Progress at Montbeliard--Resistance and Commotion--Toussaint
leaves Œcolampadius--The Image of Saint Anthony--Death of
Anemond--Strasburg--Lambert's Letter to Francis
I.--Successive Defeats.
[Sidenote: PROGRESS AT MONTBELIARD.]
The attention which Farel bestowed on France did not divert his
attention from the place where he was residing. Arriving at
Montbeliard about the end of July 1524, he had hardly sown the seed,
before the first fruits of the harvest (to use the words of
Œcolampadius) began to appear. Farel wrote to his friend with great
exultation. "It is an easy thing," replied the doctor of Basle, "to
instil a few dogmas into the ears of our auditors; but to change their
hearts is in the power of God alone."[1011]
[1011] Animum autem immutare, divinum opus est. Œcol. Epp. p. 200.
The Chevalier de Coct, delighted with this intelligence, ran with his
usual vivacity to Peter Toussaint. "I shall set off to-morrow to visit
Farel," said he hastily. Toussaint, more calm, was writing to the
evangelist of Montbeliard: "Be careful," said he to Farel; "you are
engaged in an important cause; it must not be polluted by the counsels
of men. The mighty ones promise you their favour, their support, and
heaps of gold......But to put your trust in these things, is deserting
Christ and walking in darkness."[1012] Toussaint was finishing this
letter when the chevalier entered; the latter took it, and departed
for Montbeliard.
[1012] A quibus si pendemus, jam a Christo defecimus. Neufchatel MS.
[Sidenote: RESISTANCE--EXHORTATION TO MILDNESS.]
He found the city in great commotion. Many of the nobles were alarmed,
and said as they looked contemptuously at Farel: "What does this sorry
fellow want with us? Would to God he had never come! He cannot stay
here, for he will ruin us all, as well as himself." The lords who had
taken refuge with the duke at Montbeliard, feared that the
disturbance, which everywhere accompanied the Reformation, would
attract the attention of Ferdinand and Charles V., and that they would
be expelled from their last asylum. But it was the clergy in
particular who resisted Farel. The superior of the Franciscans of
Besançon had hastened to Montbeliard, and formed a plan of defence in
conjunction with the clergy of the place. On the following Sunday,
Farel had hardly begun to preach, before they interrupted him, calling
him liar and heretic. In an instant the whole assembly was in an
uproar. The audience rose up, and called for silence. The duke hurried
to the spot, seized both Farel and the superior, and ordered the
latter either to prove or to retract his charges. The Franciscan
adopted the last alternative, and an official account of the whole
affair was published.[1013]
[1013] Der Christliche Handel zu Mümpelgard, verloffen mit gründlichen
Wahrheit.
This attack excited Farel all the more; he thought it was now his duty
to unmask without scruple those interested priests; and drawing the
sword of the Word, he plied it vigorously. He was more inclined to
imitate Jesus when he expelled the money-changers from the temple and
overthrew their tables, than when the spirit of prophecy declared of
him: _He shall neither strive nor cry, neither shall any man hear his
voice in the streets_. Œcolampadius was affrighted. These two men
were perfect types of two characters diametrically opposed to each
other, and yet both worthy of admiration. "You were sent," wrote
Œcolampadius to Farel, "to draw men gently to the truth, and not to
drag them with violence; to spread the Gospel, and not to curse them.
Physicians resort to amputation only when other means have failed. Act
the part of a physician, and not of an executioner. It is not enough,
in my opinion, to be gentle towards the friends of the Gospel; you
must likewise gain over the adversaries. If the wolves are driven from
the sheepfold, let the sheep at least hear the voice of the shepherd.
Pour oil and wine into the wounds, and conduct yourself as an
evangelist, not as a judge or a tyrant."[1014]
[1014] Quod Evangelistam, non tyrannicum legislatorem præstes.
Œcol. Epp. p. 206.
[Sidenote: CONSPIRACY AGAINST TOUSSAINT.]
The report of these labours spread into France and Lorraine, and the
Sorbonne and the Cardinal Guise were beginning to be alarmed at this
meeting of refugees at Basle and Montbeliard. They would willingly
have broken up a troublesome alliance; for error knows no greater
triumph than when attracting some deserter to its standard. Already
had Martial Mazurier and others given the papal party in France an
opportunity of rejoicing over shameful defections; but if they could
succeed in seducing one of these confessors of Christ, who had taken
refuge on the banks of the Rhine, and who had suffered so much for the
name of the Lord, how great would be the victory for the Roman
hierarchy! They therefore planted their batteries, and the youngest of
these refugees was the object of their attack.
The dean, the Cardinal of Lorraine, and all those who joined the
crowded meetings held in this prelate's mansion, deplored the sad fate
of Peter Toussaint, who had once promised so fair. He is at Basle,
said they, in the house of Œcolampadius, living with one of the
leaders of this heresy! They wrote to him with fervour, and as if they
would rescue him from eternal condemnation. These letters were the
more painful to the young man, because he could not help recognising
in them the marks of sincere affection.[1015] One of his relations,
probably the dean himself, urged him to remove to Paris, to Metz, or
to any other place in the world, provided it were far away from these
Lutherans. This relation, bearing in mind all that Toussaint owed to
him, doubted not that he would immediately comply; but when he found
his efforts useless, his affection changed into violent hatred. At the
same time this resistance exasperated the whole family and all his
friends against the young refugee. They went to his mother, who was
"under the power of the monks;"[1016] the priests crowded round her,
frightening and persuading her that her son had committed crimes that
they could not mention without shuddering. Upon this the afflicted
mother wrote a touching letter to her son, "full of weeping" (said
he), and in which she described her misery in heart-rending language.
"Oh! wretched mother!" said she, "Oh! unnatural son! cursed be the
breasts that suckled thee, and the knees that bare thee!"[1017]
[1015] Me in dies divexari legendis amicorum literis qui me......ab
instituto remorari nituntur. Toussaint to Farel, 2d Sept. 1524,
Neufchatel MS.
[1016] Jam capulo proxima. Neufchatel MS.
[1017] Literas ad me dedit plenas lacrymis quibus maledicit et
uberibus quæ me lactarunt, &c. Neufchatel MS.
[Sidenote: HE LEAVES ŒCOLAMPADIUS.]
The unhappy Toussaint was distracted: What should he do? He could not
return into France. By leaving Basle and going to Zurich or
Wittemberg, beyond the reach of his family, he would only add to their
sorrow. Œcolampadius advised a middle course: "Leave my house,"
said he.[1018] With a heart full of sadness, he adopted the
suggestion, and went to live with an ignorant and obscure
priest,[1019] one well adapted to reassure his relations. What a
change for Toussaint! He never met his host save at meals, at which
times they were continually discussing matters of faith; and as soon
as the repast was over, Toussaint retired to his chamber, where alone,
far from noise and controversy, he carefully studied the Word of God.
"The Lord is my witness," said he, "that in this valley of tears I
have but one desire, that of seeing Christ's kingdom extended, so that
all with one mouth may glorify God."[1020]
[1018] Visum est Œcolampadio consultum......ut a se secederem.
Ibid.
[1019] Utor domo cujusdam sacrificuli. Ibid.
[1020] Ut Christi regnum quam latissime pateat. Ibid.
One circumstance occurred which consoled Toussaint. The enemies of the
Gospel were daily growing stronger in Metz. At his entreaty, the
Chevalier d'Esch departed in the month of January 1525, to encourage
the evangelical Christians in this city. He traversed the forests of
the Vosges, and reached the place where Leclerc had laid down his
life, carrying with him several books with which Farel had provided
him.[1021]
[1021] Qu'il s'en retourne à Metz, là ou les ennemis de Dieu s'élèvent
journellement contre l'Evangile. Toussaint to Farel, 17th Dec. 1524.
Ibid.
[Sidenote: A MESSAGE FROM DAUPHINY--IDOLATRY.]
It was not only to Lorraine that these Frenchmen turned their eyes.
The Chevalier de Coct received letters from one of Farel's brothers,
depicting the state of Dauphiny in the gloomiest colours. He carefully
avoided showing them lest he should alarm the weak-hearted, and was
content with ardently seeking from God the support of his almighty
hands.[1022] In December 1524, Peter Verrier, a Dauphinese messenger,
arrived on horseback at Montbeliard with commissions for Anemond and
Farel. The chevalier, with his usual vivacity, immediately resolved on
returning to France. "If Peter has brought any money," wrote he to
Farel, "keep it; if he has brought any letters, open and copy them,
and then forward them to me. Do not, however, sell the horse, but take
care of it, for perchance I may need it. I am inclined to enter France
secretly, and go to Jacobus Faber (Lefevre) and Arandius. Write and
tell me what you think of it."[1023]
[1022] Accepi ante horam a fratre tuo epistolam quam hic nulli
manifestavi, terrerentur enim infirmi. Coct to Farel, 2d Sept. 1524.
[1023] Coct to Farel, Dec. 1525, Neufchatel MS.
Such was the confidence and open-heartedness that existed between
these refugees. The one opened the other's letters, and received his
money. It is true that de Coct was already indebted thirty-six crowns
to Farel, whose purse was always open to his friends. There was more
zeal than discretion in the chevalier's desire to re-enter France. He
was of too imprudent a character not to expose himself to certain
death. This Farel no doubt explained to him. He left Basle, and
withdrew to a small town, where he had "great hopes of acquiring the
German language, God willing."[1024]
[1024] Ibid. Jan. 1525.
Farel continued preaching the Gospel in Montbeliard. His soul was
vexed as he beheld the majority of the people in this city entirely
given up to the worship of images. It was, in his opinion, a revival
of the old pagan idolatry.
[Sidenote: ST. ANTHONY THROWN INTO THE RIVER.]
Yet the exhortations of Œcolampadius, and the fear of compromising
the truth, would perhaps have long restrained him, but for an
unforeseen circumstance. One day about the end of February (it was the
feast of Saint Anthony) Farel was walking on the banks of a little
river that runs through the city, beneath a lofty rock on which the
citadel is built, when, on reaching the bridge, he met a procession,
which was crossing it, reciting prayers to St. Anthony, and headed by
two priests bearing the image of this saint. Farel suddenly found
himself face to face with these superstitions, without, however,
having sought for them. A violent struggle took place in his soul.
Shall he give way? shall he hide himself? Would not this be a cowardly
act of unbelief? These lifeless images, borne on the shoulders of
ignorant priests, made his blood boil. Farel boldly advanced, snatched
the shrine of the holy hermit from the priest's arms, and threw it
over the bridge into the river. And then, turning to the awe-stricken
crowd, he exclaimed: "Poor idolaters, will ye never forsake your
idolatry!"[1025]
[1025] Revue du Dauphiné, ii. p. 38; Choupard MS.
The priests and people stood motionless with astonishment. A religious
fear seemed to rivet them to the spot. But they soon recovered from
their stupor. "The image is drowning," exclaimed one of the crowd; and
transports and shouts of rage succeeded their death-like silence. The
multitude would have rushed on the sacrilegious wretch who had just
thrown the object of their adoration into the water. But Farel, we
know not how, escaped their violence.[1026]
[1026] M. Kirchhofer, in his Life of Farel, gives this circumstance as
an uncertain tradition; but it is related by Protestant writers, and
it appears to me quite in harmony with Farel's character and the fears
of Œcolampadius. We must not be blind to the weaknesses of the
reformers.
There is reason, we are aware, to regret that the reformer should have
been hurried into the commission of an act that tended rather to check
the progress of the truth. No one should think himself authorized to
attack with violence any institution sanctioned by the public
authority. There is, however, in the zeal of the reformer something
more noble than that cold prudence so common among men, which shrinks
before the least danger, and fears to make the least sacrifice for the
advancement of God's kingdom. Farel was not ignorant that by this
proceeding he was exposing himself to the fate of Leclerc. But his own
conscience bore witness that he desired only to promote the glory of
God, and this made him superior to all fear.
[Sidenote: ANEMOND'S DEATH--STRASBURG.]
After this affair of the bridge, which is a characteristic feature in
Farel's history, the reformer was obliged to hide himself, and he
quitted the town soon after. He took refuge at Basle with
Œcolampadius; but ever preserved that attachment for Montbeliard
which a servant of God never ceases to entertain for the first fruits
of his ministry.[1027]
[1027] Ingens affectus, qui me cogit Mumpelgardum amare. Farelli Epp.
Sad tidings awaited Farel at Basle. If he was a fugitive, his friend
Anemond de Coct was seriously ill. Farel immediately sent him four
gold crowns; but a letter written by Oswald Myconius on the 25th of
March, announced the death of the chevalier. "Let us so live," said
Oswald, "that we may enter into that rest into which we hope the soul
of Anemond has already entered."[1028]
[1028] Quo Anemundi spiritum jam pervenisse speramus. Myconius to
Farel, Neufchatel MS.
Thus did Anemond descend to a premature grave; still young, full of
activity and strength, willing to undertake every labour to evangelize
France, and who was in himself a host. _God's ways are not our ways._
Not long before, and in the neighbourhood of Zurich, another
chevalier, Ulrich Hütten, had breathed his last. There is some
similarity in the characters of the German and French knights, but the
piety and christian virtues of the Dauphinese place him far above the
witty and intrepid enemy of the pope and of the monks.
Shortly after Anemond's death, Farel, unable to remain in Basle,
whence he had been once banished, joined his friends Capito and Bucer
at Strasburg.
[Sidenote: LAMBERT TO FRANCIS I.]
Strasburg, an imperial city, at whose head was Sturm, one of the most
distinguished men in Germany, and which contained many celebrated
doctors within its walls, was as it were an advanced post of the
Reformation, thrown beyond the Rhine, and in which the persecuted
Christians of France and Lorraine took refuge, and from whence they
hoped to win these countries to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Lambert's
pious ambition was to become for France what Luther was for Germany,
and accordingly he had no sooner reached Strasburg after quitting
Metz, than he made his preparations, waiting for the moment when he
should be enabled to carry the sword of the Gospel into the very heart
of that country which he loved so tenderly.[1029]
[1029] Hic operior donec ad ipsos Metenses aut in aliquam urbem Galliæ
revoces. Ad Franc. Reg. Comment. in Cantic.
He first appealed to Francis I. "The pope," said he, "if he had his
way, would change every king into a beggar. Lend your ear to the
truth, most excellent prince, and God will make you great among the
princes of the earth. Woe be to all the nations whose master is the
pope. Oh, Avignon, city of my birth, art thou not the wretched
daughter of Babylon? Given over to a legate, not of holiness, but of
impiety and heresy;[1030] thou seest lewd sports, immodest dances, and
adultery multiply within thy walls, and all around thy fields are laid
waste by daily hunting parties, and thy poor labourers oppressed.
[1030] Ab hæresis et impietatis latere legatum. Epistola ad Franciscum
G. R. præf. Comm. de Sacra conjugis.
"O most christian king, thy people thirst for the Word of God." At the
same time addressing the pope, he said, "Erelong that powerful France
which thou are wont to call thy arm will separate from thee."[1031]
Such were Lambert's illusions!
[1031] Est autem in proximo ut aliena fiat a te potens Gallia quam
brachium tuum appellare solebas. De Causis Excusationis, p. 76.
Finding that his epistle had produced no effect, he wrote a second in
a still more earnest tone. "What!" said he, "the Arabians, Chaldeans,
Greeks, and Jews possess the Word of God in their own language, and
the French, Germans, Italians, and Spaniards cannot have it in theirs!
Let God but speak to the nations in the language of the people, and
the empire of pride will crumble into dust."[1032]
[1032] Epist. ad Franc. R. Præf. Comment. in Cantic. Cantic.
[Sidenote: SUCCESSIVE DEFEATS--PAVIA.]
These anticipations were not realised. At Montbeliard and Basle, as at
Lyons, the ranks of the reformers had suffered. Some of the most
devoted combatants had been taken off by death, others by persecution
and exile. In vain did the warriors of the Gospel mount everywhere to
the assault; everywhere they were beaten back. But if the forces they
had concentrated, first at Meaux, then at Lyons, and afterwards at
Basle, were dispersed in succession, there still remained combatants
here and there, who in Lorraine, at Meaux, and even in Paris,
struggled more or less openly to uphold the Word of God in France.
Though the Reformation saw its columns broken, it still had its
isolated champions. Against these the Sorbonne and the parliament were
about to turn their anger. They would not have remaining on the soil
of France, a single one of these noble minded men who had undertaken
to plant in it the standard of Jesus Christ; and unheard of
misfortunes seemed now to be conspiring with the enemies of the
Reformation, and to aid them in the accomplishment of their task.