enough how tender, or rather soft, my mind is. Had not a powerful self-control, therefore, been vouchsafed to me, I could not have borne up so long. And truly mine is no common source of grief. I have been bereaved of the best companion of my life, of one who, had it been so ordered, would not only have been the willing sharer of my indigence, but even of my death. During her life she was the faithful helper of my ministry. From her I never experienced the slightest hindrance. She was never troublesome to me throughout the entire course of her illness; she was more anxious about her children than about herself.[226] As I feared these private cares might annoy her to no purpose, I took occasion, on the third day before her death, to mention that I would not fail in discharging my duty to her children. Taking up the matter immediately, she said, "I have already committed them to God." When I said that that was not to prevent me from caring for them, she replied, "I know you will not neglect what you know has been committed to God." Lately, also, when a certain woman insisted that she should talk with me regarding these matters, I, for the first time, heard her give the following brief answer: "Assuredly the principal thing is that they live a pious and holy life. My husband is not to be urged to instruct them in religious knowledge and in the fear of God. If they be pious, I am sure he will gladly be a father to them; but if not, they do not deserve that I should ask for aught in their behalf." This nobleness of mind will weigh more with me than a hundred recommendations. Many thanks for your friendly consolation. Adieu, most excellent and honest brother. May the Lord Jesus watch over and direct yourself and your wife.[227] Present my best wishes to her and to the brethren.--Yours,

JOHN CALVIN.

[_Calvin's Lat. Corresp._--Opera, tom. ix. p. 50.]

[226] Idelette de Bure had, by her first marriage with Jean Storder,
several children known to us only by the pious solicitude of their
mother on her deathbed.

[227] We read in Viret's letter to Calvin already referred
to,--"My wife salutes you most courteously; she has been grieved
in no ordinary way by the death of her very dear sister, and she
and I feel it to be a loss to us all." Idelette de Bure kept up
with Viret's wife a pious epistolary correspondence, which has
unfortunately not been preserved.

CCXXXIX.--TO FAREL.

Further details regarding the death of Idelette de Bure.

GENEVA, _11th April 1549_.

Intelligence of my wife's death has perhaps reached you before now. I do what I can to keep myself from being overwhelmed with grief. My friends also leave nothing undone that may administer relief to my mental suffering. When your brother left, her life was all but despaired of. When the brethren were assembled on Tuesday, they thought it best that we should join together in prayer. This was done. When Abel, in the name of the rest, exhorted her to faith and patience, she briefly (for she was now greatly worn) stated her frame of mind. I afterwards added an exhortation, which seemed to me appropriate to the occasion. And then, as she had made no allusion to her children, I, fearing that, restrained by modesty, she might be feeling an anxiety concerning them, which would cause her greater suffering than the disease itself, declared in the presence of the brethren, that I should henceforth care for them as if they were my own. She replied, "I have already committed them to the Lord." When I replied, that that was not to hinder me from doing my duty, she immediately answered, "If the Lord shall care for them, I know they will be commended to you." Her magnanimity was so great, that she seemed to have already left the world. About the sixth hour of the day, on which she yielded up her soul to the Lord, our brother Bourgouin[228] addressed some pious words to her, and while he was doing so, she spoke aloud, so that all saw that her heart was raised far above the world. For these were her words: "O glorious resurrection! O God of Abraham, and of all our fathers, in thee have the faithful trusted during so many past ages, and none of them have trusted in vain. I also will hope." These short sentences were rather ejaculated than distinctly spoken. This did not come from the suggestion of others, but from her own reflections, so that she made it obvious in few words what were her own meditations. I had to go out at six o'clock. Having been removed to another apartment after seven, she immediately began to decline. When she felt her voice suddenly failing her, she said: "Let us pray: let us pray. All pray for me." I had now returned. She was unable to speak, and her mind seemed to be troubled. I, having spoken a few words about the love of Christ, the hope of eternal life, concerning our married life, and her departure, engaged in prayer. In full possession of her mind, she both heard the prayer, and attended to it. Before eight she expired, so calmly, that those present could scarcely distinguish between her life and her death. I at present control my sorrow so that my duties may not be interfered with. But in the mean while the Lord has sent other trials upon me. Adieu, brother, and very excellent friend. May the Lord Jesus strengthen you by his Spirit; and may he support me also under this heavy affliction, which would certainly have overcome me, had not he, who raises up the prostrate, strengthens the weak, and refreshes the weary, stretched forth his hand from heaven to me. Salute all the brethren and your whole family.--Yours,

JOHN CALVIN.

[_Calvin's Lat. Corresp._ Opera, tom. ix. p. 50.]

[228] The minister Francis Bourgouin.

CCXL.--TO MADAME DE CANY.[229]

[229] See the letter and the note at p. 201.

Account of the instructive death of Madame Laurent de Normandie.

_This 29th of April 1549._

MADAME,--Although the news which I communicate is sad, and must also sadden the person to whom I beg you to impart it, nevertheless I hope that my letter will not be unwelcome to you. It has pleased my God to withdraw from this world the wife of my kind brother, M. de Normandie.[230] Our consolation is, that he has gathered her unto himself; for he has guided her even to the last sigh, as if visibly he had held out the hand to her. Now, forasmuch as her father must needs be informed,[231] we have thought there was no way more suitable than to request that you would please take the trouble to request him to call on you, that the painful intelligence may be broken to him by your communication of it. What the gentleman has written to us who lately presented our letter to you, has emboldened us to take this step, viz., that you had introduced the good man in question to the right way of salvation, and that you had given him understanding of the pure and sound doctrine which we must maintain. We do not doubt, therefore, that you are willing to continue your good offices, and that even in this present need. For we cannot employ ourselves better, than in carrying this message in the name of God, to comfort him to whom you have already done so much good, that he may not be beyond measure disconsolate. Therefore, Madame, I leave you to set before him the arguments and reasons which you know to be suitable for exhorting to submission. Only I shall shortly relate to you the history, which will furnish you with ample matter for showing him that he has reason to be thankful. And, according to the grace and wisdom that God has given you, you will draw thence for his comfort as opportunity shall require.

[230] Laurent de Normandie, sprung from a noble family of Picardy,
fellow-countryman and friend of Calvin, discharged the functions of
master of requests and of lieutenant of the King at Noyon, before
retiring to Geneva. Received inhabitant of the town, the 2d May
1547, burgess, the 25th April 1555, he lived there in intimacy with
Calvin, who dedicated to him in 1550 his _Traité des Scandales_.
He had married for his first wife Anne de la Vacquerie, of a noble
family, which has merged in that of the Dukes of Saint Simon, and
illustrious under the reign of Louis XI., by the first president
Jacques de la Vacquerie. A short time after his arrival at Geneva
he lost his wife, whose edifying death is the subject of Calvin's
letter to Madame de Cany, and he married a second time (14th
September 1550) Anne Colladon.--Galiffe, _Notices Généalogiques sur
les Familles de Genève_, tom. ii. p. 527.

[231] Eloi de la Vacquerie.