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.dt The Project Gutenberg eBook of History of the Reformation in Europe in the Time of Calvib, Vol. 4 of 8, by J. H. Merle D'Aubigné, D.D.
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History of the Reformation in Europe in the Time of Calvin, Vol. 4 of 8
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<xxl><B>HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN EUROPE IN THE TIME OF CALVIN.</B></xxl>

<xl><B>BY</B></xl>

<xxl><B>J. H. MERLE D’AUBIGNÉ, D.D.,</B></xxl>

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


‘Les choses de petite durée ont coutume de devenir fanées, quand elles ont passé
leur temps.

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

<sc>Calvin.</sc>


<xl><B>VOL. IV.</B></xl>

<xl><B>ENGLAND, GENEVA, FRANCE, GERMANY, AND ITALY.</B></xl>

NEW YORK:
ROBERT CARTER & BROTHERS,
No. 530 BROADWAY.
1866.
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.h2
PREFACE.
.sp 2
This volume narrates the events of an important
epoch in the Reformation of England, Switzerland,
France, Germany, and Italy. From the first the author
purposed to write a <i>History of the Reformation in
Europe</i>, which he indicated in the title of his work.
Some persons, misled by the last words of that title,
have supposed that he intended to give a mere biography
of Calvin: such was not his idea. That great
divine must have his place in this history, but, however
interesting the life of a man may be, and especially
the life of so great a servant of God, the history of the
work of God in the various parts of Christendom possesses
in our opinion a greater and more permanent
interest.

.pm verse-start
<lang=la>Deo soli gloria. Omnia hominum idola pereant!</lang>
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In the year 1853, in the fifth volume of his <i>History
of the Reformation of the Sixteenth Century</i>, the author
described the commencement of the reform in England.
He now resumes the subject where he had left off,
namely, after the fall and death of Wolsey. The
following pages were written thirteen years ago, immediately
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subsequent to the publication of the fifth volume;
they have since then been revised and extended.

The most important fact of that epoch in Great
Britain is the act by which the English Church resumed
its independence. It was attended by a peculiar
circumstance. When Henry <abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr> emancipated
his people from the papal supremacy, he proclaimed
himself head of the Church. And hence, of all Protestant
countries, England is the one in which Church
and State are most closely united. The legislators of
the Anglican Church understood afterwards the danger
presented by this union, and consequently declared,
in the Thirty-seventh Article (<i>Of the Civil Magistrates</i>),
that, ‘where they attributed to the King’s
Majesty the chief government, they gave not to their
princes the ministering of God’s word.’ This did not
mean that the king should not preach; such an idea
did not occur to any one; but that the civil power
should not take upon itself to determine the doctrines
of the divine Word.

Unhappily this precaution has not proved sufficient.
Not long since a question of doctrine was raised with
regard to the <i>Essays and Reviews</i>, and the case having
been carried on appeal before the supreme court, the
latter gave its decision with regard to important dogmas.
The Privy Council decided that the denial of
the plenary inspiration of Scripture, of the substitution
of Christ for the sinner in the sacrifice of the cross,
and of the irrevocable consequences of the last judgment,
was not contrary to the profession of faith of the
Church of England. When they heard of this judgment,
the rationalists triumphed; but an immense
number of protests were made in all parts of Great
Britain. While we feel the greatest respect for the
persons and intentions of the members of the judicial
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committee of the Privy Council, we venture to ask
whether this judgment be not subversive of the fundamental
principles of the Anglican Church; nay more
(though in this we may be wrong), is it not a violation
of the English Constitution, of which the articles
of Religion form part? The fact is the more serious
as it was accomplished notwithstanding the opposition
(which certainly deserved to be taken into consideration)
of the two chief spiritual conductors of the
Church—the Archbishop of Canterbury, Primate of
all England, and the Archbishop of York, both members
of the council. Having to describe in this volume
the historical fact in which the evil originated, the
author is of opinion that he ought to point out respectfully
but frankly the evil itself. He does so with the
more freedom because he believes that he is in harmony
on this point with the majority of the bishops,
clergy, and pious laymen of the English Church, for
whom he has long felt sincere respect and affection.

But let us not fear. The ills of the Church must
not prevent our acknowledging that at no time has
evangelical Christianity been more widely extended
than in our days. We know that the Christians of
Great Britain will not only hold firm the standard of
faith, but will redouble their efforts to win souls to
the Gospel both at home and in the most distant countries.
And if at any time they should be compelled to
make a choice—and either renounce their union with
the civil power, or sacrifice the holy doctrines of the
Word of God—there is not (in our opinion) one
evangelical minister or layman in England who would
hesitate a moment on the course he should adopt.

England requires now more than ever to study the
Fathers of the Reformation in their writings, and to be
animated by their spirit. There are men in our days
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who are led astray by strange imaginations, and who,
unless precautions be taken against their errors, would
overturn the glorious chariot of Christian truth, and
plunge it into the abyss of superstitious Romanism or
over the abrupt precipice of incredulity. On one side,
scholastic doctrines (as transubstantiation for instance)
are boldly professed in certain Protestant churches;
monastic orders, popish rites, candles, vestments of the
fourteenth century, and all the mummeries of the
Middle Ages are revived. On the other side, a
rationalism, which, though it still keeps within bounds,
is not the less dangerous on that account, is attacking
the inspiration of Scripture, the atonement, and other
essential doctrines. May we be permitted to conjure
all who have God’s glory, the safety of the Church,
and the prosperity of their country at heart, to preserve
in its integrity the precious treasure of God’s Word,
and to learn from the men of the Reformation to repel
foolish errors and a slavish yoke with one hand, and
with the other the empty theorems of an incredulous
philosophy.

I would crave permission to draw attention to a fact
of importance. A former volume has shown that the
spiritual reformation of England proceeded from the
Word of God, first read at Oxford and Cambridge,
and then by the people. The only part which the
king took in it was an opposition, which he followed
out even to the stake. The present volume shows
that the official reformation, the reform of abuses,
proceeded from the Commons, from the most notable
laymen of England. The king took only a passive
part in this work. Thus neither the internal nor
the external reform proceeded from Henry <abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr>
Of all the acts of the Reformation only one belongs
to him: he broke with the pope. That was a great
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benefit, and it is a great honor to the king. But
could it have lasted without the two other reforms?
We much doubt it. The Reformation of England
primarily came from God; but if we look at secondary
causes, it proceeded from the people, and not from the
sovereign. The noble vessel of the political constitution,
which had remained almost motionless for centuries,
began to advance at the first breath of the Gospel.
Rationalists and papists, notwithstanding all their
hopes, will never deprive Great Britain of the Reformation
accomplished by the Word of God; but if
England were to lose the Gospel, she would at the
same time lose her liberty. Coercion under the reign
of popery or excesses under the reign of infidelity,
would be equally fatal to it.

A distinguished writer published in 1858 an important
work in which he treated of the history of England
from the fall of Wolsey.[#] We have great pleasure
in acknowledging the value of Mr. Froude’s volumes;
but we do not agree with his opinions with respect to
the character of Henry <abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr> While we believe that
he rendered great services to England as a king, we
are not inclined, so far as his private character is concerned,
to consider him a model prince, and his victims
as criminals. We differ also from the learned
historian in certain matters of detail, which have been
partly indicated in our notes. But every one must
bear testimony to the good use Mr. Froude has made
of the original documents which he had before him,
and to the talent with which the history is written,
and we could not forbear rejoicing as we noticed the
favorable point of view under which, in this last work
of his, he considers the Reformation.
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After speaking of England, the author returns to
the history of Geneva; and readers may perhaps
complain that he has dwelt longer upon it than is consistent
with a general history of the Reformation. He
acknowledges that there may be some truth in the
objection, and accepts his condemnation in advance.
But he might reply that according to the principles
which determine the characteristics of the Beautiful,
the liveliest interest is often excited by what takes
place on the narrowest stage. He might add that
the special character of the Genevese Reform, where
political liberty and evangelical faith are seen triumphing
together, is of particular importance to our age.
He might say that if he has spoken too much of Geneva,
it is because he knows and loves her; and that
while everybody thinks it natural for a botanist, even
when taking note of the plants of the whole world, to
apply himself specially to a description of such as
grow immediately around him; a Genevese ought to
be permitted to make known the flowers which adorn
the shores upon which he dwells, and whose perfume
has extended far over the world.

For this part of our work we have continued to
consult the most authentic documents of the sixteenth
century, at the head of which are the Registers of the
Council of State of Geneva. Among the new sources
that we have explored we may mention an important
manuscript in the Archives of Berne which was placed
at our disposal by <abbr=Monsieur>M.</abbr> de Stürler, Chancellor of State.
This folio of four hundred and thirty pages contains
the minutes of the sittings of the Inquisitional Court
of Lyons, assembled to try Baudichon de la Maisonneuve
for heresy. To avoid swelling out this volume,
it was necessary to omit many interesting circumstances
contained in that document; we should have curtailed
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them even more had we not considered that the facts
of that trial did not yet belong to history, and had remained
for more than three centuries hidden among
the state papers of Berne.[#] De la Maisonneuve was
the chief layman of the Genevese Reformation,—<i>the
captain of the Lutherans</i>, as he is frequently called by
the witnesses in their depositions. The part he played
in the Reformation of Geneva has not been duly appreciated.
No doubt the excess of his qualities, particularly
of his energy, sometimes carried him too far;
but his love of truth, indomitable courage, and indefatigable
activity make him one of the most prominent
characters of the Reform. The name of Maisonneuve
no longer exists in that city; but a great number of
the most ancient and most respected families descend
from him, either in a direct or collateral line.[#]

Another manuscript has brought to our knowledge
the chief mission of the embassy which solicited Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr>
to set Baudichon de la Maisonneuve at liberty.
The head of that embassy was Rodolph of Diesbach: <abbr=Monsieur>M.</abbr>
Ferdinand de Diesbach, of Berne, has had the kindness
to place the manuscript records of his family at our disposal;
and the circumstance that we have learnt from
them does not give a very exalted idea of that king’s
generosity.

The project of Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr> and of Melancthon described
in the portion of the volume devoted to France
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and Germany, and the important letters hitherto unknown
in our language, which are given there, appear
worthy of the attention of enlightened and serious minds.

We conclude with Italy. We could have wished
to describe in this volume Calvin’s journey to Ferrara,
and even his arrival at Geneva; but the great space
given to other countries did not permit us to carry on
the Genevese Reformation to that period. Two distinguished
men, whose talents and labors we respect,
<abbr=Monsieur>M.</abbr> Albert Rilliet, of Geneva, and <abbr=Monsieur>M.</abbr> Jules Bonnet,
of Paris, have had a discussion about Calvin’s transalpine
expedition. <abbr=Monsieur>M.</abbr> Rilliet’s essay (<i>Deux points obscurs
de la vie de Calvin</i>) was published as a pamphlet,
and <abbr=Monsieur>M.</abbr> Bonnet’s answer (<i>Calvin en Italie</i>) appeared
in the <lang=fr><i>Revue Chrétienne</i></lang> for 1864, p. 461 sqq., and in
the <lang=fr><i>Bulletin de la Société de l’Histoire du Protestantisme
Français</i></lang> for 1864, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 183 sqq. <abbr=Monsieur>M.</abbr> Rilliet denies
that Calvin ever visited the city of Aosta, and
<abbr=Monsieur>M.</abbr> Bonnet maintains that he did. Data are unfortunately
wanting to decide a small number of secondary
points; but the important fact of Calvin’s journey
<i>through Aosta</i>, seems beyond a doubt, and when we
come to this epoch in the Reformer’s life, we will give
such proofs—in our opinion incontestable proofs—as
ought to convince every impartial mind.

Before describing Calvin’s residence at Ferrara, the
author had to narrate the movements which had been
going on in Italy from the beginning of the Reformation.
Being obliged to limit himself, considering the
extent of his task, he had wished at first to exclude
those countries in which the Reformation was crushed
out, as Italy and Spain. On studying more closely
the work there achieved, he could not make up his
mind to pass it over in silence. Among the oldest
editions of the books of that period which he has
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made use of is a copy of the works of Aonio Paleario
(1552), recently presented by the Marquis Cresi, of
Naples, to the library of the School of Evangelical
Theology at Geneva. This volume wants thirty-two
leaves (<abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 311 to 344), and at the foot of <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 310
is the following manuscript note: <lang=la><i>Quæ desunt pagellæ
sublatæ fuerunt de mandato Rev. Vicarii Neap.</i></lang>; ‘the
missing pages were torn out by order of the Reverend
Vicar of Naples.’ This was an annoyance to the
author, who wished to read those pages all the more
because the inquisition had cut them out. Happily
he found them in a Dutch edition belonging to Professor
André Cherbuliez.

Some persons have thought that political liberty
occupied too great a space in the first volume of this
history; we imagined, however, that we were doing a
service to the time in which we live, by showing the
coexistence in Geneva of civil emancipation and evangelical
reform. On the continent, there are men of
education and elevated character, but strangers to the
Gospel, who labor under a mistake as to the causes
which separate them from Christianity. In their opinion
it arises from the circumstance that the Church
whose head is at Rome is hostile to the rights of the
people. Many of them have said that religion might
be strengthened and perpetuated by uniting with liberty.
But is it not united with liberty in Switzerland,
England, and the United States of America? Why
should we not see everywhere, and in France particularly,
as well as in the countries we have just named,
religion which respects the rights of God uniting with
policy which respects the rights of the people? It is
not the Encyclic of Pius <abbr='the ninth'>IX.</abbr> that the Gospel claims
as a companion, it is liberty. The Gospel has need of
liberty, and liberty has need of the Gospel. The
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people who have only one or other of these two essential
elements of life are sick; the people who have
neither are dead.

‘The greatest imaginable absurdity,’ says one of the
eminent philosophers and noble minds of our epoch,
<abbr=Monsieur>M.</abbr> Jouffroy, ‘would be the assertion that this present
life is everything, and that there is nothing after it. I
know of no greater in any branch of science.’ Might
there not, however, be another absurdity worthy of
being placed by its side? The same philosopher says
that, so far as regards our state after this life, ‘science
and philosophy have not, after two thousand years, arrived
at a single accepted result.’[#] Consequently, by
the side of the absurdity which <abbr=Monsieur>M.</abbr> Jouffroy has pointed
out, we confidently place another, as the second of
‘the greatest imaginable absurdities,’ namely, that
which consists in believing, after two thousand years
of barren labors, that there is another way besides
Christianity to know and possess the life invisible and
eternal. The essential fact of the history of religion
and the history of the world: <i>God manifest in the flesh</i>,
is the ray from heaven which reveals that life to us,
and procures it for us. We know what a wind of incredulity
has scattered over barren sands many noble
souls who aspire to something better, and for whom
Christ has opened the gates of eternity; but let us hope
that their fall will be only temporary, and that many,
enlightened from on high, turning their eyes away
from the desert which surrounds them, and lifting
them towards heaven, will exclaim: <i>I will arise and
go to my Father</i>.

We must, as Jouffroy says, ‘recommence our investigations;’
but ‘first of all,’ he adds, ‘we must confess
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the secret vice which has hitherto rendered all our exertions
powerless.’ That secret vice consists in considering
the question in an intellectual and theoretical
point of view only, while it is absolutely necessary to
grapple with it in a practical way, and to make it an
individual fact. The matter under discussion belongs
to the domain of humanity, not of philosophy. It does
not regard the understanding alone, but the conscience,
the will, the heart, and the life. The real
vice consists in our not recognizing, within us, the evil
that separates us from God, and, without us, the Saviour
who leads us to Him. The royal road to learn
and possess life invisible and eternal is the knowledge
and possession of that Son of Man, of that Son of God,
who said with authority: <sc>I AM THE WAY, THE TRUTH,
AND THE LIFE: NO MAN COMETH UNTO THE FATHER
BUT BY ME</sc>.

MERLE D’AUBIGNÉ.

<sc>La Graveline, Eaux Vives, Geneva</sc>:<br>
<i>May, 1866</i>.

.fn #
<i>History of England from the Fall of Wolsey to the Death of Queen
Elizabeth</i>, by <abbr rend=spell>J. A.</abbr> Froude.
.fn-
.fn #
<abbr=Monsieur>M.</abbr> Gaberel has quoted some passages of this manuscript which
concern Geneva, in the first volume of his History of the Genevese
Church.
.fn-
.fn #
<abbr=Monsieur>M.</abbr> Charles Eynard, a friend of the author’s, has communicated
to him some genealogies of the descendants of Baudichon de la Maisonneuve,
in which, besides a great number of Genevese names, are found
those of some foreign families,—Constant-Rebecque in Holland; the
de Gasparins, de Staëls, and other families of note in France, who descend
from Baudichon de la Maisonneuve through the Neckers.
.fn-
.fn #
See the works of <abbr=Monsieur>M.</abbr> Jouffroy, and the <lang=fr><i>Revue des Deux Mondes</i></lang> for
<abbr=fifteenth>15th</abbr> March, 1865.
.fn-
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.sp 4
.h2
CONTENTS OF THE FOURTH VOLUME.
.sp 2
BOOK VI.

ENGLAND BEGINS TO CAST OFF THE PAPACY.
.sp 2
CHAPTER I.

THE NATION AND ITS PARTIES.

(<sc>Autumn 1529.</sc>)
.sp 2
Diverse Religious Tendencies—Evangelical Reformation and Legal
Reformation—Creation of a mighty Protestantism—Election
of a new Parliament—Alarm of the Clerical Party—The
Three Parties—The Society of Christian Brethren—General
Movement in London—Banquet and Conversations of Peers and
Members of Parliament—Agitation among the People                      #1:chap6-01#
.sp 2
CHAPTER II.

PARLIAMENT AND ITS GRIEVANCES.

(<sc>November 1529.</sc>)
.sp 2
Impulse given to Political Liberty by the Reformation—Grievances
put forward by the House of Commons—Exactions, Benefices,
Holy-days, Imprisonments—The House of Commons
defend the Evangelicals—Question of the Bishops—Their
Answer—Their Proceedings in the matter of Reform                      #9:chap6-02#
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.pn +1
.sp 2
CHAPTER III.

REFORMS.

(<sc>End of 1529.</sc>)
.sp 2
Abuses pointed out and corrected—The Clergy reform in self-defence—Fisher
accuses the Commons, who complain to the
King—Subterfuge of the Bishops—Rudeness of the Commons—Suppression
of Pluralities and Non-residence—These Reforms
insufficient—Joy of the People, Sorrow of the Clergy                 #15:chap6-03#
.sp 2
CHAPTER IV.

ANNE BOLEYN’S FATHER BEFORE THE EMPEROR AND THE POPE.

(<sc>Winter of 1530.</sc>)
.sp 2
Motives of Henry <abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr>—Congress at Bologna—Henry sends
an Embassy—Cranmer added to the Embassy—The Pope’s
Embarrassment and Alarm—Clement grants the Englishmen
an Audience—The Pope’s Foot—Threats—Wiltshire received
and checked by Charles—Discontent of the English—Wiltshire’s
Departure—Cranmer remains                                            #20:chap6-04#
.sp 2
CHAPTER V.

DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING THE DIVORCE AT OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE.

(<sc>Winter of 1530.</sc>)
.sp 2
Parties at Cambridge—A noisy Assembly—Murmurs against
the Evangelicals—A Meeting declares for the King—Honor
paid to Scripture—The King’s severe letter to Oxford—Opposition
of the younger Members of the University—The
King’s Anger—Another royal Mission to Oxford—The University
decides for the Divorce—Evangelical Courage of Chaplain
Latimer—The King and the Chancellor of Cambridge                     #29:chap6-05#
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.pn +1
.sp 2
CHAPTER VI.

HENRY <abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr> SUPPORTED IN FRANCE AND ITALY BY THE
CATHOLICS, AND BLAMED IN GERMANY BY THE PROTESTANTS.

(<sc>January to September 1530.</sc>)
.sp 2
The Sorbonne deliberates on the Divorce—The French Universities
sanction the Divorce—The Italian Universities do likewise—Opinion
of Luther—Cranmer at Rome—The English Nobles
write to the Pope—The Pope proposes that the King should
have two Wives—Henry’s Proclamation against Papal Bulls              #38:chap6-06#
.sp 2
CHAPTER VII.

LATIMER AT COURT.

(<sc>January to September 1530.</sc>)
.sp 2
Latimer tempted by the Court; fortified by Study—Christian
Individuality—Latimer desires to convert the King—Desires
for the Church, Poverty, the Cross, and the Bible—He prays
the King to save his own Soul—Latimer’s Preaching—No
Intermingling of the two Powers—Latimer’s Boldness in the
Cause of Morality—Priests denounce him to the King—Noble
Character of the Reformers                                            #45:chap6-07#
.sp 2
CHAPTER VIII.

THE KING SEEKS AFTER TYNDALE.

(<sc>January to May 1531.</sc>)
.sp 2
The Ivy and the Tree, or the Practice of Popery—Vaughan looks
for the invisible Tyndale—Vaughan visited by a Stranger—Interview
between Vaughan and Tyndale in a Field—Tyndale
mistrusts the Clergy—The King’s Indignation—Tyndale is
touched by the royal Compassion—The King wishes to gain
Fryth—Faith first, and then the Church—Henry threatens the
Evangelicals with War                                                 #52:chap6-08#
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.pn +1
.sp 2
CHAPTER IX.

THE KING OF ENGLAND RECOGNIZED AS HEAD OF THE
CHURCH.

(<sc>January to March 1531.</sc>)
.sp 2
Supremacy of the Pope injurious to the State—All the Clergy
declared guilty—Challenged to recognize the royal Supremacy—Anguish
of the Clergy—They negotiate and submit—Discussions
in the Convocation of York—Danger of the royal Supremacy             #60:chap6-09#
.sp 2
CHAPTER X.

SEPARATION OF THE KING AND QUEEN.

(<sc>March to June 1531.</sc>)
.sp 2
The Divorce Question agitates the Country—A Case of Poisoning—Reginald
Pole—Pole’s Discontent—The King’s Favors—Pole’s
Frankness and Henry’s Anger—Bids Henry submit
to the Pope—Queen Catherine leaves the Palace                        #66:chap6-10#
.sp 2
CHAPTER XI.

THE BISHOPS PLUNDER THE CLERGY AND PERSECUTE
THE PROTESTANTS.

(<sc>September 1531 to 1532.</sc>)
.sp 2
Stokesley proposes that the inferior Clergy shall Pay—Riot
among the Priests—The Bishop’s Speech—A Battle—To
conciliate the Clergy, Henry allows them to persecute the Protestants      #72:chap6-11#
.sp 2
CHAPTER XII.

THE MARTYRS.

(1531.)
.sp 2
The repentant Bilney preaches in the Fields—His Enemies and
his Friends—Bilney put into Prison, where he meets Petit—Disputation
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.pn +1
and Trial—Bilney condemned to die—The parting
Visit of his Friends—He is led out to Punishment—His last
Words—His Death—Imprisonment and Martyrdom of Bayfield—Tewkesbury
bound to the Tree of Truth—His Death—Numerous
Martyrs                                                               #77:chap6-12#
.sp 2
CHAPTER XIII.

THE KING DESPOILS THE POPE AND THE CLERGY.

(<sc>March to May 1532.</sc>)
.sp 2
Character of Thomas Cromwell—Abolition of First-Fruits—The
Clergy bend before the King—Two contradictory Oaths—Priestly
Rumors—Sir Thomas More resigns—The two Evils
of a regal Reform                                                     #86:chap6-13#
.sp 2
CHAPTER XIV.

LIBERTY OF INQUIRY AND PREACHING IN THE 16TH CENTURY.

(1532.)
.sp 2
The Perils of a prosperous Nation—Lambert and free Inquiry—Luther’s
Principles—Images or the Word of God—Freedom
of Preaching—St. Paul burnt by the Bishop—Latimer disgusted
with the Court—More Thieves than Shepherds—A
Don Quixote of Catholicism—Latimer summoned before the
Primate—His Firmness—Attempt to entrap Him—His Refusal
to recant—Excommunicated—Expedient of the Bishops—Latimer
saved by his Conformity with Luther                                   #91:chap6-14#
.sp 2
CHAPTER XV.

HENRY <abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr> ATTACKS THE PARTISANS OF THE POPE AND
OF THE REFORMATION.

(1532.)
.sp 2
The Franciscans preach against the King—Henry likened to
Ahab—Disturbance in the Chapel—Christian Meetings in
// File: 020.png
.pn +1
London—Bainham persecuted by More—Summoned to abjure—The
fatal Kiss—Bainham’s Anguish—The Tragedy of
Conscience—Bainham visited in his Dungeon—The Bed of
Roses—The Persecutor’s Suicide—Effect of the Martyrdoms—The
true Church of God      #103:chap6-15#
.sp 2
CHAPTER XVI.

THE NEW PRIMATE OF ALL ENGLAND.

(<sc>February 1532 to March 1533.</sc>)
.sp 2
Who shall be Warham’s Successor?—Cranmer at Nuremberg—Osiander’s
Household—His Error—Cranmer marries—Is
recalled to London—Refuses to return—Follows the Emperor
to Italy—Date of Henry’s Marriage with Anne Boleyn—Cranmer
returns to London—Struggle between the King and Cranmer—The
Pope has no Authority in England—Appointment
of Bishops without the Pope—Cranmer protests thrice—All
Weakness is a Fault—The true Doctrine of the Episcopate—The
Appeal of the Reformers      #112:chap6-16#
.sp 2
CHAPTER XVII.

QUEEN CATHERINE DESCENDS FROM THE THRONE, AND
QUEEN ANNE BOLEYN ASCENDS IT.

(<sc>November 1532 to July 1553.</sc>)
.sp 2
Clement suggests that Henry should have two Wives—His perilous
Journey to Bologna—His Exertions for the Divorce—King’s
Marriage with Anne becomes known—France and England
separate—A threatening Brief—The Pope perplexed—Parliament
emancipates England—Cranmer’s Letter to the King—Modification
demanded by the King—Henry expresses himself
clearly—Meeting of the Ecclesiastical Court—Catherine’s
Firmness—Her Marriage annulled—Queen Anne presented to
the People—Her Progress through the City—Feelings of the
new Queen—Catherine and Anne—Threats of the Pope and
the King      #125:chap6-17#
// File: 021.png
.pn +1
.sp 2
CHAPTER XVIII.

A REFORMER IN PRISON.

(<sc>August 1532 to May 1533.</sc>)
.sp 2
Fryth’s charming Character—He returns to England—Purgatory—Homer
saves Fryth—The eating of Christ—Fryth goes
over England—Tyndale’s Letter to Fryth—More Hunts after
Fryth—More’s Ill-temper—More and Fryth—Fryth in Prison—He
writes the <i>Bulwark</i>—Rastell converted—Fryth’s Visitors
in the Tower—Fryth and Petit—Cause and Effect      #139:chap6-18#
.sp 2
CHAPTER XIX.

A REFORMER CHOOSES RATHER TO LOSE HIS LIFE THAN
TO SAVE IT.

(<sc>May to July 1533.</sc>)
.sp 2
Fryth summoned before a Royal Commission—Tyndale’s Letter
to Fryth—Cranmer attempts to save him—Lord Fitzwilliam,
Governor of the Tower—Fryth removed to Lambeth—Attempt
at Conciliation—Fryth remains firm—A Prophecy concerning
the Lord’s Supper—The Gentleman and the Porter
desire to save Fryth—Their Plan—Fryth will not be saved—Fryth
before the Episcopal Court—Interrogated on the Real
Presence—Cranmer cannot save him—Fryth’s Condemnation
and Execution—Influence of his Writings      #150:chap6-19#
.sp 2
CHAPTER XX.

ENGLAND SEPARATES GRADUALLY FROM THE PAPACY.

(1533.)
.sp 2
Sensation caused by Anne’s Marriage—Henry’s Isolation—The
Protestants reject him—Birth of Elizabeth—A new Star—English
Envoys at Marseilles—Bonner and Gardiner—Prepare
for a Declaration of War—The Pope’s Emotion—Henry
appeals to a General Council—The Pope’s Anger—Francis
<abbr='the first'>I.</abbr> and Clement understand one another—The Pope’s Answer—Bonner’s
Rudeness—Henry’s Proclamation against the Pope—The
dividing Point      #163:chap6-20#
// File: 022.png
.pn +1
.sp 2
CHAPTER XXI.

PARLIAMENT ABOLISHES THE USURPATIONS OF THE POPES
IN ENGLAND.

(<sc>January to March 1534.</sc>)
.sp 2
Henry desires to separate Christendom from Rome—A Buffet to
the Pope—The People, not the King, want the Reformation—The
Pope tries to gain Henry—Cranmer presses forward—The
Commons against Papal Authority—Abolition of Romish
Exactions—Parliament declares for the faith of the Scriptures—Henry
condemned at Rome—The Pope’s Disquietude—A
great Dispensation      #175:chap6-21#
.sp 2
BOOK VII.

MOVEMENTS OF THE REFORMATION IN ENGLAND, AT
GENEVA, AND IN FRANCE, GERMANY, AND ITALY.
.sp 2
CHAPTER I.

THE BISHOP ESCAPES FROM GENEVA NEVER TO RETURN.

(<sc>July 1533.</sc>)
.sp 2
The Bishop desires to bury <i>the Sect</i>—Animated Conversations—Plan
to transfer the Prisoners—Great Animation—German
Merchants and Maisonneuve—He desires to rescue the Prisoners—Constitutional
Order restored—The Bishop wishes to
get away—His last Night in Geneva—The Flight—Deliverance—Joy
and Sorrow—A Proverb      #184:chap7-01#
.sp 2
CHAPTER II.

TWO REFORMERS AND A DOMINICAN IN GENEVA.

(<sc>July to December 1533.</sc>)
.sp 2
Arrival of Froment and Alexander—The Charitable Solomon—Order
to preach according to Scripture—Sermons in the
// File: 023.png
.pn +1
Houses and the Streets—The Bishop forbids the Preaching of
the Gospel—Silent Answer—Invitation to a Great Papist
Preacher—Arrival of Furbity—He declaims against the Reading
of the Bible—Janin the Armorer—Reformers insulted;
Exultation of the Priests—Furbity challenges the Lutherans
to Discussion—Froment’s Reply—Tumult—Froment and
Alexander banished—De la Maisonneuve departs for Berne      #194:chap7-02#
.sp 2
CHAPTER III.

FAREL MAISONNEUVE AND FURBITY IN GENEVA.

(<sc>December 1533 to January 1534.</sc>)
.sp 2
Report that Popery had triumphed—Arrival of Farel—His
Character—Baudichon de la Maisonneuve—Bernese Complaints
and Demands—A Plot breaks out—Armed Meetings
of Huguenots for Worship—Christmas and the New Year—The
Dominican’s Farewell—Arming for the Bible—Arrival
of Ambassadors from Berne—Three Reformers in Geneva—Bernese
demand a Public Discussion      #206:chap7-03#
.sp 2
CHAPTER IV.

THE TOURNAMENT.

(<sc>January to February 1534.</sc>)
.sp 2
The Dominican refuses to speak—Liberalism and Inflexibility—The
Colloquy begins—Various Accusations—Were the Bernese
pointed at?—The two Champions—The Pope and the
Scriptures—Interpretation of the Councils—The Priests would
be Everything—Farel’s Irony and Vehemence—The Roman
Episcopate—Preaching and Conversation—Stories about Farel—The
Landlord and his Servant—Legends and Rhymes—A
Change in Preparation      #217:chap7-04#
.sp 2
CHAPTER V.

THE PLOT.

(<sc>January and February 1534.</sc>)
.sp 2
Supreme Interest of History—The Bishop meditates a <i>Coup d’État</i>—Meeting
of his Creatures to carry it out—The Sortie from
the Palace—Two Huguenots assassinated—The Defenders of
// File: 024.png
.pn +1
the Middle Ages—Tumult in the city—Consternation in the
Council—Justice, not Rioting—Search at the Palace—Scenes
and Discovery—The Murderers sought in the Cathedral—The
South Tower—The Criminals discovered—Seizure of Documents
relating to the Plot—Condemnation and Fanaticism of
the Murderer—He is hanged; his Brother is saved—The
Episcopal Secretary accused—The People elect a Huguenot
Council      #229:chap7-05#
.sp 2
CHAPTER VI.

A FINAL EFFORT OF ROMAN-CATHOLICISM.

(<sc>February 10 to March 1, 1534.</sc>)
.sp 2
The Dominican before his judges—A staggering Recantation—Dominicans
and Franciscans—Father Coutelier, Superior of
the Franciscans, arrives—His first Sermon—He talks white
and black—Has recourse to Flattery—A Baptism at Maisonneuve’s—Evangelicals
ask for a Church—Farel visits the
Father Superior—The Pope, the Beast of the Apocalypse      #243:chap7-06#
.sp 2
CHAPTER VII.

FAREL PREACHES IN THE GRAND AUDITORY OF THE CONVENT
AT RIVE.

(<sc>March 1 to April 25, 1534.</sc>)
.sp 2
Huguenots in the Convent of Rive—Arrival of the Crowd—Farel
preaches—Two opposite Effects—Inspiration of God—Joy
of the Evangelicals—Farewell of the Bernese—Portier’s
Execution—The two Preachers—The Friburgers break the
Alliance—Farel’s three Brothers in Prison—The Reformer’s
Anxiety—Human Affections      #251:chap7-07#
.sp 2
CHAPTER VIII.

A BOLD PROTESTANT AT LYONS.

(<sc>1530 TO 1534.</sc>)
.sp 2
The Reliquary—A <i>Table d’Hôte</i>—Who is Petrus?—Struggle
with two Priests from Vienne—They abandon the Field—Maisonneuve
must be burnt—Danger—Arrival of Baudichon
and Janin—They are sent to Prison—Formation of the Court      #261:chap7-08#
// File: 025.png
.pn +1
.sp 2
CHAPTER IX.

BAUDICHON DE LA MAISONNEUVE BEFORE THE INQUISITIONAL
COURT OF LYONS.

(<sc>From April 29 to May 21.</sc>)
.sp 2
Examination—First Witnesses—Emotion at Geneva—The
Merchants protest to the Consulate—The Bernese—Interrogatory—Open-air
Session in Front of the Palace—The King
shall be informed—The Inquisitors desire to convict Baudichon—Alleged
High Treason against Heaven      #269:chap7-09#
.sp 2
CHAPTER X.

THE TWO WORSHIPS IN GENEVA.

(<sc>May to July 1534.</sc>)
.sp 2
Morality in the Reformation—Apparition of the Virgin—A Savoyard
Procession—A second Procession enters Geneva—Images
thrown down—The old and the new Worship—The first
Evangelical Pentecost—A Priest casts off the old Man—Transformation—A
Knight of Rhodes—Street Dances and Songs—Preaching
on the Ramparts      #277:chap7-10#
.sp 2
CHAPTER XI.

BOLDNESS OF TWO HUGUENOTS IN PRISON AND BEFORE
THE COURT OF LYONS.

(<sc>May to June 1534.</sc>)
.sp 2
The New Testament in the Prison Garden—Discussion—The
Procession and the Rogations—False Depositions—Janin’s Depression—Search
for more conclusive Evidence—Inquiries of
De Simieux at Geneva—-Baudichon’s Pride before the Court—Put
into Solitary Confinement—The Prisoner threatens his
Judges—Heroic Resistance      #286:chap7-11#
.sp 2
CHAPTER XII.

SENTENCE OF DEATH.

(<sc>July 1534.</sc>)
.sp 2
Severity to Maisonneuve—Coutelier’s Deposition—Maisonneuve
// File: 026.png
.pn +1
accused of relapsing—The Crime of being a Layman—Lyon
and Chambury contend for him—Final Summons—Sentence
of the Court—Condemned to Death—No sword in Religion—The
effectual Remedy      #295:chap7-12#
.sp 2
CHAPTER XIII.

NIGHT OF THIRTY-FIRST OF JULY AT GENEVA.

(<sc>July 1534.</sc>)
.sp 2
Festival of Corpus Christi—Marriage of an Ex-Priest—Discussion
before the Council—Baptism—The two Powers change
Parts—An Attack preparing—A Hunting Party—A Monk
in the Pulpit confesses his Faults—Plan of Attack—Projects
of the Enemy—Arrival of the Savoyards—Warning given by
a Dauphinese—The Canons—Savoyards wait for the Signal—The
Torch—Savoyards retire—The Bishop—The Hunchback—The
Conspirators flee—Meditation and Vigilance—Catholics
quit Geneva—Title to Citizenship—Alarm of the
Nuns—Tales about the Reformers      #303:chap7-13#
.sp 2
CHAPTER XIV.

AN HEROIC RESOLUTION AND A HAPPY DELIVERANCE.

(<sc>August and September 1534.</sc>)
.sp 2
The Diesbachs of Berne—Mission of Rodolph of Diesbach to
France—a terrible Necessity—Resolution to destroy the Suburbs—Approaching
Danger—A Refugee from Avignon—Strappado
at Peny—Effects produced by the Order of Demolition—Opposition
of Catholics—Maisonneuve is liberated—Session
at the Tour of Perse—The Prisoners restored to their
Families—Letter from Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr>—Furbity demanded and refused      #320:chap7-14#
.sp 2
CHAPTER XV.

THE SUBURBS OF GENEVA ARE DEMOLISHED AND THE
ADVERSARIES MAKE READY.

(<sc>September 1534 to January 1535.</sc>)
.sp 2
Disorderly Lives of the Monks of St Victor—Ruins and Voices
in the Priory—Lamentations—Ramparts built—Asylums
// File: 027.png
.pn +1
opened for the Poor—Threats—Famine and a Circle of Iron—Brigandage—No
more Justice—Excommunication—Genevans
appeal to the Pope—Firmness for the Gospel and Liberty—Everything
conspires against the City—Energy and Moderation—Switzerland
against Geneva—Confidence in God—Wisdom
above Strength—The Song of Resurrection      #332:chap7-15#
.sp 2
CHAPTER XVI.

THE KING OF FRANCE INVITES MELANCTHON TO RESTORE
UNITY AND TRUTH.

(<sc>End of 1584 to August 1535.</sc>)
.sp 2
Minority and Majority—Joy and Fear—Difference between
Henry <abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr> and Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr>—Erasmians and Politicians—The
Moderate Evangelicals—Effect of the Placards—The
King tries to excuse himself—Protests of the decided Protestants—Opinion
of the Swiss—All Hope seems lost—A reforming
Pope—Papist Party in France—The Moderate Party—The
two Du Bellays—What is expected of Melancthon—Two
Obstacles removed—Efforts of the Mediators—What
they think of Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr>—An eloquent Appeal—Importance
of France for the Reformation—Melancthon tries to gain the
Bishop of Paris—The Bishop delighted—Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr> to Melancthon—Is
he sincere?—Martyrdom of Cornon and Brion—Cardinal
Du Bellay departs for Rome—Hope of Reform in
Italy—The diplomatic Du Bellay to Melancthon—Two Natures
in France—Fresh Entreaties—The King’s Idea—Applies
to the Sorbonne—Alarm of the Sorbonne—Trick of
Cardinal de Tournon—Is a Mixed Congress possible?      #346:chap7-16#
.sp 2
CHAPTER XVII.

WILL THE ATTEMPT TO ESTABLISH UNITY AND TRUTH
SUCCEED?

(<sc>August to November 1535.</sc>)
.sp 2
Individuality and Catholicity—Events in Germany—Importance
of the Mission to Germany—Melancthon’s Incertitude—Earnestness
of the French Envoy—Opposition of his Family—Melancthon’s
Self-examination—Final Assault—Melancthon
consents—His Character—He goes to the Elector—Solicits
// File: 028.png
.pn +1
Permission—The Elector refuses—Melancthon’s Sadness—-Luther
agrees with him—Intervention with the Elector—Agitation
in Germany—Singular Fears of the Germans—The
Elector’s Arguments—The Elector prevails—Severe Letter to
Melancthon—Melancthon’s Sorrow—Luther’s Apprehensions
Keeping aloof from the State—The Elector to the King—Melancthon
to Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr>—He does not relinquish his Design—His
Ardor—The King resumes his Project—Opposition of
the Catholics—The Elector receives Du Bellay—Du Bellay
before the Assembly—His Speech—Intercession in Behalf of
the Evangelicals—The Two Parties come to an Understanding—The
Papacy—Transubstantiation—The Mass—Images—Free
Will—Purgatory—Good Works—Monasteries—Celibacy—The
two Kinds—The Sorbonne and Justification—The
Reform of Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr>—Intervention in behalf of the Oppressed—Political
Alliance—Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr> plays two parts—The Communion
of Saints      #372:chap7-17#
.sp 2
CHAPTER XVIII.

THE GOSPEL IN THE NORTH OF ITALY.

(<sc>1519 TO 1536.</sc>)
.sp 2
Flames in Italy—The Bookseller of Pavia—The Books of the
Reformers—Enthusiasm for Luther—Alarm of the Pope and
Cardinals—Venice—Roselli to Melancthon—Many Springs
of living Water—Curione—His studies and Spiritual Wants—Reads
Luther and Zwingle—Departs for Germany—Is arrested
and sent to the Convent of <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Benignus—The Shrine
and the Bible—Curione during the Plague—The Preachers of
Popery—Attack and Defence—Curione sent to Prison—Chained
to the Wall—He recognizes the Room—Seeks a
means of Safety—Singular Expedient—His Escape—He
teaches at Pavia—Renée of France—Mecænas and Dorcas—Resurrection
of Christianity—The Duchess’s Guests      #406:chap7-18#
.sp 2
CHAPTER XIX.

THE GOSPEL IN THE CENTRE OF ITALY.

(<sc>1520 TO 1536.</sc>)
.sp 2
Character of Occhino—Seeks Salvation in Asceticism—A
Contrast—Scripture—Occhino’s Itinerant Ministrations—Crowded
Congregations—His Preaching—A Child of Florence—Ambitious
// File: 029.png
.pn +1
of Learning—-Study and Preaching—Aonio
Paleario—Leaves Rome for Sienna—Poem on Immortality—Paleario
crosses the Threshold—His Wife and Children—Love
of the Country—His friend Bellantes—Conspiracy
against Paleario—Faustus Bellantes informs him of it—Paleario
remains firm—His Wife—The Reformers—Twelve Accusers—They
appear before the Archbishop—Everything seems
against Paleario—His Fears—He appears before the Senate—He
defends himself—The Germans—Plea for the Reformers—Revival
of Learning—Jesus Christ a Stumbling-block—The
Martyr’s Words—Paleario’s Wife and Friends—His Acquittal
and Departure—The Evangelicals of Bologna—Their Address
to the Saxon Ambassador—St. Paul explained      #428:chap7-19#
.sp 2
CHAPTER XX.

THE GOSPEL AT NAPLES AND AT ROME.

(<sc>1520 TO 1536.</sc>)
.sp 2
Alfonso Valdez at Worms—A Dialogue by Valdez—The Chastisement
of God—Approbation and Disapprobation—Mercury
and Charon—Satan—Juan Valdez at Naples—Influence
of Juan Valdez—Chiaja and Pausilippo—Conversion of Peter
Martyr—His Method of Preaching—Purgatory—Opposition—Galeazzo
Caraccioli converted—A Letter from Calvin—Illustrious
Women at Chiaja—Ideas there discussed—Occhino
preaches at Naples—The Triumvirs—Charles <abbr='the fifth'>V.</abbr> arrives at
Naples—Conversation between Giulia Colonna and Valdez—Perfection—Assurance
of Salvation—Humility—The royal
Road—Meditations—Preachers of Fables—Valdez’ good and
bad Qualities—Edict against the Lutherans—Carnesecchi—Secretary
to Clement VII.—Interview with Charles <abbr='the fifth'>V.</abbr>—Carnesecchi’s
Conversion—Divers Categories—Flaminio—A
poor Student—Values the Treasures of Heaven—The Guest
of Ghiberto and Caraffa—Flaminio’s Faith—Opposes and
loves Carnesecchi—Approximates Catholicism—Oratory of
Divine Love—Its Members—An Evangelical Monk—A Venetian
Senator—Contarini’s Influence—Strange Call—He
accepts the Cardinalate—Preserves his Independence—Contarini’s
View—Dawn in Italy—The two Camps—Hopes—The
Times of Rome—Glory to the Martyrs      #454:chap7-20#
// File: 030.png
// File: 031.png
.pn 1
.sp 4
.h2
BOOK VI. | ENGLAND BEGINS TO CAST OFF THE PAPACY.
.sp 2
.h2 id=chap6-01
CHAPTER I. | THE NATION AND ITS PARTIES. | (<sc>Autumn 1529.</sc>)
.sp 2
England, during the period of which we are about to
treat, began to separate from the pope and to reform her
Church. In the history of that country the fall of Wolsey
divides the old times from the new.

The level of the laity was gradually rising. A certain
instruction was given to the children of the poor; the
universities were frequented by the upper classes, and the
king was probably the most learned prince in Christendom.
At the same time the clerical level was falling. The clergy
had been weakened and corrupted by its triumphs, and the
English, awakening with the age and opening their eyes at
last, were disgusted with the pride, ignorance, and disorders
of the priests.

While France, flattered by Rome calling her its eldest
daughter, desired even when reforming her doctrine to preserve
union with the papacy; the Anglo-Saxon race, jealous
// File: 032.png
.pn +1
of their liberties, desired to form a Church at once
national and independent, yet remaining faithful to the
doctrines of Catholicism. Henry <abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr> is the personification
of that tendency, which did not disappear with him, and
of which it would not be difficult to discover traces even in
later days.

Other elements calculated to produce a better reformation
existed at that time in England. The Holy Scriptures,
translated, studied, circulated, and preached since the fourteenth
century by Wickliffe and his disciples, became in the
sixteenth century, by the publication of Erasmus’s Testament,
and the translations of Tyndale and Coverdale, the
powerful instrument of a real evangelical revival, and created
the scriptural reformation.

These early developments did not proceed from Calvin,—he
was too young at that time; but Tyndale, Fryth, Latimer,
and the other evangelists of the reign of Henry <abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr>,
taught by the same Word as the reformer of Geneva, were
his brethren and his precursors. Somewhat later, his books
and his letters to Edward <abbr='the sixth'>VI.</abbr>, to the regent, to the primate,
to Sir <abbr rend=spell>W.</abbr> Cecil and others, exercised an indisputable influence
over the reformation of England. We find in those
letters proofs of the esteem which the most intelligent persons
of the kingdom felt for that simple and strong man,
whom even non-protestant voices in France have declared
to be “the greatest Christian of his age.”[#]

.sn Reform, Evangelical and Legal.
A religious reformation may be of two kinds: internal or
evangelical, external or legal. The evangelical reformation
began at Oxford and Cambridge almost at the same time as
in Germany. The legal reformation was making a beginning
at Westminster and Whitehall. Students, priests, and
laymen, moved by inspiration from on high, had inaugurated
the first; Henry <abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr> and his parliament were about to
inaugurate the second, with hands occasionally somewhat
rough. England began with the spiritual reformation, but
// File: 033.png
.pn +1
the other had its motives too. Those who are charmed by
the reformation of Germany sometimes affect contempt for
that of England. “A king impelled by his passions was its
author,” they say. We have placed the scriptural part of this
great transformation in the first rank; but we confess that
for it to lay hold upon the people in the sixteenth century,
it was necessary, as the prophet declared, that kings should
be its nursing-fathers, and queens its nursing-mothers.[#] If
diverse reforms were necessary, if by the side of German
cordiality, Swiss simplicity, and other characteristics, God
willed to found a protestantism possessing a strong hand and
an outstretched arm; if a nation was to exist which with
great freedom and power should carry the Gospel to the
ends of the world, special tools were required to form that
robust organization, and the leaders of the people—the
commons, lords, and king—were each to play their part.
France had nothing like this: both princes and parliaments
opposed the reform; and thence partly arises the difference
between those two great nations, for France had in Calvin
a mightier reformer than any of those whom England possessed.
But let us not forget that we are speaking of the
sixteenth century. Since then the work has advanced;
important changes have been wrought in Christendom;
political society is growing daily more distinct from religious
society, and more independent; and we willingly say
with Pascal, “Glorious is the state of the Church when it is
supported by God alone!”

Two opposing elements—the reforming liberalism of the
people, and the almost absolute power of the king—combined
in England to accomplish the legal reformation. In
that singular island these two rival forces were often seen
acting together; the liberalism of the nation gaining certain
victories, the despotism of the prince gaining others; king
and people agreeing to make mutual concessions. In the
midst of these compromises, the little evangelical flock,
which had no voice in such matters, religiously preserved
// File: 034.png
.pn +1
the treasure entrusted to it: the Word of God, truth, liberty,
and Christian virtue. From all these elements sprang
the Church of England. A strange church some call it.
Strange indeed, for there is none which corresponds so
imperfectly in theory with the ideal of the Church, and,
perhaps, none whose members work out with more power
and grandeur the ends for which Christ has formed his
kingdom.

.sn New Parliament Summoned.
Scarcely had Henry <abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr> refused to go to Rome to
plead his cause, when he issued writs for a new parliament
(<abbr='twenty-fifth'>25th</abbr> September, 1529). Wolsey’s unpopularity had hitherto
prevented its meeting: now the force of circumstances
constrained the king to summon it. When he was on the
eve of separating from the pope, he felt the necessity of
leaning on the people. Liberty is always the gainer where
a country performs an act of independence with regard to
Rome. Permission being granted in England that the Holy
Scriptures should regulate matters of religion, it was natural
that permission should also be given to the people and
their representatives to regulate matters of state. The
whole kingdom was astir, and the different parties became
more distinct.

The papal party was alarmed. Fisher, Bishop of Rochester,
already very uneasy, became disturbed at seeing laymen
called upon to give their advice on religious matters.
Men’s minds were in a ferment in the bishop’s palace, the
rural parsonage, and the monk’s cell. The partisans of
Rome met and consulted about what was to be done, and
retired from their conferences foreseeing and imagining
nothing but defeat. Du Bellay, at that time Bishop of Bayonne,
and afterwards of Paris, envoy from the King of
France, and eye-witness of all this agitation, wrote to Montmorency;
“I fancy that in this parliament the priests will
have a terrible fright.”[#] Ambitious ecclesiastics were beginning
to understand that the clerical character, hitherto so
favorable to their advancement in a political career, would
// File: 035.png
.pn +1
now be an obstacle to them. “Alas!” exclaimed one of
them, “we must off with our frocks.”[#]

Such of the clergy, however, as determined to remain
faithful to Rome gradually roused themselves. A prelate
put himself at their head. Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, was
learned, intelligent, bold, and slightly fanatical; but his
convictions were sincere, and he was determined to sacrifice
everything for the maintenance of catholicism in England.
Though discontented with the path upon which his august
pupil King Henry had entered, he did not despair of the
future, and candidly applied to the papacy our Saviour’s
words,—<i>The gates of hell shall not prevail against it</i>.

A recent act of the king’s increased Fisher’s hopes. Sir
Thomas More had been appointed chancellor. The Bishop
of Rochester regretted, indeed, that the king had not given
that office to an ecclesiastic, as was customary; but he
thought to himself that a layman wholly devoted to the
Church, as the new chancellor was, might possibly, in those
strange times, be more useful to it than a priest. With
Fisher in the Church, and More in the State (for Sir
Thomas, in spite of his gentle <i>Utopia</i>, was more papistical
and more violent than Wolsey), had the papacy anything to
fear? The whole Romish party rallied round these two
men, and with them prepared to fight against the Reformation.

Opposed to this hierarchical party was the political party,
in whose eyes the king’s will was the supreme rule. The
Dukes of Norfolk and Suffolk, president and vice-president
of the Council, Sir William Fitz-William, lord-admiral, and
those who agreed with them, were opposed to the ecclesiastical
domination, not from the love of true religion, but because
they believed the prerogatives of the State were
endangered by the ambition of the priests, or else because,
seeking honor and power for themselves, they were impatient
at always encountering insatiable clerks on their path.

Between these two parties a third appeared, on whom
// File: 036.png
.pn +1
the bishops and nobles looked with disdain, but with whom
the victory was to rest at last. In the towns and villages
of England, and especially in London, were to be found
many lowly men, animated with a new life,—poor artisans,
weavers, cobblers, painters, shopkeepers,—who believed in
the Word of God, and had received moral liberty from it.
During the day they toiled at their respective occupations;
but at night they stole along some narrow lane, slipped into
a court, and ascended to some upper room in which other
persons had already assembled. There they read the Scriptures
and prayed. At times even during the day, they
might be seen carrying to well-disposed citizens certain
books strictly prohibited by the late cardinal. Organized
under the name of “The Society of Christian Brethren,”
they had a central committee in London, and missionaries
everywhere, who distributed the Holy Scriptures and explained
their lessons in simple language. Several priests,
both in the city and country, belonged to their society.

This Christian brotherhood exercised a powerful influence
over the people, and was beginning to substitute the spiritual
and life-giving principles of the Gospel for the legal and
theocratic ideas of popery. These pious men required a
moral regeneration in their hearers, and entreated them
to enter, through faith in the Saviour, into an intimate relation
with God, without having recourse to the mediation
of the clergy; and those who listened to them, enraptured
at hearing of truth, grace, morality, liberty, and of the Word
of God, took the teachings to heart. Thus began a new
era. It has been asserted that the Reformation entered
England by a back-door. Not so; it was the true door
these missionaries opened, having even prior to the rupture
with Rome preached the doctrine of Christ.[#] Idly do men
speak of Henry’s passions, the intrigues of his courtiers, the
parade of his ambassadors, the skill of his ministers, the
complaisance of the clergy, and the vacillations of parliament.
// File: 037.png
.pn +1
We, too, shall speak of these things; but above
them all there was something else, something better,—the
thirst exhibited in this island for the Word of God, and the
internal transformation accomplished in the convictions of a
great number of its inhabitants. This it was that worked
such a powerful revolution in British society.

.sn Table Talk.
In the interval between the issuing of the writs and the
meeting of parliament, the most antagonistic opinions came
out. Conversation everywhere turned on present and future
events, and there was a general feeling that the country was
on the eve of great changes. The members of parliament
who arrived in London gathered round the same table to
discuss the questions of the day. The great lords gave
sumptuous banquets, at which the guests talked about the
abuses of the Church, of the approaching session of parliament,
and of what might result from it.[#] One would mention
some striking instance of the avarice of the priests;
another slyly called to mind the strange privilege which
permitted them to commit, with impunity, certain sins which
they punished severely in others. “There are, even in
London, houses of ill-fame for the use of priests, monks, and
canons.[#] And,” added others, “they would force us to take
such men as these for our guides to heaven.” Du Bellay,
the French ambassador, a man of letters, who, although a
bishop, had attached Rabelais to his person in the quality of
secretary, was frequently invited to parties given by the
great lords. He lent an attentive ear, and was astonished
at the witty, and often very biting remarks uttered by the
guests against the disorders of the priests. One day a voice
exclaimed,—“Since Wolsey has fallen, we must forthwith
regulate the condition of the Church and of its ministers.
We will seize their property.” Du Bellay, on his return
home, did not fail to communicate these things to Montmorency.
“I have no need,” he says, “to write this strange
// File: 038.png
.pn +1
language in cipher; for the noble lords utter it at open
table. I think they will do something to be talked about.”[#]

The leading members of the Commons held more serious
meetings with one another. They said they had spoken
enough, and that now they must act. They specified the
abuses they would claim to have redressed, and prepared
petitions for reform to be presented to the king.

Before long the movement descended from the sphere of
the nobility to that of the people; a sphere always important,
and particularly when a social revolution is in progress.
Petty tradesmen and artisans spoke more energetically than
the lords. They did more than speak. The apparitor of
the Bishop of London having entered the shop of a mercer
in the ward of <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Bride, and left a summons on the counter
calling upon him to pay a certain clerical tax, the indignant
tradesman took up his yard-measure, whereupon the officer
drew his sword, and then, either from fear or an evil conscience,
ran away. The mercer followed him, assaulted
him in the street, and broke his head. The London shopkeepers
did not yet quite understand the representative
system; they used their staves when they should have
waited for the speeches of the members of parliament.

The king tolerated this agitation because it forwarded
his purposes. There were advisers who insinuated that it
was dangerous to give free course to the passions of the
people, and that the English, combining great physical
strength with a decided character, might go too far in the
way of reform, if their prince gave them the rein. But
Henry <abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr>, possessing an energetic will, thought it would
be easy for him to check the popular ebullition whenever
he pleased. When Jupiter frowned, all Olympus trembled.

.fn #
These letters will be found in Bonnet’s <lang=fr><i>Lettres Françaises de Calvin</i></lang>
i. <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 261, 305, 332, 345, 374. <i>Zurich Letters</i>, <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 70, 785, &c.
.fn-
.fn #
Isaiah <abbr rend=arabic>xlix.</abbr> 23.
.fn-
.fn #
Le Grand, <lang=fr><i>Preuves du Divorce</i></lang>, <abbr='page>p.</abbr> 378.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>“Il nous faudra jeter le froc aux orties.”</lang>—Ibid.
.fn-
.fn #
“Certain preachers who presumed to preach openly or secretly in a
manner contrary to the catholic faith.”—Foxe, <i>Acts</i>, <abbr rend=arabic>iv.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 677.
.fn-
.fn #
Le Grand, <lang=fr><i>Preuves du Divorce</i></lang>, Du Bellay to Montmorency, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 374.
.fn-
.fn #
“Communis pronuba inter presbyteros, fratres, monacos et canonicos.”—Hall,
<i>Criminal Causes</i>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 28.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>“Je crois qu’ils vont faire de beaux miracles.”</lang>—Le Grand, <lang=fr><i>Preuves</i></lang>,
<abbr=page>p.</abbr> 374.
.fn-
// File: 039.png
.pn +1
.sp 4
.h2 id=chap6-02
CHAPTER II. | PARLIAMENT AND ITS GRIEVANCES. | (<sc>November 1529.</sc>)
.sp 2
.sn Opening Of The New Parliament.
On the morning of the <abbr=third>3d</abbr> of November, Henry went
in his barge to the palace of Bridewell; and, having put
on the magnificent robes employed on great ceremonies, and
followed by the lords of his train, he proceeded to the
Blackfriars church, in which the members of the new parliament
had assembled. After hearing the mass of the Holy
Ghost, king, lords, and commons met in parliament; when,
as soon as the king had taken his seat on the throne, the
new chancellor, Sir Thomas More, explained the reason of
their being summoned. Thomas Audley, chancellor of the
Duchy of Lancaster, was appointed speaker of the lower
house.

Generally speaking, parliament confined itself to passing
the resolutions of the government. The Great Charter had,
indeed, been long in existence, but, until now, it had been
little more than a dead letter. The Reformation gave it
life. “Christ brings us out of bondage into liberty by
means of the Gospel,” said Calvin.[#] This emancipation,
which was essentially spiritual, soon extended to other
spheres, and gave an impulse to liberty throughout all
Christendom. Even in England such an impulse was
needed. Under the Plantagenets and the Tudors the constitutional
machine existed, but it worked only as it was
directed by the strong hand of the master. Without the
Reformation, England might have slumbered long.

The impulse given by religious truth to the latent liberties
of the people was felt for the first time in the parliament of
// File: 040.png
.pn +1
1529. The representatives shared the lively feelings of
their constituents, and took their seats with the firm resolve
to introduce the necessary reforms in the affairs of both
Church and State. Indeed, on the very first day several
members pointed out the abuses of the clerical domination,
and proposed to lay the desires of the people before the
king.

The Commons might of their own accord have applied
to the task, and, by proposing rash changes, have given the
Reform a character of violence that might have worked
confusion in the State; but they preferred petitioning the
king to take the necessary measures to carry out the wishes
of the nation; and accordingly a petition, respectfully
worded, but in clear and strong language, was agreed to.
The Reformation began in England, as in Switzerland and
Germany, with personal conversions. The individual was
reformed first; but it was necessary for the people to reform
afterwards, and the measures requisite to success could
not be taken, in the sixteenth century, without the participation
of the governing powers. Freely, therefore, and
nobly, a whole nation was about to express to their ruler
their grievances and wishes.

.sn Petition Of The Commons.
On one of the first days of the session the speaker and
certain members, who had been ordered to accompany him,
proceeded to the palace. “Your highness,” they began,
“of late much discord, variance, and debate hath arisen,
and more and more daily is likely to increase and ensue
amongst your subjects, to the great inquietation, vexation,
and breach of your peace, of which the chief causes followingly
do ensue.”[#]

This opening could not fail to excite the king’s attention
and the Speaker of the House of Commons began boldly to
unroll the long list of the grievances of England. “First,
the prelates of your most excellent realm, and the clergy of
the same, have in their convocations made many and divers
// File: 041.png
.pn +1
laws without your most royal assent, and without the assent
of any of your lay subjects.

“And also many of your said subjects, and specially those
that be of the poorest sort, be daily called before the said
spiritual ordinaries or their commissaries, on the accusement
of light and indiscreet persons, and be excommunicated and
put to excessive and impostable charges.

“The prelates suffer the priests to exact divers sums of
money for the sacraments, and sometimes deny the same
without the money be first paid.

“Also the said spiritual ordinaries do daily confer and
give sundry benefices unto certain young folks, calling them
their nephews or kinsfolk, being in their minority and
within age, not apt nor able to serve the cure of any such
benefice ... whereby the said ordinaries accumulate
to themselves large sums of money, and the poor silly souls
of your people perish without doctrine or any good teaching.

“Also a great number of holydays be kept throughout
this your realm, upon the which many great, abominable,
and execrable vices, idle and wanton sports be used, which
holydays might by your majesty be made fewer in number.

“And also the said spiritual ordinaries commit divers of
your subjects to ward, before they know either the cause of
their imprisonment, or the name of their accuser.”[#]

Thus far the Commons had confined themselves to
questions that had been discussed more than once; they
feared to touch upon the subject of heresy before the Defender
of the Roman Faith. But there were evangelical
men among their number who had been eye-witnesses of
the sufferings of the reformed. At the peril, therefore, of
offending the king, the Speaker boldly took up the defence
of the pretended heretics.

“If heresy be ordinarily laid unto the charge of the person
accused, the said ordinaries put to them such subtle
interrogatories concerning the high mysteries of our faith,
as are able quickly to trap a simple unlearned layman.
// File: 042.png
.pn +1
And if any heresy be so confessed in word, yet never committed
in thought or deed, they put the said person to make
his purgation. And if the party so accused deny the accusation,
witnesses of little truth or credence are brought forth
for the same, and deliver the party so accused to secular
hands.”

The Speaker was not satisfied with merely pointing out
the disease: “We most humbly beseech your Grace, in
whom the only remedy resteth, of your goodness to consent,
so that besides the fervent love your Highness shall thereby
engender in the hearts of all your Commons towards your
Grace, ye shall do the most princely feat, and show the
most charitable precedent that ever did sovereign lord upon
his subjects.”

The king listened to the petition with his characteristic
dignity, and also with a certain kindliness. He recognized
the just demands in the petition of the Commons, and saw
how far they would support the religious independence to
which he aspired. Still, unwilling to take the part of heresy,
he selected only the most crying abuses, and desired
his faithful Commons to take their correction upon themselves.
He then sent the petition to the bishops, requiring
them to answer the charges brought against them, and
added that henceforward his consent would be necessary to
give the force of law to the acts of Convocation.

.sn Reply Of The Bishops.
This royal communication was a thunderbolt to the prelates.
What! the bishops, the successors of the apostles,
accused by the representatives of the nation, and requested
by the king to justify themselves like criminals!... Had
the Commons of England forgotten what a priest was?
These proud ecclesiastics thought only of the indelible virtues
which, in their view, ordination had conferred upon
them, and shut their eyes to the vices of their fallible human
nature. We can understand their emotion, their embarrassment,
and their anger. The Reformation which had
made the tour of the continent was at the gates of England;
the king was knocking at their doors. What was to be
// File: 043.png
.pn +1
done? they could not tell. They assembled, and read the
petition again and again. The Archbishop of Canterbury,
and the Bishops of London, Lincoln, <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Asaph, and Rochester
carped at it and replied to it. They would willingly
have thrown it into the fire,—the best of answers in their
opinion; but the king was waiting, and the Archbishop of
Canterbury was commissioned to enlighten him.

Warham did not belong to the most fanatical party; he
was a prudent man, and the wish for reform had hardly
taken shape in England when, being uneasy and timid, he
had hastened to give a certain satisfaction to his flock by
reforming abuses which he had sanctioned for thirty years.[#]
But he was a priest, a Romish priest; he represented an
inflexible hierarchy. Strengthened by the clamors of his
colleagues, he resolved to utter the famous <lang=la><i>non possumus</i></lang>,
less powerful, however, in England than in Rome.

“Sire,” he said, “your Majesty’s Commons reproach us
with uncharitable behavior.... On the contrary, we love
them with hearty affection, and have only exercised the
spiritual jurisdiction of the Church upon persons infected
with the pestilent poison of heresy. To have peace with
such had been against the gospel of our Saviour Christ,
wherein he saith, <i>I came not to send peace, but a sword</i>.

“Your Grace’s Commons complain that the clergy daily
do make laws repugnant to the statutes of your realm.
We take our authority from the Scriptures of God, and
shall always diligently apply to conform our statutes
thereto; and we pray that your Highness will, with the
assent of your people, temper your Grace’s laws accordingly;
whereby shall ensue a most sure and hearty conjunction
and agreement.

“They accuse us of committing to prison before conviction
such as be suspected of heresy.... Truth it is
that certain apostates, friars, monks, lewd priests, bankrupt
merchants, vagabonds, and idle fellows of corrupt intent
// File: 044.png
.pn +1
have embraced the abominable opinions lately sprung up in
Germany; and by them some have been seduced in simplicity
and ignorance. Against these, if judgment has been
exercised according to the laws of the Church, we be without
blame.

“They complain that two witnesses be admitted, be they
never so defamed, to vex and trouble your subjects to the
peril of their lives, shames, costs, and expenses....
To this we reply, the judge must esteem the quality of the
witness; but in heresy no exception is necessary to be considered,
if their tale be likely. This is the universal law of
Christendom, and hath universally done good.

“They say that we give benefices to our nephews and
kinsfolk, being in young age or infants, and that we take
the profit of such benefices for the time of the minority of
our said kinsfolk. If it be done to our own use and profit,
it is not well; but if it be bestowed to the bringing up and
use of the same parties, or applied to the maintenance of
God’s service, we do not see but that it may be allowed.”

As for the irregular lives of the priests, the prelates remarked
that they were condemned by the laws of the
Church, and consequently there was nothing to be said on
that point.

Lastly, the bishops seized the opportunity of taking the
offensive:—“We entreat of your Grace to repress heresy.
This we beg of you, lowly upon our knees, so entirely as we
can.”[#]

Such was the brief of Roman Catholicism in England.
Its defence would have sufficed to condemn it.

.fn #
In Johannem, <abbr=eight>viii.</abbr> 36.
.fn-
.fn #
<abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr> petition in Record Office: Froude, <i>History of England</i>, <abbr rend=arabic>i.</abbr> <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 208,
214.
.fn-
.fn #
Petition of the Commons: Froude’s <i>England</i>, <abbr rend=arabic>i.</abbr> <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 208-216.
.fn-
.fn #
“Within these ten weeks, I reformed many other things.”—Froude,
<abbr rend=arabic>i.</abbr> 233, <i>Reply of the Bishops</i>.
.fn-
.fn #
<i>The Answer of the Ordinaries.</i> Record Office <abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr> Froude, <abbr rend=arabic>i.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 225.
.fn-
// File: 045.png
.pn +1
.sp 4
.h2 id=chap6-03
CHAPTER III. | REFORMS. | (<sc>End of 1529.</sc>)
.sp 2
.sn Indignation At The Reply.
The answer of the bishops was criticised in the royal
residence, in the House of Commons, at the meetings of the
burgesses, in the streets of the capital, and in the provinces,
everywhere exciting a lively indignation. “What!” said
they, “the bishops accuse the most pious and active Christians
of England,—men like Bilney, Fryth, Tyndale, and
Latimer,—of that idleness and irregularity of which their
monks and priests are continually showing us examples. To
no purpose have the Commons indisputably proved their
grievances, if the bishops reply to notorious facts by putting
forward their scholastic system. We condemn their practice,
and they take shelter behind their theories; as if the reproach
laid against them was not precisely that their lives
are in opposition to their laws. ‘The fault is not in the
Church,’ they say. But it is its ministers that we accuse.”

The indignant parliament boldly took up the axe, attacked
the tree, and cut off the withered and rotten branches. One
bill followed another, irritating the clergy, but filling the
people with joy. When the legacy dues were under discussion,
one of the members drew a touching picture of the
avarice and cruelty of the priests. “They have no compassion,”
he said. “The children of the dead should all
die of hunger and go begging, rather than they would of
charity give to them the silly cow which the dead man
owed, if he had only one.” There was a movement of indignation
in the house, and they forbade the clergy to take
any mortuary fees when the effects were small.

“And that is not all,” said another. “The clergy
// File: 046.png
.pn +1
monopolize large tracts of land, and the poor are compelled
to pay an extravagant price for whatever they buy. They
are everything in the world but preachers of God’s Word
and shepherds of souls. They buy and sell wool, cloth, and
other merchandise; they keep tanneries and breweries....
How can they attend to their spiritual duties in
the midst of such occupations?”[#] The clergy were consequently
prohibited from holding large estates or carrying on
the business of merchant, tanner, brewer, etc. At the
same time plurality of benefices (some ignorant priests
holding as many as ten or twelve) was forbidden, and
residence was enforced. The Commons further enacted
that any one seeking a dispensation for non-residence (even
were the application made to the pope himself) should be
liable to a heavy fine.

The clergy saw at last that they must reform. They
forbade priests from keeping shops and taverns, playing at
dice or other games of chance, passing through towns and
villages with hawks and hounds, being present at unbecoming
entertainments, and spending the night in suspected houses.[#]
Convocation proceeded to enact severe penalties against
these disorders, doubling them for adultery, and tripling
them for incest. The laity asked how it was that the
Church had waited so long before coming to this resolution,
and whether these scandals had become criminal only because
the Commons condemned them?

.sn Bishops Accuse The Commons.
But the bishops who reformed the lower clergy did not
intend to resign their own privileges. One day, when a bill
relating to wills was laid before the upper house, the Archbishop
of Canterbury and all the other prelates frowned,
murmured, and looked uneasily around them.[#] They exclaimed
that the Commons were heretics and schismatics,
// File: 047.png
.pn +1
and almost called them infidels and atheists. In all places
good men required that morality should again be united
with religion, and that piety should not be made to consist
merely in certain ceremonies, but in the awakening of the
conscience, a lively faith, and holy conduct. The bishops,
not discerning that God’s work was then being accomplished
in the world, determined to maintain the ancient order of
things at all risks.

Their efforts had some chance of success, for the House
of Lords was essentially conservative. The Bishop of
Rochester, a sincere but narrow-minded man, presuming on
the respect inspired by his age and character, boldly came
forward as the defender of the Church. “My lords,” he
said, “these bills have no other object than the destruction
of the Church; and, if the Church goes down, all the glory
of the kingdom will fall with it. Remember what happened
to the Bohemians. Like them our Commons cry out,—‘Down
with the Church!’ Whence cometh that cry?
Simply from lack of faith.... My lords, save the
country, save the Church.”

This speech made the Commons very indignant. Some
members thought the bishop denied that they were Christians.
They sent thirty of their leading men to the king.
“Sire,” said the Speaker, “it is an attaint upon the honor
of your Majesty to calumniate before the upper house those
whom your subjects have elected. They are accused of
lack of faith, that is to say, they are no better than Turks,
Saracens, and heathens. Be pleased to call before you the
bishop who has insulted your Commons.”

The king made a gracious reply, and immediately sent
one of his officers to invite the Archbishop of Canterbury,
the Bishop of Rochester, and six other prelates to appear
before him. They came, quite uneasy as to what the prince
might have to say to them. They knew that, like all the
Plantagenets, Henry <abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr> would not suffer his clergy to
resist him. Immediately the king informed them of the
complaint made by the Commons, their hearts sank, and
// File: 048.png
.pn +1
they lost courage. They thought only how to escape the
prince’s anger, and the most venerated among them, Fisher,
having recourse to falsehood, asserted that, when speaking
about “lack of faith,” he had not thought of the Commons
of England, but of the Bohemians only. The other prelates
confirmed this inadmissible interpretation. This was a
graver fault than the fault itself, and the unbecoming evasion
was a defeat to the clerical party from which they never
recovered. The king allowed the excuse; but he afterwards
made the bishops feel the little esteem he entertained
for them. As for the House of Commons, it loudly expressed
the disdain aroused in them by the bishops’ subterfuge.

One chance of safety still remained to them. Mixed
committees of the two houses examined the resolutions of
the Commons. The peers, especially the ecclesiastical
peers, opposed the reform by appealing to usage. “Usage!”
ironically observed a Gray’s-inn lawyer; “the usage hath
ever been of thieves to rob on Shooter’s hill, <i>ergo</i> it is
lawful, and ought to be kept up!” This remark sorely
irritated the prelates: “What! our acts are compared to
robberies!” But the lawyer, addressing the Archbishop
of Canterbury, seriously endeavored to prove to him that
the exactions of the clergy, in the matter of probates and
mortuaries, were open robbery. The temporal lords gradually
adopted the opinions of the Commons.

In the midst of these debates, the king did not lose sight
of his own interests. Six years before, he had raised a loan
among his subjects; he thought parliament ought to relieve
him of this debt. This demand was opposed by the members
most devoted to the principle of the Reformation; John
Petit, in particular, the friend of Bilney and Tyndale, said,
in parliament,—“I give the king all I lent him; but I cannot
give him what others have lent him.” Henry was not,
however, discouraged, and finally obtained the act required.

.sn Pluralism Abolished.
The king soon showed that he was pleased with the Commons.
Two bills met with a stern opposition from the
Lords; they were those abolishing pluralism and non-residence.
// File: 049.png
.pn +1
These two customs were so convenient and advantageous
that the clergy determined not to give them up.
Henry, seeing that the two houses would never agree,
resolved to cut the difficulty. At his desire eight members
from each met one afternoon in the Star Chamber. There
was an animated discussion; but the lay lords, who were
in the conference, taking part with the commons, the bishops
were forced to yield. The two bills passed the Lords the
next day, and received the king’s assent. After this triumph
the king adjourned parliament in the middle of December.

The different reforms that had been carried through were
important, but they were not the Reformation. Many
abuses were corrected, but the doctrines remained unaltered;
the power of the clergy was restricted, but the authority
of Christ was not increased; the dry branches of the
tree had been lopped off, but a scion calculated to bear good
fruit had not been grafted on the wild stock. Had matters
stopped here, we might perhaps have obtained a Church
with morals less repulsive, but not with a holy doctrine and
a new life. But the Reformation was not contented with
more decorous forms, it required a second creation.

At the same time parliament had taken a great stride
towards the revolution that was to transform the Church. A
new power had taken its place in the world: the laity had
triumphed over the clergy. No doubt there were upright
catholics who gave their assent to the laws passed in 1529;
but these laws were nevertheless a product of the Reformation.
This it was that had inspired the laity with that new
energy, parliament with that bold action, and given the
liberties of the nation that impulse which they had wanted
hitherto. The joy was great throughout the kingdom; and,
while the king removed to Greenwich to keep Christmas
there “with great plenty of viands, and disguisings, and
interludes,” the members of the Commons were welcomed
in the towns and villages with public rejoicings.[#] In the
// File: 050.png
.pn +1
people’s eyes their representatives were like soldiers who
had just gained a brilliant victory. The clergy alone, in all
England, were downcast and exasperated. On returning to
their residences the bishops could not conceal their anguish
at the danger of the Church.[#] The priests, who had been
the first victims offered up on the altar of reform, bent their
heads. But if the clergy foresaw days of mourning, the
laity hailed with joy the glorious era of the liberties of the
people, and of the greatness of England. The friends of
the Reformation went farther still; they believed that the
Gospel would work a complete change in the world, and
talked, as Tyndale informs us, “as though the golden age
would come again.”[#]

.fn #
Foxe, <i>Acts</i>, <abbr=four>iv.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 611.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>“Quod non pernoctent in locis suspectis. Mulierum colloquia suspecta
nullatenus habeant.”</lang>—Wilkins, <i>Concilia</i>, <abbr=three>iii.</abbr> <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 717, 722, &c.
.fn-
.fn #
“The Archbishop of Canterbury and all the bishops began to frown
and grunt.”—Foxe, <i>Acts</i>, <abbr=four>iv.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 612.
.fn-
.fn #
Foxe, <i>Acts</i>, <abbr=four>iv.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 614.
.fn-
.fn #
“The great displeasure of spiritual persons.”—Ibid.
.fn-
.fn #
Tyndale’s <i>Works</i>, <abbr rend=arabic>i.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 421.
.fn-
.sp 4
.h2 id=chap6-04
CHAPTER IV. | ANNE BOLEYN’S FATHER BEFORE THE EMPEROR AND THE POPE. | (<sc>Winter of 1530.</sc>)
.sp 2
Before such glorious hopes could be realized, it was
necessary to emancipate Great Britain from the yoke of
Romish supremacy. This was the end to which all generous
monks aspired; but would the king assist them?

.sn Henry’s Motives.
Henry <abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr> united strength of body with strength of
will; both were marked on his manly form. Lively, active,
eager, vehement, impatient, and voluptuous,—whatever he
was, he was with his whole soul. He was at first all heart
for the Church of Rome; he went barefoot on pilgrimages,
wrote against Luther, and flattered the pope. But before
long he grew tired of Rome, without desiring the Reformation.
// File: 051.png
.pn +1
Profoundly selfish, he cared for himself alone. If the
papal domination offended him, evangelical liberty annoyed
him. He meant to remain master in his own house,—the
only master, and master of all. Even without the divorce,
Henry would possibly have separated from Rome. Rather
than endure any contradiction, this singular man put to
death friends and enemies, bishops and missionaries, ministers
of state, and favorites—even his wives. Such was the
prince whom the Reformation found King of England.

History would be unjust, however, were it to maintain
that passion alone urged him to action. The question of the
succession to the throne had for a century filled the country
with confusion and blood. This Henry could not forget.
Would the struggles of the two Roses be renewed after his
death, occasioning, perhaps, the destruction of an ancient
monarchy? If Mary, a princess of delicate health, should
die, Scotland, France, the party of the White Rose, the
Duke of Suffolk, whose wife was Henry’s sister, might drag
the kingdom into endless wars. And even if Mary’s days
were prolonged, her title to the crown might be disputed,
no female sovereign having as yet sat upon the throne.
Another train of ideas also occupied the king’s mind. He
inquired sincerely whether his marriage with the widow of
his brother was lawful. Even before its consummation, he
had felt doubts about it. But even his defenders, if there
are any, must acknowledge that one circumstance contributed
at this time to give unusual force to these scruples.
Passion impelled the king to break a holy bond; he loved
another woman.

Catholic writers imagine that this guilty motive was the
only one. It is a mistake, for the two former indisputably
occupied Henry’s mind. As for parliament and people, the
king’s love for Anne Boleyn affected them very little. It
was the reason of state which made them regard the divorce
as just and necessary.[#]
// File: 052.png
.pn +1

A congress was at that time sitting at Bologna with great
pomp.[#] On the <abbr=fifth>5th</abbr> of November, Charles <abbr='the fifth'>V.</abbr> having arrived
from Spain, had entered the city, attended by a magnificent
suite, and followed by 20,000 soldiers. He was
covered with gold, and shone with grace and majesty. The
pope waited for him in front of the church of San Petronio,
seated on a throne, and wearing the triple crown. The emperor,
master of Italy, which his soldiers had reduced to the
last desolation,[#] fell prostrate before the pontiff, but lately
his prisoner. The union of these two monarchs, both enemies
of Henry <abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr>, seemed destined to ruin the King of
England and thwart his great affair.

.sn Henry’s Embassy To Rome.
And yet, not long before, an ambassador from Charles <abbr='the fifth'>V.</abbr>
had been received at Whitehall: it was Master Eustace
Chappuis, who had already discharged a mission to Geneva.[#]
He came to solicit aid against the Turks. Henry
caught at the chance: he imagined the moment to be favorable,
and that he ought to despatch an embassy to the head
of the empire and the head of the Church. He sent for the
Earl of Wiltshire, Anne Boleyn’s father; Edward Lee, afterwards
Archbishop of York; Stokesley, afterwards Bishop of
London, and some others. He told them that the emperor
desired his alliance, and commissioned them to proceed to
Italy, and explain to Charles <abbr='the fifth'>V.</abbr> the serious motives that
induced him to separate from Catherine. “If he persists in
his opposition to the divorce,” continued Henry, “threaten
him, but in covert terms. If the threats prove useless, tell
him plainly that, in accord with my friends, I will do all I
can to restore peace to my troubled conscience.” He added
with more calmness,—“I am resolved to fear God rather
than man, and to place full reliance on comfort from the
Saviour.”[#] Was Henry sincere when he spoke thus? No
// File: 053.png
.pn +1
one can doubt of his sensuality, his scholastic catholicism,
and his cruel violence:—must we also believe in his hypocrisy?
He was no doubt under a delusion, and deceived
himself on the state of his soul.

An important member was added to the deputation. One
day when the king was occupied with this affair, Thomas
Cranmer appeared at the door of his closet with a manuscript
in his hand. Cranmer had a fine understanding, a
warm heart, a character perhaps too weak, but extensive
learning. Captivated by the Holy Scriptures, he desired to
seek for truth nowhere else. He had suggested a new point
of view to Henry <abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr> “The essential thing,” he said,
“is to know what the Word of God teaches on the matter in
question.” “Show me that,” exclaimed the king. Cranmer
brought him his treatise, in which he proved that the
Word of God is above all human jurisdiction, and that it
forbids marriage with a brother’s widow. Henry took the
work in his hand, read it again and again, and praised its
excellence. A bright idea occurred to him. “Are you
strong enough to maintain before the Bishop of Rome the
propositions laid down in this treatise?” said the king.
Cranmer was timid, but convinced and devoted. “Yes,” he
made answer, “with God’s grace, and if your Majesty commands
it.” “Marry, then,” exclaimed Henry with delight,
“I will send you.”[#] Cranmer departed with the others in
January, 1530.

.sn Clement’s Alarm.
While Henry’s ambassadors were journeying slowly,
Charles <abbr='the fifth'>V.</abbr>, more exasperated than ever against the divorce,
endeavored to gain the pope. Clement <abbr='the seventh'>VII.</abbr>, who was a
clever man, and possessed a certain kindly humor, but
was at heart cunning, false, and cowardly, amused the puissant
emperor with words. When he learned that the King
of England was sending an embassy to him, he gave way to
the keenest sorrow. What was he to do? which way
could he turn? To irritate the emperor was dangerous; to
separate England from Rome would be to endure a great
// File: 054.png
.pn +1
loss. Caught between Charles <abbr='the fifth'>V.</abbr> and Henry <abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr>, he
groaned aloud; he paced up and down his chamber gesticulating;
then suddenly stopping, sank into a chair and burst
into tears. Nothing succeeded with him: it was, he thought,
as if he had been bewitched. What need was there for the
King of England to send him an embassy? Had not Clement
told Henry through the Bishop of Tarbes: “I am content
the marriage should take place, provided it be without
my authorization.”[#] It was of no use: the pope asked him
to do without the papacy, and the king would only act with
it. He was more popish than the pope.

To add to his misfortunes, Charles began to press the
pontiff more seriously, and yielding to his importunities,
Clement drew up a brief on the <abbr=seventh>7th</abbr> of March, in which he
commanded Henry “to receive Catherine with love, and to
treat her in all things with the affection of a husband.”[#]
But the brief was scarcely written when the arrival of the
English embassy was announced. The pope in alarm immediately
put the document back into his portfolio, promising
himself that it would be long before he published it.

As soon as the English envoys had taken up their quarters
at Bologna, the ambassadors of France called to pay
their respects. De Gramont, Bishop of Tarbes, was overflowing
with politeness, especially to the Earl of Wiltshire.
“I have shown much honor to <abbr=Monsieur>M.</abbr> de Rochford,” he wrote
to his master on the <abbr='twenty-eighth'>28th</abbr> of March. “I went out to meet
him. I have visited him often at his lodging. I have fêted
him, and offered him my solicitations and services, telling
him that such were your orders.”[#] Not thus did Clement
<abbr='the seventh'>VII.</abbr> act: the arrival of the Earl of Wiltshire and his colleagues
was a cause of alarm to him. Yet he must make
up his mind to receive them: he appointed the day and the
hour for the audience.
// File: 055.png
.pn +1

Henry <abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr> desired that his representatives should
appear with great pomp, and accordingly the ambassador
and his colleagues went to great expense with that intent.[#]
Wiltshire entered first into the audience-hall; being father
of Anne Boleyn, he had been appointed by the king as the
man in all England most interested in the success of his
plans. But Henry had calculated badly: the personal
interest which the earl felt in the divorce made him odious
both to Charles and Clement. The pope, wearing his pontifical
robes, was seated on the throne surrounded by his cardinals.
The ambassadors approached, made the customary
salutations, and stood before him. The pontiff, wishing to
show his kindly feelings towards the envoys of the “<i>Defender
of the Faith</i>,” put out his slipper according to custom,
presenting it graciously to the kisses of those proud Englishmen.
The revolt was about to begin. The earl, remaining
motionless, refused to kiss his holiness’s slipper. But that
was not all; a fine spaniel, with long silky hair, which
Wiltshire had brought from England, had followed him to
the episcopal palace. When the bishop of Rome put out
his foot, the dog did what other dogs would have done under
similar circumstances: he flew at the foot, and caught the
pope by the great toe.[#] Clement hastily drew it back.
The sublime borders on the ridiculous: the ambassadors,
bursting with laughter, raised their arms and hid their faces
behind their long rich sleeves. “That dog was a <i>protestant</i>,”
said a reverend father. “Whatever he was,” said an
Englishman, “he taught us that a pope’s foot was more
meet to be bitten by dogs than kissed by Christian men.”
The pope, recovering from his emotion, prepared to listen,
and the count, regaining his seriousness, explained to the
pontiff that as Holy Scripture forbade a man to marry his
brother’s wife, Henry <abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr> required him to annul as unlawful
// File: 056.png
.pn +1
his union with Catherine of Aragon. As Clement
did not seem convinced, the ambassador skilfully insinuated
that the king might possibly declare himself independent of
Rome, and place the British church under the direction of
a patriarch. “The example,” added the ambassador, “will
not fail to be imitated by other kingdoms of Christendom.”[#]

The agitated pope promised not to remove the suit to
Rome, provided the king would give up the idea of reforming
England. Then, putting on a most gracious air, he
proposed to introduce the ambassador to Charles <abbr='the fifth'>V.</abbr> This
was giving Wiltshire the chance of receiving a harsh rebuff.
The earl saw it; but his duty obliging him to confer with
the emperor, he accepted the offer.

The father of Anne Boleyn proceeded to an audience
with the nephew of Catherine of Aragon. Representatives
of two women whose rival causes agitated Europe, these
two men could not meet without a collision. True, the earl
flattered himself that as it was Charles’s interest to detach
Henry from Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr>, that phlegmatic and politic prince
would certainly not sacrifice the gravest interests of his
reign for a matter of sentiment; but he was deceived. The
emperor received him with a calm and reserved air, but
unaccompanied by any kindly demonstration. The ambassador
skilfully began with speaking of the Turkish war;
then ingeniously passing to the condition of the kingdom of
England, he pointed out the reasons of state which rendered
the divorce necessary. Here Charles stopped him short:
“Sir Count, you are not to be trusted in this matter; you
are a party to it; let your colleagues speak.” The earl
replied with respectful coldness: “Sire, I do not speak here
as a father, but as my master’s servant, and I am commissioned
to inform you that his conscience condemns a union
contrary to the law of God.”[#] He then offered Charles the
immediate restitution of Catherine’s dowry. The emperor
// File: 057.png
.pn +1
coldly replied that he would support his aunt in her rights,
and then abruptly turning his back on the ambassador, refused
to hear him any longer.[#]

Thus did Charles, who had been all his life a crafty politician,
place in this matter the cause of justice above the
interests of his ambition. Perhaps he might lose an important
ally; it mattered not; before everything he would
protect a woman unworthily treated. On this occasion we
feel more sympathy for Charles than for Henry. The
indignant emperor hastily quitted Bologna, on the <abbr='twenty-second'>22d</abbr> or
<abbr='twenty-fourth'>24th</abbr> of February.

The earl hastened to his friend <abbr=Monsieur>M.</abbr> de Gramont, and,
relating how he had been treated, proposed that the kings
of France and England should unite in the closest bonds.
He added, that Henry could not accept Clement as his
judge, since he had himself declared that he was ignorant of
the law of God.[#] “England,” he said, “will be quiet for
three or four months. Sitting in the ballroom, she will
watch the dancers, and will form her resolution according as
they dance well or ill.”[#] A rule of policy that has often
been followed.

.sn Gramont’s Policy.
Gramont was prepared to make common cause with
Henry against the emperor; but, like his master, he could
not make his mind to do without the pope. He strove to
induce Clement to join the two kings and abandon Charles;
or else—he insinuated in his turn—England would separate
from the Romish Church. This was to incur the risk
of losing Western Europe, and accordingly the pope answered
with much concern: “I will do what you ask.”
There was, however, a reserve; namely, that the steps
taken overtly by the pope would absolutely decide nothing.

Clement once more received the ambassador of Henry
<abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr> The earl carried with him the book wherein Cranmer
proved that the pope cannot dispense any one from
// File: 058.png
.pn +1
obeying the law of God, and presented it to the pope. The
latter took it and glanced over it, his looks showing that a
prison could not have been more disagreeable to him than
this impertinent volume.[#] The Earl of Wiltshire soon discovered
that there was nothing for him to do in Italy.
Charles <abbr='the fifth'>V.</abbr>, usually so reserved, had made the bitterest
remarks before his departure. His chancellor, with an air
of triumph, enumerated to the English ambassador all the
divines of Italy and France who were opposed to the king’s
wishes. The pope seemed to be a puppet which the emperor
moved as he liked, and the cardinals had but one idea,—that
of exalting the Romish power. Wearied and disgusted,
the earl departed for France and England with the
greater portion of his colleagues.

Cranmer was left behind. Having been sent to show
Clement that Holy Scripture is above all Roman pontiffs,
and speaks in a language quite opposed to that of the popes,
he had asked more than once for an audience at which to
discharge his mission. The wily pontiff had replied that he
would hear him at Rome, believing he was thus putting him
off until the Greek calends. But Clement was deceived;
the English doctor, determining to do his duty, refused to
depart for London with the rest of the embassy, and repaired
to the metropolis of Catholicism.

.fn #
“All indifferent and discreet persons judged that it was right and
necessary.”—Hall, <i>Chronicles of England</i>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 784.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>“Congressus iste magna cum pompa fiet.”</lang>—<i>State Papers</i>, <abbr=seven>vii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 209.
We must not confound this congress with the one held later in this city.
See antea, <abbr=volume>vol.</abbr> <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> book <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=chapter>chap.</abbr> <abbr='twenty-five'>xxv.</abbr> <abbr='twenty-six'>xxvi.</abbr> <abbr='twenty-nine'>xxix.</abbr>
.fn-
.fn #
Letter from Sir <abbr rend=spell>H.</abbr> Carew to Henry <abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr>: <i>State Papers</i>, <abbr=seven>vii.</abbr> 225.
.fn-
.fn #
Antea, <abbr=volume>vol.</abbr> <abbr rend=arabic>i.</abbr> <abbr=chapter>ch.</abbr> <abbr=nine>ix.</abbr>
.fn-
.fn #
Instruction to Wiltshire: <i>State Papers</i>, <abbr=seven>vii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 230.
.fn-
.fn #
Foxe, <i>Acts</i>, <abbr=eight>viii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 9.
.fn-
.fn #
Le Grand, <lang=fr><i>Preuves</i></lang>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 400.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>“Reginam complectendo, affectione maritali tractet in omnibus.”</lang>—Le
Grand, <lang=fr><i>Preuves</i></lang>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 451.
.fn-
.fn #
Ibid. <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 399.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>“Esso Conte habi commissione far una grossa spesa.”</lang>—<i>Lettre de
Joachim de Vaux</i>, ibid. <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 409.
.fn-
.fn #
“The spaniel took fast with his mouth the great toe of the pope.”—Foxe,
<i>Acts</i>, <abbr=eight>viii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 9.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=it>“Che l’altri regni questo imitando.”</lang>—Le Grand, <lang=fr><i>Preuves du Divorce</i></lang>,
<abbr=page>p.</abbr> 419.
.fn-
.fn #
Le Grand, <lang=fr><i>Preuves</i></lang>, <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 401, 454.
.fn-
.fn #
Le Grand, <lang=fr><i>Preuves</i></lang>, <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 401, 454.
.fn-
.fn #
“He declared himself ignorant of that law.”—<i>State Papers</i>, <abbr=twelve>xii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 230.
.fn-
.fn #
Le Grand, <lang=fr><i>Preuves</i></lang>, <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 401, 455.
.fn-
.fn #
‘A book as welcome to his Holiness as a prison.’—Fuller, <i>Church
History</i>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 182.
.fn-
// File: 059.png
.pn +1
.sp 4
.h2 id=chap6-05
CHAPTER V. | DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING THE DIVORCE AT OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE. | (<sc>Winter of 1530.</sc>)
.sp 2
.sn Wiltshire’s Departure.
At the same time that Henry sent ambassadors to Italy
to obtain the pope’s consent, he invited all the universities
of Christendom to declare that the question of divorce was
of divine right, and that the pope had nothing to say about
it. It was his opinion that the universal voice of the
Church ought to decide, and not the voice of one man.

First, he attempted to canvass Cambridge, and, as he
wanted a skilful man for that purpose, he applied to Wolsey’s
old servant, Stephen Gardiner, an intelligent, active,
wily churchman and a good catholic. One thing alone was
superior to his catholicism,—his desire to win the king’s
favor. He aspired to rise like the cardinal to the summit
of greatness. Henry named the chief almoner, Edward
Fox, as his colleague.

Arriving at Cambridge one Saturday about noon, in the
latter half of February, the royal commissioners held a
conference in the evening with the vice-chancellor (Dr.
Buckmaster), Dr. Edmunds, and other influential men who
had resolved to go with the court. But these doctors,
members of the political party, soon found themselves
checked by an embarrassing support on which they had not
calculated; it was that of the friends of the Gospel. They
had been convinced by the writing which Cranmer had
published on the divorce. Gardiner and the members of
the conference, hearing of the assistance which the evangelicals
desired to give them, were annoyed at first. On the
other hand, the champions of the court of Rome, alarmed at
// File: 060.png
.pn +1
the alliance of the two parties who were opposed to them,
began that very night to visit college after college, leaving
no stone unturned that the peril might be averted. Gardiner,
uneasy at their zeal, wrote to Henry <abbr='the eighth'>VIII</abbr>:—‘As
we assembled, they assembled; as we made friends, they
made friends.’[#] Dr. Watson, Dr. Tomson, and other
fanatical individuals at one time shouted very loudly, at
another spoke in whispers.[#] They said that Anne Boleyn
was a heretic, that her marriage with Henry would hand
England over to Luther; and they related to those whom
they desired to gain—wrote Gardiner to the king—‘many
fables too tedious to repeat to your Grace.’ These
‘fables’ would not only have bored Henry, but greatly
irritated him.

.sn A Noisy Meeting.
The vice-chancellor, flattering himself that he had a majority,
notwithstanding these clamors, called a meeting of
the doctors, bachelors of divinity, and masters of arts, for
Sunday afternoon. About two hundred persons assembled,
and the three parties were distinctly marked out. The
most numerous and the most excited were those who held
for the pope against the king. The evangelicals were in a
minority, but were quite as decided as their adversaries,
and much calmer. The politicians, uneasy at seeing the
friends of Latimer and Cranmer disposed to vote with them,
would have, however, to accept of their support, if they
wished to gain the victory. They resolved to seize the opportunity
offered them. ‘Most learned senators,’ said the
vice-chancellor, ‘I have called you together because the
great love which the king bears you engages me to consult
your wisdom.’ Thereupon Gardiner and Fox handed in the
letter which Henry had given them, and the vice-chancellor
read it to the meeting. In it the king set forth his hopes
of seeing the doctors unanimous to do what was agreeable
to him. The deliberations commenced, and the question
of a rupture with Rome soon began to appear distinctly
beneath the question of the divorce. Edmunds spoke for
// File: 061.png
.pn +1
the king, Tomson for the pope. There was an interchange
of antagonistic opinions and a disorder of ideas among many;
the speakers grew warm; one voice drowned another, and
the confusion became extreme.[#]

The vice-chancellor, desirous of putting an end to the
clamor, proposed referring the matter to a committee, whose
decision should be regarded as that of the whole university,
which was agreed to. Then, seeing more clearly that the
royal cause could not succeed without the help of the evangelical
party, he proposed some of its leaders—Doctors
Salcot, Reps, Crome, Shaxton, and Latimer—as members
of the committee. On hearing these names, there was an
explosion of murmurs in the meeting. Salcot, Abbot of <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr>
Benet’s, was particularly offensive to the doctors of the
Romish party. ‘We protest,’ they said, ‘against the presence
in the committee of those who have approved of Cranmer’s
book, and thus declared their opinion already.’
‘When any matter is talked of all over the kingdom,’
answered Gardiner, ‘there is not a sensible man who does
not tell his friends what he thinks about it.’ The whole
afternoon was spent in lively altercation. The vice-chancellor,
wishing to bring it to an end, said: ‘Gentlemen, it is
getting late, and I invite every one to take his seat, and
declare his mind by a secret vote.’[#] It was useless; no
one took his seat; the confusion, reproaches, and declamations
continued. At dark, the vice-chancellor adjourned the
meeting until the next day. The doctors separated in great
excitement, but with different feelings. While the politicians
saw nothing else to discuss but the question of the king’s
marriage, the evangelicals and the papists considered that
the real question was this: Which shall rule in England—the
Reformation or Popery?

The next day, the names of the members of the committee
// File: 062.png
.pn +1
having been put to the vote, the meeting was found to be
divided into two equal parties. In order to obtain a majority
Gardiner undertook to get some of his adversaries out
of the way. Going up and down the Senate-house, he began
to whisper in the ears of some of the less decided; and,
inspiring them either with hope or fear, he prevailed upon
several to leave the meeting.[#]

The grace was then put to the vote a third time and
passed. Gardiner triumphed. Returning to his room, he
sent the list to the king. Sixteen of the committee, indicated
by the letter <abbr rend=spell>A</abbr>, were favorable to his majesty. ‘As
for the twelve others,’ he wrote, ‘we hope to win most of
them by <i>good means</i>.’ The committee met, and took up the
royal demand. They carefully examined the passages of
Holy Scripture, the explanations of translators, and gave
their opinion.[#] Then followed the public discussion. Gardiner
was not without fear; as there might be skilful assailants
and awkward defenders, he looked out for men qualified
to defend the royal cause worthily. It was a remarkable
circumstance that, passing over the traditional doctors, he
added to the defence—of which he and Fox were the
leaders—two evangelical doctors, Salcot, Abbot of <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Benet’s,
and Reps. He reserved to his colleague and himself
the political part of the question; but notwithstanding all
his catholicism, he desired that the scriptural reasons should
be placed foremost. The discussion was conducted with
great thoroughness,[#] and the victory remained with the
king’s champions.

.sn Majority For The King.
On the <abbr=ninth>9th</abbr> of March, the doctors, professors, and masters
having met after vespers in the priory hall, the vice-chancellor
said: ‘It has appeared to us as most certain, most in
accord with Holy Scripture, and most conformable to the
opinions of commentators, that it is contrary to divine and
natural law for a man to marry the widow of his brother
// File: 063.png
.pn +1
dying childless.’[#] Thus the Scriptures were really, if not
explicitly, declared by the university of Cambridge to be
the supreme and only rule of Christians, and the contrary
decisions of Rome were held to be not binding. The Word
of God was avenged of the long contempt it had endured,
and, after having been put below the pope’s word, was now
restored to its lawful place. In this matter Cambridge was
right.

.sn The King’s Letter To Oxford.
It was necessary to try Oxford next. Here the opposition
was stronger, and the popish party looked forward to a
victory. Longland, Bishop of Lincoln and chancellor of the
university, was commissioned by Henry to undertake the
matter; Doctor Bell, and afterwards Edward Fox, the chief
almoner, being joined with him. The king, uneasy at the
results of the negotiation, and wishing for a favorable decision
at any cost, gave Longland a letter for the university,
through every word of which an undisguised despotism was
visible. ‘We will and command you,’ he said, ‘that ye,
not leaning to wilful and sinister opinions of your own several
minds, considering that we be your sovereign liege lord,
and totally giving your affections to the true overtures of
divine learning in this behalf, do show and declare your
true and just learning in the said cause.... And we,
for your so doing, shall be to you and to our university there
so good and gracious a lord for the same, as ye shall perceive
it well done in your well fortune to come. And in
case you do not uprightly handle yourselves herein, we shall
so quickly and sharply look to your unnatural misdemeanor
herein, that it shall not be to your quietness and ease hereafter....
Accommodate yourselves to the mere truth;
assuring you that those who do shall be esteemed and set
forth, and the contrary neglected and little set by....
We doubt not that your resolution shall be our high contentation
and pleasure.’

This royal missive caused a great commotion in the university.
// File: 064.png
.pn +1
Some slavishly bent their heads, for the king spoke
rod in hand. Others declared themselves convinced by the
political reasons, and said that Henry must have an heir
whose right to the throne could not be disputed. And,
lastly, some were convinced that Holy Scripture was favorable
to the royal cause. All men of age and learning, as
well as all who had either capacity or ambition, declared in
favor of the divorce. Nevertheless a formidable opposition
soon showed itself.

The younger members of the Senate were enthusiastic
for Catherine, the Church, and the pope. Their theological
education was imperfect; they could not go to the bottom
of the question, but they judged by the heart. To see a
Catholic lady oppressed, to see Rome despised, inflamed
their anger; and, if the elder members maintained that their
view was the more reasonable, the younger ones believed
theirs to be the more noble. Unhappily, when the choice
lies between the useful and the generous, the useful commonly
triumphs. Still, the young doctors were not prepared
to yield. They said—and they were not wrong—that religion
and morality ought not to be sacrificed to reasons of
state, or to the passions of princes. And, seeing the spectre
of Reform hidden behind that of the divorce, they regarded
themselves as called upon to save the Church. ‘Alas!’
said the royal delegates, the Bishop of Lincoln and Dr. Bell,
‘alas! we are in continual perplexity, and we cannot foresee
with any certainty what will be the issue of this business.’[#]

They agreed with the heads of houses that, in order to
prepare the university, three public disputations should be
solemnly held in the divinity schools. By this means they
hoped to gain time. ‘Such disputations,’ they said, ‘are a
very honorable means of amusing the multitude until we
are sure of the consent of the majority.’[#] The discussions
took place, and the younger masters, arranging each day
// File: 065.png
.pn +1
what was to be done or said, gave utterance to all the
warmth of their feelings.

When the news of these animated discussions reached
Henry, his displeasure broke out, and those immediately
around him fanned his indignation. ‘A great part of the
youth of our university,’ said the king, ‘with contentious
and factious manners, daily combine together.’... The
courtiers, instead of moderating, excited his anger. Every
day, they told him, these young men, regardless of their duty
towards their sovereign, and not conforming to the opinions
of the most virtuous and learned men of the university, meet
together to deliberate and oppose his majesty’s views.
‘Hath it ever been seen,’ exclaimed the king, ‘that such
a number of right small learning should stay their seniors
in so weighty a cause?’[#] Henry, in exasperation, wrote
to the heads of the houses: ‘<lang=la><i>Non est bonum irritare crabrones</i></lang>.’
It is not good to stir a hornet’s nest. This threat
excited the younger party still more: if the term ‘hornet’
amused some, it irritated others. In hot weather, the
hornet (the king) chases the weaker insects; but the noise
he makes in flying forewarns them, and the little ones escape
him. Henry could not hide his vexation; he feared lest the
little flies should prove stronger than the big hornet. He
was uneasy in his castle of Windsor; and the insolent opposition
of Oxford pursued him wherever he turned his
steps—on the terrace, in the wide park, and even in the
royal chapel. ‘What!’ he exclaimed, ‘shall this university
dare show itself more unkind and wilful than all other
universities, abroad or at home?’[#] Cambridge had recognized
the king’s right, and Oxford refused.

Wishing to end the matter, Henry summoned the High-Almoner
Fox to Windsor, and ordered him to repeat at
Oxford the victory he had gained at Cambridge. He then
dictated to his secretary a letter to the recalcitrants: ‘We
cannot a little marvel that you, neither having respect to
our estate,—being your prince and sovereign lord,—nor
// File: 066.png
.pn +1
yet remembering such benefits as we have always showed
unto you, have hitherto refused the accomplishment of our
desire. Permit no longer the private suffrages of light and
wilful heads to prevail over the learned. By your diligence
redeem the errors and delays past.

‘Given under our signet, at our castle of Windsor.’[#]

Fox was entrusted with this letter.

The Lord High-Almoner and the Bishop of Lincoln immediately
called together the younger masters of the university,
and declared that a longer resistance might lead to their
ruin. But the youth of Oxford were not to be overawed
by threats of violence. Lincoln had hardly finished when
several masters of arts protested loudly. Some even spoke
‘very wickedly.’ Not permitting himself to be checked
by such rebellion, the bishop ordered the poll to be taken.
Twenty-seven voted for the king, and twenty-two against.
The royal commissioners were not yet satisfied; they assembled
all the faculties, and invited the members to give
their opinion in turn. This intimidated many, and only
eight or ten had courage enough to declare their opposition
frankly. The bishop, encouraged by such a result, ordered
that the final vote should be taken by ballot. Secrecy emboldened
many of those who had not dared to speak; and,
while thirty-one voted in favor of the divorce, twenty-five
opposed it. That was of little consequence, as the two
prelates had the majority. They immediately drew up the
statute in the name of the university, and sent it to the
king. After which the bishop, proud of his success, celebrated
a solemn mass of the Holy Ghost.[#] The Holy
Ghost had not, however, been much attended to in the
business. Some had obeyed the prince, others the pope;
and, if we desire to find those who obeyed Christ, we must
look for them elsewhere.

.sn Latimer’s Evangelical Courage.
The university of Cambridge was the first to send in its
submission to Henry. The Sunday before Easter (1530),
// File: 067.png
.pn +1
Vice-Chancellor Buckmaster arrived at Windsor in the
forenoon. The court was at chapel, where Latimer, recently
appointed one of the king’s chaplains, was preaching.
The vice-chancellor came in during the service, and
heard part of the sermon. Latimer was a very different
man from Henry’s servile courtiers. He did not fear even
to attack such of his colleagues as did not do their duty:
‘That is no godly preacher that will hold his peace, and
not strike you with his sword that you smoke again....
Chaplains will not do their duties, but rather flatter. But
what shall follow? Marry, they shall have God’s curse
upon their heads for their labor. The minister must reprove
without fearing any man, even if he be threatened with
death.’[#] Latimer was particularly bold in all that concerned
the errors of Rome which Henry <abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr> desired to
maintain in the English Church. ‘Wicked persons (he
said),—men who despise God,—call out, “We are christened,
therefore are we saved.” Marry, to be christened
and not obey God’s commandments is to be worse than the
Turks! Regeneration cometh from the Word of God. It
is by believing this Word that we are born again.’[#]

Thus spoke one of the fathers of the British Reformation:
such is the real doctrine of the Church of England; the
contrary doctrine is a mere relic of popery.

As the congregation were leaving the chapel, the vice-chancellor
spoke to the secretary (Cromwell) and the provost,
and told them the occasion of his visit. The king sent
a message that he would receive the deputation after evening
service. Desirous of giving a certain distinction to the
decision of the universities, Henry ordered all the court to
assemble in the audience-chamber. The vice-chancellor
presented the letter to the king, who was much pleased with
it. ‘Thanks, Mr. Vice-Chancellor,’ he said; ‘I very much
approve the way in which you have managed this matter.
I shall give your university tokens of my satisfaction....
// File: 068.png
.pn +1
You heard Mr. Latimer’s sermon,’ he added, which he
greatly praised, and then withdrew. The Duke of Norfolk,
going up to the vice-chancellor, told him that the king desired
to see him the following day.

The next day Dr. Buckmaster, faithful to the appointment,
waited all the morning; but the king had changed his
mind, and sent orders to the deputy from Cambridge that
he might depart as soon as he pleased. The message had
scarcely been delivered before the king entered the gallery.
An idea which quite engrossed his mind urged him on; he
wanted to speak with the doctor about the principle put
forward by Cranmer. Henry detained Buckmaster from
one o’clock until six, repeating, in every possible form,
‘Can the pope grant a dispensation when the law of God
hath spoken?’[#] He even displayed much ill-humor before
the vice-chancellor, because this point had not been decided
at Cambridge. At last he quitted the gallery; and, to
counterbalance the sharpness of his reproaches, he spoke
very graciously to the doctor, who hurried away as fast as
he could.

.fn #
Burnet, <i>Records</i>, <abbr rend=arabic>i.</abbr>
.fn-
.fn #
‘In the ears of them.’—Ibid. <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 39.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Et res erat in multa confusione.’</lang>—Burnet, <i>Records</i>, <abbr rend=arabic>i.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 79, Gardiner
to the king.
.fn-
.fn #
‘To resort to his seat apart, every man’s mind to be known secretly.’—Burnet,
<i>Records</i>, <abbr rend=arabic>i.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 80.
.fn-
.fn #
‘To cause some to depart the house.’—Ibid.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘S. Scripturæ locorum conferentes, tum etiam interpretum.’</lang>—Burnet,
<i>Records</i>, <abbr=three>iii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 22.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Publicam disputationem matura deliberatione.’</lang>—Ibid.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Scrutatis diligentissime Sacræ Scripturæ locis.’</lang>—Burnet, <i>Records</i>,
<abbr=three>iii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 22.
.fn-
.fn #
‘In doubt always.’—<i>State Papers</i>, <abbr rend=arabic>i.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 377.
.fn-
.fn #
‘Most convenient way to entertain the multitude.’—Ibid.
.fn-
.fn #
Burnet, <i>Records</i>, <abbr=three>iii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 26.
.fn-
.fn #
Ibid.
.fn-
.fn #
Burnet, <i>Records</i>, <abbr=three>iii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 26.
.fn-
.fn #
<i>State Papers</i>, <abbr rend=arabic>i.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 379, and note.
.fn-
.fn #
Latimer, <i>Sermons</i> (Parker Soc.), <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 46, 381.
.fn-
.fn #
Ibid. <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 126, 471.
.fn-
.fn #
‘An papa potest dispensara.’—Burnet, <i>Records</i>, <abbr=three>iii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 24.
.fn-
.sp 4
.h2 id=chap6-06
CHAPTER VI. | HENRY <abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr> SUPPORTED IN FRANCE AND ITALY BY THE\
CATHOLICS, AND BLAMED IN GERMANY BY THE PROTESTANTS. | (<sc>January to September 1530.</sc>)
.sp 2
.sn Henry Appeals To Foreign Opinion.
The king did not limit himself to asking the opinions of
England; he appealed to the universal teaching of the
Church, represented according to his views by the universities
and not by the pope. The element of individual conviction,
// File: 069.png
.pn +1
so strongly marked in Tyndale, Fryth, and Latimer,
was wanting in the official reformation that proceeded from
the prince. To know what Scripture said, Henry was
about sending delegates to Paris, Bologna, Padua, and
Wittemburg; he would have sent even to the East, if such
a journey had been easy. That false catholicism which
looked for the interpretation of the Bible to churches and
declining schools where traditionalism, ritualism, and hierarchism
were magnified, was a counterfeit popery. Happily
the supreme voice of the Word of God surmounted this
fatal tendency in England.

Henry <abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr>, full of confidence in the friendship of the
King of France, applied first to the university of Paris; but
Dr. Pedro Garry, a Spanish priest, as ignorant as he was
fanatical (according to the English agents),[#] eagerly took
up the cause of Catherine of Aragon. Aided by the impetuous
Beda, he obtained an opinion adverse to Henry’s
wishes.

When he heard of it, the alarmed prince summoned Du
Bellay, the French ambassador, to the palace, gave him for
Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr> a famous diamond fleur-de-lis valued at 10,000<i>l.</i>
sterling, also the acknowledgments for 100,000 livres which
Francis owed Henry for war expenses, and added a gift of
400,000 crowns for the ransom of the king’s sons. Unable
to resist such strong arguments, Francis charged Du Bellay
to represent to the faculty of Paris ‘the great scruples of
Henry’s conscience;’[#] whereupon the Sarbonne deliberated,
and several doctors exclaimed that it would be an
attaint upon the pope’s honor to suppose him capable of
refusing consolation to the wounded conscience of a Christian.
During these debates, the secretary took the names,
received the votes, and entered them on the minutes. A
fiery papist observing that the majority would be against
// File: 070.png
.pn +1
the Roman opinion, jumped up, sprang upon the secretary,
snatched the list from his hands, and tore it up. All started
from their seats, and ‘there was great disorder and tumult.’
They all spoke together, each trying to assert his own
opinion; but as no one could make himself heard amid the
general clamor, the doctors hurried out of the room in a
great rage. ‘Beda acted like one possessed,’ wrote Du
Bellay.

Meanwhile the ambassadors of the King of England were
walking up and down an adjoining gallery, waiting for the
division. Attracted by the shouts, they ran forward, and
seeing the strange spectacle presented by the theologians,
and ‘hearing the language they used to one another,’ they
retired in great irritation. Du Bellay, who had at heart
the alliance of the two countries, conjured Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr> to put
an end to such ‘impertinences.’ The president of the parliament
of Paris consequently ordered Beda to appear before
him, and told him that it was not for a person of his
sort to meddle with the affairs of princes, and that if he did
not cease his opposition, he would be punished in a way he
would not soon forget. The Sorbonne profited by the lesson
given to the most influential of its members, and on the
<abbr=second>2nd</abbr> of July declared in favor of the divorce by a large
majority. The universities of Orleans, Angers, and Bourges
had already done so, and that of Toulouse did the same
shortly after.[#] Henry <abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr> had France and England with
him.

This was not enough: he must have Italy also. He filled
that peninsula with his agents, who had orders to obtain
from the bishops and universities the declaration refused by
the pope. A rich and powerful despot is never in want of
devoted men to carry out his designs.

The university of Bologna, in the states of the Church,
was, after Paris, the most important in the Catholic world.
A monk was in great repute there at this time. Noble
// File: 071.png
.pn +1
by birth and an eloquent preacher, Battista Pallavicini
was one of those independent thinkers often met with in
Italy. The English agents applied to him; he declared
that he and his colleagues were ready to prove the unlawfulness
of Henry’s marriage, and when Stokesley spoke of
remuneration, they replied, ‘No, no! what we have received
freely, we give freely.’ Henry’s agents could not contain
themselves for joy; the university of the pope declares
against the pope! Those among them who had an inkling
for the Reformation were especially delighted. On the
<abbr=tenth>10th</abbr> June the eloquent monk appeared before the ambassadors
with the judgment of the faculty, which surpassed all
they had imagined. Henry’s marriage was declared ‘horrible,
execrable, detestable, abominable for a Christian and
even for an infidel, forbidden by divine and human law
under pain of the severest punishment.[#]... The holy father,
who can do almost everything,’ innocently continued
the university, ‘has not the right to permit such a union.’
The universities of Padua and Ferrara hastened to add
their votes to those of Bologna, and declared the marriage
with a brother’s widow to be ‘null, detestable, profane, and
abominable.’[#] Henry was conqueror all along the line.
He had with him that universal consent which, according to
certain illustrious doctors, is the very essence of Catholicism.
Crooke, one of Henry’s agents, and a distinguished
Greek scholar, who discharged his mission with indefatigable
ardor, exclaimed that ‘the just cause of the king was
approved by all the doctors of Italy.’[#]

.sn Protestants Condemn The Divorce.
In the midst of this harmony of catholicity, there was one
exception, of which no one had dreamt. That divorce which,
according to the frivolous language of a certain party, was
the cause of the Reformation in England, found opponents
among the fathers and the children of the Reformation.
// File: 072.png
.pn +1
Henry’s envoys were staggered. ‘My fidelity bindeth me
to advertise your Highness,’ wrote Crooke to the king,
‘that all Lutherans be utterly against your Highness in
this cause, and have letted [hindered] as much with their
wretched poor malice, without reason or authority, as they
could and might, as well here as in Padua and Ferrara,
where be no small companies of them.’[#] The Swiss and
German reformers having been summoned to give an
opinion on this point, Luther, Œcolampadius, Zwingle,
Bucer, Grynæus, and even Calvin,[#] all expressed the same
opinion. ‘Certainly,’ said Luther, ‘the king has sinned
by marrying his brother’s wife; that sin belongs to the
past; let repentance, therefore, blot it out, as it must blot
out all our past sins. But the marriage must not be dissolved;
such a great sin, which is future, must not be permitted.[#]
There are thousands of marriages in the world in
which sin has a part, and yet we may not dissolve them.
<i>A man shall cleave unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh.</i>
This law is superior to the other, and overrules the lesser
one.’ The collective opinion of the Lutheran doctors was
in conformity with the just and Christian sentiments of
Luther.[#] Thus (we repeat) the event which, according to
Catholic writers, was the cause of the religious transformation
of England, was approved by the Romanists and condemned
by the evangelicals. Besides, the latter knew very
well that a Reformation must proceed, not from a divorce
or a marriage, not from diplomatic negotiations or university
statutes, but from the power of the Word of God and the
free conviction of Christians.

.sn English Address To The Pope.
While these matters were going on, Cranmer was at Rome,
asking the pope for that discussion which the pontiff had
// File: 073.png
.pn +1
promised him at their conference in Bologna. Clement
<abbr='the seventh'>VII.</abbr> had never intended to grant it: he had thought that,
once at Rome, it would be easy to elude his promise; it was
that which occupied his attention just now. Among the
means which popes have sometimes employed in their difficulties
with kings, one of the most common was to gain the
agents of those princes. It was the first employed by Clement;
he nominated Cranmer grand almoner for all the states
of the King of England, some even say for all the Catholic
world. It was little more than a title, and ‘was only to
stay his stomach for that time, in hope of a more plentiful
feast hereafter, if he had been pleased to take his repast on
any popish preferment.’[#] But Cranmer was influenced by
purer motives; and without refusing the title the pope gave
him,—since having the task of winning him to the king’s
side, he would thus have compromised his mission,—he
made no account of it, and showed all the more zeal for the
accomplishment of his charge.

The embassy had not succeeded, and they were getting
uneasy about it in England. Some of the pope’s best
friends could not understand his blindness. The two archbishops,
the dukes of Norfolk and Suffolk, the marquises of
Dorset and Exeter, thirteen earls, four bishops, twenty-five
barons, twenty-two abbots, and eleven members of the
Lower House determined to send an address to Clement
<abbr='the seventh'>VII.</abbr> ‘Most blessed father,’ they began, ‘the king, who
is our head and the life of us all, has ever stood by the see
of Rome amidst the attacks of your many and powerful
enemies, and yet he alone is to reap no benefit from his labors....
Meanwhile we perceive a flood of miseries impending
over the commonwealth.[#] If your Holiness, who
ought to be our father, have determined to leave us as orphans,
we shall seek our remedy elsewhere.... He that
is sick will by any means be rid of his distemper; and there
// File: 074.png
.pn +1
is hope in the exchange of miseries, when, if we cannot
obtain what is good, we may obtain a lesser evil.... We
beseech your Holiness to consider with yourself; you profess
that on earth you are Christ’s vicar. Endeavor then
to show yourself so to be by pronouncing your sentence to
the glory and praise of God.’ Clement gained time: he
remained two months and a half without answering, thinking
about the matter, turning it over and over in his mind.
The great difficulty was to harmonize the will of Henry
<abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr>, who desired another wife, and that of Charles <abbr='the fifth'>V.</abbr>,
who insisted that he ought to keep the old one.... There
was only one mode of satisfying both these princes at once,
and that was by the king’s having the two wives together.
Wolsey had already entertained this idea. More than two
years before the pope had hinted as much to Da Casale:
‘Let him take another wife,’ he had said, speaking of
Henry.[#] Clement now recurred to it, and having sent privately
for Da Casale, he said to him: ‘This is what we
have hit upon: we permit his Majesty to have two wives.’[#]
The infallible pontiff proposed bigamy to a king. Da Casale
was still more astonished than he had been at the time of
Clement’s first communication. ‘Holy father,’ he said to
the pope, ‘I doubt whether such a mode will satisfy his
Majesty, for he desires above all things to have the burden
removed from his conscience.’[#]

This guilty proposal led to nothing; the king, sure of the
lords and of the people, advanced rapidly in the path of independence.
The day after that on which the pope authorized
him to take two wives, Henry issued a bold proclamation,
pronouncing against whosoever should ask for or bring
in a papal bull contrary to the royal prerogative ‘imprisonment
and further punishment of their bodies according to
// File: 075.png
.pn +1
his Majesty’s good pleasure.[#] Clement, becoming alarmed,
replied to the address: ‘We desire as much as you do that
the king should have male children; but, alas! we are not
God to give him sons.’[#]

Men were beginning to stifle under these manœuvres and
tergiversations of the papacy; they called for air, and some
went so far as to say that if air was not given them, they
must snap their fetters and break open the doors.

.fn #
Stokesley to the Earl of Wiltshire, January 16, 1530: <i>State Papers</i>,
<abbr=seven>vii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 227.
.fn-
.fn #
Le Grand, <lang=fr><i>Preuves du Divorce</i></lang>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 459. This letter is from Du Bellay,
and not from Montmorency, as a distinguished historian has supposed.
.fn-
.fn #
The opinions of these universities are given in Burnet’s <i>Records</i>, <abbr rend=arabic>i.</abbr>
<abbr=page>p.</abbr> 83.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Tale conjugium horrendum esse, execrabile, detestandum, viroque
christiano etiam cuilibet infideli prorsus abominabile.’</lang>—Rymer, <i>Acta</i>, <abbr=six>vi.</abbr>
<abbr=page>p.</abbr> 155.
.fn-
.fn #
Burnet, <i>Records</i>, <abbr=three>iii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 87.
.fn-
.fn #
<i>State Papers</i>, <abbr=seven>vii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 242.
.fn-
.fn #
Burnet, <i>Records</i>, <abbr rend=arabic>i.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 82.
.fn-
.fn #
Calvin’s letter or dissertation (<i>Calvini Epistolæ</i>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 384) harmonizes
the apparently contradictory passages of Leviticus and Deuteronomy;
but I much doubt if it belongs to this period.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Tam grande peccatum futurum permitti non debet.’</lang>—Lutheri <i>Epp.</i>
<abbr=four>iv.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 265.
.fn-
.fn #
Burnet, <i>Records</i>, <abbr rend=arabic>i.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 88.
.fn-
.fn #
Fuller, <i>Church History</i>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 182.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Malorum pelagus reipublicæ nostræ imminere cernimus ac certum
quoddam diluvium comminari.’</lang>—Rymer, <i>Acta</i>, <abbr=six>vi.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 160.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Rex aliam uxorem ducat.’</lang>—Letter of <abbr rend=spell>G.</abbr> Da Casale, Orvieto,
January 13, 1528.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Ut duas uxores habeat.’</lang>—Rome, September 28, 1530. Herbert, <abbr=page>p.</abbr>
330.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘An conscientiæ satisfieri posset, quam V. M. imprimis exonerare
cupit.’</lang>—Herbert, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 330.
.fn-
.fn #
Collier, <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 60.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Sed pro Deo non sumus, ut liberos dare possimus.’</lang>—Herbert, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 338.
.fn-
.sp 4
.h2 id=chap6-07
CHAPTER VII. | LATIMER AT COURT. | (<sc>January To September 1530.</sc>)
.sp 2
.sn Proclamation Against Papal Bulls.
Henry, seeing that he could not obtain what he asked
from the pope, drew nearer the evangelical party in his
kingdom. In the ranks of the Reformation he found intelligent,
pious, bold, and eloquent men, who possessed the confidence
of a portion of the people. Why should not the
prince try to conciliate them? They protest against the
authority of the pope: good! he will relieve them from it;
but on one condition, however,—that if they reject the
papal jurisdiction they recognize his own. If Henry’s plan
had succeeded, the Church of England would have been a
Cæsareo-papistical Church (as we see elsewhere) planted on
British soil; but it was the Word of God that was destined
to replace the pope in England, and not the king.

The first of the evangelical doctors whom Henry tried to
gain was Latimer. He had placed him, as we have seen,
on the list of his chaplains. ‘Beware of contradicting the
// File: 076.png
.pn +1
king,’ said a courtier to him, one day, mistrusting his frankness.
‘Speak as he speaks, and instead of presuming to
lead him, strive to follow him.’ ‘Marry, out upon thy
counsel!’ replied Latimer; ‘shall I say as he says? Say
what your conscience bids you.... Still, I know that
prudence is necessary.

.pm verse-start
<lang=la>Gutta cavat lapidem non vi sed sæpe cadendo.</lang>
.pm verse-end

The drop of rain maketh a hole in the stone, not by violence,
but by oft falling. Likewise a prince must be won by a
little and a little.’

This conversation was not useless to the chaplain, who
set to work seriously amid all the tumult of the court. He
studied the Holy Scriptures and the Fathers, and frankly
proclaimed the truth from the pulpit. But he had no private
conversation with the king, who filled him with a
certain fear. The thought that he did not speak to Henry
about the state of his soul troubled him. One day, in the
month of November, the chaplain was in his closet, and in
the volume of <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Augustine which lay before him he read
these words: ‘He who for fear of any power <i>hides the truth</i>,
provokes the wrath of God to come to him, for he fears men
more than God.’ Another day, while studying <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Chrysostom,
these words struck him: ‘he is not only a traitor to
the truth who openly for truth teaches a lie; but he also
who <i>does not freely pronounce and show the truth</i> that he
knoweth.’ These two sentences sank deeply into his heart.[#]
‘They made me sore afraid,’ he continued, ‘troubled and
vexed me grievously in my conscience.’ He resolved to
declare what God had taught him in Scripture. His frankness
might cost him his life (lives were lost easily in Henry’s
time); it mattered not. ‘I had rather suffer extreme punishment,’
he said, ‘than be a traitor unto the truth.’[#]

.sn Latimer’s Letter To Henry.
Latimer reflected that the ecclesiastical law, which for
// File: 077.png
.pn +1
ages had been the very essence of religion, must give way
to evangelical faith—that the form must yield to the life.
The members of the Church (calling themselves regenerate
by baptism) used to attend catechism, be confirmed, join in
worship, and take part in the communion without any real
individual transformation; and then finally rest all together
in the churchyard. But the Church, in Latimer’s opinion,
ought to begin with the conversion of its members. Lively
stones are needed to build up the temple of God. Christian
individualism, which Rome opposed from her theocratic
point of view, was about to be revived in Christian society.

The noble Latimer formed the resolution to make the
king understand that all real reformation must begin at
home. This was no trifling matter. Henry, who was a
man of varied information and lively understanding, but was
also imperious, passionate, fiery, and obstinate, knew no
other rule than the promptings of his strong nature; and
although quite prepared to separate from the pope, he detested
all innovations in doctrine. Latimer did not allow
himself to be stopped by such obstacles, and resolved to
attack this difficult position openly.

‘Your Grace,’ he wrote to Henry, ‘I must show forth
such things as I have learned in Scripture, or else deny
Jesus Christ. The which denying ought more to be dreaded
than the loss of all temporal goods, honor, promotion, fame,
prison, slander, hurts, banishment, and all manner of torments
and cruelties, yea, and death itself, be it never so
shameful and painful.[#]... There is as great distance
between you and me as between God and man; for you
are here to me and to all your subjects in God’s stead; and
so I should quake to speak to your Grace. But as you are
a mortal man having in you the corrupt nature of Adam, so
you have no less need of the merits of Christ’s passion for
your salvation than I and others of your subjects have.’

Latimer feared to see a Church founded under Henry’s
patronage, which would seek after riches, power, and pomp;
// File: 078.png
.pn +1
and he was not mistaken. ‘Our Saviour’s life was very
poor. In how vile and abject a place was the mother of
Jesus Christ brought to bed! And according to this beginning
was the process and end of his life in this world....
But this he did to show us that his followers and vicars
should not regard the treasures of this world.... Your
Grace may see what means and craft the spirituality imagine
to break and withstand the acts which were made in the
last parliament against their superfluities.’

Latimer desired to make the king understand who were
the true Christians. ‘Our Saviour showed his disciples,’
continued he, ‘that they should be brought before kings.
Wherefore take this for a sure conclusion, that where the
Word of God is truly preached there is persecution, and
where quietness and rest in worldly pleasure, there is not
the truth.’

Latimer next proceeded to declare what would give real
riches to England. ‘Your Grace promised by your last
proclamation that we should have the Scripture in English.
Let not the wickedness of worldly men divert you from
your goodly purpose and promise. There are prelates who,
under pretence of insurrection and heresy, hinder the Gospel
of Christ from having free course.... They would
send a thousand men to hell ere they send one to God.’[#]

Latimer had reserved for the last the appeal he had determined
to make to his master’s conscience: ‘I pray to
God that your Grace may do what God commandeth, and
not what seemeth good in your own sight; that you may be
found one of the members of his Church and a faithful minister
of his gifts, and not,’ he added, showing contempt for
a title of which Henry was very proud, ‘and not a defender
of his faith; for he will not have it defended by
man’s power, but by his word only.

‘Wherefore, gracious king, remember yourself. Have
pity on your soul, and think that the day is even at hand
when you shall give account of your office and of the
// File: 079.png
.pn +1
blood that hath been shed with your sword. In the which
day that your Grace may stand steadfastly and not be
ashamed, but be clear and ready in your reckoning, and to
have (as they say) your <i>quietus est</i> sealed with the blood
of our Saviour Christ, which only serveth at that day, is
my daily prayer to Him that suffered death for our sins
which also prayeth to His Father for grace for us continually.’[#]

Thus wrote the bold chaplain. Such a letter from Latimer
to Henry <abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr> deserved to be pointed out. The king
does not appear to have been offended at it. He was an
absolute prince, but there was occasionally some generosity
in his character. He therefore continued to extend his
kindness to Latimer, but did not answer his appeal.

.sn Latimer’s Preaching.
Latimer preached frequently before the court and in the
city. Many noble lords and old families still clung to the
prejudices of the middle ages; but some had a certain liking
for the Reformation, and listened to the chaplain’s preaching,
which was so superior to ordinary sermons. His art
of oratory was summed up in one precept: ‘Christ is the
preacher of all preachers.’[#] ‘Christ,’ he exclaimed,
‘took upon him our sins: not the work of sin—not to do
it—not to commit it, but to purge it; and that way he
was the great sinner of the world.[#]... It is much like
as if I owed another man 20,000<i>l.</i>, and must pay it out of
hand, or else go to the dungeon of Ludgate; and, when I
am going to prison, one of my friends should come and ask,
“Whither goeth this man: I will answer for him; I will
pay all for him.” Such a part played our Saviour Christ
with us.’

Preaching before a king, he declared that the authority
of Holy Scripture was above all the powers of the earth.
‘God,’ he said, ‘is great, eternal, almighty, everlasting;
and the Scripture, because of him, is also great, eternal,
most mighty, and holy.... There is no king, emperor,
// File: 080.png
.pn +1
magistrate, or ruler but is bound to give credence unto this
holy word.’[#] He was cautious not to put the ‘two
swords’ into the same hand. ‘In this world God hath two
Swords,’ he said; ‘the temporal sword resteth in the hands
of kings, whereunto all subjects—as well the clergy as the
laity—be subject. The spiritual sword is in the hands of
the ministers and preachers of God’s Word to correct and
reprove. Make not a mingle-mangle of them. To God
give thy soul, thy faith; ... to the king, tribute
and reverence.[#] Therefore let the preacher amend with
spiritual sword, fearing no man, though death should ensue.’[#]
Such language astonished the court. ‘Were you
at the sermon to day?’ said one of his hearers to a zealous
courtier one day. ‘Yes,’ replied the latter. ‘And how
did you like the new chaplain?’ ‘Marry, even as I liked
him always—a seditious fellow.’[#]

.sn Latimer’s Boldness.
Latimer did not permit himself to be intimidated. Firm
in doctrine, he was at the same time eminently practical.
He was a moralist; and this may explain how he was able
to remain any time at court. Men of the world, who soon
grow impatient when you preach to them of the cross, repentance,
and change of heart, cannot help approving of
those who insist on certain rules of conduct. The king
found it convenient to keep a great number of horses in
abbeys founded for the support of the poor. One day when
Latimer was preaching before him, he said,—‘A prince
ought not to prefer his horses above poor men. Abbeys
were ordained for the comfort of the poor, and not for kings’
horses to be kept in them.’[#]

There was a dead silence in the congregation—no one
dared turn his eyes towards Henry—and many showed
symptoms of anger. The chaplain had hardly left the
pulpit, when a gentleman of the court, the lord-chamberlain
apparently, went up to him and asked, ‘What hast thou to
// File: 081.png
.pn +1
do with the king’s horses? They are the maintenances and
part of a king’s honor, and also of his realm; wherefore, in
speaking against them, ye are against the king’s honor.’
‘To take away the right of the poor,’ answered Latimer,
‘is against the honor of the king.’ He then added, ‘My
lord, God is the grand-master of the king’s house, and will
take account of every one that beareth rule therein.’[#]

Thus the Reformation undertook to re-establish the rule
of conscience even in the courts of princes. Latimer knowing,
like Calvin, that ‘the ears of the princes of this world
are accustomed to be pampered and flattered,’ armed himself
with invincible courage.

The murmurs grew louder. While the old chaplains let
things take their course, the other wanted to restore morality
among Christians. The Reformer was alive to the accusations
brought against him, for his was not a heart of
steel. Reproaches and calumnies appeared to him sometimes
like those impetuous winds which force the husbandman
to fly hurriedly for shelter to some covered place.
‘O Lord!’ he exclaimed in his closet, ‘these people
pinch me; nay, they have a full bite at me.’[#] He would
have desired to flee away to the wilderness, but he called to
mind what had been done to his Master; ‘I comfort myself,’
he said, ‘that Christ Himself was noted to be a stirrer
up of the people against the emperor.’

The priests, delighted that Latimer censured the king,
resolved to take advantage of it to ruin him. One day,
when there was a grand reception, and the king was surrounded
by his councillors and courtiers, a monk slipped
into the midst of the crowd, and, falling on his knees before
the monarch, said, ‘Sire, your new chaplain preaches sedition.’
Henry turned to Latimer: ‘What say you to that,
sir?’ The chaplain bent his knee before the prince; and,
turning to his accusers, said to them, ‘Would you have me
preach nothing concerning a king in the king’s sermon?’
His friends trembled lest he should be arrested. ‘Your
// File: 082.png
.pn +1
Grace,’ he continued, ‘I put myself in your hands: appoint
other doctors to preach in my place before your Majesty.
There are many more worthy of the room than I am. If it
be your Grace’s pleasure, I could be content to be their
servant, and bear their books after them.[#] But if your
Grace allow me for a preacher, I would desire you give me
leave to discharge my conscience. Permit me to frame my
teaching for my audience.’

Henry, who always liked Latimer, took his part, and the
chaplain retired with a low bow. When he left the audience,
his friends, who had watched this scene with the keenest
emotion, surrounded him, saying, with tears in their
eyes,[#] ‘We were convinced that you would sleep to-night in
the Tower.’ ‘<i>The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord</i>,’
he answered, calmly.

The evangelical Reformers of England nobly maintained
their independence in the presence of a catholic and despotic
king. Firmly convinced, free, strong men, they
yielded neither to the seductions of the court nor to those
of Rome. We shall see still more striking examples of
their decision, bequeathed by them to their successors.

.fn #
‘I marked them earnestly in the inward parts of mine heart.’—Latimer,
<i>Remains</i>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 298.
.fn-
.fn #
Latimer, <i>Remains</i>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 208.
.fn-
.fn #
Latimer, <i>Works</i>, <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 298 (Parker Soc.).
.fn-
.fn #
Latimer, <i>Works</i>, <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 306 (Parker Soc.).
.fn-
.fn #
Latimer, <i>Works</i>, <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 309 (Parker Soc.).
.fn-
.fn #
Ibid. <abbr rend=arabic>i.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 155.
.fn-
.fn #
Ibid. <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 223.
.fn-
.fn #
Latimer, <i>Works</i>, <abbr rend=arabic>i.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 85 (Parker Soc.).
.fn-
.fn #
Ibid. <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 295.
.fn-
.fn #
Ibid. <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 86.
.fn-
.fn #
Ibid. <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 134.
.fn-
.fn #
Ibid. <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 93.
.fn-
.fn #
Latimer, <i>Works</i>, <abbr rend=arabic>i.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 93.
.fn-
.fn #
Ibid. <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 134.
.fn-
.fn #
Ibid. The preacher, when he left the vestry, was followed to the pulpit
by an attendant carrying his books.
.fn-
.fn #
Latimer, <i>Works</i>, <abbr rend=arabic>i.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 135.
.fn-
.sp 4
.h2 id=chap6-08
CHAPTER VIII. | THE KING SEEKS AFTER TYNDALE. | (<sc>January to May 1531.</sc>)
.sp 2
.sn The Oak And The Ivy.
Henry <abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr>, finding that he wanted men like Latimer
to resist the pope, sought to win over others of the same
// File: 083.png
.pn +1
stamp. He found one, whose lofty range he understood
immediately. Thomas Cromwell had laid before him a
book, then very eagerly read all over England, namely, the
<i>Practice of Prelates</i>. It was found in the houses not only
of the citizens of London, but of the farmers of Essex, Suffolk,
and other counties. The king read it quite as eagerly
as his subjects. Nothing interested him like the history of
the slow but formidable progress of the priesthood and prelacy.
One parable in particular struck him, in which the
oak represented royalty, and the ivy the papacy. ‘First,
the ivy springeth out of the earth, and then awhile creepeth
along by the ground till it find a great tree. There it joineth
itself beneath alow unto the body of the tree, and creepeth
up a little and a little, fair and softly. And at the
beginning, while it is yet thin and small, that the burden is
not perceived, it seemeth glorious to garnish the tree in the
winter, and to bear off the tempests of the weather. But in
the mean season it thrusteth roots into the bark of the tree
to hold fast withal; and ceaseth not to climb up till it be at
the top and above all. And then it sendeth its branches
along by the branches of the tree, and overgroweth all, and
waxeth great, heavy, and thick; and sucketh the moisture
so sore out of the tree and its branches, that it choketh and
stifleth them. And then the foul stinking ivy waxeth
mighty in the stump of the tree, and becometh a seat and a
nest for all unclean birds and for blind owls, which hawk in
the dark and dare not come at the light. Even so the
Bishop of Rome at the beginning crope along upon the
earth.... He crept up and fastened his roots in the heart
of the emperor, and by subtilty clamb above the emperor,
and subdued him, and made him stoop unto his feet and
kiss them another while. Yea, when he had put the crown
on the emperor’s head, he smote it off with his feet again.’[#]

Henry would willingly have clapped his hand on his
// File: 084.png
.pn +1
sword to demand satisfaction of the pope for this outrage.
The book was by Tyndale. Laying it down, the king reflected
on what he had just read, and thought to himself
that the author had some striking ideas ‘on the accursed
power of the pope,’ and that he was besides gifted with talent
and zeal, and might render excellent service towards abolishing
the papacy in England.

Tyndale, from the time of his conversion at Oxford, set
Christ above everything. He boldly threw off the yoke of
human traditions, and would take no other guide but Scripture
only. Full of imagination and eloquence, active and
ready to endure fatigue, he exposed himself to every danger
in the fulfilment of his mission.[#] Henry ordered Stephen
Vaughan, one of his agents, then at Antwerp, to try
and find the Reformer in Brabant, Flanders, on the banks
of the Rhine, in Holland, ... wherever he might
chance to be; to offer him a safe-conduct under the sign-manual,
to prevail on him to return to England, and to add
the most gracious promises in behalf of his Majesty.[#]

To gain over Tyndale seemed even more important than
to have gained Latimer. Vaughan immediately undertook
to seek him in Antwerp, where he was said to be, but could
not find him. ‘He is at Marburg,’ said one; ‘at Frankfort,’
said another; ‘at Hamburg,’ declared a third. Tyndale
was invisible now as before. To make more certain,
Vaughan determined to write three letters directed to
those three places, conjuring him to return to England.[#] ‘I
have great hopes,’ said the English agent to his friends, ‘of
having done something that will please his Majesty.’ Tyndale,
the most scriptural of English reformers, the most inflexible
in his faith, laboring at the Reformation with the
cordial approbation of the monarch, would truly have been
something extraordinary.
// File: 085.png
.pn +1

Scarcely had the three letters been despatched when
Vaughan heard of the ignominious chastisement inflicted by
Sir Thomas More on Tyndale’s brother.[#] Was it by such
indignities that Henry expected to attract the Reformer?
Vaughan, much annoyed, wrote to the king (<abbr='twenty-sixth'>26th</abbr> January,
1531) that this event would make Tyndale think they
wanted to entrap him, and he gave up looking after him.

.sn Vaughan Meets Tyndale.
Three months later (<abbr=seventeenth>17th</abbr> April), as Vaughan was busy
copying one of Tyndale’s manuscripts in order to send it to
Henry (it was his answer to the <i>Dialogue</i> of Sir Thomas
More), a man knocked at his door. ‘Some one, who calls
himself a friend of yours, desires very much to speak with
you,’ said the stranger, ‘and begs you to follow me.’—‘Who
is this friend? Where is he?’ asked Vaughan.—‘I
do not know him,’ replied the messenger; ‘but come
along, and you will see for yourself.’ Vaughan doubted
whether it was prudent to follow this person to a strange
place. He made up his mind, however, to accompany him.
The agent of Henry <abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr> and the messenger threaded the
streets of Antwerp, went out of the city, and at last reached
a lonely field, by the side of which the Scheldt flowed
sluggishly through the level country.[#] As he advanced,
Vaughan saw a man of noble bearing, who appeared to be
about fifty years of age. ‘Do you not recognize me?’ he
asked Vaughan. ‘I cannot call to mind your features,’
answered the latter. ‘My name is Tyndale,’ said the
stranger.  ‘Tyndale!’ exclaimed Vaughan, with delight.
‘Tyndale! what a happy meeting!’

Tyndale, who had heard of Henry’s new plans, had no confidence
either in the prince or in his pretended Reformation.
The king’s endless negotiations with the pope, his worldliness,
his amours, his persecution of evangelical Christians,
and especially the ignominious punishment inflicted on John
// File: 086.png
.pn +1
Tyndale: all these matters disgusted him. However, having
been informed of the nature of Vaughan’s mission, he
desired to turn it to advantage by addressing a few warnings
to the prince. ‘I have written certain books,’ he said, ‘to
warn your Majesty of the subtle demeanor of the clergy of
your realm towards your person, in which doing I showed the
heart of a true subject; to the intent that your Grace might
prepare your remedies against their subtle dreams. An exile
from my native country, I suffer hunger, thirst, cold, absence
of friends, everywhere encompassed with great danger, in
innumerable hard and sharp fightings, I do not feel their
asperity, by reason that I hope with my labors to do honor
to God, true service to my prince, and pleasure to his commons.’[#]

‘Cheer up,’ said Vaughan, ‘your exile, poverty, fightings,
all are at an end; you can return to England.’...
‘What matters it,’ said Tyndale, ‘if my exile finishes, so
long as the Bible is banished? Has the king forgotten that
God has commanded His Word to be spread throughout
the world? If it continues to be forbidden to his subjects,
very death were more pleasant to me than life.’[#]

Vaughan did not consider himself worsted. The messenger,
who remained at a distance, and could hear nothing,
was astonished at seeing the two men in that solitary field
conversing together so long and with so much animation.
‘Tell me what guarantees you desire,’ said Vaughan: ‘the
king will grant them you.’ ‘Of course the king would give
me a safe-conduct,’ answered Tyndale; ‘but the clergy
would persuade him that promises made to heretics are not
binding.’ Night was coming on. Henry’s agent might have
had Tyndale followed and seized.[#] The idea occurred to
Vaughan, but he rejected it. Tyndale began, however, to
feel himself ill at ease.[#] ‘Farewell,’ he said; ‘you shall
// File: 087.png
.pn +1
see me again before long, or hear news of me.’ He then
departed, walking away from Antwerp. Vaughan, who
re-entered the city, was surprised to see Tyndale make for
the open country. He supposed it to be a stratagem, and
once more doubted whether he ought not to have seized the
Reformer to please his master. ‘I might have failed of my
purpose,’ he said.[#] Besides it was now too late, for Tyndale
had disappeared.

.sn The King On Tyndale’s Treatise.
As soon as Vaughan reached home, he hastened to send
to London an account of this singular conference. Cromwell
immediately proceeded to court, and laid before the
king the envoy’s letter and the Reformer’s book. ‘Good!’
said Henry; ‘as soon as I have leisure, I will read them
both.’[#] He did so, and was exasperated against Tyndale,
who refused his invitation, mistrusted his word, and even
dared to give him advice. The king in his passion tore off
the latter part of Vaughan’s letter, flung it in the fire, and
entirely gave up his idea of bringing the Reformer into
England to make use of him against the pope, fearing that
such a torch would set the whole kingdom in a blaze. He
thought only how he could seize him and punish him for his
arrogance.

He sent for Cromwell. Before him on the table lay the
treatise by Tyndale, which Vaughan had copied and sent.
‘These pages,’ said Henry to his minister, while pointing to
the manuscript, ‘These pages are the work of a visionary:
they are full of lies, sedition, and calumny. Vaughan shows
too much affection for Tyndale.[#] Let him beware of inviting
him to come into the kingdom. He is a perverse and
hardened character, who cannot be changed. I am too
happy that he is out of England.’

Cromwell retired in vexation. He wrote to Vaughan;
// File: 088.png
.pn +1
but the king found the letter too weak, and Cromwell had
to correct it to make it harmonize with the wrath of the
prince.[#] An ambitious man, he bent before the obstinate
will of his master; but the loss of Tyndale seemed irreparable.
Accordingly, while informing Vaughan of the king’s
anger, he added that, if wholesome reflection should bring
Tyndale to reason, the king was ‘<i>so inclined to mercy, pity,
and compassion</i>’[#] that he would doubtless see him with
pleasure. Vaughan, whose heart Tyndale had gained, began
to hunt after him again, and had a second interview with
him. He gave him Cromwell’s letter to read, and, when
the Reformer came to the words we have just quoted about
Henry’s compassion, his eyes filled with tears.[#] ‘What
gracious words!’ he exclaimed. ‘Yes,’ said Vaughan;
‘they have such sweetness that they would break the hardest
heart in the world.’ Tyndale, deeply moved, tried to
find some mode of fulfilling his duty towards God and
towards the king. ‘If his Majesty,’ he said, ‘would condescend
to permit the Holy Scriptures to circulate among the
people in all their purity, as they do in the states of the
emperor and in other Christian countries, I would bind myself
never to write again. I would throw myself at his feet,
offering my body as a sacrifice, ready to submit, if necessary,
to torture and death.’

But a gulf lay between the monarch and the Reformer.
Henry <abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr> saw the seeds of heresy in the Scriptures,
and Tyndale rejected every reformation which they wished
to carry out by proscribing the Bible. ‘Heresy springeth
not from the Scriptures,’ he said, ‘no more than darkness
from the sun.’[#] Tyndale disappeared again, and the name
of his hiding-place is unknown.
// File: 089.png
.pn +1

.sn Henry Fails To Gain Tynsdale.
The King of England was not discouraged by the check
he had received. He wanted men possessed of talent and
zeal—men resolved to attack the pope. Cambridge had
given England a teacher who might be placed beside, and
perhaps even above, Latimer and Tyndale. This was
John Fryth. He thirsted for the truth; he sought God,
and was determined to give himself wholly to Jesus Christ.
One day Cromwell said to the king, ‘What a pity it is,
your Highness, that a man so distinguished as Fryth in
letters and sciences should be among the sectarians!’ Like
Tyndale, he had quitted England. Cromwell, with Henry’s
consent, wrote to Vaughan: ‘His Majesty strongly desires
the reconciliation of Fryth, who (he firmly believes) is not
so far advanced as Tyndale in the evil way. Always full
of mercy, the king is ready to receive him to favor. Try to
attract him charitably, politically.’ Vaughan immediately
began his inquiries,—it was May, 1531,—but the first
news he received was that Fryth, a minister of the Gospel,
was just married in Holland. ‘This marriage,’ he wrote to
the king, ‘may by chance hinder my persuasion.’[#] This
was not all: Fryth was boldly printing, at Amsterdam,
Tyndale’s answer to Sir Thomas More. Henry was forced
to give him up, as he had given up his friend. He succeeded
with none but Latimer, and even the chaplain told
him many harsh truths. There was a decided incompatibility
between the spiritual reform and the political reform.
The work of God refused to ally itself with the work of the
throne. The Christian faith and the visible Church are two
distinct things. Some (and among them the Reformers)
require Christianity—a living Christianity; others (and
it was the case of Henry and his prelates) look for the
Church and its hierarchy, and care little whether a living
faith be found there or not. This is a capital error. Real
religion must exist first; and then this religion must produce
a true religious society. Tyndale, Fryth, and their
friends desired to begin with religion; Henry and his followers
// File: 090.png
.pn +1
with an ecclesiastical society hostile to faith. The
king and the reformers could not, therefore, come to an
understanding. Henry, profoundly hurt by the boldness of
those evangelical men, swore that, as they would not have
peace, they should have war, ... war to the knife.

.fn #
<lang=la>‘Dominus autem papa statim percussit cum pede suo coronam imperatoris
et dejecit eam in terram.’</lang>—Tyndale, <i>Practice of Prelates</i>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 170
(Parker Soc.).
.fn-
.fn #
<i>History of the Reformation of the Sixteenth Century</i>, <abbr=volume>vol.</abbr> <abbr=five>v.</abbr>
.fn-
.fn #
‘Upon the promise of your Majesty, be content to repair into England.’—Vaughan
to Henry <abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr> Cotton <abbr=manuscript>MSS.</abbr> Galba, <abbr=book>bk.</abbr> <abbr=ten>x.</abbr> <abbr=folio>fol.</abbr> 42.
<i>Bible Ann.</i> <abbr rend=arabic>i.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 270.
.fn-
.fn #
‘Whatsoever surety he could reasonably desire.’—Vaughan to Cromwell,
ibid. <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 270.
.fn-
.fn #
<i>History of the Reformation of the Sixteenth Century</i>, <abbr=tome>tom.</abbr> <abbr=five>v.</abbr> book <abbr=twenty>xx.</abbr>
<abbr=chapter>ch.</abbr> 15.
.fn-
.fn #
‘He brought me without the gates ... into a field.’—Anderson,
<i>Annals of the English Bible</i>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 272.
.fn-
.fn #
Anderson (Chr.), <i>Annals of the English Bible</i>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 152.
.fn-
.fn #
Ibid.
.fn-
.fn #
‘Lest I would have persued him.’—Anderson, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 152.
.fn-
.fn #
‘Being something fearful.’—<i>Ibid.</i>
.fn-
.fn #
Cotton <abbr=manuscript>MSS.</abbr> Titus, <abbr=book>bk.</abbr> <abbr rend=arabic>i.</abbr> <abbr=folio>fol.</abbr> 6, 7. Anderson, <i>Annals</i>, <abbr rend=arabic>i.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 273.
.fn-
.fn #
‘At opportune leasure his Highness would read the content.’—Ibid
p. 275.
.fn-
.fn #
‘Ye bear much affection toward the said Tyndale.’—Cotton <abbr=manuscript>MSS.</abbr>
Galba, <abbr=book>bk.</abbr> <abbr=ten>x.</abbr> <abbr=folio>fol.</abbr> 388. Anderson, <i>Annals</i>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 275.
.fn-
.fn #
The corrections are still to be seen in the original draft, and are indicated
in the biographical notice of Tyndale at the beginning of his
<i>Practices</i> (Parker Society), <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 46, 47.
.fn-
.fn #
<i>State Papers</i>, <abbr=seven>vii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 303.
.fn-
.fn #
‘In such wise that water stoode in his eyes.’—<i>State Papers</i>, <abbr=seven>vii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr>
303.
.fn-
.fn #
Tyndale, <i>Exposition</i>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 141.
.fn-
.fn #
<i>State Papers</i>, <abbr=seven>vii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 302.
.fn-
.sp 4
.h2 id=chap6-09
CHAPTER IX. | THE KING OF ENGLAND RECOGNIZED AS HEAD OF THE CHURCH. | (<sc>January to March 1531.</sc>)
.sp 2
Henry <abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr> desired to introduce great changes into the
ecclesiastical corporation of his kingdom. His royal power
had much to bear from the power of the clergy. It was the
same in all Catholic monarchies; but England had more to
complain of than others. Of the three estates, Clergy, Nobility,
and Commons, the first was the most powerful. The
nobility had been weakened by the civil wars; the commons
had long been without authority and energy; the prelates
thus occupied the first rank, so that in 1529 an archbishop
and cardinal (Wolsey) was the most powerful man in England,
not even the king excepted. Henry had felt the yoke,
and wished to free himself, not only from the domination of
the pope, but also from the influence of the higher clergy.
If he had only intended to be avenged of the pontiff, it
would have been enough to allow the Reformation to act;
when a mighty wind blows from heaven, it sweeps away all
the contrivances of men. But Henry was deficient neither
in prudence nor calculation. He feared lest a diversity of
doctrine should engender disturbances in his kingdom. He
wished to free himself from the pope and the prelates, without
// File: 091.png
.pn +1
throwing himself into the arms of Tyndale or of Latimer.

.sn Papal Rule Hurtful To The State.
Kings and people had observed that the domination of
the papacy, and its authority over the clergy, were an insurmountable
obstacle to the autonomy of the State. As
far back as 1268, <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Louis had declared that France owed
allegiance to God alone; and other princes had followed his
example. Henry <abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr> determined to do more—to break
the chains which bound the clergy to the Romish throne,
and fasten them to the crown. The power of England, delivered
from the papacy, which had been its cankerworm,
would then be developed with freedom and energy, and
would place the country in the foremost rank among nations.
The renovating spirit of the age was favorable to Henry’s
plans; without delay he must put into execution the bold
plan which Cromwell had unrolled before his eyes in Whitehall
Park. Henry could think of nothing but getting himself
recognized as head of the Church.

This important revolution could not be accomplished by a
simple act of royal authority—in England particularly, where
constitutional principles already possessed an incontestable
influence. It was necessary to prevail upon the clergy to
cross the Rubicon by emancipating themselves from Rome.
But how bring it about? This was the subject of the meditations
of the sagacious Cromwell, who, gradually rising in
the king’s confidence to the place formerly held by Wolsey,
made a different use of it. Urged by ambition, possessing
an energetic character, a sound judgment, unshaken firmness,
no obstacle could arrest his activity. He sought how he
could give the king the spiritual sceptre, and this was the
plan on which he fixed. The kings of England had been
known occasionally to revive old laws fallen into desuetude,
and visit with heavy penalties those who had violated them.
Cromwell represented to the king that the statutes made
punishable any man who should recognize a dignity established
by the pope in the English Church; that Wolsey, by
exercising the functions of papal legate, had encroached
// File: 092.png
.pn +1
upon the rights of the Crown and been condemned, which
was but justice; while the members of the clergy—who
had recognized the unlawful jurisdiction of the pretended
legate—had thereby become as guilty as he had been. ‘The
statute of <i>Præmunire</i>,’ he said, ‘condemns them as well as
their chief.’ Henry, who listened attentively, found the
expedient of his Secretary of State was in conformity with
the letter of the law, and that it put all the clergy in his
power. He did not hesitate to give full power to his ministers.
Under such a state of things there was not one
innocent person in England; the two houses of parliament,
the privy council, all the nation must be brought to the bar.
Henry, full of ‘condescension,’ was pleased to confine himself
to the clergy.

.sn Embarrassment Of The Clergy.
The convocation of the province of Canterbury having
met on the <abbr=seventh>7th</abbr> of January, 1531, Cromwell entered the hall,
and quietly took his seat among the bishops; then rising,
he informed them that their property and benefices were to
be confiscated for the good of his Majesty, because they had
submitted to the unconstitutional power of the cardinal.
What terrible news! It was a thunderbolt to those selfish
prelates; they were amazed. At length some of them
plucked up a little courage. ‘The king himself had sanctioned
the authority of the cardinal-legate,’ they said. ‘We
merely obeyed his supreme will. Our resistance to his
Majesty’s proclamations would infallibly have ruined us.’—‘That
is of no consequence,’ was the reply; ‘there was the
law: you should obey the constitution of the country even
at the peril of your lives.’[#] The terrified bishops laid at
the foot of the throne a magnificent sum, by which they
hoped to redeem their offences and their benefices. But
that was not what Henry desired: he pretended to set little
store by their money. The threat of confiscation must constrain
them to pay a ransom of still greater value. ‘My
lords,’ said Cromwell, ‘in a petition that some of you presented
// File: 093.png
.pn +1
to the pope not long ago, you called the king your
<i>soul</i> and your <i>head</i>.[#] Come, then, expressly recognize the
supremacy of the king over the Church,[#] and his majesty,
of his great goodness, will grant you your pardon.’ What a
demand! The distracted clergy assembled, and a deliberation
of extreme importance began. ‘The words in the address
to the pope,’ said some, ‘were a mere form, and had
not the meaning ascribed to them.’—‘The king being
unable to untie the Gordian knot at Rome,’ said others,
alluding to the divorce, ‘intends to cut it with his sword.’[#]—‘The
secular power,’ exclaimed the most zealous, ‘has no
voice in ecclesiastical matters. To recognize the king as
head of the Church would be to overthrow the catholic faith....
The head of the Church is the pope.’ The debate
lasted three days, and, as Henry’s ministers pointed to the
theocratic government of Israel, a priest exclaimed, ‘We
oppose the New Testament to the Old; according to the
gospel, Christ is head of the Church.’ When this was
told the king, he said, ‘Very well, I consent. If you declare
me <i>head of the Church</i> you may add <i>under God</i>.’ In
this way the papal claims were compromised all the more.
‘We will expose ourselves to everything,’ they said, ‘rather
than dethrone the Roman pontiff.’

The Bishops of Lincoln and Exeter were deputed to
beseech the king to withdraw his demand: they could not
so much as obtain an audience. Henry had made up his
mind: the priests must yield. The only means of their
obtaining pardon (they were told) was by their renouncing
the papal supremacy. The bishops made a fresh attempt
to satisfy both the requirements of the king and those of
their own conscience. ‘Shrink before the clergy and they
are lions,’ the courtiers said; ‘withstand them and they are
sheep.’—‘Your fate is in your own hands. If you refuse
// File: 094.png
.pn +1
the king’s demand, the disgrace of Wolsey may show you
what you may expect.’ Archbishop Warham, president of
the Convocation, a prudent man, far advanced in years, and
near his end, tried to hit upon some compromise. The
great movements which agitated the Church all over Europe
disturbed him. He had in times past complained to the king
of Wolsey’s usurpations,[#] and was not far from recognizing
the royal supremacy. He proposed to insert a simple clause
in the act conferring the required jurisdiction on the king,
namely, <lang=la><i>Quantum per legem Christi licet</i></lang>, so far as the law of
Christ permits. ‘Mother of God!’ exclaimed the king,
who, like his royal brother Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr>, had a habit of saying
irreverent things, ‘you have played me a shrewd turn. I
thought to have made fools of those prelates, and now you
have so ordered the business that they are likely to make a
fool of me. Go to them again, and let me have the business
passed without any <i>quantums</i> or <i>tantums</i>.... So far
as the law of Christ permits! Such a reserve would make
one believe that my authority was disputable.’[#]

.sn The Clergy Submit.
Henry’s ministers ventured on this occasion to resist him:
they showed him that this clause would prevent an immediate
rupture with Rome, and it might be repealed hereafter.
He yielded at last, and the archbishop submitted the clause
with the amendment to convocation. It was a solemn moment
for England. The bishops were convinced that the
king was asking them to do what was wrong, the end of
which would be a rupture with Rome. In the time of Hildebrand
the prelates would have answered No, and found a
sympathetic support in the laity. But things had changed;
the people were beginning to be weary of the long domination
of the priests. The primate, desirous of ending the
matter, said to his colleagues: ‘Do you recognize the king
as sole protector of the Church and clergy of England, and,
so far as is allowed by the law of Christ, also as your supreme
head?’ All remained speechless. ‘Will you let me
// File: 095.png
.pn +1
know your opinions?’ resumed the archbishop. There was
a dead silence. ‘Whoever is silent seems to consent,’ said
the primate.—‘Then we are all silent,’ answered one of the
members.[#] Were these words inspired by courage or by
cowardice? Were they an assent or a protest? We cannot
say. In this matter we cannot side either with the king or
with the priests. The heart of man easily takes the part
of those who are oppressed; but here the oppressed were
also oppressors. Convocation next gave its support to the
opinion of the universities respecting the divorce, and thus
Henry gained his first victory.

Now that the king had the power, the clergy were permitted
to give him their money. They offered a hundred
thousand pounds sterling,—an enormous sum for those times,—nearly
equivalent to fifteen times as much of our money.
On the <abbr='twenty-second'>22d</abbr> of March, 1531, the courteous archbishop signed
the document which at one stroke deprived the clergy of
England of both riches and honor.[#]

The discussion was still more animated in the Convocation
of York. ‘If you proclaim the king supreme head,’ said
Bishop Tonstal, ‘it can only be in temporal matters.’—‘Indeed!’
retorted Henry’s minister, ‘is an act of convocation
necessary to determine that the king reigns?‘—‘If
spiritual things are meant,’ answered the bishop, ‘I withdraw
from convocation that I may not withdraw from the
Church.’[#]

‘My lords,’ said Henry, ‘no one disputes your right to
preach and administer the sacraments.[#] Did not Paul
submit to Cæsar’s tribunal, and our Saviour himself to Pilate’s?’
Henry’s ecclesiastical theories prevailed also at
// File: 096.png
.pn +1
York. A great revolution was effected in England, and
fresh compromises were to consolidate it.

The king, having obtained what he desired, condescended
in his great mercy to pardon the clergy for their unpardonable
offence of having recognized Wolsey as papal legate.
At the request of the commons this amnesty was extended
to all England. The nation, which at first saw nothing in
this affair but an act enfranchising themselves from the
usurped power of the popes, showed their gratitude to
Henry; but there was a reverse to the medal. If the pope
was despoiled, the king was invested. Was not the function
ascribed to him contrary to the Gospel? Would not this
act impress upon the Anglican Reformation a territorial and
aristocratic character, which would introduce into the Reformed
Church the world with all its splendor and wealth?
If the royal preëminence endows the Anglican Church with
the pomps of worship, of classical studies, of high dignities,
will it not also carry along with it luxury, sinecures, and
worldliness among the prelates? Shall we not see the royal
authority pronounce on questions of dogma, and declare the
most sacred doctrines indifferent? A little later an attempt
was made to limit the power of the king in religious matters.
‘We give not to our princes the ministry of God’s Word or
sacraments,’ says the thirty-seventh Article of Religion.

.fn #
‘They ought to take notice of the constitution at their peril.’—Collyers,
<abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 61. Burnet, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 108.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Regia majestas nostrum caput atque anima.’</lang>—Collyers, <i>Records</i>,
<abbr=page>p.</abbr> 8, 30 July, 1530.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Ecclesiæ protector et supremum caput.’</lang>—Collyers, <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 62.
.fn-
.fn #
‘Seeing this Gordian knot, to play the noble Alexander.’—Foxe,
<i>Acts</i>, <abbr=five>v.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 55.
.fn-
.fn #
Strype’s <i>Memorials</i>, <abbr rend=arabic>i.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 111.
.fn-
.fn #
Tytler, <i>Life of Henry <abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr></i>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 312.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Qui tacet consentire videtur. Itaque tacemus omnes.’</lang>—Collyers, <abbr=page>p.</abbr>
63.
.fn-
.fn #
The act is given in Wilkins, <i>Concilia</i>, <abbr=three>iii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 742, and Rymer, <i>Fœdera</i>,
<abbr=six>vi.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 163.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Ne ab ecclesia catholica dissentire videar, expresse dissentio.’</lang>—Wilkins,
<i>Concilia</i>, <abbr=three>iii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 745.
.fn-
.fn #
Collyers, <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 64.
.fn-
.sp 4
.h2 id=chap6-10
CHAPTER X. | SEPARATION OF THE KING AND QUEEN. | (<sc>March to June 1531.</sc>)
.sp 2
The king, having obtained so important a concession from
the clergy, turned to his parliament to ask a service of another
kind,—one in his eyes still more urgent.
// File: 097.png
.pn +1

On the <abbr=thirtieth>30th</abbr> of March, 1531, the session being about to
terminate, Sir Thomas More, the chancellor, went down to
the House of Commons, and submitted to them the decision
of the various universities on the king’s marriage and the
power of the pope. The Commons looked at the affair
essentially from a political point of view; they did not
understand that, because the king had lived twenty years
with the queen, he ought not to be separated from her.
The documents placed before their eyes ‘made them detest
the marriage’ of Henry and Catherine.[#] The chancellor desired
the members to report in their respective counties and
towns that the king had not asked for this divorce of his
own will or pleasure, but ‘only for the discharge of his
conscience and surety of the succession of his crown.’[#]
‘Enlighten the people,’ he said, ‘and preserve peace in the
nation, with the sentiments of loyalty due to the monarch.’

.sn Catherine’s Reply.
The king hastened to use the powers which universities,
clergy, and parliament had placed in his hands. Immediately
after the prorogation certain lords went down to
Greenwich and laid before the queen the decisions which
condemned her marriage, and urged her to accept the arbitration
of four bishops and four lay peers. Catherine replied,
sadly but firmly,—‘I pray you tell the king I say I
am his lawful wife, and in that point I will abide until the
court of Rome determine to the contrary.’[#]

The divorce which, notwithstanding Catherine’s refusal,
was approaching, caused great agitation among the people;
and the members of parliament had some trouble to preserve
order, as Sir Thomas More had desired them. Priests proclaimed
from their pulpits the downfall of the Church and
the coming of Antichrist; the mendicant friars scattered
discontent in every house which they entered, the most
fanatical of them not fearing to insinuate that the wrath of
God would soon hurl the impious prince from his throne.
In towns and villages, in castles and alehouses, men talked
// File: 098.png
.pn +1
of nothing but the divorce and the primacy claimed by the
king. Women standing at their doors, men gathering round
the blacksmith’s forge, spoke more or less disrespectfully of
parliament, the bishops, the dangers of the Romish Church,
and the prospects of the Reformation. If a few friends met
at night around the hearth, they told strange tales to one
another. The king, queen, pope, devil, saints, Cromwell,
and the higher clergy formed the subject of their conversation.
The gipsies at that time strolling through the country
added to the confusion. Sometimes they would appear in
the midst of these animated discussions, and prophesy lamentable
events, at times calling up the dead to make them
speak of the future. The terrible calamities they predicted
froze their hearers with affright, and their sinister prophecies
were the cause of disorders and even of crimes. Accordingly
an act was passed pronouncing the penalty of banishment
against them.[#]

An unfortunate event tended still more to strike men’s
imaginations. It was reported that the Bishop of Rochester,
that prelate so terrible to the reformers and so good to the
poor, had narrowly escaped being poisoned by his cook.
Seventeen persons were taken ill after eating porridge at
the episcopal palace. One of the bishop’s gentlemen died,
as well as a poor woman to whom the remains of the food
had been given. It was maliciously remarked that the
bishop was the only one who frankly opposed the divorce
and the royal supremacy. Calumny even aimed at the
throne. When Henry heard of this, he resolved to make
short work of all such nonsense; he ordered the offence to
be deemed as high-treason, and the wretched cook was taken
to Smithfield, there to be <i>boiled to death</i>.[#] This was a
variation of the penalty pronounced upon the evangelicals.
Such was the cruel justice of the sixteenth century.

.sn Reginald Pole.
While the universities, parliament, convocation, and the
// File: 099.png
.pn +1
nation appeared to support Henry <abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr>, one voice was
raised against the divorce. It was that of a young man
brought up by the king, and that voice moved him deeply.
There still remained in England some scions of the house
of York, and among them a nephew of that unhappy
Warwick whom Henry <abbr='the seventh'>VII.</abbr> had cruelly put to death.
Warwick had left a sister Margaret, and the king, desirous
of appeasing the remorse he suffered on account of the
tragical end of that prince, ‘the most innocent of men,’[#]
had married her to Sir Richard Pole, a gentleman of her
own family. She was left a widow with two daughters and
three sons. The youngest, Reginald, became a favorite
with Henry <abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr>, who destined him for the archiepiscopal
see of Canterbury. ‘Your kindnesses are such,’ said Pole
to him, ‘that a king could grant no more, even to a son.’[#]
But Reginald, to whom his mother had told the story of the
execution of the unhappy Warwick, had contracted an invincible
hatred against the Tudors. Accordingly, in despite
of certain evangelical tendencies, Pole, seeing Henry separating
from the pope, resolved to throw himself into the
arms of the pontiff. Reginald, invested with the Roman
purple, rose to be president of the council and primate of all
England under Queen Mary. Elegant in his manners, with
a fine intellect, and sincere in his religious convictions, he
was selfish, irritable, and ambitious. Desires of elevation
and revenge led a noble nature astray. If the branch of
which he was the representative was ever to recover the
crown, it could only be by the help of the Roman pontiffs.
Henceforward their cause was his. Loaded with benefits
by Henry <abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr>, he was incessantly pursued by the recollection
of the rights of Rome and of the White Rose; and
he went so far as to insult before all Europe the prince who
had been his first friend.

At this time Pole was living at a house in the country,
// File: 100.png
.pn +1
which Henry had given him. One day he received at this
charming retreat a communication from the Duke of Norfolk.
‘The king destines you for the highest honors of the English
Church,’ wrote this nobleman, ‘and offers you at once the
important sees of York and Winchester, left vacant by the
death of Cardinal Wolsey.’ At the same time the duke
asked Pole’s opinion about the divorce. Reginald’s brothers,
and particularly Lord Montague, entreated him to answer
as all the catholic world had answered, and not irritate a
prince whose anger would ruin them all. The blood of
Warwick and the king’s revolt against Rome induced Pole
to reject with horror all the honors which Henry offered;
and yet that prince was his benefactor. He fancied he had
discovered a middle course which would permit him to
satisfy alike his conscience and his king.

He went to Whitehall, where Henry received him like a
friend. Pole hesitated in distress; he wished to let the
king know his thoughts, but the words would not come to
his lips. At last, encouraged by the prince’s affability, he
summoned up his resolution, and, in a voice trembling with
emotion, said: ‘You must not separate from the queen.’
Henry had expected something different. Is it thus that
his kindnesses are repaid? His eyes flashed with anger,
and he laid his hand on his sword. Pole humbled himself.
‘If I possess any knowledge, to whom do I owe it unless to
your Majesty? In listening to me you are listening to your
own pupil.’[#] The king recovered himself, and said,—‘I
will consider your opinion, and send you my answer.’ Pole
withdrew. ‘He put me in such a passion,’ said the king to
one of his gentlemen, ‘that I nearly struck him....
But there is something in the man that wins my heart.’

Montague and Reginald’s other brother again conjured
him to accept the high position which the king reserved for
him; but his soul revolted at being subordinate to a Tudor.
He therefore wrote a memoir, which he presented to Henry,
and in which he entreated him to submit implicitly the divorce
// File: 101.png
.pn +1
question to the court of Rome. ‘How could I speak
against your marriage with the queen?’ he said. ‘Should
I not accuse your Majesty of having lived for more than
twenty years in an unlawful union?[#] By the divorce you
will array all the powers against you,—the pope, the emperor;
and as for the French ... we can never find
in our hearts to trust them. You are at this moment on the
verge of an abyss.... One step more, and all is over.[#]
There is only one way of safety left your Grace, and that is
submission to the pope.’ Henry was moved. The boldness
with which this young nobleman dared accuse him, irritated
his pride; still his friendship prevailed, and he forgave it.
Pole received the permission he had asked to leave England,
with the promise of the continued payment of his pension.

.sn Catherine Leaves Windsor.
Reginald Pole was, as it were, the last link that united
the royal pair. Thus far the king had continued to show
the queen every respect; their mutual affection seemed the
same, only they occupied separate rooms.[#] Henry now
decided to take an important step. On the <abbr=fourteenth>14th</abbr> of July a
new deputation entered the queen’s apartment, one of whom
informed her that as her marriage with Prince Arthur had
been duly consummated she could not be the wife of her
husband’s brother. Then after reproaching her with having,
contrary to the laws of England and the dignity of the
crown, cited his Majesty before the pope’s tribunal, he desired
her to choose for her residence either the castle of
Oking or of Estamsteed, or the monastery of Bisham.
Catherine remained calm, and replied,—‘Wheresoever I
retire, nothing can deprive me of the title which belongs to
me. I shall always be his Majesty’s wife.’[#] She left
Windsor the same day, and removed to the More, a splendid
mansion which Wolsey had surrounded with beautiful gardens;
// File: 102.png
.pn +1
then to Estamsteed, and finally to Ampthill. The
king never saw her again; but all the papists and discontented
rallied round her. She entered into correspondence
with the sovereigns of Europe, and became the centre of a
party opposed to the emancipation of England.

.fn #
Lord Herbert, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 353.
.fn-
.fn #
Hall, <i>Chron. of England</i>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 780.
.fn-
.fn #
Herbert, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 354.
.fn-
.fn #
Bill against conjuration, witchcraft, sorcerers, &c. Henry <abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr> cap.
<abbr=eight>viii.</abbr>
.fn-
.fn #
Burnet, <abbr rend=arabic>i.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 110.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Omnium innocentissimum.’</lang>—Pole, <lang=la><i>De Unitate</i></lang>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 57.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Ut nec rex pater principi filio majus dare possit.’</lang>—Pole, <lang=la><i>De Unitate</i></lang>,
<abbr=page>p.</abbr> 85.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Cum me audies, alumnum tuum audies.’</lang>—Pole, <lang=la><i>De Unitate</i></lang>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 3.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Infra etiam belluarum vitam.’</lang>—Ibid. <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 55.
.fn-
.fn #
‘The king standeth even upon the brink of the water; all his honor is
drowned.’—Ibid.
.fn-
.fn #
‘Had he not forborne to come to her bed.’—Lord Herbert, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 335.
.fn-
.fn #
‘To what place soever she removed, nothing could remove her from
being the king’s wife.’—Herbert, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 354.
.fn-
.sp 4
.h2 id=chap6-11
CHAPTER XI. | THE BISHOPS PLUNDER THE CLERGY, AND PERSECUTE THE PROTESTANTS. | (<sc>September 1531 to 1532.</sc>)
.sp 2
As Henry, by breaking with Catherine, had broken with
the pope, he felt the necessity of uniting more closely with
his clergy. Wishing to proceed to the establishment of his
new dignity, he required bishops, and particularly dexterous
bishops. He therefore made Edward Lee, Archbishop of
York, and Stephen Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester; and
these two men, devoted to scholastic doctrines, ambitious and
servile, were commissioned to inaugurate the new ecclesiastical
monarchy of the King of England. Although the pope
had hastened to send off their bulls, they declared they held
their dignity ‘immediately and only’ of the king,[#] and began
without delay to organize a strange league. If the king
needed the bishops against the pope, the bishops needed the
king against the reformers. It was not long before this alliance
received the baptism of blood.

But before proceeding so far, the prelates deliberated
about the means of raising the 118,000<i>l.</i> they had bound
themselves to pay the king. Each wished to make his own
// File: 103.png
.pn +1
share as small as possible, and throw the largest part of the
burden upon his colleagues. The bishops determined to
place it in great measure on the shoulders of the parochial
clergy.

Stokesley, Bishop of London, began the battle. An able,
greedy, violent man, and jealous of his prerogatives, he
called a meeting of six or eight priests on whom he believed
he could depend, in order to draw up with their assistance
such resolutions as he could afterwards impose more easily
upon their brethren. These picked ecclesiastics were desired
to meet on the <abbr=first>1st</abbr> of September, 1531, in the chapter-house
of <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Paul’s.

The bishop’s plan had got wind, and excited general
indignation in the city. Was it just that the victims should
pay the fine? Some of the laity, delighted at seeing the
clergy quarrelling, sought to fan the flame instead of extinguishing
it.

.sn A Clerical Riot.
When the <abbr=first>1st</abbr> of September arrived the bishop entered
the chapter-house with his officers, where the conference
with the eight priests was to be held. Presently an unusual
noise was heard round <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Paul’s: not only the six or eight
priests, but six hundred, accompanied by a great number of
citizens and common people, made their appearance. The
crowd swayed to and fro before the cathedral gates, shouting
and clamoring to be admitted into the chapter-house on the
same footing as the select few. What was to be done?
The prelate’s councillors advised him to add a few of the
less violent priests to those he had already chosen. Stokesley
adopted their advice, hoping that the gates and bolts
would be strong enough to keep out the rest. Accordingly
he drew up a list of new members, and one of his officers,
going out to the angry crowd, read the names of those whom
the bishop had selected. The latter came forward, not without
trouble; but at the same time the excluded priests made
a vigorous attempt to enter. There was a fierce struggle of
men pushing and shouting, but the bishop’s officials having
passed in quickly, those who had been nominated hurriedly
// File: 104.png
.pn +1
closed the doors. So far the victory seemed to rest with
the bishop, and he was about to speak, when the uproar
became deafening. The priests outside, exasperated because
their financial matters were to be settled without them, protested
that they ought to hold their own purse-strings. Laying
hands on whatever they could find, and aided by the
laity, they began to batter the door of the chapter-house.
They succeeded: the door gave way, and all, priests and
citizens, rushed in together.[#] The bishop’s officials tried in
vain to stop them; they were roughly pushed aside.[#] Their
gowns were torn, their faces streamed with perspiration,
their features were disfigured, and some even were wounded.
The furious priests entered the room at last, storming and
shouting. It was more like a pack of hounds rushing on a
stag than the reverend clergy of the metropolis of England
appearing before their bishop. The prelate, who had tact,
showed no anger, but sought rather to calm the rioters.
‘My brethren,’ he said, ‘I marvel not a little why ye be so
heady. Ye know not what shall be said to you, therefore I
pray you hear me patiently. Ye all know that we be men
frail of condition, and by our lack of wisdom have misdemeaned
ourselves towards the king and fallen in a <i>præmunire</i>,
by reason whereof all our lands, goods, and chattels
were to him a forfeit, and our bodies ready to be imprisoned.
Yet his Grace of his great clemency is pleased to pardon us,
and to accept of a little instead of the whole of our benefices—about
one hundred thousand pounds, to be paid in five
years. I exhort you to bear your parts towards payment
of this sum granted.’[#]

This was just what the priests did not want. They
thought it strange to be asked for money for an offence they
had not committed. ‘My lord,’ answered one, ‘we have
// File: 105.png
.pn +1
never offended against the <i>præmumire</i>, we have never meddled
with cardinal’s faculties.[#] Let the bishops and abbots
pay; they committed the offence, and they have good
places.’—‘My lord,’ added another, ‘twenty nobles[#] a year
is but a bare living for a priest, and yet it is all we have.
Everything is now so dear that poverty compels us to say
No. Having no need of the king’s pardon we have no desire
to pay.’ These words were drowned in applause.
‘No,’ exclaimed the crowd, which was getting noisy again,
‘we will pay nothing.’ The bishop’s officers grew angry,
and came to high words; the priests returned abuse for
abuse; and the citizens, delighted to see their ‘masters’
quarrelling, fanned the strife. From words they soon came
to blows. The episcopal ushers, who tried to restore order,
were ‘buffeted and stricken,’ and even the bishop’s life was
in danger. At last the meeting broke up in great confusion.
Stokesley hastened to complain to the chancellor, Sir
Thomas More, who, being a great friend of the prelate’s, sent
fifteen priests and five laymen to prison. They deserved it,
no doubt; but the bishops, who, to spare their superfluity,
robbed poor curates of their necessaries, were more guilty
still.

.sn The Bishops And Priests.
Such was the unity that existed between the bishops and
the priests of England at the very time the Reformation
was appearing at the doors. The prelates understood the
danger to which they were exposed through that evangelical
doctrine, the source of light and life. They knew that all
their ecclesiastical pretensions would crumble away before
the breath of the divine Word. Accordingly, not content
with robbing of their little substance the poor pastors to
whom they should have been as fathers, they determined to
deprive those whom they called <i>heretics</i>, not only of their
money, but of their liberty and life. Would Henry permit
this?

The king did not wish to withdraw England from the
// File: 106.png
.pn +1
papal jurisdiction without the assent of the clergy. If he
did so of his own authority, the priests would rise against
him and compare him to Luther. There were at that time
three great parties in Christendom: the evangelical, the
catholic, and the popish. Henry purposed to overthrow
popery, but without going so far as evangelism: he desired
to remain in catholicism. One means occurred of satisfying
the clergy. Although they were fanatical partisans of the
Church, they had sacrificed the pope; they now imagined
that, by sacrificing a few heretics, they would atone for their
cowardly submission. In a later age Louis <abbr='the fourteenth'>XIV.</abbr> did the
same to make up for errors of another kind. The provincial
synod of Canterbury met and addressed the king: ‘Your
Highness one time defended the Church with your pen,
when you were only a member of it; now that you are its
supreme head, your Majesty should crush its enemies, and
so shall your merits exceed all praise.’[#]

In order to prove that he was not another Luther, Henry
<abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr> consented to hand over the disciples of that heretic to
the priests, and gave them authority to imprison and burn
them, provided they would aid the king to resume the power
usurped by the pope. The bishops immediately began to
hunt down the friends of the Gospel.

A will had given rise to much talk in the county of
Gloucester. William Tracy, a gentleman of irreproachable
conduct and ‘full of good works, equally generous to the
clergy and the laity,’[#] had died, praying God to save his
soul through the merits of Jesus Christ, but leaving no
money to the priests for masses. The primate of England
had his bones dug up and burnt. But this was not enough:
they must also burn the living.
// File: 107.png

.fn #
‘Immediately and only upon your grace.’—Juramentum. Rymer,
<i>Acta</i>, <abbr=six>vi.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 169.
.fn-
.fn #
‘The rest forced the door, rushed in, and the bishop’s servants were
beaten and ill-used.’—Burnet, <abbr rend=arabic>i.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 110.
.fn-
.fn #
‘They struck the bishop’s officers over the face.’—Hall, <i>Chronicles of
England</i>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 783.
.fn-
.fn #
Hall, <i>Chronicles</i>.
.fn-
.fn #
Ibid. <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 783.
.fn-
.fn #
The noble was worth six shillings and eightpence.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Tanta ejus Majestatis merita quod nullis laudibus æquari queant.’</lang>—<i>Concilia</i>,
M. Brit. <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 742.
.fn-
.fn #
Latimer, <i>Sermons</i>, <abbr rend=arabic>i.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 46 (Parker Soc.); Tyndale, <i>Op.</i> <abbr=three>iii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 231.
.fn-
.pn +1
.sp 4
.h2 id=chap6-12
CHAPTER XII. | THE MARTYRS. | (1531.)
.sp 2
.sn Proclamation Against Papal Bulls.
The first blows were aimed at the court-chaplain. The
bishops, finding it dangerous to have such a man near the
king, would have liked (Latimer tells us) to place him on
burning coals.[#] But Henry loved him, the blow failed, and
the priests had to turn to those who were not so well at
court. Thomas Bilney, whose conversion had begun the
Reformation in England,[#] had been compelled to do penance
at <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Paul’s Cross; but from that time he became the prey
of the direst terror. His backsliding had manifested the
weakness of his faith. Bilney possessed a sincere and lively
piety, but a judgment less sound than many of his friends.
He had not got rid of certain scruples which in Luther and
Calvin had yielded to the supreme authority of God’s Word.[#]
In his opinion none but priests consecrated by bishops had
the power to bind and loose.[#] This mixture of truth and
error had caused his fall. Such sincere but imperfectly
enlightened persons are always to be met with—persons
who, agitated by the scruples of their conscience, waver between
Rome and the Word of God.

At last faith gained the upper hand in Bilney. Leaving
his Cambridge friends, he had gone into the Eastern counties
to meet his martyrdom. One day, arriving at a hermitage
// File: 108.png
.pn +1
in the vicinity of Norwich, where a pious woman dwelt, his
words converted her to Christ.[#] He then began to preach
‘openly in the fields’ to great crowds. His voice was heard
in all the county. Weeping over his former fall, he said:
‘That doctrine which I once abjured is the truth. Let my
example be a lesson to all who hear me.’

Before long he turned his steps in the direction of London,
and, stopping at Ipswich, was not content to preach the
Gospel only, but violently attacked the errors of Rome before
an astonished audience.[#] Some monks had crept among
his hearers, and Bilney, perceiving them, called out: ‘<i>The
Lamb of God taketh away the sins of the world.</i> If the
Bishop of Rome dares say that the hood of <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Francis saves,
he blasphemes the blood of the Saviour.’ John Huggen,
one of the monks, immediately made a note of the words.
Bilney continued: ‘To invoke the saints and not Christ,
is to put the head under the feet and the feet above the
head.’[#] Richard Seman, the other brother, took down these
words. ‘Men will come after me,’ continued Bilney, ‘who
will teach the same faith, the true gospel of our Saviour,
and will disentangle you from the errors in which deceivers
have bound you so long.’ Brother Julius hastened to write
down the bold prediction.

Latimer, surrounded by the favors of the king and the
luxury of the great, watched his friend from afar. He
called to mind their walks in the fields round Cambridge,
their serious conversation as they climbed the hill afterwards
called after them the ‘heretic’s hill,’[#] and the visits they had
paid together to the poor and to the prisoners.[#] Latimer had
seen Bilney very recently at Cambridge in fear and anguish,
and had tried in vain to restore him to peace. ‘He now
// File: 109.png
.pn +1
rejoiced that God had endued him with such strength of
faith that he was ready to be burnt for Christ’s sake.’

.sn Bilney And Petit In Prison.
Bilney, drawing still nearer to London, arrived at Greenwich
about the middle of July. He procured some New
Testaments, and, hiding them carefully under his clothes,
called upon a humble Christian named Staple. Taking
them ‘out of his sleeves,’ he desired Staple to distribute
them among his friends. Then, as if impelled by a thirst
for martyrdom, he turned again towards Norwich, whose
bishop, Richard Nix, a blind octogenarian, was in the front
rank of the persecutors. Arriving at the solitary place
where the pious ‘anachoress’ lived, he left one of the precious
volumes with her. This visit cost Bilney his life. The poor
solitary read the New Testament, and lent it to the people
who came to see her. The bishop, hearing of it, informed
Sir Thomas More, who had Bilney arrested,[#] brought to
London, and shut up in the Tower.

Bilney began to breathe again: a load was taken off him;
he was about to suffer the penalty his fall deserved. In the
room next his was John Petit, a member of parliament of
some eloquence, who had distributed his books and his alms
in England and beyond the seas. Philips, the under-gaoler
of the Tower, who was a good man, told the two prisoners
that only a wooden partition separated them, which was a
source of great joy to both. He would often remove a panel,
and permit them to converse and take their frugal meals together.[#]

This happiness did not last long. Bilney’s trial was to
take place at Norwich, where he had been captured: the
aged Bishop Nix wanted to make an example in his diocese.
A crowd of monks—Augustins, Dominicans, Franciscans,
and Carmelites—visited the prison of the evangelist to
convert him. Dr. Gall, provincial of the Franciscans, having
consented that the prisoner should make use of Scripture,[#]
// File: 110.png
.pn +1
was shaken in his faith; but, on the other hand,
Stokes, an Augustin and a determined papist, repeated to
Bilney: ‘If you die in your opinions, you will be lost.’

The trial commenced, and the Ipswich monks gave their
evidence. ‘He said,’ deposed William Cade, ‘that the Jews
and Saracens would have been converted long since, if the
idolatry of the Christians had not disgusted them with
Christianity.’—‘I heard him say,’ added Richard Neale:
‘“down with your gods of gold, silver, and stone.”’—‘He
stated,’ resumed Cade, ‘that the priests take away the offerings
from the saints, and hang them about their women’s
necks; and then, if the offerings do not prove fine enough,
they are put upon the images again.’[#]

Every one foresaw the end of this piteous trial. One of
Bilney’s friends endeavored to save him. Latimer took the
matter into the pulpit, and conjured the judges to decide
according to justice. Although Bilney’s name was not
uttered, they all knew who was meant. The Bishop of
London went and complained to the king that his chaplain
had the audacity to defend the heretic against the bishop and
his judges.[#] ‘There is not a preacher in the world,’ said
Latimer, ‘who would not have spoken as I have done, although
Bilney had never existed.’ The chaplain escaped
once more, thanks to the favor he enjoyed with Henry.

Bilney was condemned, and, after being degraded by the
priests, was handed over to the sheriff, who, having great
respect for his virtues, begged pardon for discharging his
duty. The prudent bishop wrote to the chancellor, asking
for an order to burn the heretic. ‘Burn him first,’ rudely
answered More, ‘and then ask me for a bill of indemnity.’[#]

.sn Bilney With His Friends.
A few of Bilney’s friends went to Norwich to bid him
farewell: among them was Parker, Archbishop of Canterbury.
It was in the evening, and Bilney was taking his
// File: 111.png
.pn +1
last meal. On the table stood some frugal fare (ale brew),
and on his countenance beamed the joy that filled his soul.
‘I am surprised,’ said one of his friends, ‘that you can eat
so cheerfully.’—‘I only follow the example of the husbandmen
of the county,’ answered Bilney, ‘who, having a ruinous
house to dwell in, yet bestow cost so long as they may hold
it up.’ With these words he rose from the table, and sat
down near his friends, one of whom said to him: ‘To-morrow
the fire will make you feel its devouring fierceness,
but God’s Holy Spirit will cool it for your everlasting refreshing.’
Bilney, appearing to reflect upon what had been
said, stretched out his hand towards the lamp that was
burning on the table, and placed his finger in the flame.
‘What are you doing?’ they exclaimed. ‘Nothing,’ he
replied; ‘I am only trying my flesh. To-morrow God’s
rods shall burn my whole body in the fire.’ And, still
keeping his finger in the flame, as if he were making a
curious experiment, he continued: ‘I feel that fire by God’s
ordinance is naturally hot; but yet I am persuaded, by
God’s Holy Word and the experience of the martyrs, that
when the flames consume me I shall not feel them. Howsoever,
this stubble of my body shall be wasted by it, a
pain for the time is followed by joy unspeakable.’[#] He
then withdrew his finger, the first joint of which was burnt.
He added, ‘<i>When thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt
not be burnt.</i>’[#] ‘These words remained imprinted on the
hearts of all who heard them until the day of their death,’
says a chronicler.

Beyond the city gate—that known as the <i>Bishop’s gate</i>—was
a low valley, called the <i>Lollards’ pit</i>: it was surrounded
by rising ground, forming a sort of amphitheatre.
On Saturday, the <abbr=nineteenth>19th</abbr> of August, a body of javelin-men
came to fetch Bilney, who met them at the prison gate.
// File: 112.png
.pn +1
One of his friends approaching and exhorting him to be
firm, Bilney replied: ‘When the sailor goes on board his
ship and launches out into the stormy sea, he is tossed to
and fro by the waves; but the hope of reaching a peaceful
haven makes him bear the danger. My voyage is beginning,
but whatever storms I shall feel, my ship will soon
reach the port.’[#]

Bilney passed through the streets of Norwich in the
midst of a dense crowd; his demeanor was grave, his
features calm. His head had been shaved, and he wore
a layman’s gown. Dr. Warner, one of his friends, accompanied
him; another distributed liberal alms all along the
route. The procession descended into the Lollards’ pit,
while the spectators covered the surrounding hills. On
arriving at the place of punishment, Bilney fell on his
knees and prayed, and then rising up, warmly embraced
the stake and kissed it.[#] Turning his eyes towards heaven,
he next repeated the Apostles’ Creed, and when he confessed
the incarnation and crucifixion of the Saviour his
emotion was such that even the spectators were moved.
Recovering himself, he took off his gown, and ascended the
pile, reciting the hundred and forty-third psalm. Thrice
he repeated the second verse: ‘<i>Enter not into judgment with
thy servant for in thy sight shall no man living be justified</i>.’
And then he added: ‘<i>I stretch forth my hands unto thee;
my soul thirsteth after thee</i>.’ Turning towards the executioner,
he said: ‘Are you ready?’—‘Yes,’ was the reply.
Bilney placed himself against the post, and held up the
chain which bound him to it. His friend Warner, with eyes
filled with tears, took a last farewell. Bilney smiled kindly
at him and said: ‘Doctor, <lang=la><i>pasce gregem tuum</i></lang>; feed your
flock, that when the Lord cometh he may find you so doing.’
Several monks who had given evidence against him, perceiving
the emotion of the spectators, began to tremble,
and whispered to the martyr: ‘These people will believe
// File: 113.png
.pn +1
that we are the cause of your death, and will withhold
their alms,’ Upon which Bilney said to them: ‘Good
folks, be not angry against these men for my sake; even
should they be the authors of my death, <i>it is not they</i>.’[#]
He knew that his death proceeded from the will of God.
The torch was applied to the pile: the fire smouldered for
a few minutes, and then suddenly burning up fiercely, the
martyr was heard to utter the name of Jesus several
times. A strong wind which blew the flames on one side
prolonged his agony; thrice they seemed to retire from
him, and thrice they returned, until at length, the whole
pile being kindled, he expired.

.sn Revolution In Men’s Mind.
A strange revolution took place in men’s minds after this
death: they praised Bilney, and even his persecutors acknowledged
his virtues. ‘Mother of Christ,’ exclaimed the
Bishop of Norwich (it was his usual oath), ‘I fear I have
burnt Abel and let Cain go.’ Latimer was inconsolable;
twenty years later he still lamented his friend, and one
day (preaching before Edward <abbr='the sixth'>VI.</abbr>) he called to mind that
Bilney was always doing good, even to his enemies, and
styled him ‘that blessed martyr of God.’[#]

One martyrdom was not sufficient for the enemies of the
Reformation. Stokesley, Lee, Gardiner, and other prelates
and priests, feeling themselves guilty towards Rome, which
they had sacrificed to their personal ambition, desired to
expiate their faults by sacrificing the reformers. Seeing
at their feet a fatal gulf, dug between them and the Roman
pontiff by their faithlessness, they desired to fill it up
with corpses. The persecution continued.

There was at that time a pious evangelist in the dungeons
of the Bishop of London. He was fastened upright to the
wall, with chains round his neck, waist, and legs. Usually
the most guilty prisoners were permitted to sit down, and
even to lie on the floor; but for this man there was no rest.
// File: 114.png
.pn +1
It was Richard Bayfield, accused of bringing from the continent
a number of New Testaments translated by Tyndale.[#]
When one of his gaolers told him of Bilney’s martyrdom,
he exclaimed: ‘And I too, and hundreds of men
with me, will die for the faith he has confessed.’ He was
brought shortly afterwards before the episcopal court.
‘With what intent,’ asked Stokesley, ‘did you bring into
the country the errors of Luther, Œcolampadius the great
heretic, and others of that damnable sect?’—‘To make
the Gospel known,’ answered Bayfield, ‘and to glorify God
before the people.’[#] Accordingly, the bishop, having condemned
and then degraded him, summoned the lord mayor
and sheriffs of London, ‘by the bowels of Jesus Christ’ (he
had the presumption to say), to do to Bayfield ‘according to
the <i>laudable custom</i> of the famous realm of England.’[#] ‘O
ye priests,’ said the gospeller, as if inspired by the Spirit of
God, ‘is it not enough that your lives are wicked, but you
must prevent the life according to the Gospel from spreading
among the people?’ The bishop took up his crosier
and struck Bayfield so violently on the chest that he fell
backwards and fainted.[#] He revived by degrees, and said,
on regaining his consciousness: ‘I thank God that I am
delivered from the wicked church of Antichrist, and am
going to be a member of the true Church which reigns triumphant
in heaven.’ He mounted the pile; the flames
touching him only on one side, consumed his left arm.
With his right hand Bayfield separated it from his body,
and the arm fell. Shortly after this he ceased to pray, because
he had ceased to live.

John Tewkesbury, one of the most respected merchants
in London, whom the bishops had put twice to the rack
// File: 115.png
.pn +1
already, and whose limbs they had broken,[#] felt his courage
revived by the martyrdom of his friend. <sc>Christ alone</sc>,
he said habitually: these two words were all his theology.
He was arrested, taken to the house of Sir Thomas More at
Chelsea, shut up in the porter’s lodge, his hands, feet, and
head being held in the stocks;[#] but they could not obtain
from him the recantation they desired. The officers took
him into the chancellor’s garden, and bound him so tightly
to the <i>tree of truth</i>, as the renowned scholar called it, that
the blood started out of his eyes; after which they scourged
him.[#] Tewkesbury remained firm.

On the <abbr=sixteenth>16th</abbr> of December the Bishop of London went to
Chelsea and formed a court. ‘Thou art a heretic,’ said
Stokesley, ‘a backslider; thou hast incurred the great excommunication.
We shall deliver thee up to the secular
power.’ He was burnt alive at Smithfield on the <abbr=twentieth>20th</abbr> of
December, 1531. ‘Now,’ said the fanatical chancellor,
‘now is he uttering cries in hell!’

.sn Utopias Of The Bishops.
Such were at this period the cruel <i>utopias</i> of the bishops
and of the witty Sir Thomas More. Other evangelical
Christians were thrown into prison. In vain did one of
them exclaim: ‘the more they persecute this sect, the more
will it increase.’[#] That opinion did not check the persecution.
‘It is impossible,’ says Foxe (doubtless with some
exaggeration), ‘to name all who were persecuted before the
time of Queen Anne Boleyn. As well try to count the
grains of sand on the seashore!’

Thus did the real Reformation show by the blood of its
martyrs that it had nothing to do with the policy, the tyranny,
the intrigues, and the divorce of Henry <abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr> If these
// File: 116.png
.pn +1
men of God had not been burnt by that prince, it might possibly
have been imagined that he was the author of the transformation
of England; but the blood of the reformers cried
to heaven that he was its executioner.

.fn #
‘Ye would have raked in the coals.’—Latimer, <i>Works</i>, <abbr rend=arabic>i.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 46 (Parker
Soc.); Tyndale, <i>Op.</i> <abbr=three>iii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 231.
.fn-
.fn #
<i>History of the Reformation of the Sixteenth Century</i>, <abbr=volume>vol.</abbr> <abbr=five>v.</abbr> <abbr=book>bk.</abbr> <abbr=eighteen>xviii.</abbr>
<abbr=chapter>ch.</abbr> <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=nine>ix.</abbr> <abbr=twelve>xii.</abbr>; <abbr=book>bk.</abbr> <abbr=nineteen>xix.</abbr> <abbr=chapter>ch.</abbr> <abbr=seven>vii.</abbr>; <abbr=book>bk.</abbr> <abbr=twenty>xx.</abbr> <abbr=chapter>ch.</abbr> <abbr=fifteen>xv.</abbr>
.fn-
.fn #
‘A man of a timorous conscience, and not fully resolved touching that
matter of the Church.’—Foxe, <i>Acts</i>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 649.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Soli sacerdotes, ordinati ritè per pontifices, habent claves.’</lang>—Ibid.
.fn-
.fn #
‘The anachoress whom he had converted to Christ.’—Foxe, <i>Acts</i>,
<abbr=page>p.</abbr> 642.
.fn-
.fn #
Herbert, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 357.
.fn-
.fn #
‘Like as if a man should take and strike off the head and set it under
the foot, and to set the foot above.’—Foxe, <i>Acts</i>, <abbr=four>iv.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 649.
.fn-
.fn #
Latimer, <i>Remains</i>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> <abbr=thirteen>xiii.</abbr>
.fn-
.fn #
Ibid.
.fn-
.fn #
‘Fit empoigner.’—Crespin, <i>Actes des Martyrs</i>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 101.
.fn-
.fn #
Strype, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 313.
.fn-
.fn #
‘As he had planted himself upon the firm rock of God’s Word.’—Foxe,
<i>Acts</i>, <abbr=four>iv.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 643.
.fn-
.fn #
Foxe, <i>Acts</i>, <abbr=four>iv.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 648.
.fn-
.fn #
Latimer, <i>Works</i>, <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 330 (Parker Soc.).
.fn-
.fn #
Ibid. <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 650.
.fn-
.fn #
Latimer, <i>Works</i>, <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 650 (Parker Soc.).
.fn-
.fn #
Isaiah <abbr='forty-three'>xliii.</abbr> 2. In Bilney’s Bible, which is preserved in the library of
Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, this passage (verses 1-3) is marked
in the margin with a pen.
.fn-
.fn #
Latimer, <i>Works</i>, <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 654 (Parker Soc.).
.fn-
.fn #
Foxe, <i>Acts</i>, <abbr=four>iv.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 655, note.
.fn-
.fn #
Latimer, <i>Works</i>, <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 655 (Parker Soc.).
.fn-
.fn #
‘And toward his enemy so charitable.’—Latimer, <i>Works</i>, <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 330.
(Parker Soc.).
.fn-
.fn #
<i>History of the Reformation of the Sixteenth Century</i>, <abbr=volume>vol.</abbr> <abbr=five>v.</abbr> <abbr=book>bk.</abbr> <abbr=twenty>xx.</abbr> <abbr=chapter>ch.</abbr>
<abbr=fifteen>xv.</abbr>
.fn-
.fn #
‘To the intent that the Gospel of Christ might be set forward.’—Foxe,
<i>Acts</i>, <abbr=four>iv.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 683.
.fn-
.fn #
Ibid. <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 687.
.fn-
.fn #
‘He took his crozier-staff and smote him oh the breast.’—Ibid.
.fn-
.fn #
<i>History of the Reformation of the Sixteenth Century</i>, <abbr=volume>vol.</abbr> <abbr=five>v.</abbr> <abbr=book>bk.</abbr> <abbr=twenty>xx.</abbr> <abbr=chapter>ch.</abbr>
<abbr=seven>vii.</abbr>
.fn-
.fn #
Foxe, <i>Acts</i>, <abbr=four>iv.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 689.
.fn-
.fn #
‘And also twisted in his brows with small ropes so that the blood....’—Ibid.
.fn-
.fn #
Cotton <abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr> Anderson, <i>Annals of Bible</i>, <abbr rend=arabic>i.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 310. ‘It will cause the
sect to wax greater, and those errors to be more plenteously sowed in the
realm, than heretofore.’
.fn-
.sp 4
.h2 id=chap6-13
CHAPTER XIII. | THE KING DESPOILS THE POPE AND THE CLERGY. | (<sc>March to May 1532.</sc>)
.sp 2
Henry <abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr> having permitted the bishops to execute
their task of persecution, proceeded to carry out his own,
that of making the papacy disgorge. Unhappily for the
clergy, the king could not attack the pope, and they entirely
escaped the blows. The duel between Henry and Clement
was about to become more violent, and in the space of three
months (March, April, and May) the Romish Church,
stripped of important prerogatives, would learn that, after
so many ages of wealth and honor, the hour of its humiliation
had come at last.

Henry was determined, above all things, not to permit
his cause to be tried at Rome. What would be thought if
he yielded? ‘Could the pope,’ wrote Henry to his envoys,
‘constrain kings to leave the charge God had entrusted to
them, in order to humble themselves before him? That
would be to tread under foot the glory of our person and
the privileges of our kingdom. If the pope persists, take
your leave of the pontiff, and return to us immediately,’—‘The
pope,’ added Norfolk, ‘would do well to reflect if he
intend the continuance of good obedience of England to the
see apostolic.’[#]
// File: 117.png
.pn +1

Catherine on her part did not remain behind: she wrote
a pathetic letter to the pope, informing him that her husband
had banished her from the palace. Clement, in the
depths of his perplexity, behaved, however, very properly:
he called upon the king (<abbr='twenty-fifth'>25th</abbr> January) to take back the
queen, and to dismiss Anne Boleyn from court. Henry
spiritedly rejected the pontiff’s demand. ‘Never was a
prince treated by a pope as your Holiness has treated me,’
he said; ‘not painted reason,[#] but the truth alone, must be
our guide.’ The king prepared to begin the emancipation
of England.

.sn Character Of Cromwell.
Thomas Cromwell is the representative of the political
reform achieved by that prince. He was one of those powerful
natures which God creates to work important things.
His prompt and sure judgment taught him what it would be
possible to do under a Tudor king, and his intrepid energy
put him in a position to accomplish it. He had an instinctive
horror of superstitions and abuses, tracked them to their
remotest corner, and threw them down with a vigorous arm.
Every obstacle was scattered under the wheels of his car.
He even defended the evangelicals against their persecutors,
without committing himself, however, and encouraged the
reading of Holy Scripture; but the royal supremacy, of
which he was the originator, was his idol.

The exactions of Rome in England were numerous: the
king and Cromwell were content for the moment to abolish
one, the appropriation by the papacy of the first year’s income
of all ecclesiastical benefices. ‘These <i>annates</i>,’ said
Cromwell, ‘have cost England eight hundred thousand
ducats since the second year of Henry <abbr='the seventh'>VII.</abbr>[#] If, in consequence
of the abolition of annates, the pope does not send a
bishop his bull of ordination, the archbishop or two bishops
shall ordain him, as in the old times.’ Accordingly, in
March, 1532, the Lower House agreed to a resolution,
// File: 118.png
.pn +1
which they expressed in these words: <lang=fr><i>A cest bille les communes
sont assentes</i></lang>, To this bill the Commons assent.

The bishops were overjoyed: they had to incur great
expenses for their establishment, and the first money arising
from their benefice went to the pope. Their friends used to
make them pecuniary advances; but if the bishop died
shortly after his enthronization, these advances were lost.
Some of the bishops, fearing the opposition of the pope, exclaimed:
‘These exactions are contrary to God’s law. <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr>
Paul bids us withdraw ourselves from all such as walk inordinately.
Therefore, if the pope claims to keep the annates,
let it please your Majesty and parliament to withdraw
the obedience of the people from the see of Rome.’[#] The
king was more moderate than the prelates: he said he would
wait a year or two before giving his assent to the bill.

If the bishops refused the pope his ancient revenue, they
refused the king the new authority claimed by the crown,
and maintained that no secular power had any right to meddle
with them.[#] Cromwell resisted them, and determined
to carry out the reform of abuses. ‘The clergy,’ said the
Commons to the king, ‘make laws in convocation without
your assent and ours which are in opposition to the statutes
of the realm, and then excommunicate those who violate
such laws.’[#] A second time the frightened bishops vainly
prayed the king to make his laws harmonize with theirs.
Henry <abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr> insisted that the Church should conform to
the State, and not the State to the Church, and he was inexorable.
The bishops knew well that it was their union
with powerful pontiffs, always ready to defend them against
kings, which had given them so much strength in the middle
ages, and that now they must yield. They therefore lowered
their flag before the authority which they had themselves set
up. Convocation did, indeed, make a last effort. It represented
// File: 119.png
.pn +1
that ‘the authority of bishops proceeds immediately
from God, and from no power of any secular prince, as <i>your
Highness hath shown in your own book most excellently written
against Martin Luther</i>.’ But the king was firm, and
made the prelates yield at last.[#] Thus was a great revolution
accomplished: the spiritual power was taken away from
those arrogant priests who had so long usurped the rights of
the members of the Church. It was only justice; but it
ought to have been placed in better hands than those of
Henry <abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr>

.sn Contradictory Oaths.
Cromwell was preparing a fresh blow that would strike
the pontiff’s triple crown. He drew his master’s attention
to the oaths which the bishops took at their consecration,
both to the king and to the pope. Henry first read the oath
to the pope. ‘I swear,’ said the bishop, ‘to defend the papacy
of Rome, the regality of <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Peter, against all men.
If I know of any plot against the pope, I will resist it with
all my might, and will give him warning. Heretics, schismatics,
and rebels to our holy father, I shall resist and persecute
with all my power.’[#] On the other hand, the bishops
took an oath to the king at the same time, wherein they
renounced every clause or grant which, coming from the
pope, might be in any way detrimental to his Majesty. In
one breath they must obey the pope and disobey him.

Such contradictions could not last: the king wanted the
English to be, not with Rome but with England. Accordingly
he sent for the Speaker of the Commons, and said to
him: ‘On examining the matter closely, I find that the
bishops, instead of being wholly my subjects, are only so by
halves. They swear an oath to the pope quite contrary to
that they swear to the crown; so that they are the pope’s
subjects rather than mine.[#] I refer the matter to your
care.’ Parliament was prorogued three days later on account
// File: 120.png
.pn +1
of the plague; but the prelates declared that they
renounced all orders of the pope prejudicial to his Majesty’s
rights.[#]

The political party was delighted, the papal party confounded.
The convents reëchoed with rumors, maledictions,
and the strangest projects. The monks, during the
visits they made in their daily rounds, raved against the encroachments
made on the power of the pope. When they
went up into the pulpit, they declaimed against the sacrilege
of which Cromwell (they said) was the author and the
English people the victims.

To the last the English priests had hoped in Sir Thomas
More. That disciple of Erasmus had acted like his master.
After assailing the Romish superstitions with biting jests, he
had turned round, and seeing the Reformation attack them
with weapons still more powerful, he had fought against the
evangelicals with fire. For two years he had filled the office
of lord-chancellor with unequalled activity and integrity.
Convocation having offered him four thousand pounds sterling
‘for the pains he had taken in God’s quarrel,’[#] he answered:
‘I will receive no recompense save from God
alone;’ and when the priests urged him to accept the money
he said: ‘I would sooner throw it into the Thames.’ He
did not persecute from any mercenary motives; but the
more he advanced, the more bigoted and fanatical he became.
Every Sunday he put on a surplice and sang mass at Chelsea.
The Duke of Norfolk surprised him one day in this
equipment. ‘What do I see?’ he exclaimed. ‘My lord-chancellor
acting the parish clerk ... you dishonour your
office and your king.’[#]—‘Not so,’ answered Sir Thomas,
seriously, ‘for I am honoring his master and ours.’

The great question of the bishop’s oath warned him that
he could not serve both the king and the pope. His mind
was soon made up. In the afternoon of the <abbr=sixteenth>16th</abbr> of May
he went to Whitehall gardens, where the king awaited him,
// File: 121.png
.pn +1
and in the presence of the Duke of Norfolk resigned the
seals.[#] On his return home, he cheerfully told his wife and
daughters of his resignation, but they were much disturbed
by it. As for Sir Thomas, delighted at being freed from his
charge, he indulged more than ever in his flagellations, without
renouncing his witty sayings—Erasmus and Loyola
combined in one.

Henry gave the seals to Sir Thomas Audley, a man well
disposed towards the Gospel: this was preparing the emancipation
of England. Yet the Reformation was still exposed
to great danger.

.sn Real Founders Of Reform.
Henry <abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr> wished to abolish popery and set catholicism
in its place—maintain the doctrine of Rome, but substitute
the authority of the king for that of the pontiff. He was
wrong in keeping the catholic doctrine; he was wrong in
establishing the jurisdiction of the prince in the church.
Evangelical Christians had to contend against these two
evils in England, and to establish the supreme and exclusive
sovereignty of the Word of God. Can we blame them if
they have not entirely succeeded? To attain their object
they willingly have poured out their blood.

.fn #
<i>State Papers</i>, <abbr=volume>vol.</abbr> <abbr=seven>vii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 349.
.fn-
.fn #
Burnet, <i>Records</i>, <abbr=one>i.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 100.
.fn-
.fn #
This was equivalent to two millions and a half sterling of our money.
Burnet, <i>Records</i>, <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 96. <i>Statutes of the Realm</i>, <abbr=three>iii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 388.
.fn-
.fn #
Strype, <i>Eccl. Memor.</i> <abbr rend=arabic>i.</abbr> <abbr=part>pt.</abbr> <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 158.
.fn-
.fn #
‘There needeth not any temporal power to concur with the same.’—Strype,
<i>Eccl. Memor.</i> <abbr rend=arabic>i.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 202.
.fn-
.fn #
‘Declaring the infringers to incur into the terrible sentence of excommunication’—Wilkins,
<i>Concilia</i>, <abbr=three>iii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 751.
.fn-
.fn #
‘The king made them buckle at last.’—Strype, <i>Eccles. Memorials</i>,
<abbr=one>i.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 204.
.fn-
.fn #
‘Prosequar et impugnabo.’—Burnet, <i>Reformation</i>, <abbr rend=arabic>i.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 250 (Oxford,
1829).
.fn-
.fn #
Burnet, <i>Hist. Reform.</i> <abbr rend=arabic>i.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 249 (Oxford, 1829).
.fn-
.fn #
Wilkins, <i>Concilia</i>, <abbr=three>iii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 354.
.fn-
.fn #
Thomas More, by his grandson, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 187.
.fn-
.fn #
Ibid. <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 193.
.fn-
.fn #
‘In horto suo.’—Rymer, <abbr=six>vi.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 171.
.fn-
.sp 4
.h2 id=chap6-14
CHAPTER XIV. | LIBERTY OF INQUIRY AND OF PREACHING IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. |(1532.)
.sp 2
There are writers who seriously ascribe the Reformation
of England to the divorce of Henry <abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr>, and thus silently
pass over the Word of God and the labors of the evangelical
men who really founded protestant Christianity in that
// File: 122.png
.pn +1
country. As well forget that light proceeds from the sun.
But for the faith of such men as Bilney, Latimer, and Tyndale,
the Church of England, with its king, ministers of
state, parliament, bishops, cathedrals, liturgy, hierarchy, and
ceremonies, would have been a gallant bark, well supplied
with masts, sails, and rigging, and manned by able sailors;
but acted on by no breath from heaven. The Church
would have stood still. It is in the humble members of the
kingdom of God that its real strength lies. ‘Those whom
the Lord has exalted to high estate,’ says Calvin, ‘most
often fall back little by little, or are ruined at one blow.’
England, with its wealth and grandeur, needed a counter-poise:
the living faith of the poor in spirit. If a people attain
a high degree of material prosperity; if they conquer
by their energy the powers of nature; if they compel industry
to lavish its stores on them; if they cover the seas
with their ships, the more distant countries with their colonies
and marts, and fill their warehouses and their dwellings
with the produce of the whole earth, then great dangers encompass
them. Material things threaten to extinguish the
sacred fire in their bosoms; and unless the Holy Ghost
raises up a salutary opposition against such snares, that
people, instead of acting a moralizing and civilizing part,
may turn out nothing better than a huge noisy machine, fitted
only to satisfy vulgar appetites. For a nation to do justice
to a high and glorious calling, it must have within itself
the life of faith, holiness of conscience, and the hope of incorruptible
riches. At this time there were men in England
in whose hearts God had kindled a holy flame, and who
were to become the most important instruments of its moral
transformation.

.sn Lambert’s Examination.
About the end of 1531, a young minister, John Nicholson,
surnamed Lambert, was on board one of the ships that
traded between London and Antwerp. He was chaplain to
the English factory at the latter place, well versed in the
writings of Luther and other reformers, intimate with Tyndale,
and had preached the Gospel with power. Being accused
// File: 123.png
.pn +1
of heresy by a certain Barlow, he was seized, put in
irons, and sent to London. Alone in the ship, he retraced
in his memory the principal events of his life—how he
had been converted at Cambridge by Bilney’s ministry;
how, mingling with the crowd around <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Paul’s Cross, he
had heard the Bishop of Rochester preach against the New
Testament; and how, terrified by the impiety of the priests,
and burning with desire to gain the knowledge of God, he
had crossed the sea. When he reached England, he was
taken to Lambeth, where he underwent a preliminary examination.
He was then taken to Ottford, where the archbishop
had a fine palace, and was left there for some time in
a miserable hole, almost without food. At last he was
brought before the archbishop, and called upon to reply to
forty-five different articles.

Lambert, during his residence on the Continent, had become
thoroughly imbued with the principles of the Reformation.
He believed that it was only by entire freedom of
inquiry that men could be convinced of the truth. But he
had not wandered without a compass over the vast ocean
of human opinions: he had taken the Bible in his hand, believing
firmly that every doctrine found therein is true, and
everything that contradicts it is false. On the one hand he
saw the ultramontane system which opposes religious freedom,
freedom of the press, and even freedom of reading;
on the other hand protestantism, which declares that every
man ought to be free to examine Scripture and submit to
its teachings.

The archbishop, attended by his officers, having taken his
seat in the palace chapel, Lambert was brought in, and the
examination began.

‘Have you read Luther’s books?’ asked the prelate.

‘Yes,’ replied Lambert, ‘and I thank God that ever I did
so, for by them hath God shown me, and a vast multitude
of others also, such light as the darkness cannot abide.’
Then testifying to the freedom of inquiry, he added: ‘Luther
desires above all things that his writings and the writings
// File: 124.png
.pn +1
of all his adversaries may be translated into all languages,
to the intent that all people may see and know what
is said on each side, whereby they may better judge what is
the truth. And this is done not only by hundreds and
thousands, but by whole cities and countries, both high and
low. But (he continued) in England our prelates are
so drowned in voluptuous living that they have no leisure
to study God’s Scripture; they abhor it, no less than they
abhor death, giving no other reason than the tyrannical saying
of Sardanapalus: <lang=la><i>Sic volo, sic jubeo, sit pro ratione voluntas</i></lang>,
So I will, so do I command, and let my will for reason
stand.’[#]

Lambert, wishing to make these matters intelligible to the
people, said: ‘When you desire to buy cloth, you will not
be satisfied with seeing one merchant’s wares, but go from
the first to the second, from the second to the third, to find
who has the best cloth. Will you be more remiss about
your soul’s health?... When you go a journey, not knowing
perfectly the way, you will inquire of one man after
another; so ought we likewise to seek about entering the
kingdom of heaven. Chrysostom himself teaches you this.[#]...
Read the works not only of Luther, but also of all
others, be they ever so ill or good. No good law forbids it,
but only constitutions pharisaical.’

Warham, who was as much opposed then to the liberty of
the press as the popes are now, could see nothing but a
boundless chaos in this freedom of inquiry. ‘Images are
sufficient,’ he said, ‘to keep Christ and His saints in our remembrance.’
But Lambert exclaimed: ‘What have we to
do with senseless stones or wood carved by the hand of man?
That Word which came from the breast of Christ Himself
showeth us perfectly His blessed will.’[#]

Warham having questioned Lambert as to the number of his
followers, he answered: ‘A great multitude through all
// File: 125.png
.pn +1
regions and realms of Christendom think in like wise as I
have showed. I ween the multitude mounteth nigh unto the
one half of Christendom.’[#] Lambert was taken back to
prison; but More having resigned the seals, and Warham
dying, this herald of liberty and truth saw his chains fall off.
One day, however, he was to die by fire, and, forgetting all
controversy, to exclaim in the midst of the flames: ‘Nothing
but Jesus Christ.’

.sn Latimer’s Evangelical Courage.
There was a minister of the Word in London who exasperated
the friends of Rome more than all the rest; this
man was Latimer. The court of Henry <abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr>, which was
worldly, magnificent, fond of pleasures, intrigue, the elegances
of dress, furniture, banquets, and refinement of language
and manners, was not a favorable field for the Gospel.
‘It is very difficult,’ said a reformer, ‘that costly
trappings, solemn banquets, the excesses of pride, a flood
of pleasure and debauchery should not bring many evils in
their train.’ Thus the priests and courtiers could not endure
Latimer’s sermons. If Lambert was for freedom of
inquiry, the king’s chaplain was for freedom of preaching:
his zeal sometimes touched upon imprudence, and his biting
wit, his extreme frankness, did not spare his superiors.
One day, some honest merchants, who hungered and thirsted
for the Word of God, begged him to come and preach in one
of the city churches. Thrice he refused, but yielded to
their prayers at last. The death of Bilney and of the other
martyrs had wounded him deeply. He knew that wild
beasts, when they have once tasted blood, thirst for more,
and feared that these murders, these butcheries, would only
make his adversaries fiercer. He determined to lash the
persecuting prelates with his sarcasms. Having entered the
pulpit, he preached from these words in the epistle of the
day: <i>Ye are not under the law, but under grace</i>.[#] ‘What!’
he exclaimed, ‘St. Paul teaches Christians that they are not
under the law.... What does he mean?... No
more law! <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Paul invites Christians to break the law.
// File: 126.png
.pn +1
Quick! inform against <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Paul, seize him and take
him before my Lord Bishop of London!... The good
apostle must be condemned to bear a fagot at <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Paul’s
Cross. What a goodly sight to see <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Paul with a fagot
on his back, before my lord in person seated on his episcopal
throne!... But no! I am mistaken, his lordship
would not be satisfied with so little ... he would
sooner burn him.’[#]

This ironical language was to cost Latimer dear. To no
purpose had he spoken in one of those churches which, being
dependencies of a monastery, were not under episcopal jurisdiction:
everybody about him condemned him and embittered
his life. The courtiers talked of his sermons, shrugged
their shoulders, pointed their fingers at him when he approached
them, and turned their backs on him. The favor
of the king, who had perhaps smiled at that burst of pulpit
oratory, had some trouble to protect him. The court became
more intolerable to him every day, and Latimer, withdrawing
to his closet, gave vent to many a heavy sigh.
‘What tortures I endure!’ he said; ‘in what a world I live!
Hatred ever at work; factions fighting one against the
other; folly and vanity leading the dance; dissimulation,
irreligion, debauchery, all the vices stalking abroad in open
day.... It is too much. If I were able to do something
... but I have neither the talent nor the industry
required to fight against these monsters.... I am
weary of the court.’

.sn Latimer Quits The Court.
Latimer had recently been presented to the living of
West Kington, in the diocese of Salisbury. Wishing to uphold
the liberty of the Christian Church, and seeing that it
existed no longer in London, he resolved to try and find it
elsewhere. ‘I am leaving,’ he said to one of his friends: ‘I
shall go and live in my parish.’—‘What is that you say?’,
exclaimed the other; ‘Cromwell, who is at the pinnacle of
honors, and has profound designs, intends to do great things
for you.... If you leave the court, you will be forgotten,
// File: 127.png
.pn +1
and your rivals will rise to your place.’—‘The only
fortune I desire,’ said Latimer, ‘is to be useful.’ He departed,
turning his back on the episcopal crosier to which
his friend had alluded.

Latimer began to preach with zeal in Wiltshire, and not
only in his own parish, but in the parishes around him.
His diligence was so great, his preaching so mighty, says
Foxe,[#] that his hearers must either believe the doctrine he
preached or rise against it. ‘Whosoever entereth not into
the fold by the door, which is Christ, be he priest, bishop, or
pope, is a robber,’ said he. ‘In the Church there are more
thieves than shepherds, and more goats than sheep.’[#] His
hearers were astounded. One of them (Dr. Sherwood) said
to him: ‘What a sermon, or rather what a satire! If we
believe you, all the hemp in England would not be enough
to hang those thieves of bishops, priests, and curates.[#]...
It is all exaggeration, no doubt, but such exaggeration
is rash, audacious, and impious.’ The priests looked
about for some valiant champion of Rome, ready to fight
with him the quarrel of the Church.

One day there rode into the village an old doctor, of strange
aspect; he wore no shirt, but was covered with a long gown
that reached down to the horse’s heels, ‘all bedirted like a
slobber,’ says a chronicler.[#] He took no care for the things
of the body, in order that people should believe he was the
more given up to the contemplation of the interests of the
soul. He dismounted gravely from his horse, proclaimed
his intention of fasting, and began a series of long prayers.
This person, by name Hubberdin, the Don Quixote of Roman-catholicism,
went wandering all over the kingdom, extolling
the pope at the expense of kings and even of Jesus
Christ, and declaiming against Luther, Zwingle, Tyndale,
and Latimer.
// File: 128.png
.pn +1

On a feast-day Hubberdin put on a clerical gown rather
cleaner than the one he generally wore, and went into the
pulpit, where he undertook to prove that the new doctrine
came from the devil—which he demonstrated by stories,
fables, dreams, and amusing dialogues. He danced and
hopped and leaped about, and gesticulated, as if he were a
stage-player, and his sermon a sort of interlude.[#] His hearers
were surprised and diverted; Latimer was disgusted.
‘You lie,’ he said, ‘when you call the faith of Scripture a
new doctrine, unless you mean to say that it makes new
creatures of those who receive it.’

Hubberdin being unable to shut the mouth of the eloquent
chaplain with his mountebank tricks, the bishops and nobility
of the neighborhood resolved to denounce Latimer. A
messenger handed him a writ, summoning him to appear
personally before the Bishop of London to answer touching
certain excesses and crimes committed by him.[#] Putting
down the paper which contained this threatening message,
Latimer began to reflect. His position was critical.
He was at that time suffering from the stone, with pains in
the head and bowels. It was in the dead of winter, and
moreover he was alone at West Kington, with no friend to
advise him. Being of a generous and daring temperament,
he rushed hastily into the heat of the combat, but was easily
dejected. ‘Jesu mercy! what a world is this,’ he exclaimed,
‘that I shall be put to so great labor and pains above my
power for preaching of a poor simple sermon! But we
must needs suffer, and so enter into the kingdom of Christ.’[#]

The terrible summons lay on the table. Latimer took it
up and read it. He was no longer the brilliant court-chaplain
who charmed fashionable congregations by his eloquence;
he was a poor country minister, forsaken by all.
// File: 129.png
.pn +1
He was sorrowful. ‘I am surprised,’ he said, ‘that my lord
of London, who has so large a diocese in which he ought to
preach the Word in season and out of season,[#] should have
leisure enough to come and trouble me in my little parish ...
wretched me, who am quite a stranger to him.’
He appealed to his ordinary; but Bishop Stokesley did not
intend to let him go, and being as able as he was violent, he
prayed the archbishop, as primate of all England, to summon
Latimer before his court, and to commission himself
(the Bishop of London) to examine him. The chaplain’s
friends were terrified, and entreated him to leave England;
but he began his journey to London.

.sn Attempt To Entrap Latimer.
On the <abbr='twenty-ninth'>29th</abbr> of January, 1532, a court composed of bishops
and doctors of the canon law assembled, under the presidency
of Primate Warham, in <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Paul’s Cathedral. Latimer
having appeared, the Bishop of London presented him
a paper, and ordered him to sign it. The reformer took the
paper and read it through. There were sixteen articles on
belief in purgatory, the invocation of saints, the merit of
pilgrimages, and lastly on the power of the keys which (said
the document) belonged to the bishops of Rome, ‘even
should their lives be wicked,’[#] and other such topics. Latimer
returned the paper to Stokesley, saying: ‘I cannot sign
it.’ Three times in one week he had to appear before his
judges, and each time the same scene was repeated: both
sides were inflexible. The priests then changed their tactics:
they began to tease and embarrass Latimer with innumerable
questions. As soon as one had finished, another
began with sophistry and plausibility, and interminable subterfuges.
Latimer tried to make his adversaries keep
within the circle from which they were straying, but they
would not hear him.

One day, as Latimer entered the hall, he noticed a change
in the arrangement of the furniture. There was a chimney,
// File: 130.png
.pn +1
in which there had been a fire before: on this day there
was no fire, and the fireplace was invisible. Some tapestry
hung down over it, and the table round which the judges sat
was in the middle of the room. The accused was seated
between the table and the chimney. ‘Master Latimer,’ said
an aged bishop, whom he believed to be one of his friends,
‘pray speak a little louder: I am hard of hearing, as you
know.’ Latimer, surprised at this remark, pricked up his
ears, and fancied he heard in the fireplace the noise of a pen
upon paper.[#] ‘Ho, ho!’ thought he, ‘they have hidden
some one behind there to take down my answers.’ He replied
cautiously to captious questions, much to the embarrassment
of the judges.

Latimer was disgusted, not only with the tricks of his
enemies, but still more with their ‘troublesome unquietness;’[#]
because by keeping him in London they obliged
him to neglect his duties, and especially because they made
it a crime to preach the truth. The archbishop, wishing to
gain him over by marks of esteem and affection, invited him
to come and see him; but Latimer declined, being unwilling
at any price to renounce the freedom of the pulpit. The
reformers of the sixteenth century did not contend that all
doctrines should be preached from the same pulpit, but that
evangelical truth should be freely preached everywhere.
‘I have desired and still desire,’ wrote Latimer to the archbishop,
‘that our people should learn the difference between
the doctrines which God has taught and those which proceed
only from ourselves. Go, said Jesus, and <i>teach all things</i>....
What things?... <i>all things whatsoever I
have commanded you</i>, and not <i>whatsoever you think fit to
preach</i>.[#] Let us all then make an effort to preach with one
voice the things of God. I have sought not my gain, but
Christ’s gain; not my glory, but God’s glory. And so long
// File: 131.png
.pn +1
as I have a breath of life remaining, I will continue to do
so.’[#]

Thus spoke the bold preacher. It is by such unshakable
fidelity that great revolutions are accomplished.

.sn Latimer Excommunicated.
As Latimer was deaf to all their persuasion, there was
nothing to be done but to threaten the stake. The charge
was transferred to the Convocation of Canterbury, and on
the <abbr=fifteenth>15th</abbr> of March, 1532, he appeared before that body at
Westminster. The fifteen articles were set before him.
‘Master Latimer,’ said the archbishop,’the synod calls upon
you to sign these articles.’—‘I refuse,’ he answered.—All
the bishops pressed him earnestly. ‘I refuse absolutely,’
he answered a second time. Warham, the friend of learning,
could not make up his mind to condemn one of the finest
geniuses of England. ‘Have pity on yourself,’ he said.
‘A third and last time we entreat you to sign these articles.’
Although Latimer knew that a negative would probably
consign him to the stake, he still answered, ‘I refuse absolutely.’[#]

The patience of Convocation was now exhausted. ‘Heretic!
obstinate heretic!’ exclaimed the bishops. ‘We have
heard it from his own mouth. Let him be excommunicated.’
The sentence of excommunication was pronounced, and
Latimer was taken to the Lollards’ Tower.

Great was the agitation both in city and court. The
creatures of the priests were already singing in the streets
songs with a burden like this:

.pm verse-start
Wherefore it were pity thou shouldst die for cold.[#]
.pm verse-end

‘Ah!’ said Latimer in the Martyr’s Tower, ‘if they had
asked me to confess that I have been too prompt to use sarcasm,
I should have been ready to do so, for sin is a heavy
load. O God! unto Thee I cry; wash me in the blood of
Jesus Christ.’ He looked for death, knowing well that few
// File: 132.png
.pn +1
left that tower except for the scaffold. ‘What is to be
done?’ said Warham and the bishops. Many of them
would have handed the prisoner over to the magistrate to
do what was customary, but the rule of the papacy was
coming to an end in England, and Latimer was the king’s
chaplain. One dexterous prelate suggested a means of
reconciling everything. ‘We must obtain something from
him, be it ever so little, and then report everywhere that he
has recanted.’

Some priests went to see the prisoner: ‘Will you not
yield anything?’ they asked.—‘I have been too violent,’
said Latimer, ‘and I humble myself accordingly.’—‘But
will you not recognize the merit of works?’—‘No!’—‘Prayers
to the saints?’—‘No!’—‘Purgatory?’—‘No!’—‘The
power of the keys given to the pope?’—‘No! I tell
you.’—A bright idea occurred to one of the priests. Luther
taught that it was not only permitted, but praiseworthy, to
have the crucifix and the images of the saints, provided that
it was merely to remind us of them and not to invoke them.
He had added, that the Reformation ought not to abolish
fast days, but to strive to make them realities.[#] Latimer
declared that he was of the same opinion.

The deputation hastened to carry this news to the bishops.
The more fanatical of them could not make up their minds
to be satisfied with so little. What! no purgatory, no virtue
in the mass, no prayers to saints, no power of the keys,
no meritorious works! It was a signal defeat; but the
bishops knew that the king would not suffer the condemnation
of his chaplain. Convocation decided, after a long discussion
that if Master Latimer would sign the two articles,
he should be absolved from the sentence of excommunication.
In fact, on the <abbr=tenth>10th</abbr> of April the Church withdrew
the condemnation it had already pronounced.[#]

.fn #
Foxe, <i>Acts</i>, <abbr=five>v.</abbr> <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 184, 185.
.fn-
.fn #
Chrysostom, in opere imperfecto.
.fn-
.fn #
Foxe, <i>Acts</i>, <abbr=five>v.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 203.
.fn-
.fn #
Foxe, <i>Acts</i>, <abbr=five>v.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 225.
.fn-
.fn #
Romans, <abbr=six>vi.</abbr> 14.
.fn-
.fn #
Latimer, <i>Works</i>, <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 326 (Parker Soc.).
.fn-
.fn #
Foxe, <i>Acts</i>, <abbr=seven>vii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 454.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Plures longe fures esse quam pastores.’</lang>—Foxe, <i>Acts</i>, <abbr=seven>vii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 479.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Quibus latronibus suffocandis ne Angliæ totius canavum sufficere
prædicabas.’</lang>—Ibid. <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 478.
.fn-
.fn #
Strype, <abbr rend=arabic>i.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 245.
.fn-
.fn #
Strype, <abbr rend=arabic>i.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 245.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Crimina seu excessus graves personaliter responsurus.’</lang>—Ibid. <abbr=page>p.</abbr>
455.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Oportet pati et sic intrare.’</lang>—Latimer, <i>Works</i>, <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 351 (Parker
Soc.).
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Tempestive, itempestive, privatim, publice.’</lang>—Ibid.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Etiam si male vivant.’</lang>—Latimer, <i>Works</i>, <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 466 (Parker Soc.);
and Foxe, <i>Acts</i>, <abbr=seven>vii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 456.
.fn-
.fn #
‘I heard a pen walking in the chimney behind the cloth.’—Latimer,
<i>Sermons</i>, <abbr rend=arabic>i.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 294.
.fn-
.fn #
Foxe, <i>Acts</i>, <abbr=seven>vii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 455.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Non dicit omnia quæ vobis ipsis videntur prædicanda.’</lang>—Foxe, <i>Acts</i>,
<abbr=three>iii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 747.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Donec respirare licebit, stare non desinam.’</lang>—Ibid.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Tertio requisitus ut subscriberet, recusavit.’</lang>—Wilkins, <i>Concilia</i>, <abbr=three>iii.</abbr>
<abbr=page>p.</abbr> 747.
.fn-
.fn #
Strype, <i>Records</i>, <abbr rend=arabic>i.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 180.
.fn-
.fn #
Luther, <lang=de><i>Wieder die himmlischen Propheten</i></lang>, and <lang=fr><i>Explication du 6me
chapitre de <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Mathieu</i></lang>.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Fuit absolutus a sententia excommunicationis.’</lang>—Wilkins, <i>Concilia</i>,
<abbr=three>iii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 747.
.fn-
// File: 133.png
.pn +1
.sp 4
.h2 id=chap6-15
CHAPTER XV. | HENRY <abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr> ATTACKS THE PARTISANS OF THE POPE AND THE REFORMATION. | (1532.)
.sp 2
.sn Franciscans Preach At Henry.
The vital principle of the Reformation of Henry <abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr> was
its opposition both to Rome and the Gospel. He did not
hesitate, like many, between these two doctrines: he punished
alike, by exile or by fire, the disciples of the Vatican and
those of Holy Scripture.

Desiring to show that the resolution he had taken to separate
from Catherine was immutable, the king had lodged
Anne Boleyn in the palace at Greenwich, although the
queen was still there, and had given her a reception room
and a royal state. The crowd of courtiers, abandoning the
setting star, turned towards that which was appearing above
the horizon. Henry respected Anne’s person and was
eager that all the world should know that if she was not actually
queen she would be so one day. There was a want
of delicacy and principle in the king’s conduct, at which the
catholic party were much irritated, and not without a cause.

The monks of <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Francis who officiated in the royal
chapel at Greenwich took every opportunity of asserting
their attachment to Catherine and to the pope. Anne vainly
tried to gain them over by her charms; if she succeeded
with a few, she failed with the greater number. Their superior,
Father Forest, Catherine’s confessor, warmly defended
the rights of that unhappy princess. Preaching at <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr>
Paul’s Cross, he delivered a sermon in which Henry was
violently attacked, although he was not named. Those who
had heard it made a great noise about it, and Forest was
summoned to the court. ‘What will be done to him?’
people asked; but instead of sending him to prison, as many
// File: 134.png
.pn +1
expected, the king received him well, spoke with him for
half an hour, and ‘sent him a great piece of beef from his
own table.’

On returning to his convent, Forest described with triumph
this flattering reception; but the king did not attain
his object. Among these monks there were men of independent,
perhaps of fanatical, character, whom no favors
could gain over.

One of them, by name Peto, until then unknown, but afterwards
of great repute in the catholic world as cardinal
legate from the pope in England,[#] thinking that Forest had
not said enough, determined to go further. Anne Boleyn’s
elevation filled him with anger: he longed to speak out, and
as the king and all the court would be present in the chapel
on the 1st of May, he chose for his text the words of the
prophet Elijah to King Ahab: <i>The dogs shall lick thy blood</i>.[#]
He drew a portrait of Ahab, described his malice and wickedness,
and although he did not name Henry <abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr>, certain
passages made the hearers feel uncomfortable. At the peroration,
turning towards the king, he said: ‘Now hear, O
king, what I have to say unto thee, as of old time Micaiah
spoke to Ahab. This new marriage is unlawful. There are
other preachers who, to become rich abbots or mighty bishops,
betray thy soul, thy honor, and thy posterity. Take
heed lest thou, being seduced like Ahab, find Ahab’s punishment ...
who had his blood licked up by the dogs.’

The court was astounded; but the king, whose features
were unmoved during this apostrophe, waited until the end
of the service, left the chapel as if nothing had happened,
and allowed Peto to depart for Canterbury. But Henry
could not permit such invectives to pass unnoticed. A clergyman
named Kirwan was commissioned to preach in the
same chapel on the following Sunday. The congregation
was still more numerous than before, and more curious also.
// File: 135.png
.pn +1
Some monks of the order of Observants, friends of Peto, got
into the rood-loft, determined to defend him. The doctor began
his sermon. After establishing the lawfulness of Henry’s
intended marriage, he came to the sermon of the preceding
Sunday and the insults of the preacher. ‘I speak to thee,
Peto,’ he exclaimed, ‘who makest thyself Micaiah; we look for
thee, but thou art not to be found, having fled for fear and
shame.’ There was a noise in the rood-loft, and one of the Observants
named Elstow rose and called out: ‘You know that
Father Peto is gone to Canterbury to a provincial council, but
I am here to answer you. And to this combat I challenge
thee, Kirwan, prophet of lies, who for thy own vainglory art
betraying thy king into endless perdition.’

The chapel was instantly one scene of confusion: nothing
could be heard. Then the king rose: his princely stature,
his royal air, his majestic manners overawed the crowd.
All were silent, and the agitated congregation left the chapel
respectfully. Peto and his friend were summoned before
the council. ‘You deserve to be sewn in a sack and thrown
into the Thames,’ said one. ‘We fear nothing,’ answered
Elstow; ‘the way to heaven is as short by water as by
land.’[#]

Henry having thus made war on the partisans of the
pope, turned to those of the Reformation. Like a child, he
see-sawed to and fro, first on one side, then on the other;
but his sport was a more terrible one, for every time he
touched the ground the blood spurted forth.

.sn Christian Meetings In London.
At that time there were many Christians in England to
whom the Roman worship brought no edification. Having
procured Tyndale’s translation of the Word of God, they
felt that they possessed it not only for themselves but for
others. They sought each others company, and met together
to read the Bible and receive spiritual graces from
God. Several Christian assemblies of this kind had been
formed in London, in garrets, in warehouses, schools and
shops, and one of them was held in a warehouse in Bow
// File: 136.png
.pn +1
Lane. Among its frequenters was the son of a Gloucestershire
knight, James Bainham, by name, a man well read in
the classics, and a distinguished lawyer, respected by all for
his piety and works of charity. To give advice freely to
widows and orphans, to see justice done to the oppressed,
to aid poor students, protect pious persons, and visit the
prisons, were his daily occupations. ‘He was an earnest
reader of Scripture, and mightily addicted to prayer.’[#]
When he entered the meeting, every one could see that his
countenance expressed a calm joy; but for a month past
his Bow Lane friends noticed him to be agitated and cast
down, and heard him sighing heavily. The cause was this.
Sometime before (in 1531), when he was engaged about his
business in the Middle Temple, this ‘model of lawyers’ had
been arrested by order of More, who was still chancellor,
and taken like a criminal to the house of the celebrated humanist
at Chelsea. Sir Thomas, quite distressed at seeing a
man so distinguished leave the Church of Rome, had employed
all his eloquence to bring him back; but finding his
efforts useless, he had ordered Bainham to be taken into his
garden and tied to ‘the tree of truth.’ There the chancellor
whipped him, or caused him to be whipped: we adopt
the latter version, which is more probable.[#] Bainham having
refused to give the names of the gentlemen of the Temple
tainted with heresy, he was taken to the Tower. ‘Put
him on the rack,’ cried the learned chancellor, now become
a fanatical persecutor. The order was obeyed in his presence.
The arms and legs of the unfortunate protestant
were seized by the instrument and pulled in opposite directions;
his limbs were dislocated, and he went lame out of
the torture-chamber.[#]

.sn Bainham Persecuted.
Sir Thomas had broken his victim’s limbs, but not his
courage; and accordingly when Bainham was summoned
// File: 137.png
.pn +1
before the Bishop of London, he went to the palace rejoicing
to have to confess his Master once more. ‘Do you believe
in purgatory?’ said Stokesley to him sternly. Bainham
answered: ‘<i>The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all
sin</i>.’[#] ‘Do you believe that we ought to call upon the saints
to pray for us?’ He again answered: ‘<i>If any man sin, we
have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ the righteous</i>.’[#]

A man who answered only by texts from Scripture was
embarrassing. More and Stokesley made the most alluring
promises, and no means were spared to bend him.[#] Before
long they resorted to more serious representations: ‘The
arms of the Church your mother are still open to you,’ they
said; ‘but if you continue stubborn, they will close against
you forever. It is now or never!’ For a whole month
the bishop and the chancellor persevered in their entreaties;
Bainham replied: ‘My faith is that of the holy Church.’
Hearing these words, Foxford, the bishop’s secretary, took
out a paper. ‘Here is the abjuration,’ he said; ‘read it
over.’ Bainham began: ‘I voluntarily, as a true penitent
returned from my heresy, utterly abjure’.... At these
words he stopped, and glancing over what followed, he continued:
‘No, these articles are not heretical, and I cannot
retract them.’ Other springs were now set in motion to
shake Bainham. The prayers of his friends, the threats of
his enemies, especially the thought of his wife, whom he
loved, and who would be left alone in destitution, exposed
to the anger of the world: these things troubled his soul.
He lost sight of the narrow path he ought to follow, and
five days later he read his abjuration with a faint voice.
But he had hardly got to the end before he burst into tears,
and said, struggling with his emotion: ‘I reserve the doctrines.’
He consented to remain in the Roman Church, still
preserving his evangelical faith. But this was not what the
bishop and his officers meant. ‘Kiss that book,’ they said to
// File: 138.png
.pn +1
him threateningly. Bainham, like one stunned, kissed the
book; that was the sign; the adjuration was looked upon
as complete. He was condemned to pay a fine of twenty
pounds sterling, and to do penance at <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Paul’s Cross.
After that he was set at liberty, on the <abbr=seventeenth>17th</abbr> of February.

Bainham returned to the midst of his brethren: they
looked sorrowfully at him, but did not reproach him with
his fault. That was quite unnecessary. The worm of remorse
was preying on him; he abhorred the fatal kiss by
which he had sealed his fall; his conscience was never
quiet; he could neither eat nor sleep, and trembled at the
thought of death. At one time he would hide his anguish
and stifle it within his breast; at another his grief would
break forth, and he would try to relieve his pain by groans
of sorrow. The thought of appearing before the tribunal
of God made him faint. The restoration of conscience to
all its rights was the foremost work of the Reformation.
Luther, Calvin, and an endless number of more obscure reformers
had reached the haven of safety through the midst
of such tempests. ‘A tragedy was being acted in all protestant
souls,’ says a writer who does not belong to the Reformation—the
eternal tragedy of conscience.

Bainham felt that the only means of recovering peace was
to accuse himself openly before God and man. Taking
Tyndale’s New Testament in his hand, which was at once
his joy and his strength, he went to <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Austin’s church, sat
down quietly in the midst of the congregation, and then at a
certain moment stood up and said: ‘I have denied the
truth.’... He could not continue for his tears.[#] On
recovering, he said: ‘If I were not to return again to the
doctrine I have abjured, this word of Scripture would condemn
me both body and soul at the day of judgment.’ And
he lifted up the New Testament before all the congregation.
‘O my friends,’ he continued, ‘rather die than sin as I have
done. The fires of hell have consumed me, and I would
// File: 139.png
.pn +1
not feel them again for all the gold and glory of the
world.’[#]

Then his enemies seized him again and shut him up in the
bishop’s coal-cellar, where, after putting him in irons, they
left him for four days. He was afterwards taken to the
Tower, where he was scourged every day for a fortnight,
and at last condemned as a relapsed heretic.

.sn Bainham Executed.
On the eve of the execution four distinguished men, one
of whom was Latimer, were dining together in London. It
was commonly reported that Bainham was to be put to death
for saying that Thomas à Becket was a traitor worthy of
hell. ‘Is it worth a man’s while to sacrifice his life for such
a trifle?’ said the four friends. ‘Let us go to Newgate
and save him if possible.’ They were taken along several
gloomy passages, and found themselves at last in the presence
of a man, sitting on a little straw, holding a book in
one hand and a candle in the other.[#] He was reading;
it was Bainham. Latimer drew near him: ‘Take care,’ he
said, ‘that no vainglory make you sacrifice your life for motives
which are not worth the cost.’ ‘I am condemned,’ answered
Bainham, ‘for trusting in Scripture and rejecting
purgatory, masses, and meritorious works.’—‘I acknowledge
that for such truths a man must be ready to die.’
Bainham was ready; and yet he burst into tears. ‘Why do
you weep?’ asked Latimer. ‘I have a wife,’ answered the
prisoner, ‘the best that man ever had. A widow, destitute
of everything and without a supporter, everybody will point
at her and say, That is the heretic’s wife.’[#] Latimer and
his friends tried to console him, and then they departed
from the gloomy dungeon.

The next day (<abbr=thirtieth>30th</abbr> of April, 1532) Bainham was taken
to the scaffold. Soldiers on horseback surrounded the pile:
Master Pave, the city clerk, directed the execution. Bainham,
after a prayer, rose up, embraced the stake, and was
fastened to it with a chain. ‘Good people,’ he said to the
// File: 140.png
.pn +1
persons who stood round him, ‘I die for having said it is
lawful for every man and woman to have God’s book. I
die for having said that the true key of heaven is not that
of the Bishop of Rome, but the preaching of the Gospel.
I die for having said that there is no other purgatory than
the cross of Christ, with its consequent persecutions and
afflictions.’—‘Thou liest, thou heretic,’ exclaimed Pave;
‘thou hast denied the blessed sacrament of the altar.’—‘I
do not deny the sacrament of Christ’s body,’ resumed Bainham,
‘but I do deny your idolatry to a piece of bread.’—‘Light
the fire,’ shouted Pave. The executioners set fire
to a train of gunpowder, and as the flame approached him,
Bainham lifted up his eyes towards heaven, and said to
the town clerk: ‘God forgive thee! the Lord forgive Sir
Thomas More ... pray for me, all good people!’
The arms and legs of the martyr were soon consumed, and
thinking only how to glorify his Saviour, he exclaimed:
‘Behold! you look for miracles, you may see one here; for
in this fire I feel no more pain than if I were on a bed of
roses.’[#] The primitive Church hardly had a more glorious
martyr.

Pave had Bainham’s image continually before his eyes,
and his last prayer rang day and night in his heart. In the
garret of his house, far removed from noise, he had fitted
up a kind of oratory, where he had placed a crucifix, before
which he used to pray and shed bitter tears.[#] He abhorred
himself: half mad, he suffered indescribable sorrow, and
struggled under great anguish. The dying Bainham had
said to him: ‘May God show thee more mercy than thou
hast shown to me!’ But Pave could not believe in mercy:
he saw no other remedy for his despair than death. About
a year after Bainham’s martyrdom, he sent his domestics
and clerks on different errands, keeping only one servant-maid
in the house. As soon as his wife had gone to church,
he went out himself, bought a rope, and hiding it carefully
under his gown, went up into the garret. He stopped
// File: 141.png
.pn +1
before the crucifix, and began to groan and weep. The
servant ran upstairs. ‘Take this rusty sword,’ he said,
‘clean it well, and do not disturb me.’ She had scarcely
left the room when he fastened the rope to a beam and
hanged himself.

The maid, hearing no sound, again grew alarmed, went
up to the garret, and seeing her master hanging, was struck
with terror. She ran crying to the church to fetch her
mistress home;[#] but it was too late: the wretched man
could not be recalled to life.

.sn The True Church Of God.
If the deaths of the martyrs plunged the wicked into the
depths of despair, it often gave life to earnest souls. The
crowd which had surrounded the scaffold of these men of
God dispersed in profound emotion. Some returned to
their fields, others to their shops or workrooms; but the
pale faces of the martyrs followed them, their words sounded
in their souls, their virtues softened many hearts most
averse to the Gospel. ‘Oh! that I were with Bainham!’
exclaimed one.[#] These people continued for some time to
frequent the Romish churches but ere long their consciences
cried aloud to them: ‘It is Christ alone who saves
us;’ and they forsook the rites in which they could find no
consolation. They courted solitude; they procured the
writings of Wickliffe and of Tyndale, and especially the
New Testament, which they read in secret, and if any one
came near, hid them hastily under a bed, at the bottom of a
chest, in the hollow of a tree, or even under stones, until
the enemy had retired and they could take the books up
again. Then they whispered about them to their neighbors,
and often had the joy of meeting with men who thought as
they did. A surprising change was taking place. While
the priests were loudly chanting in the cathedrals the praises
of the saints, of the Virgin, and of the <i>Corpus Domini</i>, the
people were whispering together about the Saviour <i>meek and
lowly in heart</i>. All over England was heard a still, small
voice such as Elijah heard, and on hearing it wrapped his
// File: 142.png
.pn +1
face in his mantle and stood silent and motionless, because
the Lord was there. Great changes were about to take
place.

It is not without reason that we describe in some detail
in this history the lives and deaths of these evangelical men.
We desire to show that the Church in England, as in all
the world, is not a mere ecclesiastical hierarchy, in which
prelates exercise dominion over the inheritance of the Lord;
nor a confused assemblage of men, whose spirit imagines
about religion all kinds of doctrines contrary to the revelation
from heaven, and whose profession of faith comprehends
all the opinions that are found in the nation, from catholic
scholasticism to pantheistic materialism. The Church of
God, raised above the human systems of the superstitious
and the incredulous alike, is the assembly of those who by a
living faith are partakers of the righteousness of Christ and
of the new life of which the Holy Ghost is the creator—of
those in whom selfishness is vanquished, and who give
themselves up to the Saviour to achieve with their brethren
the conquest of the world. Such is the true Church of
God; very different, it will be seen, from all those invented
by man.

.fn #
Tyndale, <i>Treatises</i>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 38; Strype, <i>Memorials</i>, <abbr rend=arabic>i.</abbr> 257, <abbr=three>iii.</abbr>, <abbr=book>bk.</abbr> <abbr rend=arabic>i.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 257;
<abbr=book>bk.</abbr> <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 30, 136.
.fn-
.fn #
1 Kings <abbr='twenty-one'>xxi.</abbr> 19.
.fn-
.fn #
Tyndale, <i>Treatises</i>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 38. Stowe, <i>Annals</i>, 562.
.fn-
.fn #
Foxe <i>Acts</i>, <abbr=four>iv.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 697.
.fn-
.fn #
Both Strype (<i>Memorials</i>, <abbr rend=arabic>i.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 35) and Foxe (<i>Acts</i>, <abbr=four>iv.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 698) say, <i>and
whipped him</i>; but More denied it.
.fn-
.fn #
‘Sir Thomas More being present himself, till in a manner he had
lamed him.’—Foxe, <i>Acts</i>, <abbr=four>iv.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 698.
.fn-
.fn #
1 John <abbr rend=arabic>i.</abbr> 7.
.fn-
.fn #
Ibid. <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> 1.
.fn-
.fn #
Foxe, <i>Acts</i>, <abbr=four>iv.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 700.
.fn-
.fn #
‘Stood up there before the people in his pew with weeping tears.’—Foxe,
<i>Acts</i>, <abbr=four>iv.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 702.
.fn-
.fn #
‘He would not feel such a hell again as he did feel.’—Ibid.
.fn-
.fn #
Strype, <i>Annals</i>, <abbr rend=arabic>i.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 372.
.fn-
.fn #
Ibid.
.fn-
.fn #
Foxe, <i>Acts</i>, <abbr=four>iv.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 705.
.fn-
.fn #
Ibid.
.fn-
.fn #
Foxe, <i>Acts</i>, <abbr=four>iv.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 706.
.fn-
.fn #
Ibid. <abbr=five>v.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 32.
.fn-
.sp 4
.h2 id=chap6-16
CHAPTER XVI. | THE NEW PRIMATE OF ALL ENGLAND. | (<sc>February 1532 to March 1533.</sc>)
.sp 2
A man who for more than thirty years had had an important
voice in the management of the ecclesiastical affairs
of the kingdom now disappeared from the scene to give
place to the most influential of the reformers of England.
Warham, Archbishop of Canterbury, a learned canonist, a
skilful politician, a dexterous courtier, and the friend of
// File: 143.png
.pn +1
letters, had made it his special work to exalt the sacerdotal
prerogative, and to that end had had recourse to the surest
means, by fighting against the idleness, ignorance, and corruption
of the priests. He had even hoped for a reform of
the clergy, provided it emanated from episcopal authority.
But when he saw another reformation accomplished in the
name of God’s Word, without priests and against the priests,
he turned round and began to persecute the reformers, and
to strengthen the papal authority. Alarmed at the proceedings
of the Commons, he sent for three notaries, on the <abbr='twenty-fourth'>24th</abbr>
February, 1532, and protested in their presence against
every act of parliament derogatory to the authority of the
Roman pontiff.[#]

.sn Death Of Warham.
On the <abbr='twenty-second'>22d</abbr> August of the same year, just at the very
height of the crisis, ‘the second pope,’ as he was sometimes
called, was removed from his see by death, and the people
anxiously wondered who would be appointed to his vacant
place.

The choice was important, for the nomination might be
the symbol of what the Church of England was to be.
Would he be a prelate devoted to the pope, like Fisher; or
a catholic favorable to the divorce, like Gardiner; or a
moderate evangelical attached to the king, like Cranmer;
or a decided reformer, like Latimer? At this moment,
when a new era was beginning for Christendom, it was of
consequence to know whom England would take for her
guide; whether she would march at the head of civilization,
like Germany, or bring up the rear, like Spain and Italy.
The king did not favor either extreme, and hesitated between
the two other candidates. All things considered, he had no
confidence in such men as Longland and Gardiner, who
might promise and not fulfil. He wanted somebody less
political than the one and less fanatical than the other,—a
man separated from the pope on principle, and not merely
for convenience.
// File: 144.png
.pn +1

Cranmer, after passing a few months at Rome, had returned
to England.[#] Then, departing again for Germany on a
mission from the king, he had arrived at Nuremburg, probably
in the autumn of 1531. He examined with interest
that ancient city,—its beautiful churches, its monumental
fountains, its old and picturesque castle; but there was
something that attracted him more than all these things.
Being present at the celebration of the sacrament, he noticed
that while the priest was muttering the Gospel in
Latin at the altar, the deacon went up into the pulpit, and
read it aloud in German.[#] He saw that, although there
was still some appearance of catholicism in Nuremburg, in
reality the Gospel reigned there. One man’s name often
came up in the conversations he had with the principal
persons in the city. They spoke to him of Osiander as of
a man of great eloquence.[#] Cranmer followed the crowd
which poured into the church of <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Lawrence, and was
struck with the minister’s talent and piety. He sought his
acquaintance, and the two doctors had many a conversation
together, either in Cranmer’s house or in Osiander’s study;
and the German divine, being gained over to the cause of
Henry <abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr>, published shortly after a book on unlawful
marriages.

.sn Osiander’s Error.
Cranmer, who had an affectionate heart, loved to join the
simple meals, the pious devotions, and the friendly conversations
at Osiander’s house: he was soon almost like a
member of the family. But, although his intimacy with
the Nuremburg pastor grew stronger every day, he did not
adopt all his opinions. When Osiander told him that he
must substitute the authority of Holy Scripture for that of
Rome, Cranmer gave his full assent; but the Englishman
perceived that the German entertained views different from
Luther’s on the justification of the sinner. ‘What justifies
// File: 145.png
.pn +1
us,’ he said, ‘is not the imputation of the merits of Christ by
faith, but the inward communication of his righteousness.’
‘Christ,’ said Cranmer, ‘has paid the price of our redemption
by the sacrifice of his body and the fulfilling of the law;
and if we heartily believe in this work which he has perfected,
we are justified. The justified man must be sanctified,
and must work good works; but it is not the works
that justify him.’[#] The conversation of the two friends
turned also upon the Lord’s Supper. Whatever may have
been Cranmer’s doctrine before, he soon came (like Calvin)
to place the real presence of Christ not in the wafer which
the priest holds between his fingers, but in the heart of the
believer.[#]

In June, 1532, the protestant and Roman-catholic delegates
arrived at Nuremburg to arrange the religious peace.
The celibacy of the clergy immediately became one of the
points discussed. It appeared to the chiefs of the papacy
impossible to concede that article. ‘Rather abolish the mass
entirely,’ exclaimed the Archbishop of Mayence, ‘than permit
the marriage of priests.’ ‘They must come to that at last,’ said
Luther; ‘God is overthrowing the mighty from their seat.’[#]
Cranmer was of his opinion. ‘It is better,’ he said, ‘for a
minister to have his own wife than to have other men’s
wives, like the priests.’[#] ‘What services may not a pious
wife do for the pastor her husband,’ added Osiander, ‘among
the poor, the women, and the children?’

Cranmer had lost his wife at Cambridge, and his heart
yearned for affection. Osiander’s family presented him a
touching picture of domestic happiness. One of its members
was a niece of Osiander’s wife.[#] Cranmer, charmed
with her piety and candor, and hoping to find in her the
// File: 146.png
.pn +1
virtuous woman who is a crown to her husband, asked her
hand and married her, not heeding the unlawful command
of those who ‘forbid to marry.’[#]

Still Cranmer did not forget his mission. The King of
England was desirous of forming an alliance with the German
protestants, and his agent made overtures to the electoral
prince of Saxony. ‘First of all,’ answered the pious
John Frederick, ‘the two kings (of France and England)
must be in harmony with us as to the articles of faith.’[#]
The alliance failed; but at the same moment, affairs took
an unexpected turn. The emperor, who was marching
against Solyman, desired the help of the King of England,
and Granvelle had some talk with Cranmer on the subject.
The latter was procuring carriages, horses, boats, tents, and
other things necessary for his journey, with the intention of
rejoining the emperor at Lintz, when a courier suddenly
brought him orders to return to London.[#] It was very
vexatious. Just as he was on the point of concluding an
alliance with the nephew of Queen Catherine, in which the
matter of the divorce would consequently be arranged,
Henry’s envoy had to give up everything. He wondered
anxiously what could be the motive of this sudden and extraordinary
recall. The letters of his friends explained it.

.sn Cranmer’s Hesitation.
Warham was dead, and the king thought of Cranmer to
succeed him as Archbishop of Canterbury and primate of all
England. The reformer was greatly moved: ‘Alas,’ he
exclaimed, ‘no man has ever desired a bishopric less than
myself.[#] If I accept it, I must resign the delights of study
and the calm sweetness of an obscure condition.’[#] Knowing
Henry’s domineering character and his peculiar religious
principles, Cranmer thought that with him the reformation
of England was impossible. He saw himself exposed
to disputes without end: there would be no more peace for
// File: 147.png
.pn +1
the most peaceable of men. A brilliant career, an exalted
position—he was terrified. ‘My conscience,’ he said, ‘rebels
against this call. Wretch that I am! I see nothing
but troubles and conflicts and insurmountable dangers in
my path.’

Upon mature reflection, Cranmer thought he might get
out of his difficulty by gaining time, hoping that the king,
who did not like delays, would doubtless give the see to another.[#]
He sent an answer that important affairs prevented
his return to England. Solyman had retreated before the
emperor; the latter had determined to pass through Italy to
Spain, and had appointed a meeting with the pope at Piacenza
or Genoa. Henry’s ambassador thought it his duty to
neutralize the fatal consequences of this interview; and
Charles having left Vienna on the <abbr=fourth>4th</abbr> of October, Cranmer
followed him two days later. The exalted dignity that
awaited him oppressed him like the nightmare. On his
road he found neither inhabitants nor food, and hay was his
only bed.[#] Sometimes he crossed battle-fields covered with
the carcasses of Turks and Christians. A comet appeared
in the east foreboding some tragic event. Many declared
they had seen a flaming sword in the heavens. ‘These
strange signs,’ he wrote to Henry,’announce some great
mutation.’[#] Cranmer and his colleagues could not gain the
pope to their side. Several months passed away, during
which men’s minds became so excited, that the cardinals
forgot all decorum. ‘Alas!’ says a catholic historian, ‘all
the time this affair continued, they went to the consistory as
if they were going to a play.’[#] Charles <abbr='the fifth'>V.</abbr> prevailed at
last.

Then came that famous interview (October 1532) between
the kings of France and England at Calais and Boulogne,
// File: 148.png
.pn +1
which we have described elsewhere;[#] and the two princes
having come to an understanding, Henry thought seriously
of bringing the matter to an end. Did he marry Anne Boleyn
at that time? Everything seems to point in that direction;
and if we are to believe some of the most trustworthy
historians, the marriage took place in the following month of
November.[#] Perhaps it was quite a private wedding, the
legal formalities not being completed. Contemporary testimony
is at variance, and the point has not been cleared up.
In any case, Henry determined to wait before making the
marriage public. The conference the pope was about to
hold at Bologna with the ambassador of Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr>; the
probability of an interview between the king of France and
the pontiff at Marseilles, which might give a new aspect to
the great affair; and perhaps the desire to confer about it
with Cranmer, for whom he destined the see of Canterbury—seem
to have induced the prince to defer the ceremony
for a few weeks. He lost no time, however, in summoning
the future primate to London.

A report having circulated in Italy, that the king was
about to place Cranmer at the head of the English Church,
the imperial court treated him with unusual consideration.
Charles <abbr='the fifth'>V.</abbr>, his ministers, and the foreign ambassadors, said
openly that such a man richly deserved to hold a high place
in the favor and government of the king his master.[#] About
the middle of November, the emperor gave Cranmer his
farewell audience; and the latter arrived in England not
long after. Not wishing to act in opposition to general
usage and clerical opinion, he thought it more prudent to
leave his wife for a time with Osiander. He sent for her
// File: 149.png
.pn +1
somewhat later, but she was never presented at court. It
was not necessary, and it might only have embarrassed the
pious German lady.

.sn Cranmer And The King.
As soon as Cranmer reached London, he waited upon the
king, being quite engrossed in thinking of what was about
to take place between his sovereign and himself. Henry
went straight to the point: he told him that he had nominated
him Archbishop of Canterbury. Cranmer objected,
but the king would take no refusal. In vain did the divine
urge his reasons: the monarch was firm. It was no slight
matter to contend with Henry <abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr> Cranmer was alarmed
at the effect produced by his resistance. ‘Your Highness,’
he said, ‘I most humbly implore your Grace’s pardon.’[#]

When he left the king, he hurried off to his friends, particularly
to Cromwell. The burden which Henry was laying
upon him seemed more insupportable than ever. Knowing
how difficult it is to resist a prince of despotic character,
he foresaw conflicts and perhaps compromises, which would
embitter his life, and he could not make up his mind to sacrifice
his happiness to the imperious will of the monarch.
‘Take care,’ said his friends, ‘it is as dangerous to refuse a
favor from so absolute a prince as to insult him.’ But
Cranmer’s conscience was concerned in his refusal. ‘I feel
something within me,’ he said,[#] ‘which rebels against the
supremacy of the pope, and all the superstitions to which I
should have to submit as primate of England. No, I will
not be a bishop!’ He might sacrifice his repose and his
happiness, expose himself to painful struggles; but to recognize
the pope and submit to his jurisdiction was an insurmountable
obstacle. His friends shook their heads.
‘Your <lang=la><i>nolo episcopari</i></lang>,’ they said, ‘will not hold against our
master’s <lang=la><i>volo te episcopum esse</i></lang>.[#] And after all, what is it?
Permitting the king to place you at the summit of honors
and power.... You refuse all that men desire.’ ‘I
// File: 150.png
.pn +1
would sooner forfeit my life,’ answered Cranmer, ‘than do
anything against my conscience to gratify my ambition.’[#]

Henry vexed at these delays, again summoned Cranmer to
the palace, and bade him speak without fear. ‘If I accept
this office,’ replied that sincere man, ‘I must receive it from
the hands of the pope, and this my conscience will not permit
me to do.... Neither the pope nor any other foreign
prince has authority in this realm.’[#] Such a reason as
this had great weight with Henry. He was silent for a little
while as if reflecting,[#] and then said to Cranmer: ‘Can
you prove what you have just said?’ ‘Certainly I can,’
answered the doctor; ‘Holy Scripture and the Fathers support
the supreme authority of kings in their kingdoms, and
thus prove the claims of the pope to be a miserable usurpation.’

Such a statement bound Henry to take another step in his
reforms. As he had not yet thought of establishing bishops
and archbishops without the pope, he sent for some learned
lawyers, and asked them how he could confer the episcopal
dignity on Cranmer without wounding the conscience of the
future primate. The lawyers proposed, that as Cranmer
refused to submit to the Roman primacy, some one should
be sent to Rome to do in his stead all that the law required.
‘Let another do it if he likes,’ said Cranmer, ‘but <lang=la><i>super animam
suam</i></lang>, at the risk of his soul. As for me I declare I
will not acknowledge the authority of the pope any further
than it agrees with the Word of God; and that I reserve
the right of speaking against him and of attacking his errors.’

The lawyers found bad precedents to justify a bad measure.
‘Archbishop Warham,’ they said, ‘while preserving
the advantages he derived from the state, protested against
everything the state did prejudicial to Rome. If the deceased
archbishop preserved the rights of the papacy, why
should not the new one preserve those of the kingdom?...
// File: 151.png
.pn +1
Besides (they added) the pope knows very well that when
they make oath to him, every bishop does so <lang=la><i>salvo ordine
meo</i></lang>, without prejudice to the rights of his order.’[#]

It having been conceded that in the act of consecration
‘the rights of the word of God’ should be reserved, Cranmer
consented to become primate of England. Henry
<abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr>, who was less advanced in practice than in theory, all
the same demanded of Clement <abbr='the seventh'>VII.</abbr> the bulls necessary for
the inauguration of the new archbishop. The pontiff only
too happy to have still something to say to England, hastened
to dispatch them, addressing them directly to Cranmer himself.
But the latter who would accept nothing from the
pope, sent them to the king, declaring that he would not receive
his appointment from Rome.[#]

.sn Cranmer’s Protest.
By accepting the call that was addressed to him, Cranmer
meant to break with the order of the Middle Ages, and re-establish,
so far as was in his power, that of the Gospel.
But he would not conceal his intentions: all must be done in
the light of day. On the <abbr=thirtieth>30th</abbr> of March, 1533, he summoned
to the chapter-house of Westminster Watkins, the king’s
prothonotary, with other dignitaries of the Church and
State. On entering, he took up a paper, and read aloud
and distinctly: ‘I, Thomas, Archbishop of Canterbury, protest
openly, publicly, and expressly,[#] that I will not bind
myself by oath to anything contrary to the law of God,
the rights of the King of England, and the laws of the
realm; and that I will not be bound in aught that concerns
liberty of speech, the government of the Church of
England, and the reformation of all things that may seem
to be necessary to be reformed therein. If my representative
with the pope has taken in my name an oath contrary
to my duty, I declare that he has done so without my knowledge,
// File: 152.png
.pn +1
and that the said oath shall be null. I desire this protest
to be repeated at each period of the present ceremony.’[#]
Then turning to the prothonotary: ‘I beg you to prepare as
many copies as may be necessary of this my protest.’

Cranmer left the chapter-house and entered the abbey,
where the clergy and a numerous crowd awaited him. He
was not satisfied with once declaring his independence of
the papacy; he desired to do it several times. The greater
the antiquity of the Romish power in Britain, the more he
felt the necessity of proclaiming the supremacy of the divine
Word. Having put on his sacerdotal robes, Cranmer
stood at the top of the steps of the high altar, and said,
turning towards the assembly: ‘I declare that I take the
oath required of me only under the reserve contained in the
protest I have made this day in the chapter-house.’ Then
bending his knees before the altar, he read it a second time
in presence of the bishops, priests, and people;[#] after which
the bishops of Lincoln, Exeter, and <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Asaph consecrated
him to the episcopate.

The archbishop, standing before the altar, prepared to receive
the pallium, but first he had a duty to fulfil: if he sacrificed
his repose, he did not intend to sacrifice his convictions.
For the third time he took up the protest, and again
read it[#] before the immense crowd that filled the cathedral.[#]
The accustomed order of the ceremony having been
twice interrupted by an extraordinary declaration, all were
at liberty to praise or blame the action of the prelate as they
pleased. Cranmer having thus thrice published his reserves,
read at last the oath which the Archbishops of Canterbury
were accustomed to make to <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Peter and to the holy apostolic
Church of Rome, with the usual protest: <lang=la><i>salvo meo
ordine</i></lang> (without prejudice to my order).
// File: 153.png
.pn +1

Cranmer’s triple protest was an act of Christian decision.
Some time afterwards he said: ‘I made that protest in good
faith: I always loved simplicity and hated falseness.’ But
it was wrong of him to use after it the formula ordinarily
employed in consecrations. Doubtless it was nothing more
than a form; a form that was imposed by the king, and
Cranmer protested against all the bad it might contain:
still ‘it is necessary to walk consistently in all things,’
as Calvin says;[#] and we here meet with one of those weaknesses
which sometimes appear in the life of the pious reformer
of England. He ought at no price to have made
oath to the pope; that oath was a stain which in some
measure tinged the whole of his episcopate. Yet if we
were to condemn him severely, we should be forgetting that
striking truth—<i>in many things we offend all</i>. Cranmer
was the first in the breach, and he has claims to the consideration
of those who are comfortably established in a position
gained by him with so much suffering. The energy
with which he thrice proclaimed his independence deserves
our admiration. Nevertheless all weakness is a fault, and
when that fault is committed in high station it may lead to
fatal consequences. The sanctity of the oath taken by
churchmen was compromised by Cranmer’s act, and we
have seen in later times other divines secretly communing
with Romish doctrines while appearing to reject popery.
There have sometimes been disguised papists in the protestant
Church of England.

.sn Cranmer’s Labors.
After the ceremony the new archbishop returned to his
place at Lambeth. From that hour this patron of letters, a
scholar himself, a truly pious man, a distinguished preacher,
and of indefatigable industry, never ceased to labor for the
good of the Church. He was able to introduce Christian
faith into many hearts, and sometimes to defend it against
the king’s ill-humor. He constantly endeavored to spread
around him moderation, charity, truth, piety, and peace.
When Cranmer became primate of all England, on the
// File: 154.png
.pn +1
<abbr=thirtieth>30th</abbr> of March, 1533, in that cathedral of Westminster, the
burial-place of kings, the papal order was interred, and it
might be foreseen that the apostolic order would be revived.
England preserved episcopacy because it was the form under
which she had received Christianity in the second century,
and because she thought it necessary for the functions of inspection
and government in the Church. But she rejected
that Roman superstition which makes bishops the sole successors
of the apostles, and maintains that they are invested
with an indelible character and a spiritual power which no
other minister possesses.[#] ‘Most assuredly,’ said Cranmer,
‘at the beginning of the religion of Christ, bishops and
presbyters (priests) were not two things, but one only.’[#]
He declared that a bishop was not necessary to make a pastor;
that not only presbyters possessed this right, but ‘<i>the
people also by their election</i>.’ ‘Before there were Christian
princes, it was the people,’ he said, ‘who generally elected
the bishops and priests.’ Cranmer was not the only man
who professed these principles, which make of the episcopalian
and the presbyterian constitution two varieties, having
many things in common. The most venerable fathers
of the Anglican Church—Pilkington, Coverdale, Whitgift,
Fulke, Tyndale, Jewel, Bradford, Becon, and others—have
acknowledged the identity of bishops and presbyters. By
the Reformation, England belongs not to the papistical system
of episcopacy, but to the evangelical system. A public
act which would bring back that Church to her holy origin,
would be a source of great prosperity to her.

The great reformers of England did not separate from
Rome only, but also from the semi-catholicism that was intended
to be substituted for it. To them the spirit and the
life were in the ministry of the Word of God, and not in
rites and ceremonies. By their noble example they have
called all men of God to follow them.

.fn #
<lang=la>‘Protestamur quod nolumus alicui statuto edito in derogationem
Romani pontificis consentire.’</lang>—Wilkins, <i>Concilia</i>, <abbr=three>iii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 746.
.fn-
.fn #
There is a letter of his dated from Hampton Court, <abbr=twelfth>12th</abbr> June, 1531.
.fn-
.fn #
Cotton <abbr=manuscript>Ms.</abbr>, Vitellius, <abbr=book>bk.</abbr> <abbr='twenty-one'>xxi.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 54.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Commendatus primoribus civitatis facundia sua.’</lang>—Camerarius
<i>Melanchthonis Vita</i>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 285.
.fn-
.fn #
‘It excludeth them from the office of justifying.’—<i>Homily of Salvation.</i>
Cranmer, <i>Works</i>, <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 129 (Parker Soc.).
.fn-
.fn #
‘Christ is corporally in heaven and spiritually in his lively members.’—Cranmer,
<i>On the Lord’s Supper</i>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 33.
.fn-
.fn #
Lutheri <i>Opp.</i> <abbr='twenty-two'>xxii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 1808.
.fn-
.fn #
Cranmer, <i>Works</i>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 219 (Parker Soc.).
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Hæc erat neptis uxoris Osiandri.’</lang>—Godwin, <i>Annales Angl.</i> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 167.
.fn-
.fn #
1 Timothy <abbr=four>iv.</abbr> 3.
.fn-
.fn #
Seckendorf, <i>Hist. Lutheranismi</i>, 1532.
.fn-
.fn #
Cranmer, <i>Remains</i>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 232.
.fn-
.fn #
Cranmer, <i>Remains</i>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 332.
.fn-
.fn #
Foxe, <i>Acts</i>, <abbr=eight>viii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 65.
.fn-
.fn #
‘Thinking that he would be forgetful of me in the meantime.’—Cranmer,
<i>Remains</i>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 216.
.fn-
.fn #
‘I found in no town, man, woman, nor child, meat, drink, nor bedding.’—Cranmer,
<i>Remains</i>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 223.
.fn-
.fn #
Ibid, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 225.
.fn-
.fn #
Le Grand, <i>Histoire du Divorce</i>, <abbr rend=arabic>i.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 229.
.fn-
.fn #
<i>History of the Reformation of the Sixteenth Century</i>, <abbr=tome>tom.</abbr> <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=book>bk.</abbr> <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=chapter>ch.</abbr>
<abbr='twenty-one'>xxi.</abbr>
.fn-
.fn #
This is the date given by Hall, <i>Chronicles</i>, <abbr=folio>fol.</abbr> 209; Holinshed, <i>Chronicles</i>,
<abbr=three>iii</abbr>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 629; Strype, <i>Cranmer’s Mem.</i> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 16; Collyers, <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 71. Others
hesitate between November and January (1533); Burnet, <abbr rend=arabic>i.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 121;
Herbert, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 369; Benger, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 336, &c.
.fn-
.fn #
‘They judge him a man right worthy to be high in favor and authority
with his prince.’—<i>State Papers</i> (Henry <abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr>) <abbr=seven>vii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 391.
.fn-
.fn #
Foxe, <i>Acts</i>, <abbr=eight>viii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 66.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Aliquid intus.’</lang>
.fn-
.fn #
‘I am unwilling to be made a bishop.’ ‘I desire you to be a bishop.’—Fuller,
<i>Eccl. Hist.</i> <abbr=book>bk.</abbr> <abbr=five>v.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 184.
.fn-
.fn #
Foxe, <i>Acts</i>, <abbr=eight>viii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 66.
.fn-
.fn #
Cranmer, <i>Remains</i>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 223.
.fn-
.fn #
Ibid.
.fn-
.fn #
Bossuet makes this remark when speaking of Cranmer’s oath.—<lang=fr><i>Histoire
des Variations</i></lang>, <abbr=book>liv.</abbr> <abbr=seven>vii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 11.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Quas bullas obtulit tum regi.’</lang> Lambeth <abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr> <abbr=number>No.</abbr> 1136.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Palam et publice et expresse protestor.’</lang>—Wilkins, <i>Concilia</i>, <abbr=three>iii.</abbr>
<abbr=page>p.</abbr> 757.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Quas protestationes in omnibus clausulis et sententiis dictorum juramentorum
repetitas et recitatas volo.’</lang>—Wilkins, <i>Concilia</i>, <abbr=three>iii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 757.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Eandem sedulam perlegit.’</lang>—Lambeth <abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr> <abbr=number>No.</abbr> 2106.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Qua protestatione per eundem reverendissimum tertio facta.’</lang>—Ibid.
.fn-
.fn #
‘In the presence of so much people as the church could hold.’—Card.
Pole.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>‘Il faut marcher rondement en toutes choses.’</lang>
.fn-
.fn #
Concilium Tridentinum, Sessio prima.
.fn-
.fn #
Resolutions of certain bishops. Burnet, <i>Records</i>, <abbr=book>bk.</abbr> <abbr=three>iii.</abbr> <abbr=article>art.</abbr> 21;
Cranmer, <i>Remains</i>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 117.
.fn-
// File: 155.png
.pn +1
.sp 4
.h2 id=chap6-17
CHAPTER XVII. | QUEEN CATHERINE DESCENDS FROM THE THRONE, AND QUEEN ANNE BOLEYN ASCENDS IT. | (<sc>November 1532 to July 1553.</sc>)
.sp 2
Cranmer was on the archiepiscopal throne: if Anne
Boleyn were now to take her seat on the royal throne by
the side of Henry, it was the pope’s opinion that everything
would be lost. Clement recurred once more to his favorite
suggestion of bigamy, already advised by him in 1528 and
1530. True, this suggestion could not be acceptable either
to Henry or to Charles <abbr='the fifth'>V.</abbr>, but that made it all the better
in the eyes of the pontiff: he would then have the appearance
of assenting to the king’s plans without running the
least risk of seeing them realized. ‘Rather than do what
his Majesty asks,’ he said to one of the English envoys, ‘I
would prefer granting him the necessary dispensation to
have two wives: that would be a smaller scandal.’[#]

.sn Tenacity Of The Pope.
The tenacity with which the pope advised Henry again
and again to commit the crime of bigamy has not prevented
the most illustrious advocates of catholicism from exclaiming
that ‘to have two wives at once is a mystery of iniquity, of
which there is no example in Christendom.’[#] A singular
assertion after a cardinal and then a pope had on several
occasions advised what they called ‘a mystery of iniquity.’
Again, for the third time, the king refused a remedy that
was worse than the disease.

The pope wished at any price to prevent Rome from losing
England; and turning to the other side, he resolved to
// File: 156.png
.pn +1
try to gain over Charles <abbr='the fifth'>V.</abbr> and prevail upon him not to
oppose the divorce. In order to succeed, Clement determined
to undertake a journey to Bologna in the worst
season of the year. He started on the <abbr=eighteenth>18th</abbr> of November
with six cardinals and a certain number of attendants, and
took twenty days to reach that city by way of Perugia.
Most of his officers had done everything to dissuade him
from this painful expedition, but in vain. The rain fell in
torrents; the rivers were swollen and unfordable; the roads
muddy and broken up; the mules sank of fatigue one after
another; the couriers who preceded him solicited the pope
to travel on foot: and at last his Holiness’s favorite mule
broke its leg. It mattered not: he must oppose the Reformation
of England: the poor pontiff, already sick, had but
this one idea. But the discomforts of the journey increased;
the pope often arrived at inns where there was no bed, and
had to sleep among the straw.[#] At last he reached Bologna
on the <abbr=seventh>7th</abbr> of December, but in such a plight that, notwithstanding
his love for ceremonies, he entered the city furtively.

Another disappointment awaited him. The Cardinal of
Ancona died, the most influential member of the Sacred
College, and on whom Clement relied to gain over the emperor,
who greatly respected him. But this did not cool
the pontiff’s zeal: ‘I am thoroughly decided to please the
king in this great matter,’[#] he said to Henry’s envoys, and
added: ‘To have universal concord between all the princes
of Christendom, I would give a joint of my hand.’[#] In fact
Clement set to work and went so far as to tell Charles that,
according to the theologians, the pope had no right to grant a
dispensation for a marriage between brother and sister; but
the emperor was immovable. The pope then proposed a
// File: 157.png
.pn +1
truce of three or four years between Henry, Francis, and
Charles, during which he would convoke a general council,
to whom he would remit the whole affair. Francis informed
Henry that all this was nothing but a trick.[#]

.sn Henry Marries Anne Boleyn.
The king, convinced that the pope was trifling with him,
no longer hesitated to follow the course which the interests
of his people and his own happiness seemed to point out.
He determined that Anne Boleyn should be his wife and
Queen of England also. It was now that, according to the
second hypothesis, the marriage took place. Cranmer states
in a letter written on the <abbr=seventeenth>17th</abbr> of June, 1533, that he did
not perform the ceremony, that he did not hear of it until a
fortnight after, and that it was celebrated ‘much about Saint
Paul’s day last[#] (<abbr='twenty-fifth'>25th</abbr> of January, 1533). Which date
must we accept: this, or the <abbr=fifteenth>15th</abbr> of November, given by
Hall, Hollinshed, Burnet, and others? Cranmer’s language
is not precise enough to settle the question.

Whatever may have been the date of the marriage—November
or January—it became the universal topic of
conversation in the beginning of 1533; people did not speak
of it publicly, but in private, some attacking and others
defending it. If the members of the Romish party circulated
ridiculous stories and outrageous calumnies against
Anne, the members of the national party replied that the
purity of her life, her moderation, her chastity, her mildness,
her discretion, her noble and exalted parentage, her pleasing
manners, and (they added somewhat later) her fitness to
give a successor to the crown of England, made her worthy
of the royal favor.[#] Men may have gone too far in their
reproaches as well as in their eulogies.

This important step on the part of Henry <abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr> was accompanied
with an explosion of murmurs against Clement <abbr='the seventh'>VII.</abbr>
‘The pope,’ he said, ‘wanders from the path of the Redeemer,
// File: 158.png
.pn +1
who was obedient in this world to princes. What!
must a prince submit to the arrogance of a human being
whom God has put under him? Must a king humble himself
before that man above whom he stands by the will of
God? No! that would be a perversion of the order God
has established.’ This is what Henry represented to Francis
through Lord Rochford;[#] but the words did not touch
the King of France, for the emperor was just then making
several concessions to him, and the evangelicals of Paris
were annoying him. From that hour the cordial feeling
between the two monarchs gradually decreased. England
turned her eyes more and more towards the Gospel, and
France towards Rome. Just at the time when Anne Boleyn
was about to reign in the palaces of Whitehall and
Windsor, Catherine de Medicis was entering those of <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr>
Germain and Fontainebleau. The contrast between the
two nations became daily more distinct and striking: England
was advancing towards liberty, and France towards
the dragonnades.

.sn Brief Of Excommunication.
The divorce between Rome and Whitehall soon became
manifest. A brief of Clement <abbr='the seventh'>VII.</abbr> posted in February on
the doors of all the churches in Flanders, in the states of
the king’s enemy, and as near to England as possible,
attracted a great number of readers.[#] ‘What shall we do?’
said the pontiff to Henry. ‘Shall we neglect thy soul’s
safety?... We exhort thee, our son, under pain of
excommunication, to restore Queen Catherine to the royal
honors which are due to her, to cohabit with her, and to
cease to associate publicly with Anne; and that within a
month from the day on which this brief shall be presented
to thee. Otherwise, when the said term shall have elapsed,
we pronounce thee and the said Anne to be <i>ipso facto</i> excommunicate,
// File: 159.png
.pn +1
and command all men to shun and avoid your
presence.’[#] It would appear that this document, demanded
by the imperialists, had been posted throughout Flanders
without the pope’s knowledge.[#]

A copy was immediately forwarded to the king by his
agents. He was surprised and agitated, but believed at last
that it was forged by his enemies.[#] How could he imagine
that the pope, just at the very time he was showing the king
especial marks of his affection,[#] would (even conditionally)
have anathematized and isolated him in the midst of his
people? Henry sent a copy of the document to Benet, his
agent at Rome, and desired him to ascertain carefully
whether it did really proceed from the pope or not.

Benet presented the document to Clement as a paper
forwarded to him by his friends in Flanders. The latter
was ‘ashamed and in great perplexity,’ wrote the envoy.[#]
He then read it again more attentively, stopped at certain
passages, and seemed as if he were choking. Having come
to the end, he expressed his surprise, and pretended that
the copy differed from the original. ‘There is one mistake
in particular which almost chokes the pope every time it is
mentioned,’ wrote Benet to Cromwell. This mistake was
the including of Queen Anne Boleyn in the censure, without
giving her previous warning, which (they said) was contrary
to all the commandments of God. Accordingly Dr. Benet
received orders to bring up this mistake frequently in his
audiences with the pope; and he did not fail to do so. At
this moment, in which he was about to lose England, the
pope was more uneasy at having committed an error of
// File: 160.png
.pn +1
form with regard to Anne Boleyn than with having struck
the monarch of a powerful kingdom with an interdict.
There is, besides, no doubt that he dictated the unhappy
phrase himself.

Benet and his friends took advantage of the pope’s vexation,
and even increased it: they communicated the brief to
the dignitaries of the Church in Clement’s household, and
the latter acknowledged that the document must be offensive
to his Majesty of England, and that ‘the pope was much to
blame.’[#] Benet transmitted the pontiff’s <i>errata</i> to the king,
but it was too late: the blow had taken effect. The indignant
Henry was about to proceed ostentatiously to the very
acts which Rome threatened with her thunders.

Whilst the pope was hesitating, England firmly pursued
her emancipation. Parliament met on the <abbr=fourth>4th</abbr> of February,
and the boldest language was uttered. ‘The people of
England, in accord with their king,’ said eloquent speakers,
‘have the right to decide supremely on all things both temporal
and spiritual;[#] and certainly the English possess intelligence
enough for that. And yet, in spite of the prohibitions
issued by so many of our princes, we see bulls arriving
every moment from Rome to regulate wills, marriages,
divorces—everything, in short. We propose that henceforward
these matters be decided solely before the national
tribunals.’ The law passed. Appeals, instead of being
made to Rome, were to be made in the first instance to the
bishop, then to the archbishop, and, if the king was interested
in the cause, to the Upper Chamber of the ecclesiastical
Convocation.

The king took immediate advantage of this law to inquire
of Convocation whether the pope could authorize a man to
marry his brother’s widow. Out of sixty-six present, and
one hundred and ninety-seven who voted by proxy, there
were only nineteen in the Upper House who voted against
// File: 161.png
.pn +1
the king. The opposition was stronger in the Lower House;
but even this agreed with the other house in declaring that
Pope Julius <abbr='the second'>II.</abbr> had exceeded his authority in giving Henry
a dispensation, and that the marriage, was consequently null
from the very first.

.sn Cranmer’s Letter.
Nothing remained now but to proceed to the divorce.
On the <abbr=eleventh>11th</abbr> of April, two days before Easter, Cranmer, as
archbishop, wrote a letter to the king, in which he set forth,
that desiring to fill the office of Archbishop of Canterbury,
‘according to the laws of God and Holy Church, for the
relief of the grievances and infirmities of the people, God’s
subjects and yours in spiritual causes,’[#] he prayed his Majesty’s
favor for that office.[#] Cranmer did not decline the
royal intervention, but he avoided confounding spiritual with
temporal affairs.[#]

Henry, who was doubtless waiting impatiently for this
letter, was alarmed as he read the words ‘according to the
laws of God and Holy Church.’ God and the Church....
Well! but what of the king and the royal supremacy?
The primate seemed to assert the right of acting
<lang=la><i>proprio motu</i></lang>, and, while asking the king’s favor, to be doing
a simple act of courtesy.... Did the Church of England
claim to take the pontiff’s place and station, and leave
the king aside?... That was not what Henry meant.
Tired of the pretensions of the Pope of Rome, would he
suffer a pope on a small scale at his side? He intended to be
master in his own kingdom—master of everything. The
letter must be modified, and this Henry intimated to Cranmer.

That day or the next after the one on which this letter
had been written there was a great festival at court in
honor of Anne Boleyn. ‘Queen Anne that evening went
in state to her closet openly as queen,’ says Hall. It was
// File: 162.png
.pn +1
probably during this festival that the king, taking the prelate
aside, desired him to suppress the unwelcome passage. The
idea suggested by an eminent historian, that Cranmer sent
both the letters together to Henry that he might choose
which he would prefer, seems to me inadmissible. Cranmer,
as it would appear, submitted, waiting for better days. On
returning to Lambeth, he recopied his letter, omitting the
words which had been pointed out. Not content with asking
the king’s <i>favor</i>, he desired his <i>license</i>, his authorization
to proceed. He dated his second letter the same day, and
sent it to his master, who was satisfied with it.[#]

This alone did not satisfy Henry: in his reply to the
archbishop, he marked still more strongly his intention not
to have in England a primate independent of the crown:
‘Ye, therefore, duly recognizing that it becometh you not,
being our subject, to enterprise any part of your said office
<i>without our license obtained so to do</i>.... In consideration
of these things, albeit we, being your king and sovereign,
do recognize no superior upon earth but only God; yet,
because ye be under us, by God’s calling and ours, the most
principal minister of our spiritual jurisdiction, we will not
refuse your humble request.’

This language was clear. Henry <abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr> did not, however,
claim the arbitrary authority to which the pope pretended:
human and divine laws were to be the supreme rule in England;
but he, the king, was to be their chief interpreter.
Cranmer must understand that. ‘To these laws we, as a
Christian king,’ wrote Henry, ‘have always heretofore submitted,
and shall ever most obediently submit ourselves.’
The ecclesiastical system which Henry <abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr> established in
England in 1533 was not a free Church in a free State, and
there is no reason to be surprised at it.

Cranmer, having received the royal license, set out for
// File: 163.png
.pn +1
Mortloke manor to prepare the act which, for six years, had
kept England and the continent in suspense. Taking the
Bishops of Lincoln and Winchester and some lawyers with
him, he proceeded quietly and without ostentation to the
priory of Dunstable, five miles from Ampthill, where Queen
Catherine was staying. He wished to avoid the notoriety
of a trial held in London.

.sn Ecclesiastical Court.
The ecclesiastical court being duly formed, Henry and
Catherine were summoned to appear before it on the <abbr=tenth>10th</abbr>
of May. The king was present by attorney; but the queen
replied: ‘My cause is before the pope; I accept no other
judge.’ A fresh summons was immediately made out for
the <abbr=twelfth>12th</abbr> of May, and, as the queen appeared neither in
person nor by any of her servants, she was pronounced contumacious,[#]
and the trial went forward. The king was
informed every night of each day’s proceedings, and he was
often in great anxiety. Some unexpected event, an appeal
from Catherine, the sudden intervention of the pope or of
the emperor might stop everything. His courtiers were on
the watch for news. Anne said nothing, but her heart beat
quick; and the ambitious Cromwell, whose fortunes depended
on the success of the matter, was sometimes in great
alarm. Cranmer rested on the declarations of Scripture,
and showed much equity and uprightness during the trial.[#]
‘I have willingly injured no human being,’ he said. But
he knew the queen had numerous partisans; they would
conjure her, perhaps, to appear before her judges. There
would then be a great stir, and the voice of the people would
be heard.[#] The archbishop could hardly restrain his
emotion as he thought of this. He must indeed expect an
inflexible resistance on the part of the queen; but, in the
midst of all the agitation around her, she alone remained
calm and resolute. Her hand had grasped the pope’s robe,
// File: 164.png
.pn +1
and nothing could make her let it go. ‘I am the king’s
lawful wife,’ she repeated; ‘I am Queen of England. My
daughter is the king’s child: I place her in her father’s
hands.’

On Wednesday the <abbr='twenty-third'>23d</abbr> of May, the primate, attended
by all the archiepiscopal court, proceeded to the church of
<abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Peter’s priory at Dunstable, in order to deliver the final
judgment of divorce. A few persons attracted by curiosity
were present; but, although Dunstable was near Ampthill,
all of Catherine’s household kept themselves respectfully
aloof from an act which was to deal their mistress such
a grievous blow. The primate, after reciting the decisions
of the several universities, provincial councils, and other
premises, continued: ‘Therefore we, Thomas, archbishop,
primate, and legate, having first called upon the name of
Christ, and having God altogether before our eyes, do pronounce
and declare that the marriage between our sovereign
lord King Henry and the most serene Lady Catherine,
widow of his brother, having been contracted contrary to the
law of God, is null and void; and therefore we sentence
that it is not lawful for the said most illustrious Prince
Henry and the said most serene Lady Catherine to remain
in the said pretended marriage.’[#] The act, drawn up very
carefully by two notaries, was immediately sent to the
king.

The divorce was pronounced, and Henry was free. Many
persons gave way to feelings of alarm: they thought that all
Europe would combine against England. ‘The pope will
excommunicate the English,’ said some; ‘and then the emperor
will destroy them.’ But, on the other hand, the majority
of the nation desired to have done with a subject
which had been agitating their minds during the last seven
years. England, getting out of a labyrinth from which she
had never expected to find an issue, began to breathe again.

Catherine’s marriage was declared to be null: it only remained
// File: 165.png
.pn +1
now to recognize Anne Boleyn’s. On the <abbr='twenty-eighth'>28th</abbr> of
May, an archiepiscopal court held at Lambeth, in the
primate’s palace, officially declared that Henry and Anne
had been lawfully wedded, and the king had now no thought
but how to seal his union by the pomp of a coronation. It
would certainly have been preferable had the new queen
taken her seat quietly on the throne; but slanderous reports
made it necessary for the king to present his wife to the
people in all the splendor of royalty.

.sn Anne Presented To The People.
At three o’clock in the afternoon of Thursday before
Whitsuntide, a magnificent procession started from Greenwich.
Fifty barges, adorned with rich banners, conveyed
the representatives of the different city companies, and the
metropolis joyfully hailed a union that promised to inaugurate
a future of light and faith: it was almost a religious
festival. On the banner of the Fishmongers was the inscription,
<i>All worship belongs to God alone</i>; on that of the
Haberdashers, <i>My trust is in God only</i>; on that of the
Grocers, <i>God gives grace</i>; and on that of the Goldsmiths,
<i>To God alone be all the glory</i>. The city of London thus
asserted, in the presence of the immense crowd, the principles
of the Reformation. The lord mayor’s barge immediately
preceded the galley, all hung with cloth of gold, in
which Anne was seated. Near it floated another gay barge,
on which a little mountain was contrived, planted with red
and white roses, in the midst of which sat a number of
young maidens singing to the accompaniment of sweet
music. A hundred richly ornamented barques, carrying the
nobility of England, brought up the magnificent procession,
and a countless number of boats and skiffs covered the river.
The moment Anne set her foot on shore at the Tower,
a thousand trumpets sounded points of triumph, and all the
guns of the fortress fired such a peal as had seldom been
heard before.[#]

Henry, who liked the sound of cannon, met Anne at the
gate and kissed her, and the new queen entered in triumph
// File: 166.png
.pn +1
that vast fortress from which, three years later, she was to
issue, by order of the same prince, to mount, an innocent
victim, the cruel scaffold. She smiled courteously on all
around; and yet, seized with a sudden emotion, she sometimes
trembled, as if, instead of the joyous flowers on which
she trod with light and graceful foot, she saw a deep gulf
yawning beneath her.

The king and queen passed the whole of the next day
(Friday) at the Tower. On Saturday Anne left it for
Westminster.[#] The streets were gay with banners, and the
houses were hung with velvet and cloth of gold. All the
orders of the State and Church, the ambassadors of France
and Venice, and the officers of the court, opened the procession.
The queen was carried in a magnificent litter
covered with white cloth shot with gold, her head, which she
held modestly inclined, being encircled with a wreath of
precious stones. The people who crowded the streets were
full of enthusiasm, and seemed to triumph more than she
did herself.

The next day, Whit-Sunday, she proceeded for the coronation
to the ancient abbey of Westminster, where the
bishops and the court had been summoned to meet her. She
took her seat in a rich chair, whence she presently descended
to the high altar and knelt down. After the prescribed
prayers she rose, and the archbishop placed the
crown of <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Edward upon her head. She then took the
sacrament and retired; the Earl of Wiltshire, her father,
trembling with emotion, took her right hand ... he
was at the pinnacle of happiness, and yet he was uneasy.
Alas! a caprice of the man who had raised his daughter to
// File: 167.png
.pn +1
the throne might be sufficient to hurl her from it! Anne
herself, in the midst of all these pomps, greater than any
ever seen before at the coronation of an English queen,
could not entirely forget the princess whose place she had
now taken. Might not she be rejected in her turn?...
In such a thought there was enough to make her shudder.

.sn Feelings Of The New Queen.
Anne did not find in her marriage with Henry the happiness
she had dreamt, and a cloud was often seen passing
across those features once so radiant. The idol to which
this young woman had sacrificed everything—the splendor
of a throne—did not satisfy her longings for happiness:
she looked within herself, and found once more, as queen,
that attraction towards the doctrine of the Gospel which she
had felt in the society of Margaret of Valois, and which,
amid her ambitious pursuits, had been almost extinguished
in her heart. She discovered that for those who have everything,
as well as for those who have nothing, there is only
one single good—God himself. She did not probably give
herself up entirely to Him, for her best impressions were
often fugitive; but she took advantage of her power to assist
those who she knew were devoted to the Gospel. She petitioned
for the pardon of John Lambert, who was still in
prison, and that faithful confessor of Jesus Christ settled in
London, where he began to teach children Latin and Greek,
without however neglecting the defence of truth.[#]

Two women had for some time attracted the eyes of all
England—the one who was ascending the throne, and the
other who was descending from it. Nothing awakens the
sympathy of generous souls more than misfortune, and particularly
innocence in misfortune; and accordingly Catherine’s
fate will always excite a lively interest, even in the
ranks of protestantism. We must not forget, however, that
Catherine’s cause was that of the old times and of the Roman
papacy, and that Anne’s cause was identified with that
light, liberty, and new life which have distinguished modern
// File: 168.png
.pn +1
times. It is true, Catherine died in disgrace, but in peace,
surrounded by her women, her officers, her faithful servants;
while the youthful Anne, separated from her friends, alone
on a scaffold, praying God to bless the prince who put her
to death, had her head cruelly cut off by the hangman’s
sword. If on the one side there was innocence and divorce,
on the other there was innocence and martyrdom.

The king, who had informed Catherine through Lord
Mountjoy of the archiepiscopal sentence, officially communicated
his divorce and marriage to the various crowned heads
of Europe, and particularly to the King of France, the emperor,
and the pope. The latter on the <abbr=eleventh>11th</abbr> of July annulled
the sentence of the Archbishop of Canterbury, declared
the king’s marriage with Anne Boleyn unlawful, and
threatened to excommunicate both, unless they separated before
the end of September. Henry angrily commanded his
theologians to demonstrate that the bull was a nullity, recalled
his ambassador, the Duke of Norfolk, and said that
the moment was come for all monarchs and all Christian
people to withdraw from under the yoke of the Bishop of
Rome. ‘The pope and his cardinals,’ he wrote to Francis
<abbr='the first'>I.</abbr>, ‘pretend to have princes, who are free persons, at their
beck and commandment. Sire, you and I and all the
princes of Christendom must unite for the preservation of
our rights, liberties, and privileges; we must alienate the
greatest part of Christendom from the see of Rome.’[#]

But Henry had scholastic prejudices, which made him fall
into the strangest contradictions. While he was employing
his diplomacy to isolate the pope, he still prayed him to declare
the nullity of his marriage with Catherine.[#] It is not
at the court of this prince that we must look for the real
Reformation: we must go in search of it elsewhere.

.fn #
<lang=la>‘Multo, minus scandalosum fuisset, dispensare cum Majestate vestra
super duabus uxoribus.’</lang>—Record Office <abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr>
.fn-
.fn #
Bossuet, <i>Hist. des Variations</i>, <abbr=book>liv.</abbr> <abbr=six>vi.</abbr>
.fn-
.fn #
‘Compelled to lie in the straw.’—<i>State Papers</i> (Henry <abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr>), part
<abbr=seven>vii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 394.
.fn-
.fn #
‘Utterly resolve to do pleasure to your Highness.’—Benet to Henry
<abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr>, <i>State Papers</i>, <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 401, 402.
.fn-
.fn #
‘He would it had cost him a joint of his hand.’—Ibid.
.fn-
.fn #
‘Your Grace should give no credence thereto, for it is but dissimulation.—Ibid.
<abbr=page>p.</abbr> 422.
.fn-
.fn #
Cranmer, <i>Remains</i>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 246.
.fn-
.fn #
‘The purity of her life, her constant virginity.’—Burnet, <i>Records</i>,
<abbr=three>iii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 64; see, also, Wyatt, <i>Memoirs of Anne Boleyn</i>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 437.
.fn-
.fn #
Henry’s instructions to the Earl of Rochford are written in French,
probably that they might be shown to Francis.—<i>State papers</i>, <abbr=seven>vii.</abbr> <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr>
429-431.
.fn-
.fn #
<i>State Papers</i>, <abbr=seven>vii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 421. A note mentions that the document cannot
be found. It is evidently the brief given by Le Grand, <i>Preuves du Divorce</i>,
<abbr=page>p.</abbr> 558.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Te et ipsam Annam, excommunicationis pœna, innodatos declaramus.’</lang>—Le
Grand, <i>Preuves</i>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 567.
.fn-
.fn #
‘Granted by the pope at the suits of the imperials.’—<i>State Papers</i>,
<abbr=seven>vii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 454.
.fn-
.fn #
‘He can hardly believe it to be true rather than to be counterfeited.’—Ibid.
<abbr=page>p.</abbr> 421.
.fn-
.fn #
‘In derogation both of justice and the affection lately shown by his
Holiness unto us.’—Ibid.
.fn-
.fn #
Ibid.
.fn-
.fn #
<i>State Papers</i>, <abbr=seven>vii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 454.
.fn-
.fn #
Statute against appeals, 24 Henry <abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr> cap. 12; Collyers, <i>Ch. History</i>,
<abbr=two>ii.</abbr>
.fn-
.fn #
Wilkins, <i>Concilia Mag. Britanniæ</i>, <abbr=three>iii.</abbr> <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 756-759. Rymer, Fœdera,
<abbr=six>vi.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 179.
.fn-
.fn #
<i>State Papers</i> (Henry <abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr>), <abbr rend=arabic>i.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 390.
.fn-
.fn #
‘Your sufferance and grants.’—<i>State Papers</i> (Henry <abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr>), <abbr rend=arabic>i.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 390.
.fn-
.fn #
The two letters are in the State Paper Office; they are in Cranmer’s
handwriting, and appear to have been read, both of them, by the king.
Our hypothesis touching these letters differs from that of Mr. Froude
(<i>Hist. England</i>, <abbr rend=arabic>i.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 440). <i>State Papers</i> (Henry <abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr>), <abbr rend=arabic>i.</abbr> <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 390, 391.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Vere et manifeste contumacem.’</lang>—<i>State Papers</i> (Henry <abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr>) <abbr rend=arabic>i.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr>
394.
.fn-
.fn #
‘My lord of Canterbury handleth himself very uprightly.’—Ibid. <abbr=page>p.</abbr>
395.
.fn-
.fn #
‘A great bruit and voice of the people.’—Cranmer, <i>Remains</i>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 342.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Non licere in eodem prætenso matrimonio remanere.’</lang>—Wilkins,
<i>Concilia</i>, <abbr=three>iii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 759; Rymer, <i>Fœdera</i>, <abbr=six>vi.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 182.
.fn-
.fn #
Cranmer, <i>Remains</i>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 245.
.fn-
.fn #
Mr. Froude says that Anne went to the Tower on the <abbr=nineteenth>19th</abbr> of May, and
that she quitted it for Westminster on the <abbr='thirty-first'>31st</abbr>, so that she resided there
for eleven days (<i>History of England</i>, <abbr rend=arabic>i.</abbr> <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 450, 451). That appears hardly
probable, and is in contradiction to Cranmer’s narrative, where we read:
‘Her grace came to the Tower on Thursday at night.... Friday all
day the king and queen tarried there.... The next day, which was
Saturday, the knights rid before the queen’s grace towards Westminster.’—<i>Letters</i>,
<abbr=page>p.</abbr> 245.
.fn-
.fn #
‘Lambert delivered ... by the coming of Queen Anne.’—Foxe,
<i>Acts</i>, <abbr=five>v.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 225.
.fn-
.fn #
‘To the clear alienation of a great part of Christendom from that
see.’—<i>State Papers</i>, <abbr=seven>vii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 477.
.fn-
.fn #
‘That the matrimony was and is naught.’—Ibid. <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 498.
.fn-
// File: 169.png
.pn +1
.sp 4
.h2 id=chap6-18
CHAPTER XVIII. | A REFORMER IN PRISON. | (<sc>August 1532 to May 1533.</sc>)
.sp 2
.sn Fryth’s Noble Character.
One of the leading scholars of England was about to seal
the testimony of his faith with blood. John Fryth had been
one of the most brilliant stars of the university of Cambridge.
‘It would hardly be possible to find his equal in learning,’
said many. Accordingly Wolsey had invited him to his college
at Oxford, and Henry <abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr> had desired to place him
among the number of his theologians. But the mysteries
of the Word of God had more attraction for Fryth than
those of science: the wants of conscience prevailed in him
over those of the intellect, and neglecting his own glory, he
sought only to be useful to mankind.[#] A sincere, decided,
and yet moderate Christian, preaching the Gospel with
great purity and love, this man of thirty seemed destined to
become one of the most influential reformers of England.
Nothing could have prevented his playing the foremost part,
if he had had Luther’s enthusiastic energy or Calvin’s indomitable
power. There were less strong, but perhaps
more amiable features in his character; he taught with gentleness
those who were opposed to the truth, and while
many, as Foxe says,[#] ‘take the bellows in hand to blow the
fire, but few there are that will seek to quench it,’ Fryth
sought after peace. Controversies between protestants distressed
him. ‘The opinions for which men go to war,’ he
said, ‘do not deserve those great tragedies of which they
make us spectators. Let there be no longer any question
// File: 170.png
.pn +1
among us of Zwinglians or Lutherans, for neither Zwingle
nor Luther died for us, and we must be one in Christ
Jesus.’[#] This servant of Christ, meek and lowly of heart,
like his Master, never disputed even with papists, unless
obliged to do so.[#]

A true catholicism which embraced all Christians was
Fryth’s distinctive feature as a reformer. He was not one
of those who imagine that a national Church ought to think
only of its own nation; but of those who believe that if a
Church is the depositary of the truth, she is so for all the
earth; and that a religion is not good, if it has no longing
to extend itself to all the races of mankind. There were
some strongly marked national elements in the English
Reformation: the king and the parliament; but there was
also a universal element: a lively faith in the Saviour of
the world. No one in the sixteenth century represented this
truly catholic element better than Fryth. ‘I understand the
Church of God in a wide sense,’ he said. ‘It contains all
those whom we regard as members of Christ. It is a net
thrown into the sea.’[#] This principle, sown at that time as
a seed in the English Reformation, was one day to cover
the world with missionaries.

Fryth, having declined the brilliant offers the king had
made to him through Cromwell and Vaughan, joined Tyndale
in translating and publishing the Holy Scriptures in
English. While laboring thus for England, an irresistible
desire came over him to circulate the Gospel there in person.
He therefore quitted the Low Countries, returned to London,
and directed his course to Reading, where the prior
had been his friend. Exile had not used him well, and he
entered that town miserably clothed, and more like a beggar
than one whom Henry <abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr> had desired to place near him.
This was in August 1532.
// File: 171.png
.pn +1

His writings had preceded him. Having received, when
in the Netherlands, three works composed in defence of
purgatory by three distinguished men—Rastell, Sir Thomas
More’s brother-in-law, More himself, and Fisher, Bishop of
Rochester—Fryth had replied to them: ‘A purgatory!
there is not <i>one</i> only, there are <i>two</i>. The first is the <i>Word
of God</i>, the second is the <i>Cross of Christ</i>: I do not mean the
cross of wood, but the cross of tribulation. But the lives of
the papists are so wicked that they have invented a third.’[#]

Sir Thomas, exasperated by Fryth’s reply, said with that
humorous tone he often affected, ‘I propose to answer the
good young father Fryth, whose wisdom is such that three
old men like my brother Rastell, the Bishop of Rochester,
and myself are mere babies when confronted with Father
Fryth alone.’[#] The exile having returned to England, More
had now the opportunity of avenging himself more effectually
than by his jokes.

.sn Fryth In The Stocks.
Fryth, as we have said, had entered Reading. His
strange air and his look as of a foreigner arriving from a
distant country attracted attention, and he was taken up for
a vagabond. ‘Who are you?’ asked the magistrate. Fryth,
suspecting that he was in the hands of enemies of the
Gospel, refused to give his name, which increased the suspicion,
and the poor young man was set in the stocks. As
they gave him but little to eat, with the intent of forcing
him to tell his name, his hunger soon became insupportable.[#]
Knowing the name of the master of the grammar-school, he
asked to speak with him. Leonard Coxe had scarcely entered
the prison, when the pretended vagabond all in rags
addressed him in correct latinity, and began to deplore his
miserable captivity. Never had words more noble been
uttered in a dungeon so vile. The head-master, astonished
at so much eloquence, compassionately drew near the unhappy
man and inquired how it came to pass that such a
learned scholar was in such profound wretchedness. Presently
// File: 172.png
.pn +1
he sat down, and the two men began to talk in Greek
about the universities and languages. Coxe could not make
it out: it was no longer simple pity that he felt, but love,
which turned to admiration when he heard the prisoner
recite with the purest accent those noble lines of the <i>Iliad</i>
which were so applicable to his own case:

.pm verse-start
                    ‘Sing, O Muse,
The vengeance deep and deadly; whence to Greece
Unnumbered ills arose; which many a soul
Of mighty warriors to the viewless shades
Untimely sent.’[#]
.pm verse-end

Filled with respect, Coxe hurried off to the mayor, complained
bitterly of the wrong done to so remarkable a man,
and obtained his liberation. Homer saved the life of a
reformer.

Fryth departed for London and hastened to join the
worshippers who were accustomed to meet in Bow Lane.
He conversed with them and exclaimed: ‘Oh! what consolation
to see such a great number of believers walking in
the way of the Lord!’[#] These Christians asked him to
expound the Scriptures to them, and, delighted with his
exhortations, they exclaimed in their turn: ‘If the rule of
<abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Paul were followed, this man would certainly make a
better bishop than many of those who wear the mitre.’[#]
Instead of the crosier he was to bear the cross.

.sn Fryth’s Eloquence.
One of those who listened was in great doubt relative to
the doctrine of the Lord’s Supper; and one day, after
Fryth had been setting Christ before them as the food of
the Christian soul through faith, this person followed him
and said: ‘Our prelates think differently; they believe that
the bread transformed by consecration becomes the flesh,
blood, and bones of Christ; that even the wicked eat this
flesh with their teeth, and that we must adore the host....
What you have just said refutes their errors, but I fear that
// File: 173.png
.pn +1
I cannot remember it. Pray commit it to writing.’ Fryth,
who did not like discussions, was alarmed at the request,
and answered; ‘I do not care to touch that terrible tragedy;’[#]
for so he called the dispute about the Eucharist.
The man having repeated his request, and promised that he
would not communicate the paper to anybody, Fryth wrote
an explanation of the doctrine of the Sacrament and gave it
to that London Christian, saying: ‘We must eat and drink
the body and blood of Christ, not with the teeth, but with
the hearing and through faith.’ The brother took the
treatise, and, hurrying home with it, read it carefully.

In a short time every one at the Bow Lane meeting
spoke about this writing. One man, a false brother, named
William Holt, listened attentively to what was said, and
thought he had found an opportunity of destroying Fryth.
Assuming a hypocritical look, he spoke in a pious strain to
the individual who had the manuscript, as if he had desired
to enlighten his faith, and finally asked him for it. Having
obtained it, he hastened to make a copy, which he carried
to Sir Thomas More, who was still chancellor.

Fryth soon perceived that he had tried in vain to remain
unknown; he called with so much power those who thirsted
for righteousness to come to Christ for the waters of life,
that friends and enemies were struck with his eloquence.
Observing that his name began to be talked of in various
places, he quitted the capital and travelled unnoticed through
several counties, where he found some little Christian congregations
whom he tried to strengthen in the faith.

Tyndale, who remained on the continent, having heard of
Fryth’s labors, began to feel great anxiety about him. He
knew but too well the cruel disposition of the bishops and
of More. ‘I will make the serpent come out of his dark
den,’ Sir Thomas had said, speaking of Tyndale, ‘as Hercules
forced Cerberus, the watch-dog of hell, to come out to
the light of day.... I will not leave Tyndale the darkest
// File: 174.png
.pn +1
corner in which to hide his head.’[#] In Tyndale’s eyes
Fryth was the great hope of the Church in England; he
trembled lest the redoubtable Hercules should seize him.
‘Dearly beloved brother Jacob,’ he wrote,—calling him Jacob
to mislead his enemies,—‘be cold, sober, wise, and circumspect,
and keep you low by the ground, avoiding high questions
that pass the common capacity. But expound the law
truly, and open the veil of Moses to condemn all flesh and
prove all men sinners. Then set abroach the mercy of our
Lord Jesus, and let the wounded consciences drink of him....
All doctrine that casteth a mist on these two to
shadow and hide them, resist with all your power....
Beloved in my heart, there liveth not one in whom I have
so great hope and trust, and in whom my heart rejoiceth,
not so much for your learning and what other gifts else you
may have, as because you walk in those things that the
conscience may feel, and not in the imagination of the brain.
Cleave fast to the rock of the help of God; and if aught be
required of you contrary to the glory of God and his Christ,
then stand fast and commit yourself to God. He is our
God, and our redemption is nigh.’[#]

Tyndale’s fears were but too well founded. Sir Thomas
More held Fryth’s new treatise in his hand: he read it and,
gave way by turns to anger and sarcasm. ‘Whetting his
wits, calling his spirits together, and sharpening his pen,’ to
use the words of the chronicler,[#] he answered Fryth, and
described his doctrine under the image of a cancer. This
did not satisfy him. Although he had returned the seals to
the king in May, he continued to hold office until the end of
the year. He ordered search to be made for Fryth, and
set all his bloodhounds on the track. If the reformer was
discovered he was lost; when Sir Thomas More had once
caught his man, nothing could save him—nothing but a
merry jest, perhaps. For instance, one day when he was
// File: 175.png
.pn +1
examining a gospeller named Silver: ‘You know,’ he said,
with a smile, ‘that silver must be tried in the fire.’ ‘Yes,’
retorted the accused instantly, ‘but not quicksilver.’[#] More
delighted with the repartee, set the poor wretch at liberty.
But Fryth was no jester: he could not hope, therefore, to
find favor with the ex-chancellor of England.

.sn Fryth Hunted By More.
Sir Thomas hunted the reformer by sea and by land,
promising a great reward to any one who should deliver him
up. There was no county or town or village where More
did not look for him, no sheriff or justice of the peace to
whom he did not apply, no harbor where he did not post
some officer to catch him.[#] But the answer from every
quarter was: ‘He is not here.’ Indeed, Fryth, having been
informed of the great exertions of his enemy, was fleeing
from place to place, often changing his dress, and finding
safety nowhere. Determining to leave England and return
to Tyndale, he went to Milton Shone in Essex with the intention
of embarking. A ship was ready to sail, and quitting
his hiding-place he went down to the shore with all
precaution. He had been betrayed. More’s agents, who
were on the watch, seized him as he was stepping on board,
and carried him to the Tower. This occurred in October
1532.

Sir Thomas More was uneasy and soured. He beheld a
new power lifting its head in England and all Christendom,
and he felt that in despite of his wit and his influence he
was unable to check it. That man so amiable, that writer
of a style so pure and elegant, did not so much dread the
anger of the king; what exasperated him was to see the
Scriptures circulating more widely every day, and a continually
increasing number of his fellow-citizens converted
to the evangelical faith. These new men, who seemed to
have more piety than himself—he an old follower of the
old papacy!—irritated him sorely. He claimed to have
alone—he and his friends—the privilege of being Christians.
// File: 176.png
.pn +1
The zeal of the partisans of the Reformation, the
sacrifice they made of their repose, their money, and their
lives, confounded him. ‘These diabolical people,’ he said,
‘print their books at great expense, notwithstanding the
great danger; not looking for any gain, they give them
away to everybody, and even scatter them abroad by night.[#]
They fear no labor, no journey, no expense, no pain, no
danger, no blows, no injury. They take a malicious pleasure
in seeking the destruction of others, and these disciples
of the devil think only how they may cast the souls of the
simple into hell-fire.’ In such a strain as this did the elegant
utopist give vent to his anger—the man who had
dreamt all his life of the plan of an imaginary world for the
perfect happiness of every one. At last he had caught the
chief of these disciples of Satan, and hoped to put him to
death by fire.

.sn Fryth’s Labors In Prison.
The news soon spread through London that Fryth was in
the tower, and several priests and bishops immediately went
thither to try to bring him back to the pope. Their great
argument was that More had confuted his treatise on the
Lord’s Supper. Fryth asked to see the confutation, but it
was refused him. One day the Bishop of Winchester having
called up the prisoner, showed it to Fryth, and, holding
it up, asserted that the book quite shut his mouth: Fryth
put out his hand, but the bishop hastily withdrew the volume.
More himself was ashamed of the apology and did
all he could to prevent its circulation. Fryth could only
obtain a written copy, but he resolved to answer it immediately.
There was no one with whom he could confer, not a
book he could consult, and the chains with which he was
loaded scarcely allowed him to sit and write.[#] But reading
in his dungeon by the light of a small candle the insults of
More, and finding himself charged with having collected all
the poison that could be found in the writings of Wickliffe,
// File: 177.png
.pn +1
Luther, Œcolampadius, Tyndale, and Zwingle, this humble
servant of God exclaimed: ‘No! Luther and his doctrine
are not the mark I aim at, but the Scriptures of God.’[#]
‘He shall pay for his heresy with the best blood in his
body,’ said his enemies; and the pious disciple replied: ‘As
the sheep bound by the hand of the butcher with timid look
beseeches that his blood may soon be shed, even so do I
pray my judges that my blood may be shed <i>to-morrow</i>, if by
my death the king’s eyes should be opened.’[#]

Before he died, Fryth desired to save, if it were God’s
will, one of his adversaries. There was one of them who
had no obstinacy, no malice: it was Rastell, More’s brother-in-law.
Being unable to speak to him or to any of the
enemies of the Reformation, he formed the design of writing
in prison a treatise which should be called the <i>Bulwark</i>.
But strict orders had recently arrived that he should have
neither pen, ink, nor paper.[#] Some evangelical Christians
of London, who succeeded in getting access to him, secretly
furnished him with the means of writing, and Fryth began.
He wrote ... but at every moment he listened for fear
the lieutenant of the Tower or the warders should come
upon him suddenly and find the pen in his hand.[#] Often a
bright thought would occur to him, but some sudden alarm
drove it out of his mind, and he could not recall it.[#] He
took courage, however: he had been accused of asserting
that good works were of no service: he proceeded to explain
with much eloquence all their utility, and every time he
repeated: ‘Is that nothing? is that still nothing? Truly,
Rastell,’ he added, ‘if you only regard that as useful which
justifies us, the sun is not useful, because it justifieth not.’[#]

As he was finishing these words he heard the keys rattling
// File: 178.png
.pn +1
at the door, and, being alarmed, immediately threw
paper, ink, and pen into a hiding-place. However, he was
able to complete the treatise and send it to Rastell. More’s
brother-in-law read it; his heart was touched, his understanding
enlightened, his prejudices cleared away; and from
that hour this choice spirit was gained over to the Gospel
of Christ. God had given him new eyes and new ears. A
pure joy filled the prisoner’s heart. ‘Rastell now looks
upon his natural reason as foolishness,’ he said. ‘Rastell,
become a child, drinks the wisdom that cometh from on
high.’[#]

The conversion of Sir Thomas More’s brother-in-law
made a great sensation, and the visits to Fryth’s cell became
every day more numerous. Although separated from his
wife and from Tyndale, whom he had been forced to leave
in the Low Countries, he had never had so many friends,
brothers, mothers, and fathers; he wept for very joy. He
took his pen and paper from their hiding-place, and, always
indefatigable, began to write first the <i>Looking-glass of Self-knowledge</i>,
and next a <i>Letter to the faithful Followers of the
Gospel of Christ</i>. ‘Imitators of the Lord,’ he said to them,
‘mark yourselves with the sign of the cross, not as the superstitious
crowd does, in order to worship it, but as a testimony
that you are ready to bear that cross as soon as God
shall please to send it. Fear not when you have it, for you
will also have a hundred fathers instead of one, a hundred
mothers instead of one, a hundred mansions already in this
life (for I have made the trial), and after this life, joy everlasting.’[#]

.sn Fryth Visits Petit.
At the beginning of 1533, Anne Boleyn having been
married to the King of England, Fryth saw his chains fall
off: he was allowed to have all he asked for, and even
permitted to leave the Tower at night on parole. He
took advantage of this liberty to visit the friends of the
Gospel, and consult with them about what was to be done.
// File: 179.png
.pn +1
One evening in particular, after leaving the Tower, Fryth
went to Petit’s house, anxious to embrace once more that
great friend of the Reformation, that firm member of parliament,
who had been thrown into prison as we have seen,
and at last set free. Petit, weakened by his long confinement,
was near his end; the persecution agitated and pained
him, and it would appear that his emotion sometimes ended
in delirium. As he was groaning over the captivity of the
young and noble reformer, Fryth appeared. Petit was
confused, his mind wandered. Is it Fryth or his ghost?
He was like the apostles, when Rhoda came to tell them that
Peter was at the gate waiting to see them. But gradually
recovering himself, Petit said: ‘You here! how have you
escaped the vigilance of the warders?’ ‘God himself,’ answered
Fryth, ‘gave me this liberty by touching their
hearts.’[#] The two friends then conversed about the true
Reformation of England, which in their eyes had nothing
to do with the diplomatic proceedings of the king. In their
opinion it was not a matter of overloading the external
Church with new frippery, but ‘to increase that elect, sanctified,
and invisible congregation, elect before the foundation
of the world.’[#] Fryth did not conceal from Petit the conviction
he felt that he would be called upon to die for the
Gospel. The night was spent in such Christian conversation
and the day began to dawn before the prisoner hastened to
return to the Tower.

The evangelist’s friends did not think as he did. Anne
Boleyn’s accession seemed as if it ought to open the doors
of Fryth’s prison, and in imagination they saw him at liberty,
and laboring either on the continent or at home at that
real reformation which is accomplished by the Scriptures of
God.

But it was not to be so. Most of the evangelical men raised
up by God in England during the reign of Henry <abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr>
found—not the influence which they should have exercised,
but—death. Yet their blood has weighed in the divine
// File: 180.png
.pn +1
balance; it has sanctified the Reformation of England, and
been a spiritual seed for future ages. If the Church of that
rich country, which possesses such worldly splendor, has
nevertheless witnessed the development of a powerful evangelical
life in its bosom, it must not forget the cause, but
understand, with Tertullian, that <i>the blood of the martyrs is
the seed of the Church</i>.

.fn #
‘Serving for the common utility.’—Tyndale to Fryth, <i>Works</i>, <abbr=three>iii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr>
74.
.fn-
.fn #
Foxe, <i>Acts</i>, <abbr=five>v.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 10.
.fn-
.fn #
Tyndale and Fryth, <i>Works</i>, <abbr=three>iii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 421.
.fn-
.fn #
‘He would never seem to strive against the papists.’—Foxe, <i>Acts</i>, <abbr=five>v.</abbr>
<abbr=page>p.</abbr> 9.
.fn-
.fn #
Fryth, <i>A Declaration of Baptism</i>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 287.
.fn-
.fn #
See Tyndale and Fryth, <i>Works</i>, <abbr=three>iii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 91. Preface to the Reader.
.fn-
.fn #
Anderson, <i>Annals of the Bible</i>, <abbr rend=arabic>i.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 338.
.fn-
.fn #
Foxe, <i>Acts</i>, <abbr=five>v.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 5.
.fn-
.fn #
Earl of Derby’s Translation.
.fn-
.fn #
He added: ‘Now have I experience of the faith which is in you.’—Tyndale
and Fryth, <i>Works</i>, <abbr=three>iii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 257.
.fn-
.fn #
Ibid. <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 324.
.fn-
.fn #
Tyndale and Fryth, <i>Works</i>, <abbr=three>iii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 321.
.fn-
.fn #
<i>Confutation of Tyndale’s Answer</i>, by Sir Thomas More, lord-chancellor
of England (1532).
.fn-
.fn #
Foxe, <i>Acts</i>, <abbr=five>v.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 133.
.fn-
.fn #
Ibid. <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 9.
.fn-
.fn #
Strype. <abbr rend=arabic>i.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 316.
.fn-
.fn #
Foxe, <i>Acts</i>, <abbr=five>v.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 6.
.fn-
.fn #
Preface to More’s Confutation, <i>Bible Ann.</i> <abbr rend=arabic>i.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 343.
.fn-
.fn #
‘He was so loaded with iron that he could scarce sit with any ease.’—Burnet,
<abbr=one>i.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 161.
.fn-
.fn #
Tyndale and Fryth, <i>Works</i>, <abbr=three>iii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 342.
.fn-
.fn #
Ibid. <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 338.
.fn-
.fn #
The Subsidy or Bulwark; Tyndale and Fryth, <i>Works</i>, <abbr=three>iii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 242.
.fn-
.fn #
‘I am in continual fear, lest the lieutenant or my keeper should espy
any such thing by me.’—Ibid.
.fn-
.fn #
‘If any notable thing had been in my mind, it was clean lost.’—Ibid.
.fn-
.fn #
The Subsidy or Bulwark; Tyndale and Fryth, <i>Works</i>, <abbr=three>iii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 241.
.fn-
.fn #
The Subsidy or Bulwark; Tyndale and Fryth, <i>Works</i>, <abbr=three>iii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 211.
.fn-
.fn #
Ibid. <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 259.
.fn-
.fn #
Strype.
.fn-
.fn #
Tyndale and Fryth; <i>Works</i>, <abbr=three>iii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 288.
.fn-
.sp 4
.h2 id=chap6-19
CHAPTER XIX. | A REFORMER CHOOSES RATHER TO LOSE HIS LIFE THAN TO SAVE IT. | (<sc>May to July 1533.</sc>)
.sp 2
The enemy was on the watch: the second period of
Fryth’s captivity, that which was to terminate in martyrdom,
was beginning. Henry’s bishops, who, while casting off the
pope to please the king, had remained devoted to scholastic
doctrines, feared lest the reformer should escape them: they
therefore undertook to solicit Henry to put him to death.
Fryth had on his side the queen, Cromwell, and Cranmer.
This did not discourage them, and they represented to the
king that although the man was shut up in the Tower of
London, he did not cease to write and act in defence of
heresy. It was the season of Lent, and Fryth’s enemies
came to an understanding with Dr. Curwin, the king’s chaplain,
who was to preach before the court. He had no sooner
got into the pulpit than he began to declaim against those
who denied the material presence of Christ in the host.
Having struck his hearers with horror, he continued: ‘It is
not surprising that this abominable heresy makes such great
progress among us. A man now in the Tower of London
// File: 181.png
.pn +1
has the audacity to defend it, and no one thinks of punishing
him.’

.sn Fryth Ordered For Trial.
When the service was over, the brilliant congregation left
the chapel, and each as he went out asked what was the
man’s name. ‘Fryth’ was the reply, and loud were the
exclamations on hearing it. The blow took effect, the scholastic
prejudices of the king were revived, and he sent for
Cromwell and Cranmer. ‘I am very much surprised,’ he
said, ‘that John Fryth has been kept so long in the Tower
without examination. I desire his trial to take place without
delay; and if he does not retract, let him suffer the
penalty he deserves.’ He then nominated six of the chief
spiritual and temporal peers of England to examine him:
they were the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bishops of
London and Winchester, the lord chancellor, the Duke of
Suffolk, and the Earl of Wiltshire. This demonstrated the
importance which Henry attached to the affair. Until now,
all the martyrs had fallen beneath the blows either of the
bishops or of More; but in this case it was the king himself
who stretched out his strong hand against the servant of
God.

Henry’s order plunged Cranmer into the cruellest anxiety.
On the one hand, Fryth was in his eyes a disciple of
the Gospel; but on the other, he attacked a doctrine which
the archbishop then held to be Christian; for, like Luther
and Osiander, he still believed in consubstantiation. ‘Alas!’
he wrote to Archdeacon Hawkins, ‘he professes the doctrine
of Œcolampadius.’[#] He resolved, however, to do
everything in his power to save Fryth.

The best friends of the young reformer saw that a pile
was being raised to consume the most faithful Christian in
England. ‘Dearly beloved,’ wrote Tyndale from Antwerp,
‘fear not men that threat, nor trust men that speak fair.
Your cause is Christ’s Gospel, a light that must be fed with
the blood of faith. The lamp must be trimmed daily, that
// File: 182.png
.pn +1
the light go not out.’[#] There was no lack of examples to
confirm these words. ‘Two have suffered in Antwerp unto
the great glory of the Gospel; four at Ryselles in Flanders.
At Rouen in France they persecute, and at Paris are five
doctors taken for the Gospel. See, you are not alone:
follow the example of all your other dear brethren, who
choose to suffer in hope of a better resurrection. Bear the
image of Christ in your mortal body, and keep your conscience
pure and undefiled.... <lang=la><i>Una salus victis, nullam
sperare salutem</i></lang>: the only safety of the conquered is to
look for none. If you could but write and tell us how you
are.’ In this letter from a martyr to a martyr there was
one sentence honorable to a Christian woman: ‘Your wife
is well content with the will of God, and would not for her
sake have the glory of God hindered.’

.sn Cranmer Would Save Fryth.
If friends were thinking of Fryth on the banks of the
Scheldt, they were equally anxious about him on the banks
of the Thames. Worthy citizens of London asked what
was the use of England’s quitting the pope to cling to Christ,
if she burnt the servants of Christ? The little Church had
recourse to prayer. Archbishop Cranmer wished to save
Fryth: he loved the man and admired his piety. If the
accused appeared before the commission appointed by the
king, he was lost: some means must be devised without
delay to rescue him from an inevitable death. The archbishop
declared that, before proceeding to trial, he wished
to have a conference with the prisoner, and to endeavor to
convince him, which was very natural. But at the same
time the primate appeared to fear that if the conference
took place in London the people would disturb the public
peace, as in the time of Wickliffe.[#] He settled therefore
that it should be held at Croydon, where he had a palace.
The primate’s fear seems rather strange. A riot on account
// File: 183.png
.pn +1
of Fryth, at a time when king, commons, and people
were in harmony, appeared hardly probable. Cranmer had
another motive.

Among the persons composing his household was a gentleman
of benevolent character, and with a leaning towards
the Gospel, who was distressed at the cruelty of the bishops,
and looked upon it as a lawful and Christian act to rob
them, if possible, of their victims. Giving him one of the
porters of Lambeth palace as a companion, Cranmer committed
Fryth to his care to bring him to Croydon. They
were to take the prisoner a journey of four or five hours
on foot through fields and woods, without any constables or
soldiers. A strange walk and a strange escort.[#]

Lord Fitzwilliam, first Earl of Southampton and governor
of the Tower, at that time lay sick in his house at
Westminster, suffering such severe pain as to force loud
groans from him. On the <abbr=tenth>10th</abbr> of June, at the desire of my
Lord of Canterbury, the archbishop’s gentleman, and the
Lambeth porter, Gallois, surnamed Perlebeane, were introduced
into the nobleman’s bedchamber, where they found
him lying upon his bed in extreme agony. Fitzwilliam, a
man of the world, was greatly enraged against the evangelicals,
who were the cause, in his opinion, of all the difficulties
of England. The gentleman respectfully presented
to him the primate’s letter and the king’s ring. ‘What do
you want?’ he asked sharply, without opening the letter.
‘His grace desires your lordship to deliver Master Fryth to
us.’ The impatient Southampton flew into a passion at the
name, and cursed Fryth and all the heretics.[#] He thought
it strange that a gentleman and a porter should have to convey
a prisoner of such importance to the episcopal court:
were there no soldiers in the Tower? Had Fitzwilliam any
// File: 184.png
.pn +1
suspicion, or did he regret to see the reformer leave the
walls within which he had been kept so safely? We cannot
tell: but he must obey, for they brought him the king’s
signet. Accordingly, taking his own hastily from his finger:
‘Fryth,’ he said, ‘Fryth.... Here, show this to the
lieutenant of the Tower, and take away your heretic quickly.
I am but too happy to get rid of him.’

A few hours later Fryth, the gentleman, and Perlebeane
entered a boat moored near the Tower, and were rowed
speedily to the archbishop’s palace at Lambeth. At first
the three persons preserved a strict silence, only interrupted
from time to time by the deep sighs of the gentleman.
Being charged to begin by trying to induce Fryth to make
some compromise, he broke the silence at last. ‘Master
Fryth,’ he said, ‘if you are not prudent you are lost. What
a pity! you that are so learned in Latin and Greek and
in the Holy Scriptures, the ancient doctors, and all kinds of
knowledge, you will perish, and all your admirable gifts will
perish with you, with little profit to the world, and less comfort
to your wife and children, your kinsfolk and friends.’...
The gentleman was silent a minute, and then began
again: ‘Your position is dangerous, Master Fryth, but not
desperate: you have many friends who will do all they can
in your favor. On your part do something for them, make
some concession, and you will be safe. Your opinion on the
merely spiritual presence of the body and blood of the
Saviour is premature: it is too soon for us in England;
wait until a better time comes!’

Fryth did not say a word: no sound was heard but the
dash of the water and the noise of the oars. The gentleman
thought he had shaken the young doctor, and, after a moment’s
silence, he resumed: ‘My lord Cromwell and my lord
of Canterbury feel great affection for you: they know that,
if you are young in years, you are old in knowledge, and
may become a most profitable citizen of this realm....
If you will be somewhat advised by their counsel, they will
never permit you to be harmed; but if you stand stiff to
// File: 185.png
.pn +1
your opinion, it is not possible to save your life, for as you
have good friends so have you mortal enemies.’

.sn Attempt At Conciliation.
The gentleman stopped and looked at the prisoner. It
was by such language that Bilney had been seduced; but
Fryth kept himself in the presence of God, ready to lose his
life that he might save it. He thanked the gentleman for
his kindness, and said that his conscience would not permit
him to recede, out of respect to man, from the true doctrine
of the Lord’s Supper. ‘If I am questioned on that point, I
must answer according to my conscience, though I should
lose twenty lives if I had so many. I can support it by a
great number of passages from the Holy Scriptures and the
ancient doctors, and, if I am fairly tried, I shall have nothing
to fear.’—‘Marry!’ quoth the gentleman, ‘if you be
fairly tried, you would be safe; but that is what I very
much doubt. Our Master Christ was not fairly tried, nor
would he be, as I think, if he were now present again in the
world. How, then, should you be, when your opinions are
so little understood and are so odious?’—‘I know,’ answered
Fryth, ‘that the doctrine which I hold is very hard
meat to be digested just now; but listen to me.’ As he
spoke, he took the gentleman by the hand: ‘If you live
twenty years more, you will see the whole realm of my
opinion concerning this sacrament of the altar—all, except
a certain class of men. My death, you say, would be sorrowful
to my friends, but it will be only for a short time.
But, all things considered, my death will be better unto me
and all mine than life in continual bondage. God knoweth
what he hath to do with his poor servant, whose cause I
now defend. He will help me, and no man shall prevail
on me to step backwards.’

The boat reached Lambeth. The travellers landed, entered
the archbishop’s palace, and, after taking some refreshment,
started on foot for Croydon, twelve miles from
London.

The three travellers proceeded over the hills and through
the plains of Surrey. Here and there flocks of sheep were
// File: 186.png
.pn +1
grazing in the scanty pastures, and to the east stretched vast
woods. The gentleman walked mournfully by the side of
Fryth. It was useless to ask him again to retract; but
another idea engrossed Cranmer’s officer,—that of letting
Fryth escape. The country was then thinly inhabited:
the woods which covered it on the east and the chalky hills
might serve as a hiding-place for the fugitive. The difficulty
was to persuade Perlebeane. The gentleman slackened
his pace, called to the porter, and they walked by
themselves behind the prisoner. When they were so far
off that he could not hear their conversation, the gentleman
said: ‘You have heard this man, I am sure, and noted his
talk since he came from the Tower.’—‘I never heard so
constant a man,’ Perlebeane answered, ‘nor so eloquent a
person.’—‘You have heard nothing,’ resumed the gentleman,
‘in respect both of his knowledge and his eloquence.
If you could hear him at the university or in the pulpit,
you would admire him still more. England has never had
such a one of his age with so much learning. And yet our
bishops treat him as if he were a very dolt or an idiot....
They abhor him as the devil himself, and want to get rid of
him by any means.’—‘Marry!’ said the porter, ‘if there
were nothing else in him but the consideration of his person
both comely and amiable, his disposition so gentle, meek,
and humble, it were pity he should be cast away.’—‘Cast
away,’ interrupted the gentleman, ‘he will certainly be cast
away if we once bring him to Croydon.’ And lowering his
voice, he continued: ‘Surely, before God I speak it, if thou,
Perlebeane, wert of my mind, we should never bring him
thither.’—‘What do you mean?’ asked the astonished
porter. Then, after a moment’s silence, he added: ‘I know
that you have a great deal more responsibility in this matter
than I have; and therefore, if you can honestly save this
man, I will yield to your proposal with all my heart.’ The
gentleman breathed again.

.sn Attempt To Save Fryth.
Cranmer had desired that all possible efforts should be
made to change Fryth’s sentiments; and these failing, he
// File: 187.png
.pn +1
wished to save him in another way. It was his desire that
the Reformer should go on foot to Croydon; that he should
be accompanied by two only of his servants, selected from
those best disposed towards the new doctrine. The primate’s
gentleman would never have dared to take upon
himself, except by his master’s desire, the responsibility of
conniving at the escape of a prisoner who was to be tried by
the first personages of the realm, appointed by the king
himself. Happy at having gained the porter to his enterprise,
he began to discuss with him the ways and means.
He knew the country well, and his plan was arranged.

‘You see yonder hill before us,’ he said to Perlebeane;
‘it is Brixton Causeway, two miles from London. There
are great woods on both sides. When we come to the top,
we will permit Fryth to escape to the woods on the left
hand, whence he may easily get into Kent, where he was
born, and where he has many friends. We will linger an
hour or two on the road after his flight, to give him time to
reach a place of safety, and when night approaches, we will
go to Streatham, which is a mile and a half off, and make
an outcry in the town that our prisoner has escaped into the
woods on the right hand towards Wandsworth; that we followed
him for more than a mile, and at length lost him because
we were not many enough. At the same time we
will take with us as many people as we can to search for
him in that direction; if necessary we will be all night about
it; and before we can send the news of what has happened
to Croydon, Fryth will be in safety, and the bishops will be
disappointed.’

The gentleman, we see, was not very scrupulous about
the means of rescuing a victim from the Roman priests.
Perlebeane thought as he did. ‘Your plan pleases me,’ he
answered; ‘now go and tell the prisoner, for we are already
at the foot of the hill.’

The delighted gentleman hurried forward. ‘Master
Fryth,’ he said, ‘let us talk together a little. I cannot
hide from you that the task I have undertaken, to bring you
// File: 188.png
.pn +1
to Croydon, as a sheep to the slaughter, grieves me exceedingly,
and there is no danger I would not brave to deliver
you out of the lion’s mouth. Yonder good fellow and I have
devised a plan whereby you may escape. Listen to me.
The gentleman having described his plan, Fryth smiled
amiably, and said: ‘This, then, is the result of your long
consultation together. You have wasted your time. If you
were both to leave me here and go to Croydon, declaring to
the bishops you had lost me, I should follow after as fast as
I could, and bring them news that I had found and brought
Fryth again.’

The gentleman had not expected such an answer. A
prisoner refuse his liberty! ‘You are mad,’ he said: ‘do
you think your reasoning will convert the bishops? At
Milton Shone you tried to escape beyond the sea, and now
you refuse to save yourself!’—‘The two cases are different,’
answered Fryth; ‘then I was at liberty, and, according
to the advice of <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Paul, I would fain have enjoyed my
liberty for the continuance of my studies. But now the
higher power, as it were by Almighty God’s permission, has
seized me, and my conscience binds me to defend the doctrine
for which I am persecuted, if I would not incur our
Lord’s condemnation. If I should now run away, I should
run from my God; if I should fly, I should fly from the
testimony I am bound to bear to his Holy Word, and I
should deserve a thousand hells. I most heartily thank you
both for your good will towards me; but I beseech you to
bring me where I was appointed to be brought, for else I
will go thither all alone.’[#]

Those who desired to save Fryth had not counted upon
so much integrity. Such were, however, the martyrs of
protestantism. The archbishop’s two servants continued
their route along with their strange prisoner. Fryth had a
calm eye and cheerful look, and the rest of the journey was
accomplished in pious and agreeable conversation. When
they reached Croydon, he was delivered to the officers of
// File: 189.png
.pn +1
the episcopal court, and passed the night in the lodge of the
primate’s porter.

.sn Fryth On The Real Presence.
The next morning he appeared before the bishops and
peers appointed to examine him. Cranmer and Lord
Chancellor Audley desired his acquittal; but some of the
other judges were men without pity.

The examination began:

‘Do you believe,’ they said, ‘that the sacrament of the
altar is or is not the real body of Christ?’ Fryth answered,
simply and firmly: ‘I believe that the bread is the body of
Christ in that it is broken, and thus teaches us that the body
of Christ was to be broken and delivered unto death to
redeem us from our iniquities. I believe the bread is the
body of Christ in that it is <i>distributed</i>, and thus teaches us
that the body of Christ and the fruits of his passion are distributed
unto all faithful people. I believe that the bread is
the body of Christ so far as it is <i>received</i>, and thus it teaches
us that even as the outward man receiveth the sacrament
with his teeth and mouth, so doth the inward man truly receive
through faith the body of Christ and the fruits of his
passion.’

The judges were not satisfied: they wanted a formal and
complete retraction. ‘Do you not think,’ asked one of
them, ‘that the natural body of Christ, his flesh, blood, and
bones, are contained under the sacrament and are there
present without any figure of speech?’—‘No,’ he answered;
‘I do not think so;’ adding with much humility and charity:
‘notwithstanding I would not have that any should count
my saying to be an article of faith. For even as I say, that
you ought not to make any necessary article of the faith of
your part; so I say again, that we make no necessary
article of the faith of our part, but leave it indifferent
for all men to judge therein, as God shall open their hearts,
and no side to condemn or despise the other, but to nourish
in all things brotherly love, and to bear one another’s infirmities.’[#]
// File: 190.png
.pn +1

The commissioners then undertook to convince Fryth of
the truth of transubstantiation; but he quoted Scripture,
<abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Augustine and Chrysostom, and eloquently defended the
doctrine of the spiritual eating. The court rose. Cranmer
had been moved, although he was still under the influence
of Luther’s teaching.[#] ‘The man spoke admirably,’ he
said to Dr. Heath as they went out, ‘and yet in my opinion
he is wrong.’ Not many years later he devoted one of the
most important of his writings to an explanation of the doctrine
now professed by the young reformer; it may be that
Fryth’s words had begun to shake him.

Full of love for him, Cranmer desired to save him.
Four times during the course of the examination he sent
for Fryth and conversed with him privately,[#] always asserting
the Lutheran opinion. Fryth offered to maintain
his doctrine in a public discussion against any one who was
willing to attack it, but nobody accepted his challenge.[#]
Cranmer, distressed at seeing all his efforts useless, found
there was nothing more for him to do; the cause was transferred
to the ordinary, the Bishop of London, and on the
<abbr=seventeenth>17th</abbr> of June the prisoner was once more committed to the
Tower. The bishop selected as his assessors for the trial,
Longland, Bishop of Lincoln, and Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester:
there were no severer judges to be found on the
episcopal bench. At Cambridge, Fryth had been the most
distinguished pupil of the clever and ambitious Gardiner;
but this, instead of exciting the compassion of that hard
man, did but increase his anger. ‘Fryth and his friends,’ he
said, ‘are villains, blasphemers, and limbs of the devil.’[#]

.sn Fryth Sentenced To Death.
On the <abbr=twentieth>20th</abbr> of June, Fryth was taken to <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Paul’s before
the three bishops, and though of a humble disposition
and almost timid character, he answered boldly. A clerk
// File: 191.png
.pn +1
took down all his replies, and Fryth, snatching up the pen,
wrote: ‘I, Fryth think thus. Thus have I spoken, written,
defended, affirmed, and published in my writings.’[#] The
bishops having asked him if he would retract his errors,
Fryth replied: ‘Let justice have its course and the sentence
be pronounced.’ Stokesley did not keep him waiting long.
‘Not willing that thou, Fryth, who art wicked,’ he said,
‘shouldst become more wicked, and infect the Lord’s flock
with thy heresies, we declare thee excommunicate and cast
out from the Church, and leave thee unto the secular
powers, most earnestly requiring them in the truth of our
Lord Jesus Christ that thy execution and punishment be
not too extreme, <i>nor yet the gentleness too much mitigated</i>.’[#]

Fryth was taken to Newgate and shut up in a dark cell,
where he was bound with chains on the hands and feet
as heavy as he could bear, and round his neck was a collar
of iron, which fastened him to a post, so that he could
neither stand upright nor sit down. Truly the ‘gentleness’
was not ‘too much mitigated.’ His charity never failed him.
‘I am going to die,’ he said, ‘but I condemn neither those
who follow Luther nor those who follow Œcolampadius,
since both reject transubstantiation.’[#] A young mechanic
of twenty-four, Andrew Hewet by name, was placed in his
cell. Fryth asked him for what crime he was sent to
prison. ‘The bishops,’ he replied, ‘asked me what I
thought of the sacrament, and I answered, “I think as
Fryth does.” Then one of them smiled, and the Bishop of
London said: “Why Fryth is a heretic, and already condemned
to be burnt, and if you do not retract your opinion
you shall be burnt with him.” “Very well,” I answered,
“I am content.”[#] So they sent me here to be burnt along
with you.’
// File: 192.png
.pn +1

On the <abbr=fourth>4th</abbr> of July they were both taken to Smithfield:
the executioners fastened them to the post, back to back;
the torch was applied, the flame rose in the air, and Fryth,
stretching out his hands, embraced it as if it were a dear
friend whom he would welcome. The spectators were
touched, and showed marks of lively sympathy. ‘Of a
truth,’ said an evangelical Christian in after days, ‘he was
one of those prophets whom God, having pity on this realm
of England, raised up to call us to repentance.’[#] His
enemies were there. Cooke, a fanatic priest, observing
some persons praying, called out: ‘Do not pray for such
folks, any more than you would for a dog.’[#] At this moment
a sweet light shone on Fryth’s face, and he was heard
beseeching the Lord to pardon his enemies. Hewet died
first, and Fryth thanked God that the sufferings of his
young brother were over. Committing his soul into the
Lord’s hands, he expired. ‘Truly,’ exclaimed many, ‘great
are the victories Christ gains in his saints.’

So many souls were enlightened by Fryth’s writings, that
this reformer contributed powerfully to the renovation of
England. ‘One day, an Englishman,’ says Thomas Becon,
prebendary of Canterbury and chaplain to Archbishop Cranmer,
‘having taken leave of his mother and friends, travelled
into Derbyshire, and from thence to the Peak, a marvellous
barren country,’ and where there was then ‘neither
learning nor yet no spark of godliness.’ Coming into a little
village named Alsop in the Dale, he chanced upon a certain
gentleman also named Alsop, lord of that village, a
man not only ancient in years, but also ripe in the knowledge
of Christ’s doctrine. After they had taken ‘a sufficient
repast,’ the gentleman showed his guest certain books
which he called his <i>jewels</i> and <i>principal treasures</i>: these
were the New Testament and some books of Fryth’s. In
these godly treatises this ancient gentleman occupied himself
among his rocks and mountains both diligently and virtuously.
// File: 193.png
.pn +1
‘He did not only love the Gospel,’ adds Cranmer’s
chaplain, he ‘<i>lived it also</i>.’[#]

Fryth’s writings were not destined to be read always with
the same avidity: the truth they contain is, however, good
for all times. The books of the apostles and of the reformers
which that gentleman of Alsop read in the sixteenth
century were better calculated to bring joy and peace to the
soul than the light works read with such avidity in the
world.

.fn #
Cranmer’s <i>Letters and Remains</i>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 246.
.fn-
.fn #
Tyndale to Fryth: Foxe, <abbr=five>v.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 132; Anderson, <i>Annals of Bible</i>, <abbr rend=arabic>i.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr>
357.
.fn-
.fn #
‘For there should be no concourse of citizens.’—Foxe, <i>Acts</i>, <abbr=eight>viii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr>
696.
.fn-
.fn #
The narrative from which we learn these particulars is given in the
eighth volume of Foxe’s <i>Acts</i>, and seems to have been written by the gentleman
himself. The circumstance that it is drawn up so as to compromise
neither himself nor Cranmer is of itself a confirmation.
.fn-
.fn #
Foxe, <i>Acts</i>, <abbr=eight>viii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 696.
.fn-
.fn #
Foxe, <i>Acts</i>, <abbr=eight>viii.</abbr> Appendix.
.fn-
.fn #
Foxe, <i>Acts</i>, <abbr=five>v.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 12.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=de>‘Mit den Zähnen zu bissen.’</lang>—Plank. <abbr=three>iii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 369.
.fn-
.fn #
‘And surely I myself sent for him three or four times to persuade
him.’—Cranmer, <i>Remains</i>, <i>Letters</i>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 246.
.fn-
.fn #
‘There was no man willing to answer him in open disputation.’—Foxe,
<i>Acts</i>, <abbr=eight>viii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 699.
.fn-
.fn #
Bishop Hooper, <i>Early Writings</i>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 245.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Ego Frythus ita sentio, ita dixi, scripsi, affirmavi, &c.’</lang>—Foxe, <i>Acts</i>,
<abbr=five>v.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 14.
.fn-
.fn #
Ibid. <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 15.
.fn-
.fn #
‘All the Germans, both of Luther’s side and also of Œcolampadius.’—Tyndale
and Fryth, <i>Works</i>, <abbr=three>iii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 455.
.fn-
.fn #
Foxe, <i>Acts</i>, <abbr=five>v.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 18.
.fn-
.fn #
Becon, <i>Works</i>, <abbr=three>iii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 11.
.fn-
.fn #
Foxe, <i>Acts</i>, <abbr=five>v.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 10.
.fn-
.fn #
Becon, <i>Jewel of Joy</i> (Parker Soc.), <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 420.
.fn-
.sp 4
.h2 id=chap6-20
CHAPTER XX. | ENGLAND SEPARATES GRADUALLY FROM THE PAPACY. | (1533.)
.sp 2
.sn Anne Boleyn.
When Fryth mounted the scaffold, Anne Boleyn had
been seated a month on the throne of England. The salvoes
of artillery which had saluted the new queen had re-echoed
all over Europe. There could be no more doubt:
the Earl of Wiltshire’s daughter, radiant with grace and
beauty, wore the Tudor crown; every one, especially the
imperial family, must bear the consequences of the act.
One day Sir John Hacket, English envoy at Brussels, arrived
at court just as Mary, regent of the Low Countries,
was about to mount her horse. ‘Have you any news from
England?’ she asked him in French.—‘None,’ he replied.
Mary gave him a look of surprise,[#] and added: ‘Then I
have, and not over good methinks.’ She then told him of
the king’s marriage, and Hacket rejoined with an unembarrassed
air: ‘Madam, I know not if it has taken place, but
// File: 194.png
.pn +1
everybody who considers it coolly and without family prejudice
will agree that it is a lawful and a conscientious marriage.’
Mary, who was niece of the unhappy Catherine,
replied: ‘Mr. Ambassador, God knows I wish all may go
well; but I do not know how the emperor and the king my
brother will take it, for it touches them as well as me.’—‘I
think I may be certain,’ returned Sir John, ‘that they will
take it in good part.’—‘That I do not know, Mr. Ambassador,’
said the regent, who doubted it much; and then mounting
her horse, she rode out for the chase.[#]

Charles <abbr='the fifth'>V.</abbr> was exasperated: he immediately pressed the
pope to intervene, and on the <abbr=twelfth>12th</abbr> of May, Clement cited
the king to appear at Rome. The pontiff was greatly embarrassed:
having a particular liking for Benet, Henry’s
agent, he took him aside, and said to him privately:[#]
‘It is an affair of such importance that there has been
none like it for many years. I fear to kindle a fire that
neither pope nor emperor will be able to quench.’ And then
he added unaffectedly: ‘Besides, I cannot pronounce the
king’s excommunication before the emperor has an army ready
to constrain him.’ Henry being told of this <i>aside</i> made
answer: ‘Having the justice of our cause for us, with the
entire consent of our nobility, commons, and subjects, we do
not care for what the pope may do.’ Accordingly he appealed
from the pope to a general council.

The pope was now more embarrassed than ever; ‘I cannot
stand still and do nothing,’ he said.[#] On the <abbr=twelfth>12th</abbr> of
July he revoked all the English proceedings and excommunicated
the king, but suspended the effects of his sentence
until the end of September. ‘I hope,’ said Henry contemptuously,
‘that before then the pope will understand his
folly.’[#]

He reckoned on Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr> to help him to understand it;
// File: 195.png
.pn +1
but that prince was about to receive the pope’s niece into
his family, and Henry made every exertion, but to no effect,
to prevent the meeting of Clement and Francis at Marseilles.
The King of England, who had already against
him the Netherlands, the Empire, Rome, and Spain, saw
France also slipping from him. He was isolated in Europe,
and that became a serious matter. Agitated and indignant,
he came to an extraordinary resolution, namely, to turn to
the disciples and friends of that very Luther whom he had
formerly so disdainfully treated.

.sn Missions Of Vaughan And Mann.
Stephen Vaughan and Christopher Mann were despatched,
the former to Saxony, the other to Bavaria.[#]
Vaughan reached Weimar on the <abbr=first>1st</abbr> of September, where
he had to wait five days for the Elector of Saxony, who was
away hunting. On the <abbr=fifth>5th</abbr> of September he had an audience
of the prince, and spoke to him first in French and
then in Latin. Seeing that the elector, who spoke neither
French, English, nor Latin, answered him only with nods,[#]
he begged the chancellor to be his interpreter. A written
answer was sent to Vaughan at seven in the evening: the
Elector of Saxony turned his back on the powerful King of
England. He was unworthy, he said, to have at his court
ambassadors from his royal majesty; and besides, the emperor,
who was his only master, might be displeased.
Vaughan’s annoyance was extreme. ‘Strange rudeness!’
he exclaimed. ‘A more uncourteous refusal has never been
made to such a gracious proposition. And to my greater
misfortune, it is the first mission of kind with which I have
ever been entrusted.’ He left Weimar determined not to
deliver his credentials either to the Landgrave of Hesse or
to the Duke of Lauenberg, whom he was instructed to visit:
he did not wish to run the chance of receiving fresh affronts.

A strange lot was that of the King of England! the
pope excommunicating him, and the heretics desiring to
have nothing to do with him! No more allies, no more
// File: 196.png
.pn +1
friends! Be it so: if the nation and the monarch are
agreed, what is there to fear? Besides at the very moment
this affront was offered him, his joy was at its height; the
hope of soon possessing that heir, for whom he had longed
so many years, quite transported him. He ordered an official
letter to be prepared announcing the birth of a prince
‘to the great joy of the king,’ it ran, ‘and of all his loving
subjects.’ Only the date of the letter was left blank.

On the <abbr=seventh>7th</abbr> of September, two days after the elector’s refusal,
Anne, then residing in the palace at Greenwich, was
brought to bed of a fine well-formed child, reminding the
gossips of the features of both parents; but alas! it was a
girl. Henry, agitated by two strong affections, love for Anne
and desire for a son, had been kept in great anxiety during
the time of labor. When he was told that the child
was a girl, the love he bore for the mother prevailed, and
though disappointed in his fondest wishes, he received the
babe with joy. But the famous letter announcing the birth
of a prince ... what must be done with it now?
Henry ordered the queen’s secretary to add an <i>s</i> to the word
<i>prince</i>, and despatched the circular without making any
change in the expression of his satisfaction.[#] The christening
was celebrated with great pomp; two hundred torches
were carried before the princess, a fit emblem of the light
which her reign would shed abroad. The child was named
Elizabeth, and Henry gave her the title of Princess of
Wales, declaring her his successor, in case he should have
no male offspring. In London the excitement was great;
<lang=la><i>Te Deums</i></lang>, bells, and music filled the air. The adepts of judicial
astrology declared that the stars announced a glorious
future. A bright star was indeed rising over England; and
the English people, throwing off the yoke of Rome, were
about to start on a career of freedom, morality, and greatness.
// File: 197.png
.pn +1
The firm Elizabeth was not destined to shine by the
amiability which distinguished her mother, and the restrictions
she placed upon liberty tend rather to remind us of her
father. Yet while on the continent kings were trampling
under foot the independence of their subjects, the English
people, under Anne Boleyn’s daughter, were to develop
themselves, to flourish in letters, and in arts, to extend navigation
and commerce, to reform abuses, to exercise their liberties,
to watch energetically over the public good, and to
set up the torch of the Gospel of Christ.

.sn English Envoys At Marseilles.
The king of France very adverse to England’s becoming
independent of Rome, at last prevailed upon Henry to send
two English agents (Gardiner and Bryan) to Marseilles.
‘You will keep your eyes open,’ said Henry <abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr> to them,
‘and lend an attentive ear, but you will keep your mouths
shut.’ The English envoys being invited to a conference
with Clement and Francis, and solicited by those great personages
to speak, declared that they had no powers. ‘Why
then were you sent?’ exclaimed the king unable to conceal
his vexation. The ambassadors only answered with a
smile.[#] Francis who meant to uphold the authority
of the pope in France, was unwilling that England should
be free: he seems to have had some presentiment of the
happy effects that independence would work for the rival
nation. Accordingly he took the ambassadors aside, and
prayed them to enter immediately on business with the pontiff.
‘We are not here for his Holiness,’ dryly answered
Gardiner, ‘or to negotiate anything with him, but only to
do what the King of England commands us.’ The tricks of
the papacy had ruined it in the minds of the English people.
Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr>, displeased at Gardiner’s silence and irritated by
his stiffness, intimated to the King of England that he would
be pleased to see ‘better instruments’ sent.[#] Henry did
send another instrument to Marseilles, but he took care to
choose one sharper still.

Edward Bonner, archdeacon of Leicester, was a clever,
// File: 198.png
.pn +1
active man, but ambitious, coarse and rude, wanting in delicacy
and consideration towards those with whom he had to
deal, violent, and, as he showed himself later to the protestants,
a cruel persecutor. For some time he had got into
Cromwell’s good graces, and as the wind was against popery,
Bonner was against the pope. Henry gave him his appeal
to a general council, and charged him to present it to Clement
<abbr='the seventh'>VII.</abbr>: it was the ‘bill of divorcement’ between the pope
and England. Bonner, proud of being the bearer of so
important a message, arrived at Marseilles, firmly resolved
to give Henry a proof of his zeal. If Luther had burnt the
pope’s bull at Wittemberg, Bonner would do as much; but
while Luther had acted as a free man, Bonner was only a
slave, pushing to fanaticism his submission to the orders of
his despotic master.

Gardiner was astonished when he heard of Bonner’s arrival.
What a humiliation for him! He hung his head,
pinched his lips,[#] and then lifted up his eyes and hands, as
if cursing the day and hour when Bonner appeared. Never
were two men more discordant to one another. Gardiner
could not believe the news. A scheme contrived without
him! A bishop to see one of his inferiors charged with a
mission more important than his own! Bonner, having paid
him a visit, Gardiner affected great coldness, and brought
forward every reason calculated to dissuade him from executing
his commission.—‘But I have a letter from the king,’
answered Bonner, ‘sealed with his seal, and dated from
Windsor; here it is.’ And he took from his satchel the
letter in which Henry <abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr> intimated that he had appealed
from the sentence of the pope recently delivered against
him.[#] ‘Good,’ answered Gardiner, and taking the letter he
read: ‘Our good pleasure is that if you deem it <i>good</i> and
<i>serviceable</i> (Gardiner dwelt upon those two words) you will
give the pope notice of the said appeal, according to the
forms required by law; if not, you will acquaint us with
// File: 199.png
.pn +1
your opinion in that respect.—‘That is clear,’ said Gardiner;
‘you should advise the king to abstain, for that notice
just now will be neither good nor serviceable.’—‘And I
say that it is both,’ rejoined Bonner.

One circumstance brought the two Englishmen into harmony,
at least for a time. Catherine de Medicis, the pope’s
niece, had been married to the son of Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr>, and Clement
made four French prelates cardinals. But not one
Englishman, not even Gardiner! That changed the question;
there could be no more doubt. Francis is sacrificing
Henry to the pope, and the pope insults England. Gardiner
himself desired Bonner to give the pontiff notice of the
appeal, and the English envoy, fearing refusal if he asked
for an audience of Clement, determined to overleap the
usual formalities, and take the place by assault.

.sn Clement And Bonner.
On the <abbr=seventh>7th</abbr> of November, the Archdeacon of Leicester,
accompanied by Penniston, a gentleman who had brought
him the king’s last orders, went early to the pontifical palace,
preparing to let fall from the folds of his mantle war
between England and the papacy. As he was not expected,
the pontifical officers stopped him at the door; but the Englishman
forced his way in, and entered a hall through which
the pope must pass on his way to the consistory.

Ere long the pontiff appeared, wearing his stole, and
walking between the cardinals of Lorraine and Medicis, his
train following behind. His eyes, which were of remarkable
quickness, immediately fell upon the distant Bonner,[#]
and as he advanced he did not take them off the stranger,
as if astonished and uneasy at seeing him. At length he
stopped in the middle of the hall, and Bonner, approaching
the datary, said to him: ‘Be pleased to inform his Holiness
that I desire to speak to him.’ The officer refusing, the intrepid
Bonner made as if he would go towards the pope.
Clement, wishing to know the meaning of these indiscreet
// File: 200.png
.pn +1
proceedings, bade the cardinals stand aside, took off the
stole, and going to a window recess, called Bonner to him.
The latter, without any formality, informed the pope that
the King of England appealed from his decision to a general
council, and that he (Bonner), his Majesty’s envoy, was
prepared to hand him the authentic documents of the said
appeal, taking them (as he spoke) from his portfolio. Clement,
who expected nothing like this, was greatly surprised:
‘it was a terrible breakfast for him,’ says a contemporary
document.[#] Not knowing what to answer, he shrugged his
shoulders, ‘after the Italian fashion;’ and at last, recovering
himself a little, he told Bonner that he was going to the
consistory, and desired him to return in the afternoon.
Then beckoning the cardinals, he left the hall.

Henry’s envoy was punctual to the appointment, but had
to wait for an hour and a half, his Holiness being engaged
in giving audience. At length he and Penniston were
conducted to the pope’s closet. Clement fixed his eyes on
the latter, and Bonner having introduced him, the pope remarked
with a mistrustful air: ‘It is well, but I also must
have some members of my council;’ and he ordered Simonetta,
Capisuchi, and the datary to be sent for. While waiting
their arrival, Clement leant at the window, and appeared
absorbed in thought. At last, unable to contain himself any
longer, he exclaimed: ‘I am greatly surprised that his
Majesty should behave as he does towards me.’ The intrepid
Bonner replied: ‘His Majesty is not less surprised
that your Holiness, who has received so many services from
him, repays him with ingratitude.’ Clement started, but
restrained himself on seeing the datary enter, and ordered
that officer to read the appeal which Bonner had just delivered
to him.[#]

The datary began: ‘Considering that we have endured
from the pope many wrongs and injuries (<lang=la><i>gravaminibus et
// File: 201.png
.pn +1
injuriis</i></lang>).’... Clasping his hands and nodding dissent,
Clement exclaimed ironically: ‘<lang=it><i>O questo è molto vero!</i></lang>’
meaning to say that it was false, remarks Bonner.[#] The
datary continued: ‘Considering that his most holy Lordship
strikes us with his spiritual sword, and wishes to separate
us from the unity of the Church; we, desiring to protect
with a lawful shield the kingdom which God has given us,[#]
appeal by these presents, for ourselves and for all our
subjects, to a holy universal council.’

.sn A General Council.
At these words, the pope burst into a transport of passion,[#]
and the datary stopped. Clement’s gestures and
broken words uttered with vehemence, showed the horror
he entertained of a council.... A council would set
itself above the pope; a council might perhaps say that the
Germans and the King of England were right. ‘To speak
of a general council! O good Lord!’ he exclaimed.[#]

The pope gave way to convulsive movements, folding and
unfolding his handkerchief, which was always a sign of great
anger in him. At last, as if to hide his passion, he said:
‘Continue, I am listening.’ When the datary had ended,
the pope said coldly to his officers: ‘It is well written!
<lang=it><i>Questo è bene fatto.</i></lang>’

Then turning to Bonner, he asked: ‘Have you anything
more to say to me?’ Bonner was not in the humor to show
the least consideration. A man of the north, he took a pleasure
in displaying his roughness and inflexibility in the elegant,
crafty, and corrupt society of Rome. He boldly
repeated the protest, and delivered the king’s ‘provocation’
to the pope, who broke out into fresh lamentations. ‘Ha!’
he exclaimed vehemently, ‘his Majesty affects much respect
for the Church, but does not show the least to me.’ He
// File: 202.png
.pn +1
<i>snarled</i>[#] as he read the new document.... Just at
this moment, one of his officers announced the King of
France. Francis could not have arrived at a more seasonable
moment. Clement rose and went to the door to meet
him. The king respectfully took off his hat, and holding it
in his hand made a low bow,[#] after which he inquired
what his Holiness was doing. ‘These English gentlemen,’
said the pontiff, ‘are here to notify me of certain provocations
and appeals ... and for other matters,’[#] he
added, displaying much ill-humor. Francis sat down near
the table at which the pope was seated; and turning their
backs to Henry’s envoy, who had retired into an adjoining
room, they began a conversation in a low tone, which Bonner,
notwithstanding all his efforts, could not hear.

That conversation possibly decided the separation between
England and France. The king showed that he was offended
at a course of proceeding which he characterized as
unbecoming; and Clement learnt, to his immense satisfaction,
that the English had not spoken to Francis about the
council. ‘If you will leave me and the emperor free to act
against England,’ he said to the king, ‘I will ensure you
possession of the duchy of Milan.’[#] The monarch promised
the obedience of his people to the decrees of the papacy,
and the pope in his joy exclaimed: ‘<lang=it><i>Questo è per la bontà
vostra!</i></lang>’ Bonner, who had not lost sight of the two speakers,
remarked that at this moment the king and the pope
‘laughed merrily together,’ and appeared to be the best
friends in the world.

The king having withdrawn, Bonner, again approached
the pope, and the datary finished the reading. The Englishman
had not been softened by the mysterious conversation
and laughter of Clement and Francis: he was as rough
// File: 203.png
.pn +1
and abrupt as the Frenchman had been smooth and amiable.
It was long since the papacy had suffered such insults
openly, and even the German Reformation had not put it
to such torture. The Cardinal De Medicis, chief of the
malcontents, who had come in, listened to Bonner, with head
bent down and eyes fixed upon the floor: he was humiliated
and indignant. ‘This is a matter of great importance,’ said
Clement; ‘I will consult the consistory and let you know
my answer.’

In the afternoon of Monday, <abbr=tenth>10th</abbr> of November, Bonner
returned to the palace to learn the pope’s pleasure: but
there was a grand reception that day, the lords and ladies
of the court of Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr> were presented to Clement, who
did nothing for two hours but bless chaplets, bless the spectators,
and put out his foot for the nobles and dames to kiss.[#]

.sn Clement’s Answer.
At last Bonner was introduced: ‘<lang=la><i>Domine doctor, quid
vultis?</i></lang> Sir doctor, what do you want?’ said the pope. ‘I
desire the answer which your Holiness promised me.’
Clement, who had had time to recover himself, replied:
‘A constitution of Pope Pius, my predecessor, condemns all
appeals to a general council. I therefore reject his Majesty’s
appeal as unlawful.’ The pope had pronounced these
words with calmness and dignity, but an incident occurred
to put him out of temper. Bonner, hurt at the little respect
paid to his sovereign, bluntly informed the pope that the
Archbishop of Canterbury—that Cranmer—desired also
to appeal to a council. This was going too far: Clement,
restraining himself no longer, rose, and approaching Henry’s
envoy, said to him: ‘If you do not leave the room instantly,
I will have you thrown into a caldron of molten lead.’[#]—‘Truly,’
remarked Bonner, ‘if the pope is a shepherd, he is,
as the king my master says, a violent and cruel shepherd.’[#]
And not caring to take a leaden bath, he departed for
Lyons.[#]
// File: 204.png
.pn +1

Clement was delighted not only at the departure, but
still more at the conduct of Bonner: the insolence of the
English envoy helped him wonderfully; and accordingly he
made a great noise about it, complaining to everybody, and
particularly to Francis. ‘I am wearied, vexed, disgusted
with all this,’ said that prince to his courtiers. ‘What I do
with great difficulty in a week for my good brother (Henry
<abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr>), his own ministers undo in an hour.’ Clement endeavored
in secret interviews[#] to increase this discontent,
and he succeeded. The mysterious understanding was apparent
to every one, and Vannes, the English agent, who
never lost sight either of the pope or the king, informed
Cromwell of the close union of their minds.[#]

When Henry <abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr> learnt that the King of France was
slipping from him, he was both irritated and alarmed.
Abandoned by that prince, he saw the pope launching an
interdict against his kingdom, the emperor invading England,
and the people in insurrection.[#] He had no repose by night
or day: his anger against the pope continued to increase.
Wishing to prevent at least the revolts which the partisans
of the papacy might excite among his subjects, he dictated a
strange proclamation to his secretary: ‘Let no Englishman
forget the most noble and loving prince of this realm,’ he
said, ‘who is most wrongfully judged by the <i>great idol</i>, and
most <i>cruel enemy to Christ’s religion, which calleth himself
Pope</i>. Princes have two ways to attain right—the general
council and the sword. Now the king, having appealed
from the unlawful sentence of the Bishop of Rome to a general
council lawfully congregated, the said usurper hath
rejected the appeal, and is thus outlawed. By holy Scripture,
there is no more jurisdiction granted to the Bishop of
Rome than to any other bishop. Henceforth honor him not
as an idol, who is but a man usurping God’s power and
// File: 205.png
.pn +1
authority; and a man neither in life, learning, nor conversation
like Christ’s minister or disciple.’[#]

Henry having given vent to his irritation, bethought
himself, and judged it more prudent not to publish the
proclamation.

At Marseilles England and France separated: the first,
because she was withdrawing from the pope; the other,
because she was drawing nearer to him. It is here that
was formed that secret understanding between Paris and
Rome which, adopted by the successors of Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr>, and
more or less courted by other sovereigns of Christendom,
has for several centuries filled glorious countries with despotism
and persecution, and often with immorality. The
interview at Marseilles between the pope and the King of
France is the dividing point: since that time, governments
and nations in the train of Rome have been seen to decline,
while those who separated from it have begun to rise.

.fn #
‘She gave me a look as to that she should marvell thereof.’—<i>State
Papers</i>, <abbr=seven>vii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 451.
.fn-
.fn #
‘Setting forward to ride out a hunting.’—<i>State Papers</i>, <abbr=seven>vii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 451.
.fn-
.fn #
‘Taking me aside, showed unto me secretly.’—Ibid. <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 457.
.fn-
.fn #
‘So sore for him to stand still and do nothing.’—Ibid. <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 469.
.fn-
.fn #
<i>State Papers</i> (Henry <abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr>), <abbr=seven>vii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 496.
.fn-
.fn #
<i>State Papers</i>, (Henry <abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr>), <abbr=seven>vii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 501.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Sed tantum annuit capite.’</lang>—Ibid. <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 502.
.fn-
.fn #
This official document is given in the <i>State Papers</i>, <abbr rend=arabic>i.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 407. An examination
of the manuscript in the Harleian collection, shows that the <i>s</i>
was added afterwards in the two following passages: ‘bringing forth of a
prince<i>s</i>’ and ‘preservation of the said prince<i>s</i>.’
.fn-
.fn #
Le Grand, <lang=fr><i>Hist. du Divorce</i></lang>, <abbr rend=arabic>i.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 269.
.fn-
.fn #
Ibid. <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 587.
.fn-
.fn #
‘Making a plairemouth with his lip.’—Foxe, <i>Acts</i>, <abbr=five>v.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 152.
.fn-
.fn #
Cranmer’s <i>Memorials</i>, Appendix, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 8.
.fn-
.fn #
‘The pope whose sight is incredulous quick, eyed me.’—Burnet,
<i>Records</i>, <abbr=three>iii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 38.
.fn-
.fn #
Ibid. <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 51.
.fn-
.fn #
‘His Holiness, delivering it to the datarie, commanded him to read
it.’—Burnet, <i>Records</i>, <abbr=three>iii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 23.
.fn-
.fn #
Burnet, <i>Records</i>, <abbr=three>iii.</abbr> <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 37-46; Rymer, <i>Acta</i>, <abbr=six>vi.</abbr> pars <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 188.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Legitimo defensionis clypeo protegere.’</lang>—Rymer, <i>Acta</i>, <abbr=six>vi.</abbr> pars <abbr=two>ii.</abbr>
<abbr=page>p.</abbr> 188.
.fn-
.fn #
‘He fell in a marvellous great choler and rage.’—Burnet, <i>Records</i>,
<abbr=three>iii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 54.
.fn-
.fn #
Ibid.
.fn-
.fn #
‘Wherein the pope snarling.’—Ibid. <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 42.
.fn-
.fn #
‘The French king making very low <i>curtisie</i>, putting off his bonnet
and keeping it off.’—Burnet, <i>Records</i>, <abbr=three>iii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 42.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Questi signori Inglesi sono stati quà per intimare certi provocationi
et appellationi. . . . e di fare altre cose.’</lang>—Ibid.
.fn-
.fn #
Le Grand, <lang=fr><i>Histoire du Divorce</i></lang>, <abbr rend=arabic>i.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 268.
.fn-
.fn #
Burnet, <i>Records</i>, <abbr=three>iii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 42.
.fn-
.fn #
Ibid, <abbr rend=arabic>i.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 130.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Immitis et crudelis pastor.’</lang>—Rymer, <i>Acta</i>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 188.
.fn-
.fn #
Cranmer’s appeal was not written till later, except there be some error
in the date. Burnet, <i>Records</i>, <abbr=three>iii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 24.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Hæc omnia a pontifice cum rege amotis arbitris tractata.’</lang>—<i>State
Papers</i> (Henry <abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr>), <abbr=seven>vii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 222.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘De summa animorum conjunctione.’</lang>—Ibid. <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 523.
.fn-
.fn #
Strype, <i>Eccles. Mem.</i> <abbr rend=arabic>i.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 22.
.fn-
.fn #
Strype, <i>Eccles. Mem.</i> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 226 (Oxf. 1822).
.fn-
.sp 4
.h2 id=chap6-21
CHAPTER XXI. | PARLIAMENT ABOLISHES THE USURPATIONS OF THE POPES IN ENGLAND. | (<sc>January to March 1534.</sc>)
.sp 2
.sn Cry Against The Papacy.
While the papacy was intriguing with France and the
empire, England was energetically working at the utter
abolition of the Roman authority.[#] ‘One loud cry must be
raised in England against the papacy,’ said Cromwell to the
council. ‘It is time that the question was laid before the
// File: 206.png
.pn +1
people. Bishops, parsons, curates, priors, abbots, and
preachers of the religious orders should all declare from
their pulpits that the Bishop of Rome, styled the Pope, is
subordinate, like the rest of the bishops, to a general council,
and that he has no more rights in this kingdom than any
other foreign bishop.’

It was necessary to pursue the same course abroad.
Henry resolved to send ambassadors to Poland, Hungary,
Saxony, Bavaria, Pomerania, Prussia, Hesse, and other
German states, to inform them that he was touched with the
zeal they had shown in defence of the Word of God and the
extirpation of ancient errors, and to acquaint all men that he
was himself ‘utterly determined to reduce the pope’s power
<lang=la><i>ad justos et legitimos mediocritatis suæ modos</i></lang>, to the just
and lawful bounds of his mediocrity.’[#]

He did not stop here. Desiring above all things to withdraw
France from under the influence of Rome, he instructed
his ambassadors to tell Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr> in his name and in the
name of the people: ‘We shall shortly be able to give unto
the pope such a buffet as he never had before.’[#] This was
quite in Henry’s style. ‘Things are going at such a rate
here,’ wrote the Duke of Norfolk to Montmorency, ‘that
the pope will soon lose the obedience of England; and
other nations, perceiving the great fruits, advantage, and
profit that will result from it, will also separate from Rome.’[#]

All this was serious: there was some chance that Norfolk’s
prophecy would be fulfilled. The poor pontiff could
think of nothing else, and began to believe that the idea
of a council was not so unreasonable after all, since the
place and time of meeting and mode of proceeding would
lead to endless discussions; and if the meeting ever took
place, he would thus be relieved of a responsibility which
became more oppressive to him every day. He therefore
bade Henry <abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr> be informed that he agreed to call a
general council. But events had not stood still; the position
// File: 207.png
.pn +1
was not the same. ‘It is no longer necessary,’ the king
answered coldly. In his opinion, the Church of England
was sufficient of herself, and could do without the Church
of Rome.

The King of France, growing alarmed, immediately resumed
his part of mediator. Du Bellay, his ambassador at
Rome, made indefatigable efforts to inspire the consistory
with an opinion favorable to Henry <abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr> According to
that diplomatist, the King of England was ready to re-establish
friendly relations with Clement <abbr='the seventh'>VII.</abbr>, and it was
parliament alone that desired to break with the papacy forever:
it was the people who wished for reform, it was the
king who opposed it. ‘Make your choice,’ he exclaimed
with eloquence.[#] ‘All that the king desires is peace with
Rome; all that the commonalty demands is war. With
whom will you go—with your enemies or with your friend?’
Du Bellay’s assertions, though strange, were based upon a
truth that cannot be denied. It was the best of the people
who wanted protestantism in England, and not the king.

.sn Alarm Of The Court Of Rome.
The court of Rome felt that the last hour had come,
and determined to despatch to London the papers necessary
to reconcile Henry. It was believed on the Continent that
the King of England was going to gain his cause at last, and
people ascribed it to the ascendency of French policy at
Rome since the marriage of Catherine de Medicis with
Henry of Orleans. But the more the French triumphed,
the more indignant became the Imperialists. To no purpose
did the pope say to them: ‘You do not understand the state
of affairs: the thing is done.... The King of England
is married to Anne Boleyn. If I annulled the marriage,
who would undertake to execute my sentence?’—‘Who?’
exclaimed the ambassadors of Charles <abbr='the fifth'>V.</abbr>, ‘who?...
The emperor.’[#] The weak pontiff knew not which
way to turn: he had but one hope left—if Henry <abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr>, as
// File: 208.png
.pn +1
he expected, should re-establish catholicism in his kingdom,
a fact so important would silence Charles <abbr='the fifth'>V.</abbr>

This fact was not to be feared: a movement had begun in
the minds of the people of Great Britain which it was no
longer possible to stop. While many pious souls received
the Word of God in their hearts, the king and the most
enlightened part of the nation were agreed to put an end
to the intolerable usurpations of the Roman pontiff. ‘We
have looked in the Holy Scriptures for the rights of the
papacy,’ said the members of the Commons house of parliament,
‘but, instead of finding therein the institution of
popes, we have found that of kings—and, according to
God’s commandments, the priests ought to be subject to
them as much as the laity.’—‘We have reflected upon the
wants of the realm,’ said the royal council, ‘and have come
to the conclusion, that the nation ought to form one body;
that one body can have but one head, and that head must be
the king.’ The parliament which met in January, 1534, was
to give the death-blow to the supremacy of the pope.

This blow came strictly neither from Henry nor from
Cranmer, but from Thomas Cromwell.[#] Without possessing
Cranmer’s lively faith, Cromwell desired that the preachers
should open the Word of God and preach it ‘with pure
sincereness’ before the people,[#] and he afterwards procured
from every Englishman the right to read it. Being pre-eminently
a statesman of sure judgment and energetic action,
he was in advance of his generation; and it was his
fate, like those generals who march boldly at the head of the
army, to procure victory to the cause for which he fought;
but, persecuted by the traitors concealed among his soldiers,
to be sacrificed by the prince he had served, and to meet a
tragical death before the hour of his triumph.

The Commons, wishing to put an end to the persecutions
practised by the clergy against the evangelical Christians,
// File: 209.png
.pn +1
summoned—it was a thing unprecedented[#]—the Lord-bishop
of London to appear at their bar to answer the complaint
made against him by Thomas Philips, one of the
disciples of the Reformation. The latter had been lying in
prison three years under a charge of heresy. The parliament,
unwilling that a bishop should be able at his own
fancy to transform one of his Majesty’s subjects into a heretic,
brought in a bill for the repression of doctrines condemned
by the Church. They declared that, the authority
of the Bishop of Rome being opposed to Holy Scripture
and the laws of the realm, the words and acts that were
contrary to the decisions of the pontiff could not be regarded
as heresies. Then turning to the particular case which had
given rise to the grievance, parliament declared Philips innocent
and discharged him from prison.

After having thus upheld the cause of religious liberty,
the Commons proceeded to the definitive abolition of the
privileges which the bishops of Rome had successively
usurped to the great detriment of both Church and people.
They restored to England the rights of which Rome had
despoiled her. They prohibited all appeals to the pope, of
what kind soever they might be,[#] and substituted for them
an appeal to the king in chancery. They voted that the
election of bishops did not concern the court of Rome, but
belonged to the chief ecclesiastical body in the diocese, to
the chapter ... at least in appearance; for it really
appertained to the crown, the king designating the person
whom the chapter was to elect. This strange constitution
was abolished under Edward <abbr='the sixth'>VI.</abbr>, when the nomination of
the bishops was conferred purely and simply on the king.
If this was not better, it was at least more sincere; but the
singular <i>congé d’élire</i> was restored under Elizabeth.

.sn Complaint Of Romish Exactions.
At the same time new and loud complaints of the Romish
exactions were heard in parliament. ‘For centuries the
// File: 210.png
.pn +1
Roman bishops have been deceiving us,’ said the eloquent
speakers, ‘making us believe that they have the power of
dispensing with everything, even with God’s commandments.
We send to Rome the treasures of England, and Rome sends
us back in return ... a piece of paper. The monster
which has fattened on the substance of our people bears a
hundred different names. They call it reliefs, dues, pensions,
provisions, procurations, delegation, rescript, appeal,
abolition, rehabilitation, relaxation of canonical penalties,
licenses, Peter’s pence, and many other names besides. And
after having thus caught our money by all sorts of tricks,
the Romans laugh at us in their sleeves.’ Parliament forbade
everybody, even the king himself,[#] to apply to Rome
for any dispensation or delegation whatsoever, and ordered
them, in case of need, to have recourse to the Archbishop
of Canterbury. Then, immediately putting these principles
into practice, they declared the king’s marriage with Catherine
to be null, for ‘no man has power to dispense with
God’s laws,’[#] and ratified the marriage between Henry and
Anne, proclaiming their children heirs to the crown. At
the same time, wishing England to become entirely English,
they deprived two Italians, Campeggi and Ghinucci, of the
sees of Salisbury and Worcester, which they held.

It was during the month of March, 1534—an important
date for England—that the main branches of the tree of
popery were thus lopped off one after another. The trunk
indeed remained, although stripped; but yet a few months,
and that too was to strew the earth with its fall. Still the
Commons showed a certain degree of consideration. When
Clement had threatened the king with excommunication, he
had given him three months’ grace; England, desiring to
return his politeness, informed the pope that he might receive
some compensation. At the same time she made an
important declaration: ‘We do not separate from the
// File: 211.png
.pn +1
Christian Church,’ said the Commons, ‘but merely from the
usurped authority of the Pope of Rome; and we preserve
the catholic faith, as <i>it is set forth in the Holy Scriptures</i>.’
All these reforms were effected with great unanimity, at
least in appearance. The bishops, even the most scholastic,
such as Stokesley of London, Tonstal of Durham, Gardiner
of Winchester, and Rowland Lee of Coventry, declared the
Roman papacy to be of human invention, and that the pope
was, in regard to them, only a <i>bishop</i>, a <i>brother</i>, as his predecessors
had been to the bishops of antiquity.[#] Every
Sunday during the cessation of parliament a prelate preached
at <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Paul’s Cross ‘that the pope was not the head of the
Church,’ and all the people said <sc>Amen</sc>.

Meanwhile Du Bellay, the French ambassador at Rome,
was waiting for the act by which the King of England was
to bind himself once more to the pope—an act which
Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr> still gave him reason to expect. Every morning
he fancied it would arrive, and every evening his expectations
were disappointed. He called upon the English
envoys, and afterwards at the Roman chancery, to hear if
there was any news; but everywhere the answer was the
same—nothing.

.sn Henry’s Condemnation.
The term fixed by Clement <abbr='the seventh'>VII.</abbr> having elapsed, he summoned
the consistory for Monday the <abbr='twenty-third'>23d</abbr> of March. Du
Bellay attended it, still hoping to prevent anything being
done that might separate England from the papacy. The
cardinals represented to him, that as the submission of
Henry <abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr> had not arrived, nothing remained but for the
pope to fulminate the sentence. ‘Do you not know,’ exclaimed
Du Bellay, in alarm, ‘that the courier charged with
that prince’s despatches has seas to cross, and the winds
may be contrary? The King of England waited your decision
for six years, and cannot you wait six days?’[#] ‘Delay
is quite useless,’ said a cardinal of the imperial faction;
// File: 212.png
.pn +1
‘we know what is taking place in England. Instead of
thinking of reparation, the king is widening the schism every
day. He goes so far as to permit the representation of
dramas at his court, in which the holy conclave, and some
of your most illustrious selves in particular, are held up to
ridicule.’ The last blow, although a heavy one, was unnecessary.
The priests could no longer contain their vexation;
the rebellious prince must be punished. Nineteen out of
twenty-two cardinals voted against Henry <abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr>; the remaining
three only asked for further enquiry. Clement
could not conceal his surprise and annoyance. To no purpose
did he demand another meeting, in conformity with the
custom which requires two, and even three consultations:[#]
overwhelmed by an imposing and unexpected majority, he
gave way.

.sn The Pope’s Disquietude.
Simonetta then handed him the sentence, which the unhappy
pope took and read with the voice of a criminal
rather than of a judge. ‘Having invoked the name of
Christ, and sitting on the throne of justice,[#] we decree that
the marriage between Catherine of Aragon and Henry, King
of England was and is valid and canonical; that the said
King Henry is bound to cohabit with the said queen; to pay
her royal honors; and that he must be constrained to discharge
these duties.’ After pronouncing these words the
poor pontiff, alarmed at the bold act he had just performed,
turned to the envoys of Charles <abbr='the fifth'>V.</abbr> and said to them: ‘I
have done my duty; it is now for the emperor to do his,
and to carry the sentence into execution.’ ‘The emperor
will not hold back,’ answered the ambassadors; but the thing
was not so easily done as said.

Thus the great affair was ended; the King of England
was condemned. It was dark when the pope quitted the
consistory; the news so long expected spread immediately
// File: 213.png
.pn +1
through the city; the emperor’s partisans, transported with
joy, lit bonfires in all the open places, and cannons fired
repeated salvoes. Bands of Ghibelines paraded the streets,
shouting, <lang=es><i>Imperio e Espagna</i></lang> (the Empire and Spain). The
whole city was in commotion. The pope’s disquietude was
still further increased by these demonstrations. ‘He is tormented,’
wrote Du Bellay to his master. Clement spent
the whole night in conversation with his theologians. ‘What
must be done? England is lost to us. Oh! how can I
avert the king’s anger?’ Clement <abbr='the seventh'>VII.</abbr> never recovered
from this blow; the thought that under his pontificate Rome
lost England made him shudder. The slightest mention of
it renewed his anguish, and sorrow soon brought him to the
tomb.

Yet he did not know all. The evil with which Rome
was threatened was greater than he had imagined. If in
this matter there had been nothing more than the decision
of a prince discontented with the court of Rome, a contrary
decision of one of his successors might again place England
under the dominion of the pontiffs; and these would be sure
to spare no pains to recover the good graces of the English
kings. But in despite of Henry <abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr>, a pure doctrine,
similar to that of the apostolic times, was spreading over the
different parts of the nation; a doctrine which was not only
to wrest England from the pope, but to establish in that
island a true Christianity—a vast evangelical propaganda
which should plant the standard of God’s word even at the
ends of the world. The empire of Christendom was thus to
be taken from a church led astray by pride, and which bade
mankind unite with it that they might be saved; and to be
given to those who taught that, according to the divine
declarations, none could be saved except by uniting with
Jesus Christ.

.fn #
<i>State Papers</i> (Henry <abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr>), <abbr=tome>t.</abbr> <abbr=seven>vii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 526.
.fn-
.fn #
Burnet, <i>Records</i>, <abbr=three>iii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 69.
.fn-
.fn #
<i>State Papers</i>, <abbr=volume>vol.</abbr> <abbr=seven>vii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 526.
.fn-
.fn #
Le Grand, <lang=fr><i>Preuves</i></lang>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 591.
.fn-
.fn #
‘He eloquently declared our king’s message.’—Lord Herbert, <i>Life of
Henry <abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr></i> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 396, <abbr=folio>fol.</abbr>
.fn-
.fn #
‘That the emperor would be the executor.’—Ibid. <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 553.
.fn-
.fn #
For Cromwell’s early history, see the <i>History of the Reformation</i>, <abbr=volume>vol.</abbr>
<abbr=five>v.</abbr> <abbr=book>bk.</abbr> <abbr=twenty>xx.</abbr> <abbr=chapter>ch.</abbr> <abbr=fourteen>xiv.</abbr>
.fn-
.fn #
Lord Cromwell to Parker.
.fn-
.fn #
‘Not fit for any of the Peers to appear and answer at the bar of the
House of Commons.’—Collyers, <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 83.
.fn-
.fn #
Collyers, <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 84.
.fn-
.fn #
‘Neither the king, his successor, nor his subjects to apply to the see of
Rome.’—Collyers, <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 84.
.fn-
.fn #
Ibid. <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 85.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Solum Romanum episcopum et fratrem, ut primis episcopis mos erat.’</lang>—Wilkins,
<i>Concilia</i>, <abbr=three>iii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 782.
.fn-
.fn #
Herbert, <i>Life of Henry <abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr></i> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 396. Burnet, <i>Hist. Ref.</i> <abbr rend=arabic>i.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 131.
.fn-
.fn #
‘What could not be done in less than three consistories, was now
despatched in one.’—<i>Herbert</i>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 397.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Christi nomine invocato, in throno justitiæ pro tribunali sedentes.’</lang>—Foxe,
<i>Acts</i>, <abbr=five>v.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 657.
.fn-
// File: 214.png
.pn +1
.sp 4
.h2
BOOK VII. | MOVEMENTS OF THE REFORMATION IN ENGLAND, AT GENEVA, IN FRANCE, GERMANY, AND ITALY.
.sp 2
.h2 id=chap7-01
CHAPTER I. | THE BISHOP ESCAPES FROM GENEVA, NEVER TO RETURN. | (<sc>July 1533.</sc>)
.sp 2
.sn Spirit Of The Times.
We have seen the Reformation advancing in the bosom
of a great nation; we shall now see it making progress in
one of the smallest. The fall of Wolsey in England and
the flight of the bishop-prince from Geneva are two historical
dates which bear a certain resemblance. After the
disappearance of these two prelates, there was a forward
movement in men’s minds, and the Reformation advanced
with more decided steps. Those two countries are now, as
regards their importance, at the two extreme points in the
line of nations; but in the sixteenth century the humble
city of the Leman played a more important part in the
Church of Christ than the mighty England. Calvin and his
school did more than the Tudors, the Stuarts, and their divines,
to check the reaction of the papacy and secure the
triumph of true Christianity. The sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries have proclaimed Geneva the antagonist of
Rome; and, in truth, the petty band which marched under
its banner, held their ground for nearly two centuries against
the powerful and well-disciplined army of the Roman pontiffs.
We have not forgotten Wittemberg, we shall not forget
Geneva. The historian is not allowed to pass by the
// File: 215.png
.pn +1
little ones who have had their share in the developments of
the human mind. To those who repose beneath the healthful
shade of the great Gospel oak, and under its green
boughs, we must relate the story of the acorn from which it
sprang. The man who despises humble things cannot understand
great things. ‘The Lord,’ says Calvin, ‘purposely
made his kingdom to have small and lowly beginnings, in
order that his divine power should be better known, when
we see a progress that had never been expected.’

.tb

On the <abbr=first>1st</abbr> of July, 1533, the Bishop of Geneva had returned
to his city with the aid of the priests, the catholics,
the Friburgers, and the ‘mamelukes,’ with the intention of
‘burying that sect,’ as he called the Reformation. Many of
the most devoted friends of the Gospel were in exile or in
the episcopal prison; hostile bands appeared in the neighborhood
of the city, and all expected a victory of the Roman
party. The tree was about to be violently uptorn before it
had given any shade. But when God has placed a germ
of religious, or even of political, life among a people, that
life triumphs despite all the opposition of men. There are
rocks and mountains which seem as if they would stop the
course of the mighty waters, and yet the rivers still run on
their way. The exasperated Pierre de la Baume chafed in
Geneva, and beat the earth as if to crush reform and liberty
beneath his feet; but by so doing he opened a gulf, in
which were swallowed up his rights as a prince, his privileges
as a bishop, taxes, revenue, priests, monks, mitres,
images, altars, and all the religion of the Roman pontiffs.

If the bishop was uneasy, the people were uneasy likewise.
It was not only strong men who spoke against the
abuses of the papacy, but even women extolled the prerogatives
of the evangelical faith. One day (in June or July,
1533) there was a large party at one of their houses, and
two gentlemen of the neighboring district, Sire de Simieux
and <abbr=Monsieur>M.</abbr> de Flacien, ‘besides seven or eight of their varlets,’
were invited. In their presence the wife of Baudichon de
// File: 216.png
.pn +1
la Maisonneuve professed the evangelical truth. De Simieux
having reproved the Genevese lady, ‘It is very clear
you are a good Papist,’ said she. ‘And that you are a
good Lutheran,’ retorted De Simieux. ‘Would to God,’
exclaimed the lady, ‘that we were all so, for it is a good
thing and a good law!’[#] The two gentlemen had had
enough; they took leave of the ladies, and their eight ‘varlets’
followed them. Another incident will still better show
the spirit of the times.

An evangelical named Curtet had just been murdered.
Many huguenots thought it strange that, while their adversaries
struck down a man,—a real image of God,—they
must respect images made of wood, canvas, or stone. There
was a deservedly celebrated place in Geneva, formerly
occupied by the castle of Gondebaud, King of Burgundy,
whence his niece Clotilda, one day escaped to marry and
convert Clovis. It was a very ancient arcade, only pulled
down within these few years,[#] and known as the <lang=fr><i>Porte du
Château</i></lang> (the castle gate). Near this place stood an image
of the Virgin, an object of great veneration.[#] On the <abbr=twelfth>12th</abbr>
of July, 1533, some ‘Lutherans,’ believing it to be blasphemy
against God to regard the Virgin as ‘the salvation of the
world,’ went to the gate, carried away the image, broke it to
pieces, and burnt it.

The bishop, feeling that such men as these were capable of
anything, resolved to put the imprisoned huguenots beyond
their reach. A report soon spread abroad that he was
secretly preparing boats to convey the prisoners during the
night to Friburg or the castle of Chillon, ‘there to do his
pleasure on them.’[#] All the huguenot population was in
commotion; each man shouldered his arquebuse and joined
his company; Philip, the captain-general, ordered the approaches
to the lake to be guarded, so as to prevent the
captive citizens from being conveyed elsewhere.
// File: 217.png
.pn +1

.sn Uneasiness In The City.
The noble enthusiasm which the Reformation kindles in
the soul uplifts a man; while the philosophic indifference of
scholars and priests serves but to degrade him. The Genevans,
filled with love for justice and liberty, were ready to
risk all that they held most dear in order to prevent innocent
citizens from being unjustly condemned, and a prelate
sent by the pope from usurping rights which belonged to the
magistrates elected by the people. An extraordinary agitation
prevailed in men’s minds, and several huguenots proceeded
to the shore of the lake. Pierre Verne, taking
advantage of the darkness, got into the boats fastened to the
bank, and cut the mooring-ropes as well as the cords to
which the oars were lashed, so that they were made unserviceable.[#]
Numerous patrols traversed the streets, the
armed men being accompanied by citizens, both young and
old, carrying <lang=fr><i>montres de feu</i></lang>, that is, rods tipped with iron,
having several lighted matches or port-fires at the end,
which were used at that time to discharge the arquebuses.
The dreaded hour when the evil use which princes make of
their power accelerates their ruin, had arrived at last for
the Bishop of Geneva. De la Baume and his partisans,
who watched from their windows the passage of these excited
bands, were surprised at the number of arquebusiers
with which the city was suddenly thronged. ‘They were
informed that for each arquebusier there were three or four
match-men, which caused great alarm to those in the palace.’
A comet that appeared during the month of July alarmed
them still more.[#] As yet the huguenots wanted a man to
lead the way; they were to find him in Baudichon de la
Maisonneuve.

The Lutheranism of that citizen was of old date. He
was a great friend of John Lullin, who possessed, it will be
remembered, the hostelry of the Bear, at that time much
frequented by German traders, who were, for the most part,
// File: 218.png
.pn +1
Lutherans. Some Nuremburg merchants of the name of
Toquer arrived there during the Lent of 1526.[#] De la
Maisonneuve, who had much business with Germany, went
often to see them, ‘eating and drinking with them.’ Their
conversation was very animated, and usually turned upon
religion. As early as 1523 the traders of Nuremburg had
heard the Gospel from the mouth of Osiander, and they
endeavored to propagate it wherever they went. Their
words struck De la Maisonneuve all the more ‘because at
that time there was no mention of Lutheranism in Geneva,
or next to none, at least.’[#] There was at that time in
Lullin’s service a young man of Lyons, named Jean Demai,
about twenty-five years of age, and very attached to the
Roman Church. While waiting at table, he listened attentively
to the conversation between Baudichon and the Germans,
and kept it in his memory. The daring Genevese
did not restrain himself, and said, sometimes at dinner,
sometimes at supper,[#] ‘God did not ordain Lent. It is
mere folly to confess to the priests, for they cannot absolve
you. It is an abuse to go to mass. All the religious orders,
mendicants, and others, are nonsense.’ ‘What, then, will
you do with the monks?’ asked one of the party. ‘Set
them all to till the earth,’ he replied. ‘If you say such things,’
observed a catholic, ‘the Church will refuse you burial.’
‘When I die,’ he answered, ‘I will have no preaching at
my funeral, and no bells tolled; I will be buried wherever
I please.’[#] Baudichon’s remarks were not kept within the
walls of the hostelry of the Bear. Before long they were
repeated throughout the city and neighborhood. ‘That
man,’ said many, ‘is one of the principal Lutherans and in
the front rank of those who set them going.’[#] That is
what he was about to do.
// File: 219.png
.pn +1

.sn Baudichon Recovers The Prisoners.
On the <abbr=twelfth>12th</abbr> of July, 1533, Baudichon had passed the
day in the country, making preparations for the harvest.
Returning from the fields at night, he was surprised to see
an extraordinary guard at the city gate, and on asking what
it meant, he was told that the episcopalians were going to
convey the prisoners to some place of strength. Immediately
he determined to compel the bishop—but solely through
fear—to follow the course prescribed by the laws. He
desired fifty of the most resolute of his friends to take each
an iron-tipped staff and to place five matches at the end.
He then concealed them all in a house not far from the
palace. Ere long darkness covered the city; there was
nobody in the streets except a few patrols. De la Maisonneuve
bade the men of his troop light their matches, and
put himself at their head. In their left hands they held the
staff, and the sword in their right. Entering the palace,
and making their way to the prince’s apartment, they appeared
before him, surrounded him with their two hundred
and fifty lights; and Baudichon, acting as spokesman, called
upon him to surrender his prisoners to their lawful judges.
The bishop stared with amazement at this band of men with
their swords and flaming torches; the night season added
to his terror, and he thought that if he did not give way he
would be put to death. Baudichon had no such idea; but
Pierre de la Baume, imagining his last hour had come,[#] gave
the required order. Upon which the troop defiled before him
with their port-fires, and quitted the episcopal palace. The
huguenot prisoners having been transferred to the syndics, the
latter intrusted them to the gaoler of the same prison ‘to
keep them securely under pain of death.’ They had passed
from the arbitrary power of the bishop to the lawful authority
of the councils. Constitutional order was restored.[#]

The bishop passed a very agitated night. The huguenots
and the torches and the swords with which he had been
// File: 220.png
.pn +1
surrounded would not let him sleep; and, when daylight
came, he, as well as his courtiers, was quite unmanned.
The <abbr=thirteenth>13th</abbr> of July fell on Sunday, and what a Sunday! ‘I
shall leave the city,’ the prelate said to his servants. A
rumor of his approaching departure having got abroad, some
of the canons hurried to the palace to dissuade him. ‘I will
go,’ he repeated. To no effect did his followers represent to
him that, if he left, the catholic faith, the episcopate, the authority
of the prince, his revenues, would all be lost; nothing
could shake him. He was determined to go. A Thomas à
Becket would have died on the spot; but Pierre de la
Baume, says a contemporary document, ‘was very warm
about his own safety, but more than cold for the church.’[#]

One thought, however, disturbed the timid bishop; and
the proceedings of the syndics, Du Crest and Coquet, who
came to beg him not to desert the city and his flock, served
but to increase his distress. If the huguenots knew of his
departure, he thought they might possibly stop him and
bring him back to the palace. He dreamt of nothing but
persecution; he saw nothing but prisons, swords, and corpses.
He made up his mind to deceive the syndics, and assured
them he would return in six weeks without fail; but he
promised himself that Geneva should never see him again.
He then asked the magistrates for six score of arquebusiers
to protect his departure the next morning.

The syndics having determined to convene the council,
the ushers went round the city and roused the councillors
from their beds. Geneva desired to keep her bishop, while
the bishop wished to desert her. The council ordered that
next morning at daybreak, for fear the prelate should leave
early, the syndics should go and point out the necessity for
his remaining.[#]

.sn The Bishop Anxious To Leave.
The syndics had scarcely left him when he fell into fresh
terrors. He thought that the mustering of six-score arquebusiers
// File: 221.png
.pn +1
would spread abroad the news of his departure,
that the huguenots would rush to arms, that he would find
himself between two parties armed with spears and arquebuses....
He must make haste and depart alone, by
night or at peep of day, without any parade, before the
syndics could have time to assemble the council, which, he
fancied, could not meet before the morrow. No one slept
in the palace that night; all were busy preparing for the
departure, and they took care that nothing should betray to
the outside the agitation that reigned within. That was a
terrible night. Two spectres appeared to the bishop and
dismayed him—the Gospel and liberty. He saw no means
of escaping them but flight. But what would the duke and
the pope say? To quiet his conscience, he wrote, at the
last moment, a letter to the council, in which he enjoined
them to oppose the evangelical meetings, and to maintain
the Romish religion ‘<i>mordicus</i>, tooth and nail.’

Daylight would soon appear; they were dejected in the
palace, but everything was ready for flight. At that moment
there was a knocking at the gate.... It was
the four syndics; the bishop was a few minutes too late....
The syndics entered, and conjured Pierre de la
Baume in the name of peace, country, and religion. They
pointed out to him the consequences of his departure; the
monarchical power crumbling away, the republic rising upon
its ruins, the Church of Rome disappearing, and that of the
innovators taking shape....

But nothing could move the bishop; he remained insensible
as a statue. They next entreated him to leave the state
affairs in order; to appoint, during his absence, a vicar, an
official, a judge of appeal. Pierre de la Baume refused
everything. One only thought filled his mind—he wanted
to get away. ‘Alas!’ said the moderate catholics, ‘he does
not set the state in order, and as for the church over which
he is pastor ... he abandons his flock.’[#] When the
// File: 222.png
.pn +1
syndics had withdrawn, he gave the signal for departure.
There was not a moment to lose, he thought; it will soon
be broad daylight, and who knows but the magistrates, who
set so much upon his presence, may give orders to stop him.
Let every man do his duty! Let there not be a minute’s
delay! The bishop took care not to leave the palace either
by the principal entrance or by the ordinary gates of the
city. In the vaults of the building was a passage which led
to an unfrequented street—the Rue du Boule, now the
Rue de la Fontaine. By following this street, the bishop
could reach a secret postern in the wall of the city, which
Froment calls <lang=fr><i>la fausse porte du sel</i></lang>. Then Pierre de la
Baume would be outside of Geneva; then he would be safe.
Accordingly the bishop quitted his apartments, descended to
the basement of the palace, and made his escape from that
edifice (which is now a prison) like a malefactor escaping
from his dungeon. His officers were downcast; they would
have wished to crush those insolent huguenots, but were
obliged to leave them a clear field. The bishop himself,
forced to quit his palace and his power, felt great vexation.[#]
He looked about him with uneasiness, and trembled lest he
should see the huguenots appear at the corner of the street.
The encroachments he had made on the liberties of the
citizens were not of a nature to tranquillize him, and in his
distress he quickened his steps.

.sn The Bishop’s Departure.
The fugitive band reached the secret postern; the prelate
had the key; he passed through and stood on the shore of
the lake. There was no enemy in sight. He entered a
boat which had been got ready for him, and reached the
other bank. He sprang immediately upon the horse that
was waiting for him, and rode off at a gallop. He felt the
weight upon his heart grow lighter the farther he went.
Now the fierce huguenots will trouble him no more, and he
will ‘make good cheer.’ ‘He retired to the Tower of May,’
says the chronicle, ‘and never returned again.’[#]

Baudichon de la Maisonneuve had succeeded beyond his
// File: 223.png
.pn +1
expectations. Not only had the prisoners been rescued
from the unlawful power of the bishop, but the prelate himself
had disappeared. A few huguenots, waving their <lang=fr><i>montres
de feu</i></lang>, had been sufficient to deliver Geneva. Not a
drop of blood had been shed. ‘As at the sound of the
trumpets of Gideon, and at the sight of his lamps,’ said the
evangelists, ‘the Amalekites and the Midianites fled during
the night, so did the bishop and his followers flee away at
the sound of the arms and at the sight of the fire.’[#]

Early in the morning of the <abbr=fourteenth>14th</abbr> of July, the news of
the bishop’s departure circulated through the city. The
catholic members of the council, deserted by a perjured
prince, felt themselves unable henceforth to oppose the torrent
which was advancing with irresistible power. ‘All the
catholics,’ says Sister Jeanne, ‘were sorely grieved.’ The
pope blamed the bishop for abandoning his church, and reproached
him for his cowardice.[#] ‘That miserable city,
having lost its prince and pastor,’ said people in Italy, ‘will
become the asylum of every villain and the throne of
heresy.’[#] But what caused so much sorrow to the papists
was the source of immense joy to the evangelicals. They
contended that the prince by running away abdicated his
usurped power, and that the citizens resumed their rights.[#]
The sun of Geneva was setting, according to the old style
(that of the Roman court); but according to the new (that
of the Gospel), it was rising; and Geneva, illumined by its
rays, was to communicate that divine light to others. The
<abbr=fourteenth>14th</abbr> of July, 1533, witnessed in Geneva the fall of that
hybrid power[#] which claims to hold two swords in its hand.
Since then other bishop-kings have also disappeared, even
// File: 224.png
.pn +1
in the most catholic countries; and the last, that of Rome,
totters on his pedestal. The people of Geneva, from the
time when they lost sight of that shameless and pitiless prelate,
ceased to care about him, and never asked after him.
They even invented a by-word, in use to this day; and
when they wish to speak of a man for whom they feel a
thorough indifference, they say: <lang=fr><i>Je ne m’en soucie pas plus
que de Baume</i></lang> (I do not care a straw about him).[#]

.fn #
<lang=fr>‘Une bonne chose et une bonne loi.’</lang> <abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr> <lang=fr>du procès inquisitionnel de
Lyon (Archives de Berne)</lang>, <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 200-202.
.fn-
.fn #
About 1836.
.fn-
.fn #
Registre du Conseil, <i>ad locum</i>.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>‘Et illic en faire à son plaisir.’</lang>
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>‘Ni tirer ni nager’</lang> (neither pull nor steer), alluding to the peculiar
mode of rowing employed on the lake.
.fn-
.fn #
Berne <abbr=manuscript>MSS.</abbr>, <i>Hist. Helvet.</i> <abbr=five>v.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 125.
.fn-
.fn #
‘About eight years ago,’ says an authority of 1534 (<abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr> <lang=fr>du procès
inquisitionel de Lyon</lang>). The reading of the <abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr> is <i>Toquer</i>, which is probably
not the correct spelling of the German name.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>‘Ou du moins était-ce comme rien.’</lang>
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>‘Soit en dînant, soit en soupant.’</lang>—<i>MS. de Lyon.</i>
.fn-
.fn #
<abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr> <lang=fr>du procès de Lyon</lang>, <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 294-297.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>‘Les mettent en train.’</lang>—<abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr> <lang=fr>du procès de Lyon</lang>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 185.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>Sœur Jeanne. <i>Levain du Calvinisme</i></lang>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 68.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>Registres du Conseil des 10, 11, 12 Juillet. Froment, <i>Gestes de Genève</i></lang>,
<abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 62, 63. Roset <abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr>
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>‘Fort échauffé pour sa propre personne, plus que froid pour l’église.’—Registre
du Conseil du 13 Juillet; Froment, <i>Gestes de Genève</i></lang>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 63,
Berne <abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr>
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>Registre du Conseil du 13 Juillet 1533.</lang>
.fn-
.fn #
Le Curé Besson: <lang=fr><i>Mémoires pour l’Histoire Ecclésiastique du Diocèse de
Genève</i></lang>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 63.
.fn-
.fn #
Froment, <lang=fr><i>Gestes de Genève</i></lang>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 63.
.fn-
.fn #
Roset <abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr>
.fn-
.fn #
Froment, <lang=fr><i>Gestes de Genève</i></lang>, <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 62, 63.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>Le Curé Besson, <i>Mémoires pour l’Histoire Ecclésiastique du Diocèse de
Genève</i></lang>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 63.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>Briève Relation de la Révolte de la Ville de Genève.</lang> <abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr> in the
<lang=fr>Archives Générales du Royaume d’Italie</lang>, paquet 14.
.fn-
.fn #
Letter to Lord Townsend, by the Secretary of State Chouet. Berne
MSS. <abbr=six>vi.</abbr> 57.
.fn-
.fn #
It was also on the <abbr=fourteenth>14th</abbr> of July, two centuries and a half later (1789),
that the reign of the feudal system came to an end.
.fn-
.fn #
‘I care no more for him than for Baume,’ that is, <i>not at all</i>. This
expression owes its origin to the name of La Baume, last bishop of
Geneva. <lang=fr><i>Glossaires Genevois</i></lang> de Gaudy et de J. Humbert.
.fn-
.sp 4
.h2 id=chap7-02
CHAPTER II. | TWO REFORMERS AND A DOMINICAN IN GENEVA. | (<sc>July to December 1533.</sc>)
.sp 2
The bishop had fallen from his throne, and with him had
expired a despotism which offensively usurped the liberties
of the people; the lawful magistrates once more sat in their
curule chairs, with liberty and justice at their sides. They
investigated the cases of the citizens whom Pierre de la
Baume claimed to get rid of without the formality of trial.
The only man who could be accused of Wernly’s death was
Pierre l’Hoste, and he had taken refuge in the Dominican
church, where the bishop had not cared to follow him. The
syndics went to the church; the poor wretch, shaking in
every limb, clung vainly to the altar, and cried out: ‘I
claim the privileges accorded to this sanctuary.’ He was
arrested and the inquiry commenced. It proved the innocence
of the imprisoned Huguenots, and showed that the
disturbance in which Wernly fell had been caused by the
// File: 225.png
.pn +1
violence of the canon himself, who was armed from head to
foot, and had taunted his adversaries with loud cries. The
magistrates, however, thought that the blood of the victim
called for the blood of him who had shed it. Pierre l’Hoste,
the carman of the city, denied striking the fatal blow, but
confessed that he had struck Wernly: he was condemned
and beheaded. All the other prisoners were released.

But there was no relief to Claudine Levet’s sorrow; her
husband was still confined in Castle Gaillard, and the governor
refused to release him. The council entreated the
Bernese deputies in Geneva to intercede in behalf of the
prisoner, and on the <abbr=fourth>4th</abbr> of September, one of them, accompanied
by <abbr rend=spell>J.</abbr> Lullin and <abbr rend=spell>C.</abbr> Savoye, having gone out to
Ville-la-Grand, about a league from the city, Aimé Levet
was surrendered to them.[#]

.sn Froment And Alexander Arrive.
While this pious man lay in the Gaillard dungeons, the
insults heaped upon him, the harshness of the prison, and
the almost certain death which threatened him, had given
his faith a new life; so that when the castellan had released
him from his bonds, he inwardly vowed that he would make
his deliverance accelerate the triumph of the Gospel. He
had scarcely reached home, when he wrote to Anthony
Froment, the evangelist, whose church had been the market-place,
and whose pulpit a fishwife’s stall, and conjured
him to return. The latter did not hesitate, and knowing
that the struggles which awaited him there were beyond the
strength of one man, he invited one of the brethren from
Paris, and at that time in the Pays de Vaud to accompany
him. This was Alexander Canus, called also Dumoulin.
One day, therefore, Aimé and Claudine Levet saw the two
evangelists arrive. One lodged with them at <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Gervais
on the right bank, and the other at Claude Salomon’s, near
the Molard, on the left bank; being thus quartered in the
two parts into which the city was divided, they could share
the labor.
// File: 226.png
.pn +1

Salomon, who shared with Levet the honor and danger of
receiving the evangelists, was as gentle as his friend Maisonneuve
was quick and often violent. One day, shortly after
the bishop’s flight, the latter saw in front of him in the
street two of the bishop’s partisans, whom he suspected to
be getting up some conspiracy; his blood boiled at the
sight, and he exclaimed: ‘there are so many traitors here....
My fingers itch to be at them.’[#] A sense of duty,
however, restrained him, and he did nothing. But Salomon
was calm and full of charity and compassion: he felt none
of these passing ebullitions, and thought only of visiting
the sick and the poor, and sheltering strangers whom the
Romish persecutions drove to Geneva. ‘These poor refugees,’
he said, ‘are more destitute than all the rest.’ His
wife, ‘neither dainty nor nice,’[#] lavished her cares on them.
They were the Gaius and Dorcas of Scripture.

.sn Order To Preach The Scriptures.
Froment and Alexander, quartered on both sides of the
Rhone, preached the Word in private houses with such
power that the new faith extended far and wide, ‘like the
layers of a vine;’[#] the old stocks producing young shoots,
which took root and formed other stocks. The priests
were alarmed, and exclaimed that if those doctrines continued
to be so preached, all the country would soon be infested
with the sect. They applied to the bishop, who was
at his castle of May—restless, agitated, and reproaching
himself with his disgraceful flight. Wishing to redeem that
fault, he replied on the <abbr='twenty-fourth'>24th</abbr> of October, forbidding any
preaching in Geneva except according to ancient custom.
The exulting priests presented these episcopal letters to
the council. The bishop’s cowardly behavior had estranged
the magistrates. ‘<i>Preach the Gospel</i>,’ answered the
council, ‘<i>and say nothing which cannot be proved by Holy
Scripture</i>.’ These important words, which gave the victory
// File: 227.png
.pn +1
to the Reformation, may still be read in the official minutes.

Great was the joy among the reformed. They saw in
these words a decree which made evangelical Christianity
a lawful religion[#] at Geneva (as at Rome in the third and
fourth centuries), and authorized them to form a Church
which should be free without being dominant. The same
fact has reappeared at other times and in other countries.
From that day, all who had any leaning towards the Gospel
would go to the house of Maisonneuve or of some
other huguenot leader, and sit down in the largest room.
Presently the preacher would enter, take his place before
a table, and usually (as it would seem) under the mantel-piece
of the large projecting fireplace. He would then
proclaim the Word of God. These evangelists ‘<i>did not fret
themselves</i>,’ they did not speak with bitterness like some
others, and make a great noise; but invited souls to approach
Christ without fear, because he is <i>meek and lowly
in heart</i>; and such simple genial preaching attracted all
who heard it. The bishop exclaimed that it was only
‘painted language,’ and ‘sham tenderness;’ but the number
of hearers became so considerable that the two missionaries
were forced to preach in the streets and cross-ways
of the city at the Molard, the foot of Coutance, and
other places. As soon as they appeared anywhere a
numerous assembly gathered round them, the hearers
crowded one upon another, and the living words addressed
to them bore more fruit than scholastic or trivial sermons
delivered in fine churches to hearers dozing in comfortable
seats. ‘These preachings in houses, streets, and cross-ways,’
said Froment himself, ‘are not without danger to
life, but are a great advancement to the Word, and detriment
to popery.’[#]

The catholic party became alarmed; their leaders met,
and the procurator-fiscal with the bishop’s officers and the
priests, who were ‘greatly envenomed against the two
// File: 228.png
.pn +1
reformers,’[#] resolved to apprehend them. Whenever a meeting
was formed, the sergeants came upon it unexpectedly.
‘But as soon as they saw the levelled halberds, the faithful,
greatly increased in number, did their duty, surrounded
their ministers, and helped them to escape.’ In consequence
of this, the episcopal police went more craftily to work:
they kept watch upon the ministers, and came upon them
when they were alone, ‘aiming at nothing less than their
lives.’[#] But these efforts of the priests increased the respect
men felt for the evangelists. ‘Such persecutions,’
said the huguenots, ‘are a sign by which we may know that
the ministers are excellent servants of Christ.’[#]

The bishop, vexed at having left his episcopal city, could
find rest nowhere. At one time he was at the Tower of
May, at another at Lons-le-Saulnier, now at Arbois, now
elsewhere. The thought that two reformers had come to
take his place in Geneva disturbed him; and when he
found that the citizens paid no attention to his strict prohibition
of Gospel preaching sent on the <abbr='twenty-fourth'>24th</abbr> of October, his
exasperation was at its height. ‘We must apply an heroic
remedy to the disease,’ he said, and on the <abbr=twentieth>20th</abbr> of November
he dictated letters patent addressed to the procurator-fiscal.

.sn Gospel Preaching Forbidden.
The Great Council met on the <abbr=thirtieth>30th</abbr> of November to hear
the letters read. ‘We command,’ said the bishop, ‘that no
one in our city of Geneva preach, expound, or cause to be
preached or expounded, secretly or publicly, or in any manner
whatsoever, the <i>holy page</i>, the <i>holy Gospel</i>,[#] unless he
have received our express permission, under pain of perpetual
excommunication and a fine of one hundred livres.’ The
Two Hundred were astounded, the evangelicals were indignant,
and the better catholics hung their heads. A bishop
// File: 229.png
.pn +1
to forbid the preaching of the <i>holy page</i>, of the <i>holy Gospel</i>! ...
to forbid it too in the very season (Advent) when it
was usual to proclaim it! To excommunicate all who
preach it! To forbid its being taught <i>in any manner whatsoever</i>!
To forbid them to talk of it in courts or gardens,
or elsewhere! Not a room, not a cellar, kitchen, or garret
was excepted! The Apostle Paul declares, however, that
<i>the Gospel of Christ must not be hindered</i>. The emotion of
the Two Hundred was so great that all deliberation became
impossible; ‘<i>the whole council rose and went out</i>,’ we read
in the minutes of the sitting. Such was the mute but energetic
reply made by Geneva to its bishop.

In the city the emotion was still greater, and vented itself
in murmurs and sighs, and also in ironical jests. ‘Have
you heard the news?’ said the huguenots: ‘the bishop is
going to issue an order with sound of trumpet, forbidding
us to speak either good or evil of God and Christ.’ The
silly prohibition was like oil thrown upon the fire: the
preachings became more frequent, and even the indifferent
began to read the Scriptures. Froment and his friends distributed
evangelical books in abundance: first the New
Testament, then various treatises recently composed, such as
<lang=fr><i>La Vérité cachée</i>, <i>La Confrérie du Saint-Esprit</i>, <i>La Manière
du Baptême</i>, <i>La Cène de Jésus-Christ</i></lang>, and <lang=fr><i>Le Livre des
Marchands</i></lang>.[#] De Vingle, the printer, and one of his men,
named Grosne, helped them in this work. But the papists
sometimes treated the colporteurs roughly; a gentleman of
the neighborhood, having caught Grosne on the high road,
cut off his ears.[#] This had no effect; the people thirsted
for the truth, and all were eager to hear the Word of God.

The leaders of the episcopal party, seeing that nothing
could stop these <lang=fr><i>prêcheurs de cheminées</i></lang> (chimney-preachers)
and their hearers, looked about for a preacher whose energetic
eloquence might rekindle the expiring Roman fervor,—one
// File: 230.png
.pn +1
of those stout champions who can deal heavy blows in
serious contests. For three or four centuries the Dominicans
had played, as inquisitors, the chief parts in the papacy;
they were skilful, eloquent, shrewd in government, persevering
in their designs, inflexible in dogma, prodigal of
threats, condemnations, and the stake. There was much
talk in Savoy, and even in Geneva, about one of them,—a
doctor of the Sorbonne, named Guy Furbity,—‘a great
theologian,’ they said, ‘an enthusiastic servant of the pope,
a sworn enemy of the Reformation, daring and violent to the
last degree.’[#] Just then he was preaching at Chambéry
and Montmeillan, charming all hearers. The Genevese catholics
petitioned the Sorbonne for this great preacher. Such
a rock, transported to the valley of the Leman, would, they
thought, check the devastating torrent of reform. Their
prayer was granted, and Furbity flattered himself that he
was going to win a fairer crown than all his predecessors.
Proud of his order, his reputation, and his Church, he arrived
in Geneva with haughty head, glaring eyes, and threatening
gestures; one might have imagined that he was going
to crush all his adversaries to powder. ‘Ah! those poor
Lutherans,’ he said disdainfully, ‘those poor chimney-preachers!’
‘He was in a passion,’ says Froment.[#] The huguenots
said, as they pointed him out, ‘Look at that Atlas, who
fancies he carries the tottering Church of the Roman pontiff
on his shoulders.’[#]

.sn Furbity Abuses Bible-Readers.
A plot had been formed, of which Furbity was to be the
chief instrument. The syndics, Du Crest, Baud, Malbuisson,
and many other good Genevans had been gained over
by the priests to the cause of the pope, and by this means
the latter held in their hands the council, the treasury,
the artillery, and, in one word, the city property, besides
the ignorant populace.[#] The Sorbonne doctor had hardly
// File: 231.png
.pn +1
alighted at the convent of his order when a deputation from
the canons came and asked him to preach in the cathedral
and not in the Dominican church. ‘The sermons delivered
at <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Pierre’s, said the monks, ‘will produce a greater sensation.’—‘Very
good,’ said Furbity, ‘I promise you that I
will cry out pretty loudly against the modern heretics.’
It was objected that it was contrary to the established custom
to have such preachings in the cathedral. ‘We will put him
there by force of arms,’ answered the churchmen, ‘and he
shall say what he pleases.’

On the morning of Sunday, the <abbr=thirtieth>30th</abbr> of November, a
certain number of priests and laymen armed themselves;
and the zealous Furbity, taking his place in the middle of
the band, proceeded to the cathedral. ‘Really,’ said some
of the Genevese with astonishment, ‘he is going to preach
by main force.’ But he restrained himself that day, and he
met with no opposition. The next day, Monday, he went
to work in earnest. His sermon was a continued declamation,
full of pompous phrases extolling the papacy, and of
invectives against the preachers. ‘In the pulpit he behaves
like a madman,’ said Froment, who was present; ‘he roars
without rhyme or reason.’ But the bigots were in ecstasies.
‘Have you heard Dr. Furbity?’ they said in the city.
On Wednesday an immense crowd assembled to hear him.
The Dominican went into the pulpit resolved to crush the
heretics, as his patron, <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Dominick had done before him.

He imagined that his great business was to lower the
Bible and then to exalt the pope, and he set to work accordingly.
‘All who read the Scriptures in the vulgar tongue,’
he said, ‘are gluttons, drunkards, debauchees, blasphemers,
thieves, and murderers.... Those who support them
are as wicked as they, and God will punish them. All who
will not obey the pope, or the cardinals, or the bishops, or
the curates, or the vicars, or the priests, are the devil’s flock.
They are marked by him, worse than Jews, traitors, murderers,
and brigands, and ought to be hanged on the gallows.
All who eat meat on Friday and Saturday, are worse
// File: 232.png
.pn +1
than Turks and mad dogs.... Beware of these heretics,
these Germans, as you would of lepers and rottenness.
Have no dealings with them in the way of business or otherwise,
and do not let them marry your daughters. You had
better give them to the dogs.’[#]

Among the evangelicals who listened to this string of
abuse was one Janin, a man of small stature, a maker of
pikes, halberds, javelins, and arrows, whence he was usually
called the <lang=fr><i>collonier</i></lang>, or armorer. His activity was indefatigable;
he was present everywhere; he held discussions in
private and preached ‘to companies, urging with all his might’
those who listened to him to embrace the faith which Luther
had found in the Holy Scriptures.[#] Having gone to <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr>
Pierre’s, he sat down near some good catholics, among others
Pierre Pennet, whose brothers were soon to become famous
in Geneva for their zeal in behalf of the Romish faith.
Janin, unable to put up with such insulting language, became
restless, and exclaimed that the preacher did not know
what he was saying. The catholics around him, annoyed
at being disturbed in their devotions, said: ‘Begone; one
preacher is enough here.’[#] But they had some trouble to
make him hold his tongue. A more telling interruption
was to disturb the orator before long.

.sn Furbity Challenges The Lutherans.
The Dominican saw clearly that abuse alone would not
restore the papacy; its fundamental doctrines must be established,
and this he undertook to do in other discourses.
Continuing to insult the reformers as ‘wretches who, instead
of wearing the <i>robe</i>, are dressed like <i>brigands</i>,’ he maintained
that priests only, by virtue of the sacramental institution,
could bring souls into communion with God. He even used
language that must have sounded strange to the worshippers
of Mary. ‘A priest who consecrates the elements of the
Sacrament,’ he said, ‘is above the Holy Virgin, for she only
// File: 233.png
.pn +1
gave life to Jesus Christ once, whereas the priest creates
him every day, as often as he likes. If a priest pronounces
the sacramental words over a sack full of bread, or in a cellar
full of wine, all the bread, by that very act, is transformed
and becomes the precious body of Christ, and all the
wine is changed into blood—which is what the Virgin
never did.... Ah! the priest! ... you should
not merely salute him, you should kneel and prostrate yourselves
before him.’

This was not enough; the Dominican thought it his duty
to establish the doctrine of transubstantiation, on which the
dignity of the priest is founded. He exclaimed: ‘We must
believe that the body of Jesus Christ is in the host in flesh
and bone. We must believe that he is there as much as he
was in the Blessed Virgin’s womb, or on the wood of the
true cross. We must believe it under pain of damnation,
for our holy theological faculty of Paris at the Sorbonne,
and our mother the holy Church, believe it. Yes; Jesus
Christ is in the host, as he was in the Virgin’s womb, ...
but small ... as small as an ant. It is a matter that
admits of no further discussion.’

Whereupon the Dominican, satisfied that he had gained a
signal victory, indulged in the impetuosity of his clerical
haughtiness, and, pouring out a torrent of insults, exclaimed:
‘Where are those wretched Lutherans who preach to the
contrary? Where are these heretics, these rascals, these
worse than Jews, Turks and heathens?... Where
are these fine <i>chimney-preachers</i>? Let them come forward,
and they shall be answered.... Ha! ha! They will
take good care not to show themselves, except at the chimney-corner,
for they are only brave in deceiving poor women
and such as know nothing.’[#]

Having spoken thus, the monk sat down, proud of his
eloquence. A great agitation prevailed in the congregations;
the reformers were challenged to the combat; the people
wondered whether they would reply to the challenge.
// File: 234.png
.pn +1
There was a momentary pause, when Froment rose, and
standing in the middle of the church, motioned them with
his hand to be silent. ‘For the love of God,’ he said,
‘listen to what I have to tell you!’ The congregation
turned their eyes on the person who uttered these words,
and the evangelist, with sonorous voice, exclaimed: ‘Sirs, I
offer my life—yea, I am ready to go the stake if I do not
show, by Holy Scripture, that what Dr. Furbity has just
said is false, and the language of Antichrist.’ He then adduced
scriptural authorities against the Dominican’s assertions.
‘It is the truth,’ exclaimed the reformers; and some
of them looking towards the monk, called out: ‘Let him
answer that.’ Furbity, astonished at hearing himself refuted
by such plain passages, dared not rise, but remained fixed
to his seat, hiding his head in the pulpit. ‘Let him answer,’
shouted the huguenots on all sides: their shouts were useless.

.sn Tumult In The Church.
The canons and their friends, finding their oracle was
dumb, ventured upon a controversy which was much more
in their line. They drew their swords (priests often wore
swords in those times), and approaching Froment, exclaimed:
‘Kill him—kill the Lutheran!... Ah! the
wretch! he has dared take our good father to task.’ Nothing
but death could expiate the crime of a layman who had
ventured to contradict a priest. There was only one point
on which these churchmen were not agreed: it was whether
they should <i>burn</i> or <i>drown</i> the evangelist. Some shouted:
‘Burn him—burn him!’ and others: ‘To the Rhone with
him!’—‘There was no small commotion,’ writes Froment.
Just as the priests were about to carry him off, Baudichon
de la Maisonneuve, Ami Perrin, Janin le Collonier, and
others rallied round him like a body-guard, wishing to get
him out of the church. This did not calm the tumult;
the people ran after him, and the magistrates would have
arrested him. ‘They crowded upon one another,’ says
Froment, ‘either to see him, or to strike him, or to carry
him off.’ The tumultuous crowd made a last effort to lay
// File: 235.png
.pn +1
hold of the evangelist, just as they reached the great doors
of the cathedral. Baudichon de la Maisonneuve observing
this, halted, drew his sword, and, facing the rioters, cried in
a loud voice: ‘I will kill the first man that touches him.
Let the law prevail; and if any one has done wrong, let
him be punished.’ The catholics, intimidated by Maisonneuve’s
look, shrank back; and Froment’s friends, taking
advantage of this favorable moment, dragged him away from
his enemies. Then, ‘the women, as if they were mad,
rushed after him with great fury, throwing many stones at
him.’[#] The huguenot Perrin, more politic than evangelical,
alarmed at the tumult, said to Froment: ‘We have spoilt
the business; it was going on very well, and now all is lost.’
<i>The other</i> (by which words Froment indicates himself), sure
of his cause, answered simply: ‘All is won!’ The future
showed that he was right. When Froment arrived at Baudichon’s
house,—the usual asylum of the friends of the
Gospel,—Le Collonier took him up to the hayloft and carefully
hid him under the hay. De la Maisonneuve and Janin
had afterwards to pay dearly for their kind offices. The
latter had scarcely quitted the loft when Claude Baud arrived
with his officers and his halberds. ‘They searched
the house all over, and even thrust their spears into the
hay, but finding nobody they withdrew.’[#]

Alexander, who had not spoken in the church, had accompanied
his friend as far as the great doors. Seeing Froment
led away by Janin, and believing him safe, he halted
‘at the top of the steps in the midst of the people,’ and,
not permitting himself to be intimidated by the popular
fury, he exclaimed: ‘He very properly took him to task.
Doctor Furbity has preached against the holy books; he is
a false prophet.’ The syndics, pleased to catch one at least,
carried Alexander off to the town-hall, and some demanded
// File: 236.png
.pn +1
that he should be sentenced to death. The sage Balthasar
resisted this: ‘It was not this man who caused the uproar,’
he said. ‘Besides, he is a Frenchman; and the King of
France may perhaps take <i>some opportunity</i> against our city
if we put his subjects to death.’ The two ‘<i>Mahometists</i>’
were banished for life from the city, under pain of death;
and, at the same time, it was agreed that the Advent
preachers should be told ‘to preach the Gospel only, in
order to avoid disturbance.’

Alexander was conducted by the watch out of the city to
a place called La Monnaye, where, seeing the crowd following
him, he turned towards them and said: ‘I shall not take
my rest like a soldier whose time of service is over.’ He
then addressed the crowd for two hours, and many were
won to the Gospel. De la Maisonneuve having returned
home, went in search of Froment in the hayloft; and as
soon as it was night, the two friends quitted Geneva secretly,
took up Alexander at La Monnaye, and then all three
set off for Berne.

.fn #
<lang=fr>Registre du Conseil des 6, 7, 8, 12, 17, Août et 4 Septembre 1533.</lang>—Froment,
<lang=fr><i>Gestes de Genève</i></lang>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 60. Roset <abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr> <abbr=book>liv.</abbr> <abbr=three>iii.</abbr> <abbr=chapter>ch.</abbr> <abbr=sixteen>xvi.</abbr>
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>‘La main me fourmille que je n’agisse contre les traîtres!’</lang>
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>‘Nullement délicate ni mignarde.’</lang>—Froment, <lang=fr><i>Gestes de Genève</i></lang>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 68.
Registre du Conseil du 12 Octobre 1535.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>‘A la façon des provins.’</lang>
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>Religio licita.</lang>
.fn-
.fn #
Froment, <lang=fr><i>Gestes de Genève</i></lang>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 66.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>‘Fort envenimés contre les deux réformateurs.’</lang>
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>‘Ne voulant pas moins que la <i>jacture</i> de leur vie.’</lang>
.fn-
.fn #
Froment, <i>Gestes</i>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 66.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Neminem clam, palam, occulte vel publice sacram paginam, sacrum
Evangelium exponere aut alias quomodocumque dicere.’</lang>—Gaberel, <lang=fr><i>Lettres
patentes de l’Evêque. Pièces justificatives</i></lang>, <abbr rend=arabic>i.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 42.
.fn-
.fn #
The Hidden Truth. The Brotherhood of the Holy Ghost. The Manner
of Baptism. The Supper of Jesus Christ. The Tradesmen’s Book.
.fn-
.fn #
<abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr> <lang=fr>du procès inquisitionnel de Lyon</lang>, <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 6 et 7.
.fn-
.fn #
Berne <abbr=manuscript>MSS.</abbr> <i>Hist. Helv.</i> <abbr=five>v.</abbr> 12.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>‘Il était enflambé.’</lang>—Froment, <i>Gestes</i>.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Velut alter Atlas qui instanti causæ catholicæ succollaret.’</lang>—<i>Geneva
Restituta</i>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 63.
.fn-
.fn #
Froment, <lang=fr><i>Gestes de Genève</i></lang>, <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 66-68. La Sœur Jeanne, <lang=fr><i>Levain du
Calvinisme</i></lang>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 70.
.fn-
.fn #
See the documents attached to the trial, in the Registres du Conseil
du 27 Janvier 1534.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>‘Prêchant à des compagnies induisant de toute sa possibilité, &c.’</lang>—<abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr>
<lang=fr>du procès inquisitionnel de Lyon</lang>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 29.
.fn-
.fn #
Ibid. <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 37.
.fn-
.fn #
Froment, <lang=fr><i>Gestes de Genève</i></lang>, <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 69-71. Gautier <abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr>
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>‘Les femmes comme enragées . . . de grande furie, lui jetant
force pierres.’</lang>—Froment, <lang=fr><i>Gestes merveilleux de Genève</i></lang>, <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 71-74. Sœur
Jeanne, <lang=fr><i>Levain du Calvinisme</i></lang>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 70. Gautier <abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr>
.fn-
.fn #
Registre du Conseil du 2 Décembre 1533.
.fn-
.sp 4
.h2 id=chap7-03
CHAPTER III. | FAREL, MAISONNEUVE, AND FURBITY IN GENEVA. | (<sc>December 1533 to January 1534.</sc>)
.sp 2
.sn Furbity Visited By The Catholics.
De la Maisonneuve was determined to uphold the
liberty of Gospel-preaching. ‘We are called Lutherans,’
said Froment; ‘now, <i>Luther</i> in German means <i>clear</i>, and
there is nothing clearer than the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
The Lutheran cause is the cause of light.’ And therefore
De la Maisonneuve desired to propagate it.

The zealous huguenot did not lose a moment after his
// File: 237.png
.pn +1
arrival at Berne. He told all his friends (of whom he had
many) what was going on at Geneva. Froment and Alexander,
who stood by his side, supported his complaints and
repeated the insults of the Dominican. The Bernese were
exasperated by the abuse the monk had heaped upon the
protestants, but they were animated by a nobler motive.
They had thought that Geneva, so famous for the energetic
character of its citizens, would be a great gain for the Reformation;
and now people were beginning to say in Savoy,
in the Pays de Vaud, at Freiburg, and in France, that the
reforming movement was crushed in the huguenot city. ‘A
great rumor,’ says Farel, ‘spread everywhere touching
Geneva, how that Master Furbity had triumphed in his disputations
with the Lutherans.’[#] The Bernese resolved to
assist the threatened Reform by despatching to Geneva ...
not large battalions, but a humble preacher of the Gospel.
They sent William Farel as Maisonneuve’s companion.

On Sunday, December 21, the feast of <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Thomas of
Canterbury, Furbity, proud at having to eulogize so heroic
a saint, was more energetic than ever. ‘All who follow
that cursed sect,’ he cried, ‘are lewd and gluttonous livers,
wanton, ambitious, murderers, and thieves, who live like
beasts, loving their own sensuality, acknowledging neither
a God nor a superior.’ These words raised the enthusiasm
of the catholics, the chief of whom resolved to go in a body
to the bishop’s palace to thank the reverend father. The
noble Perceval de Pesmes, <lang=fr><i>capitaine des bons</i></lang>, ‘the captain
of the good,’ as the nuns called him, was at their head.
‘Most reverend father,’ said the descendant of the Crusaders,
‘we thank you for preaching such good doctrine, and
beg you will fear nothing.’—‘Hold fast to the sword, captain;
on my side I will use the spirit and the tongue.’ The
compact being made, the deputation withdrew.
// File: 238.png
.pn +1

They had scarcely quitted the episcopal palace, when
a strange report circulated through the town. ‘De la
Maisonneuve has returned from Berne and brought the
notorious William Farel with him!’ Farel having re-entered
Geneva, was not to leave it again until the work of
the Reformation was completed there. ‘What!’ exclaimed
the catholics, ‘that wretch, that devil whom we drove out is
come back!’ They were so exasperated that De Pesmes,
Malbuisson, and others, meeting Farel and Maisonneuve in
the street that very day, drew their swords and fell upon
them; they were rescued by some huguenots. The episcopalians
consulted together, and decided to take up arms to
expel the reformer.

.sn Farel And Baudichon.
Not without reason were the catholics alarmed. Farel
was a hero. A work that is beginning requires one of those
strong men who, by the energy of their will, surmount all
obstacles, and set in motion all the forces of their epoch to
carry out the plan they have conceived. Calvin and Luther
are the great men of the Reformation in the sixteenth century.
Calvin defended it against dangerous enemies; he
gave to the renovated Church a body of divinity and a
simple powerful constitution. The scriptural faith which
he has set forth is making, and will make, the circuit of the
world. But when he arrived at Geneva, the Reform was
already accomplished outwardly. Farel is really the reformer
of that city as well as of other places in Switzerland
and France. A noble and simple evangelist, his genius was
less great, his name less illustrious than his successor’s; but
he ceased not to expose his life in fierce combats for the
Saviour, and, in the order of grace, he was in that beautiful
country enclosed between the Alps and the Jura what fire is
in the order of nature—the most powerful of God’s agents.
He was not, as is sometimes imagined, a hot-headed man,
liable to fits of violence and temper. With energy he combined
prudence—with zeal, impartiality. ‘Would to God,’
he said, on the occasion of his discussion with Furbity,
‘that each man would state each thing without leaning to
// File: 239.png
.pn +1
one side more than to the other.’[#] But it must be acknowledged
that he had more force than circumspection, and
an unparalleled activity was the principal feature of his character.
To venture everywhere, to act in all circumstances,
to preach in every place, to brave every danger, were his
enjoyment and his life. His excessive genius ‘delighted in
adventure,’ as was said of a celebrated conqueror, and
he was never so truly happy as when he was in the field.
Farel began the work, and Calvin completed it.

Another man, a layman, was called to play a part not less
important in the Genevan Reformation. It has been remarked[#]
that in the great revolutions of nations, God
sometimes gives not a counsellor to be listened to, but a
torrent to be followed. There was indeed in Geneva a
mighty torrent rushing towards Reform, and the man who
personified that popular force was Baudichon de la Maisonneuve.
Noble in heart as in race, at first he had been
merely an independent politician and an opponent of the
papacy; but, opening his house and his heart to the Gospel,
he came to love it more and more every day. Certainly
he did not possess all the evangelical graces; he was somewhat
of a jester, and might often be found laughing at the
superstitions of his times. Occasionally, also, he was violent
in his acts and words. But the republican energy that
characterized him made him the fittest man to cope with
Rome, the Duke, and the Inquisition. Strong, proud, immovable,
he was on a small stage, what the Elector of
Saxony and the Landgrave of Hesse were on a larger
stage, the patron of evangelical doctrine. Although of noble
descent, he was in trade, and had an extensive business.
Rich and generous, he provided for the wants of the new
creed. The magistrates of the cities with which he had
dealings showed him much consideration; and not only did
the puissant republic of Berne intercede in his favor, but
// File: 240.png
.pn +1
King Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr> also. De la Maisonneuve had no doubts
about the triumph of the Reformation. One day, as a Lausanne
dealer was buying one of his horses, the confident
Genevan said to him: ‘You shall pay me when no more
masses are celebrated at Lausanne.’ Two or three months
later, when settling his accounts at Lyons, he said to one of
his correspondents: ‘You shall pay me when the priests in
this city are what those in Berne are now.’ This made the
bigoted catholics exclaim: ‘He is the cause of the perversion
of Geneva. Would to God he had died ten years
ago!’[#] De la Maisonneuve had much affinity with Berthelier:
the latter began the independence of the city, the
former introduced the reform. They were both pioneers;
but if Berthelier’s death was the most heroic, Baudichon’s
life was the most exemplary.

De la Maisonneuve was able, in case of necessity, to
unite prudence with energy. On the <abbr='twenty-first'>21st</abbr> December, the
Dominican having preached with great <lang=fr><i>éclat</i></lang> in the cathedral,
some of the reformed said, boldly: ‘Why should not our
minister (Farel) preach in the church as well as a popish
doctor?’ and invited the reformers to enter the building.
The indignant catholics exclaimed: ‘It shall cost us our
lives sooner!’ De la Maisonneuve calmed his friends; he
wished to try legal means, and ask the magistrates for a
church.

.sn The Plot Breaks Out.
The next day he appeared before the council, and handed
in the letter from the chiefs of the mighty Bernese republic.
‘What!’ they said, ‘you expel from your city our servants,
people attached to the Holy Word, whom we commended to
you, and at the same time you tolerate men who blaspheme
against God. Your preacher has attacked us; we shall
prosecute him, and call upon you to arrest him. Moreover,
we ask for a place in which Farel may preach the Gospel
publicly.’ The larger portion of the council was astounded
at these two requests. They were about to deliberate on
// File: 241.png
.pn +1
them when a commotion was heard in the street. A plot
had broken out.

It was near midday. Between eight and nine hundred
priests and laymen were going to the bishop’s palace, where
they had appointed a meeting. In the palace everything
was astir; the cellars were open, and the servants were
running about with bottles in their hands. ‘They supplied
wine in profusion, and every man promised to do his duty.
They were respectable-looking people and well dressed.’
Two hundred men were to stop at <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Pierre’s to attack the
heretics in the rear. All the others were to go down to the
Molard, ‘burning for the cause of God,’ and attack Baudichon’s
house, where Farel was to be found.[#]

De la Maisonneuve, understanding what was going on,
hastily quitted the council-chamber, and ran to defend his
home.[#] His first care was to hide Farel as well as he
could, and then, while preparations were making to storm
his house, he took steps for its defence. But the council,
learning what was going on, left the hôtel de ville, and
ordered the bishop’s partisans to lay down their arms. It
seemed strange to do so, after so many protestations and so
much zeal; yet they obeyed. ‘The wicked build triumphs
in the air,’ said the huguenots, ‘and all these reports ended
in smoke at last.’[#]

Farel left his hiding-place and resumed his preachings in
the houses; but his audience had a singular appearance.
In front of the minister might be seen the proud features of
the huguenots, with helmets on their heads, swords by their
sides, and some were armed with cuirass, arquebuse, or
halberd; for, since the last catholic resort to arms, they
// File: 242.png
.pn +1
feared a surprise. Baudichon watched over the assembly.
Wearing an allécret (a sort of light breastplate), and holding
a staff in his hand, he ‘set the people in order,’ assigning
them their places, and whenever he chanced to hear
any conversation, ‘bidding them be silent;’ then Farel
would begin to speak and preach the Gospel with boldness.[#]

The syndics, placed between the reformers and the catholics,
could not tell what to do. If they arrested Furbity,
they would exasperate the catholics and Savoyards; if they
allowed him to continue his philippics against the reformed,
they would offend the huguenots and the Bernese. The
Two Hundred therefore resolved to leave the Dominican
ostensibly at large, at the same time treating him in reality
as a prisoner. He might go where he pleased, but attended
by six guards, who followed him even to the foot of
the pulpit. ‘Alas!’ exclaimed his friends, ‘they have
placed the reverend father in the keeping of the watch!’
On hearing which the monk observed, haughtily: ‘I am
under restraint on account of a set of people who are good
for nothing.’

Christmas day arrived: the Dominican had ‘a very numerous
audience, particularly of women.’ Incense smoked
on the altars; the chants resounded in the choir; the faithful
had never shown so much fervor, and the monk preached
with such warmth that, ‘within the memory of man, there
had never been so fine a service.’[#] At the same time, Farel,
plainly dressed, was preaching in a large room. There
was no incense, no tapers, no chanting, but the words of God
which stirred men’s consciences. This irritated Furbity
still more, and on the last day of the year he exclaimed
from the pulpit: ‘All who follow the new law are heretics
// File: 243.png
.pn +1
and the most worthless of men.’[#] Thus ended the year
1533.

.sn Furbity Takes Leave.
The new year was to make the balance incline to the side
of the Reformation; accordingly the clergy, as if terrified at
the future, resolved to destroy the tree by the roots, and inaugurated
the first day of the year 1534 by an extraordinary
proclamation. ‘In the name of Monseigneur of Geneva
and of his vicar,’ said the priests from all the pulpits, ‘it is
ordered that no one shall preach <i>the Word of God</i>, either in
public or in private, and that all the books of Holy Scripture,
whether in French or in German, shall be burnt.’[#]
The reformed, who were present in great numbers in the
church, were staggered at the new-year’s gift which the
bishop presented to his people. The Dominican, who was
preaching that day for the last time, outdid the proclamation,
and bade farewell of his audience in a paltry epigram:—

.pm verse-start
<lang=fr>Je veux vous donner mes étrennes,
Dieu convertisse les luthériens!
S’ils ne se retournent à bien,
Qu’il leur donne fièvres quartaines!
Qui veut <i>si, prennent ses mitaines</i>!</lang>[#]
.pm verse-end

Notwithstanding his invocation of the quartan ague, the
catholics said, with tears in their eyes, ‘With what devotion
he takes leave of us!’ All, however, had not been equally
touched: just as the monk was preparing to depart, his
guards stopped him, for he had forgotten that he was a prisoner.

Meanwhile the episcopal mandate was causing disturbance
// File: 244.png
.pn +1
in the city. ‘Forbid the preaching of the Gospel,’
said some; ‘burn the holy books! What a horrible notion!
The Mahometans never did anything like it with regard to
the Koran, or the Ghebers with the books of Zoroaster.
Those who are charged to preach the Word of God are the
very men to condemn it to the flames!’ Thus catholics and
evangelicals took up arms—the former to destroy the Bible,
the others to defend it.

They remained under arms not only during the night
of the first of January, but also during the second, the
third, and a part of the fourth, bivouacking in the squares,
and kindling great fires. The citizens of Geneva had often
taken up arms from other motives. If any one had now
gone to the catholics and asked them: ‘Why are you doing
this?’ they would have answered: ‘Because we desire to
drive out the Bible:’ and if the same question had been put
to the reformed, they would have answered: ‘Because we
desire to keep it.’ These poor folks had often nothing to eat
or drink; and when any party sent to a house to procure
provisions, the other party often seized the spoil.
They were obliged to give the purveyors a strong escort.[#]

It was a strange sight, no doubt, to see a town filled with
armed men because of the Word of peace. It was in this
way that great emotions displayed themselves at that epoch,
and it would be ridiculous to exhibit the men of the sixteenth
century with the manners of the nineteenth. The
evangelical Christians believed that, if the Bible were taken
from them, Jesus would also be lost to them; it
seemed that if there were no more Scripture, there would be
no more Christ, no more salvation. The political huguenots,
not troubling themselves about that matter, thought that the
Bible was the best means of getting rid of the bishop.
Consequently all alike passed the days and nights under
arms around the watchfires, being unwilling to have the
Scriptures taken away from them. The reformed, desiring
to appear pacific, thought it their duty to yield a little, and
// File: 245.png
.pn +1
prevailed upon Alexander to withdraw, as he had been
lawfully banished. He turned his steps in the direction of
France, where he soon after found a martyr’s death. But
the evangelical cause in Geneva lost nothing, for, as Alexander
left on one side, Froment returned on the other; and
almost at the same moment an embassy from Berne, headed
by Sebastian of Diesbach, appeared at the city gates. These
worthy deputies, seeing what was going on,—the bivouacks,
the soldiers, the spears, and arquebuses,—stopped their
horses, examined the groups with an air of astonishment,
asked what it all meant, and finally exhorted the rival parties
to withdraw. The Genevese began to understand the
strangeness of their position: the huguenots felt that it was
a different power from that of their arquebuses which should
defend the Bible; the men of both parties, therefore, yielded
to the wise remonstrances of the Bernese, and every man
retired to his own house.[#]

.sn Three Reformers In Geneva.
Diesbach and his colleagues came with the intent of prosecuting
the Dominican; but while shutting the door against
the monk, they desired to throw it wide open to the Reformation.
Farel had been at Geneva some time; Froment
had just arrived; but that was not all. A man of modest
appearance, who formed part of the Bernese retinue, was to
be more formidable to Roman-catholicism than the illustrious
ambassadors themselves. They had with them the
young and gentle Viret. Weak and faint, he was still suffering
from a wound inflicted by a priest of Payerne, but
the deputies of Berne had insisted on his accompanying
them. Thus Farel, Viret, and Froment—three men of
lively faith and indefatigable zeal—were going to work together
in Geneva. Everything seemed to indicate that the
reformed bands of Switzerland were unmasking their batteries
and preparing to dismantle those of the pope. They
were about to open a sharp fire, which would beat down the
thick walls that for so long had sheltered the oracles and
exactions of the papacy.
// File: 246.png
.pn +1

Viret immediately asked after his friends Farel and Froment,
who had been forced to hide themselves during the
armed crisis; some huguenots went in search of them and
brought them to the Tête-noire, where the embassy was quartered.
‘You shall stay with us,’ said the Bernese; ‘we will
protect your liberty, and you shall announce the Gospel.’ The
three reformers immediately began to preach in private houses,[#]
proclaiming the authority and the doctrines of those Holy
Scriptures which the clergy had condemned. What a
strange contradiction! The bishop had just interdicted the
Bible, and the three most powerful preachers in the French
tongue were now publicly teaching its divine lessons....
So many and such good workmen had never before been
seen in Geneva. ‘And the papists dared do nothing against
them.’[#]

But the Bernese wanted more: ‘You protect that Dominican
who slanders our good reputation,’ they said to the
council; ‘you despise our mode of living, you condemn the
holy Gospel of God, you maltreat those who desire to understand
it, and banish those who preach it: is that conducting
yourselves in conformity with the treaty of alliance?
Let the monk defend what he has taught: we have brought
preachers who will show him the falseness of his doctrine.
If you refuse these requests, Berne will find other means of
vindicating her honor.’ The syndics replied to the Bernese:
‘It is not our business to know what concerns priests; apply
to the prince-bishop.’—‘That is a mere evasion,’ answered
Berne. ‘We give you back our letters of alliance.’ At
these words the premier syndic, becoming alarmed, offered
to let the Dominican appear before them. The Bernese accepted,
but ‘on condition that the monk should be obliged to
answer the ministers before all the people.’[#] That was the
essential point.

.fn #
<lang=fr><i>Lettres certaines d’aucuns grands troubles et tumultes advenus à Genève,
avec la disputation faite l’an 1534.</i></lang> This pamphlet is dated April 1, 1534,
and is from the pen of Farel, though the printer describes it as being
by a notary of Geneva.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr><i>Lettres certaines d’aucuns grands troubles et tumultes advenus à Genève,
avec la disputation faite l’an 1534</i>, avant-propos.</lang>
.fn-
.fn #
Thiers on the Insurrection in Spain.
.fn-
.fn #
<abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr> <lang=fr>du procès inquisitionnel de Lyon. Archives de Berne,</lang> <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 38,
198, 229, 285.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>Registre du Conseil du 22 Décembre 1533. Froment, <i>Gestes merveilleux
de Genève</i></lang>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 78. <lang=fr>Sœur Jeanne, <i>Levain du Calvinisme</i></lang>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 71. <lang=fr><i>Lettres
certaines d’aucuns grands troubles</i></lang>, &c.
.fn-
.fn #
Recent investigations indicate that this house was situated in the Rue
basse du Marché, in front of the Terraillet.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>‘Les méchants se bâtissent des triomphes en l’air, et tous ces bruits ne
sont finalement que fumée.’—<i>Lettres certaines.</i></lang> Froment, <lang=fr><i>Gestes de Genève</i></lang>,
p. 79. <lang=fr>Sœur Jeanne, <i>Levain du Calvinisme</i></lang>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 73.
.fn-
.fn #
Froment, <lang=fr><i>Gestes de Genève</i></lang>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 79.  <abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr> <lang=fr>du procès inquisitionnel de
Lyon</lang>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 226.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>‘De vie d’hommes, n’avait été fait si bel office.’ Registre du Conseil
des 23 et 24 Décembre et du 27 Janvier, 1534.—La Sœur Jeanne, <i>Levain
du Calvinisme</i></lang>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 74.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>Registre du Conseil des 27 et 28 Décembre.</lang>—Gautier MSC.—Ruchat,
<abbr=three>iii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 245.
.fn-
.fn #
MSC. de Roset, <abbr=book>liv.</abbr> <abbr=three>iii.</abbr> <abbr=chapter>ch.</abbr> xvii.—Registre du 1 Janvier, 1534.—Spon.
<abbr=one>i.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 50.—Ruchat, <abbr=three>iii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 244.—Roset and Farel, both contemporaries, and
in a position to know the truth, report the fact that the Holy Scriptures
were to be <i>burnt</i>. The minutes of the council do not mention it; but the
secretary occasionally toned down what seemed too strong for a council
the majority of which was at that time catholic.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr><i>Prendre ses mitaines</i></lang>, a figurative expression for <lang=fr><i>prendre ses mesures</i>.—<i>Lettres
certaines</i></lang>, &c.
.fn-
.fn #
Froment, <lang=fr><i>Actes de Genève</i></lang>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 80.
.fn-
.fn #
Froment, <lang=fr><i>Gestes de Genève</i></lang>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 80.
.fn-
.fn #
Farellus, Fromentius, <lang=la>Viretus intra privatos parietes in prædicando
Dei verbo</lang>. <i>Geneva restituta</i>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 65.
.fn-
.fn #
MSC. de Roset, <i>Chron.</i>, lib. <abbr=three>iii.</abbr> <abbr=chapter>ch.</abbr> xviii.—Froment, <lang=fr><i>Gestes de Genève</i></lang>,
<abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 80, 81.—Registre du Conseil du 5 Janvier.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>Registre du Conseil des 7 et 8 Janvier, 1534.—Froment, <i>Gestes de
Genève</i></lang>, <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 80, 81.—Ruchat, <abbr=three>iii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 245.
.fn-
// File: 247.png
.pn +1
.sp 4
.h2 id=chap7-04
CHAPTER IV. | THE TOURNAMENT. | (<sc>January to February 1534.</sc>)
.sp 2
.sn The Three Reformers.
The <abbr=ninth>9th</abbr> of January was an important date in the history
of the Reformation of Geneva, and perhaps (we might add)
in that of Europe. The laity were about to resume their
rights: a priest was to appear before the Genevese laymen
and the Bernese magistrates. As soon as the Council of
Two Hundred had assembled, the ambassadors entered, followed
by three persons who attracted the special attention
of all present. The eyes full of fire, the bold bravery, the
indomitable features of one of them marked him to be Farel.
The second, less known, had, although young, the prudence
of a man in years and the sweetness of a <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> John; this
was Viret. The third, short in stature and of mean appearance,
decided in his gait, lively, and talkative; this was
Froment. They all took their seats at the right of the premier
syndic. The friar of the order of <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Dominic, entering
in his turn, sat on the left on a raised bench. They had
met to attack and defend the papacy. The tournament, at
which a great crowd of gentlemen and citizens was present,
resembled one of those ‘solemn judgments’ to which man
had had recourse for ages to terminate certain controversies.
The subject of the dispute was more important than usual.
Truth and tradition, the middle ages and modern times, independence
and slavery, were in the balance. All, therefore,
who were interested in divine and human things, waited
with impatience. Their expectations were disappointed.

Just as the struggle was about to begin, one of the combatants
hung back. The Dominican rose and said: ‘Messieurs,
I am a monk and doctor of Paris; I cannot appear
// File: 248.png
.pn +1
before laymen without the license of my prelate.’ He sat
down. ‘You offered before all the people,’ said Sebastian
of Diesbach, ‘to defend your position by the Holy Scriptures,
and now you want a licence.’ Farel rose and observed,
that the monk and the great apostle were of contrary
opinions; ‘<abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Paul refused, in such a case, to appear before
the priests at Jerusalem, and appealed to Cæsar. Now
Cæsar was certainly a layman, and what is more—a
heathen.’ The monk forbore to reply to this invincible argument;
but looking with pity on the individual who had
dared speak to him, said, with a gesture of contempt, ‘that
he had nothing to do with that man.’ Then, remembering
how the strappado and the stake brought such cavillers to
their senses in Paris, he added: ‘Let him go and speak like
that in France!’ ‘Good father,’ said the premier syndic,
‘since you will not answer when our lords of Berne accuse
you, leave that place and sit on the bench yonder, where
you shall hear the rest.’ The monk of <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Dominic had to
quit his place of honor and go to the bar; but notwithstanding
this humiliation, he again refused to speak. The syndics
then sent to ask the grand-vicar to give him leave to
answer; but this dignitary replied: ‘I am ill.’ The deputies
made the same request to the official, <abbr=Monsieur>M.</abbr> de Veigy, who
answered: ‘The bishop has forbidden me to do so.’
‘Shameful!’ exclaimed many; ‘all these priests refuse to
give an account of their faith.’ The Dominican said to the
council: ‘Let my lords the ambassadors select as judges two
doctors from Germany; and we will select two from Paris;
then I will reply not only to Farel, Viret, and Froment, but
to a hundred or two hundred of such preachers....
Alone I will meet them all!’ The Bernese declared they
would trust the matter to those only who were lawfully authorized.
They wanted more. The refusal of the Dominican
served but to increase their desire to see the Reformation
freely preached in Geneva. Not contenting themselves
with a theological discussion, they said to the syndics: ‘The
way to pacify the city and to be just towards all, is to pick
// File: 249.png
.pn +1
out one of the parish churches and appoint a preacher of
the Gospel to it. Those who wish to go to the sermon, will
go to the sermon; those who wish to go to mass, will go to
mass; every man is to remain free in his conscience; no one
shall be constrained, and all will be satisfied.’ ‘We are
only laymen,’ answered the astonished syndics; ‘it is not
our business to choose preachers and assign them churches.’
The council sent a deputation to Berne to soften the rigor
of the chiefs of the state; but it was useless. The greater
the <i>suppleness</i> (to use the language of a manuscript) shown
by the Genevans, the greater the inflexibility displayed by
the Bernese. It was a struggle between the pliant and the
rigid; and the pliant, as usual, were compelled to give
way.[#]

.sn Reparation Demanded.
The Bernese ambassadors pursued their plans with vigor,
and demanded reparation for the insults of the Dominican,
and a church for the preachers of the Gospel. ‘If you refuse,’
added Diesbach, ‘we shall return you the seals of
our alliance; we shall take back ours; we shall prosecute
the monk ... and whomsoever we think fit.’ The
Two Hundred were astounded, involuntary tears escaped
from the eyes of some, and even the people outside were
much disturbed (says the Council minute). Joining deeds
to words, Sebastian of Diesbach placed the letters of alliance
on the table. The whole assembly immediately rose
up with indescribable emotion, and with tears begged the
ambassadors to take back their letters. ‘We will do our
best to satisfy you!’ exclaimed the premier-syndic, stout
catholic as he was. The stern Bernese noble was touched.
‘We take them back,’ he said at last; ‘but we protest that
we shall return them if you do not satisfy our demands.’[#]
Everything was then prepared for the trial. Geneva undertook
to bear the axe into the wilderness of church
// File: 250.png
.pn +1
abuses: a priest, accused by laymen, was about to be tried
by laymen. This in itself was a revolution.

.sn The Monk On His Trial.
On the <abbr='twenty-seventh'>27th</abbr> January, the Two Hundred sitting as a court
of justice, Furbity was brought before them. He had taken
courage; his erect head and confident look showed that he
believed himself sure of victory. He called upon the Bernese
to set forth their grievances, but protested against the
inquiry on account of the sacerdotal character with which he
was invested. Then the following colloquy took place:—

<sc>Ambassador.</sc>—You preached publicly that four kinds
of executioners divided the robe of our Saviour Jesus
Christ at the foot of the cross, and that the first were Germans.
That word concerns us.

<sc>Monk.</sc>—I never used such words; and I do not know
to what country the executioners belonged.

<sc>Ambas.</sc>—We will prove this charge presently. You
said that those who eat meat on Friday and Saturday are
worse than Jews, Turks, and mad dogs.

<sc>Monk.</sc>—I did not mean thereby to offend their Excellencies
of Berne; I was preaching only to the people of
this city.

<sc>Ambas.</sc>—You said that all who read the Holy Scriptures
in the vulgar tongue are no better than lewd livers,
gluttons, drunkards, blasphemers, murderers, and robbers.

<sc>Monk.</sc>—I affirm that I have not abused my lords of
Berne.

<sc>Ambas.</sc>—You spoke in a general manner, and consequently
included them in your accusation.

<sc>Monk.</sc>—I was speaking to the Genevese only.

<sc>Ambas.</sc>—You said: ‘Avoid these wicked modern heretics,
these Germans, as you would lepers and unclean persons.
Do not let them marry your daughters, you had
better give them to the dogs.’

<sc>Monk.</sc>—I deny having preached that article.

<sc>Ambas.</sc>—You said: ‘That the modern heretics, who
will not obey the pope or the cardinals, bishops, and curates,
are on that account the devil’s flock and worse than mad
dogs ... and ought to be hanged on the gallows.’
// File: 251.png
.pn +1

<sc>Monk.</sc>—That is an article of faith, and I have not to
answer for it before you.

<sc>Premier-Syndic.</sc>—You are commanded to answer.

<sc>Monk.</sc>—I shall not answer.

<sc>Premier-Syndic.</sc>—The charge is confessed.

<sc>Ambas.</sc>—‘Most honored lords, we belong to those who
read Scripture in the vulgar tongue. We belong to those
who hold our Lord as <i>sole head of the Church</i>, as its everlasting
and sovereign pastor; and, moreover, we are Germans;
and for this reason we believe the said articles have
been uttered against us. If we were what these articles
say, we should deserve corporal punishment; and therefore
we demand, in terms of the <lang=la><i>lex talionis</i></lang>, that the said
preacher be visited with a punishment similar to that which
we should have incurred.’

The reasoning of the ambassador was not irrefutable.
Envoys from Zurich, Basle, and other Evangelical cantons,
even from the landgrave of Hesse or the elector of Saxony
might just as well accuse the monk of having insulted them.
But it is precisely this which explains the conduct of the
Bernese deputies. Protestantism had been abused, its fundamental
principles trampled under foot. The Bernese did
not prosecute the monk in order to avenge a personal affront;
what they wanted was to see the Word of God set in
the place of the word of the pope, and the Reformation established
in Geneva. The Gospel was on trial and not my
lords of Berne; but the latter considered themselves the
champions of the Reformation in Switzerland, and when
enemies attacked it, they thought it their duty to defend it.
To have kept out of the lists would have been disobedience
to the supreme judge of the combat. The ambassadors
brought up fourteen witnesses ready to swear that the monk
had said what was ascribed to him.[#]

Furbity seeing no other means of escape, determined to
fight for Rome. On Thursday, <abbr='twenty-ninth'>29th</abbr> January, a rumor
// File: 252.png
.pn +1
spread through the city that the monk would hold a discussion
with the reformers. The Two Hundred, and a certain
number of other citizens, met in the Hotel de Ville to be
present at this important struggle.

One of the tourneys of the Reformation at Geneva was
about to begin; the two combatants were in the lists. On
one side the Dominican, the champion of Rome, came forward
with scholastic learning that was not to be despised, a
front of adamant, lungs strong enough to reduce all his rivals
to silence, and a tongue furnished with an inexhaustible
flow of words.[#] At once violent and skilful, he made use
of every weapon, and possessed a particular art of glozing
over his errors and rendering them less apparent.[#] On the
other side was Farel, less experienced than his rival in the
tricks of dialectics, but full of love for the truth, firm as a
warrior advancing to defend it, and ready to confound the
monk’s scholastic arguments by the invincible demonstrations
of the Scriptures of God. Possessing a manly eloquence
and sonorous voice, his clear, energetic, and at times
ironical language, did prompt justice upon the sophisms of
his adversaries[#].

The reformer rose first and said: ‘This is a serious business;
let us therefore speak with all mildness. Let not one
strive to get the better of the other. We can have no nobler
triumph than to see the truth prevail. So that it be
acknowledged by all, I willingly consent to forfeit my life.’
Touched by his words, the assembly exclaimed: ‘Yes, yes!
that is what we desire.’

Furbity began by asserting the authority of the pope.
He maintained that the heads of the Church may ordain
things that are not in Scripture, and to prove it, he quoted
Deuteronomy: ‘If there arise a matter too hard for thee in
judgment, thou shalt come unto the priests, and thou shalt
observe to do according to all that they inform thee.’[#]
// File: 253.png
.pn +1

Farel, on the contrary, maintained the authority of the
Holy Scriptures, and declared that all doctrine must be
founded on them alone. He called to mind that God, in
this very book of Moses, had said: ‘<i>Ye shall not add unto
the Word which I command you, neither shall you diminish
aught from it</i>.’[#] ‘What is said of the Levitical priest in the
Old Testament (he added) ought to be applied, not to the
Romish priests, but to Jesus Christ, who is the everlasting
high-priest. To him, therefore, we must go, him we must obey,
and not the priest.’[#] ‘Christ,’ exclaimed Furbity, ‘gave to
<abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Peter the key of the kingdom of heaven, and <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Peter
transmitted it to the priests, his successors.’ ‘The key of
the heavenly kingdom,’ answered Farel, ‘is the Word of
God. If any one believes in the promises of grace with all
his heart, heaven opens for him. If any one rejects them,
heaven is closed against him.’

As it was growing late, the discussion was adjourned to
the next day, and Furbity said haughtily that he was ready.
A voice from the midst of the crowd called out: ‘Endeavor
to hold more to the Word of God and less to the teaching
of the Sorbonne.’ ‘I shall behave like a man,’ he answered.
‘If the strength of a man consists in his want of sense, then
you are a true man,’ rudely returned the speaker.

The next day the discussion entered upon a new phase.

.sn Interpretation By The Councils.
Farel maintained throughout the right and duty of the
Christian people to read the Scriptures, to understand them,
and to submit to them alone. Furbity, on the contrary, asserted
that the Scriptures should be read by the clergy only,
and understood conformably with the interpretation of the
councils. He proved his point by reasons which might have
some force in the eyes of his friends, but they had none for
Farel, who maintained the necessity of the immediate contact
of each Christian soul with the Scriptures of God. It
// File: 254.png
.pn +1
was not from councils (he contended) nor from popes, but
from the Word of God itself that every Christian must receive
by faith the truth which saves. The first assembly at
Jerusalem (ordinarily termed the first council), was it not,
according to the account in the Acts, composed of apostles,
elders, and of the <i>whole church</i>, and did it not begin its letter
with: ‘The apostles and elders and <i>brethren</i>’? Defending,
therefore, the rights of the lay members of the flock,
he declaimed energetically against the institution of all those
dignitaries who, in the Romish Church, are <i>lords over God’s
heritage</i>: ‘You invent all sorts of things,’ he said to the Dominican,[#]
‘you introduce diversities of orders, a countless
number of eminences, bishops, prelates, archbishops, primates,
cardinals, popes, and other superiorities of which
Scripture makes no mention. You do everything to your
own fancy, without any regard to God or the right. The
apostles took counsel with the whole assembly of the believers,
but you ... you do everything, you are everything! ...
you cut and shape as you please. The Christian
people are no more called by you into council than dogs and
brutes. Your ordinances must be adored, and those of God
be trodden under foot. Your papal monarchy surpasses all
others in pride, pomp, and feasting. You want those who
are to teach the people to be princes with lordships, estates,
law-courts, and governments. You want to have a rich triumphant
Jesus, who shall put to death all who contradict
him.... Ah! sirs, the Saviour was not such here below:
he was poor, humble, put to death, and his disciples were
banished, imprisoned, stoned, and killed.... What similarity
is there between the Apostolic Church and yours?...
The supreme argument in yours is the executioner....
The apostles did not, like you, fulminate fierce excommunications;
they did not, like you, imprison and condemn....
No! Jesus is not in the midst of you. He
is in the midst of those who are expelled, beaten, burnt for
the Gospel, as the martyrs were in the time of the primitive
Church.’
// File: 255.png
.pn +1

.sn Farel’s Thunders.
The reformer’s energetic words sounded like a peal of
thunder to his antagonist. Furbity was confounded and bewildered;
his ideas became confused; he lost his presence of
mind, and, wishing to establish the doctrine of the episcopate
as it is understood at Rome, he quoted the verse in
which it is said that a bishop ought to be <i>the husband of one
wife</i>, which greatly amused the assembly. He did more:
desiring to prove that there had been bishops of the Roman
model in the apostolic times, he mentioned Judas Iscariot. ‘It
is written of Judas,’ he said, ‘his bishopric let another take:
<lang=la><i>Episcopatum suum accipiat alter</i></lang>. As Judas had a bishopric,
he must of necessity have been a bishop;’ and he concluded
there was no salvation out of the Roman episcopate. The
doctor had not kept his promise to behave <i>like a man</i>. Farel
smiled at the strange argument, and began to lash the
Dominican with the scourge of irony. ‘As you have quoted
that good bishop, Judas,’ he said, ‘Judas, who sold the
Saviour of the world; as you have asserted that he had a
diocese, pray tell me in what part of the Roman empire it
lay, and how much it was worth, according to the customary
language of Rome. That bishop, whose name you use, is
very like certain prelates who, instead of preaching the
Word of God, <i>carry the bag</i>,[#] and instead of glorifying Jesus
Christ, sell him by selling his members, whose souls
they hand over to the devil, receiving money from him in
exchange.’[#]

The monk, astonished at such boldness, again exclaimed
in a threatening manner: ‘Go and repeat what you say at
Paris, or any other city of France.’ So sure was he that
the evangelist would be sent to the stake there that he could
not refrain from repeating such a peremptory argument. It
was all that Farel would have desired: ‘Would to God that
I were allowed to explain my faith publicly,’ he said; ‘I
should prove it by Holy Scripture, and if I did not, I would
consent to be put to death.’
// File: 256.png
.pn +1

As the discussion went on, the feelings grew inflamed on
both sides—some defending Furbity, others supporting
Farel.

No one was more assiduous at this verbal tournament
than Baudichon de la Maisonneuve; he accompanied the
evangelical champion, both as he went to the meeting and
returned from it, being unwilling to leave to others the care
of protecting his person. The catholics did not fail to notice
the constant goings and comings of the great citizen; it quite
shocked them: his intimacy with the detested heretic seemed
to them most disgraceful. A young man of five-and-twenty,
named Delorme, who was born at Fontenay, a league and a
half from the city, and who for upwards of a year had been
following his business with a relative in Geneva, specially
watched Baudichon, and was surprised to see so great a gentleman
pay such frequent visits to the poor preacher, Farel.[#]
He made a note of it, which, on a future day he made
use of.

The disputation went on all through Friday. The market
on Saturday, the services on Sunday, and the Feast of
the Purification which fell on Monday, interrupted it for
three days. The three ministers took advantage of the leisure
given them to preach to the people with fervor. Each
day they proclaimed the Gospel in the large hall of their
friend’s house, and Baudichon watched to see that everything
went on in an orderly manner—which was very necessary,
for the sensation excited by the discussion attracted large
crowds. In the evening the evangelicals met in different
houses and conversed together until far into the night. During
the daytime they endeavored to attract to their assemblies
such as still hesitated between popery and the Reformation.
‘Ah,’ exclaimed young Delorme with vexation,
‘see what efforts they are making to increase their party.’[#]
All Geneva was in a ferment.

.sn Tales About Farel.
But the sensation was not confined to that city: the anger
// File: 257.png
.pn +1
excited by the discussions manifested itself in violent
speeches in the surrounding districts. The idle, the curious,
and the devout would stop and question travellers ‘to learn
the great news from Geneva which they so desired to
know.’[#] Many priests and monks preached in the villages
round the city against <i>heretics</i> and <i>heresy</i>; and in Geneva,
as well as in other places through which Farel had passed,
there was always some friar or old woman to tell strange
stories about the reformer. ‘He has no whites to his eyes,’
they would say; ‘his beard is red and stiff, and there is
a devil in every hair of it. He has horns on his head, and
his feet are cloven like a bullock’s.... Lastly—and
this seemed more horrible than all the rest—he is the son
of a Jew of Carpentras.’[#]

All these stories, flying about the city, reached the Tête-Noire
inn, where the Bernese and the three reformers
lodged. The domestic life of this hostelry was not edifying.
The landlord (according to the chronicle) had two wives:
his lawful spouse and a servant who acted as the mistress.
The former, an upright person, behaved becomingly to the
preachers of the Gospel, though she did not like them; but
the other woman detested them, and every time they entered
the house, both master and servant scowled at them. They
restrained themselves however before the illustrious lords of
Berne, greeting them with forced smiles; but made up for
it when they were alone with the preachers. The latter
usually dined together; and the landlord and servant, while
waiting on them, heard language from the lips of the evangelists
which greatly provoked them. Instead of the idle
stories and jests so common at the dinner-table, the three
ministers would exchange words of truth with one another;
and this conversation, so new to the two listeners, caused
// File: 258.png
.pn +1
them to make wry faces (as Froment records, who saw
them). The three guests had scarcely quitted the room
when the servant, who had restrained herself, would cry out
after them: ‘Heretics! traitors! brigands! huguenots! Germans!’ ...
‘I had rather,’ said the landlord, ‘that they
went away without paying (that was saying a great deal),
provided it was a long way off ... so long that
we should never see them again.’ These two wretched
people felt that the doctrine of the Bible condemned their
disorderly lives, and the hatred they felt towards the holiness
of God’s Word was vented on those who proclaimed
it.

‘The adulterous servant, unable to serve the preachers as
Herodias served John the Baptist,’ says Froment, ‘avenged
herself in another manner.’ Addressing one of those women
who prate at random about everything: ‘Only imagine
what I have seen,’ said she; ‘one night as the preachers
were going to bed, I stole up softly after them, and, approaching
the door, I peeped through a hole.... What
did I see? They were <i>feeding devils</i>!’ The neighbor’s
dismay did not hinder the servant from continuing: ‘These
devils were like black cats ... their eyes flashed fire,
their claws were crooked and pointed ... they were
under the table ... moving backwards and forwards....
Yes; I saw them through the hole.’ In a short
time all the gossips of the quarter knew it; ‘at which there
was a great stir in the neighborhood.’[#]

To this story of the servant, the priests added theirs, and
said: ‘There are three devils in Geneva in the form of
men—Farel, Viret, Froment; and many demoniacs. If
ever you listen to those three goblins, they will spring upon
you, enter into your body, and you are done for.’[#] Not
satisfied merely with repeating such absurdities in their conversation,
the priests began to preach to the people upon ‘the
three devils.’ Next a song was written on them; and
// File: 259.png
.pn +1
ere long the catholic mob went up and down the streets
singing these rude rhymes:—

.pm verse-start
Farel farera,
Viret virera,
Froment on moudra,
Dieu nous aidera
Et le diable les emportera.[#]
.pm verse-end

The popular epigram was mistaken. At the very moment
when the catholics were singing it about the city,
tragic events were coming that were to change everything
in Geneva. It was the Roman Church that was about to
<i>veer</i> and popery to depart.

.fn #
<lang=fr>Registre du Conseil des 10, 11, 12 Janvier, 1534.</lang>—Ruchat, <abbr=three>iii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 251,
252.—MSC. de Gautier.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>Registre du Conseil des 25 et 26 Janvier, 1534.</lang>—MSC. de Roset, <abbr=book>liv.</abbr>
<abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=chapter>ch.</abbr> <abbr=eighteen>xviii.</abbr> etc.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>Registre du Conseil du 27 Janvier, 1534.—<i>Lettres certaines d’aucuns
grands troubles.</i></lang>
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>Furbito homine sinuoso, cui firma latera, frons ferrea.</lang>—<i>Geneva restituta</i>,
<abbr=page>p.</abbr> 68.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>Pictæ tectoria linguæ.</lang>—<i>Persius.</i>
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>Farello pro veritate strenue stante, etc.</lang>—<i>Geneva restituta.</i>
.fn-
.fn #
Deuteronomy <abbr=seventeen>xvii.</abbr> 8-10.
.fn-
.fn #
Deuteronomy <abbr=four>iv.</abbr> 2.
.fn-
.fn #
Farel indicated the passages taken from the following chapters: Hebrews
<abbr=five>v.</abbr> to <abbr=ten>x.</abbr>; Romans <abbr=fourteen>xiv.</abbr>; Matthew <abbr=five>v.</abbr>; Luke <abbr='twenty-four'>xxiv.</abbr>; John <abbr=five>v.</abbr> <abbr=eight>viii.</abbr>
<abbr=twelve>xii.</abbr> <abbr=fourteen>xiv.</abbr>; Romans <abbr=fifteen>xv.</abbr>; Galatians <abbr rend=arabic>i.</abbr>; Deuteronomy <abbr=eighteen>xviii.</abbr>
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr><i>Lettres certaines</i></lang>, &c., by Farel.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>Au lieu de porter la Parole de Dieu, portent la bourse.</lang>
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr><i>Lettres certaines.</i></lang>
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>MSC. du Procès inquisitionnel de Lyon</lang>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 80.
.fn-
.fn #
Ibid. <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 81.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr><i>Lettres certaines d’aucuns grands troubles</i></lang>, &c. This work, which is
dated Geneva, <abbr=first>1st</abbr> April 1534, and consequently appeared two months
after the discussion, is the principal source whence we have taken our
account of these discussions.
.fn-
.fn #
Froment, <lang=fr><i>Gestes de Genève</i></lang>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 86.
.fn-
.fn #
Froment, <lang=fr><i>Gestes de Genève</i></lang>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 85.
.fn-
.fn #
Ibid.
.fn-
.fn #
Farel shall depart, Viret shall veer (go away); Froment (corn) shall
be ground in the mill; God will help us, and the devil shall run away
with them all. Froment’s <lang=fr><i>Gestes de Genève</i></lang>, <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 84-86.
.fn-
.sp 4
.h2 id=chap7-05
CHAPTER V. | THE PLOT. | (<sc>January and February 1534.</sc>)
.sp 2
.sn Christendom In Sixteenth Century.
In the sixteenth century a consciousness of justice, truth,
and liberty was awakening throughout Christendom, and
men were beginning to protest everywhere, particularly
in Geneva, at the lamentable perversions of social and
religious life imposed by popery in times gone by. But the
expiring Middle Ages rose energetically against this awakening
which was to condemn them to be reckoned among the
dead. The object of the struggle going on was to secure
the triumph of the Reformation—or, as others expressed it,
the triumph of progress and civilization. This struggle is
the supreme interest of history. The intrigues of courts,
// File: 260.png
.pn +1
and even the battles of armies, which are more pleasing to
certain minds, are trifles in comparison with these mighty
movements of humanity. Nevertheless, if they had their
grandeur and their necessity, they had their danger also. To
preserve the ship, launched into the open sea, from striking
upon the treacherous shoals of disorder and libertinage, it
was necessary that the Lord should command it. At the
time when mankind were breaking the secular chains of popery
and the fantastic institutions of feudalism, it was necessary
they should cleave to the sovereign Master, who alone
gives the breath of life to individuals and to nations. If
England has so long enjoyed the precious fruits of liberty,
and if France has not yet been able to secure them, it is because
the former welcomed the Reformation and the latter
rejected it. One of the great evils springing out of popery
was the blunting of the moral sense; and the revival of the
sixteenth century was a moral revival. In catholicism there
were sincere men; but everything was good in their eyes,
provided they attained an end which they believed to be glorious.
And hence, strange to say, pretended preservers of
order easily became assassins.

.sn Meditated Coup-D’-État.
The Bishop of Geneva watched attentively from his silent
priory all that was passing in his diocese, at that time so
strangely agitated. He desired to reascend his double
throne, and still hoped to reëstablish the authority of the
prince and the pope in the city. Many catholics, especially
at the courts of the bishop and the duke, could really see nothing
in this reformation of doctrine but ‘a popular tumult,
which would be of short duration.’ ‘The aspect of affairs
will soon change,’ they said.[#] Perhaps if Calvin had not
come, this prophecy might have been fulfilled; but others
saw things in darker colors. The <i>tempest of Luther</i> would,
in their opinion, upset everything; the same wave that now
threatened the power of the pontiff would ere long sweep
away the power of kings. Men did not know how to act
that they might prevent such a misfortune; and the most
// File: 261.png
.pn +1
decided said plainly, that the only means of saving Geneva
was to set up one supreme magistrate. Did not the Romans
create dictators in the hour of extreme peril? All these
councils of Twenty-five, of Sixty, of Two Hundred, and,
above all, the General Council of the people were (the Episcopals
thought) both useless and pernicious. The administration
ought to be placed in the hands of one man, and be
given preferably to one of the lords of Friburg. The fervent
catholicism of that canton and its resentment at Wernli’s
death guaranteed the fidelity with which the mission
would be fulfilled. It does not appear that anything was decided
about the selection; but the bishop made up his mind
to attempt a bold stroke of policy. Having come to an understanding
with the Duke of Savoy,[#] he signed at Arbois
the instruments which set up in Geneva a <i>Lieutenant of the
prince</i> in temporal matters <i>with full powers of punishing
criminals</i>. The document was immediately forwarded to
Portier, the episcopal secretary, the bishop’s confidential
man, who was to determine, in accordance with the heads of
the party, the favorable moment and the best means of carrying
it into execution. On his side the duke did not keep
them waiting for assistance. Portier received blank warrants,
sealed with the ducal arms, with authority to use them
as he pleased, so as to bring the matter to a happy issue.
The plot was skilfully devised. The court of Turin, the
lords of Friburg, and the mamelukes were all to assist the
bishop; but, according to the received formula, ‘God was
there and the republic of Berne.’[#]

Indeed, it seemed at first that the instrument was destined
to remain mere waste paper. The episcopal plot existed;
the deed had been signed by the prince-bishop on the <abbr=twelfth>12th</abbr>
of January, but on the first of February it was still a dead
letter. Portier, aware of the spirit with which the citizens
were animated, feared to make the episcopal ordinance
known, either to magistrates or people. Privately, however,
// File: 262.png
.pn +1
he discussed with some of his confidants the means of putting
it into execution; among them were two brothers named
Pennet, one of whom was the episcopal jailer. The bishop’s
partisans at Geneva, as well as at Arbois and Turin,
thought that logical discussions only did harm: that they
should have recourse to more vigorous measures; that force
only would constrain the Genevese to bend their necks to the
yoke; and, finally, that a riot which disturbed the public
peace would be, even if it failed, the best means of justifying
the nomination of a lieutenant invested with absolute
power. Some hot-headed episcopals, and particularly the
two Pennets, the <i>séides</i> of the party, resolved to act immediately:
‘They undertook, with several others, to spill much
blood,’ says a document written a few days after the affair.[#]

.sn Two Huguenots Assassinated.
On Tuesday, <abbr=third>3d</abbr> February, the most excitable of the
episcopal party met at the palace: Pennet, the jailer, his
brother Claude, Jacques Desel, and several others. It was
after dinner. Inflamed by the desire of saving the authority
of the prince and the pope, excited by the ordinance which
they had hitherto kept by them, and irritated at seeing Furbity,
the Dominican, contradicted by Farel and prosecuted
by the Bernese, perhaps also (as some have believed) acting
under positive orders emanating from the bishop, these men
armed themselves and issued from the palace, ‘proposing to
strike and kill the others,’ says the document which we have
just quoted. These fanatics—we believe them to have
been sincere, but unhappily of opinion that to stab a heretic
was one of the most meritorious works to win heaven—these
fanatics entered the court of <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Pierre’s. Just as
they came in front of the steps, and the large platform on
which the white marble portal of the cathedral opens, they
met two huguenots, Nicholas Porral, the notary, and Stephen
d’Adda.[#] Their blood boiled at the sight of the two
heretics: Pennet the jailer drew his sword, sprung at Porral,
// File: 263.png
.pn +1
struck him; and, seeing him fall, impudently continued his
way, with his band, by the Rue du Perron to the Molard,
the rallying ground of all rioters. D’Adda, and some other
huguenots who had come up, surrounded the wounded Porral,
lifted him up, and, wishing to stop the commencing riot
as soon as possible, carried him to the hotel-de-ville, and
laid him, all pale and bleeding, before the syndics and the
council.

The magistrates were moved at the sight as of old—if
we may compare the great things of antiquity with the little
things that inaugurated modern times—as of old the
corpse of Cæsar, gashed with wounds and carried through
the Forum, excited the indignation and cries of the startled
people. D’Adda informed the syndics of Pennet’s violent
attack, and called for the punishment of the assassin. But
he had scarcely ceased speaking when a great noise was
heard from without: the court-yard of the hotel-de-ville was
filled with agitated citizens; tumultuous shouts were raised,
the gates of the hall were dashed open and ‘incontinent (says
the Register) many people rushed in furiously crying out:
Justice! justice!’ An estimable man, a worthy tradesman
and zealous huguenot, Nicholas Berger by name, who lived
in the Rue du Perron, happened to be in his shop just as the
band, which had wounded Porral, was passing by. Attracted
by the noise, he had probably moved towards the door:
Claude Pennet observing him, stopped, and, as if jealous of
his brother’s exploit, sprung at the unarmed citizen, and
with one blow of his dagger, laid him dead at his feet. ‘All
good men,’ added the citizens, ‘are filled with horror, and
demand that the criminal be punished according to law.’

This event was not without importance. It was a new act
in that obstinate struggle which, at the beginning of the sixteenth
century, took place in a permanent manner in a little
city on the shore of the Leman lake, and was repeated in other
shapes in other countries. Combatants do not cross a frontier
without marking their path by their blood. Those who
were then fighting the last battles of what may be called the
// File: 264.png
.pn +1
iron age, believed they were serving the cause of justice. Impartial
history shrinks from tracing too hideous a picture of
these insolent champions of Rome and feudalism. Even at
Geneva, where they were perhaps more violent than elsewhere,
they were not all devoid of generous sentiments.
Undoubtedly many were animated by party-spirit; but
there were some also who desired the good of their country.
In their eyes, both religion and order were compromised by
the alliance between Switzerland and the Reformation, and
that sacred cause could only be upheld, they thought, by the
energetic intervention of the episcopal party. They were
mistaken; but their error did not lie essentially in that.
The great evil consisted in the corruption of their moral
sense by the principles of a fanatical bigotry, so that all
means appeared good to attain their end; all—even the
dagger.

While the people were demanding justice for a double
murder, there was a great uproar in the city: the drums
beat, and everybody ran to arms. The citizens, who
wanted independence and reform, exclaimed that the bishop’s
followers, unable to vanquish them by words, desired to
triumph over them by the <i>mandosse</i> (a sort of Spanish
sword). ‘It is the fifth riot the priests have got up to save
the mass,’ they said, as they took up their arms, not to
attack but to support the established authorities.

The council was astounded at the news of Berger’s death.
All its members were opposed to such crimes; but three of
the four syndics were catholics: Du Crest, Claude Baud,
and Malbuisson, and the councillors were usually divided in
the same proportion as the syndics. Besides which, Portier,
who headed the band, was the accredited agent of the
prince-bishop, whose authority the council desired to maintain.
The syndics were discussing what was to be done,
when the ambassadors of Berne demanded to speak with
the council. The noble lords, who usually maintained such
a cold attitude, were much excited: ‘As we were coming
up to the hotel-de-ville,’ they said, ‘all the persons we met
// File: 265.png
.pn +1
were running to arms. It is to be feared that there will be
a great butchery (<i>tuerie</i>); we conjure you to look to it, and
offer our services to appease the disturbance.’ The premier
syndic prayed them to do so; and, when the Bernese had
left, the council continued its deliberations.

Meanwhile, the principle huguenots had met in consultation.
Two of their friends had just fallen beneath the blows
of their adversaries: one of them was dead; their party
had taken up arms; Portier and the Pennets had fled in
alarm; the catholic faction was discouraged. In this state
of things it would have been easy for them to fall upon
their adversaries and gain a decisive victory; but sentiments
of order and legality prevailed among them. They had no
desire to infringe the law but to appeal to it; there were
judges in Geneva. Blood must be avenged, not by violence
but by justice. ‘No disorder,’ said the huguenot chiefs, ‘no
revenge, no attack, no fighting! ... but let us help
the magistrates that they may be able to do their duty.’
Five hundred armed citizens, the most valiant men in
Geneva, arrived in good order and drew up in front of the
hotel-de-ville, while their chiefs—Maisonneuve, Salomon,
Perrin, and Aimé Levet—went into the council-room.
‘Honored lords,’ they said, ‘we have assembled for no other
reason than to preserve order. We fear lest the priests
have prepared a fourth or fifth <i>émeute</i>; and hence we are
here in a body to avoid their fury and lend assistance to the
syndics. We pray that the murderers and those who counselled
the riot may be punished.’[#] There was not a moment’s
hesitation: all, catholics and protestants alike, desired
the guilty to be punished, and search was made for them.

.sn The Bishop’s Palace Searched.
It was thought that they were hiding in the bishop’s
palace: it was probable, indeed, that secretary Portier, who
lived there, had gone thither and given a refuge to his accomplices,
as being the safest place in all Geneva. ‘We
will go and take them there,’ said Syndic Du Crest, a catholic
// File: 266.png
.pn +1
but loyal man. The other syndics rose, and all quitted
the hotel-de-ville followed by their officers. At the imposing
sight of the chief magistrates of the city, demanding an
entrance into the palace, the bishop’s servants opened the
doors, and a strict search began immediately. Not a
chamber or a cellar or a garret escaped the inquisitive eyes
of the magistrates and their sergeants; ‘but for all the
pains they took,’ says the ‘Council Register,’ ‘none of the
culprits were found.’ Many believed they had escaped;
Perronnette alone, the episcopal secretary’s wife, seeing the
vigor with which the assassins were hunted after, felt her
anguish doubled as to the fate of her husband. The
syndics, wishing to prevent new intrigues, resolved to leave
a few of their officers in the episcopal mansion, with orders
to keep guard during the night. The men stationed themselves
in the vestibule to wait for the morning; but no one
in the city knew they were there.

These brave men were talking of what was going on
in Geneva, when a little before eight o’clock at night (it had
been dark for some time, as it was the beginning of February),
a low, smothered voice was heard in the street, as if
some one was speaking through the key-hole. The guards
listened. The voice was heard again and pronounced
several times in a distinct manner the name of the portress.
‘It was a priest softly calling to the servant,’ says the
‘Council Register.’ The huguenots, understanding instantly
the advantage they could derive from this unexpected circumstance,
desired a young man who was with them to imitate
a woman’s voice and answer. Disguising his tones, he
said: ‘What do you want?’ The priest having no doubts
about the sex and functions of the speaker, said (still in
a low voice) that he wanted certain keys for Mr. Secretary
Portier and Claude Pennet. It is probable they wished to
use them to hide in some safer place, and perhaps leave the
city by a secret gate. The young man, again assuming
a female voice, said: ‘What will you do with them?’ ‘I
shall take them to <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Pierre’s church, where they are
// File: 267.png
.pn +1
hidden,’ answered the priest. It was just what the guard
wanted to know. One of them got up, opened the gate, and
the priest, seeing an armed man instead of a woman, fled in
affright. The guard, without stopping to pursue him, ran
to the hotel-de-ville, where the council was sitting <i>en permanence</i>,
and told the whole story to the syndics. The
murderers whom they were looking for were hidden in the
cathedral. The magistrates determined to go there immediately.

.sn The Search.
It was no slight task to seek the assassins in the vast
cathedral, all filled with chapels, altars, and other places
where men could hide. The syndics entered between eight
and nine o’clock at night with a certain number of officers
carrying flambeaux. The doors were shut immediately, so
that no one could get out, and a dead silence prevailed
in the nave. Under the flickering light of the torches, this
pile, one of the finest monuments of the twelfth century,
displayed all its august majesty. But that splendor of byzantine
and gothic architecture, those graceful proportions,
that admirable unity so well calculated to produce a deep
impression of grandeur and harmony, did not strike My
Lords of Geneva, who were thinking of other matters. Du
Crest and his colleagues were not occupied with architectural
decorations and holy images.... They were
hunting for murderers.

The search began: the magistrates and their officers went
over the chapels of the Holy Cross, the Virgin, <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Martin,
St. Maurice, <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Anthony, and nine others in the interior;
they examined carefully the eighteen altars, so richly adorned
with all that the catholic worship requires. The sergeants
took their flambeaux into every corner, they lifted up
the carpets, they stooped to search for the culprits. The
apse, the transept, the sanctuary, they searched them all;
they examined the vestry, the stalls, the aisles, the galleries,
the stairs—they found nothing. They next went into the
chapel of the Maccabees, adjoining the cathedral, and which
the cardinal-bishop, Jean de Brogny, had built a century
// File: 268.png
.pn +1
before, adorning it with magnificent carvings, gorgeous paintings,
and mouldings enriched with beads of gold. They
passed by those tables where might still be seen a young
man keeping swine under an oak, the cardinal desiring in
this manner to recall the humble recollections of his early
life; but neither Portier, nor Pennet, nor any of their accomplices
could be found. The search had lasted nearly
three hours, and the magistrates and their officers were beginning
to lose all hope, when the idea occurred to one of
them that possibly the murderers they were looking after
might be hidden in one of the three towers. The syndics
and their suite resolved to examine them, beginning with
the south tower, one hundred and fifty feet high. As they
climbed the numerous steps, they thought that, if the evidence
of the priest was true, the criminals must be there, and they
might perhaps find not only Portier and the Pennets, but a
band of their friends well armed. The stairs being very
narrow, it would have been easy for the episcopals to close
the passage and even to kill some of those who were looking
after them. The men who executed the syndic’s orders
ascended slowly and steadily, and approached the great
steeple with its four gothic windows surmounted by semi-circular
arches. The steps of this numerous party re-echoed
through the winding staircase. The officer of the
Council, who marched at the head of the band, having
reached the top of the tower, carefully put forward his
torch and saw arms glittering and eyes sparkling in one
corner. He drew near, followed by his friends, and discovered
the crafty Portier and the violent Pennet, crouching
down, ‘armed,’ says the Register, ‘with swords, iron pikes,
axes, and daggers, and covered with coats of mail.’ The
two malefactors, although armed to the teeth, did not think
of defending themselves: they were more dead than alive.
The officers of the State seized them and shut them up
in the prison of the hotel-de-ville.[#]
// File: 269.png
.pn +1

.sn The Plot Discovered.
While these things were going on at <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Pierre’s, the
guard which the syndics had left at the palace, encouraged
by the success of their stratagem, had resolved to take advantage
of the opportunity to get at the secrets of the
house; and, assuming a simple, good-natured air, they entered
into conversation with the servants, questioning them
so skilfully that they soon knew all they wanted. ‘The
bishop’s secretary, alone and without support, is too weak,’
they said, ‘to withstand the will of the council and people.’
‘But he is not so <i>alone</i> as you think,’ answered one; ‘he
has with him my lord the bishop, his highness the Duke of
Savoy;’ and then he continued proudly, ‘he has even received
letters from them!’ The independent citizens,
affecting incredulity, exclaimed! ‘What! Portier receive
secret messages from such great personages!’ ... One
of the episcopals, piqued by the disdainful sneer, declared
aloud, ‘that the letters were in existence, <i>in buffeto</i> (says
the Council Register, in its classic Latin), in the secretary’s
buffet.’ At these words the sly huguenots started up suddenly,
and, hurrying in great glee to Portier’s room, broke
open the cupboard, took out the papers lying there, and carried
them to the syndics. This discovery was still more
important than the other.

The magistrates hastened to open the packet, and found
a bundle of papers, all having reference to the plot which
the bishop had contrived for the subjugation of Geneva.
They examined the contents and were alarmed. ‘Here is
an act signed by the bishop on the <abbr=twelfth>12th</abbr> of January last,—only
twenty days ago,—appointing a governor for the
temporalities, with power to punish rebels. The prince, of
his mere caprice, establishes an unconstitutional agent, who
is to have no other law than his own will. Here are blank
warrants sealed with the arms of the Dukes of Savoy. It is
a downright conspiracy, a crime of high-treason.’ The date
of the act made it sufficiently clear that Pierre de la Baume
was the instigator of the troubles which had been on the
point of throwing the city into confusion. It was determined
// File: 270.png
.pn +1
that Portier, the recognized agent of this revolutionary
intrigue, should be tried before the syndics; and a public
prosecutor, Jean Lambert, a sound huguenot, was elected to
conduct the proceedings.[#]

However, before commencing this trial, that of Pennet,
less complicated than the other, was to be concluded. The
case was clear, provided for by the law, and not pardonable.
Claude Pennet stood forward boldly, like a man enduring
persecution for the Christian religion. He was convicted
of having murdered Nicholas Berger in his shop at the
Perron, and Syndic du Crest, a catholic but a wise man,
pronounced the sentence of death. This made no change
in Pennet’s manner. He did not repent the deed he had
done: fanaticism stifled the voice of conscience in him. It
was the same with all his friends, zealots of the Roman
party. In them passion took the place of reason, and they
boasted of the murder as an honorable, holy, and heroic
act. Pennet asked to see Furbity, the Dominican, who
was detained in prison for having insulted the adversaries
of Rome. The monk of the order of the Inquisition was
conducted to the murderer’s cell, ‘and when they saw each
other they could not forbear from weeping,’ says the nun of
St. Claire.[#] Pennet wished to die piously: ‘therefore this
good catholic made his confession.’ ... ‘I am condemned
to the scaffold for the love of Jesus Christ,’ he said
to the Dominican, ‘and I entreat your holy prayers.’ The
reverend father, moved to tears by the piety and wretched
fate of this precious son of the Church, kissed him, and
said: ‘Sire Claude, go cheerfully and rejoice in your martyrdom,
nothing doubting; for the kingdom of heaven is
open and the angels are waiting for you.’[#]

.sn Pennet’s Execution And Miracles.
The murder of which Pennet was guilty was, in the
Dominican’s eyes, the work of a saint. Most of the episcopals
// File: 271.png
.pn +1
thought the same; and it was feared that their party,
which had the populace with them, would oppose the execution
of the sentence. De la Maisonneuve, determining
to support the law by force, collected a certain number of
armed men in his house.[#] But their intervention was not
necessary. Nothing disturbed the course of justice, and the
executioner cut off the murderer’s head, and hung his body
on a gibbet. Before long, the populace was in commotion.
‘Have you heard the news?’ people said. ‘Miracles are
worked at the place where Pennet’s body hangs. His face
is as ruddy and his lips as fresh as if he was alive, and a
white dove is continually hovering over his head.’ The
devout made pilgrimages to the place of execution.

The other Pennet, the jailer who had wounded Porral,
and who, says Sister Jeanne, ‘was not less ardent than his
brother in upholding the holy catholic religion,’ was all this
time lying hid in the house of a poor beggar-woman, where
the nuns of <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Claire, who alone were in the secret, stealthily
carried him food. The execution of his brother alarmed
him; so one night, when it froze hard, he left his hiding-place
barefoot, and arrived stealthily at the convent of <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr>
Claire, where the nuns provided him with a disguise, in
which he escaped to Savoy.

The third delinquent,—the State criminal, Portier,—remained.
The matter appeared so serious to the procurator-general
that he desired it should be communicated to
the people. The Council General having met on the <abbr=eighth>8th</abbr>
February, Lambert ordered the letters found at the palace,
as well as the duke’s blank warrants, to be read to the
assembly. ‘What! a governor of Geneva invested with
the temporalities of the sovereign power, with authority to
punish citizens who maintain their political and religious
rights; the constitution of the State trampled under foot by
the prince-bishop; and the Duke of Savoy, that eternal enemy
of Genevan independence, forcibly aiding this usurpation and
violence!’ All this constituted a guilty plot, even in the
// File: 272.png
.pn +1
eyes of right-minded catholics. The voice of the people
and the voice of justice were in harmony. The procurator-general
demanded that Portier should be brought before
his judges. The trial was much slower than that of the two
Pennets had been, for the Roman-catholics made every effort
to save him, and even offered large sums of money. But
the procurator-general and the huguenots represented continually
that ‘there was a conspiracy against the liberties of
the city;’ it was not possible to save the episcopal secretary.

Yet Portier and his agents had merely begun to carry
out the orders they had received; the bishop was the real
criminal. His quality of prince covered his person, so that,
even had he been in Geneva, not a hair of his head would
have fallen. But Pierre de la Baume was to receive the
punishment, which, by the will of God, falls upon unjust
princes. He had desired to employ his power for the purpose
of oppression, and God shattered that power. When
the sealed letters of the bishop which gave Geneva a dictator
were read in the assembly of the people, the citizens
were shocked; a sullen silence betrayed their indignation;
they seemed to hear the funeral knell of an ancient dynasty
that had departed. The Genevese determined to break with
the episcopal traditions, and to raise to the government none
but men known by their attachment to the union of Geneva
with Switzerland and to the cause of the Reformation.
While, among the syndics retiring from office, there was
only one who belonged to this category, four friends of independence
were called by the people to the first position in
the State. They were Michael Sept, one of the huguenots
who, in 1526, had fled to Berne, and had brought back
the Swiss alliance; Ami de Chapeaurouge, Aimé Curtet,
and <abbr rend=spell>J.</abbr> Duvillard. The executive council thus became a
huguenot majority. It was the episcopal conspiracy that
struck the decisive blow, that threw wide open the hitherto
half-open door, and permitted the victorious Reformation to
enter the city.[#]

.fn #
Crespin, <lang=fr><i>Actes des Martyrs</i></lang>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 114.
.fn-
.fn #
<abbr=manuscript>MSC.</abbr> de Roset, <abbr=book>liv.</abbr> <abbr=three>iii.</abbr> <abbr=chapter>ch.</abbr> <abbr='twenty-one'>xxi.</abbr>—<abbr=manuscript>MSC.</abbr> de Gautier.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>Registre du Conseil des 8 et 10 Février, 1534.</lang>
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr><i>Lettres certaines</i></lang>, 1534.
.fn-
.fn #
Froment, <lang=fr><i>Gestes de Genève</i></lang>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 245.—<lang=fr><i>Chron. msc.</i> de Roset.—<i>Hist.
msc.</i> de Gauthier.—Registre du Conseil.</lang>
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>Registre du Conseil du 3 Février, 1534.</lang>—MSC. de Roset, <i>Chron.</i>
<abbr=book>liv.</abbr> <abbr=three>iii.</abbr>, <abbr=chapter>ch.</abbr> <abbr=nineteen>xix.</abbr>—MSC. de Gautier.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>Registre du Conseil du 3 Février, 1534.</lang> Spon. <abbr rend=arabic>i.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 516. Ruchat, <abbr=three>iii.</abbr>
<abbr=page>p.</abbr> 276. Balvignac, <lang=fr><i>Mèm. d’Archeologie</i></lang>, <abbr=four>iv.</abbr> <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 101-102.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>Registre du Conseil des 3 et 8 Février, 1534.</lang> Ruchat, <abbr=three>iii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 277. <lang=fr>Mém.
de Gautier.</lang>
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>‘Quand se virent l’un l’autre, ne se purent tenir de pleurer.’</lang>—La
Sœur Jeanne, <lang=fr><i>Levain du Calvinisme</i>.</lang>
.fn-
.fn #
Ibid. <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 82-83.
.fn-
.fn #
<abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr> <lang=fr>du Procès inquisitionnel de Lyon</lang>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 32.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>Registre du Conseil des 8 et 10 Février, 1534.</lang>
.fn-
// File: 273.png
.pn +1
.sp 4
.h2 id=chap7-06
CHAPTER VI. | A FINAL EFFORT OF ROMAN CATHOLICISM. | (<sc>February 10 to March 1, 1534.</sc>)
.sp 2
.sn Furbity Summoned Before The Council.
Unequivocal tokens soon made known the change that
had taken place. Every one knew that the critical moment
had arrived; but that it should be salutary, it was necessary
to enlighten the people and set distinctly before them the
end which it was proposed to attain. In all that concerns
religious questions, the first point is to understand them thoroughly;
vagueness always does injury to true religion. The
magistrates determined to make clear the points on which
the discussion turned, and accordingly the new syndics ordered
Furbity to appear before the Council. This body,
which had called to their aid the deputies of Berne and the
three reformers, invited the monk to prove by the Holy
Scriptures, as he had promised, the doctrines he advanced.
‘In the first place,’ they said, ‘you have accused those who
eat meat, <i>which God hath created to be received</i>,[#] of being
worse than <i>Turks</i>.’—‘Sirs,’ answered the monk, ‘I confess
that our Lord did not make the prohibition of which I
spoke; I will, therefore, prove my statement by the decrees
of <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Thomas.’—‘Ho! ho!’ said Farel, ‘you pretended to
prove everything by the Word of God; you even consented,
in the opposite case, to be burnt at the stake, and now ...
you give up the Scriptures!’

They did not confine themselves to this question; the
lords of Berne proved by fourteen witnesses the other errors
preached by Furbity; for instance: that God will punish
those who read the Scriptures in the vulgar tongue, and that
Christ had given the papacy to <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Peter. They proved, also,
// File: 274.png
.pn +1
the reality of the abuse uttered by the Dominican against
the reformed Christians, except, however, that a <i>German</i>
(a Swiss German) was among the executioners of our Lord:
it appeared that some wag had invented the story to ridicule
the monk. The Bernese declared that, as the monk
was, according to his own confession, only ‘a preacher of the
decrees of <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Thomas’ and a story-teller, justice ought to
have its course.

The Dominican began to be afraid, and offered to apologize
in the cathedral for the outrage to God and the lords of
Berne. ‘We accept,’ said the premier syndic, ‘and you
will afterwards quit Geneva and never return under pain of
death.’ The Dominican desired nothing better than to get
away as soon as possible.[#]

In consequence of this decision, the Dominican attended
by his guard, was led quietly to <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Pierre’s on Sunday, the
<abbr=fifteenth>15th</abbr> of February. He was much agitated, walked hurriedly,
and his mind was distracted with contending emotions.
On reaching the foot of the pulpit, he went into it hastily,
and, casting his eyes on the crowd which filled the church,
his confusion and embarrassment increased. He saw himself
between two powers—the horrible Bernese and the
terrible Dominicans—and felt himself unable to satisfy one
without offending the other. He tried, however, to recover
himself, made the sign of the cross, said the <i>Ave Maria</i>,
and invoked the Virgin.... The Bernese looked surprised;
but it was much worse, when, instead of reading the
retractation which the syndics had given him, he began to
skim it over, to wander from it, and finally to say something
quite different. One of the Bernese called to him:
‘Sir Doctor, you have nothing to do here but to retract,’ and
numerous voices immediately seconded the remark. But the
monk rambled wider than ever from the question, hesitated, and
became confused;[#] many of the huguenots left their places,
// File: 275.png
.pn +1
a great agitation pervaded the church, and the patience of
the congregation was becoming exhausted. ‘You are making
fools of us,’ they cried out to the monk. ‘Do not stuff
our ears with your usual nonsense. Come, a good <lang=la><i>peccavi</i></lang>!’[#]
But there was no retractation. A great uproar
then arose; some violent men went up into the pulpit,
seized the disciple of <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Dominic, and dragged him down
roughly.[#] ‘They made the chair fall after him,’ says Sister
Jeanne, ‘and he was nearly left dead on the spot’ (the good
sister often colors too highly). The catholics quitted the
church in alarm, and the doctor of the Sorbonne, having
broken his promise, was led back to prison.[#]

The Bernese ambassadors next appeared before the Council,
and asked permission for the Gospel to be publicly
preached in one of the churches. The syndics replied that
it was just what they wanted, and that they would require
the Lent preacher to conform his sermons to the Gospel.

.sn Dominicans And Franciscans.
The fanatical Dominican, empowered to deliver the Advent
lectures, having compromised catholicism, and the
council having declared against every preacher who should
not preach according to God’s Word, the Genevan clergy
determined to make a last effort. They said they must
choose a monk of another sort for the Lent course, and consequently
turned to the Franciscans, who had often dreamt
of a transformation of religious society. There were great
differences between these two mendicant orders: the Dominicans
were rich, the Franciscans poor; the Dominicans
aimed at dominion, the Franciscans at humility; the
Dominicans were fossilized in their doctrines and customs,
the Franciscans were flexible and had a taste for innovations.
They knew how to catch the multitude by their
enthusiasm and flagellations, by their insinuating manners
and miraculous visions. It is a man of this sort, said the
// File: 276.png
.pn +1
oldest of the catholics, that we want after the Dominican.
If Geneva had resisted the roughness of the one, it would
be captivated by the flatteries of the other. In this manner
the clergy hoped to lead Geneva insensibly back into the
arms of Rome.

Father Courtelier, superior of the Franciscans of Chambery,
renowned for his eloquence and wit, was invited to come
and preach at Geneva during Lent. He arrived on Saturday,
the <abbr=fourteenth>14th</abbr> of February: next morning (it was the Sunday
preceding Shrove Tuesday) he appeared before the Council.
The premier syndic, assuming a duty that was somewhat
episcopal, said to him: ‘Reverend father, you must preach
nothing but the pure Gospel of God.’—‘I undertake to do
so,’ replied the monk, who had been well tutored; ‘you will
be satisfied.’ And then desiring to show how accommodating
he was, he presented nine articles, saying: ‘This is what I desire
to preach;’ adding, as if he was before the college of cardinals:
‘Strike out what you do not approve of.’ The Council,
in great part Lutheran, finding themselves converted by
the priest into a court of doctrine, ordered the paper to be
read. <i>Invocation of the Virgin Mary</i> was one of the articles;
<i>Purgatory</i> was another; <i>Prayer for the dead</i>; <i>Invocation
of the Saints</i>.... The huguenots objected, and
these four points were struck off the list; but he was allowed
to make the sign of the cross in the pulpit, to repeat
the salutation of the angel to Mary, which is recorded in the
Gospel of <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Luke, and to celebrate mass. The priest returned
to his convent with the revised articles.[#]

.sn Courtelier’s Sermon.
On Ash Wednesday the reverend superior went into the
pulpit and labored skilfully to retain Geneva in the orbit of
the papacy. The two chiefs of the Reformation—the layman
Baudichon de la Maisonneuve and the reformer Farel—with
many of their <i>accomplices</i> (as Father Courtelier
styles them),[#] desirous of hearing how the monk would
manage to make the pope and Luther agree, had gone
// File: 277.png
.pn +1
to the Franciscan church at Rive (Courtelier had not
been admitted to the honor of the cathedral). The monk
began by repeating in a sonorous voice the invocation to the
Virgin: <i>Ave Maria</i> ..., at which Farel and the huguenots
called out so that all could hear them: ‘It is a foolish
thing to salute the Virgin Mary!’—‘I do it <i>by permission
of the Council</i>,’ answered the monk ingenuously, and all
the catholics in the congregation, desiring to support their
champion, began to cry out: <i>Ave Maria, gratia plena</i>!
There was such a loud and universal murmur, that Farel,
Maisonneuve, and their friends were obliged to hold their
tongues.[#]

Courtelier continued, endeavoring to speak at once according
to the pope and the Gospel. One sentence contradicted
another; what was white one moment was black the next;
his sermon was a muddle of ideas without issue, a strain of
music without harmony. Farel and his friends soon understood
the manœuvre. ‘He is using a cloak to entrap us,’
they said, ‘and will take care not to show his teeth at starting.
He gives us drink ... as they did at Babylon,
poison in a golden chalice.’ Disgusted with such trimming,
Farel stood up and said: ‘You cannot teach the truth, for
you do not know it.’ The poor friar stopped short: resuming
his courage by degrees and wishing to please the friends
of the Gospel, he began to inveigh against both priests and
popes. It was now the turn of the catholics; and the Franciscan,
noticing their anger and desiring to regain their favor,
began once more to vituperate the reformers. Without
doctrine, without opinions, he fluctuated between Rome and
Wittemberg, and instead of satisfying everybody, he exasperated
both parties. ‘We cannot serve God and the devil,’
said Froment with disgust.

The reverend superior now changed his tactics, knowing,
as all good Franciscans did, that flies are to be caught with
honey, and began to praise the Genevans in extravagant
language: ‘Ladies and gentlemen,’ he said from the pulpit,
// File: 278.png
.pn +1
‘beware how you suffer yourselves to be seduced by the
people (Farel and his two friends) who teach you that you and
your fathers were idolaters, and that you are being led away
to hell. No! you are a noble and mighty city ... you
are of good repute ... and worthy people.... Ladies
and gentlemen, always preserve your glorious title, and
make yourselves worthy of the great name borne by your
noble city. Is it not called <i>Geneva, Gebenna</i>,[#] that is to
say, <lang=la><i>gens bona, gens benigna, gens sancta, gens præclara, gens
devota</i></lang>? ... a good, merciful, holy, illustrious, and devout
people.... Your name declares it.’ The monk was
inexhaustible in extravagant compliments, although he knew
very well what he ought to think of the ‘holiness’ of the
Genevese, and particularly of the monks and priests.

This final effort of Roman-catholicism in Geneva did
not succeed. On the contrary, the huguenots, provoked by
his fawning, said: ‘We do not desire to please either gentlemen
or ladies,’[#] and moved with firm steps in the path of
Reform. Farel, setting aside the manifold ceremonies with
which Rome had overburdened public worship, desired to re-establish
baptism in conformity with the Gospel institution, as
a sign of regeneration. The news spread, and excited great
curiosity even among the strangers who were in Geneva.
On the <abbr='twenty-second'>22d</abbr> of February, the first Sunday in Lent, two
Savoyards, Claude Theveron of the mountains of the Grand-Bornand,
and Henry Advreillon of the parish of Thonon,
were in the Molard, where also a number of Genevans, both
catholics and Lutherans, had assembled. ‘Have you heard,’
said one of them, ‘that there is going to be a baptism at
Baudichon’s house?’—‘Let us go and see what it is like,’
said the Savoyards; and, following some huguenots, they
entered a large hall, which had been contrived by removing
the partitions.[#] Some of the seats were already occupied;
the two strangers were able to find room, but the later arrivals
// File: 279.png
.pn +1
were compelled to stand near the door. ‘There must
be three hundred and more present,’ said Advreillon to his
friend. On a raised chair sat a young man with mild countenance
and sharp eyes: they were told it was Viret of
Orbe; right and left of him were Farel and Froment. A
gentleman of the city of good appearance, who seemed to
be between forty and fifty years old, showed the people to
their seats and watched to see that everything was conducted
with propriety. ‘That is Baudichon de la Maisonneuve,’
the Savoyards were informed, ‘the master of the house, and
the greatest Lutheran in Geneva.’[#]

.sn A Reformed Baptism.
The service then began. Viret’s gentle eloquence
charmed his hearers; the two strangers, however, would
gladly have seen themselves outside of the assembly into
which they had impudently crept; but all the passages
were blocked up: ‘We cannot get out,’ said Advreillon, ‘because
of the great crowd of people;’ so they made up their
minds to stay till the end. As soon as the sermon was over,
the two Savoyards were about to leave, when De la Maisonneuve
said aloud: ‘Let no one move, a baptism is going
to be celebrated here.’ The baptism took place, and Viret
added: ‘It was with pure, fair water that John baptized
Jesus Christ; to baptize with oil, salt, and spittle as the hypocrites
do, is wrong.’ The two strangers, offended by such
language, got away as fast as they could.

As many persons had been unable to take part in the service,
the huguenots, whose patience was exhausted, resolved to
be no longer satisfied with narrow halls, which did not permit
all who loved the Word of God to hear it. ‘Jesus
Christ commands the Gospel to be preached in all the
world,’ said Farel, ‘it must therefore be preached in Geneva;’
whereupon he asked for a church. The Bernese ambassadors
undertook to present the petition. ‘Most honored
lords,’ they said to the Council, ‘when we and our ministers
pass along the streets, people shout after us: “Holla! heretics,
you dare not appear in public, you preach your heresies
// File: 280.png
.pn +1
in holes and corners like pigsties.”[#] We have long put up
with this, and now we come to ask you for a church. No
one will be constrained to hear our preacher; every man
will go to the worship he prefers, and thus everybody will
be satisfied.’ The syndics, greatly embarrassed, declared
they were grieved at the <i>ignominies</i> heaped upon the Bernese,
but said it was not in their jurisdiction to assign a
pulpit to a Lutheran preacher; that it belonged to the prince-bishop
and his vicars. ‘Still,’ they added, ‘if you take of
your own accord some edifice in which you can preach your
doctrines ... you are strong ... we cannot resist
you ... we dare not.’

.sn Farel And Courtelier.
The refusal of the syndics annoyed the evangelicals; Farel
resolved to have an interview with the father-superior.
Did he wish to convince Courtelier, at times so accommodating,
that the evangelical doctrine ought to be preached in the
churches; or else, convinced, like Luther, that the papacy
was a power of Antichrist which resisted the kingdom of
God, did he desire to tell the cordelier his mind? We cannot
say: perhaps it was partly both. Accompanied by the
intrepid Maisonneuve and the wise councillor Balthasar, Farel
proceeded to the Franciscan convent. Courtelier received
them in his cell, and the reformer having complained
that the Gospel truth could not be preached, the monk, instead
of making the least concession, took refuge behind the
authority of the pope, extolling his holiness’s infallibility
and power. Had not Alvarus Pelagius, a Franciscan like
himself, declared that the jurisdiction of the pope is universal,
embracing the whole world, its temporalities as well as
its spiritualities?[#] Had not another monk taught that ‘the
pope is in the place of God?’[#] But Farel, instead of
seeking his ideas about Rome in the writings of the monks
of the middle ages, derived them from the Holy Scriptures,
// File: 281.png
.pn +1
and particularly from the Revelation of <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> John. ‘Your
holy Father,’ he said to the superior, ‘is the beast whom the
ignorant worship. John the Evangelist tells us of a beast
with seven heads,[#] which “devoureth them which dwell
upon the earth,” and makes war upon the saints, and he
adds: <i>the seven heads are seven hills</i>, on which it sits. <i>Seven
hills</i>, do you hear? Everybody knows that Rome is
built on <i>seven hills</i>. Therefore the holy see is not apostolical
but diabolical.’ Courtelier was moved. He remonstrated
with Farel ‘as well as he could,’ he says; but the reformer
replied, the conversation grew warm, and at last the
evangelists, unable to convince the monk, took leave of him.
Maisonneuve quitted the cell, annoyed at Courtelier’s blindness,
and all three left the convent together.

This energetic argument, which applied the prophecies of
the Bible respecting Antichrist to the pope, had already
been employed by Luther. No proof excited more anger
among the Romanists or inspired the evangelicals with more
firmness.

.fn #
1 Timothy <abbr=four>iv.</abbr> 3.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr><i>Lettres certaines</i>, &c. Registre du Conseil des 11, 12, 13, 15 Février,
1534. Froment, <i>Gestes</i>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 87.</lang>
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Vagans et vacillans, sententiæ satisfacere neglexit.’</lang>—<lang=fr>Registre du
Conseil du 15 Février, 1534.</lang>
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Nugis solitus plebis aures suspendere satageret.’—<i>Geneva restituta</i></lang>,
<abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 6-9.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Impostor suggestu deturbatus.’—<i>Geneva restituta</i></lang>, <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 6-9.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>Registre du Conseil des 15, 16, 20 Février. Froment, <i>Gestes de Genève</i>,
<abbr=page>p.</abbr> 88. La Sœur Jeanne, <i>Levain du Calvinisme</i></lang>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 78.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>Registre du Conseil des 15 et 16 Février, 1534.</lang>
.fn-
.fn #
<abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr> <lang=fr>du Procès inquisitionnel de Lyon</lang>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 331.
.fn-
.fn #
<abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr> <lang=fr>du Procès inquisitionnel de Lyon</lang>, <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 331-332.
.fn-
.fn #
The word <i>Gebenna</i> occurs frequently in ancient documents.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>‘Nous ne voulons plaire, nous, ni à Monsieur ni à Madame.’</lang>—Froment,
<lang=fr><i>Gestes de Genève</i></lang>, <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 83-84.
.fn-
.fn #
<abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr> <lang=fr>du Procès inquisitionnel de Lyon</lang>, <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 231, 232, 236.
.fn-
.fn #
<abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr> <lang=fr>du Procès inquisitionnel de Lyon</lang>, <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 233, 234.
.fn-
.fn #
<abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr> <lang=fr>du Procès inquisitionnel de Lyon</lang>, <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 235, 236.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Jurisdictionem habet universalem in toto mundo papa, nedum in spiritualibus
sed temporalibus.’</lang>—<lang=la><i>De planctu ecclesiæ</i></lang>, <abbr=book>lib.</abbr> <abbr rend=arabic>i.</abbr> cap. <abbr=thirteen>xiii.</abbr>
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Papa vice Dei, est omnium regnorum provisor.’</lang>—Aug. Triumphus,
<lang=la><i>Summa de potestate ecclesiasticâ</i></lang>, Qu. xlvi. <abbr=article>art.</abbr> 3.
.fn-
.fn #
Revelation <abbr=thirteen>xiii.</abbr>-<abbr=twenty>xx.</abbr>
.fn-
.sp 4
.h2 id=chap7-07
CHAPTER VII. | FAREL PREACHES IN THE GRAND AUDITORY OF THE CONVENT AT RIVE. | (<sc>March 1 to April 25, 1534.</sc>)
.sp 2
The interview with the father-superior had been useless;
the churches remained closed. The evangelicals could wait
no longer: the majority of the inhabitants were for the
Word of God, but not a church was opened to them. The
walls of <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Pierre, <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Gervais, <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Germain, and the Madelaine
contained merely the external and barren forms of the
// File: 282.png
.pn +1
Roman worship: life and movement were there no longer;
they had passed into the hearts of the resolute men and pious
women who gathered round Farel. Neither the hall in
Maisonneuve’s house, nor any other sufficed for the <i>lovers of
the Word</i>. Every day numbers of hearers had to remain in
the street. ‘Alas!’ said they, ‘the Gospel can find nothing
in Geneva but <i>secret chambers</i>, and we can only whisper of
the grace of Christ. And yet grace ought to be proclaimed
all through the city and spread even to the ends of the
world.’ They were about to take measures accordingly.

.sn Farel In The Grand Auditory.
On the second Sunday in Lent (<abbr=first>1st</abbr> of March, 1534), after
the evangelicals had heard Farel in one of the usual halls,
twenty-nine of the most notable huguenots remained behind
and began to inquire what ought to be done. ‘The Council,’
reported one of them, ‘told my lords of Berne to take
any place they liked for their preacher ... well, suppose
we take one. It is God’s will to have the Gospel published.
But the pope with his people care no more about it
than the priests of Bacchus, Jupiter, and Venus did of old.
Without any further petitioning let us do what God commands.’
At these words Maisonneuve and the other huguenots
proceeded to the convent at Rive. Father Courtelier
was preaching there: he had just finished his sermon and
the crowd were leaving the church. The daring Baudichon
informed the monks, to their great surprise, that Farel was
going to preach there, and also that the bells would be rung,
which did not astonish them less. Two or three huguenots,
going into the belfry, rang three loud peals at intervals during
an hour. Meanwhile De la Maisonneuve took his
measures. Instead of taking possession of the church, he
selected a part of the convent named the <i>grand auditory</i>, or
the <i>cloister</i>. This part of the monastery was constructed
in the shape of a gallery, and had a court in the middle:
it was more spacious than the church, and would hold four
or five thousand persons.[#]
// File: 283.png
.pn +1

The sound of the bells at an unusual hour was heard all
through the city. Each note, as it rang in the ears of the
Genevese, announced to them that the Gospel, with which
all Christendom was then agitated, was at last about to
be publicly proclaimed within their walls. ‘Master Farel,’
they said, ‘is going to preach in the cloister at Rive,’ and a
crowd collected from all sides. People of every sort had
assembled to hear him: evangelicals, political huguenots,
the indifferent and bigoted. Certain priests gnashed their
teeth and even attempted to turn away some of their parishioners;
but it was labor in vain: the number increased
every minute. Some Franciscan monks, who stared at the
sight of such an extraordinary multitude, could not resist
the desire of going to the grand auditory and hearing what
was said.

De la Maisonneuve gave the necessary orders for placing
the people. The assembly, although respectful, was profoundly
agitated. In the place where they had met, men
of different parties crowded together: the opportunity of
hearing the famous Farel, and the object which such meetings
were to attain, namely, a change in the religion of
Geneva—all stirred their minds deeply. But if there was
any unbecoming movement, Maisonneuve, from his elevated
place, imposed silence by his hand. At length the reformer
appeared. The catholics were astonished when they saw
him: ‘What!’ they said, ‘no sacerdotal ornaments! He
is dressed like a layman, with a Spanish cloak and brimmed
cap.’[#] But under that cap and cloak lay hid what was
rarely found beneath the robes of priests—an ardent soul,
a heart overflowing with love, and such eloquence that the
hearers exclaimed, as Calvin did once: ‘Your thunders
// File: 284.png
.pn +1
have caused an indescribable trouble in my soul.’[#] Farel
began to speak: borrowing his fire from the writings of the
prophets and apostles, says one of his biographers, he enlightened
and inflamed the heart.[#] He excited in many a
lively feeling of love for Christ. God, as Calvin says, was
at work in his own through the ministry of the reformer.
Some began to consider and to relish the grace which they
had formerly swallowed without tasting.[#] The assembly
was charmed and enraptured; the souls of many were inflamed
by the ardor of the divine spirit.

Among the Franciscans who listened to Farel was Jacques
Bernard, belonging to one of the best families in Geneva.
He was lively, intelligent, learned, and defiant, and had long
been a sincere worshipper of the Virgin. He had often
spoken violently against the reformers, and a few days before,
meeting Farel and Viret, he told them with a scowl:
‘In times past there were schismatics enough who forbade
men to salute the Virgin and make the sign of the cross.’
Then, without another word, he rudely turned his back on
them. But on this occasion no one in the grand auditory
was more attentive than Jacques. God gave him <i>new eyes</i>
and <i>new ears</i>. It has been said that the convent at Rive
was to him as the road to Damascus—that there this new
Saul became a new Paul.[#] This first preaching of Farel’s
contributed at least to Bernard’s conversion, and ere long he
maintained courageously the truths he had once so much
attacked.

But this light, which had enlightened some, blinded others.
The wrath of the men devoted to the papacy knew no
bounds; they indulged in terrible bursts of passion, and
their followers spread the flames through the city. The
conflagration broke out the next day. The Two Hundred
// File: 285.png
.pn +1
were hardly met, when Nicholas du Crest, the three Malbuissons,
Girardin, and Philip de la Rive, with several
others, appeared before them and said: A minister preached
the new law yesterday in the cloister at Rive; we wish
to know if it was with your consent. At the same moment
the ambassadors of Berne arrived and held very different
language: ‘What we have so long asked for,’ they said, ‘has
been accomplished <i>by the inspiration of God</i>, without our
knowing anything of it. The place which you had refused
us has been given by the Lord himself. Yes, God, by the
inspiration of the Holy Ghost, has put it into the hearts of
your citizens to have the Gospel preached in the grand
auditory. Permit the minister to continue his preaching in
that place, and give no annoyance to such as may go to hear
him.’

.sn Farel Continues To Preach.
Although, to satisfy the catholics, the Council had at first
hinted to the Bernese that as they were returning home,
it would be very natural that they should take their ministers
with them, Farel continued to preach every day to numerous
congregations. His hearers were more convinced than
ever of the errors of Rome and of the truth of the evangelical
doctrine—things which appeared to them as clear as
the day. Many threw aside their supineness; their contrite
hearts joyfully received the Saviour’s pardon, and, ‘caring
no longer for the frivolous things so esteemed by the papists,’
devoted themselves to works of true innocence and charity.
There was great cheerfulness in Geneva. Bands of people
paraded the city with songs of joy; groups assembled at
the Molard and conversed of the extraordinary things that
were taking place. The evangelicals no longer doubted of
the victory. A young Savoyard, named Henry Percyn, approaching
one of these groups, recognized Baudichon de la
Maisonneuve, who, surrounded by several Lutherans, ‘was
talking to some catholics who were there.’ The latter defended
their Church: ‘Are these three chimney-preachers
better than pope, bishop, canons, priests, and monks?’
Maisonneuve replied: ‘I will bet one hundred crowns to
// File: 286.png
.pn +1
fifty, that next Easter not a single mass will be celebrated
in Geneva.’ None of the catholics would accept the wager.
Baudichon was mistaken, but by a few months only.[#]

On Saturday, the <abbr=seventh>7th</abbr> of March, the Bernese ambassadors
attended the evangelical assembly for the last time. They
were leaving Farel, Viret, and Froment without protection
in the midst of deadly enemies, and without force to resist
them alone. Accordingly, as soon as the service was
ended, they rose and said: ‘Farewell, gentlemen of Geneva,
we commend our preachers to you.’[#]—‘It is not necessary
to commend them,’ answered a Genevese, ‘we know the
danger they incur in trying to rescue the people from the
slavery into which they have fallen.’ As he left the hall,
Claude Bernard took the three evangelists home to his house,
where they lived henceforward.

De la Maisonneuve departed about the same time as the
Bernese, on his way to Frankfort on business. At a date we
cannot fix he took Farel and Viret to Lausanne to ‘similarly
seduce’ the inhabitants of that city; but the Lausannese,
the priests and their friends (for the middle-class was favorable
to the Reform), ‘drove the preachers away.’ It is
scarcely probable that the two reformers should have chosen
to leave Geneva at the important epoch of which we are
treating; and yet a contemporary document would lead us
to believe so. When De la Maisonneuve reached Frankfort,
he conversed with the Lutherans and communicated,
as it would seem, according to the ritual of Luther.[#]

Shortly after this, Portier was convicted of having conspired
with the bishop against the liberty of the city, and
condemned to lose his head. The law having punished the
guilty, the public conscience was satisfied. It is necessary
that justice should reign among nations; when it is trampled
under foot and the guilty are held to be innocent, there rises
// File: 287.png
.pn +1
in the breasts of the good a cry of sorrow, we will not say
of revenge. But that condemnation was big with important
consequences for Geneva; it was, says the chronicler, ‘a
terror to the creatures of the bishop.’ As Portier had only
carried out the orders of the prince, the condemnation of
the servant was that of the master. The episcopal agents
began to understand that they must obey the laws and pay
respect to lay tribunals. The power of the episcopal faction
was broken.[#]

.sn Farel’s Progress.
Farel became more energetic, while, on the other hand,
the Franciscan preacher did all he could to support the
tottering papacy. It was not only in the same country
that these two contrary systems were then in conflict: it
was in the same city, in the same house,—the monastery
at Rive. One day the cordelier taught in the church that
‘the wafer ceases to be bread, and that the <i>mouth</i> receives
the body of Jesus Christ;’ while Farel said in the cloister:
‘It is true that the life is <i>enclosed</i> in the body of Christ; but
we have no communion with him except by a true faith.
Faith is the mouth of the soul to receive the Saviour.’ In
the church the cordelier encouraged the purchase of indulgences,
the practice of penances and satisfactions; but in
the grand auditory Farel exclaimed: ‘All our sins are
pardoned <i>freely</i>. How dare the monks, then, set up their
satisfactions, which the Word of God has shattered to
pieces?’[#] Gradually the cordelier lowered his tone: the
powerful voice of Farel was reducing him to silence. ‘You
must know,’ wrote Madame de la Maisonneuve to her husband,
who was at Frankfort, ‘you must know that Master
William does his duty bravely in announcing the Word of
God.’ She added: ‘We have had no prohibitions: nobody
contradicts us. Our business increases greatly.’[#]
// File: 288.png
.pn +1

Roman-catholicism was falling: Friburg hurried to its
support. ‘Alas!’ replied the syndics to the ambassadors,
‘we do not set Farel to preach: it is the people. We could
sooner stop a torrent than prevent people going to hear
them. So far as we are concerned, we have abolished no
ceremony, pulled down no church.’ Thus, at Geneva, as in
mighty England, it was the nation rather than its leaders
who desired the Reform; and it was the same everywhere.
The Friburgers, calm and reserved, then stepped forward
in the midst of the assembly of the people, coldly laid their
letters of alliance before the premier syndic, and asked for
those of Geneva. ‘Keep them! keep them!’ was the cry
on all sides; and the citizens rushed towards the deputation,
lavishing on them marks of affection and prayers.
Messieurs of Friburg, sternly shaking off their embraces,
departed, leaving the letters of alliance on the table.

The alarmed Council now resolved to do all in their
power to appease the catholics and Friburgers. Every
year at Easter a grand procession took place, in which the
images and relics of the saints were carried through the
city. The Council ordered the usual honors to be paid
them. Aimé Levet having declared that he would not forsake
the living God for that multitude of <i>petty gods</i>, the
syndics served him with a special order through the police.
But still the Levets would hang no drapery upon their
house, and kept the shop open as on an ordinary day. For
this offence Aimé was kept three days in prison on bread
and water.

.sn Farel’s Domestic Troubles.
The consideration due to Friburg had led the magistrates
to this act of severity; but the evangelical movement was
not checked by it. The Christian meetings increased in
number after Easter. Farel energetically urged forward
the car of Reform, and his voice by turns alarmed like the
thunders of Sinai, or consoled like the Beatitudes of the
Gospel. Yet, in the midst of these numerous works, he
was often observed to pause, overcome with sadness. The
persecution continued in France: three hundred Lutherans
// File: 289.png
.pn +1
were in prison at Paris. ‘What restive horses are these!’
he exclaimed. ‘They shrink back instead of advancing!
What adversaries are springing up against the Redeemer,
who reigns with glory in heaven! But God will not forsake
his work.’[#] He had still keener sorrows than these:
his own brothers, Daniel, Walter, and Claude, had been
seized by the enemy from a desire to avenge upon them the
<i>evil</i> which the reformer was doing. One of the three, who
was younger than himself, had been condemned to imprisonment
for life, and his mother, already a widow, was shedding
tears of bitterness. ‘Alas!’ said William Farel, ‘her
son, who was born after me, has long been in prison, and
has greater sorrows to endure than I have.’ The reformer
applied to friends in high station to obtain his brother’s release
from the king; but the strictness of the prison had
only been increased. ‘I know not,’ he said, on the <abbr='twenty-eighth'>28th</abbr> of
April, 1534, ‘who has so stirred the fire.... May it
please God that the poor prisoner hold firm and declare
fearlessly what ought to be said of the good Saviour.’[#]
Farel possessed that filial affection which is serious and
respectful towards the father, tender and gentle towards the
mother. It made him exclaim in his anguish: ‘Alas! the
poor widow! O my anguish-stricken mother!’ The love
he felt for Christ had increased his natural affections.

De la Maisonneuve, having returned to Geneva after
Easter, was about to start again for Lyons. Farel, knowing
that his friend, De la Forge, the merchant of Paris,
would be going also to that city at this season of the year,
gave Baudichon a letter for his Paris brethren, at that time
so afflicted, directing his letter <i>to the holy vessel elect of God</i>.
‘Jesus,’ he wrote to this little flock in the capital, ‘is the
rock of offence against which the world has fought since the
beginning of time, and will always fight; but its efforts are
// File: 290.png
.pn +1
vain. No council can withstand God, and if the wicked lift
their horns, they shall be broken.’ He then solicited the intercession
of the members of the church in behalf of his
brother. ‘I pray you,’ he said, ‘speak of my brother in
that quarter where you know better than myself that it is expedient
to do so. What! a protracted detention, the confiscation
of his property, six hundred crowns which the bishop
has extracted from him—is not that enough? Oh! that
the poor fellow could be set at liberty! All here who fear
the Lord entreat you to exert yourselves for him.’[#] The
evangelicals of Geneva were interested in the fate of their
reformer’s brothers. At the same time Farel wrote also to
De la Forge, commending his brother to him, and knowing
the perils with which the Parisian merchant was threatened,
he added: ‘If we have Jesus, that heavenly treasure cannot
be taken from us: let us march onwards, though all the
world should rise against Him.’

In treating of our reformers, we naturally bestow attention
on their labors, struggles, writings, and trials; it is well,
however, to enter sometimes into the inner sanctuary of
their hearts and of their domestic lives. We are touched
and rejoice to find there such abundance of the most legitimate
and tenderest of human affections. They were men
as well as Christians. This fact is a proof of the sincerity
of their piety; it is like a spring of pure water gushing up
on a field of battle, refreshing and reviving those whom so
many struggles might have wearied.

.fn #
Froment, an eye-witness, says (<i>Gestes de Genève</i>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 82) that Farel
preached ‘in the grand auditory of the convent of Rive, without entering
the church.’ Father Courtelier, in his evidence at Lyons (<lang=fr><i>Procès inquisitionnel</i></lang>,
<abbr=page>p.</abbr> 322), says that Farel preached ‘in the same church and pulpit as
himself.’ But Froment’s evidence is corroborated by the Register of the
Council of Geneva, which says, that the meeting was held in the cloister or
auditory. Courtelier, no doubt only meant to say that Farel preached in
the same edifice as himself, without strictly designating the place.
.fn-
.fn #
<abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr> <lang=fr>du Procès inquisitionnel de Lyon</lang>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 323.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>Sane me, tam vehementer conturbarunt tua illa fulgura.’</lang>—Calvini
<i>Epp.</i>
.fn-
.fn #
Ancillon, <lang=fr><i>Vie de Farel</i></lang>.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>‘Savourer la grâce ... avalée sans la goûter.’</lang>
.fn-
.fn #
<abbr rend=spell>M.</abbr> Archinard: <lang=fr><i>Edifices religieux de l’ancienne Genève</i></lang>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 108.
.fn-
.fn #
<abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr> <lang=fr>du Procès inquisitionnel de Lyon</lang>, <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 226-227.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>Registre du Conseil du 6 Mars, 1534.</lang> Froment, <lang=fr><i>Gestes de Genève</i></lang>,
<abbr=page>p.</abbr> 91. <abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr> de Gautier.
.fn-
.fn #
<abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr> <lang=fr>du Procès inquisitionnel de Lyon</lang>, <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 199, 200, 204.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>Registre du Conseil du 10 Mars, 1534.</lang>
.fn-
.fn #
<abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr> <lang=fr>de Gautier. Registre du Conseil du 18 Mars, 1534.</lang>
.fn-
.fn #
She dated her letter, <lang=fr><i>De Genève, trois semaines avant Pâques</i></lang>, and
signed it: <lang=fr><i>La toute votre femme chérie, Baudichone</i>.</lang>—<abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr> <lang=fr>du Procès inquisitionnel</lang>,
<abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 23-24.
.fn-
.fn #
<abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr> <lang=fr>du Procès inquisitionnel de Lyon</lang>, <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 11-12.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>‘Puisse à Dieu seulement que le pauvre prisonnier pousse outre et déclare
sans crainte ce qui doit être dit du bon Sauveur.’</lang>—<lang=fr>Lettre aux fidèles
de Paris. (MS. du Procès inquisitionnel de Lyon.)</lang>
.fn-
.fn #
Geneva, April 25, 1534. <abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr> <lang=fr>du Procès inquisitionnel de Lyon.</lang>
.fn-
// File: 291.png
.pn +1
.sp 4
.h2 id=chap7-08
CHAPTER VIII. | A BOLD PROTESTANT AT LYONS. | (<sc>1530 TO 1534.</sc>)
.sp 2
Farel, who was so distressed by the long captivity of
one of the members of his family, little suspected that a
friend, loved by him as a brother, would ere long be in
a dungeon. De la Maisonneuve, who traded in all sorts
of merchandise, but particularly in silk fabrics, jewellery,
and furs, had been in the habit of attending the fairs of
Lyons for twenty years, and went there as often as three or
four times a year. Of late, the frankness with which he
maintained the evangelical doctrines had offended many
persons, and thus paved the way for a catastrophe which
now seemed inevitable. Courted by the merchants, esteemed
by the magistrates, he was, on the other hand, in
the bad books of the priests, and the priests were powerful.

.sn The Reliquary.
One day, in the year 1530, when he was at Nuremberg
on business, a rich merchant of that city, a sound protestant,
who had no love for relics, had given him a valuable reliquary
in payment of a debt.[#] As Lyons was noted for its
devotion, Baudichon, who cared little for the object and
looked at it only as an article of merchandise, thought it
might fetch a good price in that city, and happening to go
there not long after, offered the little box to a money-changer.
He would have done better to have refused it at
Nuremberg, but Christian wisdom was then only dawning
upon him. The money-changer took up the article and examined
it devoutly. On the top was an image of <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> James
in silver, ‘carefully wrought,’ and weighing about four
marks. Underneath was the reliquary: a box of silver
// File: 292.png
.pn +1
with a glass allowing the inside to be seen, and some little
parchment labels indicating the names of the saints whose
relics were contained within. The Lyons money-changer
looked with adoration on the precious remains of <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr>
Christopher, <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Syriac, and another. He took off his cap,
made a bow to the relics, and kissed them devoutly; and as
his wife and children had clustered round him with pious
curiosity, he made each of them kiss the sacred remains.
Turning to Maisonneuve, he said: ‘Sir Baudichon, I am
surprised that you should bring me this relic in such a manner.’
Maisonneuve replied: ‘It is very likely they are the
bones of some ordinary body which the priests give the people
to kiss to deceive them.’ At these words, an apprentice,
of the age of eighteen, a very bigoted youth, left the shop
indignant, and sat down on a bench in the street. The
changer having paid Baudichon seventy livres tournois for
his merchandise, the huguenot departed. But as he was
passing in front of the bench, the apprentice, unable to restrain
his anger, insulted him. Maisonneuve was content to
reply that if he was in Geneva, ‘he would give him relics
for nothing.’ This affair began to make Baudichon suspected.[#]

Next year (1531), when Maisonneuve was again at Lyons,
and dining at the table-d’hôte of the Coupe d’Or, he
met with some merchants from the neighboring provinces,
and particularly from Auvergne, whose inhabitants, upright
and charitable, but ignorant and vindictive, were distinguished
at that time by a credulous devotion, as excessive
as it was superstitious. The Genevan did not scruple to
declare his religious convictions boldly before them, and the
bigoted Auvergnats were much surprised to hear him speak
‘<i>after his manner about the Gospel and faith during all the
meal</i>.’ ‘Hold your tongue,’ they said, angrily, ‘if you were
in our country, <i>you would be burnt</i>.’[#]
// File: 293.png
.pn +1

.sn Who Is Petrus?
A year later (in 1532), also at fair time, De la Maisonneuve,
Bournet, a broker to whom he had confided an article
of jewellery for sale, Humbert des Oches, and other
tradesmen were supping at the table-d’hôte of the Coupe
d’Or. It was one of those days on which the Church forbids
the eating of meat. Bournet had brought some fish,
of which they all partook, and Baudichon among them.
This surprised one of the guests, who asked him whether
they eat meat at Geneva on fast days. ‘Certainly they do,’
he answered, ‘and if I were in a place where it could be
got, I should make no difficulty about it, for God does not
forbid it.’—‘The pope and the Church forbid it,’ returned
Bournet, sharply. Baudichon declared that he did not acknowledge
the pope’s power to forbid what God permits.
‘God said to <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Peter,’ rejoined Bournet, ‘“<i>Whatsoever
thou shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven</i>” (Matthew
<abbr=sixteen>xvi.</abbr> 19). The pope is now in the place of <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Peter;
therefore’....—‘The pope and the priests,’ retorted
Maisonneuve, ‘are so far from being like <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Peter, that there
are many among them who lead evil lives, and require to
be set in order and reformed. The Word of God alone
brings grace to the sinner.’ He then began to repeat ‘some
passages from the Gospels <i>in the French language</i>,’ selecting
those which announce Jesus Christ and the complete
pardon he gives. Every Christian who proclaims the Gospel
might, he declared, be God’s instrument to liberate souls
from sin and condemnation; and then, growing bolder, he
exclaimed: ‘I am <i>Petrus</i>; you (turning to Bournet) are
<i>Petrus</i>. Every man is Peter, provided he is firm in the
faith of Jesus Christ.’ All present were much struck with
his observations, and the strange man became still blacker
in their eyes.[#]

At the feast of the Epiphany in the year 1533, the brother
of Lyonnel Raynaud, priest of the order of <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> John of Jerusalem,
and Messire Jean Barbier, of the cathedral of
Vienne, arrived at the Coupe d’Or, with a clerk in attendance
// File: 294.png
.pn +1
upon the latter. They sat down to table with the
company. Everybody was speaking at once. One of the
guests, however,—and he was usually among those who
talked the most,—seemed absorbed in thought. De la
Maisonneuve (for it was he) fixed his eyes on the priests
of Vienne, and, after a few moments, said to them, ‘Can
you explain to me why they put a certain cordelier to death
at Vienne a few years ago?’ He alluded to Stephen Renier,
of whom we have spoken elsewhere.[#] ‘He was a heretic,’
said Barbier, ‘and had taught endless errors at Annonay
and elsewhere.’ De la Maisonneuve boldly undertook his
defence. ‘You did wrong to put him to death,’ he said;
‘he was a truly good man, of sound learning, and one likely
to produce great fruits.’ The strife began immediately.
Baudichon affirmed that we were not required to keep the
commandments of the Church, but only those of God; while
the priest tried with all his might to prove that Baudichon
was wrong. The Genevan grew more animated, and spoke
with great boldness. This new kind of tournament absorbed
all attention: the guests left off eating and drinking, fixed their
eyes on the two champions, and opened their ears wide. A
merchant of Vienne, one Master Simon de Montverban, an
acquaintance of Baudichon’s, and whom the latter had often
soundly beaten, observed to him: ‘You have found a man
at last to answer you.’ But the Genevan replied so forcibly
to the arguments of the Viennese, and the contest became
so animated, that the three priests, suddenly rising from
table, quitted the room hastily, and went into a separate
chamber. ‘If this man were at Vienne,’ said Barbier, ‘I
would have him sent to prison.’ The prison and the stake
which followed it were safer arms than discussion.[#]

.sn Hostility To Baudichon.
De la Maisonneuve, having returned to Lyons for the
fairs of Easter and of August, met a considerable number of
// File: 295.png
.pn +1
merchants at the Coupe d’Or, and immediately undertook to
enlighten them, feeling that language was given for such
purposes; but, as he feared also that his scattered remarks,
if not followed up, would be insufficient to correct the tardiness
of certain men, he determined to make use of various
stimulants. Accordingly, he spared neither toil nor weariness.
Simon de Montverban, who was there again, was
struck with his zeal, and complained of it. ‘Whenever the
merchants take their meals,’ he said, ‘whenever he meets
them in the common hall, when they come in or go out,
everywhere and always, Baudichon gets talking and disputing
about the Gospel.’ No longer confining himself to
questions of fasting or images, he went straight to what
was essential: he put forward Scripture as the fountain of
truth, and declared that every sinner, even the greatest,
was saved through uniting himself by faith to Jesus Christ.
People censured him in vain. In vain did two merchants,
one named Arcon and the other Hugues, repeat to every
body and to Baudichon himself that, if he was in their
country, he would be burnt; the latter, who did not doubt
them, continued his arguments. Lyons was a free city
during the fair, and he took advantage of it to make the
pure Gospel known. Simon de Montverban complained to
the Genevan huguenot’s brother-in-law, an ardent papist,
who made answer: ‘I wish that Baudichon had died ten
years ago; he is the cause of all the troubles at Geneva.’[#]

De la Maisonneuve was again at Lyons at the feasts of
All Saints (November, 1533) and Epiphany (1534). One
evening, when a numerous company was supping at the inn,
the conversation turned on the religious circumstances of
the times. After listening a while, he exclaimed: ‘It is
nonsense to pray to the saints, to hear mass, and confess
to the priests!’ and proceeded to quote <i>the Gospels and the
Apostles</i> to prove what he said. ‘In our country,’ again
asserted some who heard him, ‘at Avignon, at Clermont
you would be sent to the stake!’ It was the burden of the
// File: 296.png
.pn +1
old song, and they were only surprised that he was not
burnt at Lyons. De la Maisonneuve, knowing well that it
was out of their Roman piety that they wished to burn him,
was content to smile. But his calmness excited the wrath
of his fellow-guests. The merchants of Auvergne rose
from the table in a fit of anger, and, addressing the hostess,
desired she would not receive Maisonneuve in future. ‘If
we find him here when we come again,’ they said, ‘we
shall go and lodge elsewhere.’ The landlady promised
the Auvergnats not to receive him in future.[#]

The Easter fair of 1534 was drawing near, and as it was
the most considerable in the year, Maisonneuve did not
want to miss it. But circumstances had become more
threatening and rendered the journey dangerous. There
were, as we have seen, in the castle of Peney on the Lyons
road, and other strong places, traitors who had fled from
Geneva, and carried off all the Genevans they could lay
hands on. Baudichon’s friends wished him to put off this
journey. ‘The fair is free (<lang=fr><i>franche</i></lang>) to every one,’ he
answered. ‘Ay!’ said Froment, ‘under the papacy
there are many franchises for thieves, robbers, and murderers;
but for the evangelicals all the liberties, franchises,
and promises of princes are broken.’[#] Maisonneuve knew
this well, yet he was not a man to be frightened. The report
of his intentions having gone abroad, certain <i>traitors</i>
(as Froment terms the fanatical partisans of the bishop and
pope) hastened to give their Lyons friends notice of Baudichon’s
approaching arrival, conjuring them to get him put
to death. ‘He was spied and <i>recommended</i> to their care.’[#]

De la Maisonneuve, bearing Farel’s letters, started from
Geneva in the morning of the <abbr='twenty-fifth'>25th</abbr> of April, and arrived at
Lyons on the <abbr='twenty-sixth'>26th</abbr>, having no suspicion that his enemies
were waiting for him and preparing his scaffold. He had
with him Janin the armorer, his aide-de-camp in religious
// File: 297.png
.pn +1
matters, who had supplied himself with evangelical books
printed at Neufchatel to circulate them in Lyons. Baudichon,
as usual, had alighted at the Coupe d’Or near <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr>
Pierre-les-Nonnains, and was cordially received by the
landlady notwithstanding the promise she had made the
Auvergnats some months before. Janin stopped there also,
and stored his evangelical books away in the room that had
been assigned him.

The next day there was a great disturbance at the inn.
The merchants had arrived from Auvergne, and one of the
first persons they saw was the famous heretic!... The
color rushed to their cheeks, and they had words with the
hostess because she did not keep her promise. That they
did not content themselves with mere words, is clear from
events which followed. The bigots of France wished to
share with the bigots of Geneva the honor of putting to
death the captain of the Lutherans.[#]

Maisonneuve immediately began to look after Étienne
de la Forge, in order to hand him the reformer’s letters;
but on going to his house in the Place de l’Herberie, he
learnt, to his great disappointment, that the Parisian merchant
had not yet arrived.

.sn Baudichon And Janin Arrested.
The enemies of the Reformation lost no time. Informations
were sworn against Maisonneuve on the <abbr='twenty-seventh'>27th</abbr> of April,
the day after his arrival, and the following morning, the
<abbr='twenty-eighth'>28th</abbr>, the officers of justice arrested him and his friend Janin
‘by authority of the seneschal’s court of Lyons,’ and shut
him up in the king’s prison. But this was not what the
priests wanted. ‘These two men,’ they said, ‘being charged
with offences against our holy faith, the interest of the king
our lord, and the common weal, we demand that they be sent
to the prison of the archiepiscopal see, and that they be tried
before the ecclesiastical judges.’[#] The two prisoners were
accordingly transferred to the archbishop’s prison. The
great huguenot saw that he had fallen into a trap, and prepared
to meet his enemies.
// File: 298.png
.pn +1

There was great agitation in the episcopal palace. That
church of Lyons which had been the church of the primate
of all the Gauls—of which thirty bishops had been canonized—which
had supplied so many cardinals, legates,
statesmen, and ambassadors—whose chapter, consisting of
seventy canons, had included the sons of emperors, kings,
and dukes among their number, and of which the kings of
France were honorary canons—that church was about to
have the glory of trying and putting to death the layman
who was Farel’s right arm, as Jerome of Prague had been
that of John Huss. All its dignitaries—the deans, chamberlains,
wardens, provosts, knights, theologians, and school-men—all
were talking of this fortunate circumstance. The
clergy of the metropolitan church of <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> John the Baptist,
in particular, took an active part in the business, and the
walls of that vast Gothic building echoed to the oft-repeated
name of the captain of the Lutherans. On the <abbr='twenty-ninth'>29th</abbr> of
April the members of the <i>inquisitional court</i> assembled in
the hall of justice of the episcopal prison, and, wearing their
robes of office, took their seats on the judicial benches.
They were Stephen Faye, official of the primacy, and Benedict
Buatier, ordinary official of Lyons,—both of them
vicars-general of the primate of France. The third judge
was John Gauteret, inquisitor of ‘heretical pravity.’ Ami
Ponchon, notary public, was to act as secretary;[#] and
Claude Bellièvre, king’s advocate, was to aid them by his
presence. The court being thus formed, they summoned
before them Baudichon de la Maisonneuve, who declared
his name, age (forty-six years), and condition, and the trial
began.[#]

.fn #
<abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr> <lang=fr>du Procès inquisitionnel de Lyon</lang>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 147.
.fn-
.fn #
All those particulars, as well as those which follow, are taken literally
from the depositions of the witnesses, made on oath, before the court of
Lyons, and are to be found in pages 132-147 of the official manuscript.
.fn-
.fn #
<abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr> <lang=fr>du Procès inquisitionnel de Lyon, déposition de Pécoud</lang>, <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 159-163.
.fn-
.fn #
<abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr> <lang=fr>du Procès inquisitionnel de Lyon</lang>, <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 209, 211, 217, 218.
.fn-
.fn #
<abbr=Volume>Vol.</abbr> <abbr rend=arabic>i.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 576.
.fn-
.fn #
<abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr> <lang=fr>du Procès inquisitionnel de Lyon</lang>. There are three depositions
with regard to these facts: those of Barbier the priest, <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 267-270; of
the furrier Simon de Montverban, <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 274-278; and of friar Lyonnel, <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr>
305-312.
.fn-
.fn #
<abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr> <lang=fr>du Procès inquisitionnel de Lyon</lang>, <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 282-285.
.fn-
.fn #
<abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr> <lang=fr>du Procès inquisitionnel de Lyon</lang>, <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 298-300, 413-414.
.fn-
.fn #
Froment, <lang=fr><i>Gestes de Genève</i></lang>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 241.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>‘Iceluy fut épié et recommandé.’</lang>—Froment, <lang=fr><i>Gestes de Genève</i></lang>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 241.
.fn-
.fn #
<abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr> <lang=fr>du Procès inquisitionnel de Lyon</lang>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 424.
.fn-
.fn #
Ibid. <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 1.
.fn-
.fn #
All the procès-verbaux or minutes have his signature, with a curious
flourish (<lang=fr><i>parafe</i></lang>) exactly alike on each.
.fn-
.fn #
<abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr> <lang=fr>du Procès inquisitionnel</lang>, <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 5-6.
.fn-
// File: 299.png
.pn +1
.sp 4
.h2 id=chap7-09
CHAPTER IX. | BAUDICHON DE LA MAISSONNEUVE BEFORE THE INQUISITIONAL COURT OF LYONS. | (<sc>From 29th of April to 21st of May, 1534.</sc>)
.sp 2
.sn The Examination.
The tribunal of priests wished to mark distinctly at the
very outset that the Romish doctrine was in question: it
was necessary to proclaim anew that <lang=la><i>in instanti</i></lang>, at the very
moment, at the priest’s word, there was no longer in the
host either bread or wine, but only the body and blood of
the Saviour. ‘What do you think of the sacrament of the
altar?’ was the first question put by the court to Maisonneuve.
He rejected the Roman error; but his protestantism,
as we have seen, came from Germany, and the Lutherans
taught that ‘in the sacrament of the altar, in the
bread and wine, were the true body, the true blood of
Christ;’[#] and as, according to the Lutheran doctrine, the
presence was spiritual, supernatural, and heavenly,[#] Maisonneuve,
who professed this faith and had taken the sacrament
at Frankfort in the Lutheran church, answered:
‘I believe that the real body of Christ is in the blessed
host,’[#] but knowing the axiom of jurisprudence, that no
accused person is bound to criminate himself, he would not
declare his faith more precisely.

If this doctrine interested the court, the connection of the
accused with the chiefs of what they called <i>heresy</i> had also
a great importance in their eyes, and a doctor well known in
France had given them great umbrage. ‘Do you know
<i>Pharellus</i>?’ they asked Maisonneuve, who calmly replied:
// File: 300.png
.pn +1
‘He is from Dauphiny; he was brought to Geneva by my
lords of Berne; and when I hear him, I believe as much of
his sermons as seems right, and no more.’ These two answers
might have led some to hope that they would exercise
clemency towards the accused; but such was not the intention
of the canons of <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> John. The court declared that the
witnesses would be examined on the following day. They
were all to be for the prosecution; they might invent, add,
or exaggerate, and the prisoner would not have it in his
power to produce any witnesses for the defence.

The first who gave evidence was a young working-man,
twenty-two years of age, by name Philip Martin, and by
trade a weaver. ‘I lived three years in the city of Geneva,’
he said, ‘and during that time the Lutheran sect
multiplied exceedingly. I witnessed many armed assemblies
and riots, papists against evangelists, by day as well as by
night. Among the most prominent of the Lutheran party
was Baudichon, and after him Jean Philippe, Jean Golaz,
Ami Perrin, who commonly were present at the armed
meetings, directing everything and providing for the expenses.
About a year ago a canon named Wernli was run
through the body; Baudichon was there, armed and wearing
a cuirass.’[#] De la Maisonneuve calmly interrupted him: ‘The
witness does not speak the truth. When the canon was
wounded, I was in this very city of Lyons. I therefore
charge him with perjury, and desire that he be taken into
custody.’ Martin had borne false witness; this all who
knew Maisonneuve at Geneva and Lyons could declare. It
was a bad beginning.

On the first of May a fanatical youth, named Pierre,
brother of the two Pennets, who had been condemned for
assassinating a citizen and conspiring against the liberties
of the city, gave his evidence. ‘Baudichon entirely supports
this Lutheran sect,’ he said; ‘he is their captain. One day
last year he assembled all the Lutherans and armed them to
plunder the churches, which ended in the death of four persons
// File: 301.png
.pn +1
sons and the wounding of many others.’[#] This also was
false: Vandel, a huguenot, had been wounded in a riot got
up by the priests; but there had been no deaths. ‘The
witness hates me,’ said Maisonneuve, ‘because one of his
brothers was executed by judicial authority.’—‘Baudichon,’
continued Pennet, in greater excitement, ‘instead of fearing
the syndics, constrains them to humble themselves before
him.’—‘I submit to lose my head,’ exclaimed Maisonneuve,
‘in case the syndics declare that I have ever done them any
displeasure.’[#] The court rose.

.sn Emotion At Geneva.
All this time Geneva was greatly agitated: the news of
Baudichon’s arrest had caused uneasiness among his friends.
Men spoke about it ‘in the city and in the fields,’ everywhere,
in short. When friends met one another, they asked:
‘Have you heard that Baudichon has been brought before
the archiepiscopal court of Lyons for being a Lutheran?’
The devout (if we may use the words of the manuscript)
‘consigned him to Satan, as being the principal cause of
heresy in Geneva;’[#] while the huguenots, agitated and
alarmed at the dangers that threatened their friend, considered
what was to be done. They determined to act immediately
and simultaneously at Lyons, Berne, and even at Paris,
if they could. Thomas, Baudichon’s brother, started for
Lyons at once, and asked for an audience with Monseigneur
du Peyrat, the king’s Lieutenant-general. ‘For what reason,’
he said, ‘and by what authority has my brother, Baudichon
de la Maisonneuve, been sent to prison?’—‘I do not
detain him,’ answered du Peyrat; ‘apply to the vicars general.’
Thomas, learning that his brother was in the hands
of the priests, and his danger therefore greater, resolved to
make every effort to save him.

Thomas and the Genevans were not the only persons
interested in this matter. Baudichon’s imprisonment was
an attack upon the rights of the foreign merchants, and
compromised the fairs at Lyons. What German Lutheran
// File: 302.png
.pn +1
would come there in future? The inhabitants, especially
the innkeepers, tradespeople, and merchants, foresaw great
pecuniary loss, and the princes of commerce felt the injury
done to one of their number. There was, consequently,
a great commotion in the city, and many merchants, ‘as
well of the city as foreigners,’ determining to complain of
it, proceeded to the <i>consulate</i> (or town-council), to whom
they represented, ‘with much grief,’[#] that the imprisonment
of Baudichon de la Maisonneuve was an infringement of
the privileges of the fairs; and that many merchants had to
receive from him certain sums which it was impossible for
him to pay now, because he could not collect the money
which other merchants owed him. ‘We pray you, therefore,’
they said, in conclusion, ‘not to suffer our privileges to
be violated.’—‘Release my brother, <lang=fr><i>à pur et à plein</i></lang>, without
reserve,’ added Thomas de la Maisonneuve. Four of
the consuls seconded the remonstrance.[#] The municipality
resolved that Jean de la Bessie, procurator-general of
Lyons, and one councillor should demand Baudichon’s liberation
of the inquisitional court. ‘My brother,’ said Thomas,
‘is a burgess of Berne and of Friburg, and by virtue of
the treaties between the king and the lords of the League,
he cannot be made a prisoner in this kingdom.’[#] The
priests were determined to pay no regard to the request of
the magistrates: a serious incident roused them from their
listlessness.

.sn Bernese Intervention.
A despatch had just arrived, addressed to Monseigneur
the king’s lieutenant-general: it was from the lords of
Berne. The lieutenant-general knew well the value of
Swiss intervention. Had not four hundred of them, at the
battle of Sesia, after Bayard’s death, checked, by their impetuosity
and the sacrifice of their lives, the army of the
allies? Monseigneur du Peyrat determined, therefore, to
support the prayer of the Bernese, and gave the city secretary
// File: 303.png
.pn +1
the necessary instructions. The effect of the despatch
was still greater upon Thomas de la Maisonneuve. Now
there could be no more delays! Impatient to see his
brother at liberty, imagining that he would succeed better
by hurrying the affair, he would not wait a day or an hour.
He should have considered that haste increases the chances
of failure, and that the impatient man compromises both his
character and his cause; but he could see nothing but Baudichon’s
sufferings and the injury done to the Genevese reformation
by his captivity. He was no longer master of
himself: he wanted that very instant to deliver his brother
from the jaws of the lion. ‘Set him free immediately,’ he
said, ‘so that we may be able to answer the lords of Berne
by the courier who is ready to return.’ The vicars-general
answered curtly: ‘We are in course to order it, as is right.’[#]
This cold formula appeared of evil omen to Thomas, and
from that hour his fears increased.

On the other hand, Baudichon, informed of what was
going on, took courage; and the judges, fully aware that it
would not do to condemn on suspicious evidence a man who
had such powerful supporters, determined to entice Maisonneuve
craftily into some heretical declaration.

On the <abbr=fifth>5th</abbr> of May the sergeants once more brought
in their prisoner. ‘What are your opinions in regard
to faith?’ asked the court. De la Maisonneuve answered:
‘I am a good Christian; if you do not think so, deliver me
over to my superiors (the magistrates of Geneva) to examine
me.’ But instead of doing so, the vicars-general tried to induce
him to explain his ideas on the subject of transubstantiation,
feeling sure of catching him in an error. The prisoner
only replied: ‘I am not bound to answer you.’ The court
tried in vain to induce him to speak: ‘I will not make any
reply,’ he repeated. They read to him Janin’s answer on
the sacrament, which was (it would appear) very shocking
to Roman ears, and asked him what he thought of it; but
Baudichon did not fall into the snare. ‘I am no judge,’ he
// File: 304.png
.pn +1
said, ‘and it is not my business to decide whether the answer
is good or bad.’[#] Then taking the offensive, he added: ‘If
Frenchmen were imprisoned at Geneva for cases analogous
to mine, would you be pleased?’—‘You have Pharellus
and other Frenchmen there,’ answered the judges, ‘and
have not surrendered them to the king.’ The officials of
Lyons complained to the man whom they kept in prison because
people were left at liberty in Geneva. Baudichon
retorted proudly: ‘Ours is a free city,’ and withdrew.[#]
‘They set their traps in vain,’ said a reformer, speaking of
the attacks of the papacy. ‘God has victories abundantly
in his hands to triumph over them and their chief.’[#]

The judges were greatly embarrassed: they desired, not
to release Maisonneuve, but (as he had often been told) to
burn him; and yet, as it was impossible for them not to reply,
at least by some formalities, to such high and mighty
lords as Messieurs of Berne, they gave a certain solemnity
to their answer. On Wednesday, the <abbr=sixth>6th</abbr> of May, the
officials, vicars-episcopal, inquisitors, and other ecclesiastical
dignitaries, took their seats in front of the main door of the
archiepiscopal palace. In public and in the open air they
were about to hear the demand of the Swiss, supported by
the lieutenant-general of the king. The city clerk, delegated
by the councillors of Lyons, set forth the contents of
the letters from Berne, and at the same time Thomas de la
Maisonneuve presented two substantial merchants of the
city as bail for his brother.[#] The cause of the Genevese
prisoner was growing in importance: a sovereign state,
which the king had every reason to treat courteously, had
taken up his defence; the trial was becoming an international
matter. The court knew that Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr> was susceptible,
and that it was dangerous to thwart him, as he had
shown in the case of Beda. After full examination, therefore,
// File: 305.png
.pn +1
they decreed that they ‘would amply inform the king
<i>our sire</i>, in order that he may make known his good
pleasure, and until his answer arrives, the said Baudichon
shall not be liberated; at the same time, he shall be permitted,
on account of his business, to speak with those who
have dealings with him, in the presence of the jailers of
the archiepiscopal prison, who are enjoined to treat him well
and discreetly, according to his station.’[#]

.sn Baudichon.
Two points were gained; Baudichon was to be treated
like a prisoner of mark, and his case was to be laid before
the king. The memory of the <lang=fr><i>estrapades</i></lang> of Paris was too
recent for the evangelicals to entertain very lively hopes:
it was, however, a gleam of light. The judges themselves,
feeling that the matter was becoming difficult and success
doubtful, undertook to obtain a recantation from Baudichon,
which would, besides, be more glorious for Rome (they
thought) than a sentence of death. On the <abbr='twenty-first'>21st</abbr> of May,
therefore, the court having called to their aid two inquisitors
skilful in controversy, Nicholas Morini and Jean Rapinati,
summoned Maisonneuve before them; when Father
Morini endeavored to prove to him out of Scripture the
material presence of Christ in the Sacrament. Baudichon
understood the passages quoted differently from the doctors.
Refusing to stop at the material substance, the flesh (as
they did, and also the people of Capernaum who are
blamed in the Gospel), he held to our Saviour’s words:
<i>It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing;
the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are
life</i>.[#]—‘I understand these words as well as you, and better,
but I will not enter into any discussion. I am not
bound to answer inquisitors.’[#] The court, provoked by
these refusals, resolved to put the grand question to him:
‘Do you yield obedience to our holy father the pope of
Rome?’ To the great disappointment of the vicars-general
and inquisitors, he simply replied: ‘I am not bound to
// File: 306.png
.pn +1
answer.’—‘We are your judges in this matter,’ they exclaimed
with irritation; ‘we order and summon you to answer.’[#]
But he would not; and then, recovering from their
emotion, they tried to surprise him by an insidious question.

Alexander, who had preached the Gospel at Lyons with
such energy, had just been thrown into prison. If De la
Maisonneuve acknowledged him for his friend, they might
easily class them together. The judges therefore asked him
insidiously, ‘whether Jacques de la Croix, <i>alias</i> Alexander,
had not in former times eaten and drunk at his house?’—‘If
he has eaten and drunk at my house,’ responded Baudichon,
‘I hope it did him good.’ And that was all. It was
impossible to make the prisoner fall into the trap: his good
sense foiled all the plots of his adversaries.

Thus did the judges hunt down an innocent man. At
that time men set themselves up between God and the soul
of man. This was not only an outrage upon human liberty,
it was high-treason against Heaven. Such a grave consideration
imparts a tragic interest to this trial, and encourages
us conscientiously to reproduce all its painful phases. The
judge has no concern with the relations of the soul with its
Creator. ‘The dominion of man ends where that of God
begins.’[#] God does not give his glory to another. Whoever
desires to exercise authority over the conscience is a
madman; nay, more, he is an atheist. He presumes to
move God from his throne and sit in his place.

.fn #
<lang=la>‘Panam et vinum in cœna esse verum corpus et sanguinem Christi.’</lang>
<i>Ant. Smalcad. Catech. major</i>, &c.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Intelligimus spiritualem, supernaturalem, cœlestem modum.’</lang>—<i>Formula
Concordiæ</i>.
.fn-
.fn #
<abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr> <lang=fr>du Procès inquisitionnel</lang>, <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 6-9.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>‘Embastonné et muni d’un allécret.’</lang>—<lang=fr>MS. du Procès inquisitionnel.</lang>
.fn-
.fn #
<abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr> <lang=fr>du Procès inquisitionnel</lang>, <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 34-41.
.fn-
.fn #
Ibid. <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 46.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>‘Le donnaient au diable.’</lang>—<lang=fr>MS. du Procès inquisitionnel</lang>, <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 87-88.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>‘Fort dolosés.’</lang>—<lang=fr>MS. du Procès inquisitionnel</lang>, <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 52, 53.
.fn-
.fn #
Henri Guyot, Benoît Rochefort, Pierre Manicier, and Simon Penet.
MS. du Procès inquisitionnel.
.fn-
.fn #
Ibid. <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 47-50.
.fn-
.fn #
<abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr> <lang=fr>du Procès inquisitionnel</lang>, <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 59-61.
.fn-
.fn #
<abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr> <lang=fr>du Procès inquisitionnel</lang>, <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 62-65.
.fn-
.fn #
Ibid. <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 66, 67.
.fn-
.fn #
Calvin.
.fn-
.fn #
Thomas Javellot and Loys de la Croix. <abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr> <lang=fr>du Procès inquisitionnel</lang>,
<abbr=page>p.</abbr> 72.
.fn-
.fn #
<abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr> <lang=fr>du Procès inquisitionnel</lang>, <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 69-76.
.fn-
.fn #
<abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> John <abbr=six>vi.</abbr> 63.
.fn-
.fn #
<abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr> <lang=fr>du Procès inquisitionnel</lang>, <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 91-94.
.fn-
.fn #
<abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr> <lang=fr>du Procès inquisitionnel</lang>, <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 95-96.
.fn-
.fn #
Said by Napoleon <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr> to a deputation from the Consistory of Geneva.
.fn-
// File: 307.png
.pn +1
.sp 4
.h2 id=chap7-10
CHAPTER X. | THE TWO WORSHIPS IN GENEVA. | (<sc>May to July 1534.</sc>)
.sp 2
.sn Morality In The Reformation.
While they were prosecuting Maisonneuve on the banks
of the Rhone and the Saône, the struggle between catholicism
and reform became more active on the shores of Lake
Leman: an evangelical was threatened with death at Lyons,
but Roman-catholicism was on the point of expiring at Geneva.
It was crumbling away beneath its own weight: the
religious orders, and especially the Franciscans, which had
been founded to support it, were now shaking its foundations.
Notorious abuses and scandalous disorders were
making the protest against monkery and popery more necessary
every day. At the very moment when the trial
was beginning at Lyons (<abbr=third>3d</abbr> of May), an honorable lady
of Geneva, Madam Jaquemette Matonnier, passing near the
Franciscan convent, observed a woman noted for her disorderly
life stealthily entering the building. ‘It would be
better for you,’ she said, ‘to stay with your husband.’ At
these words, two monks who were standing at the door
rushed violently upon Madame Matonnier and beat her until
the blood came. This incident, which soon became
known, aroused the whole city. The syndics went to the
convent, shut up the two monks in the prison, and took away
the key. ‘Men who live in convents,’ said the people,
‘ought not to be stained with such depravity; and yet it is
hard to find one monastery out of ten that is not a den of
wantonness rather than the home of chastity.’

Sin begat death. The Romish clergy destroyed themselves
by the abominable manners of a great number of
their members. But better times were beginning; morality
// File: 308.png
.pn +1
was springing, in company with faith, from the tomb in
which they had been buried so long, and were spreading
through Christendom the potent germs of a new life. A
sad spectacle was that presented by the Church at the beginning
of the sixteenth century! There were magnificent
cathedrals, wealthy pontiffs, sumptuous rites, admirable
paintings, and harmonious chants; but in the midst of all
these pomps yawned an immense void: faith and life were
wanting. Religion was at that time like those winter trees
whose frost-covered branches glitter with a certain brightness
under the rays of the sun, but are all frozen. A new
season was beginning, which, by bringing back the sap into
their sterile branches, would cover them with rich foliage
and make them produce savory fruit. We do not say, as
an eminent Christian has said, that the reaction of morality
against formalism is the great fact of the Reformation, its
glory and its appropriate title. Such an assertion omits one
essential element. The grand title of the Reformation is to
have restored to Christendom religion in its entirety, the
truth with the life, doctrine with morality. If one had
been wanting, the other would not have sufficed, and the
Reformation would hot have existed.

While Roman-catholicism was falling lower through the
disorders of the monks, evangelical Christianity was rising
through the zeal of the reformers. Farel, Viret, and Froment
preached every day, either publicly or in private
houses, ‘to the great advancement of the Word of God,
which increased much.’ The Reformation was no longer a
mere teaching; it entered into the manners and worship,
and produced life. On the Sunday after Easter, Farel
gave his blessing to the first evangelical marriage.

.sn A Savoyard Procession.
When sincere catholics, and even those who were not so,
saw these strange contrasts, they imagined that the last
hour of the papacy in Geneva had arrived. A final effort
must be made, but unfortunately the remedies employed
were not much better than the disease. One day a report
spread instantaneously through the whole city that the
// File: 309.png
.pn +1
Blessed Virgin, arrayed in white robes, had appeared to
the curate in the church of <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Leger, and ordered a grand
procession of all the surrounding districts. She added that
if this were done, ‘the Lutherans would all burst in the
middle: but if the order was not obeyed, the city would be
swallowed up.’[#] The huguenots smiled, inquired into the
matter, and at the end of authentic investigations, discovered
that the fine lady was the curate’s housemaid. But many
catholics in Geneva, and almost all in Savoy, were convinced
of the reality of the apparition. The clergy mustered
their forces. ‘It depends upon you,’ they said in
many places, ‘to put all the heretics in Geneva to death.’
The devotees of the neighboring parishes began to stir in
this pious work, and on the 15th of May a long procession
of men, women, and children arrived before the city. They
were heard singing lustily in the Savoyard tongue—

.pm verse-start
<i>Mare de Dy, pryy pou nous!</i>
(Mother of God, pray for us!)
.pm verse-end

The Council, fearing a disturbance, would not let them
enter, and they had to be content with going to Our Lady
of Grace, near the Arve bridge. As the poor people had
eaten nothing on the road, and were exhausted, the syndics
sent them bread; and after taking some refreshments, the
assemblage turned homewards. Many Genevese, anxious
to see them close, went out of the city, and collected on
their road, and as the Savoyards passed before them singing
<i>Mare de Dy, pryy pou nous!</i> the bantering huguenots answered
to the same tune: <i>Frare Farel, pregy toujours!</i>
Brother Farel, preach forever![#]

All was not over: the story of the apparition of the
Virgin and of her commandment having reached as far as
the capital of the Chablais, the heights of Cologny were
soon crowned by a numerous and compact procession, in appearance
// File: 310.png
.pn +1
more formidable than the first: it was the men of
Thonon and the adjoining places, who, carrying banners,
crosses, and relics, were descending the hill with a firm step.
The stalwart pilgrims boldly passed the gates of the city,
the huguenots, who were listening to Farel, not being there
to prevent them; and on reaching the Bourg de Four,
halted before the church of <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Claire. The alarm spread
immediately: some citizens entering the auditory where
Farel was preaching, announced this Romish invasion. The
reformer did not disturb himself; but some of his hearers,
the fiery Perrin, the energetic Goulaz, and others, went out,
and, charging the head of the procession, drove back at the
point of the sword the Savoyards who had entered Geneva
as if it were a village of the Chablais. The startled pilgrims
threw away their banners with affright, and fled from
the city. Froment supposes that as the enemy from within
had not had time to join with those from without, the plot
had failed; but we rather believe that these devout pilgrims
calculated only on their litanies in their war against the Lutherans.
Those processions, those banners of the Virgin,
those paltry relics, inspired the reformed with a still deeper
disgust for Roman-catholicism: even the pomps of <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr>
Pierre’s touched them little more than the fetichism of the
Savoyards. They were beginning to understand that public
worship ought not to be a spectacle, and that to burden the
Church with a multitude of rites is to rob her of the
presence of Christ.

.sn The Images Destroyed.
The audacity displayed by these catholic bands emboldened
some of the huguenots. If Savoyards came to
strengthen their faith in Geneva, ought they to hesitate
to show theirs? Some hot-headed members of the Reform
permitted themselves to be carried away to the committal
of reprehensible acts. Whenever they went to the Franciscan
cloister, the first object that struck their eyes was the
image of <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Anthony of Padua, a miracle-monger of the
thirteenth century, having eight other saints on each side of
it. These pious figures, ranged over the convent gate,
// File: 311.png
.pn +1
irritated the huguenots. It was vain to tell them that
pictures are <i>the books of the ignorant</i>: the reformers answered
that if the catholic prelates left the duty of teaching
the people to <i>idols</i>, they would prefer remaining at home in
their chairs. ‘If you had not taken the Bible from the
Church,’ said the huguenots, ‘you would have had no
necessity to hang up your paintings.’ Accordingly, between
eleven and twelve o’clock one Saturday night, nine
men carrying a ladder approached the convent, raised it
silently against the porch, and then, with hammers and
chisels, began to destroy the images. They cut off the
head and limbs of the saint, leaving only his trunk; they
did the same to the others, and threw the fragments into the
well of <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Clair. The night passed without any disturbance,
but in the morning there was a great uproar in the
city. ‘What a piteous sight!’ said the devout assembled
before the porch of <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Francis. The iconoclasts, who
were discovered after a little time, were punished, but the
images were not restored.

‘Alas!’ said the Friburgers, ‘Geneva is about to pull
down the altars of the Romish faith!’—‘It is,’ answered
the Bernese, ‘because upon these very altars the bishop
desired to burn the venerable charters of her people, and
has sprinkled them with the blood of her most illustrious
citizens.’[#]... Sensuous worship no longer pleased
the Genevans. Those labored pictures, those sculptured
angels, those dazzling decorations, that charm of ceremonies
and edifices, those shafts and pediments, those unintelligible
chants, those intoxicating perfumes, those mechanical
performances of the priests, with their gold and lace—all
these things disgusted them exceedingly. Since God
is a spirit, they said, those who worship him must worship
him in spirit, by the inward faith of the heart, by
purity of conscience, and by offering themselves to God
to do his will.
// File: 312.png
.pn +1

The hour had come when this spiritual worship was to be
really celebrated in Geneva: the Feast of Pentecost had
arrived. On that day a large crowd had assembled in the
Great Auditory. It was not only such as Vandel, Chautemps,
Roset, Levet, with their wives and friends, who resorted
thither, but new hearers were added to the old ones.
Farel preached with fervor. He was accustomed to say
that ‘God sends rain upon one city when he pleases, while
another city has not a single drop;’ and therefore he conjured
‘all hearts thirsting with desire for the preaching of
the Gospel’[#] to pray that the Spirit might be given them.
We have not his Whitsunday sermon, he preached extempore;
but we know that he ended it by giving glory <i>to the
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, the only true God</i>, and that his
discourse bore good fruit. Several circumstances had prepared
his audience. The plot of the bishop and the duke
which God had frustrated, the nomination of the huguenot
syndics, the rupture with Friburg, Maisonneuve’s imprisonment—all
these events had stirred their hearts, had cleft
them as the ploughshare cleaves the earth, and opened them
to the seed from heaven. What now shone before the eyes
of those who filled the Grand Auditory ‘were not the petty
flames of human candles, but Christ, the great sun of righteousness,
as if at noonday.’[#] While the priests were chanting
words that sounded only in the air, the voice of the reformer
had penetrated to the very bottom of men’s hearts.
The proof was soon visible.

.sn Bernard’s CONVERSION.
When the sermon was over, Farel prepared to celebrate
the Lord’s Supper publicly, according to the Gospel form,
and, standing with his brethren Viret and Froment before
a table, he gave thanks, took the bread, broke it,
and said: ‘<i>Take, eat</i>;’ and then, lifting up the cup, he
added: ‘<i>This is the blood of the New Testament, which
// File: 313.png
.pn +1
is shed for the remission of sins</i>.’  The believers were
beginning to draw near to receive the communion of
the Lord,[#] when an unexpected circumstance fixed their
attention. A priest of noble stature, wearing his sacerdotal
robes, left the place where he had been sitting among the
congregation, and approached the table. It was Louis
Bernard, one of the twelve <i>habilités</i> of the cathedral, possessor
of a wealthy benefice, and brother of him who had
been touched at the time of Farel’s first preaching. Was
he going to say mass? did he want to dispute with Farel?
or had he been converted? All were anxious to see what
would happen. The priest went up to the table, and then,
to the general surprise, he took off his sacerdotal vestments,
flung away cope, alb, and stole, and said aloud: ‘I throw
off the old man, and declare myself a prisoner to the Gospel
of the Lord.’[#] Then, turning to the reformers and their
friends, he said: ‘Brethren, I will live and die with you
for Jesus Christ’s sake.’ All imagined they saw a miracle;[#]
their hearts were touched. Farel received Bernard like a
brother; he broke bread with him, gave him the cup, and,
eating of the same morsel, the two adversaries thus signified
that they would in future love one another ‘with a sincere
and pure affection.’ The priest was not the only person
who threw off the foul robes of his ancient life, and put on
the white robe of the Lord. Many Genevans from that
day began to think and live differently from their fathers;
but Louis Bernard was a striking type of that transformation,
and the crowd, as they quitted the church, could not
keep their eyes off him. They saw him returning full of
peace and joy to his father’s house, wearing a Spanish cape
instead of the usual priest’s hood. All the evangelicals,—‘men, 
// File: 314.png
.pn +1
women, and children,—went with great joy to greet
him and make their reverence.’[#]

Another circumstance, quite as extraordinary, still further
increased the beauty of this festival. During the rejoicings
of that first evangelical Pentecost, a knight of Rhodes came
to Geneva in search of liberty of faith. A knight of Rhodes
was a strange visitor in that city. It was known confusedly
that those warlike monks, instituted to defend the pilgrims
in the Holy Land, had been expelled from Jerusalem by
Soliman, and had finally settled in Malta. But why should
this one come to Geneva? The ex-knight, whose name
was Pierre Gaudet, related how, being born at <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Cloud,
near Paris, he had heard the Gospel, and that, having
chosen for his glory the cross of the Son of God, he held
the world in contempt. The scandal he had thus occasioned
had forced him to flee. Having an uncle living about a
league from Geneva—the commander of Compesières—he
had taken refuge with him; but feeling the need of
Christian communion, he had come to his brethren that he
might enjoy it. The huguenots received him like a friend.
That city which had seen in Berthelier and Lévrier the
martyrs of liberty, was to have in Gaudet the first martyr
of the Gospel.[#]

.sn Old And New Manners.
While the Word of God was forming new manners, the
contrast of the old manners asserted itself more boldly.
The people of the lower classes—men and women, youths
and maidens—danced, according to custom, in the public
square on the evening of Whitsunday. The <i>tabarins</i> played
their music in the streets, and merry-andrews made the
people laugh. The women of <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Gervais, disguised and
carrying bunches of box, set the example to those of the
other quarters. The young men united with them, and the
joyous troops paraded the streets in long files, singing, capering,
and sometimes attacking the passers-by. George Marchand,
// File: 315.png
.pn +1
a huguenot no doubt, who was very ready with his
hands, being caught hold of by a woman who wanted to
make him dance with her, gave her a slap on the face.
There was a fierce disturbance; and the Council consequently
forbade these dancing promenades, and ordered that
every one should be content ‘to dance before his own house:’
and this was surely enough. From that time such idle processions
were not repeated. While the catholic common
people were indulging in wanton sports, not perceiving that
they were dancing round the open grave of Roman-catholicism,
the evangelicals increased in zeal and faith to extend
the teaching of the Word of God; and a gentler and
more Christian life was about to be naturalized in that small
but important city. The Whitsuntide procession of 1534,
with its coarse jests, was, in Geneva, the funeral procession
of popery.[#]

Indeed, the laity were then learning better things than
those which the monks had taught them. It was not the
ministers alone who labored; simple believers practiced the
ministry of charity. If there chanced to be in any house a
man ‘very rebellious,’ opposing the doctrine of Scripture,
his friends, neighbors, and relations, who had tasted of its excellence,
would go to him, and without offending him, without
returning him evil for evil, ‘admonish him with great
mildness.’ The evangelicals invited certain of their friends,
even strangers and enemies, to their houses to eat and drink,
in order that they might speak more familiarly with them.
All their study was ‘to gain some one to the Word.’[#]

In the neighboring countries, in Savoy, Gex, Vaud, and
the Chablais, not only did the enemies of Geneva use threats,
but made preparations to attack it. There was much talk
in the city of the assaults that were to be made by the
<i>forains</i>, the aliens; and accordingly there was always a
number of citizens kept under arms.  Farel, Viret, and
// File: 316.png
.pn +1
Froment often joined these soldiers of the republic during
their night-watches, and, sitting near the gates of the city or
on the ramparts, by the glare of the bivouac fires or the
torches, they would converse together about the truth, questioning
and answering one another. ‘Each man familiarly
and freely objected and replied to what the preacher said;’
and sometimes before they left their posts, the citizens were
resolved in heart upon religious points about which they had
hitherto been in doubt. Not without reason are these ‘conversations
of the bivouac’ recorded here. In later times,
one of the evangelists of Geneva, calling to mind the nocturnal
meetings he had held at the military posts, exclaimed:
‘At these assemblies and watches more people have been
won to the Gospel than by public preaching.’[#]

.fn #
<lang=fr>‘Les luthériens crêveraient par le milieu ... la ville s’abymerait.’</lang>—Froment,
<lang=fr><i>Gestes de Genève</i></lang>, <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 92, 93.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>Registre du Conseil du 15 Mai, 1534. Froment, <i>Gestes de Genève</i>.</lang>
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>Registre du Conseil des 4, 11, 13, 30 Avril; 5, 14, 15, 17, 24, 26 Mai,
and 12 Juin. Sœur Jeanne, <i>Levain du Calvinisme</i></lang>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 89. <abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr> de Berne,
<i>Hist. Helv.</i>, <abbr=five>v.</abbr> 12. Froment, <i>Gestes de Genève</i>, <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 119, 120.
.fn-
.fn #
Farel’s words. See <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 242 of the volume recently published in commemoration
of the tercentenary of his death (<lang=fr><i>Du vrai usage de la croix de
Jesus-Christ</i></lang>, Neuchatel, 1865).
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr><i>Du vrai usage</i></lang>, &c.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Gebennis hac Pentacoste cum innumeri cœnam peragerent dominicam.’</lang>—Haller
to Bullinger, <abbr=fourth>4th</abbr> June, 1534. <abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr> Arch. Eccl. Tigur.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Veterem hominem exuens et se Evangelii captivum exhibens.’</lang>—Haller,
ibid.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Est in miraculum.’</lang>—Haller to Bullinger, <abbr=fourth>4th</abbr> June, 1534. <abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr>
Eccl. Tigur.
.fn-
.fn #
The Spanish cape was a cloak with a hood, in common use at that
time.—<lang=fr>La Sœur Jeanne, <i>Levain du Calvinisme</i></lang>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 89.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>Registre du Conseil du 29 Juin</lang>, 1535. Crespin, <i>Martyrologue</i>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 114.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>Registre du Conseil des 31 Mai et 2 Juin, 1534.</lang>
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>‘Gaigner quelqu’un à la Parolle.’—Froment, <i>Gestes de Genève</i></lang>,
<abbr=page>p.</abbr> 127.
.fn-
.fn #
Froment, <lang=fr><i>Gestes de Genève</i></lang>, <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 126, 127.
.fn-
.sp 4
.h2 id=chap7-11
CHAPTER XI. | BOLDNESS OF TWO HUGUENOTS IN PRISON AND BEFORE THE COURT OF LYONS. | (<sc>May to June 1534.</sc>)
.sp 2
.sn Discussion In The Garden.
In the midst of these dangers and struggles the Huguenots
were not to be consoled for the imprisonment of Maisonneuve.
So long as the intrepid captain of the Lutherans
was threatened with extreme punishment, the triumph of
the evangelicals could not be complete. They feared generally
a fatal termination, for Baudichon and Janin, far from
yielding anything to their adversaries, were boldly spreading
the knowledge of the Gospel in their prison. Janin
was as much at his ease as if he had been in the streets
of Geneva: at the jailer’s table, in the halls and galleries
// File: 317.png
.pn +1
and elsewhere, the armorer argued about the faith.
One day, meeting Jacques Desvaux, a priest of the diocese
of Le Mans, Janin took him to task and tried to convert
him to the Gospel. He spoke to him of the apostles and
the saints, and showed him how they had always taught
doctrines opposed to those of Rome. He did more. A
garden was attached to the prison, and the prisoners were
allowed to walk in it at certain hours. One day, shortly
before the festival of the Rogations, Janin went into it, taking
a French Testament with him, and began to read it.
When he had done he left the book, not unintentionally, on a
low wall, and went away. A priest named Delay (there
was no lack of ecclesiastics in the archiepiscopal prison)
passing near, observed the book, took it up, and, opening it,
read: <i>The New Testament</i>. A Testament in French!
Delay began to examine it: a number of prisoners, priests
and others, gathered round him; he turned over the pages
in search of the First Epistle of <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> John, ‘because on that
day the Church mentioned it,’ but could not find it.[#]

From the place in the garden to which he had retired,
Janin saw Delay looking for something. Going up to him,
the Genevese asked what he wanted. On being told, he
took the book, immediately found the epistle (those laymen
of Geneva knew their Bible better than the priests), and
began to read the first chapter aloud, dwelling upon the
words: <i>The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from
all sin</i>. He stopped, and addressing the prisoners, explained
the words, and drew their attention to two doctrines which,
he said, can never be made to harmonize: that of the Bible,
according to which we are cleansed <i>by the blood of Christ</i>;
and that of Rome, according to which we are cleansed by
meritorious works. ‘You explain the passage wrongly,’ exclaimed
some of his hearers: ‘we must not follow the letter,
but the moral meaning.’ It is an argument we have seen
revived in more recent times. ‘You cannot understand
// File: 318.png
.pn +1
that epistle,’ said a priest, ‘since you are obliged to read
it in French.’—‘Surely I must read it in my own language,’
answered Janin, ‘for I do not understand Latin. God commanded
his apostles to preach the Gospel to all creatures,
and therefore in all languages.’—‘That is true,’ answered
the priests: ‘<lang=la><i>prædicate Evangelium omni creaturæ</i></lang>; but
it is also true that all good Christians draw near our mother,
the Holy Church, to hear Scripture explained by the mouths
of priests and doctors who, in this world, hold the place of
the apostles.’ Janin, who, though honoring the special
ministry of the Word, firmly believed in the universal
priesthood taught by <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Peter,[#] exclaimed boldly: ‘I am
just as much a priest as any man, and can give absolution.
God has made us all priests. I can pronounce the sacramental
words, like the other priests.’ And, if we are to believe
his accusers, he added: ‘You may even utter them in
the house, in the kitchen.’ He then began to repeat aloud:
<lang=la><i>Hoc est corpus meum</i></lang>.[#] Janin was one of those daring
spirits who imagine that the more they startle their hearers,
the more good they do. Still, the ministers, Farel and
Viret, had no warmer friend.

The prisoners who listened to him, wishing, perhaps, to
prolong a discussion that amused them, started the huguenot
again. ‘The Virgin Mary,’ began one. Janin, interrupting
him, said: ‘The Virgin Mary was the noblest woman
that ever existed in the world, inasmuch as she bore in her
bosom Him who has washed us from our sins. But we
must not pray to her or to the saints in paradise.’—‘And
prayers for the dead,’ suggested another.—‘There is no
need of them,’ said the armorer, ‘for as soon as we are
dead, we are saved or condemned for everlasting, and there
is no purgatory.’[#]

.sn Rogation Festival.
On Monday, the <abbr=eleventh>11th</abbr> of May, the festival of the Rogations
// File: 319.png
.pn +1
afforded the prisoners a spectacle calculated to break
the uniformity of their lives. They proceeded to the
garden, and presently a noisy crowd gave indications of the
grand procession, which was now returning to <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> John’s
church, adjoining the archiepiscopal prison, whence it had
started. The priests went first, with crosses and banners,
reciting prayers or singing hymns; after them came the
people. De la Maisonneuve and Janin said that such a
ceremony was an abuse, and that it would have been far
better to have given to the poor the money which those fine
banners had cost. The procession having at last reëntered
the church of <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> John, the singing, shouting, and noise became
insupportable, even in the garden. Baudichon, according
to the evidence of one of his accusers, withdrew,
saying: ‘Those people must be fools and madmen, or do
they imagine that God is deaf?’[#]

The next day the festival continued, and just as the prisoners
were going to dinner, the noise of singing was heard.
It was a new procession. ‘Where do they come from?’
asked Maisonneuve. The jailer’s wife answered: ‘From
the church of <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Cler.’ ‘And what have they been doing
there?’ said Baudichon; ‘have they been looking for <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr>
Cler? They will not find him or God either, for they are
in Paradise; and it is great nonsense to look for them elsewhere.’[#]

On the <abbr='twenty-eighth'>28th</abbr> of May, the depositions made by the prisoners
with reference to the language used on the Rogation
days were read. ‘I would sooner be torn in pieces,’ said
De la Maisonneuve, ‘than have uttered the words contained
in that deposition.’[#] The Court having summoned the
priest Delay before them, the latter declared that he adhered
to the main points, <i>with the exception</i> of the words
// File: 320.png
.pn +1
ascribed to Baudichon. ‘He only said,’ continued Delay,
‘that it would have been better to give the poor the money
paid for the banners. I did not hear him use the other
words.’[#]

Janin, who had hitherto been the most ardent of the
two prisoners, now began to grow dispirited, as is usual with
such temperaments. He looked upon his condemnation to
death as certain; and was quite unmanned by the thought
that he would never see Geneva again. On Whitsunday, a
turnkey having gone to fetch him from his dungeon to hear
a mass which the other prisoners had asked for, Janin, far
from refusing, did not betray the least sign of opposition
during the service, but behaved himself decently, ‘which he
had not been accustomed to do before,’ said one who was
present. He quitted the chapel, dejected and silent. Just
as he was about to re-enter his narrow cell, De la Maisonneuve
came up: he knew the state of his friend’s soul
and desired to cheer him. Leaning against the door, he said
to Janin, who was already inside: ‘Do not fret yourself;
be firm, and make no answer. I would sooner it cost me five
hundred crowns, than that any harm should come to you or
me. My lords of Berne will not suffer them to do us any
mischief.’[#]

.sn Opinion Of Baudichon.
Janin’s alarm was not, however, without foundation: false
evidence multiplied. Louis Joffrillet accused De la Maisonneuve
of having said to him at the door of his master’s
shop: ‘Pshaw! if you were at Geneva I would give you a
horse-load of relics for a dozen <i>aiguilettes</i>.... They
sell relics there at the butchers’ stalls.’[#] On hearing the
unbecoming words ascribed to him, Baudichon exclaimed:
‘That witness is a little brigand, a young thief; he has told
a lie. I demand that he be detained, and (he added in
great anger) I will have him hanged!’ Manicier, Joffrillet’s
// File: 321.png
.pn +1
deposed that he had no recollection of such
words being used by De la Maisonneuve.[#]

All these depositions, De la Maisonneuve’s courage, and
the interest felt for him in high places, created a greater excitement
every day in the second city of France. ‘There
was much noise in Lyons about those two Lutherans of Geneva.’[#]
Some eagerly took their part; others, who detested
them, hoped to see them burnt. But as the two
protestants had powerful protectors, the clergy dared not
proceed to extremities without sufficient proof. The canons
of <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> John sent <abbr=Monsieur>M.</abbr> de Simieux, a gentleman of Dauphiny,
who was related to one of them, to Geneva to try and hunt
up some capital charge against Baudichon. De Simieux
alighted at the Hôtel de la Grue, in the Corraterie, and
immediately entered into conversation with the landlord,
who promised to introduce him to some worthy people, from
whom he would receive accurate information about that
wretched Baudichon.[#]

Meanwhile, the gentleman amused himself by walking up
and down in front of his lodging. Presently he saw fifteen
persons, ‘of the most respectable of the city,’ approaching,
who saluted him and said: ‘We have heard that you are
come from Lyons; is it true that Baudichon is about to be
released?’ De Simieux asked the gentlemen what they
thought of the prisoner. ‘If he is discharged,’ said one of
them, ‘we and all the Catholics in Geneva will be totally
ruined and lost. His accomplices, the Lutherans of the
city, have prepared their plan, and the only thing they are
waiting for, before putting it into execution, is Baudichon’s
release.’ ‘Yes, yes,’ said all the fifteen, ‘we are sure of
it.’[#]
// File: 322.png
.pn +1

De Simieux asked them to specify some overt act. ‘On
Corpus Christi day,’ said one, ‘as the procession was passing
Baudichon’s house, his wife was at the window with her
maid, and both were spinning with their distaffs. When
Madame de la Maisonneuve saw the priests marching before
her <i>all in white</i>, she exclaimed: “Look what fine
<i>goats</i>!” ... as if a flock of those animals had been
passing by twos before her.’[#] As this remark of the wife
was not sufficient to burn the husband, De Simieux asked
for something more. ‘It is notorious,’ they told him, ‘that
Baudichon is the person most employed in seducing the city
of Geneva to the Lutheran heresies; that it was he who
caused the preachers to come; and that, if he is liberated,
everybody will go over to his faith.’[#]

While this conversation was going on in a narrow street,
an official interview of far greater importance was taking
place not far off. Two ambassadors from the King of
France had just arrived at Geneva, and the syndics who
waited upon them declared they thought it very strange that
messieurs of Lyons should presume to give them the law.
The ambassadors promised to speak to the king on the
subject.[#]

.sn Baudichon Locked Up.
Meantime, matters were looking worse at Lyons. On
Thursday, the <abbr=eighteenth>18th</abbr> of June, Florimond Pécoud, the merchant,
seasoned his deposition with some piquant expressions
which he falsely ascribed to Baudichon. ‘Telling him one
day that I had just come from mass,’ said Pécoud, ‘Baudichon
made the remark: “And what did you see there? ...
a slice of turnip, ... nothing more.”’[#] At
these words the prisoner rose indignantly, and said to the
judges: ‘I will not make any reply, I have made too many
already,’ and proceeded to leave the hall. ‘We order you
to stay,’ said the judges; but De la Maisonneuve would not
// File: 323.png
.pn +1
stop. ‘Positively,’ said the judges, looking at each other,
‘he flees our presence.’ To the jailer who was sent after
him to bid him return, he answered haughtily: ‘I am not
disposed at present; let them wait until after dinner.’
Baudichon reappeared in the afternoon, but his anger had
not cooled down. ‘I know that Pécoud,’ he said; ‘he has
cheated the merchants, he has been a bankrupt, and his wife
and he live by the debauchery of others. I guarantee to
prove what I say.’

The next day there was a scene quite as lively. Maisonneuve
having contradicted a witness: ‘I command you to
sit in the dock,’ said the president. ‘I will not sit in the
dock,’ answered the citizen of Geneva; ‘I have sat there too
long.’ This was too much for the judges. The procurator-fiscal
ordered Baudichon to be taken away and put in solitary
confinement: no one was to speak to him. The prisoner
was accordingly removed and locked up.[#]

The Court immediately increased the number of witnesses
for the prosecution: it is useless to name them. De la
Maisonneuve, more indignant than ever, thought it enough
to say: ‘They are false witnesses, tutored to procure my
death.’[#]

Such was indeed the intention of the Court, and, considering
the power of the ecclesiastical tribunals, it seemed impossible
they should fail to attain their end. De la Maisonneuve
was not prepared to die. His knowledge of the
Gospel had stripped death of its terrors in his eyes, but the
work of his life was not terminated: the reformation of Geneva
was not accomplished, there was still many a tough
contest to be fought for liberty. A man of resolution was
wanted at Geneva—a man to launch the bark with energy
towards the happy shores it was to reach. That man was
De la Maisonneuve.

On the <abbr=first>1st</abbr> of July, seeing the eagerness of his adversaries,
he petitioned the court to grant him an advocate.
// File: 324.png
.pn +1
The judges would not consent: the prosecution was difficult
enough already. ‘The case does not require it,’ said the
procurator-fiscal, ‘the accused must answer by his own
mouth. The said Baudichon is not an ignorant man; he is
prudent and <i>astute</i> enough in his business.’[#]

De la Maisonneuve could indeed speak freely in the uprightness
of his heart; but a formal defence alarmed him.
Anticipating, however, the unjust refusal of his judges, he
had resolved to protest against it. Producing certain papers,
he said, as he pointed to them: ‘This document was
written by my own hand; I desire that it be inserted among
the minutes of the trial, and propose to read it word for
word.’ He was permitted to do so; upon which Baudichon,
standing before his judges with the paper in his hand, reminded
them of the fact of his unjust imprisonment, which
had already lasted three months; contended that his judges
had no authority to take cognizance of anything he had done
out of the kingdom, and added: ‘I call upon you to do me
speedy justice; if you refuse, I will prosecute each one of
you, and force you to make compensation and reparation for
the injuries I have suffered.... I appeal to his
Majesty.’[#]

.sn Treatment Of Baudichon.
The vicars-general could not believe their ears. What
impudence! The accused presumes to attack the members
of the Court, and his judges are to be put on their defence.
Are they not the representatives of the Church? ‘You
have no cause to complain of your long detention,’ they said.
‘It proceeds solely from your having refused to answer us.
We cannot send you before the syndics of Geneva, because,
as laymen, they have no cognizance of such matters. Besides,
the king understands that you demur concerning the
offences committed by you in the kingdom of France.’
Then pressing him with questions, they said: ‘Are you a
Christian? What is your faith? Do you believe in the
holy catholic Church? Do you obey our holy father the
// File: 325.png
.pn +1
pope? We are judges of your faith, and we require you to
answer, under pain of excommunication and other lawful
penalties.’ ‘I will not answer,’ returned Maisonneuve, quite
as determined as they, ‘and I appeal from your order to
every court in the kingdom.’ After this answer, Baudichon,
in the eyes of the Court, was nothing but an obstinate
heretic. The inquisitor, Morini, conjured him to return to
the catholic faith. It was useless.[#]

A man who struggled with so much courage against unreasonable
judges, who, in their despotism, claimed the right
to forbid him to display before God the faith, homage, and
obedience which his conscience imposed upon him,—a man
who, in the first half of the sixteenth century, bearded the
inquisitors even in sight of the stake, as if his forehead had
been made <i>of adamant, harder than flint</i>, deserves some respect
from an easier age, which is no longer called to such
combats, and which perhaps would be unable to sustain
them.

.fn #
<abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr> <lang=fr>du Procès inquisitionnel de Lyon. Déposition Desvaux</lang>, <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 99,
100; <lang=fr>Déposition Delay</lang>, <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 112, 113.
.fn-
.fn #
1 <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Peter <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> 9.
.fn-
.fn #
<abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr> <lang=fr>du Procès inquisitionnel de Lyon. Déposition Desvaux</lang>, <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 100-103;
<lang=fr>Déposition Delay</lang>, <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 114, 115, 124.
.fn-
.fn #
Ibid. <lang=fr>Déposition Desvaux</lang>, <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 104, 105; <lang=fr>Déposition Delay</lang>, <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 116,
117.
.fn-
.fn #
<abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr> <lang=fr>du Procès inquisitionnel. Déposition Desvaux</lang>, <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 106, 107;
<lang=fr>Déposition Delay</lang>, <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 118, 119.
.fn-
.fn #
Ibid. <lang=fr>Déposition Galla</lang>, <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 148-151; <lang=fr>Déposition de Gynieux dit Nego</lang>,
<abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 154-156.
.fn-
.fn #
Ibid. <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 121.
.fn-
.fn #
<abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr> <lang=fr>du Procès inquisitionnel</lang>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 124.
.fn-
.fn #
<abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr> <lang=fr>du Procès inquisitionnel. Déposition de Billet</lang>, <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 127-129;
<lang=fr>Déposition de Mochon</lang>, <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 130, 131.
.fn-
.fn #
Ibid. <lang=fr>Déposition de Joffrillet</lang>, <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 136, 137.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>‘Recors de tels propos et paroles.’—MS. du Procès inquisitionnel</lang>, <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr>
138-140; <lang=fr>Déposition de Manicier</lang>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 144.
.fn-
.fn #
Froment, <lang=fr><i>Gestes de Genève</i></lang>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 241.
.fn-
.fn #
Froment, <lang=fr><i>Gestes de Genève</i></lang>. The inn of La Grue was, it would seem,
the projecting corner house on the left as you go from the Rhone, before
reaching the museum.
.fn-
.fn #
<abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr> <lang=fr>du Procès inquisitionnel</lang>, <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 184-196.
.fn-
.fn #
<abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr> <lang=fr>du Procès inquisitionnel</lang>, <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 197, 198.
.fn-
.fn #
Ibid. <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 198-200.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>Registres du Conseil du 10 Juin, 1534.</lang>
.fn-
.fn #
Maisonneuve compared the host to a slice of turnip—one of the commonest
of things.—<lang=fr>MS. du Procès inquisitionnel</lang>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 162.
.fn-
.fn #
<abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr> <lang=fr>du Procès inquisitionnel</lang>, <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 189-191.
.fn-
.fn #
Ibid. <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 222-238.
.fn-
.fn #
<abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr> <lang=fr>du Procès inquisitionnel</lang>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 246.
.fn-
.fn #
Ibid. <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 247-250.
.fn-
.fn #
<abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr> <lang=fr>du Procès inquisitionnel</lang>, <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 251-259.
.fn-
.sp 4
.h2 id=chap7-12
CHAPTER XII. | SENTENCE OF DEATH. | (<sc>July 1534.</sc>)
.sp 2
The judges and priests, though determined to free the
Church from such a dangerous enemy by pronouncing the
capital sentence upon him, resolved to make a last effort to
obtain a condemnatory confession from him. The procurator-fiscal,
looking at Baudichon, said: ‘Considering the
arrogance and temerity of the accused, considering that he
is not sufficiently attainted by the witnesses, we order that
he be <i>constrained</i> to answer <i>concerning his faith</i>, and to that
// File: 326.png
.pn +1
end be put to the torture.’ The noble-minded citizen was
to be exposed to the horrible torments practiced by the inquisitors,
but there were no instructions as to the kind of
torture to be employed.[#] De la Maisonneuve was imprisoned
under the roof. Was the order of the Court carried
out? That is more than we can tell; we have discovered
nothing relative to his punishment; we can only find that he
was treated in a harsh and cruel manner. Appearing before
the Court on the <abbr=thirteenth>13th</abbr> of July, he complained strongly
of the indignities to which he had been exposed. ‘They
have behaved tyrannously to me,’ he said, ‘and shown me
much rudeness and cruelty.’ The judges answered that he
had no grounds of complaint, and that if he wished any
favor he had only to answer concerning his faith. ‘If I
were to remain here a prisoner all my life,’ said Baudichon,
‘I would never answer you, for you are not my
judges.’[#]

The Court then resolved to try if they could not obtain
from him some semi-catholic formula which would authorize
them to publish his recantation, or, in default of that,
some very heretical declaration which would justify their
burning him. A few words uttered with the lips were
enough for certain judges to give life or death. Evangelical
Christianity prescribes an opposite way; words will not satisfy
it: truth must penetrate into the depths of the heart and
abide there by means of a thorough assimilation which transforms
man to the image of God. But, above all, it protests
against constraint; and to those officials, those inquisitors
who imagine they are helping the cause of truth, it exclaims:
‘Leave to God what belongs to God!’ This was
Maisonneuve’s opinion.

.sn Charges Against Baudichon.
The Court and the canons of <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> John, having failed to
obtain any confession from Baudichon, resolved to call a witness
before them who, they thought, must crush him. At
their request, the Bishop of Geneva, who was then at Chambéry,
// File: 327.png
.pn +1
desired father Cautelier, superior of the Franciscan
convent, to proceed to Lyons and give evidence against the
prisoner. On the <abbr=eighteenth>18th</abbr> of July the monk appeared before
the Court, and declared that ‘he had preached daily at
Geneva all through Lent, doing the best he could; that he
had known Baudichon, notoriously reputed as a favorer of
the Lutheran sect, and one Farellus, a very bad man, who
preached that heresy, and others more execrable still, of
which he was the inventor; that one day, being unable to obtain
a license for Farellus to preach, Baudichon came up
with his accomplices; that, in the presence of a very great
multitude of people, he declared he would have Farellus
preach; that thereupon some of his party went and rang the
bell three different times, and that in the same monastery
where he, Cautelier, had preached in the morning, the said
Farellus preached publicly, according to his accursed doctrine,
which he continued to do all through Lent, wearing a
secular dress.’ Then, speaking of the visit made him by
Maisonneuve and Farel, the father superior continued:
‘They asserted that the pope is the beast of the apocalypse,
and that the holy see is not apostolical but diabolical; ...
and Baudichon was so transported with rage and anger, that
he would have set the monastery on fire.’[#]

De la Maisonneuve was then brought in. The two great
adversaries met face to face and kept their eyes fixed on
each other. The energetic huguenot, speaking with calmness,
almost with disdain, said: ‘I know that witness; he is
a bad man.... He preached several heresies at Geneva,
and excited much disturbance among the people.’—‘Heresies!’
exclaimed the astonished judges. ‘What heresies?’
An heretical father superior! that was strange indeed!—‘If
I was at Geneva,’ answered the accused, ‘I
would tell you, but here I shall say no more.’[#]

At the same time the crafty monk had with him a weapon
which, he thought, must infallibly procure Baudichon’s
// File: 328.png
.pn +1
death. Pierre de la Baume, in his quality of bishop and
prince, had given him a sealed letter addressed to the judges,
praying them to send the culprit to him, or at least, to treat
him with all the rigor of justice. Coutelier handed it to
the Court. The bishop informed his ‘good brothers and
friends’ that Maisonneuve had already been convicted of
Lutheran heresy (this was five or six years back), that he
had done penance, and promised him, his bishop, that he
would not go astray again. <lang=la>‘Cum nemini gremium ecclesia
claudat,’</lang> continued La Baume, ‘as the Church shuts her
bosom against no one, I was content to pardon him, but
threatened him with the stake in case of relapse.’ It is
possible that De la Maisonneuve may formerly have had
some conversation of this sort with the bishop, who took advantage
of it. The law threatened very severe penalties
against such as relapsed; they were not allowed a trial, and
were delivered up immediately to the secular arm to be put
to death. ‘I beg you to transfer him to me’ continued the
bishop, ‘to execute justice upon him to the contentment of
<i>God and the world</i>, and the maintenance of our holy faith.’
But a rivalry worthy of Rome existed between the Bishop of
Geneva and the primate of France; each wished to have
the honor of burning the Genevan.[#]

The struggle was natural. The affair had all the more
importance in the eyes of the bishops and priests inasmuch
as Maisonneuve was guilty of a blacker crime in their opinion
than that of Luther and of Farel. He was a <i>layman</i>,
and yet he presumed to reform the Church. The clergy
believed that the intervention of the laity was the most
menacing circumstance possible. A great transformation
was going on: opinion was changing; as the understanding
became enlightened, it condemned abuses and reformed errors.
One of the evils introduced by catholicism, aggravated
still further by the papacy, had been to nullify the
faithful in religious matters. It was endurable that a bishop
should go to war; but for a layman to have anything to say
// File: 329.png
.pn +1
in the Church was inadmissible. This perversion of the
primitive order was pointed out by the reformers: in their
eyes the despotism of priests was still more revolting than
the despotism of kings. A man might, they thought, give
up to another man his house, his fields, his earthly existence;
but to give up to him his soul, his eternal
existence, ... impossible! One of the forces of
protestantism was the influence of the laity; one of the
weaknesses of Roman-catholicism was their exclusion from
the direction of religious interests.

The Bishop of Geneva thought that, by putting that powerful
layman, Maisonneuve, to death, he was dealing the
Reformation a heavy blow. The officials of the archbishop-primate
of France thought the same. There was no doubt
what would be the fate of the proud Baudichon: it was
only a question whether the flames of his funeral pile should
be kindled at Lyons or Chambéry. The judges consequently
asked him if he desired to be sent to Chambéry to be
tried by the Bishop of Geneva; and the prisoner declared
that he preferred remaining in the kingdom of France. De
la Baume gave way, but insisted that the Court should
make haste and punish such a turbulent man. ‘Chastise
him,’ said the bishop, ‘according to the good pleasure of
the king, who has shown in his letters that he is quite inclined
that way. Nay, more, you will do a very meritorious
work before God.’ The Court accordingly began their
preparations for offering up the sacrifice.[#]

.sn Proceedings Of The Magistrates.
The magistrates of Geneva had not remained inactive.
On the <abbr='twenty-third'>23d</abbr> of June the syndics and council of the city
wrote three letters: one to the king’s lieutenant, another to
the burgesses of Lyons, and a third to Diesbach and Schœner,
ambassadors of Berne at the Court of Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr>, declaring
they thought it ‘very strange that Messieurs of
Lyons should wish to give the law to Geneva.’[#] The vicars-general
were not much alarmed: they hoped that the intervention
// File: 330.png
.pn +1
of Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr> would be limited to forbidding Baudichon
de la Maisonneuve to be tried for acts committed in
his own country. Still they judged it prudent to make
haste.

The Court now resorted to its final, solemn, and triple
summons.[#] ‘Baudichon de la Maisonneuve,’ said the president,
‘we adjure you to answer concerning your faith under
pain of excommunication.’ The Genevan was silent.
Thrice the same question was put, thrice there was the same
silence. At last, when the president added: ‘Are you a
Christian?’ he replied: ‘You are not my judges, and never
will be. If I were before the syndics of Geneva, I should
answer so that every one would be satisfied.’ He declared,
however, that he was ready to enter into explanations immediately
concerning any offence he was accused of committing
in France; thus showing that he desired merely to maintain
the rights of his people and of their magistrates. The
Court would not consent: they no doubt understood that
mere table-talk was not sufficient to cause a man to be
burnt. Once more they refused him a counsel. ‘If you can
write,’ they told him, ‘we permit you to set down with your
own hand whatever you please, and we will hear you tomorrow.’
He declared he could not do it without access to
the minutes of the proceedings; to which the Court answered,
that the proceedings must be well known to him.[#]

.sn The Sentence.
The inquiry was over; De la Maisonneuve was returned
to the care of the archbishop’s procurator-general, and the
next day, the <abbr==eighteenth>18th</abbr> of July, he was taken before him. That
personage rose and said: ‘Baudichon de la Maisonneuve,
being manifestly convicted of the crimes and offences mentioned
in the indictment, is by us pronounced heretical, a
great abettor, defender, and protector of the heretics and
heresies which at present swarm so greatly, and as such he
is remitted to the secular arm.’[#]
// File: 331.png
.pn +1

They were in haste to finish. There was a rumor that
the king would deliver the prisoner: they must, therefore,
hurry on the sentence and execution. On the <abbr='twenty-eighth'>28th</abbr> of July
the Court held its last sitting. Two inquisitors were on the
bench, and the final sentence was pronounced:

‘Baudichon de la Maisonneuve,’ said the Court, ‘you
have been fully convicted of having affirmed at Geneva and
elsewhere many heretical propositions of the Lutheran or
Œcolampadian faction;

‘Of having been the chief promoter and defender of
that sect;

‘Of having protected the impure Farel and other persons,
propagators of that perverse doctrine;

‘Of having refused to answer in our presence concerning
your faith;

‘We therefore declare you to be heretical, and the chief
fautor and defender of heresy and heretics;[#]

‘Consequently we deliver you over as such to the secular
arm.’

This was the formula employed by the ecclesiastical
tribunals in pronouncing the capital sentence. De la
Maisonneuve appealed to the king, to the legate, to any
proper authority, and was led back to prison.

The Church, having a horror of blood, delivered Baudichon
to the civil magistrates that they might take the life
of that high-minded man: the captain of the Lutherans
was condemned to death.[#] For a long while people at Geneva,
Lyons, and elsewhere, had been every day expecting
that he would be burnt.[#] Now there could no longer be
any doubt about his fate: the sentence was lawfully pronounced.
The priests triumphed, and the evangelicals
awaited a great sorrow.
// File: 332.png
.pn +1

Many burning piles had already been erected in France,
Germany, and elsewhere, and Christians more earnest than
Maisonneuve, but not freer or more courageous, had perished
on them for their faith. Were the persecutors always
influenced by cruelty and hatred? Were the vicars-general,
the canons of <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> John, the archbishop-primate of
France—all of them thirsting for blood? No doubt there
were malignant fanatics among them, but it would be unjust
to form so severe a judgment of all. Some of them were
upright and perhaps benevolent men, to whom the words
uttered upon the cross might be justly applied: <i>Forgive
them, for they know not what they do</i>. Atrocious as are the
deeds of the persecutors in the sixteenth century, they
easily admit of explanation. A religion convinced of the
truth of its dogmas considers it to be its right and duty to
combat the errors which destroy souls (as it believes); and,
if it is allied with the civil power, makes it a virtue and a
law to borrow the secular sword to purify the Church from
contagion. The fault of such judges—and it is a great
fault—is to put themselves in the place of God, to whom
alone belongs the dominion over conscience; to forget that
religion, being in its nature spiritual, has nothing to do with
constraint, and can be propagated and received by moral
convictions only. The sword, when religion determines to
grasp it, easily becomes insensate and ruthless in her
hands. <i>Put up thy sword into the sheath</i>, said Jesus to
Peter; and those who call themselves Peter’s successors
have been always drawing it. The ground is so slippery,
the gulf so near, that, besides the thousands of cases in
which the Church of Rome during the sixteenth century
suffered that great fall, two or three instances may be
quoted in which even protestants have stumbled.

Three centuries have corrected such lamentable aberrations;
we no longer erect scaffolds, but tribunals, dungeons,
and exile still coerce religious convictions. What must we
do to destroy forever such evils in all their ramifications?
The most effectual remedy would seem to be the separation
// File: 333.png
.pn +1
of the spiritual and temporal power, the destruction of the
links which still unite the ecclesiastical with the civil power.
The doctrine which condemns those fanatical murders has
long prevailed all over evangelical Christendom; at Rome
the acts are tempered, but the principles remain. Modern
civilization is waiting for the time when salutary modifications
between the Church and the State will take from the
former, everywhere and forevermore, the possibility of
again grasping the unholy sword which has poured forth
such torrents of the most generous blood.

.fn #
<abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr> <lang=fr>du Procès inquisitionnel</lang>, <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 260-262.
.fn-
.fn #
<abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr> <lang=fr>du Procès inquisitionnel</lang>, <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 303, 304.
.fn-
.fn #
<abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr> <lang=fr>du Procès inquisitionnel</lang>, <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 324-327.
.fn-
.fn #
<abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr> <lang=fr>du Procès inquisitionnel</lang>, <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 335-338.
.fn-
.fn #
<abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr> <lang=fr>du Procès inquisitionnel</lang>, <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 345-349.
.fn-
.fn #
 <abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr> <lang=fr>du Procès inquisitionnel</lang>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 338.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>Registres du Conseil des 10 et 23 Juin et 7 Juillet, 1534.</lang>
.fn-
.fn #
Friday, <abbr=seventeenth>17th</abbr> July, 1534.
.fn-
.fn #
<abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr> <lang=fr>du Procès inquisitionnel</lang>, <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 339-343.
.fn-
.fn #
Ibid. <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 350-354.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Hæreticæ pravitates et hæreticorum maximum defensorem et factorem.’</lang>—The
sentence is in Latin in the <abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr> <lang=fr>du Procès inquisitionnel</lang>, <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr>
431-435.
.fn-
.fn #
See the letter of Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr> to the Council of Geneva in the archives of
that city.
.fn-
.fn #
Froment, <lang=fr><i>Gestes de Genève</i></lang>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 242.
.fn-
.sp 4
.h2 id=chap7-13
CHAPTER XIII. | THE NIGHT OF JULY THIRTY-FIRST AT GENEVA. | (<sc>July 1534.</sc>)
.sp 2
.sn Effect Of Baudichon’s Imprisonment.
By imprisoning Maisonneuve, the priests had desired to
check the progress of the Gospel, but it had the contrary
effect. The courage of the accused and the injustice of
the accusers increased the determination of the Genevans.
The work of the Reformation was not a work without fore-thought;
it had been long preparing, and advanced step
by step towards the goal by paths which the hand of God
had traced for it. The rich harvests which were to cover
the shores of Lake Leman and to feed so many hungry
souls, were not to spring from the earth in a day; the soil
had long been ploughed and dressed, the seed had been sown,
and therefore the crop was so abundant. The Reformation
was the fruit of a long travail: at one time the secret
operations of divine influence, at another, deeds done by
men in the light of day, was transforming by slow degrees
a somewhat restless but still energetic and generous people.
// File: 334.png
.pn +1

The festival of Corpus Christi was approaching, and the
catholics hoped by that imposing ceremony to bring back
some of those who had left them; but their expectations
were disappointed. The most enlightened and honorable
men of Geneva had no longer any taste for these feasts—not
because of their antiquity, but because they were
in their opinion founded on serious errors, and shocked
their enlightened sentiments. The thought that a wafer,
consecrated by a priest, was about to be paraded through
the city to receive divine honors, revolted evangelical Christians.
They determined not to join in the procession, or to
shut up their houses, but to work as on ordinary days.
When the priests and their adherents heard of this, they imagined
that the Lutherans intended attacking them during
their progress; but, on being reassured, they took courage
and the devout began to file off. There was not the least
act of violence, but only a silent protest; many houses before
which the procession passed were without hangings, and
through the open windows ‘the Lutheran dames were seen
in velvet hoods busily spinning with their distaffs or working
with their needles.’ Vainly did the priests sing and the
splendid cortège defile through the streets: the velvet-hooded
ladies remained motionless. Gross insults would not have
enraged the devotees so much. One of them seeing a window
open on the ground-floor and a protestant lady filling
her distaff, reached into the room, snatched away the distaff,
struck her violently on the head with it, threw it into
the mud, trampled on it, and disappeared among the crowd.
The startled lady screamed out, and (says Sister Jeanne)
nearly died of fright. Notwithstanding this act of violence,
the protestants remained quiet. Everything helped the
cause of Reform: neither the grotesque nor unseemly dances
of the populace, nor the sanctimonious processions of the
clergy, were able to paralyze in Geneva the power of the
doctrine from on high.[#]
// File: 335.png
.pn +1

An act of a new convert still further increased the murmurs.
When Louis Bernard threw off the surplice he returned
to civil life: he soon became a member of the Two
Hundred, and afterwards of the Executive Council. Being
an upright man and desirous of leading a Christian life, he
married a widow of good family, and Viret blessed their
union. The marriage created a great sensation. ‘What!’
exclaimed the catholics, ‘priests and monks with wives!’
‘Yes!’ rejoined the reformers, ‘you think it strange they
should have lawful wives, but you were not surprised when
they had unlawful wives, the practice was so general.
What foxy consciences are yours! You confess to brushing
off the dew with your tail as you crossed the meadows, but
not of having stolen the poor man’s poultry!’ Bernard
justified by his conduct the step that he had taken. The
men who had been dissolute priests became good fathers,[#]
and society was gainer by the exchange.

.sn Discussion Before The Council.
But the priests did not think so. Master Jean, the vicar
of <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Gervais, a zealous man and noisy talker, having
heard of Bernard’s marriage, exclaimed from the pulpit:
‘Where is the discipline prescribed by the church, where
are the commandments of the pope? Oh, horror! priests
marry after they have taken the vow of chastity!’ The
question of marriage and celibacy was discussed before the
Council; the priest and Viret, who had given the nuptial
benediction, were summoned to the Hôtel-de-ville. The
reformer maintained that marriage is honorable to all men.
<abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Paul, when directing that the minister of the Lord
should not have several wives, shows that we must not constrain
him to have none at all, and if the apostle insists
that he must be a good father, it follows evidently that he
should be married. ‘Those who issue from the dens of
the solitary and idle life called monkery or celibacy,’ said
one of the reformers, ‘are like savages; while the government
of a household is an apprenticeship for the government
of the Church of God.’  The vicar supported his
// File: 336.png
.pn +1
opinion by bad arguments,’ says the ‘Register,’ ‘and wandered
far from the truth.’ ‘Do not corrupt the Gospel, or
else we shall take proceedings against you,’ said the premier-syndic.
The poor dumbfoundered vicar stammered
out a few excuses and retired, promising to teach in future
in conformity with their lordships’ instructions.[#]

But they had no sooner shut his mouth on the question of
marriage, than he opened it on that of baptism. ‘Do these
heretics imagine,’ he exclaimed, ‘that the Holy Ghost can
descend into the heart by other channels than the priests?...
They baptize in rooms, in gardens, without blowing
upon the child to drive away the wicked one.... They
are <lang=la><i>ipso facto</i></lang> excommunicate.’

The independence of Church and State was not understood
in the sixteenth century. Farel complained to the
Council, and the priest was about to yield, when some laymen,
irritated by the defeat of Rome, came to his assistance.
‘Are these heretics already giving us the law in Geneva?’
they said to the council. ‘Only the other day they were
satisfied to speak, and now they want to hinder us from doing
so. We demand that it be as permissible for Master
Jean to preach as it is for Master Farel.’ The syndic replied
frankly:—‘We have not forbidden the vicar to
preach: on the contrary we order him to preach the Gospel.’[#]
It was not then understood that to command a man to preach
what he did not believe was more tyrannical than to silence
him.

Farel, Viret, and the vicar were in attendance; they
were led into the council chamber, and the discussion began
immediately. ‘The Holy Ghost,’ said Farel, ‘can act without
the aid of priests. It is faith in the power of Christ’s
blood that cleanseth us from our sins, and baptism is the
evidence of that absolution. But where have you read
that it must be celebrated with oil, salt, and other rubbish?[#] ...
// File: 337.png
.pn +1
I know very well that this strange trumpery is of
ancient origin.... The devil very early began to
indulge in heavy jokes, and all these baubles come from him.
Let us put aside these pomps and shows that dazzle the eyes
of the simple, but brutalize their understanding, and let us
celebrate the rite of baptism simply, according to the Gospel
form, with fair water, in the name of the Father, Son,
and Holy Ghost.’ The embarrassed vicar quoted the authority
of the pope in his defence, and highly extolled the
two swords that are in his hand. ‘That is an idle allegory,’
said the reformer, ‘and a sorry jest.... There are
two powers indeed: one in the Church, the other in the
State. The only power in the Church is the Word of
Christ, and the only power in the State is the sword.’ That
distinction gave much pleasure, and the secretary entered it
on the minutes. An important transformation was going
on: the civil power was lifting its head and beginning to
brave that spiritual power which had humbled it for so long.
The syndic kindly entreated Farel ‘to take it all in good
part;’ but turning with severity towards the vicar, ordered
him again ‘to preach in accordance with the truth.’ ‘Do
you forbid me to preach any more?’ asked the priest,
abashed. The syndic answered him a little harshly: ‘You
are forbidden nothing, except lying.’ This marks a new
phase of the Reformation in Geneva. The monks who remained
faithful to <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Francis were alarmed in their convent
at Rive, and said: ‘Let us make haste to carry away
our altar-ornaments and jewels.’ ... The Council opposed
this, and ordered those precious objects to be kept in
safe custody.[#]

.sn Alarming Rumor.
While the magistracy of Geneva held back from catholicism,
the partisans of the pope in the surrounding country
were preparing to support it. An alarming rumor had been
circulating in the city for some days; and the vicar and the
reformer had scarcely withdrawn, when several members
of the Council expressed their fears. ‘The bishop, in concert
// File: 338.png
.pn +1
with the duke, has formed the design of invading us,’
they said. ‘At a banquet, at which two hundred persons were
present, a formidable conspiracy was planned against our
liberties. Wherever you go, you hear nothing but threats
against the city. Many of our fellow-citizens have gone
out to join the enemy, and are preparing to attack us, with
the gentry of the neighborhood.’ Captain-General Philippe
was ordered ‘to be on the look-out,’ and many placed their
hands and their lives at his disposal. It was true that
Pierre de la Baume, having formed a new plot, had come
to an understanding with the Genevese episcopals and the
lords of Friburg; and quitting, not without reluctance, his
delightful residence at Arbois, he had gone to Chambéry to
concert measures with the duke. A Romish camarilla
stimulated the two princes. The most fervid of the mamelukes,
and of the lords of Savoy and of Vaud, had arranged
a meeting for a hunting match at the foot of the
Voirons, and there arrangements had been made for ‘hunting
down’ the heresy of Geneva. ‘Every one there is running
after this new word,’ they told the duke. ‘There is
but one means of safety left, and that is, to destroy the city
and the heretics by making war upon them, and then restoring
the prelate by force.’ Forthwith the plan was arranged
‘of the most dangerous treason that had yet been aimed at
Geneva.’ The duke hoped to become master of the city,
and to re-establish the papal power in it. He had no doubt
that catholicity, far from being jealous of his conquest, would
be eager to applaud it. To insure success, he determined
to ask the help of France, and to that end applied to the
Cardinal de Tournon. It was proposed that Pierre de la
Baume should resign his see to one of the duke’s sons, the
young Count of Bresse, and a handsome compensation was
offered him. Maisonneuve, the captain of the Lutherans, a
man so generally dreaded, being then in prison at Lyons, it
was desirable to take advantage of his absence, and the last
day of July was fixed for the execution of the enterprise.[#]
// File: 339.png
.pn +1

The Councils of Geneva, in great alarm, sent John Lullin
and Francis Favre to Berne to ask the advice and assistance
of those powerful allies. At the same time they ordered
the bells of the Convent of <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Victor and others to be
cast into cannon, and directed the captains of the city to
take the necessary measures for putting it into a state of defence.
And, lastly, wishing to deprive the enemies of Geneva
of every pretext, the Council determined to punish
those who had ‘ill-advisedly broken the images of the convent
at Rive;’ and declared, that <i>though such images ought
to be taken down and destroyed, according to God’s law</i>, yet
‘those persons’ ought not to have done it without order and
permission, because it was <i>an act pertaining to the magistracy</i>.
In consequence of this, six men, of whom little was
known, were imprisoned on the <abbr='twenty-sixth'>26th</abbr> July.[#]

.sn Enthusiasm In Geneva.
Great was the enthusiasm in Geneva. The citizens were
ready to give up everything ‘to follow the right path,’ and
the Reformation still advanced, notwithstanding the great
danger with which it was threatened. Some even chose
this moment to confess their faith. The last Sunday in July,
a few hours before the day when the enemy intended to enter
Geneva, a member of the Dominican order, that pillar
of the papacy, ‘after the bell had bidden the people to the
sermon,’ appeared before the congregation, took off his monastic
dress, went into the pulpit, and then, ‘like a madman,’
prayed God to have pity on him. He bewailed himself,
asked pardon of his listeners for having ‘lived so ill in
times past, and so monstrously deceived everybody.’ ‘I
have preached indulgences,’ he continued, ‘I have praised
the mass, I have extolled the sacraments and ceremonies of
the Church. Now I renounce them all as idle things. I desire
to find but one thing—the grace of Christ crucified
for me.’ After which he preached an heretical sermon.[#]

These conversions increased the dangers of Geneva, by exciting
the wrath of the catholics. Four days after the
// File: 340.png
.pn +1
touching confession of the Dominican the projected plot was
to be carried out. The Savoyard troops, assembling at a little
distance from the city, were to approach it under cover
of the darkness. One detachment would arrive by the lake
and the tower guard, bribed by ten crowns, would let the
boats pass without firing on them. Within the city, more
than three hundred foreigners had entered separately and
stealthily, and were hidden in catholic houses. In the middle
of the night <abbr rend=spell>F.</abbr> du Crest was to go to the Molard with fire-arms
and hoist a red flag. The firing of a heavy culverine
would be the signal for the priests to come to the support of
their friends. Certain episcopals would mount to the roofs
of their houses with lighted torches to summon the foreign
troops to approach. The catholics of Geneva and their allies
would then leave their houses; three of the city gates
were to be forced by a locksmith of their party, the troops
would enter, and Genevans and strangers would advance
shouting: ‘Long live our prince, monseigneur of Geneva!’
The friends of independence and reform, thus caught between
two fires, would be unable to make any resistance. Then
would begin the executing of the judgment of God: if it
had been waited for long, it would only be the more terrible
now. The pious soldiers of the Church would fall upon the
Lutherans and put them to death. The city would be
purged of all those seeds of the gospel and liberty which
were choking, within its walls, the ancient and glorious plants
of feudalism and popery. Finally to complete their work,
the conquerors would share the property of the vanquished,
which the bishop had in anticipation confiscated for their
benefit, and Geneva, forever bound to Rome, would thus become
its slave and never its rival.[#]

On the <abbr='twenty-ninth'>29th</abbr> and <abbr=thirtieth>30th</abbr> July all began to move round the
city. On the north, the Marshal of Burgundy, the bishop’s
brother, was to descend into the valley of the Leman, with
// File: 341.png
.pn +1
six thousand men, raised in imperial Burgundy. On the
south, the Duke of Savoy had obtained permission of the
king of France to enlist in Dauphiny, ‘persons experienced
in war.’ Numerous soldiers—some coming by land, others
by water—were expected from Chablais, Faucigny, Gex,
and Vaud. A galley and other boats had been fitted out
near Thonon, to which place the artillery of Chillon had
been removed. Several corps were marching on Geneva.
The bishop, who was anything but brave, did not wish to
leave Chambéry; but the duke, to encourage him, gave him
a body-guard of two hundred well-armed men, and Pierre
de la Baume quitted, not without alarm, the capital of Savoy
early in the morning of the 30th July, and halted at Lé-luiset,
a village situated about two leagues from Geneva,
where he intended to wait in safety the issue of the affair.

The corps nearest to Geneva appeared. Savoyard troops
under the command of Mauloz, castellan of Gaillard,
reached their station in front of the <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Antoine Gate.
Armed men from Chablais advanced along the Thonon
road as far as Jargonnant, in front of the Rive gate. Other
bands prepared to enter by the gate on the side of Arve
and Plainpalais. Barks and boats filled with soldiers arrived
in the waters that bathed the city. The army that
was to cross the Jura, and other corps, did not appear; but
the assembled forces were sufficient for the coup-de-main.[#]

.sn Levrat, The Traitor.
While these manœuvres were going on without, everything
seemed going on well within. The man entrusted with the
care of the artillery, and who was called Le Bossu (the
Hunchback), had been bribed. In the evening Jean Levrat,
‘one of the most active of the traitors,’ had prowled about
his dwelling, and the keeper, not wishing to be compromised,
had handed him through a loophole the keys of the tower of
Rive, where the cannons had been stored. Levrat and his
accomplices spiked several, and Le Bossu had filled others
// File: 342.png
.pn +1
with hay. The blacksmith had counterfeited the keys of
the city, and made iron implements to break down the gates.[#]
The most lively emotion prevailed in the houses of all the
catholics. Party walls had been broken through, so that
they could go from one to another and concert matters secretly.
Michael Guillet, Thomas Moine, Jacques Malbuisson,
De Prato, Jean Levrat, and the Sire de Pesmes, went
to and fro watching that no man shrank back.

Throughout the whole of the <abbr=thirtieth>30th</abbr> of July the Councils
and the reformed remained in complete ignorance of the
blow that was impending. They knew of the threats, but
did not believe there was any danger, so that in the evening
of the <abbr=thirtieth>30th</abbr> they had gone to rest as quietly as usual.
In the early part of the night a stranger desired to speak
with the premier-syndic on urgent business. Michael Sept
received him. ‘I am from Dauphiny,’ said the man: ‘I
am a hearer of the Word of God, and should grieve to see
Geneva and the Gospel brought to destruction. The duke’s
army is marching upon your city; a number of soldiers are
already assembled all round you, and very early this morning
the bishop left Chambéry to make his entrance among
you.’ It was a fellow-countryman of Farel and Froment
that undertook to save Geneva. But was there still time?
The premier-syndic immediately communicated the intelligence
to his colleagues, and it was resolved to arrest some
of those who were always ready to make common cause
with the enemy outside. The syndics questioned them,
confronted them with one another, and gradually saw the
horrible plot unravelled, of which they had until that moment
been ignorant.[#] All the citizens upon whom they
could rely were called to arms. It was not yet midnight.
// File: 343.png
.pn +1

The episcopals, who had not gone to bed, waited in excitement
for the appointed hour. A great number of canons
and priests had assembled in the house of the canon of
Brentena, Seigneur of Menthon, belonging to an illustrious
family of Savoy. They congratulated one another that the
plot had been so well arranged, and nothing in that assembly
of ecclesiastics was talked of but torches, banners, and
artillery. In a short time, however, one of their party came
in, and told them that the huguenots were arming everywhere.
The reverend members of the chapter ran to the
window, and saw with affright a numerous patrol marching
by. The alarm spread; not an episcopal dared venture
out: they hid the red flag, the signal for the murder of the
huguenots. One hope only remained; the troops round
Geneva were amply sufficient to secure the triumph of the
bishop.[#]

.sn Waiting For The Signal.
And indeed the number of soldiers round the city was
very great. Playing on the word <i>Geneva, gens nova</i>, the
leaders had chosen for their watchword this cruel phrase:
<lang=fr><i>Nous ferons ici gent nouvelle</i></lang>,[#] that is to say, they would extirpate
the evangelicals from Geneva and replace them by
catholic Savoyards. They waited for the appointed signal
and turned their eyes to the roofs of the houses from which
the torches were to be waved. They fancied that some had
been seen, but had soon disappeared. While the anxious
officers were asking what was to be done, some of the soldiers
noticed a simple-looking boy walking about on the hill,
peering innocently about him, but constantly getting nearer
to the city gates. He was taken before Mauloz the castellan
and <abbr=Monsieur>M.</abbr> de Simon, another of the leaders, who asked him
what he was doing there at such an hour of the night.
The boy, who seemed greatly embarrassed, answered, ‘I
am looking for the mare I lost.’ It was not the case.

Three of the best citizens of Geneva, Jean d’Arlod, auditor,
// File: 344.png
.pn +1
the zealous Étienne d’Adda, and Pontet, happening to
be at La Roche, three or four leagues from Geneva, in the
evening, had heard the enterprise talked of, and had immediately
mounted their horses in order to reach the gates
before the enemy.[#] Pushing rapidly along the by-roads,
they stopped at a farm-house a short distance from the city,
where they learnt that the Savoyard troops were already
under the walls. D’Arlod directed one of the farm-servants
to go and see if they could enter. <abbr=Monsieur>M.</abbr> de Simon and Mauloz
the castellan, impatient to know the cause of the delay, determined
to make use of this poor boy, of whose innocence
they felt no doubts. ‘Hark ye!’ they said to him; ‘go and
see whether the Rive and <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Antoine gates are open.’
The lad, who was very unwilling to serve as a scout to the
Savoyards, replied: ‘Oh! I should be afraid they would
kill me.’ At that instant Mauloz, whose attention was
divided between the youth and the houses on which the
torches were to be displayed, exclaimed, ‘There is one!’
A brilliant light appeared over the city: the whole force
hailed it with joy, and the two captains could not turn away
their eyes. The light appeared and disappeared, returned,
and was again eclipsed, and every time it came in sight,
strange to say, it looked more elevated. Higher and higher
it rose; already it overtopped the tallest chimneys. There
was something extraordinary about it, and the Savoyards
began to grow uneasy. ‘Why, can it be so?’ said those who
knew Geneva; ‘the light is ascending the spire of <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr>
Pierre!... Yes, it is so ... that is where the
main watch of the city is stationed in time of danger.’ At
last the light ceased to move; it halted at the top of the
spire, which was built on the crest of the hill. It thus
brooded over the city, and seemed turned upon the Savoyard
army, like the glaring eye of the lion shining through the
midnight darkness of the desert. Then a panic terror
seized the soldiers of Charles <abbr='the third'>III.</abbr>; their features were disturbed,
their hearts quaked. Mauloz, who had kept his eyes
// File: 345.png
.pn +1
fixed on the threatening apparition, turned in despair
towards <abbr=Monsieur>M.</abbr> de Simon, who was already moving off, and exclaimed:
‘We are discovered: we are betrayed! We shall
not enter Geneva to-night.’ The young messenger, finding
that nobody took heed of him, ran off to the farm to tell
D’Arlod and his friends what had taken place.[#]

.sn Retreat Of The Savoyards.
Yet the lion’s eye still glared above the city. ‘The
sugar-plums are all ready for our supper,’ said the men-at-arms.[#]
Every one thought of retiring: Mauloz and Simon
gave orders for the retreat. As day was beginning to
break, the Genevese look-outs stationed on the tower saw
the Savoyards filing off in the direction of Castle Gaillard,
with drums beating and colors flying.

The Genevan catholics were in suspense no longer: their
enterprise had miscarried. They were stupefied and furious
against their allies. One of them, Francis Regis, said with
a great oath: ‘We are ruined and undone: those gentlemen
are not worth a straw. We made the signals, everything
was in good order, but the gentry deceived us.’[#] As for
the bishop, he was more frightened than disappointed.
When the terrible beacon shone out from the temple of <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr>
Pierre’s, some men, commissioned to keep him informed of
what was going on, had started off full gallop, and reported
to him the ominous words of the ferocious Mauloz: ‘We are
betrayed!’ Instantly the poor prelate mounted his horse,
and rode hastily away to join the duke.

When the sun rose, not an enemy was to be seen about
the city. The Genevans could not believe their eyes: the
events of that memorable night seemed almost miraculous,
and they were transported with joy, like men who have been
saved from death. All the morning the streets were filled
with people; they exchanged glances, they shook hands with
// File: 346.png
.pn +1
each other; many blessed God; some could not believe that
their catholic fellow-citizens were cognizant of the plot.
One little incident removed every doubt. As some citizens
happened to be passing the house of the keeper of the artillery,
they heard the shrill voice of a woman screaming in
great emotion: ‘Ha! traitor! you are betraying me as you
betrayed the city!’ ... A man replied with abuse
and blows; the screams of the wretched creature became
louder and louder, and the coarse voice of another woman
was mingled with hers. It was the Bossu, his wife, and
servant: the keeper of the artillery had been surprised by
his wife in flagrant infidelity. The huguenots, hearing the
uproar, stopped and entered the house. ‘Yes,’ screamed
the wife louder than ever; ‘yes, traitor, you gave Jean
Levrat the keys through the loop-hole.’ Levrat, the Bossu,
and the locksmith were immediately arrested.[#]

The leaders of the conspiracy remained, as usual, at liberty.
Skulking in their houses, Guillet, De Prato, Perceval
de Pesmes, the two Du Crests, the two Regis, and many
others, knew well that they merited death more than Portier;
and, affrighted like the hare in its form, which pricks
up its ears to listen for the pursuing huntsman, they started
at the slightest noise, and fancied every moment that the
syndics or their officers were coming. As no one appeared,
they formed a desperate resolution: disguising themselves in
various ways, they left their houses and escaped; ‘and never
returned to the city again,’ says Froment. The bishop’s
conspiracy with Portier and the Pennets had forced several
catholics to leave the council; the project of a night attack
obliged many to leave Geneva. Every effort made by
catholicism to rise helped it to descend, and every blow
aimed at the Reformation for its destruction raised it still
higher. The citizens remarked to one another, reports a
contemporary, who has recorded the words: ‘It was God
who brought down the hearts of our enemies, both without
// File: 347.png
.pn +1
and within, so that they could not make use of their
strength.’[#]

.sn Vigilance And Meditation.
Meanwhile Geneva was not at ease. The Marshal of Burgundy
and the Governor of Chablais had not appeared; and
the enemy might have withdrawn only to wait for these
powerful reinforcements. All the citizens were called to
arms. ‘Throughout that week a strong guard was kept up,
and the gates of the city were closed.’ As the episcopals
had often had recourse to the bells to summon their partisans,
‘it was forbidden to ring the church-bells either day
or night.’ A silence, accompanied with meditation and vigilance,
prevailed through the city. The inhabitants were
ready to sacrifice their lives, and showed their resolution by
a deep earnestness, and not by idle boasts. The preachers
would converse with the soldiers, speaking familiarly to them
of <i>the good fight</i>, and the soldiers never grew tired of listening
to them. ‘What a new way of making war,’ said
many. ‘In old times the soldiers used to have dissolute
women with them at their posts, but now they have preachers,
and instead of debauchery and filthy language, every
thing is turned to good.’[#]

Could such generous zeal save the city from the attacks
of Savoy supported by France, Friburg, Burgundy, and the
mamelukes? There were men who shook their heads with
sorrow and ‘lived in fear and despondency.’ But ‘a friend
sticketh closer than a brother.’ On the morning after the
enterprise, a delegate from Lausanne arrived in Geneva,
and although the Duke had given orders that the Estates of
Vaud should make common cause with him, the messenger
said: ‘We are ready, brethren, to send you a hundred arquebusiers
if you want them.’ Neuchâtel made a similar
offer. Berne commissioned Francis Nägeli the treasurer,
the banneret Weingarten, and two other citizens, to exhort
// File: 348.png
.pn +1
the Duke and Marshal of Burgundy to desist from hostilities.
The Swiss cantons, assembled at Baden, forwarded a similar
message to Charles <abbr='the third'>III.</abbr>

The partisans of the pope and of the bishop saw that as
their enterprise had miscarried, their cause was lost. The
leaders had escaped at first: now the flight became general.
Even the friends of the Genevese franchises began to leave
the city; it was, therefore, natural that the fanatics should
depart to swell the ranks of the mamelukes. They took
with them all they could carry, and used various stratagems
to get out of the city, stealing away cautiously by night.
Some took refuge on the left shore of the lake; a greater
number in the castle of Peney, on the right bank of the
Rhone, whence they kept the Genevese population continually
on the alert. Their wives and children, left behind in
the city, held secret interviews with them at the foot of the
steep cliffs which line the banks of the river, and told them
all the news. No Genevan citizen could start for Lyons
without the refugees at Peney being informed of it; they
were always on the look-out for travellers. It was a strange
phenomenon, of which history presents, however, more than
one example, this opposition of the papists and feudalists to
civil and religious liberty degenerating into brigandage.[#]

The flight of the episcopalian laity destroyed the power
of the clergy, whose support they were, and made the reformers
masters of the situation. Geneva was resolved to
keep within her walls none but those who were ready to
shed their blood for her. One night when the drum called
citizens to arms a timid man bade his wife say he was absent:
some of his neighbors, however, forced their way into
his chamber and found him hidden in bed, pretending to
have the fever: he shook, indeed, but it was with fear. The
coward was banished from the city for life, under pain of being
flogged if he returned: a year later, however, he was
// File: 349.png
.pn +1
indulgently readmitted, ‘because it is not given to every
man to have the courage of a Cæsar,’ says the ‘Register’;
but he was always looked upon as an alien. Courage was
at that time one of the qualifications necessary for Genevese
citizenship.[#]

.sn Frightened Nuns.
While the mamelukes were indulging in highway robbery
without the city, the weaker members of the episcopal party
who still remained within it were living in fear. Their
persons, their worship, their convents were respected: not a
hair of their heads was touched; but they trembled lest the
outrages of the refugees at Peney should excite the huguenots
to take their revenge. The nuns especially were in
perpetual alarm. One night, between eleven and twelve
o’clock, the sisters of <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Claire were startled from their
slumbers by a loud knocking at the door: scared at the
noise, they listened with beating hearts. Then other knocks
were heard. Faint and trembling, they crept from their
beds. The huguenots are surely coming to avenge on them
the perfidious night of the <abbr='thirty-first'>31st</abbr> of July! ‘The heretics,’
they whispered one to another, ‘have broken down the gates
of the convent.’ The nuns ascribing guilty intentions to
them, ran to the abbess in dismay: ‘My dear children,’ said
she, ‘fight valiantly for the love of God.’ They waited, but
nobody came.

The youngest of the nuns, who had been at service overnight
with the rest of the community, and made drowsy by
the long prayers, had fallen into a sound sleep; the under-superior
had locked her in the church without observing
her. About eleven o’clock the unlucky sister awoke: she
looked round, and could not make out where she was....
At last she recognized the chapel; but the darkness, the
loneliness, the place itself—all combined to frighten her.
She fancied she could see the dead taking advantage of that
silent hour to quit their graves and wander through the
church.... Her limbs refused to move. At length she
// File: 350.png
.pn +1
summoned up courage and rushed to the door. It was
locked. In her fright, she gave it a violent blow. It was
this which woke the sisters. Then she listened, and as no
one came, she knocked again three times, as loud as she
could.

While this was going on, the abbess prepared to receive
the wolves who were about to devour her innocent lambs.
She first desired to know if all her flock were present, and
to her great anguish discovered that one was missing. Then
another knock, louder than all the rest, was heard. ‘Let us
go forth,’ said the abbess, ‘and enter the church, for it will
be better for us to be before God than in the dormitory.’
They descended the stairs; the abbess put the key into the
lock, opened the door ... and found before her the
young nun, who, pale as death fainted away at her feet.[#]

The tales that men took pleasure in circulating, and sometimes
even printing, about the reformers and the reformed,
about Calvin and Luther in particular, often had no more
reality than the imaginations of the nuns of <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Claire as to
the designs of the huguenots, which had given the poor girls
such a terrible fright; and they were less innocent.

.fn #
<lang=fr>Registre du Conseil du 2 Juin, 1534.—La sœur Jeanne, <i>Levain du
Calvinisme</i></lang>, <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 89, 90.
.fn-
.fn #
Froment, <lang=fr><i>Gestes de Genève</i></lang>, <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 127-129; <abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr> de Gautier.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>Registre du Conseil du 8 Juin, 1534.—MS. de Gautier; La sœur
Jeanne, <i>Levain du Calvinisme</i></lang>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 88.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>Registres du Conseil des 20 et 24 Juillet, 1534.—MS. de Gautier.</lang>
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Aliis unguentis.’</lang>—<lang=fr>Registres du Conseil du 24 Juillet, 1534.</lang>
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>Registres du Conseil des 30 Juin et 24 Juillet, 1534.—MS. de Gautier.</lang>
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>Registres du Conseil des 23 Juin et 7 Juillet, 1534.—Froment, <i>Gestes de
Genève</i></lang>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 123; Ruchat, <abbr=three>iii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 334.—MS. de Gautier.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>Registres du Conseil des 24, 26 Juin, 17, 26, 27, 28 Juillet, 1534.</lang>
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>La Sœur Jeanne, <i>Levain du Calvinisme</i></lang>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 94.
.fn-
.fn #
<i>Chron.</i> <abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr> de Roset, <abbr=book>liv.</abbr> <abbr=three>iii.</abbr> <abbr=chapter>ch.</abbr> xxvii.—MS. de Gautier.—Froment,
<lang=fr><i>Gestes de Genève</i></lang>, <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 123, 124.—<lang=fr>Procès aux Archives.—Gaberel, Pièces
Justificatives.—Papiers Galiffe, communiqués par M. A. Roget</lang>, <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> 115.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr><i>Chron.</i> de Roset.—Registre du Conseil des 17, 28, 31 Juillet, 1534.</lang>—Ruchat,
<abbr=three>iii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 325.—Vulliemin, <lang=fr><i>Histoire de la Suisse</i></lang>, <abbr=eleven>xi.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 89.—Froment,
<lang=fr><i>Gestes de Genève</i></lang>, <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 123-125.
.fn-
.fn #
Froment, <lang=fr><i>Gestes de Genève</i></lang>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 123.
.fn-
.fn #
Our account of the manner in which the plot was discovered is founded
on the testimony of many witnesses. Froment, <lang=fr><i>Gestes de Genève</i></lang>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr>
125; Roset (<i>Chron.</i> <abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr> <abbr=book>liv.</abbr> <abbr=three>iii.</abbr> <abbr=chapter>ch.</abbr> xxvii.), and the minutes or Register of
the Council which were drawn up by Roset’s father. Other versions, differing
from this narrative, do not appear to us to repose upon such solid
foundations.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>Registre du Conseil du 31 Juillet, 1534.</lang>—<i>Chron.</i> <abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr> de Roset.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Faciemus hic gentem novam.’</lang>—<i>Geneva restituta</i>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 73. ‘We will
make a new people here.’
.fn-
.fn #
Registre du Conseil <i>in loco</i>.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>Registre du Conseil du 25 Janvier, 1537</lang>. It was not until then that
D’Arlod related to the Council of Two Hundred what had happened to
him three years before. <i>Chron.</i> <abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr> de Roset, <abbr=book>liv.</abbr> <abbr=three>iii.</abbr> <abbr=chapter>ch.</abbr> <abbr='twenty-seven'>xxvii.</abbr>
.fn-
.fn #
The soldiers played upon the word <i>dragée</i>—which means small-shot as
well as sweetmeats.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>Déposition de Jacques Maguin. Papiers Galiffe.</lang> A. Roget, <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 116.
.fn-
.fn #
Froment, <lang=fr><i>Gestes de Genève</i></lang>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 125. <lang=fr>Registre du Conseil du 31 Juillet,</lang>
1534. <i>Chron.</i> <abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr> de Roset.
.fn-
.fn #
Michel Roset, <abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr> Froment, <lang=fr><i>Gestes de Genève</i></lang>, <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 123-125. <lang=fr>Registre
du Conseil du 7 Août, 1534.</lang>
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>La sœur Jeanne, <i>Levain du Calvinisme</i></lang>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 92. Froment, <lang=fr><i>Gestes de Genève</i></lang>,
<abbr=page>p.</abbr> 126. <abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr> de Gautier.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>Registre du 30 Septembre, 1534</lang>. The ruins of the castle of Peney were
still to be seen a few years ago near Satigny, between the Lyons and Geneva
railway and the Rhone.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>Registres du Conseil des 4, 12, 13 Août, 4 Septembre, 1534: 27 Janvier,
1535.</lang>
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>La Sœur Jeanne, <i>Levain du Calvinisme</i></lang>, <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 92-94.
.fn-
.sp 4
.h2 id=chap7-14
CHAPTER XIV. | AN HEROIC RESOLUTION AND A HAPPY DELIVERANCE. | (<sc>August and September, 1534.</sc>)
.sp 2
The friends of independence and of the Reformation had
better grounded anxieties than those of the nuns of <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr>
Claire: they understood that the attack had only been adjourned,
and that they must hold themselves ready for severe
// File: 351.png
.pn +1
struggles. Accordingly, Geneva mustered all her forces.
‘Let those who are abroad return home,’ said the Council:
but alas! two of the most intrepid were in the prisons
of the French primate, and about to be sent to the stake.
The sentence condemning Baudichon de la Maisonneuve
and his friend to death had been pronounced, as we have
seen. They had been delivered by the priests to the secular
arm, and were about to be executed, when a fresh attempt
was made in their behalf.

.sn Tales About Parel.
There was a patrician family in Berne, illustrious for its
ancient nobility and valor, some of whose members had rendered
signal services to France. In the <abbr=fifteenth>15th</abbr> century,
Nicholas of Diesbach, the avoyer, allied that puissant republic
with Louis <abbr='the eleventh'>XI.</abbr> against Charles the Bold, and had
gained several victories over the Burgundian forces. At
Pavia, in 1525, another of the family, John of Diesbach,
commanded the Swiss auxiliary troops of France. Stationed
on the right wing, at the head of 2,000 Helvetians, at first
he drove back the imperialist infantry and cavalry. Francis
<abbr='the first'>I.</abbr> was on the point of gaining the victory; but meanwhile
his left wing had been annihilated; in that quarter
Suffolk, the heir of the White Rose, the Duke of Lorraine’s
brother, Nassau, Schomberg, La Tremouille, San Severino,
and the veteran La Palisse, fell on the field of battle, and
Montmorency was made prisoner. Nevertheless, the Swiss
still held their ground manfully, when Alençon, the king’s
brother-in-law, fleeing shamefully, and carrying after him
part of the French men-at-arms, caused Diesbach’s soldiers,
who were fighting at his side and already shouting victory,
to waver. At that moment the lansquenets, commanded by
the redoubtable Freundsberg, fell furiously on the Swiss and
broke them. The Helvetians, seeing the Frenchmen retiring,
believed they were to be sacrificed to the hatred of the Germans.
John of Diesbach conjured and threatened them in
vain; nothing could stop them. Then the valorous captain
rushed forward alone against a battalion of lansquenets and
fell dead. Bonnivet, in despair, stretched out his neck to
// File: 352.png
.pn +1
the spears of the enemy, and was killed: and Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr>
who was the last to fight, yielded up his sword with a shudder
to Lannoy.[#]

John of Diesbach had married a French lady, Mademoiselle
de Refuge, to whom the king had promised a dowry of
10,000 livres, but had afterwards given her husband, as an
equivalent, the lordship of Langes, which the latter had bequeathed
to his wife. But in 1533 Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr> had taken
back the estate, without giving the promised dowry. The
widow of the hero of Pavia, finding herself thus deprived
of her property by the man for whom her husband had died,
implored the intervention of Berne, and the chiefs of that
republic had commissioned another Diesbach, Rodolph, to
proceed to the court of France to support the just claims of
his relation. Rodolph departed on the <abbr=twelfth>12th</abbr> of January,
1534, accompanied by George Schœner. This mission was
destined to be of more importance to Geneva than to
Berne.[#]

Rodolph of Diesbach himself was highly esteemed in
France. He had passed his youth there, had studied at the
University of Paris, and from 1507 to 1515 had taken part
in the wars of Louis <abbr='the twelfth'>XII.</abbr>, and honorably distinguished himself.
On his return to Berne, he was one of those who embraced
the evangelical faith, and was often called to defend
the interests of Geneva and the Reformation. While
Rodolph was in France pleading the cause of his cousin,
De la Maisonneuve and Janin were imprisoned at Lyons,
and Diesbach received instructions from the lords of Berne
to do all in his power to obtain their liberation from the king.
He set about it with all the energy of a Bernese and
a warrior; went to Blois, where Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr> was then holding
his court, and earnestly solicited the enlargement of the
two evangelicals.[#] He regarded Baudichon de la Maisonneuve
// File: 353.png
.pn +1
as his co-burgher and co-religionist, and saw clearly
how useful his presence would be in Geneva. But, on the
other hand, the catholic nobles and ultramontane priests
urged the king to suffer the two Genevans to be burnt.
How could Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr>, who had recently become the pope’s
friend, and who had ordered the heretics in his kingdom to
be brought to trial[#]—how could he save the heretics of
Geneva? The friends as well as the enemies of the Reformation
were in the keenest suspense. Weeks, and even
months elapsed, without obtaining a decisive answer from
the king.

.sn A Terrible Necessity.
Geneva was greatly agitated during this long delay; but
the absence of the two energetic huguenots did not hinder
the work from being pursued with resolution. The magistrates
desired to take and execute promptly the supreme
measures rendered necessary by the danger of the country.
A terrible and inexorable necessity continually rose before
their minds. To save Geneva, a great portion of it must be
destroyed.

The city was at that time composed of two parts: the
city proper and the four suburbs. The suburb of the Temple,
or <i>Aigues Vives</i> (Eaux Vives), stood on the left shore
of the lake, and took its name from the church of <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> John
of Rhodes, which stood there.[#] The suburb of Palais lay
to the left, on the picturesque banks of the Rhone; that of
St. Leger extended from the city to the bridge thrown over
the icy torrent of the Arve; and that of <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Victor, in which
the monastery of that name was situated, stretched from
Malagnou to Champel. This town beyond the walls not
only had as many houses as the one within, but covered
a far more extensive surface, and contained over six thousand
inhabitants.

On the <abbr='twenty-third'>23d</abbr> August the Two Hundred members of the
Great Council received a summons, bearing the words: ‘In
// File: 354.png
.pn +1
consequent of urgent affairs of the city.’[#] Every one understood
what they meant. The premier-syndic proposed to
build up some of the gates, and to set a good guard; but
added, that such measures alone were not sufficient; that, as
the suburbs were very extensive, the enemy could establish
himself in them; and that it was necessary unhesitatingly to
knock down all the houses, barns, and walls, beginning with
the nearest. Many were struck with grief when they heard
the proposition. What a resolution! what a disaster!
With their own hands the citizens were to destroy those
peaceful homes in which their childhood had played, where
they had been born, and where those whom they loved had
died; and a great part of the population would have no
other shelter left them than the vault of heaven. Yet the
Two Hundred did not hesitate. The friends of the Reformation,
in whose eyes the Gospel had shone with all its
brightness, were prepared for the greatest sacrifices so that
they might preserve it. Those who were not touched by
religious motives were carried away by patriotic enthusiasm.
‘It is better to lose the hand than the arm ... the
suburbs than the city,’ exclaimed the citizens. The resolution
was agreed to; and without any delay—for the matter
was urgent—the very same day, after dinner, the four syndics,
accompanied by Aimé Levet and five other captains of
the city, ‘went to give orders for the destruction of the
suburbs.’ There were cries and tears here and there, but
nearly all had formed the resolution to lay their goods,
although with trembling hands, upon the altar of their
country and their faith.

It must be done, for every day the danger appeared to
draw nearer. The Genevese ambassadors at Berne wrote
to the Council: ‘Be on your guard.’ Acts of violence and
trifling skirmishes announced more serious combats. On
the <abbr=fourteenth>14th</abbr> of August, Richerme, a merchant of Geneva, returning
from Lyons, was seized, dragged successively to
three of the bishop’s castles, and put to the torture. On
// File: 355.png
.pn +1
the <abbr='twenty-fifth'>25th</abbr>, Chabot, another citizen, was stopped at the Mont
de Sion, taken to the castle of Peney, and also put to the
torture; but the judges, wishing to give a proof of their
good nature, added: ‘Do not let his bones be broken or his
life endangered.’ They soon brought in a new prisoner.

.sn The Embroiderer Of Avignon.
There was an embroiderer at Avignon, ‘so superstitious
in fasting,’ that he had sometimes gone several days without
eating or drinking. The poor artisan, having received the
Gospel, had ceased to attend mass, and had consequently
been sent to prison. The churchmen asked him how long it
was since he had been present at the sacrifice of the altar.
‘Three years,’ he replied; ‘and with my own will neither
myself nor any of my family would ever have gone there.’
When they heard him talk in this way, the priests did not
dare put him to death, for they thought him mad. Six
months afterwards there came a great pestilence; every one
fled, and the prison-doors were left open: ‘seeing which the
pious embroiderer went out.’ He thirsted for the Gospel,
and knowing that there were great preachers at Geneva, he
took the road to that city. His travelling expenses were
not great: ‘he had been accustomed to go from Avignon to
Lyons, more than sixty French leagues, for a <lang=fr><i>sol-de-roi</i></lang>,’ says
Froment. At last he reached the valley of the Leman,
alone and a fugitive, but joyfully anticipating the words of
life that he was soon to hear. Suddenly he was surrounded
by a troop of horsemen, who asked him roughly: ‘Where
are you going?’ ‘To Geneva.’ ‘What to do?’ The embroiderer
answered frankly and courteously, as was his
custom, ‘I am going to hear the Gospel preached; will you
not go and hear it also?’ ‘No, indeed,’ answered the men.
He began to press them: ‘Go, I entreat you,’ he said. ‘I
am surprised at you: you are so near, and I am come expressly
all the way from Avignon to hear it. I entreat you
to come.’ ‘March, rascal!’ they cried, ‘and we will teach
you to hear those devils of Geneva.’ They took him to
Peney, and, on reaching the castle, said to him: ‘We will
give you three strappadoes in the name of the three devils
// File: 356.png
.pn +1
you wished to go and hear preach.’ Having tied his hands
behind his back, they raised him to the top of a long beam
of wood, and let him fall suddenly to within two feet of the
ground. ‘That is in the name of Farel,’ they cried; then
came one for Froment, and another for Viret. The poor
fellow, all bruised as he was, getting on his legs as well as
he could, again looked at his tormentors, and, touched with
love for them, repeated, in a persuasive tone: ‘Come along
with me and hear the Gospel.’ The indignant Peneysans
answered roughly: ‘March back quickly to the place from
whence you came,’ which he would not do for anything they
could do to him. ‘He is out of his mind,’ they said; and,
taking him for an idiot, they let him go. The poor man
reached Geneva at last, and was lodged for nearly two
months, says Froment, ‘with the author of this book, to
whom he related the whole matter.’[#]

Such deeds of violence showed the Genevans that there
was no time to lose. In the month of August the resolutions
of the Council followed one another rapidly. On the
<abbr=eighteenth>18th</abbr> they ordered that the church and priory of <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Victor
should be demolished; on the <abbr='twenty-third'>23d</abbr>, that all the houses,
barns, and walls in the suburbs should be pulled down; and
that a certain number of Swiss veteran soldiers should be
enrolled who should be fed and lodged by the rich in turn;
on the <abbr='twenty-fourth'>24th</abbr>, that all absentees should be summoned to return
for the defence of the city; on the <abbr=first>1st</abbr> of September, that
it should be fortified on the side of the lake; on the <abbr=eleventh>11th</abbr>,
that the trees around the walls which might screen the approach
of the enemy should be cut down; and on the <abbr=thirteenth>13th</abbr>,
that every man should begin to pull down his house within
two days, that is, by the <abbr=fifteenth>15th</abbr> of September.[#]

The calamity then appeared before them as imminent and
inexorable, and with all its coarser and sad realities. The
weaker minds were distressed, the more excitable gave way
to anger. In the suburbs there was much clamor. What!
// File: 357.png
.pn +1
the houses to be levelled to the ground, like those of traitors,
and that too by the very hands of the inhabitants! The
priests shuddered at the thought that the churches of <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr>
Victor, <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Leger, and of the Knights of Rhodes were to be
destroyed. Discontented citizens pointed coolly to the solidity
of the condemned edifices, and declared that it would
not be possible to pull them down. And, finally, the chiefs
of the catholic party, foreseeing that the measures which
were to be the salvation of Reform would be the ruin of
popery, determined to make a vigorous demonstration against
them.

Thirty of the most notable catholics, headed by Anthony
Fabri, one of the family of the celebrated Bishop Waldemar,
and Philip de la Rive, waited upon the council. Fabri,
who had been elected spokesman, was calm, but by his
side stood De Muro (du Mur), who was much excited. ‘We
demand that the suburbs be left in their present condition,
as being beautiful, convenient, and more useful to the city
than if they were destroyed.’ The council, whom it pained
to impose such a sacrifice, reserved the power of compensating
the greatest sufferers, but held to their orders. ‘I
crave permission to leave the city,’ said De Muro, ‘with
eight hundred of my co-burghers, for this demolition is an
act of hostility against us.’[#]

.sn Baudichon Liberated.
At the very time when certain of the citizens were threatening
to leave Geneva, the friends of independence desired
all the more to see the return of those who were away.
There was one in particular whose decision and courage
were appreciated by all. Suddenly, on the <abbr='twenty-sixth'>26th</abbr> of September,
the very day when De Muro had used that threatening
language, a report circulated through the city that Baudichon
de la Maisonneuve and his companion had been set
at liberty.

Rodolph of Diesbach and George Schœner had not ceased
to implore the king’s intervention. Although the prince,
who in a few months was to fill the streets of his capital
// File: 358.png
.pn +1
with strappadoes and burning piles, did not feel any
very sincere compassion for the two heretics, still he desired
to conciliate the favor of the Swiss, and perhaps not being
much inclined to restore her estates to John of Diesbach’s
widow, he was not sorry to give the Bernese some other satisfaction.
The cause of justice triumphed at last. Moved by
Diesbach’s earnest solicitations, Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr> granted the release
of the prisoners. The two Bernese, instead of ‘tarrying
to turn from side to side to the helps of this world,’ acknowledged
the protection of God. ‘We have obtained their liberty,’
said the ambassadors, ‘God having given them to
us.’[#] They started immediately for Lyons, furnished with
letters under his Majesty’s seal, which they presented to
the authorities in whose guard the prisoners were kept ‘until
they should be burnt, as was the practice in those days.’[#]
The gates of the prison were opened; De la Maisonneuve
and Janin were given up to the Bernese. At the news of
such an unprecedented act, the officials, inquisitors, and
canons of <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> John were amazed; all the priests of Lyons
were sorely vexed, and the archbishop of Geneva still more
so; but they were forced to be patient.[#] As for the prisoners,
they knew that if God delivers his servants, it is not
with the intent that they should abandon what they have
begun. Instead of saying, when they were restored to liberty,
Let us remain for a time in the shade, lest we be exposed
to new dangers, they desired to work with greater
zeal at the emancipation of their country. They travelled
from Lyons to Geneva with the two lords of Berne, and were
once more within the walls of that ancient city.

.sn The Prisoners Restored.
There was still so much uneasiness felt about them, that
on the <abbr=sixteenth>16th</abbr> of September, when the news spread that some
Bernese gentlemen had arrived at the hostelry of the Tour
Perse[#] with Baudichon and Collonier, many persons would
// File: 359.png
.pn +1
hardly believe it. God gave the Genevans more than they
hoped for. When friends who have been supposed lost are
found again, those who had sorrowed over their bereavement
run to meet them, and feel an inexpressible satisfaction as
they look at them. So it happened at Geneva when the
two prisoners returned. There was great joy in the city:
many gave thanks to God that ‘the violent course of the
wolves who would have devoured the best sheep of the flock
had been frustrated,’ and praised the King of France because
he valued the arquebuses of the Swiss more than the
paternosters of the priests.

Desirous of showing the ambassadors a mark of respectful
gratitude, the four syndics and the councillors, with their
ushers and serjeants, proceeded on the <abbr=seventeenth>17th</abbr> of September
to the Tour Perse[#] to hold an official sitting, at which the
transfer of the prisoners was to be made. The chief magistrates
of the republic having taken their seats in one of
the large rooms, according to the usual order, Rodolph of
Diesbach and <abbr rend=spell>G.</abbr> Schœner entered, accompanied by the
captives. Those noble gentlemen explained that they had
come from Lyons and the court of France; that with God’s
aid they had obtained the release of the two Genevans;
that, according to rule, they ought to deliver the prisoners
into the hands of the magnificent lords of Berne, to whose
intervention their deliverance was due;[#] that they yielded,
however, to the wishes of Baudichon and Collonier, who
preferred to remain in the city of Geneva;[#] and that they
only wanted a guarantee that the Council would be willing
to produce them before Messieurs of Berne, whenever the
latter demanded them.[#] The Genevese magistrates thanked
the lords of Berne, and gave the required guarantee in
writing.[#]
// File: 360.png
.pn +1

At last De la Maisonneuve was free: he could return to
his wife and children, and converse with his friends. The
latter were never tired of listening to him: the particulars
of his imprisonment, his examinations, and his dangers possessed
the liveliest interest for them. Froment especially,
who was fond of a gossip,[#] asked him many questions.
‘As Baudichon told me,’ we read in his <lang=fr><i>Gestes</i></lang>, ‘all that
could not be done without great expense, and his captivity
cost him one thousand and fifty crowns of the sun.’[#]

A letter from Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr> completed this episode in the
history of the Reformation. Four days after the prisoners
had been restored to their homes, that prince wrote to the
syndics at Geneva:—[#]

.pm letter-start
‘To our very dear and good friends the lords of Geneva:

‘Very dear and good friends,—You know how, at your
earnest prayer and request, and also at that of our very
dear and great friends, confederates, allies, and gossips, the
lords of the city and canton of Berne, we have restored
and sent back certain prisoners who had, in this our kingdom,
used words respecting the faith, such and of such consequence,
that therefore they had been condemned to death.
This we were right willing to do; for the affection we have
to gratify you and the said lords of Berne, as well in this
respect as in all others that may be possible to us, having
perfect confidence that you are willing to do the like for us.
For this cause, having been advertised that you have detained
in prison in your city a monk our subject, Guy Furbity
by name, of the order of Preaching Friars, for having
held certain language and dogmatized things touching the
faith of the Church, which did not seem good to you, and
for which he is about to be brought to trial, we desire to
pray you right affectionately by these presents, that, showing
// File: 361.png
.pn +1
towards us reciprocal pleasure, you would immediately release
the said Furbity our subject, without further proceedings
against him for the reasons aforesaid. By so doing you
will please us very agreeably. Praying the Creator to
guard you, our very dear and good friends, in his most holy
keeping. Written at Blois the <abbr='twenty-first'>xxist</abbr> day of September,
one thousand <abbr=five>v</abbr> hundred <abbr='thirty-four'>xxxiiij</abbr>.

‘<sc>Françoys.</sc>      <sc>Breton.</sc>’
.pm letter-end

.sn Furbity Set At Liberty.
Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr> said: I send you back two prisoners, return
me one. That seemed just and natural, yet the petty republic
did not yield to the demand of the puissant king of
France. The Council desired to follow conscientiously
the legal course, and the rules of diplomacy. They found
that the two cases were not identical; and as the Dominican
had been imprisoned at the instance of the lords of Berne,
it was agreed to ask their opinion first. The favor of the
house of Valois could not make the magistrates of Geneva
yield, even after the extraordinary boon they had just received:
they desired, above all things, to follow the principles
admitted in politics, and act justly towards the Bernese.
Furbity was set at liberty at the beginning of 1536.

To have imprisoned the Dominican at all for preaching
was a fault, and to keep him in prison was another; but in
each case the fault was that of the age. With this reserve,
we may pay to the courage of the weak the honor that is
due to them. It is a noble thing in small states to hold firm
to their principles in the presence of powerful empires,
when they do so without presumption. And not only is it
noble, it is salutary also, and invests them with a moral
force which guarantees their existence. The petty republics
of Switzerland and Geneva in particular have given more
signal examples than that which has just been recorded.

.fn #
Narrative of Pescara and Freundsberg. <lang=fr><i>Histoire de la Suisse</i></lang>, by
Jean de Muller, continued by MM. Gloutz-Blotzheim, <abbr rend=spell>J. J.</abbr> Hottinger,
Monnard, and <abbr rend=spell>L.</abbr> Vulliemin.
.fn-
.fn #
<abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr> chronicles of the Diesbach family at Berne.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>Registre du Conseil de Genève</lang>, 17 September, 1534.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>‘<i>Faire et perfaire le procès des hérétiques.</i>’</lang>—Letter to the Bishop of
Paris.
.fn-
.fn #
Near the Pré l’Évêque.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>Registre du Conseil</lang> <i>ad diem</i>.
.fn-
.fn #
Froment, <lang=fr><i>Actes et Gestes Merveilleux de la Cité de Genève</i></lang>, <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 174, 175.
.fn-
.fn #
Council Registers under the dates mentioned.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>Registre du Conseil du 14 Septembre, 1534.</lang>
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Deo dante illorum relaxationem obtinuerunt.’</lang> <lang=fr>Registres du Conseil
du 14 Septembre, 1534.</lang>
.fn-
.fn #
Note by Flournois on the corresponding passage of the Council Registers.
.fn-
.fn #
Froment, <lang=fr><i>Gestes de Genève</i></lang>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 244.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>Registre du Conseil du 17 Septembre, 1534.</lang>
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘In domo turris Perse.’</lang> <lang=fr>Registre du Conseil du 17 Septembre, 1534.</lang>
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>’Illos debere magnificis Dominis Bernatibus præsentari.’</lang>—<i>Ibid.</i>
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Dicti Baudichon et Collonier optant potius in hac civitate expectare,
quod alibi.’</lang>—<i>Ibid.</i>
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Petunt cautionem de repræsentando eosdem.’</lang>—<i>Ibid.</i>
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Super quo factum remersiationibus.’</lang>—<i>Ibid.</i>
.fn-
.fn #
Bonnet, <lang=fr><i>Lettres Françaises de Calvin</i></lang>, <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 575.
.fn-
.fn #
Froment, <lang=fr><i>Gestes de Genève</i></lang>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 244.
.fn-
.fn #
Archives of Geneva, <abbr=number>No.</abbr> 1054, year 1534.
.fn-
// File: 362.png
.pn +1
.sp 4
.h2 id=chap7-15
CHAPTER XV. | THE SUBURBS OF GENEVA ARE DEMOLISHED AND THE ADVERSARIES MAKE READY. | (<sc>September 1534 to January 1535.</sc>)
.sp 2
Baudichon de la Maisonneuve and Janin re-entered
Geneva the day after that on which the final order to demolish
the suburbs was given. The captain of the Lutherans
was restored to his country at the very moment when
the deadliest blows were aimed at it. The coincidence was
remarkable. The return of these two energetic citizens
could not but give a fresh impetus to the resolution to sacrifice
one half of the city in order to save the other. The
first walls destined to fall were those of the monastery of
<abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Victor, which, as it stood at the gate of the city, might
easily be occupied by the enemy’s army as an advanced
post.[#] There were no tears shed over the destruction of
that building, except such as might have been drawn down
by the thought of its antiquity. Ever since Bonivard the
prior had been prisoner at Chillon, the monks had shaken
off every kind of restraint, and the monastery had become
a sty of scandals and disorders. The friars had been in
the habit of frequenting certain houses of ill fame in their
suburbs; but now the convent was the scene of their continual
orgies. No sooner was there a talk of destroying that nest
of debauchery than the reprobates exhibited the most insatiable
greediness. The monks and their mistresses began to
pillage the monastery; they tore down and carried away
everything that was of any value; at night, and sometimes
even during the day, they were seen leaving the monastery
// File: 363.png
.pn +1
with bundles, and hiding their plunder in the adjoining houses.
The priory was thus not only emptied, but almost stripped
to the bare walls.[#] What an ignoble fall was that of these
pretended religious orders! Notwithstanding their robbery,
the Council assigned the monks a residence in the city, and
even a chapel, which was more than they deserved.

Then every man put his hand to the work. All was life
and animation on those beautiful heights whence the eye
takes in the lake, the Alps, the Jura, and the valley lying
between them. First, the church was pulled down, and then
the priory, and nothing was left but rubbish which encumbered
the ground. That building, the most ancient in Geneva,
was founded at the beginning of the sixth century by
Queen Sedeleuba, sister of Queen Clotilda, in memory of
the victories of her brother-in-law, Clovis;[#]—that temple
where the body of <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Victor had been deposited during the
night, and which (as it was said) a light from heaven pointed
out to strangers,—that sanctuary to which the great ones
of the earth had gone as pilgrims, was now an undistinguishable
ruin. That monument, erected to commemorate the
triumph of orthodoxy defended by Clovis over Arianism
professed by Gondebald, crumbled to the ground, after lasting
more than a thousand years, in the midst of the libertinism
of its monks. A crown had been placed on the cradle
of <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Victor—a rod should have been placed upon its
ruins.

.sn Lamentations Of The Dead.
Yet things that have been great in the eyes of men do not
always end like those that have been vulgar. One day a
strange report, set afloat by the monks and nuns, circulated
through the city. During the night, voices, groans, and
lamentations had been heard among the ruins of <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Victor.
The wind, when it blows strong over those heights, often resembles
the human voice. The devotees listened: again
// File: 364.png
.pn +1
the plaintive tones were heard, and agitated them. ‘Ah!’
they exclaimed, ‘it is the dead groaning, and not without
reason, because their repose has been disturbed.’ The crowd
increased, and ere long ‘the ghosts were plainly lamenting,
not only by night, but by day.’ If the dead lamented over
the fall of <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Victor, the living had reason to weep still
more over the church, whose monks had been its disgrace
instead of its glory.

After the priory, the houses nearest to the city were
pulled down one by one. When the citizens, wearied by
their labors, sat down on the ruins to rest, they asked what
was to become of them. ‘Where shall I store my goods,
where shelter my wife and children?’ said Jean Montagnier.
‘And where shall I go myself?’ A poor mason, an
infirm old man, burst into tears when he saw his wretched
home demolished: the Council gave him a measure of
wheat, and promised to pay his rent. But if the magistrates
showed kindness to the wretched, they were inflexible
to the rebels. Magdalen Picot, a widow, having insulted
the syndics in a fit of passion, was sentenced to three days’
imprisonment. If the poor lamented their hovels, the rich
regretted their beautiful houses, the pleasant gardens round
them, the smiling meadows watered by running streams and
overshadowed by majestic trees, the fountains and the temple
of the Crusaders, whose Gothic walls imparted an antique
and religious character to the pleasing picture. A
poet gave utterance to their thoughts in these lines:—

.pm verse-start
<lang=la>Urbe fuere mihi majora suburbia quondam,
  Templis et domibus nec speciosa minus,
Quinetiam irriguis pratis, hortis et amœnis;
  Pascebant oculos hæc animosque magis.</lang>[#]
.pm verse-end

Amid such lamentations, all good citizens and zealous
evangelicals remained firm; but De Muro with a great
// File: 365.png
.pn +1
number of catholics quitted Geneva, and passed over to the
enemy’s camp. Henceforward they were to fight no longer
against the Reformation with secret conspiracies; they
would attack it in open war: <lang=it><i>aperto bello patriam oppugnaturi</i></lang>.[#]

.sn The Affrighted Nuns.
At the same time that the houses were demolished, ramparts
were built. Tribolet, captain of Berne, and one of
the envoys from that republic, a man of experience, quick and
compassionate at the same time, directed the construction
of the earthworks and masonry intended to fortify the city.
Towards the end of September, he began to plot out the
lines in a garden adjoining the convent of <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Claire. Rich
and poor, great and small, wheeled their barrows filled with
earth and stones. When the work was done, Tribolet decided
that it must be continued into the next garden, that
of the nuns; and on the <abbr=thirtieth>30th</abbr> of September, as early as
four in the morning, they were politely requested to remove
from the garden everything they wished to keep. Sorely
distressed at this terrible message, they began to call upon
God through the intercession of the Virgin and the saints.
‘We are secluded from the world for the love of God,’ said
the abbess to the Bernese captain; ‘forbear from breaking
into our holy cloister.’ Tribolet explained to her that the
safety of the city required it, and added that he would do
his work, ‘whether they liked it or not.’ Thereupon the
frightened sisters threw open the convent, and running into
the church, fell prostrate to the earth, weeping bitterly.
When the captain opened the door, and saw the poor women
stretched on the pavement, he said kindly to them: ‘Do not
be afraid, we shall do you no harm.’ The sisters were
much surprised to find a heretic could be so good-natured.[#]

Meanwhile the work of destruction continued, and as the
materials were employed to build the fortification and repair
// File: 366.png
.pn +1
the breaches in the walls, we may say with Bonivard, ‘<lang=la><i>Etiam
periere ruinæ</i></lang>:’ ‘the very ruins have perished.’

But what was to be done with the six thousand citizens
expelled from their homes? Were they to be left to wander
about, exposed to the robbers of the neighborhood? There
would have been room for a great portion of them in the
convents, but those buildings were kept closed. On the
other hand, the houses of the huguenots were thrown open,
even to catholics. The citizens had incurred debts through
long wars, their trade was ruined and their fields laid waste....
Nevertheless he that possessed two rooms gave
up one, and he who had a loaf of bread shared it with his
brother. Syndic Duvilard was empowered to lodge provisionally,
either in the state buildings or in private houses,
such as had been deprived of their homes. If any destitute
persons were seen loitering in the streets, benevolent men
and pious women would accost them, take them home, sit
them down at the family table, and every place however
small, was fitted up with sleeping accommodation. The
Council even gave aid and comfort to the rich. Butini of
Miolans was lodged, says the Register, in the house of the
curate of <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Leger.

The activity of the Genevese was constantly stimulated
by the news which reached them from without. ‘The Duke
of Savoy,’ said letters from Berne, ‘is collecting an army of
brigands, and preparing perpetual troubles for you.’ Towards
the end of September, the two Gallatins (John the
notary and his son Pierre), having gone to their estate at
Peicy for the vintage, were on their return summoned before
the Council on a charge of communicating with the people
in the castle of Peney, which was half a league distant.
The father said that, while he was in the press-house pressing
the grapes, Nicod de Prato and other Peneysans had
called on him. Did any one ever refuse a visit paid in the
press-house? They had taken a glass of wine together, and
that was all. ‘As for me,’ said the son, ‘I confess that I
went to Peney and drank with the episcopal fugitives there;
// File: 367.png
.pn +1
they told me that ere long we should have a <i>stout war</i>; that
it would not be a little one like De Mauloz’ night attack on
the <abbr='thirty-first'>31st</abbr> of July; that they would come in great force, and
that I should do well to leave the city. When I returned
(continued Pierre) I reported it all to my captain.’ The
two Gallatins were immediately discharged without any remark.[#]

The first enemy which the bishop loosed against his flock
was famine: he gave orders to intercept the provisions all
round the city. The market-place was deserted, the stores
in the houses were gradually exhausted, and the episcopals
flattered themselves that before long none but hungry phantoms
would be seen in Geneva, instead of valiant citizens.
‘Oh, insensate shepherd! he robs even his sheep of their
food, when he should feed them,’ said one who was among
the number confined within the city walls. Unhappy bishop!
unhappy Geneva![#]

.sn Geneva Encircled With Iron.
As if starvation was not enough, the unnatural pastor surrounded
Geneva with a circle of iron. His castle of Jussy
to the east, at the foot of the Voirons; that of Peney to the
west, on the banks of the Rhone; the Duke’s castle of Galliad
to the south-west, on the heights overlooking the Arve;
and to the north on the lake, the village of Versoix, at that
time well defended: all these fortresses, filled with mamelukes
and soldiers, hemmed in the city, and left no issue but
by the lake. ‘In this way no one can leave Geneva,’ they
said, ‘except at the risk of his life.’ The bishop followed
the example given by dispossessed princes—nay, even by
ecclesiastical authorities, and connived more or less at the
brigands. Many gentlemen of those districts, returning
with delight to a trade their fathers had formerly practised,
kept watch in their eyries for the little merchant caravans,
// File: 368.png
.pn +1
to pounce upon them. One day some devout catholics of
Valais, on their way to France with a long file of well-laden
mules, were stripped by these rough episcopals. Beyond
the Fort de l’Ecluse was situated a castle—a thorough den
of robbers—belonging to the Seigneur of Avanchi, ‘the
cunningest and cruellest man ever known.’ Accompanied by
a few savage mercenaries, he would lie in ambush near the
high-road, and when travellers appeared, spring from the
rocks like a wild beast, ‘tearing out the eyes of some, and
cutting off the ears of others.’ D’Avanchi treated in this
manner a poor tradesman who had printed some New Testaments;[#]
and when the judge of the castle remonstrated
with him for his cruelty, the seigneur killed him on the spot.
He showed no preference, however, so far as religion was
concerned. Having fallen in with some nuns one day, he
graciously invited them to enter his mansion under pretence
of giving them alms, and then maltreated them. The fierce
and sensual wild-boar of the Jura was taken to Dôle, and
there put to death by order of a catholic tribunal.[#]

The bishop now took another step: he ordered the episcopal
see to be transferred from Geneva to the town of Gex,
at the foot of the Jura, and gave instructions ‘that his council,
court, judges, and all other officers should proceed thither.’
In the night of the <abbr='twenty-fourth'>24th</abbr> of September the episcopal
officers escaped stealthily, and the city was left not only
without prelate, but also without civil judges or courts of
appeal. When the news of this flight got abroad in the
morning, De la Maisonneuve, Levet, Salomon, and their
friends felt an immense relief. At last they were free from
that episcopal crew, who had so often caught the Genevese
in their toils ‘by frauds and snares.’[#] The Council forbade
the seals, the symbol of supreme authority, to be taken from
// File: 369.png
.pn +1
Geneva.[#] The prince bishop assembled at Gex a great
number of priests from the surrounding districts. ‘We
must crush that Lutheran sect,’ he told them, ‘by war or
otherwise. It is not enough to remain entrenched in our
camp, we must force the enemy in theirs.’

.sn Thunderbolts Against Geneva.
Pierre de la Baume launched his thunderbolts at last.
In every parish of the Chablais, Faucigny, Gex, and Bugey,
in every abbey, priory, and convent, the great excommunication
was pronounced in his name, not only against the
councils and citizens of Geneva, but against all who should
hear the preachers or talk with them, and even against any
persons who should enter the city for any purpose whatsoever.
Hereafter, the superstitious rural population looked
upon Geneva as a place inhabited by devils. Some men of
Thonon, more curious than the rest, ventured to pay it a visit,
and on their return declared ‘that the preachers were
really men and not demons.’ These rash individuals were
arrested and taken to Gex, where the bishop sent them to
prison;[#] and after that time no one dared go to Geneva.

The friends of the Reformation were not discouraged by
these hostile acts. ‘By Christmas at the latest,’ they said,
‘all the churches will be empty, and the whole city of one
faith.’[#] ‘It is all for the best,’ added many. ‘Once upon
a time the bishops usurped the franchises of the city; now
they return them to us and go away. Well, then, let us do
without bishops, and govern ourselves.’ The Council did not
think fit to proceed so quickly, and merely resolved ‘that
everything should be written down which the bishop had
done against the city, by way of precaution against him.’[#]
When the canons, the representatives of the prelate, assembled
for their usual monthly meeting,[#] the syndics and council
appeared before them: ‘Forsaken by our bishop, who is
// File: 370.png
.pn +1
exciting cruel soldiers against his flock, what shall we do,
reverend sirs?’ they asked. ‘The see is vacant: we pray
you to recognise the fact, and to elect, as in your privilege,
the necessary functionaries for the city, in the place of those
who have deserted their office.’[#]

The canons having answered in a dilatory manner, the
councils, who were always rigid observers of precedent, resolved
to apply to the only authority that could decide between
them and the bishop. The Genevese appealed to the
pope. It was a strange step, but appeals to the Roman
pontiff as head of the catholic world, partly founded on the
forged decretals of the pseudo Isidore,[#] were then in full
vigor. That petty people followed the path of legality, and
by this means attained their end. The men who have succeeded,
remarks an historian, are those who, in the very
midst of a revolution, have neither accepted nor adopted a
revolutionary policy.[#] On the <abbr=seventh>7th</abbr> of October, 1534, the
syndics and council entered an appeal at Rome, complaining
that their bishop had deprived them of their franchises and
jurisdiction. It was not a matter of religion, but of policy.
The prince of the Vatican was called upon to fulfil his obligations.
It was Rome who broke the bond: no answer
was returned, which greatly delighted the evangelicals.[#]

.sn Proceedings Of The Duke.
But as the pope laid down the crosier the duke took it up.
He succeeded in gaining over some Bernese ambassadors
who had been sent to him, and these men, enraptured with
the prince’s courteous manners, tried to convince the people
of Geneva of his goodness. ‘We know him,’ said the huguenot,
‘he has an ass’s head and a fox’s tail.’[#] The Bernese
continued: ‘Everything will be forgiven, but on condition
// File: 371.png
.pn +1
that you send away these new preachers; that you
permit such preachings no longer; that the bishop be restored
to his former estate, and finally that you live in the
faith of our holy mother, the Church.’[#] The Genevans
could hardly believe their ears. The Little and the Great
Council having sent for the ambassadors of Berne, told them
plainly and curtly: ‘You ask us to abandon our liberties
and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We would sooner renounce
father and mother, wife and children, we would sooner lose
our goods and our life! Tell the duke we will set fire to the
four corners of the city, before we dismiss the preachers who
announce the Word of God.... Nevertheless, they
offer to endure death, if it can be shown by Scripture that
they are wrong.’ The men of Berne were greatly astonished
at such a reply.[#]

The duke was still more astonished; the measure was full,
the insolence of that handful of friends to the evangelical
doctrine must be severely punished. ‘Seeing this, the duke
and all his following (<lang=fr><i>sequelle</i></lang>), more inflamed than ever with
anger against Geneva, consulted together to make war upon
it.’ From every quarter the heads of the clergy (and
Bishop du Bellay in particular) conjured him ‘to support
the authority of the holy faith in the city of Geneva.’[#]
The persuasion of these prelates inflamed the prince with
such zeal for the maintenance of the papacy, that, unmindful
of every treaty, he sent letters to Valais and the catholic
cantons, demanding their assistance <lang=la><i>propter fidem</i></lang>, in behalf
of the true faith, against the cities of Geneva, Lausanne,
and others.[#] At the same time he despatched orders to his
governors, gentlemen, provosts and other officers, ‘to ruin
and destroy Geneva.’[#] On the <abbr=twentieth>20th</abbr> of November a diet
was held at Thonon to decide upon the fate of the city; and
// File: 372.png
.pn +1
as the aristocratic influence prevailed just then at Berne, the
Bernese deputies adopted the sinister resolutions of Savoy.
Even Charles <abbr='the fifth'>V.</abbr> declared through an ambassador his support
of the duke’s demands, and required that, prior to any
other measure, the bishop should be restored to all his rights.

Happily the citizens of Geneva were not without timely
warning of the storm that was about to burst upon them.
The messengers, commissioned by Charles <abbr='the third'>III.</abbr> to carry his
rigorous orders to his agents, had to pass through certain
villages, where they would sometimes halt at the inn.
Everybody noticed their embarrassed manner, and in some
places there were well-disposed persons who stopped and
searched them, and discovering their letters took them away
and sent them to the syndics. The latter comprehended the
danger impending over the city, and accordingly took the
measures necessary for its defence.[#] The friends of independence
and of the Reformation, instead of being dejected
by such news, felt their courage increased. It was as if a
spark had fallen upon powder; their spirits caught fire.
The hour of sacrifices and energetic resolutions had arrived;
there were no more paltry scruples, evasions or delays, no
more timid compromises. For a thing to succeed, it must be
done with decision. The Genevese therefore boldly grasped
the hammer, and with fresh strength began to demolish the
suburbs and popery at the same time. At the Pré l’Evêque,
they took down a stone cross because (as they said) ‘it
turned men away from the true cross of Jesus Christ.’[#]
At <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Leger, as the church had been demolished, they destroyed
the images also. Still the Roman worship remained
free; while Rome was attacking Geneva, Geneva protected
Rome. The canons having timidly asked the Council, on
the <abbr='twenty-fourth'>24th</abbr> of December, if they might celebrate the Christmas
matins next day, the syndics posted themselves at the doors
// File: 373.png
.pn +1
of the different churches ‘with men-at-arms to prevent
annoyance,’ until divine service was over.[#]

.sn Switzerland Against Geneva.
Geneva had still one hope remaining. Would those same
Switzers, who had shaken off the oppression of Austria,
permit Savoy to place Geneva under the yoke? Would
the protestant republic of Berne, which had done so much
to sow the good seed in this allied city,—which to this end
had brought thither and protected Farel, Viret, and Froment,—would
that republic turn away, now that the grain
was beginning to shoot forth, and the harvest was at hand?
It seemed impossible. A diet was to meet at Lucerne in
January, to deliberate what Switzerland should do in this
conjuncture. All the ideas of the Genevans were concentred
on that one point. Not only did a majority of the
cantons, but the Bernese themselves, consent to the restoration
of the duke and the bishop. They required, indeed,
that liberty of conscience should be respected; ‘for,’ said
they, ‘it does not depend upon man to believe what he
wishes; faith is the gift of God.’ But the duke and the
bishop had the frankness to reject such a condition: ‘We
claim,’ they said, ‘the right of ordering everything that concerns
religion in our states.’—‘We mean,’ added their representatives,
‘that the preachers shall be expelled from the
city, and that Berne shall break off her alliance with it.’
At these words grief and indignation pierced the Genevan
deputies like a sword. ‘What!’ they said; ‘the bishop
complains of being robbed of his jurisdiction, and it is he
who is the robber! He has been always wishing to strip
Geneva of her franchises; and not long ago he transferred
the officers of justice, the courts, and the tribunals, to a
foreign country.’ The diet was inexorable. They resolved
that the duke and the bishop should be reinstated in the
possession of all their lordships and privileges. To no purpose
did Syndic Claude Savoie and Jean Lullin, who were
alarmed at this decision, hasten to Lucerne and declare that
// File: 374.png
.pn +1
Geneva would never accept the articles voted. ‘You ought
to thank us,’ answered the Swiss,—was it in irony or in
sincerity?—‘instead of which you insult us. Accept the
mandate.’—‘We cannot,’ proudly answered the deputies.
‘In that case,’ resumed the cantons, ‘we have only to place
the matter in the hands of God.’[#]

Geneva was abandoned by all, even by Berne. The news
filled the citizens with the liveliest emotion. There was
nothing left them but God, and God is mighty. ‘Yes,’ said
they, ‘be it so, let God decide.’ Men worked at the walls
and prepared their arms, the women prayed, and the
children in their games defied Savoy and the bishop. The
bells of the demolished churches were melted down to make
cannon. Every night, men on guard stretched the chains
across the streets, and the watchword was to make ‘good
ward and sure ward.’ Everything was carried out with
order, calmness, and courage.[#]

Their enemies smiled at this activity, and asked how it
could be possible for such a small city to resist the numerous
forces about to march against it. But wiser men were not
ignorant that in the world faith often prevails over superstition,
wisdom over strength, piety over anger, and that the
great mission falls ultimately to the just and the calm.
Charles <abbr='the fifth'>V.</abbr>, who aspired to place his sword in the balance,
and other great and ambitious men, have had something
gigantic in them; extraordinary ideas have flashed across
their minds like lightning, and they have often cast a wide
and sombre light over history; but they have founded nothing
lasting. All great and solid creations belong to justice,
perseverance, and faith.

.sn The Song Of Resurrection.
The spirit of self-sacrifice and firmness with which the
Genevans demolished one half of their city was a pledge of
victory. At the beginning of 1535 the work was almost
ended. A few, however, of the remoter buildings did not
// File: 375.png
.pn +1
come down until 1536, and even 1537. Everything was
levelled round the walls, the approaches to the place were
free, the artillery could play without obstruction, the lines
intended to cover the city were formed, the ramparts were
built, and Geneva, witnessing the labors of her children, and
her sudden and marvellous transformation, might well exclaim
by the mouth of one of her poets:—

.pm verse-start
<lang=la>  . . . . . Incepit tentandi causa pudoris
  Alliciens varios hæc mea forma procos;
Qui me cum blandis non possent fallere verbis,
  Ecce minas addunt, denique vimque parant.
Tunc ego non volui pulchrum præponere honesto,
  Diripui rigida sed mea pulchra manu
Templa, domos, hortos, in propugnacula verti,
  Arcerent stolidos quæ procul inde procos.
Diripui pulchrum certe, ut tutarer honestum.
  <i>E pulchra et fortis facta Geneva vocor.</i>[#]</lang>
.pm verse-end

Geneva was then passing through the arduous ordeal of
transformation. Rough blows assailed her, groans burst
from her bosom, and on her features was the pallor of death.
But in the hour when the sacrifice was thus accomplished on
the altar, when riches and beauty were immolated to save
independence and faith, when these proud thoughts agitated
men’s hearts and made their presence known by a cry of
agony or by words of high-mindedness, a mysterious light
shone forth, in the midst of the darkness; liberty, morality,
and the Gospel had appeared. Hopeful eyes had seen a
new edifice, radiant with immortal glory, rising above the
ruins of the old. The song then heard was not the song
of death, but of resurrection.

.fn #
It was situated nearly on the spot where the Russian church now
stands.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>Registre du Conseil du 18 Août, 1534.</lang> The expression in the Register
is much more energetic.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Ecclesia quam Sedeleuba regina in suburbano Genevensi construxerat.’</lang>—Fredegarius,
<i>Chron.</i> cap. <abbr='twenty-two'>xxii.</abbr> <lang=fr>La sœur Jeanne, <i>Levain du Calvinisme</i></lang>,
<abbr=page>p.</abbr> 94.
.fn-
.fn #
‘Great suburbs at one time surrounded the city, not less beautiful
with churches and houses than with well-watered meadows and pleasant
gardens; which feasted the eyes and the heart still more.’ The lines from
which our extract is taken are in Gautier’s manuscript. He ascribes them
to an anonymous writer who had seen the suburbs.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>Registre du Conseil des 11, 14, 16, et 19 Septembre, 1534. Gautier,
MS. La sœur Jeanne, <i>Levain du Calvinisme</i></lang>, <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 97, 98. <abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr> de Turrettini;
Berne, <i>Hist. Helvet.</i>
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>Registre du Conseil des 21, 25 Septembre, 1534. La sœur Jeanne, <i>Levain
du Calvinisme</i></lang>, <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 97-100.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>Registre du Conseil du 21 Septembre, 1534.</lang> The Gallatin family, after
serving this republic, furnished devoted citizens to the United States.
Abraham Albert Alphonse Gallatin, who emigrated to America at the end
of the eighteenth century, became Secretary of State.
.fn-
.fn #
Froment, <lang=fr><i>Gestes de Genève</i></lang>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 115. <lang=fr>Registre du Conseil, 29 Septembre,
1534.</lang>
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>Procès Inquisitionnel de Baudichon de la Maisonneuve.</lang> <abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr> de
Berne, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 7.
.fn-
.fn #
Froment, <lang=fr><i>Gestes de Genève</i></lang>, <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 117, 118, 121, 174. <lang=fr>Registre du Conseil
du 25 Septembre, 1534.</lang> Roset <abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr>
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>Par fraudes et pipées.</lang>
.fn-
.fn #
Froment, <lang=fr><i>Gestes de Genève</i></lang>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 115. <lang=fr>Registre du Conseil du 25 Septembre,
1534.</lang> Gautier <abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr>
.fn-
.fn #
Froment, <lang=fr><i>Gestes</i></lang>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 116.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>La sœur de Sainte Claire, <i>Levain du Calvinisme</i></lang>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 97.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>Registre du 18 Septembre, 1534.</lang>
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Die calendæ suæ.’</lang>—<lang=fr>Registre du Conseil du 1er Octobre, 1534.</lang>
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>Registre du Conseil du 1er Octobre 1534.</lang> <abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr> de Gautier. <abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr> de
Roset, <abbr=book>liv.</abbr> <abbr=three>iii.</abbr> <abbr=chapter>ch.</abbr> <abbr='twenty-nine'>xxix.</abbr>
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Episcoporum judicia et cunctorum majorum negotia causarum eidem
sanctæ sedi reservata esse liquet.’</lang>—Canon 12.
.fn-
.fn #
<abbr=Monsieur>M.</abbr> Guizot.
.fn-
.fn #
<i>Chron.</i> <abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr> de Roset, <abbr=book>liv.</abbr> <abbr=three>iii.</abbr> <abbr=chapter>ch.</abbr> <abbr='twenty-nine'>xxix.</abbr> <abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr> de Gautier.
.fn-
.fn #
Froment, <lang=fr><i>Gestes de Genève</i></lang>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 110. <lang=fr>Registre du Conseil du 1er Septembre,
1534.</lang>
.fn-
.fn #
Froment, <lang=fr><i>Gestes de Genève</i></lang>, <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 110, 111.
.fn-
.fn #
Ibid. <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 112.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>‘Soutenir l’autorité de la sainte foy dans la ville de Genève.’</lang>—Archives
of the kingdom of Italy at Turin, bundle <abbr=thirteen>xiii.</abbr> <abbr=number>No.</abbr> 19.
.fn-
.fn #
Archives of the kingdom of Italy at Turin, bundle <abbr=thirteen>xiii.</abbr> <abbr=number>No.</abbr> 19.
.fn-
.fn #
‘Nuire et détruire Genève.’
.fn-
.fn #
Froment, <lang=fr><i>Gestes de Genève</i></lang>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 113. <lang=fr>Registre du Conseil 1er, 13
Octobre, 1534.</lang> MSC. de Roset, <abbr=book>liv.</abbr> <abbr=three>iii.</abbr> <abbr=chapter>ch.</abbr> <abbr=thirty>xxx.</abbr>
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>Registre du Conseil des 28 Novembre, 3 Décembre, 1534, et 9 Mars,
1535. La sœur Jeanne, <i>Levain du Calvinisme</i></lang>, <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 100-104.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>Registre du Conseil du 24 Décembre, 1534. La sœur Jeanne, <i>Levain
du Calvinisme</i></lang>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 104.
.fn-
.fn #
<abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr> de Roset, <abbr=book>liv.</abbr> <abbr=three>iii.</abbr> <abbr=chapter>ch.</abbr> <abbr=twenty>xx.</abbr>  <lang=fr>Registre du Conseil des 5, 28 Janvier,
20 et 21 Février, 1535. <abbr=manuscript>MS.</abbr> de Gautier.</lang>
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>Registre du Conseil des 29 Décembre, 1534; 8, 12, 15 Janvier, 1535.</lang>
.fn-
.fn #
‘My beauty attracted many suitors who sought to seduce me. When
they saw that their flattering could not make me faithless, they had recourse
to threats, and at last prepared to overcome me by force. Then I,
unwilling to set my beauty above my virtue, destroyed with inflexible
hand my temples, gardens, and houses, and converted them into ramparts,
to keep my insensate suitors at a distance. I destroyed my beauty to
preserve my honor. I was once Geneva the fair; now I am called Geneva
the valiant.’ These lines are preserved in Gautier’s manuscript history.
.fn-
// File: 376.png
.pn +1
.sp 4
.h2 id=chap7-16
CHAPTER XVI. | THE KING OF FRANCE INVITES MELANCTHON TO RESTORE UNITY AND TRUTH. | (<sc>End of 1534 to August 1535.</sc>)
.sp 2
While the work of the Reformation appeared exposed to
great dangers in a small city of the Alps, it had in the eyes
of the optimists chances of success in two of the greatest
countries of Europe—France and Italy. The two finest
geniuses of the reform, Melancthon and Calvin, had been
summoned to those two countries respectively. Luther,
their superior by the movements of his heart and the simplicity
of his faith, was inferior to them as a theologian, and
they probably surpassed him in their capacity to comprehend
in their thoughts all nations and all churches.

The first half of the sixteenth century was the epoch of a
great transformation to the people of Europe; there had
been nothing like it since the introduction of Christianity.
During the middle ages, the pope was the guardian of Christendom,
and the people were infants, who, not having attained
the necessary age, could not act for themselves. The
pontificial hierarchy opened or shut the gates of heaven,
laid down what every man ought to believe and do, dominated
in the councils of princes, and exercised a powerful
influence over all public institutions.
But a wardship is always provisional. When a man attains
his majority, he enters into the enjoyment of his property
and rights, and having to render an account to none
but God, he walks without guardians by the light which his
conscience gives him. There is also a time of majority for
nations, and Christian society attained that age in the sixteenth
century. From that moment it ceased to receive
// File: 377.png
.pn +1
blindly all that the priests taught; it entered into a higher
and more independent sphere. The teaching of man vanished
away; the teaching of God began again. Once more
those words were heard in Christendom which Paul of Tarsus
had uttered in the first century: ‘<i>I speak as to wise men;
judge ye what I say</i>.’[#] But it must be carefully observed
that it was by throwing open the Bible to their generation
that the reformers realized this sentence. If they had not
restored a heavenly torch to man, if they had left him to
himself in the thick shadows of the night, he would have
remained blind, uneasy, restless, and unsatisfied. The holy
emancipation of the sixteenth century invited those who
listened to it to draw freely from the divine Word all that
was necessary to scatter the darkness of their reason and fill
up the void in their hearts. Elevating them above the
goods of the body, above even arts, literature, science, and
philosophy, it offered to their soul eternal treasures—God
himself. The Gospel, then restored to the world, gave an
unaccustomed force to the moral law, and thus conferred on
the people who received it two boons,—order and liberty,—which
the Vatican has never possessed within its precincts.

.sn Alarm And Joy.
All men, however, did not understand that the majority
which each must necessarily attain individually is at the
same time essential to them collectively, and that the Church
in particular must inevitably attain it. There were many,
among those who were interested in the prosperity of nations,
who felt alarm at the abolition of the papal guardianship.
They saw that this stupendous act would work
immense changes in the sphere of the mind; that society
as a whole, literature, social life, politics, the relations
of foreign countries with one another, would be made new.
This prospect, which was a subject of joy to the greater
number, excited the liveliest apprehensions in others.
Those especially who had not learnt that man, as a moral
being, can only be led by free convictions, imagined that all
// File: 378.png
.pn +1
society would run wild and be lost if that power was suppressed
which had so long intimidated and restrained it by
the fear of excommunications and the stake. These men,
alarmed at the sight of the free and living waters of reform
and wishing at any cost to save the nations of Europe from
the deluge which appeared to threaten them, thought it
their duty to confine them still more, to restore, strengthen
and raise the imperilled dikes, and thus keep the stagnant
waters in the foul canals where they had stood for ages.

Notwithstanding his liberal tendencies with regard to
literature and the arts, Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr> was not exempt from
these fears, and gave a helping hand to a restoration,—often
a cruel restoration of the Romish jurisdiction. Henry
<abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr>, of little interest as an individual, though great as a
king, and who was truly the father, predecessor, and fore-runner
of Elizabeth and her reign, even while striving ineffectually
to preserve the catholic doctrines in his realm, separated
it decisively from the papacy, and by so doing laid
the foundations of the liberty and greatness of England.
Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr>, on the other hand, maintained the papal supremacy
in his dominions, and labored to restore it in the
countries where it had been abolished. In 1534 and 1535
we see him making great exertions to that end, and finding
numerous helpers to back him up.

The idea of restoring unity in the Christian Church of the
West, not only engrossed the attention of those who were
actuated by despotic views, but also of noble-minded and
liberal men. ‘By what means can we succeed?’ they
asked. The violent answered, ‘By force;’ but the wise
represented that Christian unity could not be brought about
by the sword. Those who were occupied with this great
question determined to examine whether they could not
solve it by means of mutual concessions; and they set about
their task with different motives and in different tempers.
They formed three categories.

There existed at that time in all parts of Europe men of
wit and learning, children of the Renaissance, who disliked
// File: 379.png
.pn +1
the superstitions and abuses of Rome, as well as the bold
doctrines and severe precepts of the Reformation. They
wanted a religion, but it must be an easy one, and more in
conformity (as they held) with reason. Between Luther
and the pope, they saw Erasmus, and that elegant and judicious
writer was their apostle: hence the Elector of Saxony
called them Erasmians.[#] They thought that by melting
popery and protestantism together they might realize their
dreams.

In like manner, too, there were persons to be found of
greater or less eminence in whom the desire prevailed to
maintain Europe in that papal wardship which had lasted
through all the middle ages: they feared the most terrible
convulsions if that supreme authority should come to an end.
At their head in France was the king. Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr> had also
a more interested object: he desired, from political motives,
to unite protestants and catholics, because he had need of
Rome in Italy to recover his preponderance there, and of
the protestants in Germany to humble Charles <abbr='the fifth'>V.</abbr> To this
class also belonged, to a greater or less extent, William du
Bellay, the king’s councillor and right hand in diplomacy.
So far as concerns doctrine, both were on the side of Erasmus;
but, in an ecclesiastical point of view, while the prince
inclined to a moderate papal dominion, the minister would
have preferred a still more liberal system.

.sn The Moderate Evangelicals.
Finally, there were, particularly in Germany, a few evangelical
Christians who consented to accept the episcopalian
form, and even the primacy of a bishop, in the hope of obtaining
the transformation of the doctrine and manners of
the universal Church. Melancthon at Wittemberg, Bucer
at Strasburg, and Professor Sturm at Paris, were the most
eminent men of this school. Melancthon went farther than
his colleagues. He believed that the great revolution then
going on was salutary and even necessary; but he would
have liked to see it limited and directed.  Former ages had
// File: 380.png
.pn +1
elaborated certain results which ought, in his opinion, to be
handed down to ages to come; and he imagined that if the
pope could be induced to receive the Gospel, that despot of
old times might still be useful to the Church. Another and
a still more urgent interest animated these pious men: it
was necessary to rescue the victims of fanaticism, to extinguish
the burning piles. The bloody and solemn executions
which had taken place in Paris on the <abbr='twenty-first'>21st</abbr> of January,
1535, in presence of the king and court, had excited an indescribable
horror everywhere. One might have imagined
that those noble-hearted men foresaw the miseries of France,
the battle-fields running with blood, and the night of <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr>
Bartholomew with its murders ushered in by the death-knell
from the steeple of <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Germain l’Auxerrois; that
they saw pass before them those armies of fugitives whom
the revocation of the Edict of Nantes scattered over the
wide world.

One common feature characterized all three classes.
Those who composed them were in general of an accommodating
disposition, an easy manner, ready to sacrifice some
part of what they thought true, in order to attain their end.
But there were in Europe, on the side of Rome many inflexible
papists, and on the side of the Reformation many
determined protestants, who set truth above unity, and were
resolved to do everything ‘so that the talent which God had
entrusted to them might not be lost through their cowardice,
or taken from them on account of their ingratitude.’[#]

.sn Effects Of The Placards.
The famous placards posted up in the capital and all over
France on that October night of 1534 had carried trouble
into the hearts of the peacemakers. They had seen, as
they imagined, the torch suddenly applied to the house in
which they were quietly laboring to reconcile Rome and the
Reformation. ‘Such a seditious act agitates the whole kingdom,
and exposes us to the greatest dangers,’[#] wrote Sturm
// File: 381.png
.pn +1
from Paris to Melancthon. ‘The authors of those placards
are men of a fanatical turn, rebels who circulate pernicious
sentiments, and who deserve chastisement,’ wrote Melancthon
to the Bishop of Paris. But at the same time the most
energetic of the German protestants, revolted by the cruelty
of Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr>, refused to join in union with a prince who
burnt their brethren. The King of France had formed the
plan of a congress, destined to restore peace to Christendom;
but an imprudent hand had applied the match to the mine,
and the friends of peace were struck with terror and confusion.
From that moment there was nothing heard but
recriminations, reproaches, and altercations.

Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr> saw clearly that, if his project was on the
brink of failing, the fault was due mainly to his own violence;
he therefore undertook to set straight the affairs he
had so imprudently damaged. On the <abbr=first>1st</abbr> February, 1535,
he wrote to the evangelical princes of the empire, assuring
them that there was no similarity between the German
protestants and the French <i>heretics</i>, his victims. The contriver
of the strappadoes of the <abbr='twenty-first'>21st</abbr> January, assumed a
lofty tone, as if he were innocence itself. ‘I am insulted in
Germany,’ he said, ‘in every place of assembly, and even
at public banquets. It is said that people dressed like Turks
can walk freely about the streets of Paris, but that no one
dares appear there in German costume. People say that
the Germans are looked upon here as heretics, and are
arrested, tortured, and put to death. We think it our duty
to reply to these calumnies. Just when we were on the
point of coming to an understanding with you, certain mad-men
endeavored to upset our work. I prefer to bury in
darkness the paradoxes they have put forth; I am loth to
set them before you, most illustrious princes, and thus display
them in the sight of the world.[#] I think it sufficient to say
// File: 382.png
.pn +1
that even you would have devoted them to execration. I
wished to prevent the pestilence from spreading over France,
but not a single German was sent to prison.[#] The men of
your nation, princes and nobles, continue to be graciously
received at my court; and as for the German students,
merchants, and artisans who work in my kingdom, I treat
them like my other subjects, and, I may say, like my own
children.’ The letter produced some little effect, and there
was a reaction on the other side of the Rhine. Melancthon
resumed his schemes of reunion.

But a new change then occurred: suddenly, and with
greater violence than ever, new difficulties arose, which
threatened to make shipwreck of the whole business. Francis
<abbr='thre first'>I.</abbr> had caused the conciliatory opinions of Melancthon,
Hedio, and Bucer to be circulated in Germany.[#] Some
unwise and by no means upright adherents of catholicism
mutilated and abridged those opinions,[#] and then proclaimed
with an air of triumph that the heretics, with Melancthon
at their head, were about to return into the bosom of the
Church!... Excessive was the irritation of the evangelical
flocks, and loud cries arose from every quarter against
the temporizers and their weakness. They called to mind
that truth is not a merchandise which can be cheapened;
but a chain, of which if but one link be broken, all the rest
is useless. ‘Melancthon is of opinion,’ said some, ‘that a
single pontiff, residing at Rome, would be very useful to
maintain harmony of faith between the different nations of
Christendom. Bucer adds that we must not overthrow all
that exists in popery, but restore in the protestant churches
many of the practices observed by the ancients. The men
who speak thus are deserters and turncoats. They betray
// File: 383.png
.pn +1
our cause, they commit a crime.’[#] If such protestants as
these were heard among the Lutherans, doctors such as
Farel and Calvin spoke out still more plainly against all
attempts at a union with popery. ‘It is wrong,’ wrote Calvin
afterwards to some English friends, ‘to preserve such
paltry rubbish, the sad relics of papal superstition, every
recollection of which we ought to strive to extirpate.’[#] The
thought that Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr> was at the head of these negotiations
filled the Swiss theologians in particular with ineffable
disgust. ‘What good can be expected of that prince,’ said
Bullinger, ‘that impure, profane, ambitious man?[#] He is
dissembling: Christ and truth are of no account in his projects.
His only thought is how to gain possession of Naples
and Milan. What does this or that matter, so that he
makes himself master of Italy?’ These honest Swiss were
not wanting in common sense. Alarmed at the trap that
was preparing for Reform, Bullinger, Blaarer, Zwyck, and
other reformed divines wrote to Bucer: ‘It is of no use
your contriving a reunion with the pope; thousands of protestants
would rather forfeit their lives than follow you.’

At the same time the Sorbonne and its followers raised
their voices still higher against all assimilation with Lutheran
doctrines. The storm swelled on both sides, and burst
upon the moderate party. Poor Bucer, driven in different
directions, succumbed under the weight of his sorrow.
‘Would to God,’ he exclaimed, ‘that, like the French martyrs,
I were delivered from this life to stand before the face
of Jesus Christ!’[#]

.sn Hope Of Union Lost.
Every hope of union seemed lost. The ship which the
politic King of France had launched, and to which the hand
// File: 384.png
.pn +1
of the pious Melancthon had fastened the banners of peace,
had been carried upon the breakers; all attempts to get her
out to sea again appeared useless; there was neither water
enough to float her, nor wind enough to move her. She
was about to be abandoned, when a sudden breeze extricated
her from the shallows, and launched her once more
upon the wide ocean.

Clement <abbr='the seventh'>VII.</abbr> having died of chagrin, occasioned by the
prospect of a future in which he could see nothing but deception
and sorrow,[#] the King of France considered himself
thenceforward liberated from the promises made to Catherine’s
uncle. Ere long the choice of the Sacred College
gave him still greater liberty. Alexander Farnese, who,
under the title of Paul <abbr='the third'>III.</abbr>, succeeded Clement, was a man
of the world; he had studied at Florence in the famous gardens
of Lorenzo de’ Medici, and from his youth had lived
an irregular life. On one occasion, being imprisoned by his
mother’s orders in the castle of <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Angelo, he took advantage
of the moment when the attention of his jailers was
attracted by the procession of Corpus Christi to escape
through a window by means of a rope. Although he had
two illegitimate children, a son and a daughter, he was made
cardinal, and from that hour kept his eyes steadily fixed
upon the triple crown. He obtained it at last, at the age
of sixty-seven, and declared that in religious matters he
would follow very different principles from those of his predecessors.
This man, who had so much need of reformation
for himself and his family, was engrossed wholly with
reforming the Church. We shall find not only a king of
France, but a pope of Rome also, making advances to Melancthon.
Leo <abbr='the tenth'>X.</abbr> bequeathed schism to Christendom.
Paul <abbr='the third'>III.</abbr> undertook to restore unity, and thus hoped to
acquire a greater glory than that of the Medicis. He promised
the ambassadors of Charles <abbr='the fifth'>V.</abbr> to call a council, and
four days after his election declared his intentions in full
// File: 385.png
.pn +1
consistory. ‘I desire a reform,’ he said; ‘before we attempt
to change the universal Church, we must first sweep
out the court of Rome;’ and he nominated a congregation
to draw up a plan of reform. Proud of his skill, he thought
that everything would be easy to him, and already triumphed
in imagination over the Germans, who were, in his opinion,
so boorish, and the Swiss, who were so barbarous. Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr>,
satisfied with this disposition of the pope, was not unaware,
besides, that he had private means of communicating with
him. The first secretary of his Holiness was Ambrosio, an
influential man and by no means averse to presents. A
person who had need of his services having given him sixty
silver basins with as many ewers, ‘How is it,’ said a man
one day, ‘that with all these basins to wash in, his hands
are never clean?’[#]

.sn Popery In France.
But the work of union was not to be so easy as the conjunction
of two such stars as Farnese and Valois seemed to
promise. While the Romish Church was being toned down
at Rome, popery became stricter in France. The fanatical
party that was to acquire a horrible celebrity by the crimes of
the Bartholomew massacre and of the League, was beginning
to take shape round the dauphin, the future Henry <abbr='the second'>II.</abbr> That
youth of eighteen, who had not long returned from Madrid,
was far from being lively, talkative, and independent, like a
young Frenchman, but gloomy and silent, and appeared to
live only to obey women. There were two at his side,
admirably calculated to give him a papistical direction:
first, his wife, Catherine de Medicis, and next his mistress,
Diana of Poitiers, a widow, still beautiful in spite of her
age, and who would not (as it has been said) have spoken
to a heretic for an empire. The mistress and the wife, who
were on the best of terms, and all of the dauphin’s party,
endeavored to thwart the king’s plans. The most influential
members of that faction were continually repeating to
him that the protestants of Germany were quite as fanatical
and seditious as those of France. At the same time, the
// File: 386.png
.pn +1
emperor’s agents, animated by the same intentions, told the
German protestants that Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr> was an infidel in alliance
with the Turks. The obstacles opposed in France and
Germany to the reconciliation of Christendom were such
that its realization appeared a matter of difficulty.

But in the midst of these intrigues the moderate party
held firm. The Du Bellays belonged to one of the oldest
families in France; their nobility could be traced back to
the reign of Lothaire,[#] and their mother, Margaret de la
Tour-Landry, reckoned among her ancestors a man who
had occupied himself with laying down the rules of a good
education. After a life of busy warfare, the Chevalier de
la Tour-Landry, seignior of Bourmont and Claremont, who
lived in the fourteenth century, wrote two works on education:
one for his sons, the other for his daughters, copies of
which became numerous. The treatise intended for the
girls was printed in 1514, perhaps by the direction of
the parents of the Du Bellays. ‘Out of the great affection
I bear to my children,’ wrote the old cavalier, ‘whom
I love as a father ought to love them, my heart will
be filled with perfect joy if they grow up good and
honorable, loving and serving God.’[#] William and John
particularly seemed to have responded to this prayer. William,
the elder, was not void of Christian sentiments. ‘I
desire,’ he said, ‘that nothing may happen injurious to the
cause of the Gospel and the glory of Christ;’[#] but he was
specially one of the most distinguished generals and diplomatists
of his epoch. He knew, says Brantome, the most
private secrets of the emperor and of all the princes of
Europe, so that people supposed him to have a familiar
// File: 387.png
.pn +1
spirit. Although maimed in his limbs—the consequence
of his campaigns—he was a man of indefatigable activity.
His brother John, Bishop of Paris, who was also ‘another
master-mind,’ professed like him an enlightened catholicism;
and hence it happened that on the accession of Henry <abbr='the second'>II.</abbr>
he was deprived of his rank by the intrigues of the papist
party, and driven from France. Still, to show that he remained
a catholic, he took up his residence in Rome.

.sn Melancthon’s Position.
In 1535 the moderate catholic party, at the head of which
were these two brothers, seeing the chances of success at
Rome as well as at Paris, resolved to take a more decided
step, and to invite Melancthon to France. The proposal
was made to Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr>, and supported by all the members
of the party. They knew that Melancthon was called ‘the
master of Germany,’ and thought that if he came to France
he would conciliate all parties by the culture of his mind, by
his learning, wisdom, piety, and gentleness. One man, if he
appears at the right moment, is sometimes sufficient to give
a new direction to an entire epoch, to a whole nation. ‘Ah,
sire,’ said Barnabas Voré de la Fosse, a learned and zealous
French nobleman, who knew Germany well, and had tasted
of the Gospel, ‘if you knew Melancthon, his uprightness,
learning, and modesty! I am his disciple, and fear not to
tell it you. Of all those who in our days have the reputation
of learning, and who deserve it, he is the foremost.’[#]

These advances were not useless: Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr> thought the
priests very arrogant and noisy. His despotism made him
incline to the side of the pope; but his love of letters, and
his disgust at the monks, attracted him the other way.
Just now he thought it possible to satisfy both these inclinations
at once. Fully occupied with the effect of the moment,
and inattentive to consequences, he passed rapidly
from one extreme to another. At Marseilles he had thrown
himself into the arms of Clement <abbr='the seventh'>VII.</abbr>, now he made up
his mind to hold out his hand to Melancthon. ‘Well!’ said
// File: 388.png
.pn +1
the king, ‘since he differs so much from our rebels, let him
come: I shall be enchanted to hear him.’ This gave great
delight to the peacemakers. ‘God has seen the affliction of
his children and heard their cries,’ exclaimed Sturm.[#]
Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr> ordered De la Fosse to proceed to Germany to
urge Melancthon in person.

A king of France inviting a reformer to come and explain
his views was something very new. The two principal
obstacles which impeded the Reformation seemed now to
be removed. The first was the character of the reformers
in France, the exclusive firmness of their doctrines, and the
strictness of their morality. Melancthon, the mild, the wise,
the tolerant, the learned scholar, was to attempt the task.
The second obstacle was the fickleness and opposition of
Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr>; but it was this prince who made the advances.
There are hours of grace in the history of the human race,
and one of those hours seemed to have arrived. ‘God, who
rules the tempests,’ exclaimed Sturm, ‘is showing us a harbor
of refuge.’[#]

.sn Efforts Of The Mediators.
The friends of the Gospel and of light set earnestly to
work. It was necessary to persuade Melancthon, the Elector,
and the protestants of Germany, which might be a task
of some difficulty. But the mediators did not shrink from
before obstacles; they raised powerful batteries; they
stretched the strings of their bow, and made a great effort
to carry the fortress. Sturm, in particular, spared no exertions.
The free courses he was giving at the Royal College,
his lectures on Cicero, his logic, which, instead of preparing
his disciples (among whom was Peter Ramus) for
barren disputes, developed and adorned their minds—nothing
could stop him. Sturm was not only an enlightened
man, a humanist, appreciating the Beautiful in the productions
of genius, but he had a deep feeling of the divine
grandeur of the Gospel. Men of letters in those times,
// File: 389.png
.pn +1
especially in Italy, were often negative in regard to the
things of God, light in their conduct, without moral force,
and consequently incapable of exercising a salutary influence
over their contemporaries. Such was not Sturm: and
while those <lang=fr><i>beaux-esprits</i></lang>, those wits were making a useless
display of their brilliant intelligence in drawing-rooms, that
eminent man exhibited a Christian faith and life: he busied
himself in the cultivation of all that is most exalted, and
during his long career, never ceased from enlightening his
contemporaries.[#] ‘The future of French protestantism is
in your hands,’ he wrote to Bucer; ‘Melancthon’s answer
and yours will decide whether the evangelicals are to enjoy
liberty, or undergo the most cruel persecutions. When I
see Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr> meditating the revival of the Church, I recognize
God, who inclines the hearts of princes. I do not
doubt his sincerity; I see no hidden designs, no political
motives; although a German by birth, I do not share my
fellow-countrymen’s suspicions about him. The king, I am
convinced, wishes to do all he can to reform the Church, and
to give liberty of conscience to the French.’[#] Such was,
then, the hope of the most generous spirits—such the aim
of their labors.

Sturm, wishing to do everything in his power to give
France that liberty and reformation, wrote personally to
Melancthon. He was the man to be gained, and the professor
set his heart upon gaining him. ‘How delighted I am
at the thought that you will come to France!’ he said.
‘The king talks much about you; he praises your integrity,
learning, and modesty; he ranks you above all the scholars
of our time, and has declared that he is <i>your disciple</i>.[#] I
shed tears when I think of the devouring flames that have
// File: 390.png
.pn +1
consumed so many noble lives; but when I learn that the
king invites you to advise with him as to the means of extinguishing
those fires, then I feel that God is turning his
eyes with love upon the souls who are threatened with unutterable
calamities. What a strange thing! France appeals
to you at the very time when our cause is so fiercely attacked.
The king, who is of a good disposition at bottom,
perceives so many defects in the old cause, and such imprudence
in those who adhere to the truth, that he applies to
you to find a remedy for these evils. O Melancthon! to see
your face will be our salvation. Come into the midst of our
violent tempests, and show us the haven. A refusal from
you would keep our brethren suspended above the flames.
Trouble yourself neither about emperors nor kings: those
who invite you are men who are fighting against death.
But they are not alone: the voice of Christ, nay, the voice
of God himself calls you.’[#] The letter is dated from Paris,
<abbr=fourth>4th</abbr> March, 1535.

The Holy Scriptures, which were read wherever the Reform
had penetrated, had revived in men’s hearts feelings
of real unity and Christian charity. Such cries of distress
could not fail to touch the protestants of Germany; Bucer,
who had also been invited, made preparations for his departure.
‘The French, Germans, Italians, Spaniards, and
other nations, who are they?’[#] he asked. ‘All our brethren
in Jesus Christ. It is not this nation or that nation
only, but all nations that the Father has given to the Son.
I am ready,’ he wrote to Melancthon; ‘prepare for your departure.’

.sn Importance Of France.
What could Melancthon do? that was the great question.
Many persons, even in Germany, had hoped that France
would put herself at the head of the great revival of the
Church. Had not her kings, and especially Louis <abbr='the twelfth'>XII.</abbr>,
often resisted Rome? Had not the university of Paris
// File: 391.png
.pn +1
been the rival of the Vatican? Was it not a Frenchman
who, cross in hand, had roused the West to march to the
conquest of Jerusalem? Many believed that if France
were transformed, all Christendom would be transformed
with her. To a certain point, Melancthon had shared these
ideas, but he was less eager than Bucer. The outspoken
language of the placards had shocked him; but the burning
piles erected in Paris had afterwards revolted him; he
feared that the king’s plans were a mere trick, and his reform
a phantom. Nevertheless, after reflecting upon the
matter, he concluded that the conquest of such a mighty
nation was a thing of supreme importance. His adhesion
to the regenerating movement then accomplishing might
decide its success, just as his hostility might destroy it. He
must do something more than open his arms to France, he
must go to meet her.

Melancthon understood the position and set to work.
First, he wrote to the Bishop of Paris, in order to gain him
over to the proposed union, by representing to him that the
episcopal order ought to be maintained. The German doctor
did not doubt that even under that form, the increasing
consciousness of truth and justice, the living force of the
Gospel, which was seen opening and increasing everywhere,
would gain over to the Reformation the fellow-countrymen
of <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Bernard and <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Louis. ‘France is, so to speak, the
head of the Christian world,’ he wrote to the Bishop of
Paris.[#] ‘The example of the most eminent people may exercise
a great influence over others. If France is resolved
to defend energetically the existing vices of the Church,
good men of all countries will see their fondest desires
vanish. But I have better hopes; the French nation possesses,
I know, a remarkable zeal for piety.[#] All men turn
their eyes to us; all conjure us, not only by their words, but
// File: 392.png
.pn +1
by their tears, to prevent sound learning from being stifled,
and Christ’s glory from being buried.’

On the same day, <abbr=ninth>9th</abbr> of May, 1535, Melancthon wrote to
Sturm: ‘I will not suffer myself to be prevented either by
domestic ties or the fear of danger. There is no human
grandeur which I can prefer to the glory of Christ. Only
one thought checks me: I doubt of my ability to do any
good; I fear it will be impossible to obtain from the king
what I consider necessary to the glory of the Lord and the
peace of France.[#] If you can dispel these apprehensions,
I shall hasten to France, and no prison shall affright me.
We must seek only for what is fitting for the Church and
France. You know that kingdom. Speak. If you think
I should do well to undertake the journey, I will start.’

Melancthon’s letter to the Bishop of Paris was not without
effect. That prelate had just been made a cardinal;
but the new dignity in nowise diminished his desire for the
restoration of truth and unity in the Church; on the contrary,
it gave him more power to realize the great project.
The Reformation was approaching. Delighted with the
sentiments expressed to him by the <i>master</i> of Germany, he
communicated his letter to such as might feel an interest in
it, and among others, no doubt, to the king. ‘There is not
one of our friends here,’ he said, ‘to whom Melancthon’s
mode of seeing things is not agreeable. As for myself, it is
pleasant far beyond what I can express.’[#] It was the same
with his brother William. While the new cardinal especially
desired a union with Melancthon in the hope of obtaining
a wise and pious reform, the councillor of Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr>
desired, while leaving to the pope his spiritual authority, to
make France politically independent of Rome. The two
brothers united in entreating the king to send for Luther’s
friend. De la Fosse joined them, and all the friends of
// File: 393.png
.pn +1
peace, in conjuring the king to give the German doctor some
proof of his good-will. ‘He will come if you write to him,’
they said.

.sn Letter Of The King.
Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr> made up his mind, and instead of addressing
the sovereign whose subject Melancthon was, the proud king
of France wrote to the plain doctor of Wittemberg. This was
not quite regular; had the monarch written to the elector,
such a step might have produced very beneficial results; not
so much because the susceptibility of the latter prince would
not have been wounded, as because the reasons which Francis,
with Du Bellay’s help, might have given him, would
perhaps have convinced a ruler so friendly to the Gospel
and to peace as John Frederick. It is sometimes useful to
observe the rules of diplomacy. This is the letter from the
King of France to the learned doctor, dated <abbr='twenty-third'>23d</abbr> of June,
1535.

.pm letter-start
‘Francis, by the grace of God King of the French, to our
dear Philip Melancthon, greeting:

‘I have long since been informed by William du Bellay,
my chamberlain and councillor, of the zeal with which
you are endeavoring to appease the dissensions to which
the Christian doctrine has given rise. I now learn from the
letter which you have written to him, and from Voré de la
Fosse, that you are much inclined to come to us, to confer
with some of our most distinguished doctors on the means
of restoring in the Church that divine harmony which is the
first of all my desires.[#] Come then, either in an official
character, or in your own name; you will be very acceptable
to me, and you will learn, in either case, the interest I
feel in the glory of your Germany and the peace of the universe.’
.pm letter-end

These declarations from the King of France forwarded
the enterprise; before taking such a step, he must have
// File: 394.png
.pn +1
been very clear in his intentions. We may well ask, however,
if the letter was sincere. In history, as in nature,
there are striking contrasts. While these things were passing
in the upper regions of society, scenes were occurring
in the lower regions which ran counter to those fine projects
of princes and scholars. The Swiss divines maintained that
the whole affair was a comedy in which the king and his
ministers played the chief parts. That may be questionable,
but the interlude was a blood-stained tragedy. In the very
month when Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr> wrote to Melancthon, a poor husbandman
of La Bresse, John Cornon, was arrested while at
work in the fields, and taken to Macon. The judges, who
expected to see an idiot appear before them, were astonished
when they heard that poor peasant proving to them, in his
simple <i>patois</i>, the truth of his faith, and displaying an extensive
knowledge of Holy Scripture. As the pious husbandman
remained unshaken in his attachment to the all-sufficient
grace of Jesus Christ, he was condemned to death,
dragged on a hurdle to the place of execution, and there
burnt alive.[#]

In the following month of July, Dennis Brion, a humble
barber of Sancerre, near Paris, and a reputed heretic, was
taken in his shop. He had often expounded the Scriptures,
not only to those who visited him, but also to a number of
persons who assembled to hear him. Nothing annoyed the
priests so much as these meetings, where simple Christians,
speaking in succession, bore testimony to the light and consolation
they had found in the Bible. Brion was condemned,
as the husbandman of La Bresse had been, and his death
was made a great show. It was the time of the <lang=fr><i>grands
jours</i></lang> at Angers; and there he was burnt alive, in the midst
of an immense concourse of people from every quarter.[#] It
is probable that those executions were not the result of any
new orders, but a mere sequel to the cruelties of the <abbr='twenty-first'>21st</abbr>
of January, the influence of which had only then reached
the provinces.
// File: 395.png
.pn +1

These two executions, however, made the necessity of
laboring to restore peace and unity still more keenly felt.
Those engaged in the task saw but one means: to admit on
one side the evangelical doctrine, and on the other the episcopal
form with a bishop <lang=la><i>primus inter pares</i></lang>. Western
Christendom would thus have a protestant body with a Roman
dress. The Church of the Reformation (it was said)
holds to doctrine before all things, and the Church of Rome
to its government; let us unite the two elements. The
Wittemberg doctors hoped that the substance would prevail
over the form; the Roman doctors that the form would
prevail over the substance; but many on both sides honestly
believed that the proposed combination would succeed and
be perpetual.

.sn Du Bellay Goes To Rome.
At the same time as De la Fosse started for Wittemberg,
the new cardinal, Du Bellay, departed for Rome: two French
embassies were to be simultaneously in the two rival cities.
The ostensible object of the cardinal’s journey was not the
great matter which the king had at heart, but to thank the
pope for the dignity conferred upon him; still it was the
intention and the charge of the Bishop of Paris to do all in
his power to induce the catholic Church to come to an understanding
with the protestants. Before quitting France,
he wrote to Melancthon: ‘There is nothing I desire more
earnestly than to put an end to the divisions which are
shaking the Church of Christ. My dear Melancthon, do
all you can to bring about this happy pacification.[#] If you
come here, you will have all good men with you, and especially
the king, who is not only in name, but in reality, <i>most
Christian</i>. When you have conferred with him thoroughly,
which will be soon, I trust, there is nothing that we may not
hope for. God grant that at Rome, whither I am going
with all speed, I may obtain, in behalf of the work I meditate,
all the success that I desire.’[#]
// File: 396.png
.pn +1

The cardinal’s journey was of great importance. The
party to which he belonged, which desired one sole Catholic
Church, in which evangelical doctrines and Romish forms
should be skilfully combined, was acquiring favor in the
metropolis of catholicism. The new pope raised to the cardinalate
Contarini and several other prelates who were
known for their evangelical sentiments and the purity of
their lives. He left them entire liberty; he permitted
them to contradict him in the consistory, and even encouraged
them to do so. The hope of a reform grew
greater day by day in Italy.[#] It thus happened that
Cardinal du Bellay found himself in a very favorable atmosphere
at Rome: he would be backed by the influence
of France, and to a certain point by the imperial influence
also, for no one desired more strongly than Charles <abbr='the fifth'>V.</abbr> an
arrangement between catholics and protestants. The Bishop
of Paris, an enlightened and skilful diplomatist and pious
man, had a noble appearance, and displayed in every act
the mark of a great soul.[#] He thus won men’s hearts, and
might, in concert with Melancthon, be the chosen instrument
to establish the so much desired unity in the Church.

.sn Du Bellay To Melancthon.
While he was on his way to confer with the pope and
cardinals, others were canvassing Melancthon and the protestants.
De la Fosse left for Wittemberg, bearing the king’s
letter, and William du Bellay, an intelligent statesman, who
was determined to spare no pains to bring the great scheme
to a successful issue, wrote to the German doctor, explaining
motives and removing objections. In his eyes the
cause in question was the greatest of all: it was the cause
of religion and of France. ‘Let us beware,’ wrote the councillor
of Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr> to Melancthon, ‘let us beware of irritating
the king, whose favor you will confess is necessary to
us. If, after he has written to you with his own hand, after
// File: 397.png
.pn +1
you have almost given your consent, after he has sent you
a deputation, in whose company you could make the journey
without danger,—if you finally refuse to come to France, I
much fear that the monarch will not look upon it with a favorable
eye. It is necessary both to France and religion
that you comply with the king’s request.[#] Fear not the
influence of the wicked, who cannot endure to be deprived
of anything in order that the glory of Jesus Christ should be
increased.[#] The king is skilful, prudent, yielding, and allows
himself to be convinced by sound reasons. If you have
an interview with him, if you talk with him, if you set your
motives before him, you will inflame him with an admirable
zeal for your cause.[#] Do not think you will have to dissemble
or give way.... No; the king will praise
your courage in such serious matters more than he would
praise your weakness. I therefore exhort and conjure you
in Christ’s name not to miss the opportunity of doing the
noblest of all the works which it is possible to perform among
men.’

As we read these important letters, these touching solicitations,
and the firm opinions of the councillor of Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr>,
we are tempted to inquire what is their date. Is it in reality
only five months after the strappadoes? One circumstance
explains the startling contrast. France might say:
‘I feel two natures in me.’ Which of them shall prevail?
That is the question. Will it be the intelligence, frankness,
love of liberty, and presentiment of the moral responsibility
of man, which are often found in the French people; or the
incredulity, superstition, sensuality, cruelty, and despotism,
of which Catherine de Medicis, her husband, and her sons
were the types? Shall we see a people, eager for liberty,
submitting in religious things to the yoke of a Church which
never allows any independence to individual thought?
Strange to say, the solution of this important question seemed
// File: 398.png
.pn +1
to depend upon a reformer. Should Melancthon come to
France, he would, in the opinion of the Du Bellays and the
best intellects of the age, inaugurate with God’s help in that
illustrious country the reign of the Gospel and liberty, and
put an end to the usurpations of Rome.

If the great enterprise at which some of the greatest and
most powerful personages were then working succeeded, if
the tendency of Catherine and her sons (continued unfortunately
by the Bourbons) were overcome, France was saved.
It was a solemn opportunity. Never, perhaps, had that
great nation been nearer the most important transformation.

In addition to the appeals of Du Bellay, no means were
spared to persuade Germany. Sturm wrote another letter
to the Wittemberg doctor, telling him that the king was not
very far from sharing the religious ideas of the protestants,
and that, if his views were laid clearly and fearlessly before
him, the reformer would find that the sovereign agreed with
him on many important points. And more than this, Claude
Baduel, who, after studying at Wittemberg, was in succession
professor at Paris, rector at Nismes, and pastor at
Geneva, was intrusted by the Queen of Navarre with a
mission to Melancthon. Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr>, wishing to pass from
words to deeds, published an amnesty on the <abbr=sixteenth>16th</abbr> July,
1535, in which he declared that ‘the anger of our Lord
being appeased, persons accused or suspected should not be
molested, that all prisoners should be set at liberty, their
confiscated goods restored, and the fugitives permitted to re-enter
the kingdom, provided they lived as good catholic
Christians.’[#]

As Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr> did not wish to alarm the court of Rome,
and desired to prevent it from interfering and seeking to
disturb and thwart his plans, he called Cardinal du Bellay
to him a short time before his departure, and said: ‘You
will give the Holy Father to understand that I am sending
your brother to the protestants of Germany to get what he
can from them; at the very least to prevail on them to acknowledge
// File: 399.png
.pn +1
the power of the pope as head of the Church
universal. With regard to faith, religion, ceremonies, institutions,
and doctrines, he will preserve such as it will be
proper to preserve,—at least, what may reasonably be tolerated,
while waiting the decision of the council....
Matters being thus arranged, our Holy Father will then be
able earnestly and joyfully to summon a council to meet at
Rome, and his authority will remain sure and flourishing;
for, if the enemies of the Holy See once draw in their horns
in Germany, they will do the same in France, Italy, England,
Scotland, and Denmark.’[#]

The opinions of Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr> come out clearly in these instructions.
The only thing he cared about was the preservation
of the pope’s temporal power. As for religion,
ceremonies, and doctrines, he would try to come to an understanding,—he
would get what he could; but the protestants
must pull in their horns,—must renounce their independent
bearing. The king declared himself satisfied, provided
the people of Europe continued to walk beneath the
Caudine forks of Romish power.

.sn Conference With The Reformers.
It was not long before the king showed what were his
real intentions, and towards what kind of reconciliation a
council would have to labor, if one should ever be assembled,
which was very doubtful. On the <abbr=twentieth>20th</abbr> July, the Bishop of
Senlis, his confessor, requested the Sorbonne to nominate
ten or twelve of its theologians to confer with the reformers.
If a bombshell had fallen in the midst of the Faculty, it
could not have caused greater alarm. ‘What an unprecedented
proposal!’ exclaimed the doctors; ‘is it a jest or an
insult?’ For two days they remained in deliberation.
‘We will nominate deputies,’ said the assembly, ‘but for
the purpose of remonstrating with the king.’ ‘Sire,’ boldly
said these delegates, ‘your proposal is quite useless and supremely
dangerous. Useless, for the heretics will hear of
nothing but Holy Scripture; dangerous, for the catholics,
// File: 400.png
.pn +1
who are weak in faith, may be perverted by the objections
of the heretic.... Let the Germans communicate to
us the articles on which they have need of instruction, we
will give it them willingly; but there can be no discussion
with heretics. If we meet them, it can only be as their
judges. It is a divine and a human law to cut off the corrupted
members from the body. If such is the duty of the
State against assassins, much more is it their duty against
schismatics who destroy souls by their rebellion.’[#]

These different movements did not take place in secret;
they were talked about all over the city, and far beyond it.
Enlightened minds were much amused by the fear which
the doctors of the Sorbonne had of speaking. There was no
lack of remarks on that subject. ‘We must not chatter and
babble overmuch about the Gospel; but it is absurd that,
when anybody inquires into our faith, we should say nothing
in defence of it. Let us discourse about the mysteries of
God peaceably and mildly: to be silent is a supineness and
cowardice worthy of the sneers of unbelievers.’[#] When
Marot the poet heard of the answer of the Sorbonne, he
said:—

.pm verse-start
<lang=fr>Je ne dis pas que Mélancthon
  Ne déclare au roi son advis;
  Mais de disputer vis-à-vis ...
Nos maîtres n’y veulent entendre.</lang>
.pm verse-end

The politicians were not silent. The prospect of an
agreement with the protestants deeply moved the chiefs of
the Roman party, who resolved to do all in their power to
oppose the attempt. Montmorency, the grand master, the
Cardinal de Tournon, the Bishop of Soissons, de Chateaubriand,
and others exerted all their influence to prevent Melancthon
from coming to France, Cardinal du Bellay from
succeeding at Rome, and catholics and protestants from
shaking hands together under the auspices of Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr>
// File: 401.png
.pn +1

This fanatical party, which was to make common cause with
the Jesuits, already forestalled them in cunning. ‘One
morning,’, say Roman-catholic historians,[#] ‘Cardinal de
Tournon appeared at the king’s <lang=fr><i>levée</i></lang>, reading a book magnificently
bound.’ ‘Cardinal, what a handsome book you
have there!’ said the king. ‘Sire,’ replied De Tournon, ‘it
is the work of an illustrious martyr, Saint Irenæus, who presided
over the Church of Lyons in the second century. I
was reading the passage which says that John the Evangelist,
being about to enter some public baths, and learning
that the heretic Cerinthus was inside, hastily retired, exclaiming:
“Let us fly, my children, lest we be swallowed
up with the enemies of the Lord.” That is what the
apostles thought of heretics; and yet you, Sire, the eldest
son of the Church, intend inviting to your court the most
celebrated disciple of that arch-heretic Luther.’ De Tournon
added that an alliance with the Lutherans would
not only cause Milan to be lost to France, but would
throw all the catholic powers into the arms of the emperor.[#]
Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr>, though persisting in his scheme, saw that he
could not force those to speak who had made up their minds
to be silent; and wishing to give De Tournon some little
satisfaction he let the Faculty know that he would not ask
them to confer with the reformers. The king intended to
hear both parties; he sought to place himself between the
two stormy seas, like a quiet channel, which communicates
with both oceans, and in which it was possible to manœuvre
undisturbed by tempests.

.sn Is A Mixed Congress Possible?
The refusal of the Sorbonne, at that time more papistical
than the pope himself, does not imply that a conference
between protestant and catholic theologians was impossible;
for six years later such a conference really did take place at
Ratisbon, and nearly succeeded. A committee, half protestant,
half Romanist, in which Melancthon and Bucer sat,
and in which the pious Cardinal Contarini took part as papal
// File: 402.png
.pn +1
legate, admitted the evangelical faith in all essential points,
and declared in particular that man is justified not by his
own merits, but by faith alone in the merits of Christ,
pointing out, however, as the protestants had always done,
that the faith which justifies must <i>work by love</i>. That meeting
of Ratisbon came to nothing: it could come to nothing.
A gleam of light shone forth, but a breath from Rome extinguished
the torch, and Contarini submitted in silence.
The conference, however, remains in history as a solemn
homage, paid by the most believing members of the Roman-catholic
Church to the Christian doctrines of the Reformation.[#]

.fn #
1 Corinth. <abbr=ten>x.</abbr> 15.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=de>‘Die Leute die die Sache fordern, mehr Erasmich als Evangelisch
sind.’</lang>—Bretschneider, <lang=la><i>Corpus Reformatorum</i></lang>, <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 909.
.fn-
.fn #
Calvin.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Stultissimis et seditiosissimis rationibus regna et gentes perturbarunt.’</lang>—<i>Corp.
Ref.</i> <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 855.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Quorum ego paradoxa malo iisdem sepelire tenebris, unde subito
emerserant, quam apud vos, amplissimi ordines, hoc est, in orbis terrarum
luce memorari.’</lang> In the <i>Corpus Reformatorum</i>, <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 828-835, Bretschneider
gives only the German translation of this letter. The original
Latin, whose existence we were ignorant of when our third volume was
published, will be found in Freheri <i>Script. Rerum German.</i> <abbr=three>iii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 295.
.fn-
.fn #
It appears certain that some Germans were imprisoned; but they were
afterwards released and sent back to Germany by the king’s order.—<lang=la><i>Corpus
Reformatorum</i></lang>, <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 857.
.fn-
.fn #
For these opinions see <i>supra</i>, <abbr=volume>vol.</abbr> <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 353.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Mutilati et excerpti . . . . . . mala fide decerpti.’—<i>Corpus
Reformatorum</i></lang>, <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 976.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Vocor transfuga, desertor . . . . me totam causam prodidisse.’</lang>—Melancthon
to Du Bellay. <lang=la><i>Corpus Reform.</i></lang> <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 915.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>‘C’est un vice d’entretenir des menus fatras.’</lang>—Calvin, <lang=fr><i>Lettres Françaises</i></lang>,
<abbr=one>i.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 420.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘De Gallo, homine impuro, profano et ambitioso.’</lang>—Bullinger to
Myconius, 12 March, 1534. <i>Corp. Ref.</i> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 122.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Ego velim . . . . cum Gallis martyribus Christum adire.’</lang>—Bucer,
<lang=de><i>Zeitschrift für Hist. Theol.</i></lang> 1850, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 44.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=it>‘E fu questo dolore ed affanno che lo condusse alla morte.’</lang>—Soriano,
in Ranke, <abbr rend=arabic>i.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 127.
.fn-
.fn #
Warchi, <lang=it><i>Istorie Fiorentine</i></lang>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 636. Ranke.
.fn-
.fn #
Moreri, <abbr=article>art.</abbr> <i>Du Bellay</i>.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr><i>Livre du Chevalier de la Tour-Landry qui fut fait pour l’enseignement
des femmes mariées et à marier.</i></lang> It was reprinted in 1854 by Jannet, in the
‘Bibliothèque Elzevirienne.’ There are seven manuscript copies in the
Bibliothèque Impériale. See also Burnier, <lang=fr><i>Histoire Littéraire de l’Education</i></lang>,
<abbr=one>i.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 11.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Quod Evangelii causam et Christi gloriam perturbaret.’</lang>—<i>Corp. Ref.</i>
<abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 887.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Cum rege diu de te locutus est, ita ut te omnibus, qui nostris temporibus
docti et habentur et sunt, prætulerit.’</lang>—<i>Corp. Ref.</i> <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 857.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Sentio respici a Deo calamitatibus affectas et afflictas hominum
conditiones.’—<i>Corpus Reformatorum</i></lang>, <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 858.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Deus portum aliquem profugium ostendit.’</lang>—<i>Ibid.</i> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 856.
.fn-
.fn #
See Schmidt’s <lang=fr><i>Vie de Jean Sturm, premier recteur de Strasbourg</i></lang>.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=de>‘Da Franz <abbr rend=arabic>i.</abbr> aüf Erneürung der Kirche sinne . . . . bereit sei zur
Kirchenverbesserung, das seine zu thun, und die Gevissen frei zu lassen.’</lang>—Sturm
to Bucer. Schmidt, <lang=de><i>Zeitschrift für die Hist. Theol.</i></lang> 1850, <abbr rend=arabic>i.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 46.
Strobel, <lang=fr><i>Hist. du Gymnase de Strasbourg</i></lang>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 111 &c.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Non rogatus se discipulum tuum esse dixit.’—<i>Corpus Reformatorum</i></lang>,
<abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 857.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Sed advocari te Dei Christique voce.’</lang>—<i>Corp. Ref.</i> <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 859.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Qui sunt Germani, qui Itali, qui Hispani et alii?’</lang>—Schmidt,
<lang=de><i>Zeitschr. für Hist. Theol.</i></lang> 1850, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 47.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Cum regnum gallicum, si licet dicere, caput christiani orbis sit.’—<i>Corpus
Reformatorum</i></lang>, <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 869.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Gallica natio eximium habet pietatis studium.’</lang>—<i>Ibid.</i>
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Vereor ut impetrari ea possint quæ ad gloriam Christi et tranquillitatem
Galliæ et Ecclesiæ necessaria esse duco.’—<i>Corpus Reformatorum</i></lang>,
<abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 876.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Mihi vero etiam supra quam dici potest jucundum.’</lang>—<i>Ibid.</i> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 880.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Quo resarciri possit pulcherrima illa ecclesiasticæ politiæ harmonia,
qua una re cum ego mihi nihil unquam quicquam majori cura, studio
complectendum esse duxerim.’</lang>—<i>Corp. Ref.</i> <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 880.
.fn-
.fn #
Crespin, <lang=fr><i>Actes des Martyres</i></lang>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 116.
.fn-
.fn #
Ibid. <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 126.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘In hanc pacificationem, mi Melancthon, per Deum quantum potes
incumbe.’</lang>—<i>Corp. Ref.</i> <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 881.
.fn-
.fn #
The letter is dated: <lang=la>‘Ex fano Quintini (St. Quentin) in Viromanduis,
die 27 Jun. anno 1535.’</lang>—<i>Ibid.</i>
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=it>‘Molti anni inanzi, li prelati non erano stati in quelle riforma di vita;
li cardinali havevono libertà maggiore di dire l’ opinione loro, in consistorio ....
Si poteva sperare di giorno in giorno maggiore riforma.’—<i>Tre
libri delli Commentarj delli Guerra</i></lang>, 1537. Ranke.
.fn-
.fn #
De Thou; Sainte-Marthe.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Necessarium esse religioni et Galliæ ut regiæ exspectationi satisfacias.’</lang>—<i>Corp.
Ref.</i> <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 888.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Non enim est quod metuas iniquorum potentiam.’</lang>—<i>Ibid.</i>
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Mirabiliter eum inflammares.’</lang>—<i>Ibid.</i>
.fn-
.fn #
Isambert, <abbr=twelve>xii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 405; Sismondi, <abbr=sixteen>xvi.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 459.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>Instructions des rois très chrétiens et de leurs ambassadeurs (Paris
1654)</lang>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 7.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>Ballue et Bouchigny. Crevier, <i>Hist. de l’Université</i></lang>, <abbr=five>v.</abbr> <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 2-4.
.fn-
.fn #
Calvin.
.fn-
.fn #
Pallavicini, Maimbourg, Varillas, &c.
.fn-
.fn #
Maimbourg, <lang=fr><i>Calvinisme</i></lang>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 28. Varillas, <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 449.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Acta in conventu Ratisbonensi, 1541,’</lang> by Melancthon and Bucer.
.fn-
.sp 4
.h2 id=chap7-17
CHAPTER XVII. | WILL THE ATTEMPT TO ESTABLISH UNITY AND TRUTH SUCCEED? | (<sc>August to November 1535.</sc>)
.sp 2
.sn Individuality And Community.
Was the union desired by so many eminent men to
be for good or for evil? On this question different opinions
may be, and have been, entertained. Certain minds like to
isolate themselves, and look with mistrust and disdain upon
human associations. It is true that man exists first as an individual,
and that before all things he must be himself; but
he does not exist alone: he is a member of a body, and this
forms the second part of his existence. Human life is both
a monologue and a dialogue. Before the era of Christianity,
these two essential modes of being had but an imperfect existence:
on the one hand, social institutions absorbed the
individual, and on the other, each nation was encamped
apart. Christianity aggrandized individuality by calling
// File: 403.png
.pn +1
men to unite with God, and at the same time it proclaimed
the great unity of the human race, and undertook to make
into one family all the families of the earth, by giving the
same heavenly Father to all. It imparts a fresh intensity
to individuality by teaching man that a single soul is in God’s
eyes of more value than the whole universe; but this, far
from doing society an injury, becomes the source of great
prosperity to it. The more an individual is developed in a
Christian sense, the more useful a member he becomes of
the nation and of the human race. Individuality and community
are the two poles of life; and it is necessary to
maintain both, in order that humanity may fulfil its mission
in revolving ages. The mischief lies in giving an unjust
pre-eminence to either of the two elements. Romish unity,
which encroaches upon individuality, is an obstacle to real
Christian civilization; while an extreme individuality, which
isolates man, is full of peril both to society and to the individual
himself. It would therefore be unreasonable to condemn
or to approve absolutely the eminent men who in 1535
endeavored to restore unity to the Church. The question
is to know whether, by reconstructing catholicity, they intended
or not to sacrifice individual liberty. If they desired
a real Christian union, their work was good; if, on the contrary,
they aimed at restoring unity with a hierarchical
object, with a despotic spirit, their work was bad.

There was another question on which men were not more
agreed. Would the great undertaking succeed? France
continued to ask for Melancthon; would Germany reply to
her advances? We must briefly glance at the events which
had taken place in the empire since the agreement between
the catholics and protestants concluded, as we have seen, in
July, 1532.[#] These events may help us to solve the question.

It had been stipulated in the religious peace that all Germans
should show to one another a sincere and Christian
friendship. In the treaty of Cadan (<abbr='twenty-ninth'>29th</abbr> June, 1534),
// File: 404.png
.pn +1
Ferdinand, who had been recognized as King of the Romans,
had undertaken, both for himself and for Charles <abbr='the fifth'>V.</abbr>, to
protect the protestants against the proceedings of the imperial
court. Somewhat later, the city of Münster, in Westphalia,
had become the theatre of the extravagances of
fanaticism. John Bockhold, a tailor of Leyden, setting himself
up for a prophet, had made himself master of the city,
and been proclaimed king of Zion. He had also established
a community of goods, and attempted, like other sectarians,
to restore polygamy. He used to parade the city, wearing
a golden crown; to sit in judgment in the market-place, and
would often cut off the head of a condemned person. A
pulpit was erected at the side of the throne, and after the
sermon the whole congregation would sometimes begin to
dance. The Landgrave, Philip of Hesse, one of the leaders
of the protestant cause, marched against these madmen,
took Münster on the <abbr='twenty-fourth'>24th</abbr> June, 1535, and put an end to
the pretended kingdom of Zion.[#] These extravagances did
not injure the protestant cause, which was not confounded
with a brutal communism, reeking with cruelty and debauchery;
besides, it was the protestants, and not the catholics,
who had put them down. But from that hour, the
evangelicals felt more strongly than ever the necessity of
resisting the sectarian spirit: this they had done at Wittemberg
as early as 1522. At last it appeared clearer every
day that the free and Christian general council, which they
had so often demanded, would be granted them. All the
events, which we have indicated, seemed to have prepared
protestant Germany to accept the proposals of France.

.sn An Important Mission.
Voré de la Fosse, bearing letters from Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr>, William
du Bellay, and other friends of the union, was going to Germany
to try and bring it to a successful issue. De la Fosse
was not such a distinguished ambassador as those who
figured at London and at Rome, and the power to which he
was accredited was a professor in a petty town of Saxony.
// File: 405.png
.pn +1
But Germany called this professor her ‘master,’ and De la
Fosse considered his mission a more important one than
any that had been confided to dukes and cardinals. Christendom
was weakened by being severed into two parts; he
was going to re-establish unity, and revive and purify the
old member by the life of the new one. The Christian
Church thus strengthened would be made capable of the
greatest conquests. On the success of the steps that were
about to be taken depended, in the opinion of De la Fosse
and his friends, the destiny of the world.

The envoy of Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr> arrived at Wittemberg on the
<abbr=fourth>4th</abbr> of August, 1535, and immediately paid Melancthon a
visit, at which he delivered the letters intrusted to him, and
warmly explained the motives which ought to induce the
reformer to proceed to France. De la Fosse’s candor, his
love for the Gospel, and his zeal gained the heart of Luther’s
friend. By degrees a sincere friendship grew up
between them; and when Melancthon afterwards wanted to
justify himself in the eyes of the French, he appealed to the
testimony of the ‘very good and very excellent Voré.’[#]
But if the messenger pleased him, the message filled his
heart with trouble: the perusal of the letters from the
king, Du Bellay, and Sturm brought the doubts of this man
of peace to a climax. He saw powerful reasons for going
to France and equally powerful reasons for staying in Germany.
To use the expression of a reformer, there were
two batteries firing upon him by turns from opposite quarters,
now driving him to the right, now to the left. What
would Charles <abbr='the fifth'>V.</abbr> say, if a German should go to the court
of his great adversary? Besides, what was to be expected
from the Sorbonne, the clergy, and the court? Contempt....
He would not go. On the other hand, Melancthon
had before him a letter from the king, pressing him to come
to Paris. An influential nation might be gained to the
Gospel, and carry all the West along with it. When the
// File: 406.png
.pn +1
Lord calls, must we allow ourselves to be stopped by fear?...
He hesitated no longer: he would depart. Voré
de la Fosse was delighted. But erelong other thoughts
sprang up to torment the doctor’s imagination. What was
there not to be feared from a prince who had sworn, standing
before the stake at which he was burning his subjects,
that to stop heresy he would, if necessary, cut off his own
arm and cast it into the fire?... In that terrible day
of the strappadoes, a deep gulf had opened in the midst of
the church. Was it his business to throw himself, Curtius-like,
into the abyss, in order that the gulf should close over
him?... Melancthon would willingly leave to the
young Roman the glory of devoting himself to the infernal
gods.

De la Fosse visited the illustrious professor daily, and
employed every means to induce him to cross the Rhine.[#]
‘We will do whatever you desire,’ he said. ‘Do you wish
for royal letters to secure to you full liberty of going to
France and returning? You shall have them. Do you
ask for hostages as guarantees for your return? You shall
have them also. Do you want an armed guard of honor to
escort you and bring you back? It shall be given you.[#]
We will spare nothing. On your interview with the king
depends not only the fate of France, but (so to speak) of
the whole world.[#] Hearken to the friends of the Gospel
who dwell in Paris. Threatening waves surround us, they
say by my mouth; furious tempests assail us; but the moment
you come, we shall find ourselves, as it were, miraculously
transported into the safest of havens.[#] If, on the
contrary, you despise the king’s invitation, all hope is lost
// File: 407.png
.pn +1
for us. The fires now slumbering will instantly shoot
forth their flames, and there will be a cruel return of the
most frightful tortures.[#] It is not only Sturm, Du Bellay,
and other friends like them who invite you, but all the pious
Christians of France. They are silent, no doubt—those
whom the cruellest of punishments have laid among the dead,
and even those who, immured in dungeons, are separated
from us by doors of iron; but, if their voices cannot reach
you, listen at least to one mighty voice, the voice of God
himself, the voice of Jesus Christ.’[#]

.sn Melancthon A Man Of God.
When Melancthon heard this appeal, he was agitated
and overpowered.[#] What an immense task! These Frenchmen
are placing the world on his shoulders! Can such a
poor Atlas as he is bear it? How must he decide? What
must he do? In a short time his perplexity was again
increased. The French gentleman had hardly left the
room when his wife, Catherine daughter of the Burgomaster
of Wittemberg, her relations, her young children, and some
of his best friends surrounded him and entreated him not to
leave them. They were convinced that, if Melancthon
once set foot in that city ‘which killeth the prophets,’ they
would never see him again. They described the traps laid
for him; they reminded him that no safe-conduct had been
given him; they shed tears, they clung to him, and yet he
did not give way.

Melancthon was a man of God, and prayed his heavenly
Father to show him the road he ought to take; he thoroughly
weighed the arguments for and against his going.
‘The thought of myself and of mine,’ he said, ‘the remoteness
of the place to which I am invited, and fear of the dangers
that await me ought not to stop me.[#] Nothing should be
// File: 408.png
.pn +1
more sacred to me than the glory of the Son of God, the
deliverance of so many pious men, and the peace of the
Church troubled by such great tempests. Upon that all my
thoughts ought to be concentred; but this is what disturbs
me: I fear to act imprudently in a matter of such great
importance, and to make the disease still more incurable
through my precipitancy. Will not the French, while giving
way on some trivial points which they must necessarily
renounce, retain the most important articles in which falsehood
and impiety are especially found?[#] Alas! such
patchwork would produce more harm than good.’

There was much truth in these fears; but De la Fosse,
returning to his friend, sought to banish his apprehensions,
and assured him that the disposition of Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr> was excellent
at bottom. ‘Yes,’ replied Luther’s friend, ‘but is
he in a position to act upon it?’[#] He expected nothing
from a conference with fanatical doctors. Besides, the
Sorbonne refused all discussion. ‘The king,’ he said, ‘is
not the Church. A council alone has power to reform it;
and therefore the prince ought to set his heart upon hastening
its convocation. All other means of succoring afflicted
Christendom are useless and dangerous.’

De la Fosse turned Melancthon’s objection against him.
‘At least we must prepare the way for the council,’ he said;
‘and it is just on that account that the King of France
wishes to converse with you.’ Then, desiring to strike
home, the envoy of Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr> continued: ‘The king never
had anything more at heart than to heal the wounds of the
Church: he has never shown so much care, anxiety, and
zeal.[#] If you comply with his wishes, you will be received
with more joy in France than any stranger before you.
Will you withhold from the afflicted Church the hand that
// File: 409.png
.pn +1
can save her? Let nothing in the world, I conjure you,
turn you aside from so pure and sacred an enterprise.’[#]
De la Fosse was agitated. The idea of returning to Paris
without Melancthon—that is to say, without the salvation
he expected—was insupportable. ‘Depart,’ he exclaimed,
‘if you do not come to France!... I shall never
return there.’[#]

.sn Melancthon’s Character.
Melancthon was touched by these supplications. He
thought he heard (as they had told him) the voice of God
himself. ‘Well, then,’ he said, ‘I will go. My friends in
France have entertained great expectations and apply to
me to fulfil them: I will not disappoint their hopes.’ Melancthon
was resolved to maintain the essential truths of
Christianity, and hoped to see them accepted by the catholic
world. Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr> and his friends had not rejected Luther’s
fundamental article,—justification solely by faith in the
merits of Christ, by a living faith, which produces holiness
and works. According to the most eminent and most Christian
orator of the Roman Church, Melancthon combined
learning, gentleness, and elegance of style, with singular
moderation, so that he was regarded as the only man fitted
to succeed in literature to the reputation of Erasmus.[#]
But he was more than that: his convictions were not to be
shaken; <i>he knew where he was</i>, and, far from seeking all his
life for his religion—as Bossuet asserts—he had found it and
admirably explained it in his <i>Theological Commonplaces</i>.[#]
Still he constantly said to his friends: ‘We must contend
only for what is great and necessary.’[#]

Melancthon, who was full of meekness, was always ready
to do what might be agreeable to others. Sincere, open,
// File: 410.png
.pn +1
and exceedingly fond of children, he liked to play with them
and tell them little tales. But with all this amiability he
had a horror of ambiguous language, especially in matters
of faith; and although a man of extreme gentleness, he felt
strongly, his anguish could be very bitter, and when his soul
was stirred, he would break out with sudden impetuosity,
which, however, he would soon repress. His error, in the
present case, was in believing that the pope could be received
without receiving his doctrines: every true Roman-catholic
could have told him that this was impossible. At
all events De la Fosse had decided him. For the triumph
of unity and truth, this simple-hearted bashful man was
resolved to brave the dangers of France and the bitter reproaches
of Germany. ‘I will go,’ he said to the envoy of
Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr> It was the language of a Christian ready to
sacrifice himself. In history we sometimes meet with characters
who enlarge our ideas of moral greatness: Melancthon
was one of them.

But would his prince allow him to go? The prejudices
of Germany against France, besides numerous political and
religious considerations, might influence the elector. These
were difficulties that might cause the enterprise to fail.
Still the noble-minded professor resolved to do all in his
power to overcome them. The university had just removed
from Wittemberg to Jena on account of the plague. Melancthon,
quitting Thuringia, directed his course hastily
towards the banks of the Elbe, and arriving at Torgau,
where the court was staying, at the old castle outside the
city, was admitted on Sunday, the <abbr=fifteenth>15th</abbr> of August, after
divine service to present his respects to the elector.

John Frederick was attended by many of his councillors
and courtiers, and notwithstanding the esteem he felt for
Melancthon, an air of dissatisfaction and reserve was visible
in his face. The elector was offended because the King of
France, instead of applying to him, had written direct to
one of his subjects; but graver motives caused him to regard
the Wittemberg doctor’s project with displeasure.
// File: 411.png
.pn +1

.sn Letter To The Elector.
It was no slight thing for Melancthon, who was naturally
timid and bashful, to ask his sovereign for anything likely
to displease him. Without alluding to the letter he had
received from Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr>, which he thought it wiser not to
mention, he said: ‘Your Electoral Grace is aware that
eighteen Christians have been burnt in Paris, and many
others thrown into prison or compelled to fly. The brother
of the Bishop of Paris has endeavored to soften the king,
and has written to me that that prince has put an end to the
executions, and desires to come to an understanding with us
in regard to religious matters. Du Bellay invites me to
mount my horse and go to France.[#] If I refuse, I appear
to despise the invitation or to be afraid. For this reason I
am ready in God’s name to go to Paris, as a private individual,
if your Highness permits. It is right that we should
teach great potentates and foreign nations the importance
and beauty of our evangelical cause. It is right that they
should learn what our doctrine is and not confound us with
fanatics, as our enemies endeavor to do. I do not deceive
myself as to my personal unimportance and incapacity; but
I also know, that if I do not go to Paris, I shall appear to
be ashamed of our cause, and to distrust the words of the
King of France, and the good men who are endeavoring to
put an end to the persecution will be exposed to the displeasure
of the master. I know the weight of the task imposed
upon me ... it overwhelms me ... but I
will do my duty all the same, and with that intent I conjure
your Grace to grant me two or three months’ leave of
absence.’

Melancthon, according to custom, handed in a written
petition.[#] John Frederick was content to answer coldly
that he would make his pleasure known through the members
of his council.

The ice was broken. France and Germany were face to
face in that castle on the banks of the Elbe. The opposition
// File: 412.png
.pn +1
immediately showed itself. The audience given to
Melancthon set all the court in motion. The Germanic
spirit prevailed there more than the evangelical spirit, and
the knowledge that Germans could be found who were
willing to hold out their hands to Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr> irritated the
courtiers. They met in secret conference, looked coldly
upon Melancthon, and addressed him rudely. Gifted with
the tenderest feelings, the noble-hearted man was deeply
wounded. ‘Alas!’ he wrote to Jonas, ‘the court is full of
mysteries, or rather of hatreds!... I will tell you all
about it when I see you.’[#]

He awaited with anxiety the official communication from the
elector. The next day, <abbr=sixteenth>16th</abbr> of August, he was informed that
John Frederick’s councillors had a communication to make
to him on the part of their master. If the interview with
the Elector had been cold, this was icy. Chancellor Bruck—better
known as Pontanus, according to the fashion of
latinizing names—had been intrusted with this mission.
Bruck, who at the famous diet of Augsburg had presented
the Evangelical Confession to Charles <abbr='the fifth'>V.</abbr> in the presence of
all the princes of Germany, was an excellent man, more
decided than Melancthon, and in some respects more enlightened;
he saw that it was dangerous to accept the pope,
if they desired to reject his doctrines. He received the
doctor with a severe look, and said to him in a harsh tone:
‘His Highness informs you that the business you have submitted
to him is of such importance, that you ought not to
have engaged yourself in it without his consent. As your
intentions were good, he will overlook it; but as to permitting
you to make a hasty and perilous journey to France,
all sorts of reasons are against it. Not only his Highness
cannot expose your safety; but as he is on the point of discussing
with the emperor several questions which concern
religion, he fears that if he sent a deputy to Paris, his Imperial
Majesty, and the other princes of Germany, would
// File: 413.png
.pn +1
imagine that he was charged with negotiations opposed to
the declarations we have made to them. That journey
might be the cause of divisions, quarrels, and irreparable
evils.[#] You are consequently desired to excuse yourself to
the King of France in the best way you can, and the elector
promises you he will write to him on the subject.’

.sn Melancthon’s Sorrow.
Melancthon withdrew in sorrow. What a position was
his! His conscience bade him go to Paris, and his prince
forbade him. Do what he would, he must fail in one of his
most important duties. If he departs in defiance of the
elector’s prohibition, he will not only offend his prince, but
set Germany against himself, and sacrifice the circle of
activity which God has given him. If he remains, all hope
is lost of bringing France to the light of the Gospel. Hesitating
and heart-broken, he went first to Wittemberg, desiring
to confer with Luther, and did not conceal from his
friend the deep indignation with which he was filled.[#] He
was called to raise the standard of the Gospel in an illustrious
kingdom, and the elector opposed it on account of
certain diplomatic negotiations. He declared to Luther
that he would not renounce the important mission, and he
was fortified in this opinion by the sentiments which that
reformer entertained. The two friends could speak of
nothing but France, the king, and Du Bellay. ‘As you
have consulted me,’ said Luther, ‘I declare that I should
see you depart with pleasure.’[#] He also made a communication
to Melancthon which gave the latter some hope.

Having been informed of the audience of the <abbr=fifteenth>15th</abbr>, the
reformer had just written to the elector. The cries of his
brethren in France, delivered to the flames, moved Luther
at Wittemberg, as they moved Calvin at Basle. The
French reformer addressed an admirable letter to Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr>,
and the German reformer endeavored to send Melancthon
// File: 414.png
.pn +1
to him. The two men were thus unsuspectingly ‘conjoint
together in opinion and desires.’ ‘I entreat your Grace,’
wrote Luther to John Frederick, in the most pressing manner,
‘to authorize Master Philip to go to France. I am
moved by the tearful prayers made to him by pious men,
hardly rescued from the stake, entreating him to go and
confer with the king, and thus put an end to the murders
and burnings. If this consolation be refused them, their
enemies, thirsting for blood,[#] will begin to slay and burn
with redoubled fury.... Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr> had written Melancthon
an exceedingly kind letter, and envoys have come
to solicit him on his behalf.... For the love of God,
grant him three months’ leave. Who can tell what God
means to do? His thoughts are always higher and better
than ours. I should be greatly distressed if so many pious
souls, who invite Melancthon with cries of pain, and reckon
upon him, should be disappointed and conceive untoward
prejudices against us. May God lead your Grace by his
Holy Spirit!’

Such was Luther’s affection for his brethren in France.
He did more than write. The reformer was not in good
health just then; he complained of losing his strength, and
of being so <i>decrepit</i> that he was compelled to remain idle
half the day.[#] Notwithstanding this, he made the journey
from Wittemberg to Torgau, where he had an interview
with the prince.[#] Perhaps this journey was anterior to
Melancthon’s.

.sn German Prejudices.
The simultaneous efforts of these two great reformers
ought to have produced a favorable effect upon a prince like
the elector. John Frederick, who had succeeded his father
// File: 415.png
.pn +1
John in August, 1532, was true and high-minded, a good
husband and a good prince. A disciple of Spalatin and the
friend of Luther, he venerated the Word of God, and was
full of zeal for the cause of the Reformation. Less phlegmatic
than his father, he united judgment and prudence with
an enterprising spirit. Such qualities must have led him
to favor Melancthon’s journey to France. But he was
susceptible and rather obstinate; so that if a project, not
originating with him, but with another, displeased him in
any way, the probability of its success was not great. And
hence Luther’s letter did not make a great impression upon
him: it merely increased the excitement. The prejudices
of Germany rendered Melancthon’s journey less popular
every day; at the court of Torgau, in Saxony, and in the
other protestant countries, it was regarded as madness.
‘We at Augsburg,’ wrote Sailer, the deputy of that city,
‘know the King of France well: he cares very little, as
everybody knows, about religion, and even morality. He is
playing the hypocrite with the pope, and cajoling the Germans,
thinking only how he can disappoint the expectations
he raises in them. His sole thought is to crush the emperor.’[#]
Some even of the best disposed were full of horrible
apprehensions, and fancied that they saw an immense pile
constructing on which to burn the <i>master of Germany</i>.
Passions were roused; a violent tempest stirred men’s
minds; the most gloomy opinions arrived at Torgau every
day from all quarters. Others did not look upon the matter
so tragically, but employed the weapons of ridicule. German
susceptibility was wounded because Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr> had not
selected some great personage for this mission. They looked
down upon Barnabas Voré called De la Fosse: ‘A fine
ambassador!’ they said; ‘all the pawnbrokers in France
would not advance twenty crowns upon his head.’—‘Even
the Jews,’ said another, ‘would not have such a Barnabas,
if they could buy him for a penny.’[#]
// File: 416.png
.pn +1

Before long the people grew tired of jests and suppositions,
and circulated extraordinary stories. Many prophesied
that Melancthon would be assassinated, even before he had
crossed the Rhine. It was reported that the papists had
killed the real ambassador on the road, that they had substituted
De la Fosse for him, and given him forged letters with
a view to influence Melancthon, for whom they had prepared
an ambuscade. ‘If he departs, he is a dead man.’[#] Albert
of Mayence, the ecclesiastical elector, in particular gave
umbrage to the protestants. When these rumors reached
Luther, he said: ‘In this I clearly recognize that bishop
and his colleagues; of all the devil’s instruments, they are
the worst; my fears for Philip increase. Alas! the world
belongs to Satan, and Satan to the world.’ Then, remembering
an anecdote, he continued: ‘The Archbishop of Mayence,
after reading Melancthon’s commentary on the Epistle
to the Romans, exclaimed: “The man is possessed!” and
throwing the volume on the ground, trampled upon it.’ If
the prince, through whose states Melancthon would probably
have to pass, treated the book thus, what would he do to the
author? Luther was shaken. In 1527, George Winckler,
the pious pastor of Halle, having been summoned before this
very Archbishop Albert, had been murdered by some horsemen
as he was returning by the road Melancthon must
take. The great reformer began to change his mind.

The elector, perceiving this, put more solid arguments
before him: ‘I fear,’ he said, ‘that if Melancthon goes to
France, he will concede to the papists far more than what
you, doctor, and the other theologians would grant, and hence
there would arise a disunion between you and him that
would scandalize Christians and injure the Gospel. Those
who invite him are more the disciples of Erasmus than of
the Bible. Melancthon will infallibly incur the greatest
danger at Paris—danger both to body and soul. I would
rather see God take him to himself than permit him to go
to France. That is my firm resolve.’[#]
// File: 417.png
.pn +1

These communications seriously affected Luther: the
elector attacked him on his weakest side. The reformer
venerated Melancthon, but he knew to what sacrifices his
desire for union had more than once been on the point of
leading him. If Melancthon was the champion of unity,
Luther was the champion of truth: to guard the whole truth
with a holy jealousy was his principle. The Reformation,
he thought, must triumph by fidelity to the Word of God,
and not by the negotiations of kings. Recovering from his
first impressions, he said to Melancthon: ‘I begin to suspect
these ambassadors.’[#] From that moment he never
uttered a word in favor of the journey. Still the dangers
of the protestants of France were never out of his thoughts.
‘Must we abandon our brethren?’ he asked himself perpetually.
A luminous idea occurred to him: Suppose the
evangelicals were to leave France, and come to Germany in
search of liberty.[#] He engaged to receive them well. Luther
anticipated <i>the Refuge</i> by a century and a half.

.sn Harsh Letter To Melancthon.
By degrees the elector gained ground, and the extraordinary
adventure proposed to Melancthon became more
doubtful every day. From the first the prince had had
the politicians and courtiers with him; then the men of letters
and citizens, alarmed by the sinister reports, had gone over
to his side; and now Luther himself was convinced. Melancthon
remained almost alone. His sympathetic heart
longed to remove the sword hanging over the heads of the
French evangelicals, and it seemed as if nothing could stop
him. John Frederick endeavored to convince him. Beyond
a doubt, the French reformation, driven at this moment by
contrary winds, must reach the haven; but the task must be
left to its own crew. Every ship must have its own pilot.
John Frederick, therefore, wrote a severe letter to Melancthon,
and the tender-hearted divine had to drink the cup to
the dregs. ‘You declared that you were ready to undertake
// File: 418.png
.pn +1
a journey to France,’ said the elector, ‘without consulting us.
You should, however, have thought of your duty to us,
whom God has established as your superior. We were
greatly displeased to see that you had gone so far in the
matter. You know the relations existing between the King
of France and the emperor, and you are not ignorant that
we are obliged to respect them. We desire that foreign
nations should be brought to the Gospel; but must we go to
them to effect their conversion?[#] The undertaking is of
great extent, and the success very doubtful. The letters we
receive from France are well calculated to make us despair
of seeing the evangelical seed bear fruit there. <i>Do you desire
to disturb the public peace of the German nation, and
while we have a right to expect that you will second us, do
you presume on the contrary to vex us and thwart our plans?</i>’

This was too much. Melancthon stopped; the arrow,
aimed by the elector, had pierced his heart. His decision
was soon made: ‘Because of these words,’ he said ‘I will
not go.’ He afterwards underlined the passage, and wrote
in the margin the words we have just quoted.[#] The
elector had been still more severe, when he dictated the despatch.
‘Go,’ were his words, ‘go and do as you please;
engage in this adventure. But we leave all the responsibility
with you. Consider it well.’ He suppressed this paragraph
at the chancellor’s desire.[#]

Melancthon’s simple and tender heart was crushed by his
sovereign’s dissatisfaction. Surmounting his natural shyness,
he had determined to brave danger, in the hope of
seeing the Reformation triumph, and now disgrace was his
only reward. The courtiers maintained that he and the
other theologians were obstinate and almost imbecile, and
would do much better to be content with their schools and
// File: 419.png
.pn +1
leave the government of the Church to others. Melancthon
lightened his grief by sharing it with his friends; he
wrote to Camerarius, to Sturm, and even to William du
Bellay. The great hellenist, who had lived much among
the ancient republics of Greece, imagined that Europe was
already overrun by the evils under which those states had
perished. ‘I have never known a more cruel prince,’ he
said to them: ‘with what harshness he treats me![#] He
not only does not permit me to depart, but he insults me besides.
My fault is in being less obstinate than others. I
confess that peace is so precious in my eyes that it ought not
to be broken except for matters really great and necessary.
Oh! if the elector did but know those who take advantage
of this proposed journey to sow discord! It is not the
learned who do it, but the ignorant and the fools. They
call me deserter and runaway.... O my friend, we
live under the <i>régime</i> of the democracy, that is to say, under
the tyranny of the unlearned,[#] of people who quarrel about
old wives’ stories, and think of nothing but gratifying their
passions. How great is the hatred with which they are inflamed
against me!... They slander me and say that
I am betraying my prince.’ Theramenes was condemned to
drink hemlock because he had substituted an aristocracy or
government of the worthiest for a democracy, and governed
the state with wisdom. ‘I do not deceive myself,’ he exclaimed;
‘the fate of Theramenes awaits me.’[#]

Melancthon was not the only sufferer; his faithful friend,
Luther, did not fail him. Although he was now opposed to
the French journey, John Frederick’s letter disturbed him
seriously; it appeared to him that great changes were
necessary, and a stormy future loomed before him. ‘My
heart is sad,’ he wrote to Jonas, ‘for I know that such a
severe letter will cause Philip the keenest anguish.... All
// File: 420.png
.pn +1
this awakens thoughts which I would rather not have.[#]
Another time I will tell you more ... at present I am
overwhelmed with sorrow.’ Then, feeling uneasy about
Melancthon, he wrote to him: ‘Have you <i>swallowed</i> our
prince’s letter?[#] I was exceedingly agitated by it from love
to you. Tell me how you are.’ ...

What were the thoughts that occurred to Luther involuntarily?
There is some difficulty in deciding. Perhaps the
reformer thought that this business might occasion a difference
between Church and State. ‘Admire the wisdom of
the court,’ he said; ‘see how it boasts of being an actor in
this adventure! As for us, we much prefer being merely
spectators, and I begin to congratulate myself that the court
despises and excludes us.[#] It all happens through the goodness
of God, so that we should not be mixed up with these
disturbances, which we might perchance have to lament
hereafter very sorely. Now we are safe, for whatever is
done is done without us. What Demosthenes desired too
late, we obtain early—namely, not to be concerned in the
government.[#] May God strengthen us therein! Amen.’
Luther appeared to foresee a time when the evangelical
Church would have no other support but God, and rejoiced
at the prospect.

.sn Melancthon’s Letter To The King.
As John Frederick had not yet despatched his letter to
Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr>, his councillors delicately advised him to suppress
it. ‘Since the king has not written to the elector about the
proposed journey,’ said Luther, ‘it would be better for the
elector also not to write. A letter from him would perhaps
give the king an opportunity of answering, and that should
be avoided.’[#] John Frederick still hesitated, for although
his letter was written on the <abbr=eighteenth>18th</abbr> of August, it was not despatched
until the <abbr='twenty-eighth'>28th</abbr>. ‘Most serene and illustrious king,’
he said, ‘we should have been willing to do your majesty a
// File: 421.png
.pn +1
pleasure, by permitting Melancthon to go to France, especially
as it was for an extraordinary propagation of the
Gospel, so as to make it yield the most abundant and the
richest fruit.[#] But we had to take into consideration the
difficulties of the present times.’ Then, as a final reason,
the elector added: ‘Lastly, we do not remember for certain ...
that your Majesty has written to us about Melancthon.
If in any future contingency you should write to us
for him,’ continued John Frederick, ‘and should assure us
that he will be restored safe and sound, we will permit him
to proceed to you. Be assured that we shall always readily
do whatever we can to propagate the Gospel of Christ in
every place, to favor the temporal and spiritual interests of
your Majesty, your kingdom, and its church, and to hasten
the deliverance of the Christian commonwealth.’

Melancthon, to whom the elector communicated this
letter,[#] feared that instead of quieting the King of France, it
would only irritate him still more. He could not bear the
idea of answering ungratefully a powerful monarch who had
shown such kindness towards him. This thought engrossed
him from morning to night. On the very day when the
Elector Frederick’s letter was despatched, Melancthon sent
off three, the first of which was for the king. He feared,
above all things, that Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr> would relinquish the great
enterprise that was to restore unity and truth to the Church.
He therefore wrote to him, suppressing the indignation he
felt at the elector’s refusal. ‘Most Christian and most
mighty king,’ he said, ‘France infinitely excels all the kingdoms
of the world, in that it has continually been a vigilant
sentinel for the defence of the Christian religion.[#] Wherefore,
I humbly congratulate your Majesty for having undertaken
to reform the doctrine of the Church, not by violent
// File: 422.png
.pn +1
remedies but by reasonable means;[#] and I beseech your
Majesty not to cease bestowing all your thoughts and all
your care upon this matter. Sire, do not allow yourself to
be stopped by the harsh judgments and rude writings of
certain men. Do not suffer their imprudence to nullify a
project so useful to the Church. After receiving your letter,
I made every effort to hasten to your Majesty; for there is
nothing I desire more than to aid the Church according to
my poverty. I had conceived the best hopes, but great obstacles
keep me back.... Voré de la Fosse will inform
you of them.’

If the doctor of Germany was reserved when writing to
the king, he allowed the emotions of his heart to be seen in
the letters he wrote the same day to Du Bellay and Sturm:
‘Could anything be more distressing,’ he said to Du Bellay,
‘than to be exposed at one and the same time to the anger
of the most Christian king, the harsh treatment of the elector,
and the calumnies of the people?... But the injustice
of men shall not rob me of moderation of spirit or zeal for
religion. Touching the journey, I have promised Voré de
la Fosse to go to Frankfort shortly, whence, if it be desired,
I will hasten to you.’ He had not, therefore, entirely given
up France. ‘I hope,’ he said in conclusion, ‘that the king’s
mind will be so guided by your advice and by that of your
brother the cardinal, that he will henceforward employ all
his powers in setting forth the glory of Christ.’[#]

The work of union to which Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr> invited Melancthon,
had struck deep root in the doctor’s mind. Sadolet,
Bishop of Carpentras (who was raised to the cardinalate the
year after), having published a treatise on the matter under
discussion, the reformer wrote to Sturm that Sadolet advocated
the very points he was resolved to defend, but he regretted
to see him indulge in such bitter attacks upon the
// File: 423.png
.pn +1
protestants.[#] A little later, when the illustrious Budæus,
on whom he had counted, praised Francis for his zeal in
expiating and punishing the assaults of the heretics,[#] Melancthon
was hurt, but not disconcerted. ‘I have read his
treatise,’ he said to Sturm, ‘but what does it matter? All
these things inflame rather than cool me; they fan my desire
to go to you, to make my ideas known to all those learned
men, those friends of what is good, and to learn theirs. Let
us unite all our forces to save the Church: no injustice of
man shall check my zeal.’[#]

.sn Motives Of Francis.
In this respect Melancthon did not stand alone: Francis
<abbr='the first'>I.</abbr> showed no less energy, and was careful not to be offended
at the elector’s refusal. The alliance of the protestants became
more necessary to him every day. The prince who did
so much in France for the arts, and who, as the patron of
scholars, received the title of <i>Father of Letters</i>, desired a
reform after Erasmus’s pattern. There was a very marked
distinction, which it is impossible to overlook, between
Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr> and his son Henry <abbr='the second'>II.</abbr>; but the love of knowledge
was not the king’s chief motive: he entertained certain political
designs which greatly increased his eagerness for an
alliance with the protestants. The Duke of Milan was just
dead, and the ambitious Francis desired to conquer the
duchy for his second son. Moreover, the evangelical party
was not without influence at court: Margaret, Queen of
Navarre, Admiral Chabot, and many noblemen favored the
Gospel; and they were supported by the Du Bellays and
others of the moderate party. The men of the Romish faction
rallied round Diana of Poitiers and Catherine of Medicis.

The king had discovered that John Frederick had felt
hurt at seeing a foreign monarch address one of his subjects
on a matter touching the cause of which the elector was regarded
// File: 424.png
.pn +1
as the head. Francis probably thought the prince’s
susceptibility to be very natural, and therefore, instead of
breaking with him, determined to profit by the lesson he
had received. He would resume his plans, but he would
write no more to Melancthon: he would address the elector
in person, or rather all the protestant princes united, according
to the usual forms; and to avoid reminding them of his
first fault, the name of Melancthon should not be mentioned.
The zeal of the learned professor and of the powerful monarch
came, we may be sure, from different sources; one
proceeded from on high, the other from below; but the same
desire animated both of them.

The Romish party were greatly agitated when they heard
of the king’s intentions, and again attempted to thwart a
project they regarded as highly pernicious. The Sorbonne
represented to Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr> that no concession ought to be
made, and proceeded to demonstrate, after an extraordinary
fashion, the articles rejected by the Lutherans. ‘They deny
the power of the saints to heal the sick,’ said the theologians;
‘but is not this miraculous power proved by the virtue the
kings of France possess of healing the <i>evil</i> by a touch?’
Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr> was an extraordinary saint, and such an argument
probably amused him more than it convinced him. The
Cardinal De Tournon proceeded more wisely, by reiterating
to the monarch that he could not have Milan without the
help of the pope. But even this argument did not shake
Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr>: he highly appreciated the pope’s friendship, but
he valued still more highly the spears of the lansquenets.

.sn Mission Of Du Bellay.
The protestants were about to assemble at Smalcalde;
two powerful princes, the Dukes of Wurtemberg and Pomerania,
had joined the evangelical alliance, and steps had
been taken by the confederates to have a large army constantly
on foot. When he heard of this, the King of France
felt new hopes, and began a second campaign, which he
planned better than the first. Instead of employing an obscure
gentleman like Voré de la Fosse, he selected the most
illustrious of his diplomatists, and ordered William du Bellay
// File: 425.png
.pn +1
to start for Germany. The latter was still more zealous
than his master, and fearing he should arrive too late, wrote
from Lorraine (where he happened to be staying) to the
Elector of Saxony, praying him to prolong the meeting for
a few days, ‘as the King of France had intrusted him with
certain propositions touching the peace of Christendom.’[#]
The news of such a mission delighted the friends of the
Reformation, and filled the Roman party with indignation.
‘Never,’ said Sturm, ‘never before now has the cause of the
Gospel been in such a favorable position in France.’[#] The
elector, Melancthon, and Du Bellay arrived at Smalcalde
in the middle of December.

The ambassador of Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr> immediately demanded a
private audience of the elector, and on the <abbr=sixteenth>16th</abbr> December
handed him the letters in which the king, with many professions
of zeal for the pacification of the Christian Church,
besought the elector to co-operate earnestly ‘in so pious and
holy a work.’[#] John Frederick was not convinced; he
always set religion before policy, but he knew that Francis
<abbr='the first'>I.</abbr> adopted the contrary order. Fearing, accordingly, that
behind this <i>pious work</i>, the king concealed war with the
emperor, he immediately pointed to the insurmountable barrier
which separated them: ‘Our alliance,’ he said, ‘has been
formed solely to maintain the pure Word of God, and propagate
the holy doctrine of faith.’ The diplomatist was not
to be baffled: there were two pockets in his portfolio—one
containing religious, the other political matters. Opening
the former, he said: ‘We ask you to send us doctors to deliberate
on the union of the Churches.’ Germany spoke of
// File: 426.png
.pn +1
the <i>Word</i> and <i>doctrine</i>: France of <i>union</i> and of the <i>Church</i>:
this was characteristic. John Frederick replied that he
would consult his allies. The audience came to an end, and
the <abbr=nineteenth>19th</abbr> December was appointed by the princes and deputies
of the cities to receive the ambassador of France.

.sn Intercession.
To gain this assembly was the essential thing, and this
the king had felt. Accordingly, in the letter he addressed
to that body, he made use of every plea, and spoke ‘of the
ancient, sacred, and unbroken friendship which united
France and Germany, and of the unalterable affection and
good-will he entertained towards the princes.’[#] Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr>
hoped that these worthy Germans would allow themselves
to be caught by his words; but they were more clear-sighted
than he imagined. Du Bellay had observed this; he had
ascertained the unfavorable prepossessions of Germany,
and when he rose to speak, he described the pious and
peaceable evangelicals put to death by Francis as seditious
persons who desired to stir up the people. ‘Most illustrious
and most excellent princes,’ he continued, ‘certain persons,
moved by hatred, pretend that the states of the empire
ought to be on their guard when foreign kings send them
embassies, seeing that those monarchs speak in one way and
act in another.[#] The French have not been named, I must
confess; but they are clearly pointed at. Who has been
more strictly faithful to his friendships than the King of
France? Who has been more prompt to brave danger for
the good of Germany? What nations have ever been more
united than the Germans and the French? The king is
convinced that you think very soundly on many things; but
he could have desired a little more moderation in some of
them. Like yourselves, he feels that the negligence and
superstition of men have introduced many useless ceremonies
into the Church; but he does not approve of their suppression
// File: 427.png
.pn +1
without a public decree.[#] He fears lest a diversity
of rites should engender dissension of minds, and be the
cause of civil strife throughout Christendom. Reconciliation
is the dearest of his wishes. If you are willing to receive
him into your association, you will find him a sure friend.
Diversity of opinion has separated you from him hitherto,
but similitude of doctrine will henceforward unite him.’[#]
In conclusion, Du Bellay renewed his demand for a congress
of French and German doctors, to confer on the matters in
dispute.

This clever oration did not convince the protestants; they
had remained cold, while Du Bellay was pleading his cause so
warmly. The point on which Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr> and his ambassador
wished to touch lightly was that which the Germans had most
at heart. They could not forget what they had heard about
Du Bourg and the cripple and other martyrs, prisoners, and
fugitives. They were shocked at the idea of entering into alliance
with the man who had shed the blood of their brethren.
They determined to ‘open their mouths for the dumb, and to
support the cause of all such as were appointed to destruction.’
‘We will not suffer in our states,’ they answered, ‘any
stirrers-up of sedition, and we cannot, therefore, condemn
the King of France for putting them down in his kingdom.
But we beseech him not to punish all without distinction.
We ask him to spare those who, having been convinced of
the errors with which religion is infected, have embraced
the pure doctrine of the Gospel, which we ourselves possess.
Merciless men, who wish to save their interests and their
power, have cruelly defended their impious opinions, and,
in order to exasperate the king’s mind, have supposed false
crimes, which they impute to innocent and pious Christians.
It is the duty of princes to seek God’s glory, to cleanse the
Church from error, and to stop iniquitous cruelties; and we
// File: 428.png
.pn +1
earnestly beseech the mighty King of France to give his
most serious attention to this great duty only.’[#]

This noble answer was not encouraging. The ambassador
was not disconcerted, but, dexterously eluding the subject,
merely assured the assembly once more of his master’s
firm resolution to labor at the reformation of the Church.
The great point was to know what would be the nature of
this reformation. Why assemble a congress of learned men
to discuss it, if it was certain beforehand that they could not
come to an understanding? The protestants present did
not all think alike. The religious men, who were very incredulous
on the subject of the king’s evangelical piety,
thought that nothing ought to be done; on the other hand,
the men of expediency said it was worth looking into; and,
the proposition having been made to hold a preliminary
consultation (at Smalcalde), it was resolved that next day
(<abbr=twentieth>20th</abbr> of December) there should be a meeting between Du
Bellay, Bruck the electoral chancellor, Melancthon, John
Sturm, deputy from Strasburg,[#] the delegates of the Landgrave
of Hesse,—in whose states the conference was held,—and
Spalatin, the elector’s chaplain, who was appointed
secretary. The opposing parties were now to try if they
could come to some arrangement. It was no slight task assumed
by the minister of Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr>, who came forward, according
to his master’s instructions, as the representative of
the catholic party; but no one knew better than Du Bellay
how far, in the king’s opinion, France could then be reformed,
if the protestants consented to enter into alliance
with her. This explanation is important: it is worth our
while to learn the plan conceived by the French government.

.sn Du Bellay’s Propositions.
At daybreak[#] on the <abbr=twentieth>20th</abbr> of December the members of
the conference assembled. They had chosen that early
hour, probably, because important business still demanded
// File: 429.png
.pn +1
their attention. An ambassador from the pope, the famous
legate Vergerio, who afterwards came over to the side of
the reformers, was then in the town. He had been sent to
propose a council, and was to receive the answer of the
protestants on the following morning. The delegates having
taken their seats, the French ambassador explained
what was the nature of the reform to which the kingdom of
France would lend a helping hand. ‘Firstly,’ he said, ‘with
regard to the primacy of the Roman pontiff, the King of
France thinks, as you do, that he possesses it by human,
and not by divine, right. We are not inclined to loose the
rein too much in this respect. Hitherto the popes have
employed the power they claim in making and unmaking
kings, which is certainly going too far. True, some of our
theologians maintain that the papacy is of divine right; but,
when the king asked for proofs, they could not give him
any.’ Melancthon was satisfied; the chancellor less so;
Bruck shared the opinion of the King of England, who, says
Du Bellay, ‘would not concede any authority to the pope,
whether coming from God or from man.’

‘As for the sacrament of the Eucharist,’ continued the
ambassador, ‘your opinions on the matter please the king,
but not his theologians, who support transubstantiation with
all their might. His Majesty seeks for arguments to justify
your way of thinking, and is ready to profess it, if you will
give him sound ones. Now you know that the king is the
only person who commands in his realm.’[#]

‘As for the mass,’ continued Du Bellay, a little uneasy,
like a man walking over a quicksand, ‘there are great disputes
about it. The king is of opinion that many prayers
and silly, impious legends have been foisted into that portion
of divine worship, and that those absurd and ridiculous passages
must be expurgated, and the primitive order restored.’[#]
// File: 430.png
.pn +1
As Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr> was particularly averse to masses celebrated
in honor of the saints to obtain their intercession with God,
Du Bellay repeated one or two of the king’s expressions on
that point. ‘One day the king said: “I have a prayer-book,
written many years ago, in which there is no mention
of the intercession of saints. I am assured that Bessarion[#]
himself said: ‘As for me, I am more concerned about live
saints than dead ones.’”’

‘The king thinks, however,’ added Du Bellay, ‘that we
preserve the celebration of mass; only there must not be
more than three a day in every parish church; one before
daybreak, for working men and servants; the second and
third for the other worshippers,’ If transubstantiation and
the <i>silly legends</i> were rejected, the moderate protestants were
ready to concede the daily celebration of the Eucharist.
Du Bellay continued:—

‘As for the images of the saints, the king thinks, with you,
that they are not set up to be worshipped, but to remind us
of the faith and works of those whom they represent; and
that is what the people ought to be taught.

‘His Majesty is also pleased with your opinions on free-will.’

The discussion—the great struggle in France—turned
on purgatory; the ambassador slyly pointed out the reason:
‘Our divines obstinately defend it,’ he said, ‘for upon that
doctrine depends the payment of masses, indulgences, and
pious gifts. Put down purgatory, and you take away from
them all opportunity of acquiring wealth and honor;[#] you
cut off the limbs that supply their very life-blood! The
king gave them some months to prove their doctrine by
Scripture; they accepted the terms, but made no answer,
and when the king pressed them, they exclaimed: “Ah,
// File: 431.png
.pn +1
Sire, do not furnish our adversaries with weapons that they
will afterwards turn against us.” It therefore appears to
me that it would be proper for one of your doctors to write
a treatise on the subject and present it to his Majesty.

‘As for good works, our theologians stoutly maintain
their opinion; namely, that they are necessary. I told them
that you thought the same, and that all you assert is, that
the necessity of works cannot be affirmed so as to mean
that we are justified and saved by them. An inquisitor of
the faith has declared his agreement with Melancthon on
this point.[#] I think, therefore, that we may come to an
understanding on that matter.

.sn Monasteries And Celibacy.
‘You do not like monasteries: well! The king hopes to
obtain from the Roman party that no one shall be at liberty
to take monastic vows before the age of thirty or forty;
and that the monks shall be free henceforth to leave their
convents and marry, if opportunity offers. The king thinks
that not only the good of the Church requires it, but also
the good of the State, for there are many capable men in
the cloisters who might be usefully employed in divers functions
and duties. His Majesty is therefore of opinion, not
that monasteries should be destroyed, but that vows should
be no longer obligatory. It is by taking one step after
another that we shall come to an understanding.... It
is not convenient to pluck off a horse’s tail at one pull.[#]
Monasteries ought to be places of study, set apart for the
instruction of those who are to teach the young. It is useful
and even necessary to proceed with moderation....
His Majesty hopes to bring the Roman pontiff himself gradually
to this idea.

‘As for the marriage of priests, the French theologians
do not approve of it; but here the king holds a certain medium.
He desires the toleration of those of your ecclesiastics
// File: 432.png
.pn +1
who have wives; as for the others, he wishes they should
remain in celibacy. If, however, there are any priests who
desire to be married, let them marry; only they must at the
same time quit holy orders.

‘As for the communion, the king hopes to obtain from the
pope permission for every man to take the sacrament under
one or both kinds, as his conscience may dictate. He declares
that he has heard old men say that both kinds used
to be given to the laity in France a hundred and twenty
years ago; not indeed in the churches but in private chapels.
And even to this day, the kings of France communicate
under both kinds.’

This explanation of the reform projected for France, and
the exchange of ideas which it had occasioned, occupied
some time. The day was already advanced, and the protestant
delegates were making ready to depart.[#] The ambassador
hastened to add a few words to prove the sincerity
of his proposals. ‘Cardinal Santa Croce,’ he said, ‘has
already substituted psalms for the silly and ungodly hymns
in the liturgy. True, the theologians of Paris have condemned
the change. You see the Sorbonne claims such
authority that it not only calls you heretics, but does not
fear to condemn the cardinals and the pope himself.’[#] Thus,
according to Du Bellay, protestants, king, cardinals, and pope
were on one side, and the Sorbonne on the other. The
Lutherans, being in such good company, had nothing to fear.
To encourage them still more, he informed them that Francis
<abbr='the first'>I.</abbr> admitted the point which they put forward as the very
life-spring of their doctrine. ‘The king,’ he continued,
‘thinks highly of the doctrine of justification, as you explain
it. It would please him much, if two or three of your
learned men were sent to France to discuss these several
points in his presence. We must take precautions that the
best and soundest part of the Church be not conquered and
// File: 433.png
.pn +1
crushed by numbers.[#] Lastly, it would be very beneficial,’
Du Bellay adroitly added, as he finished his speech, ‘if the
princes and deputies of the cities here assembled were to
intercede in behalf of those who are exiled on account of
religion, and to ask that no one should hereafter suffer any
injury for what he thinks, says, or does with respect to his
faith.’[#] How could the protestants, after such a compassionate
solicitation, speak any more of the scaffolds of the
21st of January?

.sn Reformation Of Francis <abbr rend=arabic>I.</abbr>
Such was the Reformation which Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr> declared him-self
willing to give France. As concerns doctrine, it was
much more complete than the hybrid system which Henry
<abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr> was at that time endeavoring to set up in England.
The protestants found these propositions acceptable enough
in general, with some modifications, doubtless, which could
not fail to be introduced: the imperfect reform of the
French king would be completed by degrees. Had not his
ambassador just said that it was dangerous to pull out a
horse’s tail at once, giving them to understand that it would
be pulled out hair by hair? The Reformation proclaimed,
the evangelical doctrine professed, the frivolities of public
worship put away, the Sorbonne placed under ban, the sounder
part of Christendom preponderating over the more numerous
part,—the cardinals and the pope himself (as Du Bellay
hinted) aiding in this transformation,—what important
advantages! One thing, however, was still wanting: many
asked not only whether the catholics would carry out the
Reformation to an end, as they hinted, but even whether
they would maintain the concessions they had made.

This thought engrossed the attention of the protestant
delegates. They made their report, however, to their principals,
and amid the doubts by which they were agitated
one thing only appeared urgent to the men of the Augsburg
// File: 434.png
.pn +1
Confession—the duty of interceding in favor of their
brethren in France. They commissioned Melancthon to
draw up the answer to Du Bellay, and on the <abbr='twenty-second'>22d</abbr> of December,
the French envoy having been once more admitted
into the assembly of the princes and deputies, the vice-chancellor
said to him: ‘That the most puissant king of France
by sending them an ambassador as illustrious by his virtues
as eminent by his rank, and the duty imposed on him to
treat concerning matters of faith, the importance of which
was paramount in their eyes, manifestly showed them the
Christian zeal with which the king was animated—a zeal
most worthy of so good a prince: that the reports circulated
with respect to certain punishments that had taken place in
France could not in truth authorize the States of Germany
to form a judgment on the puissant monarch of that kingdom;
however, they besought him not to allow himself to be
carried away by the cruelty of men who, ignorant of the
truth, desire to act severely against good and bad without
distinction; that idle opinions having crept into the Church,
it was necessary to apply a remedy, but those who endeavored
to do so became objects of the bitterest hatred—the
papists, who clung to their abuses, striving by a thousand
artifices to inflame the hearts of kings and to arm them
against the innocent.[#] For this reason the States assembled
at Smalcalde conjured his Majesty to prohibit such
iniquitous cruelty, and to advance the good of the Church
and the glory of God.’

The evangelicals having discharged this duty passed rapidly
over the rest. They represented to the ambassador
that the proposal to send learned men into France was of
such importance, that it was impossible to give him an immediate
answer, but that the deputies would report thereon
to the chiefs as soon as they returned home. ‘We assure
you, however,’ they said in conclusion, ‘that nothing would
please us more than to see the doctrine of piety and the
// File: 435.png
.pn +1
concord of nations propagated more and more by means in
conformity with the Word of God.’[#]

After a postponement, which seemed almost a refusal, Du
Bellay felt embarrassed, for he had still to discharge the
principal mission that his master had entrusted to him. He
could not, however, leave Smalcalde without fulfilling it.
He did not make it known distinctly in his public speeches,
but solicited the protestants in private conversations to make
an alliance with the king his master. The latter answered
that the first condition of such a union would be that the
allies should undertake nothing against the emperor, the
head of the Germanic Confederation. Now it was precisely
for the purpose of acting against Charles <abbr='the fifth'>V.</abbr> that Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr>
sought the friendship of evangelical Germany. Du Bellay
left Smalcalde dissatisfied.

.sn Francis Plays Two Parts.
The distrust of the Lutheran princes was not unreasonable.
While the king was acting the protestant beyond the
Rhine, he was acting the papist beyond the Alps; if the
emperor would consent to yield Milan to him, Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr>
would bind himself to reduce Germany under the yoke of
the house of Austria. ‘I will spare nothing,’ he said, ‘for
the greatness of the said emperor and his brother the king
of the Romans.’[#] He went further than this: ‘Let the
pope say the word, and I will constrain England by force
of arms to submit to the Church.’ The cruel paw peeped
out from beneath the skin of the lamb, and the lion suddenly
appeared, ready to attack, seize, and devour, as a delicate
morsel, those whom he treated as friends and companions.

The cause of truth and unity was not to triumph by means
of a congress at Smalcalde, by diplomatic negotiations, or by
the instrumentality of Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr> He who said, <i>My kingdom
is not of this world</i>, did not choose men of the world to
establish his kingdom, and will not permit a monotonous
uniformity to take the place of unity in his empire. Treaties,
// File: 436.png
.pn +1
constitutions, and forms prescribed by monarchs are human
elements which the kingdom of heaven repudiates. True
unity does not proceed from an identical administration, a
clerical organization, or a pompous hierarchy: it is essentially
moral and spiritual, and consists in community of
thoughts, faith, affections, works, and hopes. Diversity of
forms, far from injuring it, gives it more intensity. In the
sixteenth century the world was far, and is still far, from
seeing the realization of this divine unity. Some steps,
however, have been taken, and the time no doubt will come
when, according to the scriptural prophecy, all the families
of the earth will be blessed in Christ Jesus.[#] But there
will be no real, free, evangelical catholicity until Christians
understand and realize those elementary words of the primitive
Church: <i>I believe in the communion of saints</i>.

.fn #
<i>Supra</i>, <abbr=volume>vol.</abbr> <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=chapter>ch.</abbr> <abbr='twenty-one'>xxi.</abbr> <abbr=book>bk.</abbr> 2.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la><i>Historia belli Anabaptistarum monasteriensis</i></lang>, by <abbr rend=spell>H.</abbr> von Kerssenbroeck.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Viri optimi et fidelissimi Voræi testimonium.’</lang>—Melancthon <abbr rend=spell>G.</abbr>
Bellaio, <i>Corp. Ref.</i> <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> 315.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Cum eo locutus de profectione ad Regem.’</lang>,—Camerarius, <lang=la><i>Vita
Melancthonis</i></lang>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 148. Camerarius was an intimate friend of Melancthon’s.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Obsides qui darentur dum abesset..... Præsidia quibus deduceretur.’</lang>—<i>Ibid.</i>
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Pæne orbis terrarum fortunam esse positam.’</lang>—<i>Ibid.</i>
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘In illis fluctibus et sævissimis tempestatibus, jam portum et tutissimam
stationem.’</lang>—<i>Ibid.</i>
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Sopiti ignes rursum suscitarentur, et suppliciorum immanitas recrudesceret.’</lang>—<i>Ibid.</i>
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Advocari ipsum Dei Christique Jesu voce.’</lang>—Camerarius, <lang=la><i>Vita
Melancthonis</i></lang>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 148.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Afficiebatur atque perturbabatur.’</lang>—<i>Ibid.</i>
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Non respectus ad se aut suos, non longiquitas loci, non periculorum
metus.’</lang>—<i>Ibid.</i> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 149.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘In quibus potissimum falsitas impietatis resideret.’</lang>—Camerarius,
<lang=la><i>Vita Melancthonis</i></lang>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 150.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Quid ipse tamen rex posset efficere—non sine causa dubitabat.’</lang>—<i>Ibid.</i>
<abbr=page>p.</abbr> 150.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Nullam enim rem unquam majore Regem cura, studio, sollicitudine
animi complectendam duxisse.’</lang>—Camerarius, <lang=la><i>Vita Melancthonis</i></lang>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 151.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Neque se abduci ullius persuasione sineret ex tam pio sanctoque
instituto.’</lang>—<i>Ibid.</i>
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=de>‘Er wollte nicht in Frankreich wiederkommen, so ich nicht mit
zöge.’</lang>—<i>Corp. Ref.</i> <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 905.
.fn-
.fn #
Bossuet, <lang=fr><i>Hist. des Variations</i></lang>, <abbr=tome>t.</abbr> <abbr rend=arabic>i.</abbr> <abbr=book>liv.</abbr> <abbr=five>v.</abbr> <abbr=chapter>ch.</abbr> <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> et <abbr=nineteen>xix.</abbr>
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la><i>Loci communes theologici.</i></lang> They went through sixty-seven editions,
and were translated into several languages.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Non puto contendendum esse, nisi de magnis et necessariis rebus.’</lang>—Melancthon
Sturmio, <i>Corp. Ref.</i> <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 917.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=de>‘Ich wollte einen Ritt in Frankreich thun.’</lang>—<i>Corp. Ref.</i> <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 904.
.fn-
.fn #
<i>Ibid.</i> <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 903-905.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Aulica quædam μυοτήρια vel potius odia sunt.’</lang>—<i>Corp. Reform.</i> <abbr=two>ii.</abbr>
<abbr=page>p.</abbr> 903.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=de>‘Zerrüttung, unwiederbringlicher Nachtheil, Beschwerung und Schade
zu erfolgen.’</lang>—<i>Corp. Ref.</i> <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 908.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Subindignabundus hinc discessit,’</lang> said Luther. <i>Ep.</i> <abbr=four>iv.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 621.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Philippus . . . . me consule libens proficisceretur.’</lang>—Lutheri <i>Ep.</i>
<abbr=four>iv.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 621.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=de>‘Bluthünde,’</lang> bloodhounds. <i>Ibid.</i> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 620.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Ego non annis, sed viribus, decrepitus fio, ad labores antemeridianos
pene totus inutilis factus.’</lang>—Lutheri <i>Ep.</i> <abbr=four>iv.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 623 (<abbr='twenty-third'>23d</abbr> August, 1535).
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=de>‘Nachdem aber Dr. Martinus bey uns zu Torgau auch gewest, so
haben wir Ihm solches ungefährlich vermeldet.’</lang> This declaration of the
elector incontestably proves the fact of Luther’s journey to Torgau with
this object. The time cannot be fixed, but the elector speaks of it in
a paper addressed to Bruck on the <abbr=nineteenth>19th</abbr> of August. <i>Corp. Ref.</i> <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 908.
.fn-
.fn #
Seckendorf, <lang=de><i>Historie des Lutherthums</i></lang>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 1497.
.fn-
.fn #
<i>Ibid.</i> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 1498.
.fn-
.fn #
Luther to Jonas, 1 Sept. 1535. <i>Ep.</i> <abbr=four>iv.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 628.
.fn-
.fn #
<i>Corpus Reformat.</i> <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 909. Seckendorf, <lang=de><i>Historie des Lutherthums</i></lang>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 1458.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Ego suspectos cœpi habere istos legatos tuos.’</lang>—Lutheri <i>Ep.</i> <abbr=four>iv.</abbr>
<abbr=page>p.</abbr> 627.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Invenirent loca in quibus viverent.’</lang>—<i>Ibid.</i>
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=de>‘Wir viel mehr fördern wollten dasz fremde <i>nationes zu</i> dem Evangelio
gebracht wurden.’</lang>—<i>Corpus Reform.</i> <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 911.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Propter hæc verba nolui proficisci.’</lang>—<i>Corpus Ref.</i> <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 911, in note.
The italics in the text indicate the lines underscored by Melancthon.
.fn-
.fn #
The passage is found in Bruck’s copy (Weimar Archives), but not in
Melancthon’s.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Nunquam sensi asperiorem principem.’</lang>—<i>Corpus Reform.</i> <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 915.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Nunc autem est democratia aut tyrannis indoctorum.’</lang>—<i>Ibid.</i>
<abbr=page>p.</abbr> 917.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Plane fatum mihi Theramenis impendere videtur.’</lang>—<i>Ibid.</i> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 918.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Cogito varia, quæ utinam non cogitarem.’</lang>—Lutheri <i>Ep.</i> <abbr=four>iv.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 626.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘An devoraveris litteras istas principis.’</lang>—<i>Ibid.</i> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 627.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Incipio enim unice gaudere, nos ab aula contemni et excludi.’</lang>—<i>Ibid.</i>
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Scilicet ne ad rempublicam adhibeamur.’</lang>—<i>Ibid.</i> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 628.
.fn-
.fn #
Lutheri <i>Ep.</i> <abbr=four>iv.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 627.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Ad insignem propagationem, uberrimum et amplissimum fructum
Evangelii.’—Johannes Fredericus ad Franciscum regem Galliæ. <i>Corpus
Reform.</i></lang> <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 906.
.fn-
.fn #
<i>Corpus Reform.</i> <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 903.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Pro religionis christianæ defensione præcipue velut in statione perpetuo
fuit.’</lang>—<i>Ibid.</i> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 913.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Suscipit curam sanandæ doctrinæ christianæ; non tamen violentis
remediis, sed vera ratione.’</lang>—<i>Ibid.</i>
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Ut potius (rex) det operam, ut illustretur gloria Christi.’</lang>—<i>Corpus
Reform.</i> <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 916.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Sadoleti scriptum . . . . . eadem dicit quæ nos defendimus.’</lang>—<i>Ibid.</i>
<abbr=page>p.</abbr> 917.
.fn-
.fn #
See his treatise: <lang=la><i>De transitu Hellenismi ad Christianismum</i></lang>, dedicated
to the king in 1535.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Hoc studium nulla mihi eripiet hominum iniquitas.’</lang>—<i>Corp. Ref.</i>
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Ad publicam christianæ, reipublicæ pacem spectantibus.’</lang> <abbr=second>2d</abbr> Dec.,
1535. <i>Corp. Ref.</i> <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 1015.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Nunquam in meliori loco fuit res Evangelii, quam sit hoc tempore in
Gallia.’</lang> Sturm to Bucer.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Maximopere obtestantes ut pro virili nobiscum incumbatis in tam pium
sanctumque opus.’</lang> <i>Corp. Ref.</i> <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 1010. Seckendorf says (<i>Hist. Luth.</i>
<abbr=page>p.</abbr> 1146) that this letter had been sent to the Elector beforehand; but in
the documents of the State Paper Office at Weimar we read: <lang=la>‘Hæc locutus
reddidit principi litteras quas vocant credentiales.’</lang> And the <i>Corpus</i> gives
in a note the letter we have just quoted.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Quæ voluntas, quam amica, quam benevola, quam constans.’</lang>—<i>Corp.
Ref.</i> <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 1010.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Ut aliud agentibus et aliud significantibus.’ Bellaii ad principes
Oratio.</lang>—<i>Ibid.</i> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 1012.
.fn-
.fn #
Sleidan, <lang=fr><i>Mémoires sur l’État de la Religion et de la République</i></lang>, <abbr rend=arabic>i.</abbr>
<abbr=page>p.</abbr> 389.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Ut quos diversitas opinionum sejunxerit, similitudo doctrinæ conjungat.’</lang>—<i>Corp.
Ref.</i> <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 1013.
.fn-
.fn #
Sleidan, <abbr rend=arabic>i.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 392.
.fn-
.fn #
He must not be confounded with Professor Sturm, who was then
in Paris.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Sub diluculum.’</lang>—<i>Corp. Ref.</i> <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 1014.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Esse enim solum qui in suo regno imperet.’</lang>—<i>Corp. Ref.</i> <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 1015.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Orationes et legendas multas ut ineptas et impias abrogandas, aut
saltem emendandas; multa enim in his absurda, multa ridicula.’</lang>—<i>Ibid.</i>
<abbr=page>p.</abbr> 1015.
.fn-
.fn #
Bessarion, born at Trebizond in 1395, Greek bishop of Nicæa, and afterwards
Cardinal of the Roman Church, endeavored to unite the two
Churches, and was on the point of being elected pope.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Videre enim eos, alioqui sibi tolli omnes occasiones acquirendi opes,
honores, et omnia.’</lang>—<i>Corp. Ref.</i> <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 1015.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘De fide quoque inquisitorem fidei recte sentire.’</lang>—<i>Corp. Ref.</i> <abbr=two>ii.</abbr>
<abbr=page>p.</abbr> 1016.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Sicut etiam cauda equina non statim et commode tota evelli possit.’</lang>—<i>Corp.
Ref.</i> <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 1016.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Nobis jam abituris.’</lang>—<i>Corp. Ref.</i> <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 1017.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Sed etiam cardinales, papam quoque ipsum, condemnare non dubitant.’</lang>—<i>Corp.
Ref.</i> <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 1017.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Melior et sanior pars a majore vincatur et opprimatur.’</lang>—<i>Corp. Ref.</i>
<abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 1018.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Nequid fraudi sit, quod quisque senserit, dixerit, egerit.’</lang>—<i>Corp. Ref.</i>
<abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 1018.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Variis artificiis regum animos incendunt atque armant adversus eos.’</lang>
<i>Corp. Ref</i>. <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 1024.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Nihil enim optatius quam ut latissime propagetur pia doctrina et
multarum gentium concordia.’</lang>—<i>Corp. Ref.</i> <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 1026.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=fr>Mémoires de Du Bellay</lang>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 243.
.fn-
.fn #
Genesis <abbr=twelve>xii.</abbr> 3.
.fn-
.sp 4
.h2 id=chap7-18
CHAPTER XVIII. | THE GOSPEL IN THE NORTH OF ITALY. | (<sc>1519 TO 1536.</sc>)
.sp 2
.sn Condition Of Italy.
The Reformation had also commenced in Italy.

As the knowledge of the ancient languages, literary pursuits,
and cultivation of the intellect flourished more in that
country than elsewhere, it seemed natural that it should be
among the first to open itself to the light of the Gospel. In
the midst of superstition, many elevated minds were to be
found whom the formalism of the Roman Church could not
satisfy. The corruption of the clergy and of religion had
sunk deeper in Italy than in the rest of Christendom, so
that the magnitude of the evil made the necessity of a
// File: 437.png
.pn +1
remedy more keenly felt. Accordingly, although many
obstacles appeared to close the peninsula against the entrance
of evangelical doctrine; although national pride, the
interest which the Italians of every class seemed to have in
the continuance of the papacy, the hostility of the governments,
and above all the overwhelming power of the pontifical
hierarchy, erected barriers everywhere, which seemed
more insurmountable than the Alps, there was at that time
an electric current between Italy and the reformed countries
that nothing could stop. The Reformation had hardly sent
forth its first beams of light, the flame had hardly risen over
Germany and Switzerland, when, in the regions beyond the
mountains, from Venice and Turin to Naples, isolated spots
of light gleamed out amidst the darkness. The evangelical
doctrine, in general not much appreciated by the people,
found an easy access to the hearts of many cultivated men.
Italy was a vast plain, in which were numerous uncultivated
fields and barren heaths: but a liberal hand having been
opened over it, the seeds of life which fell from it found here
and there good soil, and, at the breath of spring, the blade
and the ear sprang forth. A fierce storm, mingled with
thunder and lightning, afterwards burst upon those fields;
the light of day was hidden, and the obscurity of darkness
once more covered the country. But the light had been
beautiful, and its appearance, although fugitive, deserves to
be remembered, if only as a pledge to make us hope for
better days. The positive results of the Italian Reformation
seem to escape us entirely; and yet it possesses quite as
many of those characteristics which charm the mind, captivate
the imagination, and touch the heart, as other Reformations
do. The new and varied plants which that ancient
land began to produce, the brilliant flames which for a moment
shed such beautiful light, the men of God at that
time scattered all over Italy, deserve to be known, and we
must now turn to them.

At Pavia, on the Ticino, there lived a bookseller named
Calvi, ‘who cultivated the muses.’ Frobenius, the celebrated
// File: 438.png
.pn +1
printer of Basle, having as early as 1519 sent him
Erasmus’s Testament and the early writings of Luther, he
began to study the Gospel more than the poets. Wishing
to help, in proportion to his ability, in ‘the revival of piety,’[#]
he undertook to circulate the writings of the reformers not
only in his immediate neighborhood, but through all the
cities of Italy.[#] Pavia possessed a celebrated university,
and the precious volumes were first distributed among its
professors and their pupils. The students might often be
seen reading these absorbing pages under the porticos of
the university and beneath the walls of the cathedral or of
the old castle. Other printers and booksellers joined with
Calvi in the work of dissemination, and before long a book
entitled <lang=it><i>Il principii della Theologia di Ippolito di Terranigra</i></lang>
was read all over Italy, even in Rome. <lang=it><i>Terranigra</i></lang> was
Melancthon, and these <i>Principles of Divinity</i> were his <i>Theological
Commonplaces</i>. This admirable book was to be found
even in the Vatican, along with the works of <i>Coricius
Cogelius</i> (Zwingle) and <i>Aretius Felinus</i> (Bucer). Bishops
and cardinals pompously extolled them; none of them suspecting
that the breath of evangelical piety which animated
those writings must necessarily dissipate the false piety of
the confessional. <i>Terranigra’s</i> book was read with such
eagerness at Rome, that it soon became necessary to ask for
a fresh supply. A learned Franciscan of the metropolis,
who possessed the Latin edition, struck with the unknown
name <i>Terranigra</i>,[#] desired to procure the Italian work so
much talked of. It soon began to call up certain recollections:
he fancied he had seen the work before. He rose
from his seat, took down his Latin <i>Melancthon</i>, compared it
with the Italian, and to his great horror found the two works
// File: 439.png
.pn +1
were the same. Without delay he made known the stratagem
of the booksellers, and the volume, which the cardinals
had extolled to the skies one day, was condemned to the
flames on the next.

.sn Enthusiasm For Luther.
But the propaganda did not cease. The young Germans
who came to study law and medicine at Bologna, Padua,
and other universities of the peninsula, the young Italians
who began to frequent the schools of Germany and Switzerland,
helped alike to diffuse evangelical faith beyond the
Alps. Many of the Lutheran lansquenets whom Charles
<abbr='the fifth'>V.</abbr> marched into Italy, and of the Swiss soldiers whom
Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr> drew thither, professed in the houses where they
lodged the doctrines of the Reformation, and did so with
thorough military frankness. Some praised Luther, others
Zwingle, and all contrasted the purity of the reformers’ lives
and the simplicity of their manners with the irregularities,
luxury, and pride of the Roman prelates.

The Italians have an open and quick understanding, precision
in their ideas, clearness of expression, an instinct of
the beautiful, and great independence of character; and
hence they were tired of living in ignoble subjection to ignorant,
lazy, and dissolute priests. Conscientious men of
eminent mind joyfully welcomed a doctrine which put God’s
Word in the place of papal bulls, briefs, and decretals, and
substituted the spirit and the life for the ecclesiastical mechanism
of the Latin ritual. Italy was charmed with Luther’s
character and work. In 1521 a voice from Milan exclaimed:
‘O mighty Luther! who can paint thy features so
full of animation, the godlike qualities of thy mind, thy soul
inspired with a will so pure? Thy voice, which rings
through the universe and utters unaccustomed sounds, terrifies
the vile hearts of the wicked,[#] and bears an unexpected
balm to diseases which appeared beyond remedy. Take
// File: 440.png
.pn +1
courage, then, venerable father, whose mouth makes salvation
known to all, and whose word destroys more monsters
than ever Hercules rent in pieces.’

The dignitaries of Rome were alarmed at this enthusiasm.
At the diet of Nuremberg in 1524, Cardinal Campeggi exclaimed:
‘The Germans take up a new opinion quickly, but
they soon abandon it; while the Italians obstinately persist
in what they have once adopted.’[#] It was rather the contrary
that was to take place. The Italians showed themselves
still more prompt than the Germans: the number of Lutherans
increased every day.[#] The converted catholics began
by degrees to explain the Gospel and to refute the errors
of the Roman Church in private houses: this was done even
in the Papal States. Before long, several priests and monks
were enlightened, and the Reformation took a new step: its
principles were taught in the churches. Clement <abbr='the seventh'>VII.</abbr> felt
great alarm, when all of a sudden the doctrine, attacked by
him and his legates in distant countries, broke out all over
his dear Italy and threatened the walls of the papacy. He
uttered a cry of terror: ‘To our exceeding sorrow,’ he said,
‘Luther’s pestilential heresy has been spread among us, not
only among the laity, but also among the priests and monks.[#]
Heresy is increasing, and in every place the catholic faith
has to suffer the cruellest assaults.’ The cry was useless.
In that very year (1530) the New Testament was translated
by Bruccioli, printed at Venice, and the much dreaded contagion
thenceforward made still more rapid progress.

.sn Rosselli To Melancthon.
It was in this latter city, on the hundred islets and amid
the lagunes of the queen of the Adriatic, that the doctrine
of the Gospel first raised its standard. There was no power
in Europe more jealous of its independence and authority
than Venice; the winged lion of <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Mark braved the priest
// File: 441.png
.pn +1
of Rome; the senate rejected the Inquisition, practised freedom
of inquiry, and did not license the pope’s edicts until
after serious study and strict examination. Protestants were
soon to be found at Venice who, strange to say, were more
protestant than those of Augsburg. ‘I am delighted,’ said
Luther, on the <abbr=seventh>7th</abbr> of March, 1528, ‘to hear that they have
received the Word of God at Venice.’[#] A report having
got abroad that Melancthon appeared inclined, at the diet
of 1530, to recognize the primacy of the Bishop of Rome,
the new evangelicals of Venice were troubled and alarmed:
one of them, Lucio Paolo Rosselli, although only a beginner
in the Christian doctrine, determined to write, respectfully
but frankly, to the illustrious doctor of Germany: ‘There
are no books by any author,’ he said to Melancthon, ‘which
please me more than those you have published. But if the
reports which the papists circulate about you are true, the
cause of the Gospel and those who, taught by the writings
of yourself and Luther, have embraced it, are in great danger.
All Italy awaits the result of your meeting at Augsburg.[#]
O Melancthon! let neither threats, nor fears, nor
prayers, nor promises make you desert the standard of Jesus
Christ! Even if you must suffer death to maintain his
glory, do not hesitate. It is better to die with honor than
to live with ignominy.’

It was much worse when the Venetian ambassador at the
court of Charles <abbr='the fifth'>V.</abbr> forwarded to the senate the letter which
Melancthon had written on the <abbr=sixth>6th</abbr> of July to Cardinal
Campeggi, and in which he went so far as to say that the
protestants did not differ from the Roman Church in any
important dogma, and were disposed to acknowledge the
papal jurisdiction.[#] The evangelical Christians of Venice,
who wanted a decided position, were dismayed. Most of
// File: 442.png
.pn +1
them denied that the letter was Melancthon’s; Rosselli, in
particular, with generous enthusiasm, took up the doctor’s
defence, and on the <abbr=first>1st</abbr> of August sent him a copy of the
letter, ‘to the end that he might carefully scrutinize the
wickedness of those who ascribed to him words calculated to
disgrace the true defenders of the cause of Christ and Christ
himself.[#] Now that we have discovered their malice,’ added
the Venetian, ‘resist their iniquity with greater zeal, and
let the emperor and all Christian princes know the shameless
practices of the enemy.’

What seemed impossible to the Italians was but too true:
Melancthon had carried his concessions too far. When he
declared, however, that he would not recognize the Bishop
of Rome until he became evangelical, he had put a stipulation
to his compact which rendered it impossible.

From Venice we pass to Turin. The Italian revival did
not present that simple historical and continuous advance
which we meet with in other European countries. It was
not like a single river whose deep and mighty waters, as
they flowed along, ran calmly in the same channel; but like
little streams, issuing from the earth in various places, whose
bright and limpid waters glittered in the sunbeam and fertilized
the soil around them. They disappeared; they were
lost in the ground, oftentimes, alas! imparting to it a sanguine
hue, and the earth returned to its former barrenness.
Yet many a plant had been revived by them, and their
sweet remembrance may still cause joy to others.

.sn Celio Curione.
The works of the reformers had reached Turin. Piedmont,
from its vicinity to Switzerland, France, and Germany,
was among the first to receive a glimpse of the sun
which had just risen beyond the Alps. The Reformation
had already appeared in one of its cities,—at Aosta,—and
most of its doctrines had for ages been current among the
Waldensian valleys. Monks of the Augustine convent at
Turin, Hieronimo Nigro Foscianeo in particular, were
// File: 443.png
.pn +1
among the number of those who first became familiar with
the evangelical writings. Celio Secundo Curione, a young
man still at college, received them from their hands in 1520.

About three leagues and a half from Turin, and at the
foot of the Alps, was situated the town of Cirié, with its two
parochial churches and an Augustine monastery. Higher
up there stood an old castle named Cuori, and the family to
which it belonged was called from it Curione or Curioni.[#]
One of its members, Giacomino Curione, who lived at Cirié,
had married Charlotte de Montrotier, lady of honor to
Blanche, Duchess of Savoy, and sister to the chief equerry
of the reigning duke. On the 1st of May, 1503, a son was
born to them at Cirié; he was named Celio Secundo,[#]
and was their twenty-third child.[#] He lost his mother as
he came into the world, and his father, who had removed to
Turin, and afterwards to Moncaglieri, where he had property,
died when Celio was only nine years old.

The elder Curione possessed a Bible, which in the hour
of death he put into his son’s hands. That act was perhaps
the cause of the love for Scripture by which the heir of
the Curiones was afterwards distinguished: the depth of his
filial piety made him look upon the book as a treasure before
he knew the value of its contents. Celio having begun
his education at Moncaglieri, went to Turin, where his maternal
grandmother, Maddalena, lived. She received him
into her house, where the anxious love of the venerable
lady surrounded him with the tenderest care.[#] He is said
to have dwelt on that pleasant hill which overlooks Turin,
whence the summits of the Alps are visible, and whose base
// File: 444.png
.pn +1
is washed by the slow and majestic waters of the Po.[#]
Celio had applied with his whole heart to the study of the
classical orators, poets, historians, and philosophers; when
he reached his twentieth year he felt deeper longings, which
literature was incapable of satisfying. The old Bible of
his father could do this: a new world, superior to that of
letters and philosophy,—the world of the spirit,—opened
before his soul.

There was much talk just then, both in university and
city, of the Reformation and the reformers. Curione had
often heard certain priests and their partisans bitterly complaining
of the ‘false doctrines’ of those <i>heretics</i>, and making
use of the harshest language against Luther and Zwingle.
He listened to their abuse, but was not convinced.
He possessed a nobler soul than the majority of the people
around him, and his generous independent spirit was more
disposed in favor of the accused than of the accusers. Instead
of joining in this almost unanimous censure, Celio said to
himself: ‘I will not condemn those doctors before I have
read their works.’[#] It would appear that he was already
known in the Augustine convent, in which, as in that of
Wittemberg, some truly pious men were to be found. The
grace of his person, the quickness of his intellect, and his
ardent thirst for religious knowledge, interested the monks.
Knowing that they possessed some of the writings of the
reformers, Curione asked for them, and Father Hieronimo
lent him Luther’s <i>Babylonian Captivity</i>, translated into
Italian under a different title. The young man carried it
away eagerly to his study. He read those vigorous pages
in which the Saxon doctor speaks of the lively faith with
which the Christian ought to cling to the promises of God’s
Word; and those in which he asserts that neither bishop
nor pope has any right to command despotically the believer
who has received Christian liberty from God. But Celio
// File: 445.png
.pn +1
had not yet obtained light enough; he carried the book back
to the convent, and asked for another. Melancthon’s <i>Principles
of Theology</i> and Zwingle’s <i>True and False Religion</i>
were devoured by him in turn.

.sn Curione’s Spiritual Wants.
A work was then going on in his soul. The truths he
had read in his Bible grew clearer and sank deeper into his
mind; his spirit thrilled with joy when he found his faith
confirmed by that of these great doctors, and his heart was
filled with love for Luther and Melancthon. ‘When I was
still young,’ he said to the latter afterwards, ‘when first I
read your writings, I felt such love for you that it seemed
hardly capable of increase.’[#]

Curione was not satisfied with the writings merely of these
men of God: his admiration for them was such that he
longed to hear them: an ardent desire to start immediately
for Germany was kindled in his heart.[#] He talked about
it with his friends, especially with Giovanni and Francesco
Guarino, whom the Gospel had also touched, and who declared
their readiness to depart with him.

The three young Italians, enthusiastic admirers of Luther
and Melancthon, quitted Turin and started for Wittemberg.
They turned their steps towards the valley of Aosta, intending
to cross the <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Bernard,[#] where for more than five centuries
a house of the Augustine order had existed for the
reception of the travellers who made use of that then very
frequented pass. They conversed about their journey, their
feelings, and their hopes; and not content with this, they
spoke of the truth with simple-hearted earnestness to the
people they met with on the road or at the inns. In the
ardor of their youthful zeal, they even allowed themselves
to enter into imprudent discussions upon the Romish doctrines.[#]
// File: 446.png
.pn +1
They were ‘bursting to speak’—they could not
wait until they had crossed the Alps: the spirit with which
they were filled carried them away. They had been cautioned,
and had resolved to be circumspect; but ‘however
deep the hiding-places in the hearts of men,’ said a reformer,
‘their tongues betray their hidden affections.’[#] One of
those with whom these Piedmontese youths had debated
went and denounced them to Boniface, Cardinal-bishop of
Ivrea, and pointed out the road they were to take. The
prelate gave the necessary orders, and just as the three
students were entering the valley of Aosta,[#] the cardinal’s
satellites, who were waiting for them, laid hold of them and
carried them to prison.

What a disappointment! At the very time they were
anticipating the delights of an unrestrained intercourse with
Melancthon and Luther, they found themselves in chains
and solitary imprisonment. Curione possessed friends in
that district who belonged to the higher nobility; and contriving
to inform them of his fate, they exerted themselves
in his behalf. The cardinal having sent for him, soon discovered
that his prisoner was not an ordinary man. Struck
with the extent of his knowledge and the elegance of his
mind, he resolved to do all he could to attach him to the
Roman Church. He loaded him with attentions, promised
to bear the necessary expenses for the continuation of his
studies, and with that intent placed him in the priory of <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr>
Benignus. It is probable that Cornelio and Guarino were
soon released: although less celebrated than their fellow-traveller,
they afterwards became distinguished by their
evangelical zeal.

.sn Relics And The Bible.
Although shut up in a monastery, Curione’s soul burnt
with zeal for the Word of God. He regretted that Germany
// File: 447.png
.pn +1
on which he had so much reckoned, and unable to increase
his light at the altar of Wittemberg, he wished at least to
make use of what he had for the benefit of the monks commissioned
to convert him. He was grieved at the superstitious
practices of their worship, and would have desired
to enfranchise those about him. A shrine, put in a prominent
place on the altar, enclosed a skull and other bones
reported to be those of <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Agapetus and <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Tibur the
martyr, and which during certain solemnities were presented
to the adoration of the people. Why set dry bones in the
place which should be occupied by the living Word of God?
Are not their writings the only authentic remains of the
apostles and prophets? Curione refused to pay the slightest
honor to these relics, and in his private conversation he went
so far as to speak to some of the monks against such idolatrous
worship, instructing them in the true faith.[#] He
resolved to do something more. In the convent library he
had found a Bible, to which no one paid any attention;
he had, moreover, noticed the place where the monks kept
the key of the shrine they held so dear.[#] One day—probably
in 1530—taking advantage of a favorable opportunity
when the monks were occupied elsewhere,[#] he went
into the library, took down the holy Word of which David
said it was <i>more to be desired than gold</i>, carried it into the
church, opened the mysterious coffer, removed the relics,
put the Bible in their place, and laid this inscription upon
it: ‘<i>This is the ark of the covenant, wherein a man can
inquire of the true oracles of God, and in which are contained
the true relics of the saints</i>.’ Curione, with emotion
and joy, closed the shrine and left the church without being
observed. The act, rash as it was, had a deep and evangelical
meaning: it expressed the greatest principles of the
Reformation. Some time after, at one of the festivals when
// File: 448.png
.pn +1
the relics were to be presented to the adoration of the worshippers,
the monks opened the shrine. Their surprise,
emotion, and rage were boundless, and they at once accused
their young companion of sacrilege. Being on the watch,
he made his escape, and, quitting Piedmont, took refuge at
Milan.

In that city Curione zealously devoted himself to lecturing;
but, being at the same time disgusted with the unmeaning
practices of the monks, he gave himself with his
whole heart to works of Christian charity. As famine and
pestilence were wasting the country, he soon after occupied
himself wholly in succoring the poor and the sick; he solicited
the donations of the nobility, prevailed on the priests
to sell for the relief of the wretched the precious objects
which adorned their churches, consoled the dying, and even
buried the dead.[#] In the convent, he had appeared to be
struggling for faith only; in the midst of the pestilence, he
seemed to be living for works only. He remembered that
Jesus had come <i>to serve</i>, and following his Master’s example,
he was eager to console every misery. ‘Christ having become
the living root of his soul, had made it a fruitful tree.’
As soon as the scourge abated, every one was eager to testify
a proper gratitude to Celio, and the Isacios, one of the
best families in the province, gave him the hand of one of
their daughters, Margarita Bianca, a young woman of great
beauty, who became the faithful and brave companion of his
life.[#]

.sn Papal Preachers.
Some time after this, Curione, believing that he had nothing
more to fear, and desiring to receive his patrimony, to
revisit his native country, and to devote his strength and
faith to her service, returned to Piedmont. His hopes were
disappointed. Cruel family vexations and clerical persecutions
assailed a life that was never free from agitation. He
// File: 449.png
.pn +1
had lost all but one sister, whose husband, learning that he
intended claiming his inheritance, determined to ruin him.
A Dominican monk was making a great noise by his sermons
in a neighboring city.[#] Celio took a book from his library,
and went with some friends to hear him. He expected that
the monk, according to the custom of his class, would draw
a frightful picture of the reformers. Curione knew that
the essence of the preaching of the evangelical ministry
was Christ, justification by faith in his atoning work, the
new life which He imparts, and the new commandments
which He gives. According to him, the task of the servant
of God, now that all things were made new, was to exalt,
not the Church, but the Saviour; and to make known all
the preciousness of Christ rather than to stun his hearers by
furious declamations against their adversaries. Such were
not the opinions entertained at that time—we will not say
by the great doctors of the Romish Church, but by the vulgar
preachers of the papacy. Laying down as a fundamental
principle that <i>there was no salvation out of the
Church</i>, they naturally believed themselves called to urge
the necessity of union—not with Christ, but—with Rome;
to extol the beauties of its hierarchy, its worship, and its
devout institutions. Instead of feeding the sheep, by giving
them the spiritual nourishment of faith, they thought only
of pronouncing declamatory eulogies of the fold and
drawing horrible pictures of the devouring wolves that
were prowling about it. If there had been no protestants
to combat, no Luther or Calvin to calumniate,
many popish preachers would have found the sermon a
superfluous part of the service, as had been the case in
the Middle Ages.

The <i>good monk</i>, whom Curione and his friends had gone
to hear, preached according to the oratorical rules of vulgar
preachers. ‘Do you know,’ he exclaimed, ‘why Luther
pleases the Germans?... Because, under the name
of Christian liberty, he permits them to indulge in all kinds
// File: 450.png
.pn +1
of excess.[#] He teaches, moreover, that Christ is not God,
and that He was not born of a virgin.’ And continuing
this monkish philippic with great vehemence, he inflamed
the animosity of his hearers.

When the sermon was over, Curione asked the prelate
who was present for permission to say a few words. Having
obtained it, and the congregation being silent and expectant,
he said: ‘Reverend father, you have brought serious
charges against Luther: can you tell me the book or the
place in which he teaches the things with which you reproach
him?’ The monk replied that he could not do so
then, but if Curione would accompany him to Turin, he
would show him the passages. The young man rejoined
with indignation: ‘Then I will tell you at once the page and
book where the Wittemberg doctor has said the very contrary.’
And opening Luther’s <i>Commentary on the Galatians</i>,
he read aloud several passages which completely
demonstrated the falseness of the monk’s calumnies. The
persons of rank present at the service were disgusted; the
people went still further; some violent men, exasperated by
the Dominican’s having told them such impudent lies, rushed
upon him and struck him. The more reasonable had some
trouble to rescue him and send him home safe and sound.[#]

.sn Curione Again Imprisoned.
This scene made a great noise. The bishop and the inquisitors
looked upon it as a revolt against the papacy.
Curione was a firebrand flung by Satan into the midst of the
Church, and they felt that if they did not quench it instantly,
the impetuous wind which, crossing the Alps, was beginning
to blow in the peninsula, would scatter the sparks far
and wide, and spread the conflagration everywhere. The
valiant evangelist was seized, taken to Turin, thrown into
prison, and in a moment, as soon as the news circulated, all
his old enemies set to work. His covetous brother, and
// File: 451.png
.pn +1
even his sister, as it would appear, made common cause with
the priests to destroy him.[#] Fanaticism and avarice joined
together; one party wished to deprive him of his property
only, but the others wanted his life. It was not the first
time Curione had been in prison for speaking according to
the truth: he did not lose courage, he preserved all the
serenity of his mind, and remained master of himself. The
ecclesiastic charged with the examination overwhelmed him
with questions.[#] He was reminded of the relics taken away
from the monastery of <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Benignus, the journey he had
wished to take to Germany, and the conversations he had
held on the road, and was threatened with the stake.[#]

The bishop, knowing that Curione had protectors among
the first people in the city, started for Rome, in order to obtain
from the pope in person his condemnation to death.
Before leaving, he transferred the prisoner to his coadjutor
David, brother of the influential cardinal Cibo. David,
wishing to make sure of his man, and to prevent its being
known where he was detained, removed him by night from
the prison in which he had been placed, took him to one of
those mansions, not very unlike castles, that are often to be
found in Italy, and locked him up in a room enclosed by
very thick walls.[#] His officers attached heavy chains to
poor Celio’s feet, riveted them roughly, and fastened
them into the wall; and finally, two sentries were placed inside
the door of the house. When that was done, David felt
at ease, sure of being able to produce his prisoner when the
condemnation arrived from Rome. There was no hope left
the wretched man of being saved. Curione felt that his
death could not be far off; but though in great distress he
still remained full of courage.

The different operations by which David had secured his
// File: 452.png
.pn +1
prisoner had been carried on during the night; when the day
came, Curione looked round him: the place seemed to bring
to his memory certain half-effaced recollections. He began
to examine everything about him more carefully, and by degrees
remembered that once upon a time, when a boy, he had
been in that house, in that very room—it had probably
been the house of some friend. He called to remembrance
exactly the arrangement of the building, the galleries, the
staircase, the door, and the windows.[#] But ere long he was
recalled from these thoughts by a feeling of pain: his jailers
had riveted the fetters so tightly that his feet began to swell
and the anguish became intolerable. When his keeper came
as usual to bring him food, Curione spoke to him of his pain,
and begged him to leave one of his feet at liberty, adding
that, when that was healed, the jailer could chain it up
again and set the other free. The man consented, and some
days passed in this way, during which the prisoner experienced
by turns severe pain and occasional relief.

This circumstance did not prevent him from making the
most serious reflections. He should never see his wife, his
children, or his friends again; he could no longer take part
in that great work of revival which God was then carrying
on in the Church. He knew what sentence would be delivered
at Rome. When <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> John saw the woman seated on
the seven hills, he exclaimed: ‘<i>Babylon! ... drunken
with the blood of the saints and martyrs of Jesus</i>.’ Death
awaited Curione on the bishop’s return: of that he had not
a doubt. But was it not lawful to defend one’s life against
the violence of murderers? An idea suddenly crossed his
inventive mind; the hope of escaping, of seeing his dear
ones again, of again serving the cause of the Gospel, flashed
upon him. He reflected and planned; the expedient which
occurred to his mind was singular: possibly it might not
succeed, but it might also be the means of saving him from
the hands of his persecutors. When Peter was in prison
// File: 453.png
.pn +1
the angel of the Lord opened the door and led him out.
Celio did not expect a miracle; but he thought it was man’s
duty to do all in his power to thwart the counsels of the ungodly.
He was not, however, very sanguine of success.
God holds the lives of his children in his hand; the Lord
will restore him to liberty or send him to the scaffold, as He
shall judge best.

.sn Curione’s Escape.
Curione delayed no longer: he proceeded at once to carry
out the curious and yet simple expedient which had occurred
to his lively imagination. He took the boot off his
free leg and stuffed it with rags;[#] he then broke off the leg
of a stool that was within his reach, fastened the sham foot
to it, and contrived a wooden leg which he fixed to his knee,
in such a way that he could move it as if it were a real leg.
His Spanish robe, reaching down to his heels, covered
everything, and made the matter easier. Presently he
heard the footsteps of his jailers: luckily, everything was
ready. They entered, did what they were accustomed to
do every day, loosed the chained foot, and then, without examining
too closely—for they had no suspicions—they put
the fetters on the sham leg, and went away.

Celio was free; he rose, he walked; surprised at a deliverance
so little expected, he was almost beside himself ...
he was rescued from death. But all was not over;
he had still to get out of that strong mansion, where so close
a watch was kept over him. He waited until night, and
when darkness brooded over the city and his keepers were
sunk in sleep, he approached the door of the chamber. The
jailers, knowing that the prisoner was chained to the wall,
and that sentinels were posted at the outer gate, had only
pushed it to without locking it. Curione opened it, and
moved along with slow and cautious steps, avoiding the
slightest noise for fear of giving the alarm. Although it
was quite dark, he easily found his way by the help of his
memory: he groped his course along the galleries, descended
// File: 454.png
.pn +1
the stairs; but on reaching the door of the house, he found
it closely shut. What was to be done now? The <i>sbirri</i>
were asleep, but he dared not make any noise lest he should
wake them. Recollecting that there was a window placed
rather high on one side of the door, he contrived to reach
it, leapt into the court-yard, scaled the outer wall, fell into
the street, and began to seek for a hiding-place as fast as his
wounded feet would permit him.[#] When the morning
came, there was great surprise and agitation in the house.
The fidelity of the jailers was not suspected: and as no one
could explain the prisoner’s flight, his enemies circulated the
report that he had had recourse to magic to save himself
from death.

Curione himself was surprised. The thought that he had
escaped not only from the hands of his guards, but also from
the terrible condemnation of the sovereign pontiff, whose
support the bishop had gone to solicit, still further magnified
in his eyes the greatness of his deliverance. He had felt,
and severely too, the power of his enemies; but he saw that
however keen the hatred of the world, a breath of heaven
was sufficient to frustrate its plots. He hastened to leave
Turin, and took refuge in a secluded village in the duchy of
Milan, where his family joined him. His reputation as a
man of letters had spread through that country, and certain
Milanese gentlemen who came to pass the summer in the
villas near the lonely house which he inhabited, entertained
a high opinion of him. One of them, happening to meet
him, recognized him; he spoke of him to others of his
friends, who made his acquaintance, and all of them, delighted
with his amiable character and cultivated mind, were
unwilling that such fine talents should remain buried in a
sequestered village. They got him invited to the university
of Pavia, where he was soon surrounded by an admiring audience.
The inquisition, for a time at fault, discovered at
last that the daring heretic who had escaped from his prison
at Turin was teaching quietly at Pavia; it issued an arrest
// File: 455.png
.pn +1
against him, being determined to put an end to the harassing
warfare which this independent man was waging against
the darkness of the Middle Ages. The familiars of the
Holy Office lay in ambush with the intention of seizing the
Piedmontese professor as he was leaving his house to go to
the lecture-room. But the plot got wind; the students, who
were very numerous, supported by some of the chief people
of the town, formed a battalion which surrounded Curione
as he left his house, conducted him to the Academy, and
when the lecture was over, escorted him home again.[#] Public
opinion declared itself so strongly in favor of liberty of
teaching and against Romish tyranny, that three years elapsed
without the inquisitors being able to seize the professor,
which caused great joy all over the city. The pope, irritated
at such resistance, threatened to excommunicate the
senate of Pavia; and Curione, unwilling to imperil his
friends, quitted that town for Venice, whence he proceeded
to Ferrara to live under that enlightened protection which
the Duchess Renée extended to all who loved the Gospel.

.sn Renée Of France.
Ferrara was in truth a centre where the Gospel found a
firm support. Renée, who was daughter of Louis <abbr='the twelfth'>XII.</abbr>, and
would have succeeded him if (as she used to say) ‘she had
had a beard on her chin,’ had inherited, not the catholic ardor
of her mother, Anne of Brittany, but the reforming and
anti-popish spirit of her father, who had taken for his device:
<i>Perdam Babylonis nomen</i>. Deprived of the throne
by ‘that accursed Salic law’—to use her own words—but
brought up at the court of Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr>, she was closely attached
to her cousin Margaret, and although her junior by
eighteen years, had eagerly embraced the Gospel which that
‘elder sister’ had preached to her with so much earnestness.
Renée was not one of those people who are simply the disciples
of others. Less beautiful than Margaret, she resembled
her in possessing a great soul, a generous heart, and,
more than that, a sound judgment and firm will. While
// File: 456.png
.pn +1
clouds gathered round the mild and brilliant luminary which
presided over the destinies of Navarre and obscured the end
of its course, hardly a passing vapor dimmed for an instant
the pure star of Ferrara and Montargis.

There had been a talk of marrying Renée, as there had
been of marrying Margaret, to Charles <abbr='the fifth'>V.</abbr>, and also to
Henry <abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr>; but the politic Francis had preferred giving
his predecessor’s daughter to a prince who would cause him
no umbrage. She was therefore married to Hercules of
Este, Duke of Ferrara, grandson of pope Alexander <abbr='the sixth'>VI.</abbr> by
Lucrezia Borgia, and vassal of the Holy See. Such gloomy
antecedents did not promise a sympathetic union to the
friend of Margaret of Valois.

Although surrounded at Ferrara with all the splendors
of a court, Renée delighted in the associations of literature
and art, and loved above everything to retire to her closet
and seek ‘the one thing needful.’ There was in her piety
at this period of her life a slight trace of Margaret’s mystical
spirit. A contemplative life, however, was not in keeping
with her active character; she had rather a practical
turn; she loved to attract to her small court the learned
men of Italy, and particularly welcomed the evangelicals
who had been driven out of France. She was thus beginning
to be the object of the most opposite remarks. All
were agreed as to her extreme beneficence; but the adherents
of the papacy complained that her intellect, which enabled
her to excel in philosophy, inclined her, unfortunately,
to investigate religious questions; they added, however,
that if she came to the aid of certain persons in bad odor
among Roman catholics, it was because her inexhaustible
goodness filled her with compassion for those whom she
thought unjustly treated.[#] ‘She desires to do good to everybody,’
it was said; ‘in one year she assisted ten thousand
of her fellow-countrymen. And when the stewards of
her household represented to her the excessive expense of
this, she only answered: “What would you have?—they
// File: 457.png
.pn +1
are poor people of my own country, all of whom would be
my subjects but for that wicked Salic law!”’[#] She was
at once a Mæcenas and a Dorcas.

.sn Resurrection Of Christianity.
The time had gone by in Italy when the fanaticism of
pagan antiquity had misled the mind, and preachers were to
be heard speaking from the pulpit of Minerva, Christ, and
Jupiter in the same breath. At the very moment when
celebrated professors, commissioned to teach philosophy
even at the university of Ferrara, were exclaiming, as Voltaire
and others did after him: ‘Christianity is dying out,
and its end is near!’ Christianity on the contrary was
reviving at Wittemberg, Zurich, Cambridge, and even in
France, and the cry which it uttered as it issued from the
tomb, re-echoed through Italy and awoke many souls there.
In 1528, and perhaps earlier, the evangelical doctrines had
been professed at Ferrara. In 1530, the inquisition
of that city wrote to the pope, that there were many
Lutherans, both laymen and ecclesiastics, within its walls.[#]
In fact, the duchess was calling round her, either for the education
of her children, or simply for love of learning and the
Gospel, professors skilled in the study of the classics, among
whom were men enlightened about the superstitions of the
Roman Church, and often sincerely attached to the Gospel.
Of their number were Celio Calcagnini, Lilio Giraldi Bartholomeo
Riccio, Marzello Palingenio, and the two brothers
Sinapi. Giovanni Sinapi in particular was full of zeal to
spread around him the doctrine of the Scriptures. Many of
the most eminent men of Italy, such as Curione, Occhino,
Peter Martyr, and the famous poet Flaminio, lived for a
time at Ferrara. From that centre evangelical doctrines
were propagated in the neighbouring cities; and particularly
in Modena, where they spread so widely in the university
and among the townspeople, that it was soon called <i>the
Lutheran city</i>.[#]

.fn #
<lang=la>‘Cupit renascenti pietati suppetias ferre.’</lang>—Frobenius to Luther,
February 14, 1519.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Per omnes civitates sparsum.’</lang>—<i>Ibid.</i>
.fn-
.fn #
Gerdesius, <i>Specimen Ital. Ref.</i> <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 11. The words <i>Schwarzerd</i>,
<i>Melancthon</i>, and <i>Terranigra</i> have the same meaning in German, Greek,
and Italian, namely, <i>black earth</i>.
.fn-
.fn #

.pm verse-start
<lang=la>‘Vocis, quæ totum penitus diffusa per orbem,
Terruit insolito pectora tetra sono.’</lang>
.pm verse-end

These verses have been preserved by Schelhorn in his <i>Amœnitates Eccl.</i>
<abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 624.
.fn-
.fn #
Seckendorf, <lang=fr><i>Hist. du Luthéranisme</i></lang>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 613.
.fn-
.fn #
Sarpi, <lang=fr><i>Hist. du Concile de Trente</i></lang>, <abbr rend=arabic>i.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 85.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Pestifera hæresis Lutheri non tantum apud sæculares personas, sed
etiam ecclesiasticas et regulares, tam mendicantes quam non mendicantes.’</lang>
<i>Brief to the Inquisitors</i>, Raynald <i>ad annum</i>.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Læte audio de Venetis quod Verbum Dei receperint.’</lang>—Luther, <i>Ep.</i>
<abbr=three>iii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 289.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Scias igitur Italos omnes expectare Augustensis hujus vestri decreta.’</lang>
Venetiis, 3 calend. Aug. anno 1530. <i>Corp. Ref.</i> <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 227.
.fn-
.fn #
<i>Corp. Ref.</i> <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 170.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Tibi ea adscribent, quæ Christo, verisque Christi defensoribus,
dedecori sunt.’</lang>—<i>Corp. Ref.</i> <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 243.
.fn-
.fn #
Celio Secundo writes his name both ways, but more frequently
<i>Curioni</i>.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Natus anno <abbr='1503'>MDIII.</abbr> calendis Maii, Cyriaci Taurinorum.’</lang>—<i>Curionis
Historia</i> a Professore Stupano, 1570, in Schelhorn, <i>Amœnitates Litterariæ</i>,
<abbr=thirteen>xiii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 330.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Vicenos ternosque liberos suscepit, ex quibus Cœlius ultimus natus
fuit.’</lang>—<i>Curionis Historia</i>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 329.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Taurinum se contulit, ubi per aliquos annos apud Magdalenam
proavam suam agens.’</lang>—<i>Curionis Historia</i>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 330.
.fn-
.fn #
Bonnet, <lang=fr><i>Récits du seizième Siècle</i></lang>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 248.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Non esse sibi damnandos hosce, priusquam illorum horos legisset.’</lang>—<i>Curionis
Historia</i>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 331.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Adolescens adhuc, cum prima tua monimenta legissem, te ita amavi
ut vix ulterius progredi meus in te amor posse videretur.’</lang>—<i><abbr rend=spell>C. S.</abbr> Curionis,
Epist.</i> <abbr rend=arabic>i.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 71.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Ita est illa (opera) admiratus ut statim decreverit in Germaniam
transire.’</lang>—<i>Curionis Historia</i>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 331.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Institutum iter per Salassorum regionem ingreditur.’</lang>—<i>Ibid.</i>
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Cum juvenes in itinere, minus caute, de rebus ad religionem pertinentibus
disputarent.’</lang>—<i>Ibid.</i> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 332.
.fn-
.fn #
Calvin.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Cum essent vallem prætoriam ingressuri.’</lang>—<i>Curionis Historia</i>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr>
332.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Privatim multos contraria hisce docebat et in vera fide erudiebat.’</lang>—<i>Curionis
Historia</i>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 332.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Itaque, observato clavium loco, capsam aperit.’</lang>—<i>Ibid.</i> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 333.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Cum cæteri aliis rebus intenti essent.’</lang>—<i>Ibid.</i>
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Ipse omnibus aderat, consolabatur, atque etiam mortuos ipsos sepeliebat.’</lang>—<i>Curionis
Historia</i>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 335.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Ei uxorem dederunt Margaritam Biancam, puellam elegantissimam.’</lang>—<i>Curionis
Historia</i>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 335.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘In vicinum locum, Castelleviolonem nomine.’</lang>—<i>Ibid.</i>
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Lutherum Germanis placere, quod sub libertate christiana omnis
generis libidines concederet.’</lang>—<i>Curionis Historia.</i>
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Ut vix intercedente Præfecto, vivus Taurinum redire potuerit.’</lang>—<i>Curionis
Historia</i>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 339.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘In causa propemodum ipsi fuerunt (soror et maritus) quod captus
fuerit, vitam quoque fere amiserit.’</lang>—<i>Curionis Historia</i>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 336.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Hic examinatur, quæstiones adhibentur.’</lang>—<i>Ibid.</i> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 339.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Ignem flammasque minantur.’</lang>—<i>Ibid.</i> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 339.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Ex prioribus carceribus noctu deducit, et in conclavi quodam fortissimis
parietibus munito ... asservari curat.’</lang>—<i>Ibid.</i>
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Recreatque in memoriam singularum domus partium situm.’</lang>—<i>Curionis
Historia.</i>
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Extrahit caligam pedis liberi, eamdem lineis quibusdam pannis infarcit.’</lang>—<i>Curionis
Historia</i>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 341.
.fn-
.fn #
His feet never recovered their strength.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Magna studiosorum caterva, eum a sua domo in auditorium deducebat,
et ex eo iterum domum comitabatur.’</lang>—<i>Curionis Historia</i>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 343.
.fn-
.fn #
Maimbourg, <lang=fr><i>Histoire du Calvinisme</i></lang>, <abbr=book>liv.</abbr> <abbr rend=arabic>i.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 61.
.fn-
.fn #
Varillas, <lang=fr><i>Histoire des Hérésies</i></lang>, <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 499. Brantôme, <lang=fr><i>Dames Illustres</i></lang>.
.fn-
.fn #
<i><abbr rend=spell>P.</abbr> Martyr Vermigli</i>, par <abbr rend=spell>C.</abbr> Schmidt, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 11.
.fn-
.fn #
‘Città lutherana.’—Poli, <i>Epist.</i> <abbr=three>iii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 84.
.fn-
// File: 458.png
.pn +1
.sp 4
.h2 id=chap7-19
CHAPTER XIX. | THE GOSPEL IN THE CENTRE OF ITALY. | (<sc>1520 TO 1536</sc>).
.sp 2
While Venice, Turin, Milan, Ferrara, Modena, and other
cities of Upper Italy were listening to the voice of the Gospel,
the centre and south of the peninsula had also their
witnesses to the truth.

.sn Character Of Occhino.
Bernardino Occhino, born at Sienna in 1487, four years
younger than Luther and Zwingle, and twenty-one years
older than Calvin, was the most famous preacher of the age.
In his sermons were to be found that elegance, that choice
of words and those turns of expression which produce clearness,
grace, and facility of style; but at the same time he
was not void of imagination or enthusiasm, and possessed a
boldness of language which surprises and carries away those
who listen to it. Without being one of those firm, solid
spirits who search into all knowledge, and weigh and measure
all thoughts, he had strong religious cravings, and as he
was moved himself, he moved his hearers. ‘From the very
beginning of my life,’ he said, ‘I had a great longing for the
heavenly paradise.’ He determined to win it, but went
astray on the road. His studies were imperfect; he knew
little Greek and no Hebrew: his knowledge of Christian doctrine
was neither deep nor extensive; he sometimes allowed
himself to descend to trifles and even to contradictions;
and without denying the essential doctrines of faith, he
was found in the latter part of his life employing obscure
and equivocal expressions concerning them. He
inopportunely defended customs tolerated under the old
covenant, but manifestly forbidden under the new, and thus
// File: 459.png
.pn +1
drew down much affliction on his old age. Occhino was a
great orator, but not a great divine.

Sienna, the rival of Florence in the Middle Ages, still possessed
sufficient attractions to induce a young man to follow
the career of letters or of honors; but Occhino’s mind took
another direction. From his earliest youth, his religious
feelings had inclined him to an ascetic life, and he sought
peace for his soul in exercises of devotion. ‘I believe in
salvation through works,’ he said, ‘through fasting, prayer,
mortifications, and vigils. With the help of God’s grace
we can, by means of these practices, satisfy the justice of
God, obtain pardon for our sins, and merit heaven.’[#]
Erelong his private macerations proved insufficient for him,
and he became a monk. Every religious society approved
of by Rome was holy in his eyes; but he joined the Observantine
Franciscans, because that order was reputed to be
stricter than the others. The youthful Bernardino soon
found, like Luther, that the life of the cloister could not satisfy
his need of holiness. He was discouraged, and, renouncing
the pursuit of an object which he seemed unable to attain,
he turned to the study of medicine, without however,
leaving the convent. Some Franciscans, having separated
from the order with the intention of forming a still stricter
rule, under the name of Capuchins, Occhino thought he had
found what he wanted, and, having joined them, gave himself
up with all his strength to voluntary humiliation and the
mortification of the senses. <i>Eat not, touch not, taste not.</i>
If any new and stricter laws were drawn up by the chiefs
of the order, he hastened to conform to them. He threw
himself blindfold into a complicated labyrinth of traditions,
disciplines, fastings, mortifications, austerities, and ecstasies.
And when they were over, he would ask himself whether he
had gained anything? Remaining ill at ease and motionless
in his cell, he would exclaim: ‘O Christ! if I am not saved
now, I know not what I can do more!’ The moment was
approaching when he would feel that all these macerations
// File: 460.png
.pn +1
were but ‘running knots, which bind at first and strangle at
last.’[#]

This was in 1534, when Occhino was forty-seven years
old. The agitations of his soul often inspired him, during
his sermons, with those pathetic impulses which touch the
heart; his superiors, wishing to turn his gifts to account,
called him to the functions of the pulpit, and as he thus entered
upon a new phase of life, a revolution was also effected
in his thoughts. He turned away from the superstitious practices
and paltry bonds of the monks and devotees, and approached
the Holy Scriptures. Monastic discipline had increased
his darkness: the Word was to bring him light.
He felt the necessity of conscientiously preparing his sermons,
and began to study the Bible. But, strange to say,
Scripture, instead of making his work easier, embarrassed
him at the very outset, made him uneasy, and even paralyzed
him. A striking contrast presented itself to his
mind. ‘I believe,’ he said, ‘that we must merit heaven
by our works, while Scripture tells me that heaven is
given by grace, because of the redemption through Jesus
Christ.’ He tried for some time to reconcile these contradictory
views; but, do what he would, Rome and the
Bible remained diametrically opposed to each other; he determined
in favour of Rome. To doubt that the pope’s
teaching was divine would have been a crime. ‘The authority
of the Church,’ he said in after years, ‘silenced my
scruples.’ He applied again to his mortifications. It was
all in vain: peace was a stranger to his soul.

Then he turned once more to what he had abandoned.
He said to himself that, according to the universal opinion
of Christendom, the Scriptures were given by God to show
the path to heaven; and that if there was anywhere a remedy
for the disease under which he felt himself suffering, it
must be in God’s Book. He read its holy pages with entire
confidence, and made every exertion to understand them.
Erelong a new light broke upon him; a heavenly brightness
// File: 461.png
.pn +1
was poured upon the mystery of Golgotha, and he
was filled with unutterable joy. ‘Certainly,’ he said,
‘Christ by his obedience and death has fully satisfied the law
of God and merited heaven for his elect. That is true
righteousness, that is the true salvation.’[#] He did not advance
any farther just then; for some time longer the Roman-Catholic
Church was in his eyes the true Church, and
the religious orders were holy institutions. He had found
that peace which he had sought so long, and was satisfied.

.sn Occhino’s Popularity.
The activity of his life increased, the fervor of his zeal
augmented, his preaching became more spiritual and more
earnest. He continued his itinerant ministry, and attracted
still more the attention of the people of Italy. He always
went on foot, though weak in body. His name filled the
peninsula, and when he was expected in any city a multitude
of people and even nobles and princes would go out to
meet him. The principal men of the city would display a
deep affection for him, pay him every honor, and not permit
him to go and lodge in the wretched cell of a monastery, but
force him to accept the brilliant hospitality of their mansions.
The magnificence of these dwellings, the costly dresses of
their inhabitants, and ‘all the pomp of the age,’ made no
change in his humble and austere life. Sitting at the luxurious
banquets of the great ones of this world, he would
drink no wine and eat but of one dish, and that the plainest.
Being conducted to the best chamber, and invited to repose
in a soft and richly-furnished bed, in order to recruit himself
after the fatigue of his journey, he would smile, stretch his
threadbare mantle on the floor, and lie down upon it.

As soon as the news of his arrival became known, crowds
of people would throng round him from all parts. ‘Whole
cities went to hear him,’ says the Bishop of Amelia, ‘and
there was no church large enough to contain the multitude of
hearers.’[#] All eyes were fixed on him as soon as he entered
the pulpit. His age, his thin pale face, his beard falling below
// File: 462.png
.pn +1
the waist, his gray hair and coarse robe, and all that
was known of his life, made the people regard him as an
extraordinary man, indeed as a saint. Was there any affectation
in these strange manners? Probably there was,
for though a new creation had begun in him, the old nature
was still very strong. He was not insensible to the glory
that comes from man, and perhaps did not seek alone that
which comes from God.

At length the great orator began to speak, and all the
congregation hung upon his lips. He explained his ideas
with such ease and grace, that even from the very beginning
of his ministry, he charmed all who heard him. But after
he had studied Scripture, there was more elegance, originality,
and talent in his discourses. He made use of evangelical
language, which penetrated the heart; and yet no
one, unless he were a very subtle theologian, would dare
ascribe new doctrines to him. The inward power which he
had received touched their hearts; the movements of his
eloquence carried away his hearers, and he led them where
he pleased.[#] At Perugia, enemies embraced one another
as they left the church, and renounced the family feuds
which had been handed down through several generations.
At Naples, when he preached for some work of charity,
every purse was opened: one day he collected five thousand
crowns—an enormous sum for those times. Even princes
of the Church, such as Cardinal Sadolet and Cardinal
Bembo, adjudged him the palm of popular eloquence: all
voices hailed him as the first preacher of Italy.[#] We shall
see him presently producing a religious revival at Naples.
He was preceded and aided in that work by men who, although
inferior to him in eloquence, were his superiors in
knowledge and faith.

.sn Character Of Peter Martyr.
At the time when the Word was thus sown, and was
everywhere bearing fruit more or less, Florence, the land
// File: 463.png
.pn +1
of the Medici, so illustrious from its attachment to letters
and liberty, was not to be a barren soil. In the year 1500,
the year in which Charles <abbr='the fifth'>V.</abbr> was born, a rich patrician
named Stephen Vermigli had a son whom he named Peter
Martyr in honor of Peter of Milan whom the Arians are
said to have put to death for maintaining the orthodox faith,
and to whom a church was dedicated near the house in
which the child was born.[#] His mother, Maria Fumantina,
an educated woman of meek and tranquil piety, devoted
herself to her only son, taught him Latin in his earliest
years, and poured into his heart that incorruptible spirit,
which is of such great value before God. The boy early
attended the public schools established for the Florentine
youth, and was distinguished for the quickness of his understanding,
the extent of his powers, the strength of his memory,
and above all by such a thirst for learning that no difficulties
could stop him. If Occhino possessed liveliness of
feeling and imagination, Peter Martyr possessed solidity of
judgment and depth of mind.

Before long the youth was involved in a painful struggle.
His father,—either because he disapproved of a monastic
life, the abuses of which, even at Florence, had been exposed
by Dante and afterwards by Savonarola; or because he
was ambitious and desired to see his son attain a brilliant
position—intended giving him an education calculated to
advance him in the service of the State. Peter Martyr, on
the contrary, inspired by the pious feelings which he had
inherited from his mother, wished to dedicate himself to
God. His greatest ambition was to learn; his glory was to
know; knowledge, and especially the knowledge of divine
things, was in his eyes superior to all the world besides. His
father commanded in vain and disinherited him in vain; in
1516 the young man entered the monastery of regular canons
of <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Augustine at Fiesole, near Florence. After a
certain interval of time Peter Martyr felt that he did not
// File: 464.png
.pn +1
learn much in the cloister. He was penetrated with the
thought that man ought to make it his object to propagate
around him solid knowledge and true light, especially in all
that relates to the immortal soul; but to propagate them, he
must first possess them. He obtained permission to visit
Padua, the seat of a celebrated university. Quiet, steady,
diligent, affectionate, and respectful, he was loved and esteemed
by all. He venerated the aged as if they were his
fathers, and displayed such modesty, affection, and eagerness
to do what was pleasing to his comrades, that he always
found them, in times of trial, his surest friends.[#] Although
he was in the age of passions, and lived in cities where
temptations were numerous, he was able to preserve that
chastity of thought and that purity of conduct so necessary
to the happiness and real success of a young man. He
studied philosophy, and in the public disputations acquired a
singular dialectic skill, of which he afterwards gave striking
proofs. But he was in search of something better, namely,
divine truth; and therefore began to attend the lectures of
the theological professors. He was soon disgusted with
them, for they taught nothing but scholastics, and he resolved
to seek the road by himself. He frequently spent
the greater part of the night in the library of his monastery;
he read the Greek authors, and then took up the Fathers of
the Church, Tertullian, Athanasius, and Augustine, and
began to have a perception that the theology of primitive
catholicism was quite different from that of the papacy.

In 1526, his superiors, struck with his talents, called him
to the ministry. Peter Martyr preached at Rome, Bologna,
Pisa, Venice, Mantua, Bergamo, and other cities. At the
same time he gave public lessons in literature and philosophy,
particularly on Homer. But he determined to go
farther, and, no longer contenting himself with the poets,
philosophers, and Fathers of the Church, he desired to know
// File: 465.png
.pn +1
the Holy Scriptures. He was enraptured with them; as the
Latin text was not sufficient for him, he read the New Testament
in Greek; he next resolved to read the Old Testament
also in the original, and meeting with a Jewish doctor
named Isaac, at Bologna, he learnt Hebrew of him. Then
it was that a new light illumined his fine genius. While he
was studying the letter of the Holy Scriptures, <i>the Spirit
of God opened his understanding</i>, and displayed before him
the mysteries concealed within them.[#] His learning, labors,
and administrative ability had already attracted general
consideration; and the pious sentiments he now displayed
helped to increase it. He was appointed Abbot of Spoleto,
and in 1530 was summoned to a larger theatre, to Naples,
as Prior of <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Peter’s <i>ad Aram</i>, where we shall meet him
erelong.

.sn Aonio Paleario.
In 1534 there lived in Sienna a friend of Greek and
Latin literature, an enthusiast for Cicero, whose elegant
and harmonious periods he translated better than any other
scholar, and who was particularly distinguished among the
professors of the university for his elevation of soul, love of
truth, boldness of thought, and the courage with which he
attacked false doctors and sham ascetics. He made a
sensation in the world of schools, and, though he had no
official post, the students crowded to his lectures. His
name was Antonio della Paglia, which he latinized, according
to the fashion of the age, into Aonius Palearius. This,
again, was Italianized into Aonio Paleario. Among the
hills which bound the Roman Campagna, near the source
of the Garigliano, stands the ancient city of Veroli; here
he was born in 1503, of an old patrician house according to
some, of the family of an artisan according to others. In
1520 he went to Rome, where the love of art and antiquity
was then much cultivated, and, from the lessons of illustrious
teachers, he learnt to admire Demosthenes, Homer, and
// File: 466.png
.pn +1
Virgil. A rumor of war disturbed his peaceful labors. In
1527 the imperial army descended the Alps, and, like an
avalanche which, slipping from the icy mountain-tops, rushes
down into the valley, it overthrew and destroyed everything
in its course. Milan had been crushed, and, when the news
reached Rome at the same time with the furious threats
uttered by the imperialists against the city of the pontiffs,
the young student exclaimed, ‘If they come near us, we
are lost!’ Paleario hastily took refuge in the valley where
he was born; but even there the spray of the avalanche
reached him. When he returned to the papal city, alas!
the houses were in ruins, the men of letters had fled. He
turned his eyes towards Tuscany, quitted Rome in the latter
part of 1529, and after spending some time at Perugia,
went on to Sienna, where he arrived in the autumn of 1530.

That ancient city of the Etruscans, transformed into a
city of the Middle Ages, at first delighted the friend of letters.
Its position in the midst of smiling hills,[#] the fertility
of its fields, the abundance of everything, the beauty of the
buildings, the cultivated minds of its inhabitants—all enraptured
him. But erelong he discovered a wound which
wrung his heart: the State was torn by factions; an ignorant,
impetuous, turbulent democracy had the upper hand;
the strength of a people who might have done great things
was wasted in idle and barren disputes. The most eminent
men wept over the sorrows of their country, and fled with
their wives and children from the desolated land. ‘Alas!’
exclaimed Paleario, ‘the city wants nothing but concord
between the citizens.’[#] He met, however, with an affectionate
welcome in the families of a few nobles; and, after
visiting Florence, Ferrara, Padua, and Bologna, he returned
in 1532 to Sienna, to which his friends had invited
him.
// File: 467.png
.pn +1

.sn Poem On Immortality.
Paleario was a poet: his fancy was at work wherever he
went; and, either during his travels or on his return to the
Ghibeline city, he composed a Latin poem on the immortality
of the soul.[#] We find traces of the Roman doctrine in
it, especially of purgatory[#] and of the queenship of the
Virgin.[#] His eyes, however, were already turned towards
the Reformation. He desired to have readers like Sadolet,
and also the sympathy of Germany.[#] The poem evidences
a soul which, without having yet found God and the peace
he gives, sighs after a new earth, a rejuvenated humanity,
and a happiness which consists in contemplating the Almighty,
the King of men, as the eternal and absolute goodness
and supreme happiness.[#]

Ere long Paleario took another step. The religious
questions by which Italy was so deeply agitated engrossed
that eminent mind. He commenced reading not only Saint
Augustine but the Reformers and the Holy Scriptures, and
began to speak in his lectures with a liberty that enraptured
his hearers, but so exasperated the priests that his friend
and patron Sadolet recommended him to be more prudent.
Paleario, however, boldly crossed the threshold which
separates the literary from the Christian world. He received
thoroughly the doctrine of justification by faith, and
found in it a peace which was to him a warrant of its truth.
‘Since he in whom the Godhead dwells,’ he said, ‘has so
lovingly poured out his blood for our salvation, we must not
doubt of the favor of Heaven. All who turn their souls
towards Jesus crucified, and bind themselves to him with
// File: 468.png
.pn +1
thorough confidence, are delivered from evil and receive
forgiveness of their sins.’

Paleario loved the country. Having noticed a villa
which had belonged to Aulus Cecina, the friend of Cicero,
situated between Colle and Volterra, at the summit of a
plateau, whence flowed a stream, watering the slopes, and
where a pure air and the tranquility of the fields could be
enjoyed,[#] the Christian poet bought it, and there, in his
beloved <i>Cecignana</i>, on the terrace before the house or
among the forest oaks, he passed many a peaceful day, consecrated
to serious meditation. He knew that the world on
which he fixed his eyes was the creation of the Supreme,
the free will of God; that an inward and uninterrupted bond
existed between the Creator and his creatures; and rejoiced
that, owing to the redemption of Jesus Christ, there would
be formed out of its inhabitants a kingdom of God, from
which evil would be forever banished.

.sn Paleario’s Love Of Nature.
Paleario’s tender soul needed domestic affections, and at
Sienna he was alone. He married Marietta Guidotti, a
young person of respectable parentage, who had been
brought up with holy modesty.[#] She bore him two sons,
Lampridius and Phædrus, and two daughters, Aspasia and
Sophonisba, whom he loved tenderly, and who were, after
God, the consolation of a life agitated by the injustice of his
enemies. Family affections and a love for the beauties
of nature were in Paleario, as they often are, the marks of
an elevated soul. At a later period, when his life had become
still more bitter; when he had lost his health, and
his faith had made him an object of horror to the fanatical;
when he exclaimed, ‘All men are full of hatred and ill-will
toward me;’[#] when he foresaw that he must ere long
succumb beneath the blows of his adversaries; even then
he sighed after the country, and wrote to one of his friends,
// File: 469.png
.pn +1
with a simplicity reminding us of ancient times:—‘I am
weary of study; fain would I fly to you and pass my days
under the warm bright sky of your fields. At early morn,
or when the day begins to wane, we will wander through
the country, around the cottages, with Lampridius and
Phædrus my darling boys, and with your wife and mine.[#]
Get ready the garden, that we may live on herbs, for I am
utterly disgusted with the luxurious tables of our cities.
The farm shall supply us with eggs and poultry, the river
with fish. Oh! how sweet are the repasts at which we eat the
fruit we gather from our own garden, the fowls fed by our
own hands, the birds caught in our nets,—sweeter far than
those where you see nothing on the table but provisions
bought in the market! We will work in the fields; we will
tire ourselves. Make your preparations; get ready a saw,
a hatchet, a wedge to cleave the wood, pruning-shears, a
harrow, and a hoe. If these implements fail us, we will
be content with planting trees, that shall serve for ages yet
to come.’ It is pleasing to see the disciple of Cicero and especially
of the Bible, at a time when he was tormented by
sickness and the hatred of the wicked, rejoicing like a child
at the thought of planting trees that should give a cool
shade and welcome fruit to coming generations. We shall
now describe the end of his stay at Sienna, and what brought
his great sorrow upon him, although it will lead us beyond
the limits of time we have prescribed for ourselves.

The best friend Paleario possessed was Antonio Bellantes,
president of the Council of Nine, a grave and benevolent
man, generally loved and respected; in a time of difficulty
he had assisted the State by the gift of two million
golden crowns. Bellantes esteemed Paleario very highly,
and Paleario loved him above all other men. In the
course of the popular disturbances, the members of the
Council of Nine had been banished; but the senate and
// File: 470.png
.pn +1
people had entreated Bellantes to remain at Sienna—a
circumstance which had greatly enraged his enemies.
Ruffians broke into his house one night and plundered it.
Somewhat later Bellantes died, leaving all his ready money
to his mother, that she might deliver it to his sons when
they came of age. The good lady was a great friend of
the monks; every day the capuchins used to visit her,[#] and
when she felt sick they crowded round her bed. After her
death, no property could be found in her house, except
some torn bags which appeared to have held money. The
sons of Bellantes accused the monks of having stolen their
inheritance, and Paleario supported them with his eloquence.
The monks denied the fact, and were acquitted upon their
solemn oath. Inflamed with anger against Paleario, they
resolved upon his destruction.

.sn Plot Against Paleario.
At the head of his adversaries was the senator Otto Melio
Cotta, a rich, powerful, and ambitious man of a domineering
spirit. At first he had been mixed up in political affairs,
but he afterwards enlisted under the banners of the clergy,
and made common cause with the monks. A plot was
formed in the Observantine convent, situated about a mile
from Sienna, in the midst of woods, grottos, and holy places.
Three hundred members of the Joanelli, a brotherhood
formed for certain exercises of piety, swore upon the altar
to destroy Paleario. Not confining themselves to attacks
upon his teaching, Cotta and his other adversaries began to
pry into his private life, to watch all his movements, and
to catch up every word. They soon found fresh subjects of
complaint against him. Paleario had ridiculed a wealthy
priest, who was to be seen every morning devoutly kneeling
before the shrine of a saint, but who refused to pay his
debts; and the keen irony with which he had spoken of him
had occasioned a great scandal among the clergy. That
however, was not enough; they must have a palpable mark
of heresy. His adversaries endeavored, therefore, to entrap
// File: 471.png
.pn +1
him, and some of them, presenting themselves as if
they wanted to be instructed, put questions to him calculated
to lead him into the snare. ‘What,’ they asked, ‘is
the first means of salvation given by God to man?’ He
answered ‘<i>Christ</i>.’ That might pass; but, continuing their
questions, Paleario’s enemies added: ‘What is the second?’
In their opinion, he should have indicated meritorious works;
but Paleario replied: ‘<i>Christ</i>.’ Continuing their inquiry,
they said: ‘And what is the third?’ They thought that
Paleario should answer, The Church; out of the Church
there is no salvation; but he still replied, ‘<i>Christ</i>.’[#] From
that moment he was a lost man. The monks and their friends
reported to Cotta the answer which they deemed so heretical.

Paleario had no suspicion of danger. Cardinal Sadolet
and some other friends invited him to come and see them
at Rome, and he went. He had not been there long before
he received a very excited letter from Faustus Bellantes.
‘There is a great agitation in the city,’ he said; ‘an astounding
conspiracy has been formed against you by the most
criminal of men.[#] We do not know upon what the accusation
is founded; we are ignorant of the names of your adversaries.
The report runs that the chiefs of the state
have been excited against you in consequence of calumnious
charges concerning religion. It is said that some wretched
monks have sworn your ruin; but the plot must have
deeper roots. I shall go to Sienna to-morrow, and shall
speak to my friends and relations about it. I am ready for
everything, even to lose my life in your defence. Mean-time
I conjure you, let your mind be at peace.’

Bellantes was not deceived. Cotta, without loss of time,
appeared in the senate and reported to his colleagues the
monstrous language of Paleario, and exclaimed, that if they
// File: 472.png
.pn +1
suffered him to live, ‘there would be no vestige of religion
left in the city.’[#] Every man was silent: such was the
alarm caused by a charge of heresy, that no one dared take
up the defence of that courageous Christian.

Paleario heard of this, and was distressed but not surprised.
One truth was deeply engraved in his heart: All
power of salvation is given to Jesus Christ; He is the
only source whence the new life can be drawn. It
seemed to him that the priests had forged so many means
of acquiring pardon, that they hardly left Christ the hundredth
part. He could well understand how irritated the
clergy must be against a man who set so little store by
all their paltry contrivances; but although he saw clearly
the danger that threatened him, he remained firm. ‘The
power of the conspirators is immense,’ he said; ‘the more
fiercely a man attacks me, the more pious he is reckoned.
But what matters it? Jesus Christ, whom I have always
sincerely and religiously adored, is my hope.[#]... I despise
the cabals of men, and my heart is full of courage.’[#]
Christ was his king. He knew that that great Sovereign,
who is achieving the conquest of the world, preserves at the
same time all those who have found reconciliation with God
through him.

His wife was not so calm. Marietta, his virtuous and
devoted partner, so ardent in her affection, was filled with uneasiness
and trouble; her imagination called up before her not
only the misfortunes of the moment; but also those of the future;
she was the most unhappy of women.[#] Her agony
was greater than her strength; she passed whole days in
tears.[#] Distressed and exhausted, she lost her health; and
every one might see in her face the sorrow which was consuming
// File: 473.png
.pn +1
her. When her husband heard of this at Rome, he
was heart-broken, and conjured his mother and Bellantes to
visit Marietta, in order to distract the afflicted wife from her
sorrow.

Paleario would have desired to hasten to her in person
and confront his accusers; but his friends at Sienna and at
Rome alike dissuaded him. The citizens who were then at
the head of the state were violent men, of no morality, and
as ready to condemn the innocent as to acquit the guilty. It
was hoped that a new election would bring upright men into
power: they conjured Paleario to wait, and he did so. But
there was no change: the denunciations, charges, and murmurs
only increased. The enemies of the Gospel attacked
not merely Paleario, but the reformers, the <i>Germans</i>, as
they said: they tried to involve all the friends of the Bible,
both German and Italian, in the same condemnation. At
last, what had been hoped for came to pass; an important
change took place in the government of the republic; order
and liberty were restored. Paleario thought he could no
longer remain away; he left Rome and joined his family at
his country-house near Colle.

.sn Paleario Accused Of Heresy.
As soon as his adversaries were informed of his return,
they laid a charge of heresy before the senate of Sienna and
the court of Rome. Determined to employ all means to destroy
Paleario, they resolved to constrain the ecclesiastical
authority to go along with them by the strong pressure they
would bring to bear upon it. With this intent twelve of
them met, and, bent on prevailing upon the archbishop to
demand that Paleario should be put upon his trial, they
marched through the streets of the city to the prelate’s
palace. In this excited band there was the senator Cotta
with five others, distinguished among whom was Alexis
Lucrinas, an impetuous and foolish man; then three priests,
people of little importance, but very violent, grossly ignorant,
and untiring babblers;[#] and lastly, three monks. The archbishop
// File: 474.png
.pn +1
happened just then to be at his villa in the suburbs,
for the sake of the purer air; the delegates went there after
him, accompanying their march with such shouting, threats,
and disputes, that the women, attracted by the unusual noise,
ran to the windows, fancying they were taking some criminal
to punishment. Some of the conspirators said: ‘The witnesses
will be heard, the motives of his condemnation will
be declared, and then Paleario will be thrown into the fire;’
but others wanted to proceed more quickly, so that the punishment
should follow immediately upon the statement of
the offence without any form of trial and without permitting
the accused to be heard.[#] Archbishop Francesco Bandini,
of the illustrious house of Piccolomini, was a friend of letters
and consequently of Paleario. It was afternoon; the prelate
who was taking his siesta, being awoke by the noise, called
a servant, and asked him who were vociferating in that manner.
Being informed that they were men of consideration,
he ordered them to be admitted. He rose from his couch,
took his seat and waited for the strange deputation. They
entered: Lucrinas, who had been sometimes invited to his
lordship’s table, was full of confidence in himself, and accordingly
had begged that they would allow him to speak.
Looking round him with a satisfied and boasting air, he began
to pour out against Paleario a long string of insults and
maledictions in a passionate tone. The bishop, a wise and
grave man, had some difficulty to contain himself, and said
that the whole proceeding appeared to him full of levity.
‘There can be no question of levity,’ impudently exclaimed
Lucrinas, ‘when three hundred citizens are ready to sign the
accusation.’ ‘And I could produce six hundred witnesses,’
rejoined the prelate, ‘who have sworn that you are a merciless
usurer. I did not, however, give effect to their denunciation.
Did I do well or ill? tell me.’ ... The poor
wretch was silent; the fact was too notorious to be denied,
// File: 475.png
.pn +1
and too scandalous to be confessed. But his companions
were not to be put out by such a trifle; they explained
the motives of their prosecution, threw themselves at the
prelate’s feet, and conjured him in the name of religion to
support the charge against Paleario. The archbishop, considering
that it was a question of heresy, thought that it was
a matter for the courts to decide, and consented to their
prayer.

.sn Paleario’s Enemies.
Paleario’s enemies set to work immediately; they endeavored
to prejudice the most notable persons in Sienna
against him; and picked out individuals from among the
populace, who were without light and without conscience,
whom they induced to testify before the court to things of
which they knew nothing.[#] It was in vain that the famous
Sadolet, summoned to Rome by the pope, stopped at Sienna,
and undertook Paleario’s defence. It was in vain that the
cardinal, the archbishop, and Paleario had a consultation in
which Sadolet commended the accused to the archbishop,
and gave touching proofs of his esteem and affection for him;
the conspirators were able to turn the interview against the
man whom they had sworn to sacrifice to their hatred. A
number of people who had assembled in the public square
began to talk about the conference: ‘When Paleario was
accused by the prelate,’ said some, ‘he was silent through
shame.’ ‘No,’ said the others, ‘he answered, but was sharply
reprimanded by Sadolet.’[#] Impatient to see their victim
handed over to death, happy at having already caused doubt
in the mind of the archbishop, and imagining they had convinced
Sfondrati the president of the republic, and Crasso
the prætor, the twelve obtained an order for Paleario to be
summoned before the senate on a charge of heresy.

That innocent and just man was not blind to the danger
and difficulty of his position. He felt that the calumnies of
// File: 476.png
.pn +1
his enemies would check the good he hoped to do, would
break up old friendships, and destroy the peace that the city
was beginning to enjoy. Ere long, perhaps, his wife would
be a widow and his children orphans: a veil of sadness
covered his face. Oh! how bitter was such a trial! He
knew full well that afflictions awaken heavenly life in the
Christian; that it is a privilege of the child of God; but he
was for some time without comfort, and his soul was bowed
down. ‘My adversaries,’ he said, ‘heap wrong upon wrong,
hatred upon hatred:[#] they have done nothing else these six
months. Has there ever been a man saintly enough not to
give way under the attacks of such a perverse zeal? I will
not speak of Socrates, Scipio, Rutilius, or Metellus; certain
failings might have laid them open to the attacks of their
enemies. But even He than whom none was so good, none
so holy, even the all-innocent Jesus Christ himself, was
assailed on every side.[#] Alas! where can the righteous
man turn? whom can he implore?’

.sn Trial Of Paleario.
Paleario soon learnt to answer this. When he found
himself summoned to appear before the senate, his courage
revived. He was not only strong in his innocence, but the
faith which inspired his heart told him that God loves his
servants, and that with Him they are free from every danger.
He went to the palace of the Signiory, and entered
the hall, leaning on the arm of the youthful Faustus Bellantes,
son of his old friend, accompanied by some faithful men
who were unwilling to forsake him in the day of his distress.
He stood in the presence of those who held his life in their
hands. Sfondrati the president, Crasso the prætor, the senate,
and the Nine were seated in their judicial chairs. His
adversaries were there also; Cotta especially, full of presumptuous
assurance, and feeling certain that the time had
come at last when he could fall upon his prey. Paleario
recognized him; he was agitated and indignant at seeing
// File: 477.png
.pn +1
him quietly taking his seat in the senate, at the very time
he was bent on carrying out an infamous plot. He contained
himself, however; and, first addressing the senators,
to whom he gave the title employed in ancient Rome, he
said:[#] ‘Conscript fathers, when there was a talk about me
in former years, I was not seriously moved by it: the times
were times of desolation; all human and divine rights were
confounded in the same disorder. But now, when, by the
goodness of God, men of wisdom have been placed at the
head of the republic, when the sap and the blood circulate
afresh through the state,[#] why should I not lift up my
head?’

By degrees Paleario grew warm; his eyes fell again upon
his insolent enemy whom he apostrophized as Cicero did
Catiline: ‘Cotta, you wicked, arrogant, and factious man,’
he said, ‘who practise not that religion in which God is
worshipped in spirit and in truth, but that which plunges
into every superstition, because it is the best adapted to impose
upon mankind: Cotta, you imagine you are a Christian,
because you bear the image of Christ upon your purple
robe; while by your calumnies you are crushing an innocent
man, who is also an image, a living image, of Jesus Christ.
When you accused me falsely of a crime, did you obey Jesus
Christ? When you went to the house of the Nine to utter
falsehoods against me, did you think, Cotta, you were making
a pilgrimage to Jerusalem? I am surprised that you do
not crucify innocent persons.... You would do it—yes,
you would do it, if you could do all that your pride suggests.’[#]

Paleario then passed on to a more important subject. In
// File: 478.png
.pn +1
attacking him, his adversaries really attacked the Gospel,
the Reformation, and those excellent men whom God was
making use of to transform Christian society. Paleario defended
the reformers in the presence of all Italy.

.sn Paleario’s Defence.
‘You bring impudent reproaches against me, Cotta,’ he
continued; ‘you assert that I think wrongly on religious
matters, that I am falling into heresy, and you accuse me of
having adopted the opinions of the <i>Germans</i>. What a paltry
accusation! Do you pretend to bind all the Germans in
the same bundle? Are all the Germans bad? Do you not
know that the august emperor is a German? Will you say
that you mean only the theologians? What noble theologians
there are in Germany! But though your accusations
are unmeaning in appearance, there is a sting lying under
them. I know the venom they contain.... The <i>Germans</i>
that you mean are Œcolampadius, Erasmus, Melancthon,
Luther, Pomeranus, Bucer, and their friends. But is
there a single theologian in Italy so stupid as not to know
that there are many things worthy of praise in the works
of those doctors?... Exact, sincere, earnest, they
have professed the truths which we find set forth by the
early fathers. To accuse the Germans is to accuse Origen,
Chrysostom, Cyrillus, Irenæus, Hilary, Augustin, and Jerome.
If I purpose imitating those illustrious doctors of
Christian antiquity, why repeat perpetually that I think like
the Germans? What! because the learned professors of the
German schools have followed the footsteps of those holy
men of the first centuries, may not I follow them also?
You would like me to imitate the folly of those who, to obtain
good preferments, fight against even that which is good
in Germany.... Ah! conscript fathers, rather than
strive after those delights which lead many astray, I prefer
to live honestly. My circumstances may be narrow, but my
conscience is at liberty.[#] Let those vile flatterers sit on the
doctor’s seat or the bishop’s throne, let them put mitres or
// File: 479.png
.pn +1
tiaras on their heads, let them wear the purple.[#]...
Not so for me, I will remain in my library, sitting on a
wooden stool, wearing a woollen garment against the cold,
a linen garment in the heat, and with only a little bed on
which to taste the repose of sleep.

‘But, Cotta, you still continue your attacks; you reproach
me for praising all the Germans say and do. No! there are
some things I approve of in them and others that I do
not. When I meet with thoughts which for ages have been
obscured by a barbarous style, hidden under the brambles of
scholasticism, and sunk into the deepest darkness—when I
see these brought into the full light of day, placed within
the reach of all, and expressed in the choicest Latinity, I
not only praise the Germans, but I heartily thank them.
Sacred studies had fallen asleep in convent cells, where the
idle men who should have cultivated them had hidden themselves
as if in gloomy forests, under the pretence of applying
to work. But what happened? They snored so loud
that we could hear them in our cities and towns.[#] Now,
learning has been restored to us; Latin, Greek, and Chaldee
libraries have been formed; assistance has been honorably
extended to the theologians; precious books have been multiplied
by means of the wonderful invention of printing.
Can there be anything more striking, more glorious, or more
deserving our eternal gratitude?’

After this defence of the literary and reforming movement
of Germany, Paleario came to what is grander than
all—to Christ: ‘Are they not insufferable men,’ he said,
‘nay, wicked men, before whom we dare not praise the God
of our salvation, Jesus Christ, the King of all nations, by
whose death such precious boons have been conferred upon
// File: 480.png
.pn +1
the human race? And yet for this, conscript fathers, yes,
for this I am reproached in the accusation brought against
me. On the authority of the most ancient and most faithful
documents, I had declared that the end of all evils had
arrived, that all condemnation was done away with for those
who, being converted to Christ crucified, trust in him with
perfect confidence. These are the things that appeared detestable
to those twelve ... shall I say to those twelve
men or twelve wild beasts, who desire that the man who
wrote these things should be thrown into the fire! If I
must suffer that penalty for the testimony I have borne to
the Son of God, believe me that no happier fate could befall
me; in truth, I do not think that a Christian in our times
ought to die in his bed. Ah! conscript fathers, to be accused
and cast into prison is a trifle; to be scourged, to be
hanged, to be sewn up in a sack, to be thrown to wild beasts,
to be consumed by fire,—all these are trifles, if only by such
punishments truth is brought into the light of day.’[#]

Aonio Paleario did not speak as a rhetorician; he was no
maker of Ciceronian periods. The man who at this time
professed so energetically the supreme importance of truth
and did so again in his <lang=it><i>Beneficio di Gesù Christo crocifisso</i></lang>,[#]
gave his life for it. If he <i>spoke</i> at Sienna, he was to <i>act</i> at
Rome. In each of these phases we recognize the noble victim
of 1570.

After speaking like a martyr, he spoke like a man. He
looked round him: some of the most eminent citizens, the
Tancredis, the Placidis, the Malevoltas were near him full
of emotion. Egidio, superior of the Augustines, and his
monks—men abounding in piety and modesty—strengthened
him by their approbation and their prayers. His two
// File: 481.png
.pn +1
young friends, Faustus and Evander Bellantes, keeping
their eyes fixed upon him, could not restrain their tears.
Presently a more moving sight met his eyes: he beheld Marietta,
pale and weeping. ‘What do I see?’ he exclaimed.
‘Thou also, my wife, art thou come dressed in mourning
weeds, accompanied by the noblest and most pious of women—art
thou come with thy children, to throw thyself at the
feet of the senators? O my light, my life, my soul! return
home, train up our children; do not be afraid, Christ who is
thy spouse will be their father.[#]... Alas! she is half
killed with grief.[#] O mother, support her, take her away;
take her to your own home, if you can ... and let
your love dry up her tears.’

.sn Paleario Acquitted.
The impression produced by this address was so profound,
that the senate declared Paleario innocent. But such a
striking triumph served only to enrage his enemies the
more: he saw that he could not remain at Sienna, and
therefore took leave of his friends. Bellantes, on his death-bed,
had commended his children to him, and Paleario exhorted
them to aspire to something great. It is probable
that he went to Rome for a short time, where his friends
had got the proceedings set aside which his enemies had
commenced against him; and afterwards to Lucca, where
the chair of eloquence was given him. He left a great
void at Sienna, and his friends were grieved. Faustus
Bellantes seemed to express the feelings of all when he
wrote: ‘Since you left, such a torpor has come over me
that I am scarcely able to write.’[#]

.sn Evangelicals Of Bologna.
Besides these lights—a Curione or a Paleario, scattered
here and there over Italy—there were societies of Christian
men in several cities who courageously professed evangelical
truth. Bologna in particular—a city in the neighborhood
of Ferrara, and whose university was, along with that of
Paris, the first of the great schools of Europe—counted a
// File: 482.png
.pn +1
large number of laymen and ecclesiastics who, like those of
Venice, showed much zeal and decision for the great principles
of the Reformation. When John of Planitz, ambassador
from Saxony to the emperor, crossed the Alps in 1533, the
evangelical Christians of Bologna addressed him with
thorough Italian ardor. ‘We know,’ they said, ‘that the
Germans have thrown off the yoke of antichrist and have
attained to the liberty of the children of God. We know
that they are but little troubled because the hateful name of
heretics has been given them, and that, on the contrary, they
rejoice because they are thought worthy of enduring shame,
imprisonment, fire and sword for the cause of Christ. We
know that if they demand a council, it is not in their own
interest, but with a view to the salvation of other people.
For this reason all the nations of Christendom owe a deep
debt of gratitude both to them and to you, most honored
lord; but there is no nation more indebted to you than our
own. Of all countries subject to the tyrant, Italy, being the
nearest to him, as it is his seat,[#] experiences the liveliest joy
and special gratitude, because, through the goodness of God,
redemption has drawn nigh to her at last. We entreat you
to employ every means for the convocation of a council.
In all the towns of the peninsula, and in Rome itself, as
the emperor knows, a great number of pious, wise, and distinguished
men desire it, are waiting for it, and loudly demanding
it. If the pope should summon a council, he will
easily remedy the abuses that have crept into the Church
through the neglect of his predecessors; and for that excellent
work he will receive appropriate honor from men,
and from Jesus Christ life eternal. Let every one be at
liberty to read the books in which learned doctors (the
reformers) have explained their faith. At least let priests,
monks, and laity be at liberty to possess the Bible without
incurring the reproach of heresy, and even to quote the
// File: 483.png
.pn +1
words of Christ and of <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Paul without being reviled as
sectarians. If, on the contrary, Rome tramples under foot
the commandments of the Lord, his grace, his doctrine,
his peace, and the liberty which he gives—has not the
reign of Antichrist begun?... If you need our
help, speak! we are ready. If necessary, we will sacrifice
our fortunes and our lives in the Redeemer’s cause; and
as long as we live we will commend it daily to God by fervent
prayer.’[#] Such was the decision of the Christians of
Italy, even in the cities subject to the pope.

About the time when this eloquent address reached the
lord of Planitz, John Mollio, a Franciscan from the neighborhood
of Sienna, arrived at Bologna as professor in the
university. Convinced by the teaching of the Holy Scriptures
and of the reformers, he professed with great freedom
the Christian truth according to the writings of <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Paul;
but the pope forbade him to lecture on the epistles of that
Apostle. Mollio then took up the other books of the New
Testament; but he drew from them the same doctrine, and
his hearers, delighted at seeing the pope’s prohibition thus
evaded, enthusiastically applauded him. The Court of Rome,
finding that there was no means of turning grace out of the
Bible, gave orders to turn Mollio out of the university—which
was much easier. However, the number of evangelical
Christians in Bologna continued to increase.[#]

.fn #
<abbr rend=spell>B.</abbr> Occhino, <lang=la>‘Responsio qua rationem reddit discessus ex Italia.’</lang>
.fn-
.fn #
Calvin.
.fn-
.fn #
<abbr rend=spell>B.</abbr> Occhino, <lang=la>‘Responsio qua rationem reddit discessus ex Italia.’</lang>
.fn-
.fn #
Ant. M. Gratiani, Bishop of Amelia: see <i>Hist. du Cardinal Commendon</i>,
<abbr=book>liv.</abbr> <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=chapter>ch.</abbr> <abbr=nine>ix.</abbr>
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Ut auditorum animos quocumque vellet raperet.’</lang>—Bzovius, ad
annum 1542.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Ut unus optimus totius Italiæ concionator haberetur.’</lang>—Bzovius, ad
annum 1542.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Ex voto quodam quod fuerunt Petro Martyri Mediolanensi, qui
quondam ab Arianis occisus est.’</lang>—Simler, <i>Vita Petri M. Vermilii</i>,
Tiguri, 1569.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Æquales suos quamvis plerosque ingenio excelleret, ita tamen
amabat, ita modestia sua sibi devinciebat, ut . . . amicissimos semper
habuerit.’</lang>—Simler, <i>Vita Petri M. Vermilii</i>, Tiguri, 1569.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Dum litteram aliquandiu sectatur, patefaciente Spiritu Dei, abdita
et spiritualia mysteria salutariter cognovit.’</lang>—Simler, <i>Vita Petri M.
Vermilii</i>, Tiguri, 1569.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Urbs situ, natura, et ingeniis nobilis, inter amœnos colles conclusa,
fertilis et copiosa.’</lang>—<i>Oratio de Concordia Civium</i>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 380. (<i>Palearii
Opera</i>, Wetstein, Amsterdam.)
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Nihil unquam enim civitati defuit nisi concordia civilis.’</lang>—<i>Oratio
de Concordia Civium.</i>
.fn-
.fn #
De Immortalitate Animarum. The poem was published by Gryphius,
at Lyons, in 1536, through the instrumentality of Cardinal Sadolet,
Bishop of Carpentras.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Tres igitur sedes statuit pater optimus ipse.’</lang>
.fn-
.fn #

.pm verse-start
<lang=la>            ‘Teque, optima Virgo,
Victricem, præclare acto <i>Regina</i> triumpho.’</lang>
.pm verse-end
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Quales nunc habet ingeniis Germania florens.’</lang>
.fn-
.fn #

.pm verse-start
              <lang=la>‘Oculos defigite in unum,
Unus ego omnipotens, ego Rex hominumque Deumque,
Æternumque bonum simplexque, et summa voluptas.’
(<i>Ad finem.</i>)</lang>
.pm verse-end
.fn-
.fn #
The villa is now the property of Count Guicciardini.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Adolescentulam optimis parentibus bene et pudice educatam ducam
in uxorem.’</lang>—Palearii <i>Epist.</i> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 61.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Malevolorum et invidorum plena sunt omnia.’</lang>—<i>Ibid.</i> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 209.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Mane aut inclinato in pomeridianum tempus die, cum Lampridio
et Phædro, suavissimis pueris, et cum mulieribus nostris circum villulas
errabimus.’</lang>—<i>Ibid.</i> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 209.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Lignipodas, qui in aviæ conclave quotidie cursabant.’</lang>—Faustus
Bellantes to Paleario, <i>Epist.</i> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 97.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Rogatus quid primum esset generi hominum a Deo datum, in quo
salutem collocare mortales possent? Responderim <sc>Christum</sc>. Quid
secundum? <sc>Christum.</sc> Quid <i>tertium</i>? <sc>Christum.</sc>’</lang>—Palearii <i>Epist.</i>
<abbr=page>p.</abbr> 99.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Incredibilem conspirationem scelestissimorum hominum contra te
esse factam.’</lang>—Palearii <i>Epist.</i> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 97.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Cotta asserebat, me salvo, vestigium religionis in civitate reliquum
esse nullum.’</lang>—<i>Ibid.</i> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 99.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Christus tamen meus mihi spem facit, quem sancte et auguste
semper colui.’</lang>—Palearii <i>Epist.</i> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 100.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Sed ego jam humana contemno, fortissimo animo sum.’</lang>—<i>Ibid.</i>
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Miserrima est omnium mulierum.’</lang>—<i>Ibid.</i> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 103.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘In lacrymis jacet totos dies et mærore conficitur.’</lang>—<i>Ibid.</i>
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Tenues homines sed arrogantes, imperiti, loquacissimi.’</lang>—Palearii
<i>Opera</i>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 86.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Alii . . . auditis testibus, mox in ignem conjiciendum censebant,
indicata causa. Alii, causa dicta pœnam sequi oportere putabant.’</lang>—Palearii
<i>Opera</i>.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Testes partim e plebecula tenues, rerum de quibus testimonium
dixerunt imperiti.’</lang>—Palearii <i>Epist.</i> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 116.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Alii respondentem graviter objurgatum a Sadoleto.’</lang>—Palearii <i>Epist.</i>
<abbr=page>p.</abbr> 118.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Injuriam augere injuria, et odio cumulare odium.’</lang>—<i>Ibid.</i> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 119.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Quo nemo melior, nemo sanctior circumventus est innocentissimus
Christus.’</lang>—Palearii <i>Epist.</i> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 116.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la><i>Oratio tertia pro se ipso.</i></lang> This is the speech which the ecclesiastical
authorities of Naples cut out of all the copies of Paleario’s works that fell
into their hands, but which we have found complete in the edition of Amsterdam,
<abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 73-97.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Cum succus et sanguis Reipublicæ sit restitutus.’</lang>—Palearii <i>Opera</i>,
edit. Amsterdam, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 73.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Homines innocentes in crucem tollas. . . . Tolleres, tolleres quidem
si quantum furor iste, superbia, iracundia affert, tantum tibi liceret.’</lang>—<i>Ibid.</i>
<abbr=page>p.</abbr> 80.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Res domi angusta est; at conscientia in animi penetralibus augusta,
læta, alacris.’</lang>—Palearii <i>Opera</i>, edit. Amsterdam, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 84.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Sedeant illi in cathedra, diademata imponunt, dibaphum vestiant.’</lang>—<i>Ibid.</i>
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Jacebant divina studia, strata in cellulis hominum otiosorum, qui
licet in sylvas se abstrusissent, ut in hæc incumberent; ita stertebant
tamen, ut nos in urbibus et vicis audiremus.’</lang>—Palearii <i>Opera</i>, edit.
Amsterdam, <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 81-85.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Parum est accusari et deduci in carcerem, virgis cædi, reste suspendi,
insui in culeum, feris objici, ad ignem torreri nos decet, si his
suppliciis veritas in lucem est proferenda.’</lang>—Palearii <i>Opera</i>, edit. Amsterdam,
<abbr=page>p.</abbr> 91.
.fn-
.fn #
The fact that Paleario was the author of this book seems clearly
established by Mr. Babington, as well as by <abbr rend=spell>M. J.</abbr> Bonnet and Mrs.
Young.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Nunquam iis sponsore Christo deerit pater.’</lang>—Palearii <i>Opera</i>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 97.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Præ dolore misere exanimatam.’</lang>—<i>Ibid.</i>
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Postquam in urbem profectus es, ita nescio quomodo animus meus
torpuit, ut difficillimum mihi fuerit scribere epistolam hanc.’</lang>—Palearii
<i>Epist.</i> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 93.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=de>‘Besonders Italien, welches dem Tyrannus am nähesten unterworfen;
ja, dessen Sitz sey.’</lang>—Seckendorff’s translation, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 1366.
.fn-
.fn #
The Italian original, which is dated 5th January, 1533, is preserved in
the archives of Weimar. Seckendorff gives a German translation in his
‘History of Lutheranism,’ <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 1365-1367.
.fn-
.fn #
Mac Crie, <i>History of the Reformation in Italy</i>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 88.
.fn-
// File: 484.png
.pn +1
.sp 4
.h2 id=chap7-20
CHAPTER XX. | THE GOSPEL AT NAPLES AND ROME. | (1520-1536.)
.sp 2
The Gospel had made noble conquests in the north and
centre of the peninsula: it did the same at Naples, and
even at Rome.

It was not the Italians alone who spread the Gospel in
Italy. Among the contemporaries and acquaintances of
Paleario, Peter Martyr, and Occhino, were two twin brothers,
descended from one of the oldest families of Leon in
Spain, Juan and Alfonso di Valdez. They were so much
alike, that Erasmus, who knew Alfonso, wrote to Juan:
‘They tell me you are so like your brother, both in figure
and in talent, that when people see you, they do not take you
for twins, but for the same person. I shall regard you, then,
as one, and not two individuals.’[#] And, indeed, some historians,
understanding literally what Erasmus merely intended
for a pleasant jest, have converted the two brothers
into one person. One of them disappears, and it is usually
Alfonso: his actions are recorded, but they are ascribed to
Juan. The two Valdez were born in 1500, at Cuença, in
New Castile, of which their father was corregidor in 1520.
Charles <abbr='the fifth'>V.</abbr> made Alfonso his secretary,[#] and took him with
him when he left Spain in 1520, to receive the imperial
crown at Aix-la-Chapelle. In the following year the young
Spaniard was among the gentlemen who attended the emperor
at Worms, when Luther made his famous appearance
// File: 485.png
.pn +1
before the Diet. Luther’s writings having been condemned
by imperial decree to be burnt, Alfonso, whom all these
events interested in the highest degree, desired to be present
at the execution of the sentence. When the monks, who
surrounded and fed the fire saw all the heretical paper converted
into black ashes, as thin as a spider’s web, and blown
to and fro by the wind, they exclaimed: ‘There is nothing
more to fear now: it is all over;’ and then went away. But
such was not Alfonso’s opinion. ‘They call it the end of
the tragedy,’ he wrote to his friend Peter Martyr of Anghiera
(who must not be confounded with Vermigli), ‘but I
believe we are only at the beginning of it.’ Valdez, whom
everybody looked upon as a youth of great expectation,[#]
became intimate with Erasmus; perhaps at the suggestion
of the emperor, who, like Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr>, would willingly have
united with the prince of the schools, in order to become
master of Luther and the pope, and if possible to reconcile
them. Alfonso, who was a great admirer of Erasmus, was
considered to be more Erasmian than Erasmus himself; but
the disciple went further and higher than the teacher. Erasmus
was the bridge by which Alfonso crossed the river, and
passed from Rome to the Gospel.

.sn A Dialogue By Valdez.
In May, 1527, the emperor and his court were at Valladolid,
where the empress awaited her confinement. Valdez
was there also. On a sudden the news arrived of the
famous sack of Rome by the troops of Charles <abbr='the fifth'>V.</abbr> The
indignation of the clergy, the agitation of the people, and
the emotion of the courtiers were extreme. Although
grieved by the excess of which the capital of Romanism
had been the theatre, Alfonso believed it was the season to
say what he thought of the papacy, and consequently he
wrote and published a ‘Dialogue on the Things which happened
at Rome.’[#] The afflictions of the metropolis of
catholicism, he says, have dispersed a great number of its
// File: 486.png
.pn +1
inhabitants; a Roman archbishop, escaping from the disaster,
arrives at Valladolid, and in the town where a prince
(the future Philip <abbr='the second'>II.</abbr>) had just been born, he meets one of
the emperor’s knights, by name Lactontio. The guilt of
these disasters, says the knight, lies with the pope, who,
as instigator of the war and unfaithful to his oaths, has dishonored
his holy calling. Lactontio draws one of those
contrasts of light and darkness, between Christ and the pontiff,
which Luther’s pen could describe so well, but which
were quite new in the ‘most catholic’ kingdom. He goes
even further, and declares for the separation of the spiritual
from the temporal power. ‘Is it useful, is it advantageous,’
he asks, ‘for the high priests of Christendom to possess temporal
power? We believe they could occupy themselves
much more freely with spiritual interests if they had not this
great burden of secular things. In all Christendom there
is not a state worse governed than the States of the Church.
Erasmus pointed out the faults of the Court of Rome, but
his gentle remonstrances did not touch you. Then God
permitted Martin Luther unsparingly to expose all your
vices in broad daylight, and to detach many churches from
their obedience to you. It was all of no use; neither the
respectful advice of Erasmus nor the irreverent language
of Luther could convince Rome of its errors. God, therefore,
had recourse to other appeals, and permitted the
calamities of war to fall upon your impenitent city.’ Here
the archdeacon, much more sensitive about the punishment
of Rome than about its faults, exclaims with mingled sorrow
and naïveté: ‘Alas! the sacking of the city has occasioned
a loss of fifteen millions of ducats. Rome will never become
Rome again, even in half a century. The holy church
of <abbr=saint>St.</abbr> Peter has been turned into a stable. For forty days
not a single mass has been said in the metropolis of Christendom.
Even the bones of the Apostles were scattered
about.’ ‘The relics of the saints should be honored,’ remarks
the knight. ‘Let us understand one another, however;
I do not speak of those which require believers to
// File: 487.png
.pn +1
solve some very thorny problems—to decide, for instance,
whether the mother of the Virgin had two heads or the
Virgin had two mothers.... We should place all
our hope in Jesus Christ alone. Honor images, if you like,
but do not dishonor Jesus Christ, and do not let Paradise be
shut against the man who has no money in his purse.’[#]

This sharp attack, levelled at the papacy, was the more
important, as before the dialogue was published and circulated
in Spain, Italy, and Germany, it had been submitted
by Valdez to several men of mark: to Don Juan Manuel,
formerly ambassador of the emperor at Rome, to the celebrated
imperial chancellor Gattinara, to Doctor Carrasco,
and several other theologians, who with a few unimportant
observations, had approved it. Count Castiglione, the papal
nuncio, was not to be deceived; he made a violent attack
upon the imperial secretary, called him a Lutheran, and
declared that he could already see him wearing the ignominious
costume of the <i>autos da fé</i>.

.sn Mercury And Charon.
Alfonso was silent; but a voice was raised in his defence—it
was that of his twin brother. In 1528[#] Juan published
a <i>Dialogue</i>, half serious and half in jest, <i>between
Mercury and Charon</i>, which bears the mark of a young
writer. While the ferryman of Hades is busy taking over
the souls which come to him on the banks of the Styx, he
is accosted by the messenger of heaven, who makes use of
strong language about the papacy. ‘So great is the corruption
of those who call themselves Christians,’ he says, ‘that
I should consider it a great insult if they wanted to change
their name and be called <i>Mercurians</i>. One day,’ he continues,
// File: 488.png
.pn +1
‘seeing a number of people approaching the altar to
receive the host, I followed them, with the pious design of
partaking one of the wafers the priests were distributing.
But I was refused; and why? Solely because I would not
pay for it.’ Then, turning to the relics, whose dispersion
was considered to be the greatest outrage in the sack of
Rome, Juan introduces <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Peter, and puts wiser words into
his mouth on this subject than those of Mercury. According
to the fervent apostle, the plunder of Rome teaches
Christians that they ought to set more value upon one of
the epistles of <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Paul or of himself than upon all the <i>relics</i> of
their bodies. ‘The homage hitherto paid to our bones,’ he
continues, ‘must now be paid to the spirit which, for the
good of Christians, we have enshrined in our writings.’
But the satire immediately begins again. At the thought
of the sack of Rome, Mercury bursts out into an ‘Olympian
laugh.’ ‘Behold the judgment of God!’ he says; ‘the
sellers have been sold, the robbers have been robbed, and
the ill-doers ill-done!’ And when Charon complains that
the pretended vicars of heaven often forget to keep their
word, ‘It is quite the rule,’ answers Mercury, ‘that at the
place where the best wine grows you drink the worst; that
the cobbler is always ill-shod, and the barber never shaved.’
The dialogues of the twin brothers, so full of wit and yet
of Christian truth, excited loud recriminations; for the moment,
however, persecution did not touch them. It is true,
the priests raised a violent storm against them; but they
were protected by the name of Charles <abbr='the fifth'>V.</abbr> In March, 1529,
Erasmus wrote to Juan, congratulating him on having escaped
safe and sound from the tempest.[#]

When the emperor returned to Germany, Alfonso accompanied
him. At Augsburg, in 1530, as we have said in
another place,[#] he played the part of mediator between
// File: 489.png
.pn +1
Charles <abbr='the fifth'>V.</abbr> and the protestants, and immediately translated
the celebrated evangelical confession into Spanish. But in
April, 1533, when Charles <abbr='the fifth'>V.</abbr> embarked at Genoa on his return
to Spain, Valdez remained in Italy. If he had accompanied
his master, even that powerful monarch, it was said,
could not have preserved him from the death the monks
were preparing for him. From this period Alfonso seems to
have shared his time between Germany and Italy: henceforward
his brother occupies the foremost place. He was
converted to the Gospel after Alfonso, but eventually outstripped
him.

.sn Juan Valdez At Naples.
Juan had been forced to leave his native country.[#] He
did not go to Germany, as some have said, confounding him
with his brother; but henceforward he occupies an important
position in Italy. In 1531 he went to Naples,
thence he proceeded to Rome, returning again to Naples in
1534, where he spent the remainder of his days. Some
zealous protestants, who formed part of the German army,
and had been sent, in 1528, to drive off the French, who
were besieging that city, were the first to propagate the
knowledge of the Gospel in that district. ‘But when Juan
Valdez arrived,’ says the Roman-catholic Caracciolo, ‘he
alone committed greater ravages among souls than many
thousands of heretic soldiers had done.’[#] Some have
thought that he occupied the post of secretary to the viceroy
of Naples. But if he had an office at court, he soon resigned
it to enjoy his independence. ‘He did not frequent
the court very much,’ says Curione, ‘after Christ was revealed
to him.’[#]

Persecution had made Juan more serious; the experiences
of his inner life had matured him; he was still busy
// File: 490.png
.pn +1
with literature and languages,[#] but he loved the Gospel
above everything, and sought to make it known by his conversation
as well as by his writings. There was such grace
in his mind, such peace and innocence in his features, such
attraction in his character, that he exercised an irresistible
charm over all who came near him. He soon gathered a
circle of scholars and gentlemen about him; he strove to
extricate them from their worldliness, to convince them of
the nothingness of their own righteousness, and to lead them
to the salvation that is in Christ Jesus. He was even a
torch to enlighten some of the most celebrated preachers of
Italy. ‘I know it,’ says Curione, ‘for I have heard it from
their own mouths.’ But at the same time he had so much
love in his heart and so much simplicity in his manners, that
he put the poor at their ease, and won the confidence even
of the rudest men, the lazzaroni of that day. He became
all things to all men to bring souls to Christ.[#] Valdez was
not robust; he was thin, and his limbs were weak; and it
would appear that the state of his health induced him to
settle at Naples. ‘But,’ said his friends, ‘one part of his
soul served to animate his delicate and puny nature, while
the greater part of that clear, bright spirit was devoted to
the contemplation of truth.’ He generally collected his
friends together at Chiaja, near Pausilippo and Virgil’s
tomb, in a villa whose gardens looked over the wide sea, in
front of the island of Nisida. In that delightful country
‘where Nature exults in her magnificence and smiles on all
who behold her,’ Juan Valdez, and such as were attracted
by the loveliness of his doctrine and the holiness of his life,
passed hours and days never to be forgotten. He was not
content to admire with them the magnificence of nature; he
introduced them to the magnificence of grace. ‘An honored
and brilliant knight of the emperor,’ says Curione, ‘he was
a still more honored and brilliant knight of Jesus Christ.’[#]
// File: 491.png
.pn +1

.sn Peter Martyr Vermigli.
Among the eminently gifted men who gathered round him
was Peter Martyr Vermigli, abbot of <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Peter’s <i>ad aram</i>.
Peter Martyr, as we have said, had gone from Spoleto
to Naples in 1530, where he had made great progress in the
knowledge of the Gospel. Nothing could divert him from
the search after truth; neither fear of the world, nor the
great income he possessed, nor the high dignity with which
he was invested. That earnest soul, that profound mind,
pursued after the knowledge of God with indefatigable zeal.
Being called to give drink to the sheep which, attracted by
his voice, crowded to the sheepfold, he was thirsty himself,
and alas! he had no water. He experienced that tormenting,
that bitter, that violent thirst under which the strongest
men sometimes give way. It was then he heard those words
of Christ: <i>If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink</i>.
He knew that man <i>comes</i> to Christ by faith,—by believing
in his holiness, in his love, in his promises, and in his
almighty power to save. Putting scholasticism aside, and
no longer contenting himself with the Fathers of the Church,
he hastened to the fountain of Scripture and drank of the
cup of salvation.[#] He knew the fulness of grace which is
in the Redeemer, and understood how those who seek consolation
elsewhere labor in vain. Growing more enlightened
every day by the Spirit of God, he discovered the grievous
errors of the Church and the simple grandeur of the Gospel.
It was at Naples that the light of the divine Word shone
into his soul with increasing glory and splendor.[#] Vermigli
admired the beauties of creation,[#] the sea glittering in the
sunshine, and the graceful promontories of the bay; but he
loved still better to plunge into the mysterious splendors of
grace. He did not confine himself to the writings of the
Apostles, but added those of the reformers,—of Bucer,
Zwingle, Luther, and Melancthon. Zwingle’s treatise on
// File: 492.png
.pn +1
<i>False and True Religion</i> showed him the necessity of returning
to the simplicity and primitive customs of the
Church. Almost every day he conversed upon Holy Scripture
with friends who, like himself, loved religion pure and
undefiled, and principally with Flaminio and Valdez.[#]
But above all things he sought to impart by preaching the
light which he had received.

.sn Purgatorial Fire.
To this end Vermigli undertook to preach on the First
Epistle to the Corinthians, which he did in the presence of
a large audience, including even bishops. When he came
to the third chapter,[#] he first showed what was the foundation
upon which the whole of Christian doctrine must be
built: <i>For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid,
which is Jesus Christ</i>, says the Apostle. But what is built
on that stone? When the architect has laid the foundations
of the edifice he intends to raise, he employs various materials
to complete the work. Marble, porphyry, and jasper
shall form the pillars, the mantel-pieces, the pavement, and
the statues; gold and silver will serve for the internal decorations;
but there will also be wood and paper, stubble and
other coarse materials employed in the structure. It is so
with the edifice of God. On the foundation, which is Christ,
we must build sound doctrines which flow from Christ himself,
from his divinity, truth, grace, and spirit. If false
doctrines are substituted for them,—doctrines proceeding
from man’s own righteousness and from the darkness with
which sin has overshadowed his understanding, what will
happen? When a conflagration breaks out, the fire makes
manifest the divers materials with which the house was
built: the flame consumes the wood and stubble; but it
attacks in vain the marble and the jasper, the silver and
gold: these it cannot destroy. So it will be with the doctrines
taught in the Church. ‘False teachings cannot eternally
pass for true,’ said Peter Martyr. ‘There is nothing
// File: 493.png
.pn +1
hidden which shall not be revealed; if the falsehood of the
dogmas put forth is not detected at the first, time will make
it known.[#] The day will come when every error hidden
under an appearance of truth shall be declared to be error
in the most striking manner; all darkness shall be scattered,
everything will be valued in conformity with its strict
reality.[#] The eternal judgment of God is the <i>fire that shall
try every man’s work</i>. It is not enough that the doctrines
should be approved by the judgment of men, they must be
able to stand before the fire of God’s trial.[#] The day and
the fire of which the Apostle speaks are the piercing investigation,
the sure touchstone, which will enable us at last to
distinguish between true doctrines and false.[#] <i>Gold, stubble,
fire</i>—they are all metaphors.’

Peter Martyr’s audience, and especially the ecclesiastics,
were unable to conceal their surprise. The passage which
he thus explained was that on which the Romish Church
based the doctrine of purgatorial fire; but the learned doctor
found something quite different in it. The priests and
monks not only saw that precious fire taken away from which
they had derived so much profit, but saw another fire substituted
for it, which threatened to consume their traditions
and practices, <i>their hay and stubble</i>. And hence the sermon
aroused a storm in the hitherto calm waters of Naples.
The monks accused the prior of <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Peter’s <i>ad aram</i>, and
his friends of Chiaja defended him. His enemies succeeded
in closing the pulpit against him; but on the intervention
of the powerful protectors he possessed at Rome, his liberty
of preaching was restored.
// File: 494.png
.pn +1

.sn Illustrious Women At Chiaja.
This petty persecution was salutary to the Christian circle
at Chiaja. It grew wider, and its meetings were attended
by nobles and scholars, among others by Benedetto Gusano
de Verceil, and a Neapolitan nobleman, Giovanni Francesco
Caserta.[#] The latter had a young relative, at that time
living in the midst of the splendors of the world. The
Marquis Caraccioli, one of the grandees of Naples, had an
only son, Galeazzo. Ardently desiring to perpetuate his
name, he married him early to a wealthy heiress, Vittoria,
daughter of the Duke of Nocera, who bore him four sons
and two daughters. As soon as the old marquis saw that
his desire for posterity would be satisfied, he turned his ambition
in another direction, and sent his son to the court of the
emperor, who invested him with one of the great offices of
his household. As Galeazzo was not always on service, he
returned from time to time to Naples, where he gave himself
up entirely to the vanities of the world, to the pleasures
of the earth, and to projects of ambition. A close friendship,
however, bound him to the pious Caserta. The Christian,
taking advantage of this intimacy, spoke to the worldling
about the Word of God and the only way of salvation
which is Christ Jesus; but after these conversations, the
youthful chamberlain of Charles <abbr='the fifth'>V.</abbr> would hurry off to theatre
or ball. Caserta took him to hear Peter Martyr; and
then thinking that a society so cultivated as that which met at
Chiaja might perhaps win over his friend, he introduced him
to Valdez. For some time longer the seed continued to fall
among thorns; but a little later the young marquis received
with joy the salvation of the Gospel, and, desiring to remain
faithful to it, he took refuge in Geneva. Calvin, who welcomed
him like a son, dedicated one of his writings to him,
to show his respect for the firmness of his faith. Although
Caraccioli ‘did not court the applause of men, and was content
to have God alone for a witness,’ the reformer, when
// File: 495.png
.pn +1
he saw the illustrious Neapolitan refugee, exclaimed with
emotion: ‘Here is a man of ancient house and great parentage,
flourishing in honors and in goods, having a noble and
virtuous wife, a family of children, quiet and peace in his
house, in short, happy in everything that concerns the state
of this life, but who has voluntarily abandoned the place of
his birth to stand beneath the banner of Christ. He made
no difficulty in leaving his lordship, a fertile and pleasant
country, a great and rich patrimony, a convenient, comfortable,
and cheerful palace; he broke up his household, he left
father, wife, children, relations, and friends, and after abandoning
so many allurements of the world, he is content with our
littleness, and lives frugally according to the habits of the
commonalty—neither more nor less than any one of us.’[#]

In the select society which gathered round Valdez, there
were also, as at Thessalonica in the days of <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Paul, <i>of the
chief women not a few</i>. Among these high-born dames was
Vittoria Colonna, widow of that famous general the Marquis
of Pescara, a woman illustrious for her beauty, and her
talent, whose poems were much admired at the time, and in
whose society, the poet Bernardo Tasso, father of him who
wrote the ‘Jerusalem Delivered,’ and Cardinal Bembo,
learned some of the truths of the Gospel. There also
might be seen Isabella di Bresegna, to whom Curione dedicated
the works of Olympia Morata; but above all Guilia di
Gonzaga, widow of Vespasiano Colonna, Duke of Trajetto,[#]
the most beautiful woman in Italy. So great was the reputation
of her beauty in Europe, and even beyond it, that Barbarossa
the corsair determined to carry her off. Having undertaken
in 1534 to terrify Naples, he suddenly appeared before
that city with a hundred sail, and landing near Fondi, between
Gaeta and Terracina, where the duchess was living on her
estate, he tried to surprise her; but she escaped the bird of
// File: 496.png
.pn +1
prey, though not without difficulty. This attempt was one
of the motives which determined Charles to undertake the
expedition to Tunis. It is thus that men and women, of
whom the 16th century is proud, adorned the evangelical
circle of Chiaja.

While Valdez reposed on the beautiful hills of Pausilippo,
in the midst of orange and fig trees, and in front of the
wide sea, he loved to indulge peacefully in religious meditations,
and not unfrequently the thoughts with which he was
busy formed the subject of interesting conversations with
his friends. Certain topics—<i>Considerazioni</i>, as he called
them—occupied a mind at once eminently original and
Christian. Virgil’s tomb, which was situated a few paces
off, might have suggested other thoughts: the dying poet
had ordered the following words to be carved on his sepulchre:

.pm verse-start
<i>Parthenope, cecini pascua, rura, duces.</i>
.pm verse-end

The country life and the warlike exploits which the prince
of Latin poets sang have great attractions to many minds;
but the visitors at Pausilippo, whose history we are relating,
had higher aspirations, and conversed on topics which it is
our duty to record.

‘In what do the sons of God differ,’ they asked, ‘from
the sons of Adam?—Why is the state of a Christian who believes
with difficulty better than that of him who believes with
ease?—Why does God give a child to a Christian and suddenly
take it away?—The man from whom God takes
away the love of the world, and to whom He gives the love
of God, experiences nearly the same thing as he who ceases
to love one woman and becomes enamored of another.[#]—To
believe with difficulty is the sign of a call from God.—Those
who tread the Christian path without the inward
light of the Holy Spirit, are like those who walk by night
// File: 497.png
.pn +1
without the light of the sun.—How can God make himself
<i>felt</i>, and how can he permit himself to be <i>seen</i>?—The
evils of curiosity, and how we ought to read the Scriptures
without curiosity.—Why are the superstitious severe, while
true Christians are merciful?—How God reigns by Christ,
and Christ is the head of the Church.—The three kinds
of conscience: that of the natural law, that of the written
law, and that of the Gospel.—Is justification the fruit of
piety, or piety the fruit of justification?—How does it happen
that the wicked cannot believe, that the superstitious
believe easily, and that pious men believe with difficulty?—How
to resist the imaginations which confuse our Christian
faith.’—Such are some of the thoughts with which the
noblest minds were then busy on the enchanting shores of
the bay of Naples.[#]

.sn The Sermons Of Occhino.
The sermons of the celebrated Occhino helped to give
a wider circulation to the thoughts which engrossed the
evangelicals of Chiaja. In the early part of 1536, the
great orator of Italy was invited to Naples to preach the
Lent course. Valdez immediately felt the living faith by
which the orator was animated: he became intimate with
him, and introduced him to the Christian circle around him.
The well-known name of Occhino, his strange appearance,
his coarse dress, and reputation for holiness, attracted an immense
crowd to the church of <abbr=Saint>S.</abbr> Giovanni Maggiore. He
seemed called to scatter among the people the religious ideas
which Valdez and Peter Martyr were propagating among
the noble and the learned. De Vio, Cardinal of Gaeta, before
whom Luther had appeared, was a man of singular
perspicacity, and he immediately suspected heresy.[#] Struck
with the power of the three doctors, he fancied he saw the
formation of a league, one of those triumvirates which destroyed
// File: 498.png
.pn +1
the Roman republic. ‘These triumvirs of the republic
of Satan,’[#] he said, ‘are circulating doctrines of
startling novelty, and even of detestable impiety about purgatory,
the power of the sovereign pontiff, freewill, and the
justification of the sinner.’ The cardinal protested in vain:
not only the Christian society of Naples, but a great crowd
of the nobility and people, attended Occhino’s sermons.

.sn Struggles Of Giulia.
The beautiful Duchess of Trajetto did not miss one of
them. She was at that time suffering under great domestic
trouble: her brother Luigi, wishing to recover a castle that
had been taken from his sister, perished in the assault, and
Luigi’s widow, Isabella Colonna, who was also the duchess’s
daughter-in-law, went to law with her for a portion of her
inheritance. Giulia, roused by her vexations from the
worldly indifference in which she had lived, sought consolation
in God, and hoped to find in Occhino’s words a relief
from her sorrow. An event which at this time gave splendor
to Naples might have diverted her from these thoughts: the
emperor arrived, and held a brilliant court. It was natural
that the monarch and the daughter of Gonzaga should meet,
for he had desired to avenge her when he gave up Tunis to
be pillaged; but Giulia would willingly have dispensed with
the honor done to her in Africa. Besides, her troubles and
the awakening of her mind estranged her from the court;
the great lady, the ornament of every fête, did not appear
at those which were given to Charles <abbr='the fifth'>V.</abbr> If they did not
meet at court or ball, they probably met at church. The
emperor having heard much of the great orator of Italy,
went like the rest to the church of <abbr=Saint>S.</abbr> Giovanni Maggiore.
He was surprised and struck by Occhino’s eloquence, and
said as he went out: ‘That monk would make the very
stones weep.’[#]

It was easier to draw tears from Giulia Gonzaga’s eyes.
That young woman, whose heart was wrung by sorrow, was
agitated more and more every day by the powerful words
// File: 499.png
.pn +1
of the great preacher; and it was at this time that the
Christian life truly began in her. One day, as she was
leaving the church of <abbr=Saint>S.</abbr> Giovanni Maggiore, Juan Valdez
observed her emotion, and accompanied her to her palace.
The stricken and agitated widow begged him to stay and enlighten
her, and made known to him the distress, the hopes,
and the struggles of her soul. Valdez felt that he was
called to disperse the darkness in the midst of which Giulia
was struggling, and the conversation lasted till evening.
The Duchess of Trajetto desired to have nothing more to do
with the world, but as yet she had not tasted the peace of
God. ‘Ah!’ she exclaimed to Valdez, ‘there is a combat
within me. The monk’s words fill me with fear of hell,
but I fear evil tongues also. Occhino inspires me with love
for paradise, but I feel at the same time a love for the world
and its glory. How can I escape from the contest under
which I am sinking? Is it by harmonizing these two tendencies,
or by rejecting one of them? Pray show me the
way; I promise to follow it.’ Valdez replied that the
agitation she felt was occasioned by the renewing of the
image of God in her. ‘The law has wounded you,’ he
said, ‘the Gospel will heal you; for if the Law gives death,
the Gospel gives life.[#] What I fear,’ he continued, ‘is lest
you should attempt to regulate your Christian life in such
a manner that those about you should not remark any change
in you.’ The duchess confessing that such was her secret
wish, Valdez told her to choose between God and the world,
adding: ‘I will show you the path of perfection: Love God
above everything, and your neighbor as yourself.’—‘Your
words surprise me,’ she said; ‘I have heard all my life that
// File: 500.png
.pn +1
monastic vows alone lead to perfection.’—‘Let them say
on,’ replied Valdez firmly; ‘the monks have no Christian
perfection except so far as they possess the love of God,
and not an atom more.’ Valdez then tried to make her understand
the only means by which that charity, which is
perfection, is produced in the heart. ‘Our works are good,’
he said, ‘only when they are done by a justified person.
Fire is needed to give warmth; a living faith to produce
charity. Faith is the tree, charity the fruit. But when I
speak of faith, Madam, I mean that which lives in the soul,
that which proceeds from God’s grace, and which clings with
boundless confidence to every word of God. When Christ
says: <i>He that believes shall be saved</i>, the disciple who believes
must not have the slightest doubt of his salvation.’[#]—‘Ah!’
exclaimed the duchess, ‘I will yield to no one in
faith.’—‘Take care,’ rejoined Valdez; ‘if you were asked
whether you believed in the articles of the faith, you would
reply, Yes! but if you were asked whether you believed
God had pardoned all your sins, you would say that you
think so ... that you are not quite sure, however....
Ah! Madam, if you accept with full faith the words
of Christ, then, even while suffering under the pain caused
by your sins, you would not hesitate to say with perfect
assurance: <i>Yes, God himself has pardoned all my sins</i>.’[#]

Such evangelical sentiments, uttered by a Spaniard in a
palace at Naples, and received with humility by a Gonzaga,
are a feature of the Reformation. We must humble ourselves
before we can be exalted. Conscience spoke in
Giulia. We have here a woman whose family had given
many sovereigns to Italy and princesses to royal houses, the
widow of a Colonna, the chief of the most ancient family
in the peninsula, which has counted among its members
cardinals, illustrious generals, and the celebrated Pope
Martin <abbr='the fifth'>V.</abbr>; and this Gonzaga, touched by grace, lent an
// File: 501.png
.pn +1
ear to the truth with more humility than her own servants:
she had become a little child. If the Acts of the Apostles
remark more than once that among the persons converted to
Christ in Asia and in Greece, where <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Paul preached,
were women of distinction, history will also remark that at
the epoch of the Reformation of the sixteenth century the
wave mounted from the lowest levels of the shore to the
highest peaks. Or rather, <i>the hills did bow</i> before it.
Valdez having spoken of a ‘<i>path</i>,’ the duchess manifested
a desire to know it. ‘There are three paths,’ he answered,
‘which lead to the knowledge of God: the natural light
which teaches us the omnipotence of God; the Old Testament,
which shows us the Creator as hating iniquity; and
lastly, Christ, the sure, clear, and royal way. Christ is love;
and accordingly, when we know God through him, we know
him as a God of love. Christ has made satisfaction for sin.
An infinite God alone could pay an infinite debt. But it is
not sufficient to believe it, we must experience it also.’[#]

.sn Meditation And Preaching.
‘Devote some time every day,’ continued Valdez, ‘to
meditation on the world, on yourself, on God, and on Jesus
Christ, without binding yourself to it in a superstitious manner;
do it in liberty of spirit, selecting any of your rooms
that may seem most convenient, perhaps even as you lie
awake in bed. Two images should be continually before
your eyes: that of Christian perfection and that of your
own imperfection. These books will cause you to make
greater progress in a day than any others would in ten
years. Even the Holy Scriptures, if you do not read them
with that humility which I point out to you, might become
poison to your soul.’[#]

‘Listen to preaching with a humble mind,’ continued
Valdez.—‘But,’ said Giulia, ‘if the preacher is one of
those who, instead of preaching Christ, give utterance to
vain and foolish things, drawn from philosophy or some
empty theology—one of those who tell us dreams and
// File: 502.png
.pn +1
fables—would you have me follow him?’—‘In that case,
do what seems best. The worst moments of all the year
are to me those which I waste in listening to preachers such
as you have described; and hence it rarely happens to me.’[#]

The day was coming to an end when Valdez rose: the
duchess was like a person who has discovered the road to
happiness, and fears to go astray in the new path. Valdez
desired to leave, but she detained him: ‘Only two words
more before you go,’ she said; ‘what use must I make of
Christian liberty?’—‘The true Christian,’ replied the
Spanish gentleman, ‘is free from the tyranny of sin and
death; he is the absolute master of his affections; but at the
same time he is the servant of all.... Farewell,
madam, from this very moment pray follow my advice, and
to-morrow I will ask how you have found yourself after it.’
He withdrew.[#]

It was during these solemn hours, when Valdez traced
out for her the order of salvation, that the daughter of the
Gonzagas sat in spirit at her Saviour’s feet, and gave herself
to him with all her soul. It is possible that in the instructions
given by this pious layman we may here and
there discover some slight shades not strictly evangelical,
tinged either with a mystic or a Roman color; and possibly
the Holy Scriptures do not occupy a place sufficiently
prominent; yet the two great Christian facts—the work of
Christ on the cross, and that which He accomplishes in the
heart—were clearly laid down by the Spanish gentleman,
and that was the essential thing.

The religious awakening then going on in the Duchess of
Trajetto and in many others at Naples, happened at a difficult
moment. Some days before, Charles <abbr='the fifth'>V.</abbr>, excited by
the priests who were growing alarmed at a movement which
they could not understand, had published an edict forbidding
all intercourse with those infected with or only suspected of
Lutheranism. When the emperor left Naples shortly after
// File: 503.png
.pn +1
(22 March, 1536), the viceroy, driven onwards by the same
influence, and ascribing to Occhino’s eloquence a religious
agitation which was so novel in the Parthenopean city, interdicted
the preaching of that great orator; but his eloquence
and energy, backed by his numerous friends and the
protests of those who so liked to hear him, prevailed. He
was able to continue the course of his sermons, and did not
end them until Easter (April 16). The Duchess of Trajetto,
without leaving the church, endeavored more and more
to walk in that new path which Valdez had shown her; the
latter zealously directed her, and not long after dedicated
to her a translation of the Psalms from the Hebrew, with
a practical explanation. Somewhat later he published <i>Commentaries</i>
on the Epistles of Paul to the Romans and to the
Corinthians.[#]

.sn Pietro Carnesecchi.
In this charming circle at Chiaja, and among the habitual
guests of Valdez, Vittoria Colonna, and Giulia Gonzaga, was
a patrician of Florence, as distinguished by his person as by
the important offices he had filled: he was Pietro Carnesecchi.[#]
Although for a long time placed as near as possible
to the pontifical throne, he found a strange and indefinable
charm in the conversations of Valdez, attended with pleasure
the sermons of Occhino, drew light from the lamp of Peter
Martyr, formed a close friendship with Galeazzo Caraccioli,
and was touched by that mixture of grace, intelligence,
humility, faith, and good works then to be found in some of
the most distinguished women of Italy. As soon as Charles
<abbr='the fifth'>V.</abbr> arrived at Naples, he desired Carnesecchi to come and
see him. The noble Florentine was surprised at the order,
but the emperor’s motive was this. Carnesecchi, a native
of the city of the Medicis,[#] was early distinguished by his
// File: 504.png
.pn +1
knowledge of polite literature, by his talent in the art of
writing, and particularly by that penetrating mind which
can discern the secret springs of events and see clear in
the obscurest matters. From his early youth he had felt a
desire for great things,[#] and had placed himself in connection
with the most eminent men, with the view of running a
more useful career. His fine countenance struck observers
all the more because with nobility of features he combined
modesty, purity, sobriety, and admirable mildness tempered
by imposing gravity. By these qualities he gained the
favor of the Medicis, and when Julius became pope, under
the name of Clement <abbr='the seventh'>VII.</abbr>, Carnesecchi received a message
appointing him secretary to the new pontiff. Having at
that time no evangelical convictions, he thought that the invitation
would open a noble career before him; he therefore
accepted it, and soon found himself in possession of great
influence. Clement, who had so much to do with politics,
with Charles <abbr='the fifth'>V.</abbr>, Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr>, and Henry <abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr>, committed
the direction of the Church to Carnesecchi, and it was generally
said that ‘the pontificate was at that time filled by
Pietro Carnesecchi rather than by Clement.’[#] The pope
several times offered him a cardinal’s hat, which he always
refused. This is surprising, for he was naturally ambitious;
but after he had seen the papacy closely, he probably feared
to ally himself too intimately with it; possibly, also, the first
beams of evangelical light were dawning upon his soul.

.sn Carnesecchi And Charles V.
The death of Clement <abbr='the seventh'>VII.</abbr> broke the golden chains which
were beginning to oppress Carnesecchi. He quitted Rome,
and, attracted by the mild light which was shining over the
hills of Chiaja, he went to Naples with the desire of remaining
for a time in the society of those men of God who were
so much talked about in Italy.[#] The treasures of truth
// File: 505.png
.pn +1
and life which he found there surpassed his expectations.
But suddenly the command of Charles <abbr='the fifth'>V.</abbr> disturbed him in
the midst of the Christian joy by which his soul was filled.
What did the puissant emperor want with him? Did he
design to open once more that career of politics and glory
which he, Carnesecchi, had renounced forever? Was there
some political scheme brewing, or did Charles <abbr='the fifth'>V.</abbr> desire to
become a disciple of the Gospel? Carnesecchi could not
make it out, but he went to the palace all the same. The
emperor had a very different object: knowing full well that
the Florentine had been initiated into all the thoughts of
Clement <abbr='the seventh'>VII.</abbr>, he desired to learn what schemes that pope
had formed with Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr> at Marseilles.[#] In that interview
Carnesecchi did not forfeit the confidence which
Clement had reposed in him; he did not violate the fidelity
he had sworn,[#] but answered the emperor with a nobleness
and respect which quite won the esteem of that prince.
Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr>, however, when he heard of this conference at
Naples, was exasperated; it seemed to him that the kindness
he had shown Carnesecchi during the famous interview
at Marseilles should have led him to refuse his rival’s invitation,
and he confiscated the revenues of an abbey which
Carnesecchi possessed in France. The Medicis, however,
and even Catherine, having known this excellent man well,
never withdrew their esteem from him, although he was
everywhere decried as a heretic.

However great was the honor of a conference with
Charles <abbr='the fifth'>V.</abbr>, Carnesecchi much preferred those he had with
Valdez, Peter Martyr, and Occhino. These pious men
were not content with <i>vain babbling</i>: they read the Holy
Scriptures together, enlightened each other on their meaning,
and carefully compared one passage with another.[#]
// File: 506.png
.pn +1
Carnesecchi had that love of truth and that boldness of
thought which make rapid progress in the knowledge of
Christ. A gleam of light shone into his heart. He did
not oscillate for years in doubt between light and darkness;
he was one of those noble spirits who attain their end at a
bound. Ere long, the influential secretary of Clement <abbr='the seventh'>VII.</abbr>,
by turns the object of the attentions of the two greatest
monarchs in Europe, sat humbly at the foot of the cross.
He believed in those truths which he afterwards confessed
before the college of cardinals, and on account of which he
was put to death by the pope. Looking unto Christ, he
could say: ‘Certainly justification proceeds from faith alone
in the work and love of a crucified Saviour. We can have
the assurance of salvation, because it was purchased for us
by the Son of God at so great a price. We must submit to
no authority except the Word of God, which has been
handed down to us in Holy Scripture.’[#] These doctrines
formed from that hour the happiness of his eminent spirit,
and filled with sweetness the intercourse he enjoyed at Naples
with Valdez and Peter Martyr.

.sn Marco Antonio Flaminio.
Two groups of pious men took part at this time in the revival
of Italy: the independent Christians, all of whom
ended their lives in exile or at the stake; and men of
a hierarchical tendency, who, though religious, still remained
in Romanism, some of them even rising to the highest
posts in the Church. Carnesecchi and Paleario belonged to
the first group, and no doubt Valdez also; and if his life
had been much prolonged, it is probable that he also would
have come to a tragic end. As for the second group, it included
many of those who had belonged to the oratory of
<i>Divine Love</i>, the most distinguished of whom (Contarini)
we shall mention presently. One of them, Caraffa, who became
pope under the name of Paul <abbr='the fourth'>IV.</abbr>, fell lower than all
the others, and became a persecutor. These two groups,
// File: 507.png
.pn +1
however, did not include all the Italians who were touched
by the Reformation. Between them were many truly
Christian people, who, as regards faith, were with the evangelicals,
but as regards the Church, clung to Rome through
dread of falling into what they called schism. Of this
number was Flaminio, one of Valdez’ best friends. He was
born between Ferrara and Florence, but we meet with him
in the south. Political disturbances having broken out at
Imola in the early part of the sixteenth century, one of the
burgesses of that city, named Flaminio, who had acquired a
reputation in literature, fled hastily, carrying with him a very
young child, and took refuge in a castle in the Venetian
territory.[#] That child was Marco Antonio Flaminio, and
his flight was almost a type of what his whole life would be—one
of anguish, and often of pressing want. When he grew
older, he went to study at Padua, where he displayed very
remarkable poetic talents. ‘His poems,’ it was afterwards
said, ‘possess all the simplicity and grace of Catullus, but
untainted with his license. They penetrate into the soul
with their wonderful sweetness.’ With the gifts, Flaminio
also shared the adversities of the poet. He was often
greatly straitened during his studentship, and his university
friends had to subscribe to supply him with clothes.[#] Whatever
were the hardships of his position and the weakness of
his health, he worked assiduously and made great progress
in philosophy and the study of languages, and attained a
thorough knowledge of the poets and orators. At the same
time, trial was telling upon his soul: his literary and philosophical
studies could not satisfy him. Shut up in his little
room, he said to himself ‘that there was a science higher
than that of Cicero and Plato, the science of the sacred
writings, the knowledge of divine things handed down to
// File: 508.png
.pn +1
us by the everlasting Word.’[#] Such was the only treasure
he longed for in the midst of his poverty. ‘The study of
heavenly truth is the goal I set before me,’ he said. ‘I
desire to adore the eternal God with fervor, and devote my
life to the salvation of souls.’[#] He might have received
considerable sums for his writings; but he could not bear the
idea of making a trade of his books, as if they were merchandise.
He might, as he grew older, have attained high
ecclesiastical dignity and earthly distinction; but he loved
the spiritual heights of faith more than the elevations of the
world, and, disdaining empty decorations, preferred a life
hidden with Christ in God. He visited in succession Rome,
Venice, and Verona, and was received in the last city by the
Bishop Giovanni Matteo Giberto, who esteemed learning,
had published the <i>Homilies of Chrysostom on <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Paul</i>, and
‘thus revived the doctrine of the Greek fathers in Europe.’
This prelate, perhaps from devotion, but perhaps also because
he wished to be made a cardinal, had adopted an exceedingly
austere life; Flaminio, who cared nothing for the
hat with its red cords, followed, however, the rough paths
by which Giberto hoped to attain his end. The bishop,
combining labor with ascetic practices, desired his guest to
make a translation and commentary of the Psalms. The
latter applied zealously to his work, and endeavored to make
the labor attractive;[#] but his constitution being too weak to
bear up against the severities of the ascetic prelate, he fell
ill and nearly died.[#]

.sn The Way Of Peace.
Flaminio went into the Venetian campagna to recover his
strength, and entered, as soon as he was well, the household
// File: 509.png
.pn +1
of another future cardinal, Giovanni Pietro Caraffa, Bishop
of Chieti. Caraffa, a violent and impetuous man, and afterwards,
when pope, under the name of Paul <abbr='the fourth'>IV.</abbr>, the restorer
of the inquisition and of the strictest Roman-catholicism,
had had his seasons of struggle and even of faith in the
truth. Oppressed by the agitation caused within him by his
ardent and fanatical nature, he often felt that he would
never find peace except by sacrificing his will to that of God;
and this it was that bound him to Flaminio. Unhappily,
his evil nature afterwards prevailed. Caraffa being made
cardinal, went to Rome, and Flaminio to Naples, at the
time when Valdez, Peter Martyr, Carnesecchi, and their
friends were there.

Association with these pious men was of great use to
Flaminio: he had been prepared to seek God by adversity,
by sickness, and by the approach of death; in his intercourse
with the Christians of Pausilippo he learnt the way
of peace. ‘God,’ he said, ‘does not call those happy who
are clear from every stain; alas! there is not one! but
those whom his mercy pardons, because they believe with
all their heart that the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ is the
atonement for all sin. If our conscience accuses us before
the tribunal of God, if death is imminent, let us still be full
of hope, for the mercy of the Supreme Ruler infinitely exceeds
the wickedness of the whole human race.’ Flaminio
having dedicated his book on the <i>Psalms</i> to the famous cardinal
Farnese, he boldly confessed his faith before that
grandson of Paul <abbr='the third'>III.</abbr> ‘Herein will be found,’ he said,
‘many things about Christ, our Lord and our God; his
bitter death and his everlasting kingship;—his death, by
which, sacrificing himself on the cross and blotting out all
our sins by his most precious blood, he has reconciled us
with God—his kingship, by which He defends us against
the eternal enemy of the human race, and, governing us by
his Spirit, leads us to a blessed and immortal life.’[#]
// File: 510.png
.pn +1

Valdez, charmed by the simplicity of Flaminio’s character,
the beauty of his genius, and the liveliness of his faith, was
accustomed to say: ‘Of all men, Flaminio is the one for
whom I feel the greatest love and admiration.’[#] Carnesecchi
also appreciated Flaminio, but without being so enthusiastic
in his affection as Valdez. He had a less glowing imagination
than the poet of Imola, and perhaps his feelings
were less quick, but his understanding was clearer, more
logical, and more practical. While Flaminio desired to remain
in the Roman Church, Carnesecchi was still more resolved
to walk in the paths of the Gospel. These two
eminent men had serious discussions about universal consent
(<lang=la><i>catholicus consensus</i></lang>) and the sacrifice of the mass,
which Flaminio defended, but to which Carnesecchi opposed
the sacrifice offered once for all at Golgotha, as the only
real one. Still, it was not until later that these two Christians
entered into a correspondence on the subject which
shows us the diversity of their faith.[#] Notwithstanding
their differences, they remained united in close affection;
and when they were forced to separate, Flaminio addressed
his friend in a graceful little poem, the very first lines of
which indicate the charms of the sweet and serious conversations
of the Chiaja.[#] ‘Although I must now depart far
from thee, O dear Carnesecchi,’ he said in conclusion,
‘neither time, nor distance, nor death itself, shall deprive
me of the sweetness of thy friendship. I shall remain with
thee; I shall be ever with thee; I shall leave thee always
the greater half of my soul.’
// File: 511.png
.pn +1

Flaminio returned to Rome, and Reginald Pole, cousin to
Henry <abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr>, who was then in the city, endeavored to gain
for the papacy a man whose value he appreciated. The
intercourse of Flaminio with Caraffa and Pole had an unfortunate
influence upon him. Somewhat later he said to
Carnesecchi: ‘O my friend, if we do not wish to be wrecked
in the midst of the dangerous breakers that surround us, let
us bend humbly before God, and permit no motive, however
lawful it may appear, to separate us from the catholic
Church.’[#] Since that time, Romish and evangelical writers
have continually disputed possession of him, each affirming
that he belonged to them: he belonged entirely to neither.
He was able to keep himself evenly balanced between the
two powers that then disputed the sovereignty of Christendom,
and did not fall into the abyss. But, whatever men
may say, if the reformers had desired to follow that middle
path which pleases certain minds, it would assuredly have
been fatal to truth and liberty. Christendom would have
fallen back into the servility of the middle ages; and if the
yoke had appeared too heavy, it would have plunged into
the license of incredulity. The narrow path of evangelical
truth runs between these two gulfs: it is a refuge to those
whom they threaten to swallow up.

.sn Oratory Of Divine Love.
Among the Italians affected by the religious movement
there were many who clung to the papacy still more than
Flaminio did. The scepticism which had been fashionable
at the pontifical court had brought about a reaction, to
which, no doubt, the writings of the reformers contributed.
The wave, uplifted at Wittemberg, Zurich, and Cambridge,
descending gradually towards the south, reached as far as
Rome, and touched the gates of the Vatican. The men
who there received the doctrine of grace in their hearts,
seeing religion weakened and public worship decayed,
united to found in the Trastevere—in the very spot where
it was said the first Christians had assembled, and where
St. Peter had dwelt—that <i>Oratory of Divine Love</i> which
// File: 512.png
.pn +1
was to be a kind of citadel in which they could rally their
forces to preserve the divine law in its purity.[#] They
were between fifty and sixty in number, ecclesiastics and
laymen, and Julio Bathi, rector of the church of <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Silvester,
in which their meetings were held, was the centre
of that Christian association. They were not all alike. In
some the hierarchical tendency ultimately stifled the evangelical
spirit; but there were others whose living piety endured
unto the end. On certain days they might be seen
crossing the Tiber and ascending the Trastevere. Among
them were two priests, who were afterwards Flaminio’s
patrons—Giberto and Caraffa; Gaetano di Thiene, who
founded in 1524 the order of regular Clerks or Theatines,
and was canonized; Sadolet, born at Modena, secretary to
Leo <abbr='the tenth'>X.</abbr>, who made him Bishop of Carpentras in 1517, and
Lippomano, who attained a high reputation by his writings.
They were afterwards joined by a number of eminent men,
among whom were Reginald Pole, whose opposition to the
work of Henry <abbr='the eighth'>VIII.</abbr> had forced him to leave England;
Pietro Bembo, whose house at Padua was the resort of
men of letters; Gregorio Cortesi, Abbot of San Giorgio
Maggiore, near Venice, and many more, among whom was
one whom we must soon speak of at greater length.

.sn Members Of The Oratory.
These men, most of whom were called to play important
parts, were not the only persons who felt the influence of
the revival; many a monk shut up in his convent shared in
it. These were to be found particularly in the Benedictine
monasteries, and among their number was Marco of Padua,
who appears to have been the monk from whom Pole says
he had drawn the spiritual milk of the Word. But the
most striking example of this semi-evangelical, semi-monastic
life was Giovanni-Battista Folengo. In his cell in the
cloister of <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Benedict, he passed days and nights in the
study of Scripture, and plainly ascribed the justification of
// File: 513.png
.pn +1
the sinner to grace alone. The good Benedictine was punctual
in attending matins, in fasting, in singing mass, and in
confessing; but he earnestly exhorted the faithful not to put
their trust in fasts, or in the mechanical repetition of the
prayers prescribed by the church, or in confession, or in
the mass. He was a monk and a priest, in subjection to the
dignities of the Church; but, like a prophet, he hurled the
flashes of his burning eloquence against the priesthood, the
tonsure, and the mitre. He called for the reform of the
Church; he loved evangelical Christians; he would have
wished, in his profound charity, to reunite them <i>with the
flock</i>. He published commentaries on the Epistles of <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr>
Peter, <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> James, and <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> John; and his noble style, as well
as the elevation of his Christian thoughts, caused them to be
read with eagerness; but the Court of Rome, irritated by the
liberty with which he expressed his faith, put his book in the
Index Expurgatorius. The truth of the Latin saying—<lang=la><i>habent
sua fata libelli</i></lang> was then manifested. Folengo having
written a commentary on the Psalms, expressed in it
his evangelical views with great decision, especially in his
remarks on the sixty-eighth Psalm. Strange to say, while
his first work had been put in the Index by one pope, the
second was reprinted by another pope (Gregory <abbr='the thirteenth'>XIII.</abbr>),
with some corrections indeed, but with nothing that changed
the general spirit of the work. More than one infallible
pontiff has condemned what another infallible pontiff has
approved of. The pious Folengo died at the age of sixty,
in the same convent where he had taken the vows in his
youth.[#] A man of piety less lively than Folengo’s was
destined to play a more important part in the affairs of the
Church at the epoch of the Reformation.

.sn Contarini, The Venetian.
At that famous sitting of the Diet of Worms in 1521,
before which Martin Luther appeared, there was present
among the ambassadors from the different states of Europe,
who had come to congratulate the young emperor, a senator
of Venice, by name Gasper Contarini. Eldest son of one
// File: 514.png
.pn +1
of the noble families of the republic, possessing an elevated
mind formed by the study of philosophy and literature, delicate
taste, exquisite judgment, elegant in his life and manners,
Contarini was not favorably impressed with the
celebrated reformer. These two men, who held many principles
of religion and morality in common, were widely
separated from each other as regards cultivation, character,
and mode of life. Luther was displeasing to Contarini,
and the Reformation of Germany itself, stamped with the
character of the nation, did not suit the Venetian’s taste.
Noble impulses acted on the reformer, order prevailed with
the diplomatist. Contarini devoted three hours every day
to study, never more, never less, and each time began by
repeating what he had done the day before. He never
abandoned the study of a science until he had mastered it.[#]
One of his first writings was directed against his master the
celebrated Pomponatius, who passed for an atheist. That
philosopher having affirmed the impossibility of proving the
immortality of the soul by reason, Contarini established it
by philosophical arguments. His birth called him to the
first offices of the republic, and while still young he became
a member of the Venetian senate. At first he sat and listened
to the deliberations of his colleagues: his modesty,
and perhaps his timidity, prevented him from speaking. At
length he took courage, and though he did not speak with
much wit, grace, or animation, he expressed himself with
such simplicity and showed such thorough knowledge of
the questions under discussion, that he soon acquired great
consideration. His mission to Charles <abbr='the fifth'>V.</abbr> was not limited
to the embassy of Worms; he accompanied the emperor to
Spain, and was there when the ship <i>Vittoria</i> returned from
the first voyage ever made round the world. People were
surprised that the hardy sailors arrived a day later than the
one marked in their log; it was Contarini, as it would appear,
who discovered the cause. Being sent as ambassador
// File: 515.png
.pn +1
to the pope, after the sack of Rome, he effected a reconciliation
between the pontiff and Charles <abbr='the fifth'>V.</abbr>, and officiated at the
coronation of the emperor by Clement <abbr='the seventh'>VII.</abbr>[#]

Every one present at these pomps took notice of the
Venetian ambassador, and a brilliant career seemed to lie
before him. Men admired the rich gifts of his mind, the
firmness and mildness of his character, the moral dignity
and gravity which challenged respect. This was not all: a
deep religious feeling had been developed early in his soul.
At Rome he had joined the pious men who assembled at the
Oratory of Divine Love on the Trastevere: he was fond of
the meetings which so reminded him of those held by the
disciples at Jerusalem in Mary’s house.

One day, in the year 1535, when the senate of Venice had
assembled for the elections, Contarini, at that time invested
with one of the most important offices of the republic, was
sitting near the balloting urn. On a sudden he was told that
the pope had appointed him cardinal. The news surprised
him exceedingly, and at first he would not believe it: he, a
layman, the magistrate of a republic, and not known to the
sovereign pontiff ... to be nominated a cardinal, a prince
of the Church! It appeared like a dream, and yet it was a
reality. Paul <abbr='the third'>III.</abbr>, having undertaken the task of bringing
the protestants back to the Church, saw that he must employ
for that purpose, not worldly prelates of the school of Leo
<abbr='the tenth'>X.</abbr>, but men of sincere piety; besides, Contarini had rendered
services to the papacy, and hence he was invited to
Rome. The report of his nomination circulated in a moment
through the assembly, and his colleagues, leaving their
places, gathered round to congratulate him. Even the
senator who was at the head of the party opposed to him,
his every-day antagonist, exclaimed, ‘The republic has lost
her best citizen.’

But in the midst of these congratulations Contarini remained
undecided and silent. There was a struggle in his
soul. He felt it difficult to leave his friends, the country of
// File: 516.png
.pn +1
his fathers, a free city, where he was among equals, and
where he might aspire to the highest dignity, that of doge—an
honor enjoyed by seven of his family; he shrank from
putting himself at the service of an autocrat, often the slave
of passion, of living in the midst of a corrupt clergy, in
a world of simony and intrigue. However, he believed he
could see the finger of God in his appointment. The Church
was exposed to unprecedented danger. Could he, in such a
critical hour, refuse his services and his life to that militant
assembly which then claimed the support of all the servants
of God? He accepted the offer.[#] Such catholics as desired
to see the Church animated by a new spirit were filled with
joy, which they expressed to Contarini: ‘I congratulate you,’
wrote Sadolet, ‘because you can now employ your genius
and wisdom more profitably for the necessities and advantage
of the Christian republic.’[#]

In becoming a cardinal, he did not intend that the golden
chain should bind him to the foot of the pontifical throne:
he desired to preserve his independence. Ready to devote
to the catholic Church all the powers he had hitherto employed
in the service of his country, he was determined to
remain himself; to obey the voice of God in his conscience
more than the varying caprices of the Vatican. He desired
to be faithful to that internal truth which gave him sweet
and constant peace. One day, when he opposed the nomination
of a certain ecclesiastic to the cardinalate, the pope,
who was of a contrary opinion, exclaimed: ‘Yes, yes! we
know how men sail in these waters; the cardinals do not
like to see another made equal to them in dignity.’ Contarini
turned to the pontiff, and observed calmly: ‘I do not
think the cardinal’s hat constitutes my highest honor.’[#]

.sn Contarini’s Principles.
Opposed to the deplorable elections which were customary
// File: 517.png
.pn +1
at Rome, the Venetian ardently desired to bring men of
sound morals, learning, and piety into the sacred college.
The pope, therefore, following his advice, gave the purple
in succession to Sadolet, Caraffa, Giberto Bishop of Verona,
Fregoso Archbishop of Salerno, and Reginald Pole. These
new and strange elections seemed as if they would be favorable
to the Gospel, but, on the contrary, they became the
principle of a restoration of Romanism, and of a serious
and ere long cruel resistance to the Reformation.

Contarini, the Melancthon of the papacy, set to work at
once: he sincerely wished to reform the doctrines and
morals of the Church, but to maintain it still under a sole
chief. Like the reformers he laid great stress in religious
matters on the positive side, but remained faithful to
Roman-catholicism, by extenuating the negative side. ‘Assuredly,
the sinner is justified by grace through faith,’ he
would say to the evangelicals. ‘But why pronounce so
harshly against meritorious works?’—‘A frank opposition
to those practices,’ they replied, ‘can alone destroy the numberless
abuses of popular superstition.’—‘Predestination,’
said the cardinal again, ‘belongs undoubtedly to God’s
mercy; by his grace He prevents all our movements, but
at the same time the will must oppose no resistance. God
has known from all eternity the predestined and the reprobate,
but that knowledge does not take away either contingency
or liberty.’[#]—‘We recognize man’s responsibility,’
answered the reformers; ‘we believe that man must will to
be saved, and yet we say with <abbr=Saint>St.</abbr> Paul: <i>God worketh in
us both to will and to do</i>.’[#]

Contarini followed the same principle in his conversations
with the champions of the papacy. ‘The unity of the
Church is necessary,’ he said; ‘to separate from it is the
wildest error; but the cause of the sufferings of Christendom,
the root of all the evil, is the unlimited authority
// File: 518.png
.pn +1
ascribed by its adulators to the pontifical legislation. A
pope ought not to govern just as he pleases, but only in accordance
with God’s commandments, the rules of reason,
and the laws of charity.’ Convinced that unity of faith
would gradually be restored, he devoted all his efforts to
remove from the Church everything that shocked the moral
sentiment; he resolutely fought against simony, and advocated
the marriage of priests. He entertained no doubt that
success would crown the holy work he had commenced.
We shall see hereafter what became of it.

At the dawn of the Reformation, when the first gleams
heralding the rising of the sun began to appear, they were
probably nowhere more brilliant than in Italy, and nowhere
foretokened a brighter day. Men’s souls were moved by a
spirit from on high, and a new life sanctified their hearts:
the primitive relation of man to God, and his personal relation
to Him, which sin had destroyed, were restored.
It was in the very stronghold of formalism that the adoration
of God was manifested with most liberty and grace.
From the Alps to Sicily, burning lights had everywhere appeared,
and many rejoiced in their brightness.

.sn The Two Camps.
Rome still remained seated on her seven hills—with her
excommunications and her burning piles; but it seemed as
if a new invasion—that of the Gospel and of liberty—would
repair all the mischiefs committed by the inroads of
the barbarians and the papacy. Two camps were formed,
one to the north, the other to the south of that ancient city.
On one side was Naples and the camp of Pausilippo, where
a small but gallant army was assembled. A gentle light
gilded the hills of Chiaja: no formidable enemy appeared
in sight, and everything led to the hope that a final and
successful victory would ere long be gained.

The other camp was to the north. It could not boast of
such eminent men as those who watched in the ancient city
of Parthenope. The throne of Ferrara was occupied by an
earnest woman and devoted Christian, the daughter of Louis
<abbr='the twelfth'>XII.</abbr>, who gave a welcome to all the fugitive soldiers of
// File: 519.png
.pn +1
Christ; and who had made it her business to build up the
city of God in Italy, and thus to work out, in a Christian
manner, her father’s device: <i>Perdam Babylonis nomen</i>.
About this time she was expecting at her court a young
divine, who had confessed Jesus Christ in France with
energy, who had just written to Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr> an eloquent and
forcible letter, and published a book in which he had set
forth the great doctrines of the faith in admirable order and
in language of unequalled beauty. What would be the effect
of his presence beyond the Alps? No one could say; but if
the duchess had influence enough over her husband to make
religious liberty prevail at Ferrara; if Calvin should settle
in the birthplace of Savonarola, his faith, his talents, and his
activity among a people already moved by the power of God,
might gain a glorious victory for the truth.

Thus two great forces met face to face—Rome and the
Gospel. Curione, Paleario, Peter Martyr, and many others,
asked themselves what would be the issue of the struggle
then preparing in Italy. Experiencing in themselves the
power of God’s Word, and seeing its marvellous effects
around them, they doubted not that the Gospel would triumph
in their country, as it had triumphed in other countries
more to the north, and where, perhaps, less of light
and life were to be found. The Reformation in Italy would
doubtless present peculiar features, which, without disturbing
Christian unity, would manifest national individuality.
Episcopacy existed in England; the primate, Archbishop of
Canterbury, remained on his throne, while submitting to the
Word of God. Why might not a similar reform be effected
in Rome itself? Not only evangelicals, such as Curione and
Carnesecchi, but pious catholics were full of hope. ‘Ah!’
they said; ‘at the beginning of his reign the pope wonderfully
excited all our expectations.[#] Putting aside institutions
established by preceding popes, he resolved to conduct
// File: 520.png
.pn +1
the supreme pontificate in a holier manner;[#] and to accomplish
that task, he gathered round him men whom fame had
pointed out as doctors excellent in wisdom and integrity.’
Contarini believed in a reformation which, beginning with
the head, would purify all the members. ‘God,’ he said,
‘will not permit the gates of hell to prevail against his Holy
Spirit. He is about to accomplish something great in the
Church.’[#] The flames which he had kindled in the peninsula,
and which rose higher and higher every day, appeared
as if they would soon reduce to ashes the scaffolding of dead
works which the papacy had set up, and to purify the temple
of God.

.sn Glory To The Martyrs.
But the times of Rome were not accomplished. The
malady, with which the body of the Church was affected
in Italy, was (to use the words of Cardinal Sadolet) one
of those which incline the sick man to reject the remedies
prescribed for him.[#] Pope Paul <abbr='the third'>III.</abbr>, who consulted
the stars more than he did the Gospel, finding at last that
his attempts ended in nothing; that the Reformation was
advancing, and threatening to regenerate and deliver the
Church, suddenly turned upon it and endeavored to crush
it. Those men who would have been the regenerators of
Italy, with minds of such activity, with such varied learning
and exquisite cultivation, who held converse in the finest
parts of the world with the best and most illustrious of their
time,—those men, the flower of their nation, soon found
themselves constrained to escape beyond the Alps, or saw
themselves condemned by cruel pontiffs, insulted by ignorant
priests, and conducted ignominiously to some public
square in Rome, there to be beheaded and have their bodies
cast into the fire.... The heart shrinks at the thought,
and an inner voice seems to say: ‘If Carnesecchi, Paleario,
// File: 521.png
.pn +1
and all the noble army of martyrs were disowned by their
contemporaries; if coarse monks jeered at them, if they
were covered with opprobrium; there are now thousands
of Christians in the world who love them as fathers, honor
them as victorious heroes of the Gospel of peace, and preserve
a grateful remembrance of them in their hearts.

.fn #
<lang=la>‘Tu vero, ut audio, sic illum (Alfonsum) refers et corporis specie et
ingenii dexteritate, ut non duo gemelli, sed idem prorsus homo videri possitis.’</lang>—Erasmi
<i>Epist.</i> 938 et 1030.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=es>‘Fue secretario de la Magestad del Emperador.’</lang>—<lang=es><i>Hist. de la Ciudad de
Cuenza</i></lang>, quoted by <abbr rend=spell>E.</abbr> Bœhmer.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=it>‘Ab Alfonso Valdesio, magnæ spei juvene.’</lang>—Petri Martyris Anghierii
<i>Epist.</i> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 689.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=it><i>Dialogo sulle Coso accadute in Roma.</i></lang>
.fn-
.fn #
Mr. Bœhmer, of the university of Halle, has done good service to
literature and to the history of religion by reprinting at Halle, in 1860,
the <lang=it><i>Cento e dieci divine Considerazioni di Giovanni Valdesso</i></lang>, and by carefully
studying the history of the two brothers. He has communicated the
result of his researches in his <i>Cenni Biografici</i>, and in the conscientious
paper he has contributed to the Encyclopædia of our learned friend M.
Herzog.
.fn-
.fn #
It has been stated that this dialogue was written in 1521; but it begins
with the history of the challenge sent by Francis <abbr='the first'>I.</abbr> to Charles <abbr='the fifth'>V.</abbr>, which
occurred at the beginning of 1528.
.fn-
.fn #
These two dialogues, which have been recently reprinted in Spanish,
were translated into Italian and German, and the last (<i>Charon and Mercury</i>)
into French.
.fn-
.fn #
History of the Reformation of the Sixteenth Century, <abbr=volume>vol.</abbr> <abbr=four>iv.</abbr> <abbr=book>bk.</abbr> <abbr=fourteen>xiv.</abbr>
<abbr=chapter>ch.</abbr> <abbr=five>v.</abbr>
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘In disciplina fraterna præclare institutus, in Hispania vivere non
potuit.’</lang>—<i>Francisco Enzinas to Melancthon.</i>
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Longe majorem mentium stragem dedit, quam multa illa hæreticorum
militum millia.’</lang>—Ant. Caracciolo, <i>de Vita Pauli IV.</i> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 239.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=it>‘Non però ha egli seguito molto la corte dopo che gli fu rivelato
Christo.’</lang>—<i>Epist. de Curione</i> at the end of the <lang=it><i>Cento e dieci divine Considerazioni</i></lang>
of J. Valdez, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 433.
.fn-
.fn #
His <lang=es><i>Dialogo de la Lengua</i></lang> was first printed at Madrid in 1737, and again
in 1860.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=it>‘Era di tanta benignità e carità, che a ogni piccola e bassa e rozza
persona si rendeva debitore.’</lang>—Curione, <i>Epist.</i> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 433.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=es>‘Ma più onorato e splendido cavaliere di Cristo.’</lang>—Curione, <i>Epist.</i> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 433.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Ad ipsos fontes se totum contulit.’</lang>—Simler, <i>Vita Vermilii</i>.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘In hac urbe gratia divinæ illuminationis illustrius ac clarius illi
effulgere.’</lang>—<i>Ibid.</i>
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Loci amœnitatem.’</lang>—<i>Ibid.</i>
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Quotidie pæne cum amicis qui puræ religionis studiosi erant aliquid
ex sanis litteris commentabatur.’</lang>—Simler, <i>Vita Vermilii</i>.
.fn-
.fn #
1 Corinth. <abbr=three>iii.</abbr> 13-15.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Quod si e vestigio prava dogmata non patefiant, accessione temporis
declarantur.’</lang>—Petri Martyris <lang=la><i>Loci Communes; de Purgatorio Igne</i></lang>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr>
440.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Dies ergo accipitur, cum tenebræ depellentur, ut de re, prout ipsa est,
judicium feratur.’</lang>—<i>Ibid.</i> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 441.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Ad ignem divini examinis perstare illas oportet.’</lang>—<i>Ibid.</i>
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Est itaque ignis et dies, clara inspectio, certa probatio, perspicua
revelatio, qua tandem cognoscemus doctrinarum veritatem, earum denique
fallaciam.’</lang>—Petri Martyris <lang=la><i>Loci Communes: de Purgatorio Igne</i></lang>. These
may not be the exact words used by Peter Martyr in his sermon, but the
sense was the same.
.fn-
.fn #
This is the person whom Flaminio mentions in a letter to Galeazzo,
printed in Schelhorn’s <i>Amœnit. Eccles.</i> <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 132: <lang=la>‘Johannes Franciscus
magna lætitia affecit me,’</lang> &c.
.fn-
.fn #
Calvin to Signor Galeazzo Caraccioli, a man of noble birth, and
still more renowned for the excellence of his virtues than for the nobility
of his family, the only son and lawful heir to the Marquis of Vico.—Dèdicace
de la 1ére Epître aux Corinthiens: <i>Commentaires</i>.
.fn-
.fn #
Trajetto, the ancient Minturnæ, where Marius hid himself.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=it>‘Che a colui, il quale Dio disinnamora del mondo ed innamora di se,
avvengano quasi tutte le medesime cose che a colui che si disinnamora
d’ una donna e s’innamora d’ un’ altra.’</lang>—23 <lang=it><i>Considerazione: Valdez
Cento e dieci divine Considerazioni</i></lang>.
.fn-
.fn #
The <lang=it><i>Cento e dieci divine Considerarioni</i></lang> of Giovanni Valdesso (Juan
Valdez) were published at Halle in Saxony in 1860 by Edward Bœhmer.
Each of the meditations occupies from two to ten pages. They have been
reprinted recently at Madrid in Spanish.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Cajetanus, perspicaci vir ingenio, rem odorari cœpit.’</lang>—Caracciolo.
<i>Vita Pauli <abbr=the fourth'>IV.</abbr></i>
.fn-
.fn #
‘Illi Satanicæ reipublicæ triumviri.’—<i>Ibid.</i>
.fn-
.fn #
Sadoleti <i>Epist.</i> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 558. Schrœk, <i>Kirchengeschichte</i>, <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 780.
.fn-
.fn #
<i>Abecedario espiritual</i>, fols. 11-12. Valdez gives a full report of this
conversation in his <i>Spiritual Abecedary</i>, which he so called because it was
intended to teach the elements of Christian perfection. There is no doubt
as to the genuineness of the dialogues he reports, for the duchess asked
him to commit what he had said to her to paper. Did Valdez, when doing
so, complete any of his answers? It is very possible. In Herzog’s <i>Encyclopædia</i>,
<abbr=Monsieur>M.</abbr> Bœhmer has given an extract from this dialogue, much
longer than the limits of this history will permit us to do.
.fn-
.fn #
<i>Abecedario espiritual</i> <abbr=folio>fol.</abbr> 26. On this point Valdez is quite in harmony
with the reformers.
.fn-
.fn #
<i>Ibid.</i>, <abbr=folio>fol.</abbr> 27.
.fn-
.fn #
<i>Abecedario espiritual</i>, fols. 36, 37, 38.
.fn-
.fn #
<i>Ibid.</i>, fols. 44, 45, 47, 50, 52, 53.
.fn-
.fn #
<i>Abecedario espiritual</i>, fols. 57, 58.
.fn-
.fn #
<i>Ibid.</i>, <abbr=folio>fol.</abbr> 68.
.fn-
.fn #
These <i>Commentaries</i> have recently been reprinted in Spain.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Convictus quod in Italia, cum Victoria Colonna Marchionis Piscarii
vidua et Julia Gonzaga, lectissimis alioquin feminis, de pravitate sectaria
suspectis, amicitiam coluisset, tandem ad ignem damnatus.’</lang>—De Thou,
<i>ad annum</i> 1567. Schelhorn, <i>Amænitates Ecclesiasticæ</i>, <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 187.
.fn-
.fn #
The name of Carnesecchi still exists in Florence; the Latin documents
which we use give it under the form of Carneseca.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Literarum bonarum scientia . . . ad perspiciendum acerrimi sensus . . .
cupiditas verum magnarum.’</lang>—Notice of <i>Camerarius</i>, the friend of Melancthon,
in Schelhornii <i>Amœnit. Literar.</i> <abbr=ten>x.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 1201.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Pontificatum illius temporis magis a Petro Carneseca geri quam a
Clemente.’</lang>—<i>Camerarius</i> in Schelhorn, <i>Amœnit. Literar.</i> <abbr=ten>x.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 1202.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Carneseca commoratus aliquantulum in regno Neapolitano.’</lang>—<i>Camerarius</i>
in Schelhorn, <i>Amœnit. Literar.</i> <abbr=ten>x.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 1203.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Carolum V. accercisse Carnesecam, ut ex ipso eliceret arcana consilia
pontificis Clementis, quæ hic credebatur cum Francisco rege Galliarum
Massiliæ inivisse.’</lang>—<i>Ibid.</i>
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Tunc etiam boni viri officium neutiquam violavit.’</lang>—<i>Ibid.</i>
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Cum quibus de sacrarum literarum lectione et intelligentia disserere
conferreque accurate solebat.’</lang>—Schelhorn, <i>Amœnit. Literar.</i> <abbr=ten>x.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 1204.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Justificatio per solam fidem . . . Gratiæ et salutis certitudo
habetur . . . Nulli credendum, nisi Verbo Dei, in Sacris Scripturis
tradito.’</lang>—Schelhorn, <i>Amœnit. Eccles.</i> <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 197-205.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Puerum parvulum cum patre fugiente turbulentam dissentionem
civium suorum.’</lang>—<i>Camerarius</i> in Schelhorn, <i>Amœnit. Literar.</i> <abbr=ten>x.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr>
1149.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Adolescentem tueamur, in vestiario tantum laboramus.’</lang>—Longoli
<i>Epist.</i> lib. <abbr=four>iv.</abbr> <abbr=folio>fol.</abbr> 271.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Veram et salutarem sapientiam esse statuisset cognitionem sacrarum
literarum, id est, rerum divinarum Verbo Dei æterno proditarum.’</lang>—<i>Camerarius</i>
in Schelhorn, <i>Amœnit. Literar.</i> <abbr=ten>x.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 1150.
.fn-
.fn #
<i>Ibid.</i> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 1152.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Cum Gibertus pontifex Veronensis, homo literarum divinarum
amantissimus, a me summo studio contenderet, ut hymnos Davidis breviter
ac dilucide interpretarer, studiose istum laborem suscepi.’</lang>—Flaminii
<i>Psalmorum Explanatio</i>, Lugduni, 1576, præf. 12.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Et tum factum est ut in periculosum morbum incideret.’</lang>—<i>Camerarius</i>
in Schelhorn, <i>Amœnit. Literar.</i> <abbr=ten>x.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 1158.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Nos Deo reconciliavit, se ipsum in cruce immolans, et omnia peccata
nostra suo purissimo sanguine delens.’</lang>—Flaminii <i>Psalmorum Explicatio</i>
<lang=la>(Epistola nuncupatoria Alex. Farnesio, Cardinali amplissimo)</lang>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 9.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Hunc enim, præ cæteris omnibus, magnopere dilexit et admiratus
est.’</lang>—<i>De religione</i> Flaminii. Schelhorn, <i>Amœnit. Eccles.</i> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 50.
.fn-
.fn #
This correspondence took place in the year 1543, and is found in
Schelhorn’s <i>Amœnitates Ecclesiasticæ</i>, <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> <abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 146-179.
.fn-
.fn #

.pm verse-start
<lang=la>‘O dulce hospitium! O lares beati!
O mores faciles! O Atticorum
Conditæ sale collocutiones!
Quam vos ægro animo et laborioso
Quantis cum lacrymis miser relinquo!’</lang>
.pm verse-end

Schelhorn, <i>Amœnit. Literar.</i> <abbr=ten>x.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 1199.
.fn-
.fn #
‘Protonotario Carnesecæ.’—Schelhorn <i>Amœnit. Eccles.</i> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 154.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=it>‘Cosi maltrato il culto divino, si unirono in un’ oratorio chiamato del
<i>Divino Amore</i>.’</lang>—Caracciolo, <i>Vita di Paolo IV.</i> <i>Vita Cajetani Thienæi</i>, <abbr rend=arabic>i.</abbr>
<abbr=pages>pp.</abbr> 7-10.
.fn-
.fn #
De Thou, <i>Histoire</i>, <abbr=book>liv.</abbr> <abbr='twenty-three'>xxiii.</abbr> <lang=la><i>Le Mire de Scriptor. sæculi</i></lang> <abbr=sixteen>xvi.</abbr>, &c.
.fn-
.fn #
Joannis Casæ <i>Vita Gasparis Contarini</i>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 88. Ranke, <i>Römische Päpste</i>,
<abbr=one>i.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 152. Herzog, <i>Encyclopédie Théologique</i>.
.fn-
.fn #
Beccatello, <i>Vita del Contarini</i>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 103. Ranke, <i>Römische Päpste</i>, <abbr rend=arabic>i.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 153.
.fn-
.fn #
Jean de la Case, <lang=fr><i>Vie du Cardinal Contarini</i></lang>, Lettere Volgari, <abbr rend=arabic>i.</abbr> 73.
Moreri, <abbr=article>art.</abbr> <i>Contarini</i>.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Gratulor tibi quod habiturus sis locum tui et ingenii et animi in
Christianæ reipublicæ utilitate et commodis uberius explicandi.’</lang>—Sadoletus
Contareno, 3 Novemb. 1535, <i>Epist.</i> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 330.
.fn-
.fn #
Ranke, <lang=de><i>Die Römische Päpste</i></lang>, <abbr rend=arabic>i.</abbr> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 155.
.fn-
.fn #
Contarini, <lang=la><i>De Prædestinatione</i></lang>. <i>De Libero Arbitrio.</i> Contarini’s theological,
philosophical, and political treatises were printed at Paris in 1571.
.fn-
.fn #
Philippians <abbr=two>ii.</abbr> 13.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Is Paulus [tertius], sui pontificatus initio, spem atque expectationem
omnium mirabiliter erexit.’</lang>—Florebelli <i>vita Sadoleti cardinalis</i>, <abbr=page>p.</abbr>
708.
.fn-
.fn #
<lang=la>‘Sublatis eis quæ a superioribus pontificibus Romanis instituta, sanctiorem
gerendi summi pontificatus rationem instituere.’</lang>—<i>Ibid.</i> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 709.
.fn-
.fn #
Contarini, Weizsæcker, <i>Theol. Encyclop.</i>
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.fn #
<lang=la>‘Ægrotat enim corpus reipublicæ, et eo morbi genere ægrotat quod
præscriptam medicinam respuit.’</lang>—<i>Sadolet to Contarini</i> March, 1536.
Sadoleti <i>Epist.</i> <abbr=page>p.</abbr> 342.
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.it Typographical errors were silently corrected.
.it Inconsistent spelling and hyphenation were made consistent only when a\
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