men of a middle party, they tacked backwards and forwards like
Erasmus, instead of sailing straight to the port. They ordered "the
pure preaching of the Word of God;" but stipulated at the same time
that it should be "without Lutheranism." The aged and pious bishop
Utenheim, who was living in retirement at Bruntrut, tottered daily
into the church, supported by two domestics, to celebrate Mass with a
broken voice. Gundelsheim, an enemy of the Reformation, succeeded him
erelong; and on the 23d September, followed by many exiles and with a
train of forty horses, he made his triumphal entry into Basle,
proposing to restore everything to its ancient footing. This made
Œcolampadius write in alarm to Zwingle: "Our cause hangs upon a
thread."
But in the citizens the Reform found a compensation for the disdain of
the great, and for the terrors inspired by the new bishop. They
organized repasts for fifty and a hundred guests each; Œcolampadius
and his colleagues took their seats at these tables with the people,
where energetic acclamations and reiterated cheers greeted the work of
the Reformation. In a short time even the council appeared to incline
to the side of the Gospel. Twenty feast-days were retrenched, and the
priests were permitted to refuse celebrating the Mass. "It is all over
with Rome," was now the cry. But Œcolampadius, shaking his head,
replied; "I am afraid that, by wishing to sit on the two stools, Basle
will at last fall to the ground."[947]
[947] Vereorque ne dum semper utraque sella sedere velit, utraque
extrudatur aliquando. (Zw. Epp. ii. p. 157.)
[Sidenote: WITTICISM OF ERASMUS.]
This was at the period of his return from his discussion at Berne. He
arrived in time to close the eyes of his pious mother; and then the
reformer found himself alone, succumbing under the weight of public
and domestic cares; for his house was like an inn for all fugitive
Christians. "I shall marry a Monica,"[948] he had often said, "or else
I shall remain a bachelor." He thought he had now discovered the
"christian sister" he was in search of. This was Wilibrandis, daughter
of one of the Emperor Maximilian's knights, and widow of a master of
arts named Keller,--a woman already proved by many trials. He married
her, saying: "I look to the ordinances of God, and not to the scowling
faces of men." This did not prevent the sly Erasmus from exclaiming:
"Luther's affair is called a tragedy, but I maintain it is a comedy,
for each act of the drama ends in a wedding." This witticism has been
often repeated. For a long time it was the fashion to account for the
Reformation by the desire of the princes for the church-property, and
of the priests for marriage. This vulgar method is now stigmatized by
the best Roman controversialists as "a proof of a singularly narrow
mind.--The Reformation originated," add they, "in a true and
christian, although unenlightened zeal."[949]
[948] The name of St. Augustin's mother.
[949] See Möhler's _Symbolik_, both in the preface and in the body of
the work. This is one of the most important writings produced by Rome
since the time of Bossuet.
The return of Œcolampadius had still more important consequences for
Basle than it had for himself. The discussion at Berne caused a great
sensation there. "Berne, the powerful Berne, is reforming!" was passed
from mouth to mouth. "How, then!" said the people one to another, "the
fierce bear has come out of his den......he is groping about for the
rays of the sun......and Basle, the city of learning--Basle, the
adopted city of Erasmus and of Œcolampadius, remaining in darkness!"
[Sidenote: HALF-MEASURES.]
On Good Friday (10th April, 1528), without the knowledge of the
council and Œcolampadius, five workmen of the Spinners' Company
entered the church of St. Martin, which was that of the reformer, and
where the Mass was already abolished, and carried away all the
"idols." On Easter Monday, after the evening sermon, thirty-four
citizens removed all the images from the church of the Augustines.
This was going too far. Were they desirous, then, of drawing Basle and
its councils from that just medium in which they had till this moment
so wisely halted? The council met hastily on Tuesday morning, and sent
the five men to prison; but, on the intercession of the burghers, they
were released, and the images suppressed in five other churches. These
half-measures sufficed for a time.
On a sudden the flame burst out anew with greater violence. Sermons
were preached at St. Martin's and St. Leonard's against the
abominations of the cathedral; and at the cathedral the Reformers were
called "heretics, knaves, and profligates."[950] The Papists
celebrated mass upon mass. The burgomaster Meyer, a friend of the
Reform, had with him the majority of the people; the burgomaster
Meltinger, an intrepid leader of the partisans of Rome, prevailed in
the councils: a collision became inevitable. "The fatal hour
approaches," says Œcolampadius, "terrible for the enemies of
God."[951]
[950] Ketzer, schelmen, und büben. (Bulling, ii. p. 36.)
[951] Maturatur fatalis hora et tremenda hostibus Dei. (Zw. Epp. ii.
p. 213.)
[Sidenote: COMMOTION IN BASLE.]
On Wednesday the 23d December, two days before Christmas, three
hundred citizens from all the companies, pious and worthy men,
assembled in the hall of the Gardeners' Company, and there drew up a
petition to the senate. During this time the friends of Popery, who
resided for the most part in Little Basle and the suburb of St. Paul,
took up arms, brandishing their swords and lances against the Reformed
citizens at the very moment that these were bearing their petition to
the council, and endeavoured, although ineffectually, to bar their
road. Meltinger haughtily refused to receive the petition, and charged
the burghers, on the faith of their civic oath, to return to their
homes. The burgomaster Meyer, however, took the address, and the
senate ordered it to be read.
"Honoured, wise, and gracious Lords," it ran, "we, your dutiful
fellow-citizens of the companies, address you as well-beloved fathers,
whom we are ready to obey at the cost of our goods and of our lives.
Take God's glory to heart; restore peace to the city; and oblige all
the Pope's preachers to discuss freely with the ministers. If the Mass
be true, we desire to have it in our churches; but if it is an
abomination before God, why, through love for the priests, should we
draw down His terrible anger upon ourselves and upon our children?"
Thus spoke the citizens of Basle. There was nothing revolutionary
either in their language or in their proceedings. They desired what
was right with decision, but also with calmness. All might still
proceed with order and decorum. But here begins a new period: the
vessel of Reform is about to enter the port, but not until it has
passed through violent storms.
V. It was the bishop's partisans who first departed from the legal
course. Filled with terror on learning that mediators were expected
from Zurich and Berne, they ran into the city, crying that an Austrian
army was coming to their aid, and collected stones in their houses.
The Reformed did the same. The disturbance increased hourly, and in
the night of the 25th December the Papists met under arms: priests
with arquebuse in hand were numbered among their ranks.
Scarcely had the Reformed learnt this, when some of them running
hastily from house to house, knocked at the doors and awoke their
friends, who, starting out of bed, seized their muskets and repaired
to the Gardeners' Hall, the rendezvous of their party. They soon
amounted to three thousand.
[Sidenote: HALF-MEASURES REJECTED.]
Both parties passed the night under arms. At every moment a civil war,
and what is worse, "a war of hearths," might break out. It was at last
agreed that each party should nominate delegates to treat with the
senate on this matter. The Reformed chose thirty men of
respectability, courage, faith, and experience, who took up their
quarters at the Gardeners' Hall. The partisans of the ancient faith
chose also a commission, but less numerous and less respectable: their
station was at the Fishmongers' Hall. The council was constantly
sitting. All the gates of the city, except two, were closed; strong
guards were posted in every quarter. Deputies from Lucerne, Uri,
Schaffhausen, Zug, Schwytz, Mulhausen, and Strasburg, arrived
successively. The agitation and tumult increased from hour to hour.
It was necessary to put an end to so violent a crisis. The senate,
faithful to its ideas of half-measures, decreed that the priest should
continue to celebrate the Mass; but that all, priests and ministers,
should preach the Word of God, and for this purpose should meet once
a-week to confer upon the holy Scriptures. They then called the
Lutherans together in the Franciscan church, and the Papists in that
belonging to the Dominicans. The senate first repaired to the former
church, where they found two thousand five hundred citizens assembled.
The secretary had hardly read the ordinance before a great agitation
arose. "That shall not be," cried one of the people.[952] "We will not
put up with the Mass, not even with a single one!" cried another; and
all repeated, "No Mass,--no Mass,--we will die sooner!"[953]
[952] Quidam e plebe clamitabat: Hoc non fiet! (Zw. Epp. ii. p. 255.)
[953] Nos plane ea non feremus, aut moriemur omnes. (Ibid.)
The senate having next visited the Dominican church, all the
Romanists, to the number of six hundred, among whom were many foreign
servants, cried out: "We are ready to sacrifice our lives for the
Mass. We swear it, we swear it!" repeated they with uplifted hands.
"If they reject the Mass--to arms! to arms!"[954]
[954] At altera pars minitabat prælia si missam rejicerent (Ibid.)
The senate withdrew more embarrassed than ever.
[Sidenote: REFORMED PROPOSITIONS.]
The two parties were again assembled three days after. Œcolampadius
was in the pulpit. "Be meek and tractable," said he; and he preached
with such unction that many were ready to burst into tears.[955] The
assembly offered up prayers, and then decreed that it would accept a
new ordinance, by virtue of which, fifteen days after Pentecost, there
should be a public disputation, in which no arguments should be
employed but such as were drawn from the Word of God: after this a
general vote should take place upon the Mass, that the majority should
decide the question, and that in the meanwhile the Mass should be
celebrated in three churches only; it being however understood, that
nothing should be taught there that was in opposition to the Holy
Scriptures.
[955] Ut nemo non commoveretur et profecto fere mihi lacrymas
excussisset. (Zw. Epp. ii. p. 255.)
The Romanist minority rejected these propositions: "Basle," said they,
"is not like Berne and Zurich. Its revenues are derived in great
measure from countries opposed to the Reformation!" The priests having
refused to resort to the weekly conferences, they were suspended; and
during a fortnight there was neither sermon nor mass at the cathedral,
or in the churches of St. Ulric, St. Peter, and St. Theodore.
Those who remained faithful to Rome resolved upon an intrepid defence.
Meltinger placed Sebastian Muller in the pulpit at St. Peter's, from
which he had been interdicted, and this hot-headed priest vented such
abusive sarcasms against the Reform, that several of the Evangelicals,
who were listening to the sermon, were insulted and nearly torn in
pieces.
[Sidenote: A NIGHT OF TERROR.]
It was necessary to arouse Basle from this nightmare, and strike a
decisive blow. "Let us remember our liberty," said the reformed
citizens, "and what we owe to the glory of Christ, to public justice,
and to our posterity."[956] They then demanded that the enemies of the
Reformation, friends and relations of the priests, who were the cause
of all these delays and of all these troubles, should no longer sit
in the councils until peace was re-established. This was the 8th
February. The council notified that they would return an answer on the
morrow.
[956] Cogitans quid gloriæ Christi, quid justitiæ publicæ, quidque
posteritati suæ deberet. (Œcol. Zurich MS.)
At six o'clock in the evening, twelve hundred citizens were assembled
in the corn-market. They began to fear that the delay required by the
senate concealed some evil design. "We must have a reply this very
night," they said. The senate was convoked in great haste.
From that period affairs assumed a more threatening attitude in Basle.
Strong guards were posted by the burghers in the halls of the
different guilds; armed men patrolled the city, and bivouacked in the
public places, to anticipate the machinations of their adversaries;[957]
the chains were stretched across the streets; torches were lighted,
and resinous trees, whose flickering light scattered the darkness,
were placed at intervals through the town; six pieces of artillery
were planted before the town hall; and the gates of the city, as well
as the arsenal and the ramparts, were occupied. Basle was in a state
of siege.
[957] Ne quid forte ab adversariis insidiarum strueretur. (Ibid.)
There was no longer any hope for the Romish party. The burgomaster,
Meltinger, an intrepid soldier and one of the heroes of Marignan,
where he had led eight hundred men into battle, lost courage. In the
darkness he gained the banks of the Rhine with his son-in-law, the
councillor Eglof d'Offenburg, embarked unnoticed in a small boat, and
rapidly descended the stream amid the fogs of the night.[958] Other
members of the council escaped in a similar manner.
[958] Clam conscensa navicula fuga, nescio senatu, elapsus est. (Œcol.
Zurich MS.)
[Sidenote: THE IDOLS BROKEN.]
This gave rise to new alarms. "Let us beware of their secret
manœuvres," said the people. "Perhaps they are going to fetch the
Austrians, with whom they have so often threatened us!" The affrighted
citizens collected arms from every quarter, and at break of day they
had two thousand men on foot. The beams of the rising sun fell on
this resolute but calm assembly.
It was midday. The senate had come to no decision: the impatience of
the burghers could be restrained no longer. Forty men were detached to
visit the posts. As this patrol was passing the cathedral, they
entered it, and one of the citizens, urged by curiosity, opened a
closet with his halberd, in which some images had been hidden. One of
them fell out, and was broken into a thousand pieces against the stone
pavement.[959] The sight of these fragments powerfully moved the
spectators, who began throwing down one after another all the images
that were concealed in this place. None of them offered any
resistance: heads, feet, and hands--all were heaped in confusion
before the halberdiers. "I am much surprised," said Erasmus, "that
they preformed no miracle to save themselves; formerly the saints
worked frequent prodigies for much smaller offences!"[960] Some
priests ran to the spot, and the patrol withdrew.
[959] Cum halpardis quasi per ludum aperirent armarium idolorum,
unumque idolum educerent. (Ibid.)
[960] Erasm. Opp. p. 291.
A rumour, however, having spread that a disturbance had taken place in
this church, three hundred men came to the support of the forty.
"Why," said they, "should we spare the idols that light up the flames
of discord?" The priests in alarm had closed the gates of the
sanctuary, drawn the bolts, raised barricades, and prepared everything
for maintaining a siege. But the townspeople, whose patience had been
exhausted by the delays of the council, dash against one of the doors
of the church: it yields to their blows, and they rush into the
cathedral. The hour of madness has arrived. These men are no longer to
be recognized, as they brandish their swords, rattle their pikes, and
utter formidable cries: are they Goths, or are they fervent
worshippers of God, animated by the zeal which in times of yore
inflamed the prophets and the kings of Israel? However that might be,
these proceedings were disorderly, since public authority alone can
interfere in public reforms. Images, altars, pictures--all were thrown
down and destroyed. The priests who had fled into the vestry, and
there concealed themselves, trembled in every limb at the terrible
noise made by the fall of their holy decorations. The work of
destruction was completed without one of them venturing to save the
objects of his worship, or to make the slightest remonstrance. The
people next piled up the fragments in the squares and set fire to
them; and during the chilly night the armed burghers stood round and
warmed themselves at the crackling flame.[961]
[961] Lignis imaginum usi sunt vigiles, pro arcendo frigore nocturno.
(Zurich MS.)
The senate collected in amazement, and desired to interpose their
authority and appease the tumult; but they might as well have striven
to command the winds. The enthusiastic citizens replied to their
magistrates in these haughty words: "What you have not been able to
effect in three years, we will complete in one hour."[962]
[962] De quo vos per triennium deliberastis, nihil efficientes, nos
intra horam omnem absolvemus. (Œcol. Capitoni, Basle MS.)
In truth the anger of the people was no longer confined to the
cathedral. They respected all kinds of private property;[963] but they
attacked the churches of St. Peter, St. Ulric, St. Alban, and of the
Dominicans; and in all these temples "the idols" fell under the blows
of these good citizens of Basle, whom an extraordinary zeal inflamed.
Already they were making preparations to cross the bridge and enter
Little Basle, which was devoted to the cause of Popery, when the
alarmed inhabitants begged to be allowed to remove the images
themselves, and with heavy hearts they hastily carried them into the
upper chambers of the church, whence they hoped to be able after a
time to restore them to their old position.
[963] Nulli enim vel obolum abstulerunt. (Ib.)
[Sidenote: THE REFORM LEGALIZED.]
They did not stop at these energetic demonstrations; the most excited
talked of going to the town-hall, and of constraining the senate to
accede to the wishes of the people; but the good sense of the majority
treated these brawlers as they deserved, and checked their guilty
thoughts.
The senators now perceived the necessity of giving a legal character
to this popular movement, and of thus changing a tumultuous revolution
into a durable reformation.[964] Democracy and the Gospel were thus
established simultaneously in Basle. The senate, after an hour's
deliberation, granted that in future the burghers should participate
in the election of the two councils; that from this day the Mass and
images should be abolished throughout all the canton, and that in
every deliberation which concerned the glory of God or the good of the
state the opinion of the guilds should be taken. The people, delighted
at having obtained these conditions, which secured their political and
religious liberty, returned joyful to their houses. It was now the
close of day.[965]
[964] Cedendum plebi. (Œcol. Capitoni, Basle MS.)
[965] His conditionibus plebs læta domum rediit, sub ipsum noctis
crepusculum. (Ibid. Zurich MS.)
[Sidenote: OBJECTIONS.]
On the morrow, Ash-Wednesday, it was intended to distribute the ruins
of the altars and other ornaments of the Church among the poor, to
serve them for firewood. But these unhappy creatures, in their
eagerness for the fragments, having begun to dispute about them, they
constructed great piles in the cathedral close and set fire to them.
"The idols," said some wags, "are really keeping their Ash-Wednesday
to-day!" The friends of Popery, turning away their horror-stricken
eyes from this sacrilegious sight, says Œcolampadius, shed tears of
blood. "Thus severely did they treat the idols," continues the
reformer, "and the Mass died of grief in consequence."[966] On the
following Sunday hymns in German were sung at every church; and on the
18th February a general amnesty was published. Everything was changed
in Basle. The last had become first, and the first last. While
Œcolampadius, who a few years before had entered the city as a
stranger, without resources and without power, found himself raised to
the first station in the Church, Erasmus, disturbed in the quiet study
whence during so long a period he had issued his absolute commands to
the world of letters, saw himself compelled to descend into the arena.
But this king of the schools had no desire to lay down his sceptre
before the sovereign people. For a long time he used to turn aside his
head when he met his friend Œcolampadius. Besides he feared by
remaining at Basle to compromise himself with his protectors. "The
torrent," said he, "which was hidden underground has burst forth with
violence, and committed frightful ravages.[967] My life is in danger:
Œcolampadius possesses all the churches. People are continually
bawling in my ears; I am besieged with letters, caricatures, and
pamphlets. It is all over: I am resolved to leave Basle. Only shall I
or shall I not depart by stealth? The one is more becoming, the other
more secure."
[966] Ita sævitum est in idola, ac missa præ dolore expiravit. (Œcol.
Cap. Zurich MS.)
[967] Basilica torrens quidem, qui sub terra labebatur, subito
erumpens, &c. (Er. Epp. ad Pirkheimer July, 1539.)
Wishing as much as possible to make his honour and his prudence agree,
Erasmus desired the boatman with whom he was to descend the Rhine to
depart from an unfrequented spot. This was opposed by the senate, and
the timid philosopher was compelled to enter the boat as it lay near
the great bridge, at that time covered with a crowd of people. He
floated down the river, sadly bade adieu to the city he had so much
loved, and retired to Friburg in Brisgau with several other learned
men.
New professors were invited to fill the vacant chairs in the
university, and in particular Oswald Myconius, Phrygio, Sebastian
Munster, and Simon Grynæus. At the same time was published an
ecclesiastical order and a confession of faith, one of the most
precious documents of this epoch.
[Sidenote: PRINCIPLES OF THE REFORMATION.]
Thus had a great transformation been effected without the loss of a
single drop of blood. Popery had fallen in Basle in despite of the
secular and spiritual power. "The wedge of the Lord," says
Œcolampadius, "has split this hard knot."[968]
[968] Malo nodo suus cuneus obvenit. (Œcol. Capit.)
We cannot, however, help acknowledging that the Basle Reformation may
afford ground for some objections. Luther had opposed himself to the
power of the many. "When the people prick up their ears, do not
whistle too loud. It is better to suffer at the hand of one tyrant,
that is to say, of a king, than of a thousand tyrants, that is to say,
of the people." On this account the German Reformer has been
reproached for acknowledging no other policy than servilism.
Perhaps when the Swiss Reformation is canvassed, a contrary objection
will be made against it, and the Reform at Basle, in particular, will
be looked upon as a revolution.
The Reformation must of necessity bear the stamp of the country in
which it was accomplished: it will be monarchical in Germany,
republican in Switzerland. Nevertheless, in religion as in politics,
there is a great difference between reformation and revolution.
In neither of these spheres does Christianity desire either despotism,
servitude, stagnation, retrogression, or death. But while looking for
progress, it seeks to accomplish it by reformation and not by
revolution.
Reformation works by the power of the Word, of doctrine, cultivation
and truth; while revolution, or rather revolt, operates by the power
of riot, of the sword, and of the club.
Christianity proceeds by the inner man, and charters themselves, if
they stand alone, cannot satisfy it. No doubt constitutions are one of
the blessings of our age; but it is not sufficient for these
securities to be committed to parchment; they must be written in the
heart, and guaranteed by the manners of the people.
Such were the principles of the Swiss Reformers, such were those of
the Reform at Basle, and by these it is distinguished from a
revolution.
[Sidenote: FAREL'S COMMISSION.]
There were, it is true, some excesses. Never perhaps has a
reformation been accomplished among men without some mixture of
revolution. But it was doctrines, however, that were in question at
Basle: these doctrines had acted powerfully on the moral convictions
and on the lives of the people; the movement had taken place within
before it showed itself without. But more than this: the Reformation
was not satisfied with taking away; it gave more than it took; and,
far from confining itself to the work of destruction, it scattered
rich blessings over all the people.[969]
[969] Hagenbach, Vorlesungen, ii. pp. 125, 200.
VI. The recoil of the discussion at Berne had overthrown Popery in a
considerable part of German Switzerland. It was also felt in many of
the churches of French Switzerland, lying at the foot of the Jura, or
scattered amid the pine forests of its elevated valleys, and which up
to this time had shown the most absolute devotion to the Roman
pontiff.
Farel, seeing the Gospel established in the places where the Rhone
mingles its sandy waters with the crystal Leman, turned his eyes to
another quarter. He was supported by Berne. This state, which
possessed jointly with Friburg the bailiwicks of Morat, Orbe, and
Granson, and which had alliances with Lausanne, Avenches, Payerne,
Neuchatel, and Geneva, saw that both its interest and its duty alike
called it to have the Gospel preached to its allies and subjects.
Farel was empowered to carry it among them, always with reserve of the
consent of the respective governments.
One day, therefore, journeying towards Morat, Farel arrived and
preached the Gospel at the foot of those towers and battlements that
had been attacked at three different periods by the armies of Conrad
the Salic, Rodolph of Hapsburg, and Charles the Bold. Erelong the
friends of the Reform amounted to a great number. A general vote
having nevertheless declared in favour of the Pope, Farel proceeded to
Lausanne.
[Sidenote: FAREL AT MORAT.]
He was at first driven away by the bishop and the clergy, but soon
reappeared provided with a letter from the lords of Berne. "We send
him to you," said their excellencies to the authorities of the city,
"to defend his own cause and ours. Allow him to preach the Word of
God, and beware that you touch not a hair of his head."
There was great confusion in the councils. Placed between Berne and
the bishop, what could they do? The Council of Twenty four, finding
the matter very serious, convoked the Council of Sixty; and this body,
excusing itself, they convoked the Council of Two Hundred, on the 14th
November 1529. But these in their turn referred the business to the
smaller council. No one would have anything to do with it. The
inhabitants of Lausanne, it is true, complained loudly of the holy
members of their chapters, whose lives (they said) were one long orgy;
but when their eyes turned on the austere countenance of Reform, they
were still more terrified. Besides, how deprive Lausanne of her
bishop, her court, and her dignitaries? What! no more pilgrims in the
churches,--no more suitors in the ecclesiastical courts,--no more
purchasers in the markets, or boon companions in the taverns! The
widowed and desolate Lausanne would no longer behold the noisy throng
of people, that were at once her wealth and her glory!--Better far a
disorder that enriches, than a Reform that impoverishes! Farel was
compelled to depart a second time.
He returned to Morat, and soon the Word gained over the hearts of the
people. On feast-days, the roads from Payerne and Avenches were
covered with merry bands, who laughingly said to one another, "Let us
go to Morat and hear the preachers!" and exhorted each other slily, as
they went along the road, "not to fall into the nets of the heretics."
But at night, all was changed. Grasped by the strong hand of truth,
these very people returned,--some in deep thought, others discussing
with animation the doctrines they had heard. The fire was sparkling
throughout all this district, and spreading in every direction its
long rays of light. This was enough for Farel: he required new
conquests.
[Sidenote: NEUCHATEL.]
At a short distance from Morat lay one of the strongholds of
Popery--the Earldom of Neuchatel. Joan of Hochberg, who had inherited
this principality from her ancestors, had married, in 1504, Louis of
Orleans, Duke of Longueville. This French nobleman having supported
the King of France in 1512, in a war against the Swiss, the cantons
had taken possession of Neuchatel, but had restored it to his widow in
1529.
Few countries could have presented greater difficulties to the daring
reformer. The princess of Longueville, residing in France in the suite
of Francis I., a woman of courtly habits, vain, extravagant, always in
debt, and thinking of Neuchatel only as a farm that should bring her
in a large revenue, was devoted to the Pope and Popery. Twelve canons
with several priests and chaplains formed a powerful clergy, at whose
head was the provost Oliver of Hochberg, natural brother to the
princess. Auxiliaries full of zeal flanked this main army. On the one
side there was the abbey of the Premonstrantes of Fontaine-André,
three quarters of a league beyond the town, the monks of which, after
having in the twelfth century cleared the ground with their own
hands,[970] had gradually become powerful lords; and, on the other
side, the Benedictines of the Island of St. John, whose abbot, having
been deposed by the Bernese, had taken refuge, burning with hatred and
vengeance, in his priory at Corcelles.
[970] Propriis manibus. (Hist. of Neuchatel, by F. de Chambrier, p.
13.)
[Sidenote: FAREL'S LABOURS.]
The people of Neuchatel had a great respect for ancient rights, and it
was easy to take advantage of this state of feeling, considering the
general ignorance, to maintain the innovations of Popery. The canons
improved the opportunity. For the instructions of the Gospel they
substituted pomps and shows. The church, situated on a steep rock, was
filled with altars, chapels, and images of saints; and religion,
descending from this sanctuary, ran up and down the streets, and was
travestied in dramas and mysteries, mingled with indulgences,
miracles, and debauchery.[971]
[971] Mémoires sur l'Eglise collegiale de Neuchatel, p. 240.
The soldiers of Neuchatel, however, who had made the campaign of 1529
with the Bernese army, brought back to their homes the liveliest
enthusiasm for the Evangelical cause. It was at this period that a
frail boat, quitting the southern bank of the lake, on the side
opposite Morat, and carrying a Frenchman of mean appearance, steered
towards the Neuchatel shore. Farel, for it was he, had learnt that the
village of Serrière, situated at the gates of Neuchatel, depended in
spiritualities on the evangelical city of Bienne, and that Emer
Beynon, the priest of the place, "had some liking for the Gospel." The
plan of his campaign was immediately drawn up. He appeared before
parson Emer, who received him with joy; but what could be done? for
Farel had been interdicted from preaching in any church whatever in
the earldom. The poor priest thought to reconcile everything by
permitting Farel to mount on a stone in the cemetery, and thus preach
to the people, turning his back upon the church.[972]
[972] M. de Perrot, ex-pastor of Serrière, and author of a work
entitled "L'Eglise et la Réformation," has shown me the stone on which
Farel stood.
A great disturbance arose in Neuchatel. On one side the government,
the canons, and the priests, cried "Heresy!" but, on the other, "some
inhabitants of Neuchatel, to whom God had given a knowledge of the
truth,"[973] flocked to Serrière. In a short time these last could not
contain themselves: "Come," said they to Farel, "and preach to us in
the town."
[973] "Aucuns de Neuchatel, auxquels Dieu avaient donné connoissance
de la vérité," &c. (Choupart MS.)
[Sidenote: FAREL'S PREACHING.]
This was at the beginning of December. They entered by the gate of the
castle, and leaving the church on the hill to the left, they passed in
front of the canons' houses, and descended through the narrow streets
inhabited by the citizens. On reaching the market-cross, Farel
ascended a platform and addressed the crowd, which gathered together
from all the neighbourhood,--weavers, vine-dressers, husbandmen, a
worthy race, possessing more feeling than imagination. The preacher's
exterior was grave, his discourse energetic, his voice like thunder:
his eyes, his features, his gestures, all showed him a man of
intrepidity. The citizens, accustomed to run about the streets after
the mountebanks, were touched by his powerful language. "Farel
preached a sermon of such great efficacy," says a manuscript, "that he
gained over much people."[974]
[974] Quoted in the Choupart MS.
Some monks, however, with shaven crowns,[975] glided among his
hearers, seeking to excite them against the heretical minister. "Let
us beat out his brains," said some. "Duck him, duck him!" cried
others, advancing to throw Farel into a fountain, which may still be
seen near the spot where he preached. But the reformer stood firm.
[975] Rasorum remoramenta. (Farellus Molano, Neuchatel MS.)
[Sidenote: POPERY IN NEUCHATEL.]
This first preaching was succeeded by others. To this Gospel
missionary every place was a church; every stone, every bench, every
platform was a pulpit. Already the cutting winds and the snows of
December should have kept the Neuchatelans around their firesides;
"the canons made a vigorous defence;"[976] and in every quarter "the
shorn crowns" were in agitation, supplicating, menacing, howling, and
threatening,--but all was useless. No sooner did this man of small
stature rise up in any place, with his pale yet sunburnt complexion,
with red and unkempt beard, with sparkling eye and expressive mouth,
than the monks' labour was lost: the people collected around, for it
was the Word of God that fell from his lips.[977] All eyes were fixed
on him: with open mouth and attentive ears they hung upon his
words.[978] And scarcely does he begin to speak, when--Oh! wonderful
work of God! he himself exclaims--this multitude believes as if it had
but one soul.
[976] Contra tyrannica præcepta. (Far. Mol. Neuchatel MS.)
[977] Ad verbum festinarent. (Ibid.)
[978] Avide audientes. (Ibid.)
The Word of God carried the town, as it were, at the first assault;
and throwing down the devices Rome had taken ages to compose,
established itself in triumph on the ruins of human traditions. Farel
saw in imagination Jesus Christ himself walking in spirit through the
midst of this crowd, opening the eyes of the blind, softening the hard
heart, and working miracles,[979]......so that scarcely had he
returned to his humble residence before he wrote to his friends with a
heart full of emotion: "Render thanks with me to the Father of
mercies, in that he has shown his favour to those bowed down by a
weighty tyranny;" and falling on his knees, he worshipped God.[980]
[979] Quid Christus in suis egerit. (Ibid.)
[980] Gratias ergo, Fratres, mecum agite Patri misericordiarum, quod
sit propitius gravi pressis tirannide. (Ibid.)
But during this time what were the adherents of the Pope doing in
Neuchatel?
The canons, members of the General Audiences, of which they formed the
first estate, treated both priests and laymen with intolerable
haughtiness. Laying the burden of their offices on poor curates, they
publicly kept dissolute women, clothed them sumptuously, endowed their
children by public acts, fought in the church, haunted the streets by
night, or went into a foreign country to enjoy in secret the produce
of their avarice and of their intrigues. Some poor lepers placed in a
house near the city were maintained by the produce of certain
offerings. The rich canons, in the midst of their banquets, dared take
away the bread of charity from these unhappy wretches.
[Sidenote: RESISTANCE OF THE MONKS.]
The abbey of Fontaine-André was at a little distance from the town.
Now the canons of Neuchatel and the monks of Fontaine were at open
war. These hostile powers, encamped on their two hills, disputed each
other's property, wrested away each other's privileges, launched at
one another the coarsest insults, and even came to blows. "Debaucher
of women!" said the canons to the abbot of Fontaine-André, who
returned the compliment in the same coin. It is the Reformation which,
through faith, has re-established the moral law in Christendom,--a law
that Popery had trodden under foot.
For a long time these conventual wars had disturbed the country. On a
sudden they cease. A strange event is passing in Neuchatel,--the Word
of God is preached there. The canons, seized with affright in the
midst of their disorders, look down from their lofty dwellings on this
new movement. The report reaches Fontaine-André. The monks and priests
suspend their orgies and their quarrels. The heathen sensualism that
had invaded the Church is put to the rout; Christian spiritualism has
reappeared.
Immediately the monks and canons, so long at war, embrace and unite
against the Reformer. "We must save religion," said they, meaning
their tithes, banquets, scandals, and privileges. Not one of them
could oppose a doctrine to the doctrine preached by Farel: to insult
him was their sole weapon. At Corcelles, however, they went farther.
As the minister was proclaiming the Gospel near the priory, the monks
fell upon him; in the midst of them was the prior Rodolph de Benoit,
storming, exciting, and striving to augment the tempest. He even had a
dagger in his hand, according to one writer.[981] Farel escaped with
difficulty.
[981] Rosselet in Annotat. Farel Leben von Kirchofer.
[Sidenote: FAREL'S LABOURS.]
This was not enough. Popery, as it always does, had recourse to the
civil power. The canons, the abbot, and the prior, solicited the
governor George de Rive at the same time. Farel stood firm. "The glory
of Jesus Christ," said he, "and the lively affection his sheep bear to
his Word, constrain me to endure sufferings greater than tongue can
describe."[982] Erelong, however, he was compelled to yield. Farel
again crossed the lake; but this passage was very different from the
former. The fire was kindled!--On the 22d December he was at Morat;
and shortly after at Aigle.
[982] At levia facit omnia Christus, added he. Farel to Dumoulin, 15th
December. (Neuchatel MS.)
He was recalled hence. On the 7th January, religion was put to the
vote at Morat, and the majority was in favour of the Gospel. But the
Romish minority, supported by Friburg, immediately undertook to
recover its ancient position by insults and bad treatment. "Farel!
Farel!" cried the reformed party.[983]
[983] Choupart MS. (Chambrier, Hist. de Neuchatel, p. 293.)
A few days after this, Farel, accompanied by a Bernese messenger,
scaled that magnificent amphitheatre of mountains above Vevay, whence
the eye plunges into the waters of the Leman; and soon he crossed the
estates of Count John of Gruyère, who was in the habit of saying, "We
must burn this French Luther!"[984] Scarcely had Farel reached the
heights of St. Martin de Vaud,[985] when he saw the vicar of the place
with two priests running to meet him. "Heretic! devil!" cried they.
But the knight, through fear of Berne, remained behind his walls, and
Farel passed on.
[984] Missive of Berne to the Count of Gruyère, 5th and 16th January
1530.
[985] To the left of the modern road from Vevay to Friburg.
[Sidenote: FAREL IN NEUCHATEL.]
The Reformer, not allowing himself to be stopped by the necessity of
defending himself in Morat, or by the inclemency of the season,
immediately carried the Gospel to those beautiful hills that soar
between the smiling waters of lakes Morat and Neuchatel into the
villages of the Vully. This manœuvre was crowned with the most
complete success. On the 15th February four deputies from the Vully
came to Morat to demand permission to embrace the Reform, which was
immediately granted to them. "Let our ministers preach the Gospel,"
said their excellencies of Berne to the Friburgers, "and we will let
your priests play their monkey tricks. We desire to force no
man."[986] The Reform restored freedom of will to the Christian
people. It was about this time that Farel wrote his beautiful letter
"To all lords, people, and pastors," which we have so often
quoted.[987]
[986] Missive of Berne, Choupart MS.
[987] A tous seigneurs, peuples, et pasteurs. See above, Vol. III.
book xii.
The indefatigable reformer now went forward to new conquests. A chain
of rocks separates the Juran valley of Erguel, already evangelized by
Farel, from the country of the ancient Rauraci, and a passage cut
through the rock serves as a communication between the two districts.
It was the end of April when Farel, passing through the
_Pierre-Pertuis_,[988] descended to the village of Tavannes, and
entered the church just as the priest was saying Mass. Farel went into
the pulpit: the astonished priest stopped,--the minister filled his
hearers with emotion, and seemed to them an angel come down from
heaven. Immediately the images and the altars fell, and "the poor
priest who was chanting the Mass could not finish it."[989] To put
down Popery had required less time than the priest had spent at the
altar.
[988] Petra Pertusa.
[989] Donc le pauvre prêtre qui chantoit sa messe ne la peut pas
achever. (Old MS. quoted in the Choupart MS.)
A great part of the bishopric of Basle was in a few weeks gained over
to the Reformation.
During this time the Gospel was fermenting in Neuchatel. The young men
who had marched with Berne to deliver Geneva from the attacks of
Savoy, recounted in their jovial meetings the exploits of the
campaign, and related how the soldiers of Berne, feeling cold, had
taken the images from the Dominican church at Geneva, saying: "Idols
of wood are of no use but to make a fire with in winter."
[Sidenote: THE HOSPITAL CHAPEL.]
Farel re-appeared in Neuchatel.[990] Being master of the lower part of
the town, he raised his eyes to the lofty rocks on which soared the
cathedral and the castle. The best plan, thought he, is to bring these
proud priests down to us. One morning his young friends spread
themselves in the streets, and posted up large placards bearing these
words: "_All_ _those who say Mass are robbers, murderers, and
seducers of the people_."[991] Great was the uproar in Neuchatel. The
canons summoned their people, called together their clerks, and
marching at the head of a large troop, armed with swords and clubs,
descended into the town, tore down the sacrilegious placards, and
cited Farel before the tribunal as a slanderer, demanding ten thousand
crowns damages.
[990] Farellus suo more magna fortitudine jam jam agit. Megander to
Zwingle, 6th Aug. 1530.
[991] De Chambrier, Hist. de Neuchatel, i. p. 293
The two parties appeared in court, and this was all that Farel
desired. "I confess the fact," said he, "but I am justified in what I
have done. Where are there to be found more horrible murderers, than
these seducers who sell paradise, and thus nullify the merits of our
Lord Jesus Christ? I will prove my assertion by the Gospel." And he
prepared to open it, when the canons, flushed with anger, cried out:
"The common law of Neuchatel, and not the Gospel, is in question here!
Where are the witnesses?" But Farel, always returning to that fearful
assertion, proved by the Word of God that the canons were really
guilty of murder and robbery. To plead such a cause was to ruin
Popery. The court of Neuchatel, that had never heard a similar case,
resolved according to ancient custom to lay it before the Council of
Besançon,[992] which not daring to pronounce the first estate of the
General Audiences guilty of murder and robbery, referred the matter to
the Emperor and to a general council. Bad causes gain nothing by
making a disturbance.
[992] Prendre les _entraives_.
[Sidenote: CIVIL POWER INVOKED.]
At every step they wished to drive him back, Farel made one in
advance. The streets and the houses were still his temple. One day
when the people of Neuchatel were around him, "Why," cried they,
"should not the Word of God be proclaimed in a church?" They then
hurried Farel along with them, opened the doors of the Hospital
Chapel, set the minister in the pulpit, and a numerous crowd stood
silent before him. "In like manner as Jesus Christ, appearing in a
state of poverty and humility, was born in a stable at Bethlehem,"
said the Reformer; "so this hospital, this abode of the sick and of
the poor, is to-day become his birthplace in the town of Neuchatel."
Then feeling ill at ease in the presence of the painted and carved
figures that decorated the chapel, he laid his hands on these objects
of idolatry, removed them, and broke them in pieces.[993]
[993] Choupart MS.
Popery, which anger had blinded, now took a step that it undoubtedly
had a right to take, but which destroyed it: it had recourse to the
secular arm, and the governor sent a deputation to the Bernese
council, praying the removal of Farel and his companions.
But almost at the same time deputies from the townspeople arrived at
Berne. "Did not these hands bear arms at Interlaken and at Bremgarten
to support your Reformation? and will you abandon us in ours?"
Berne hesitated. A public calamity was at that time filling the whole
city with mourning. One of the most illustrious citizens of the
republic, the Banneret of Weingarten, attacked by the plague, was
expiring amid the tears of his sons and of his fellow-citizens. Being
informed of the arrival of the Neuchatelans, he rallied his waning
strength: "Go," said he, "and beg the senate in my name to ask for a
general assembly of the people of Neuchatel for Sunday next."[994]
This message of the dying banneret decided the council.
[994] Wingarterus iste infectus peste apud senatum nostrum, pia
legatione. (Megander to Zwingle.)
The deputies from Berne arrived in Neuchatel on the 7th August. Farel
thought that during the debates he had time to make a new conquest,
and quitted the city. His zeal can be compared only to St. Paul's. His
body was small and feeble, but his activity was wholly apostolic:
danger and bad treatment wasted him every day, but he had within him a
divine power that rendered him victorious.
[Sidenote: THE FEAST OF ASSUMPTION.]
VII. At the distance of a league from Neuchatel, beyond the mountain,
extends the Val de Ruz, and near its entrance, in a precipitous
situation, where roars an impetuous torrent surrounded by steep crags,
stands the town of Valangin. An old castle, built on a rock, raises
its vast walls into the air, overlooking the humble dwellings of the
townspeople, and extending its jurisdiction over five valleys of these
lofty and severe mountains at that time covered with forests of pine,
but now peopled by the most active industry.[995]
[995] Here are situated Chaux de Fonds, Locle, &c.
In this castle dwelt Guillemette de Vergy, dowager-countess of
Valangin, strongly attached to the Romish religion and full of respect
for the memory of her husband. A hundred priests had chanted high mass
at the count's burial; many penitent young women had been married, and
large alms distributed; the curate of Locle had been sent to
Jerusalem, and Guillemette herself had made a pilgrimage for the
repose for the soul of her departed lord.
Sometimes, however, the Countess of Gruyère and other ladies would
come and visit the widow of Vergy, who assembled in the castle a
number of young lords. The fife and tambourine re-echoed under its
vaulted roofs, chattering groups collected in the immense embrasures
of its Gothic windows, and merry dances followed hard upon a long
silence and gloomy devotion.[996] There was but one sentiment that
never left Guillemette--this was her hatred against the Reformation.
[996] Chambrier, Hist. de Neuchatel, p. 276.
[Sidenote: THE MASS INTERRUPTED.]
Guillemette and the priests had in fact reason to tremble. The 15th
August was a great Romish festival--Our Lady of August, or the
Assumption. All the faithful of the Val de Ruz were preparing to keep
it. This was the very day Farel selected. Animated by the fire and
courage of Elijah, he set out for Valangin, and a young man, his
fellow-countryman, and, as it would appear, a distant relation,
Anthony Boyve, an ardent Christian and a man of decided character,
went along with him.[997] The two missionaries climbed the mountain,
plunged into the pine forest, and then descending again into the
valley, they traversed Valangin, where the vicinity of the castle did
not give them much encouragement to pause, and arrived at a village,
probably Boudevilliers, proposing to preach the Gospel there.[998]
[997] Annals of Boyve and a family MS.--This family has since given
several pastors to the church of Neuchatel.
[998] There are two original manuscripts (both quoted in the Choupart
MS.) which give an account of this transaction. One says that Farel
preached at Valangin, the other indicates a village near Valangin.
Ruchat has adopted the former version; I think the latter preferable.
The second MS. appears to me older and more correct than the first.
Already on all sides the people were thronging to the church; Farel
and his companion entered also with a small number of the inhabitants
who had heard him at Neuchatel. The reformer immediately ascended the
pulpit, and the priest prepared to celebrate the Mass. The combat
begins. While the voice of Farel is preaching Jesus Christ and his
promises, the voices of the priests and of the choir are chanting the
missal. The solemn moment approaches: the ineffable transubstantiation
is about to take place: the priest pronounces the sacred words over
the elements. At this instant the people hesitate no longer; ancient
habits, an irresistible influence, draw them towards the altar; the
preacher is deserted; the kneeling crowd has recovered its old
worship; Rome is triumphant.......Suddenly a young man springs from
the crowd,--traverses the choir,--rushes to the altar,--snatches the
host from the hands of the priest, and cries, as he turns towards the
people: "This is not the God whom you should worship. He is above,--in
heaven,--in the majesty of the Father, and not, as you believe, in the
hands of a priest."[999] This man was Anthony Boyve.
[999] Choupart MS.
[Sidenote: FAREL'S DANGER.]
Such a daring act at first produced the desired effect. The Mass was
interrupted, the chantings ceased, and the crowd, as if struck by a
supernatural intervention, remained silent and noiseless. Farel, who
was still in the pulpit, immediately took advantage of this calm, and
proclaimed that Christ "whom the heaven must receive until the times
of restitution of all things."[1000] Then the priests and choristers
with their adherents rushed to the towers, ran up into the belfry,
and sounded the tocsin.
[1000] Acts iii. 21.
These means succeeded: a crowd was collected, and if Farel had not
retired, his death and Boyve's would have been inevitable. "But God,"
says the chronicle, "delivered them." They crossed the interval that
separates Boudevilliers from Valangin, and drew near the steep gorges
of the torrent of the Seyon. But how traverse that town, which the
tocsin had already alarmed?
Leaving Chaumont and its dark forests to the left, these two heralds
of the Gospel took a narrow path that wound beneath the castle: they
were stealing cautiously along, when suddenly a shower of stones
assailed them, and at the same time a score of individuals,--priests,
men, and women,--armed with clubs, fell furiously upon them. "The
priests had not the gout either in their feet or arms," says a
chronicler; "the ministers were so beaten that they nearly lost their
lives."[1001]
[1001] Les prêtres n'avoient pas la goutte aux pieds et aux bras, et
ils les battirent tellement que peu s'en fallut qu'ils ne perdissent
la vie. (Choupart MS.)
Madame de Vergy, who descended to the terrace, far from moderating the
anger of the priests, cried out: "Drown them!--drown them! throw them
into the Seyon--these Lutheran dogs, who have despised the
Host!"[1002] In fact, the priests were beginning to drag the two
heretics towards the bridge. Never was Farel nearer death.
[1002] A l'eau! à l'eau! jettez les dans le Seyon ces chiens de
Luthériens qui ont méprisé le bon Dieu! (Choupart MS.)
[Sidenote: ILL-TREATMENT OF FAREL.]
On a sudden, from behind the last rock that hides Valangin in the
direction of the mountain, there appeared "certain good persons of the
Val de Ruz coming from Neuchatel"[1003] and descending into the
valley. "What are you doing?" asked they of the priests, with the
intention no doubt of saving Farel; "put them rather in a place of
safety, that they may answer for their proceedings? Would you deprive
yourselves of the only means in your power of discovering those
infected by the poison of heresy?"
[1003] Choupart MS.
The priests left off at these words, and conducted the prisoners to
the castle. As they were passing before a little chapel, containing an
image of the Virgin, "Kneel down," said they to Farel and Boyve,
showing them the statue; "prostrate yourselves before Our Lady!" Farel
began to admonish them; "Worship one God alone in spirit and in
truth," said he to them, "and not dumb images without life or power."
But they, continues the chronicle, "greatly vexed at his words and his
firmness, inflicted on him so many blows, that he was covered with
blood, which even spirted on the walls of the chapel. For a long time
after the traces of it might still be seen."[1004]
[1004] Choupart MS. Mais eux rudement fachés de ses propos et
constance, lui donnèrent tant de coups, qu'ils le mirent tout en sang,
jusques là que son sang jailissoit sur les murailles de la chapelle.
On en voyoit long temps après encore les marques.
They resumed their march--they entered the town--they climbed the
steep road that led to the esplanade where Guillemette de Vergy and
her attendants waited for the "Lutherans;" so that, continues the
chronicle, "from beating them thus continually, they conducted them
all covered with filth and blood to the prisons, and let them down
almost lifeless into the dungeon (_croton_) of the castle of
Valangin." Thus had Paul at Lystra been stoned by the Jews, drawn out
of the city, and left for dead.[1005] The Apostles and the Reformers
preached the same doctrine and suffered the same treatment.
[1005] Acts xiv. 19.
[Sidenote: FAREL AT NEUCHATEL.]
It may perhaps be said, that Farel and Boyve were too violent in their
attack; but the Church of the Middle Ages, which had fallen back into
the legal spirit of Judaism, and into all the corruptions that flow
from it, needed an energetic opposition to lead it again to the
principle of grace. Augustin and St. Paul reappeared in the Church of
the sixteenth century; and when we read of Boyve rushing in great
emotion on those who were about to worship the bread of the Mass, may
we not recall to mind the action of St Paul, rending his clothes, and
running in among the people, who were desirous of worshipping "men of
like passions with themselves?"[1006]
[1006] Acts xiv. 14.
Farel and Boyve, thrust into the dungeons of the castle, could, like
Paul and Silas in the prison at Philippi, "sing praises unto God."
Messire de Bellegarde, ever ready to persecute the Gospel, was
preparing for them a cruel end, when some townsmen of Neuchatel
arrived to claim them. Madame de Valangin dared not refuse, and at the
demand of the Bernese even instituted an inquiry, "to put a good face
on the matter," says a manuscript. "Nevertheless that priest who had
beaten Farel most, never after failed to eat daily at the lady's
table, by way of recompense."[1007] But this was of little
consequence: the seed of truth had been sown in the Val de Ruz.
[1007] Choupart MS.
At Neuchatel the Bernese supported the Evangelical citizens. The
governor, whose resources were exhausted, sent ambassadors to the
princess, "begging her to cross the mountains, to appease her people,
who were in terrible trouble in consequence of this Lutheran
religion."[1008]
[1008] Letter from the Governor to the Princess.
Meantime the ferment increased. The townspeople prayed the canons to
give up the Mass: they refused; whereupon the citizens presented them
their reasons in writing, and begged them to discuss the question with
Farel. Still the same refusal!--"But, for goodness' sake, speak either
for or against!" It was all of no use!
[Sidenote: FAREL IN THE CATHEDRAL.]
On Sunday, the 23d of October, Farel, who had returned to Neuchatel,
was preaching at the hospital. He knew that the magistrates of the
city had deliberated on the expediency of consecrating the cathedral
itself to the Evangelical worship. "What then," said he, "will you not
pay as much honour to the Gospel as the other party does to the
Mass?......And if this superstitious act is celebrated in the high
church, shall not the Gospel be proclaimed there also?" At these words
all his hearers arose. "To the church!" cried they; "to the church!"
Impetuous men are desirous of putting their heads to work, to
accomplish what the prudence of the burgesses had proposed.[1009] They
leave the hospital, and take Farel with them. They climb the steep
street of the castle: in vain would the canons and their frightened
followers stop the crowd: they force a passage. Convinced that they
are advancing for God's glory, nothing can check them. Insults and
shouts assail them from every side, but in the name of the Truth they
are defending, they proceed: they open the gates of the Church of our
Lady; they enter, and here a fresh struggle begins. The canons and
their friends assembled around the pulpit endeavour to stop Farel; but
all is useless. They have not to deal with a band of rioters. God has
pronounced in his Word, and the magistrates themselves have passed a
definitive resolution. The townspeople advance, therefore, against the
sacerdotal coterie; they form a close battalion, in the centre of
which they place the reformer. They succeed in making their way
through the opposing crowd, and at last place the minister in the
pulpit without any harm befalling him.[1010]
[1009] This is the conclusion I draw from various papers, and in
particular from the report of the meeting held at Neuchatel by the
Bernese deputies, in which the heads of the burgesses declare, _that
it appeared to them a very good matter to take down the altars_, &c.
Hitherto only one phasis of this action has been seen,--the popular
movement; and the other, namely, the legal resolution of the
magistrates of the city, seems to have been overlooked.
[1010] Choupart MS.
Immediately all is calm within the church and without; even the
adversaries are silent, and Farel delivers "one of the most effective
sermons he had hitherto preached." Their eyes are opened; their
emotion increases; their hearts are melted; the most obstinate appear
converted; and from every part of the old church these cries resound:
"We will follow the Evangelical religion, both we and our children,
and in it will we live and die."[1011]
[1011] Ibid.
[Sidenote: THE IDOLS DESTROYED.]
Suddenly a whirlwind, as it were, sweeps over this multitude, and
stirs it up like a vast sea. Farel's hearers desire to imitate the
pious King Josiah.[1012] "If we take away these idols from before our
eyes, will it not be aiding us," said they, "in taking them from our
own hearts? Once these idols broken, how many souls among our
fellow-citizens, now disturbed and hesitating, will be decided by this
striking manifestation of the truth! We must save them as it were by
fire."[1013]
[1012] 2 Chron. xxxiv. 7.
[1013] Choupart MS.
This latter motive decides them, and then begins a scene that fills
the Romanists with horror, and which must, according to them, bring
down the terrible judgment of God on the city.
The very spot where this takes place would seem to add to its
solemnity. To the north the castle-walls rise above the pointed crags
of the gloomy but picturesque valley of the Seyon, and the mountain in
front of the castle presents to the eye little more than bare rocks,
vines, and black firs. But to the south, beneath the terrace on which
this tumultuous scene is passing, extend the wide and tranquil waters
of the lake with its fertile and picturesque shores; and in the
distance the continuous summits of the higher Alps with their dazzling
snows, their immense glaciers, and gigantic peaks, lie before the
enraptured eye.
On this platform the people of Neuchatel were in commotion, paying
little attention to these noble scenes of nature. The governor, whose
castle adjoined the church, was compelled to remain an idle spectator
of the excesses that he could not prevent; he was content to leave us
a description of them. "These daring fellows," says he, "seize
mattocks, hatchets, and hammers, and thus march against the images of
the saints." They advance--they strike the statues and the
altars--they dash them to pieces. The figures carved in the fourteenth
century by the "imagers" of Count Louis are not spared; and scarcely
do the statues of the counts themselves, which were mistaken for
idols, escape destruction. The townspeople collect all these fragments
of an idolatrous worship; they carry them out of the church, and throw
them from the top of the rock. The paintings meet with no better
treatment. "It is the devil," thought they with the early Christians,
"who taught the world this art of statues, images, and all sorts of
likenesses."[1014] They tear out the eyes in the pictures of the
saints, and cut off their noses. The crucifix itself is thrown down,
for this wooden figure usurps the homage that Jesus Christ claims in
the heart. One image, the most venerated of all, still remains: it is
our Lady of Mercy, which Mary of Savoy had presented to the collegiate
church; but Our Lady herself is not spared. A hand more daring than
the rest strikes it, as, in the fourth century, the colossal statue of
Serapis was struck.[1015] "They have even bored out the eyes of Our
Lady of Mercy, which the departed lady your mother had caused to be
made," wrote the governor to the Duchess of Longueville.
[1014] Diabolum sæculo intulisse artifices statuarum et imaginum et
omnis generis simulacrorum. (Tertullian, de idolatria, cap. 3.)
[1015] Socrates v. 16.
The Reformed went still further: they seized the patens in which lay
the _corpus Domini_, and flung them from the top of the rock into the
torrent; after which, being desirous of showing that the consecrated
wafers are mere bread, and not God himself, they distributed them one
to another and ate them......At this sight the canons and chaplains
could no longer remain quiet. A cry of horror was heard; they ran up
with their adherents, and opposed force to force. At length began the
struggle that had been so much dreaded.
[Sidenote: REFLECTIONS.]
The provost Oliver of Hochberg, the canons Simon of Neuchatel and
Pontus of Soleilant, all three members of the privy council, had
repaired hastily to the castle, as well as the other councillors of
the princess. Until this moment they had remained silent spectators of
the scene; but when they saw the two parties were coming to blows,
they ordered all "the supporters of the Evangelical doctrine" to
appear before the governor. This was like trying to chain the winds.
Besides, why should the Reformers stop? They were not acting without
legitimate authority.[1016] "Tell the governor," replied the
townspeople haughtily, "that in the concerns of God and of our souls
he has no command over us."[1017]
[1016] "Par les quatre du dit Neuchatel," by the Four (the municipal
authorities) of the said Neuchatel, remarks the priest Besancenet. See
also the _recess_ of the council held at Neuchatel by MM. of Berne,
4th November 1530.
[1017] The Governor's letter to the Princess.
George de Rive then discovered that his authority failed against a
power superior to his own. He must yield, and save at least some
remnants. He hastened therefore to remove the images that still
remained, and to shut them up in secret chambers. The citizens of
Neuchatel allowed him to execute this measure. "Save your gods,"
thought they, "preserve them under strong bars, lest perchance a
robber should deprive you of the objects of your adoration."[1018] By
degrees the tumult died away, the popular torrent returned within its
channel, and a little after, in commemoration of this great day, they
inscribed these words on a pillar of the church:--
L'AN 1530, LE 28 OCTOBRE, FUT OTEE ET ABATTUE L'IDOLATRIE
DE CEANT PAR LES BOURGEOIS.[1019]
[1018] Cur vos sub validissimis clavibus, ingentibusque sub claustris
conservatis, ne forte fur aliquis irreptat? (Arnobius contra gentes,
vi. p. 257.)
[1019] On the 23d of October 1530, idolatry was overthrown and removed
from the church by the citizens.
[Sidenote: PLANS OF THE ROMANISTS.]
An immense revolution had been effected. Doubtless it would have been
better if the images had been taken away and the Gospel substituted in
their place with calmness, as at Zurich; but we must take into
consideration the difficulties that so profound and contested a change
brings with it, and make allowance for the inexperience and excesses
inseparable from a first explosion. He who should see in this
revolution its excesses only, would betray a singularly narrow mind.
It is the Gospel that triumphed on the esplanade of the castle. It was
no longer a few pictures or legends that were to speak to the
imagination of the Neuchatelans: the revelation of Christ and of the
Apostles, as it had been preserved in the Holy Scriptures, was
restored to them. In place of the mysteries, symbols, and miracles of
Popery, the Reformation brought them sublime tenets, powerful
doctrines, holy and eternal truths. Instead of a Mass, void of God,
and filled with human puerilities, it restored to them the Supper of
our Lord Jesus Christ, his invisible yet real and mighty presence, his
promises giving peace to the soul, and his Spirit, which changes the
heart, and is a sure pledge of a glorious resurrection. All is gain in
such an exchange.
VIII. The governor and his trusty friends had not, however, lost all
hope. "It is only a minority," said they at the castle, "which has
taken part in the destruction of the images; the majority of the
nation still obeys the ancient doctrine." M. de Rive had yet to learn
that if, in a popular movement, only the minority appears, it is in
some cases because the majority, being of the same mind with it,
prefers leaving the action to others. However that may be, the
governor, thinking himself upon sure ground, resolved to put the
preservation of the Mass to the vote. If the majority were doubtful,
the combined influence of the government and clergy would make it
incline to the side of Rome. The friends of the Reformation perceiving
this trick, and feeling the necessity of securing the integrity of the
votes, demanded the presence of Bernese commissioners. This was at
first refused. But Neuchatel, divided into two hostile parties, might
at any time see her streets run blood: De Rive therefore called Berne
to his aid.
[Sidenote: THE GOVERNOR'S DIFFICULTIES.]
Anthony Noll and Sulpice Archer, both members of the council, with
Jacques Tribolet, bailiff of the Isle of St. John, all three devoted
to the Reform, made their entry into Neuchatel on the 4th
November,--an eventful day for the principality, and one which would
decide on its reformation. The deputies proceeded to the castle, and
there spoke with haughtiness.[1020] "Their excellencies of Berne,"
said they to the governor, "are much astonished that you should oppose
the true and pure Word of God. Desist immediately, or else your state
and lordship may suffer for it."[1021]
[1020] Trois ambassadeurs qui me tinrent assez gros et rudes propos.
(The Governor to the Princess.)
[1021] Ibid.
George de Rive was amazed; he had thought to summon helpers, and he
had found masters. He made, however, an attempt to escape from the
strait in which he was caught. The Roman-catholic cantons of Lucerne,
Friburg, and Soleure, were also allies of the state. The governor
insinuated to the Bernese deputies, that he might well claim their
intervention. At these words the deputies indignantly arose, and
declared to M. de Rive, that if he did so, he might be the cause of
his sovereign's losing Neuchatel. The governor saw the impossibility
of escaping from the net into which he had fallen. There remained no
alternative but submission, and to watch the current of events which
it was impossible for him to direct.
It was not thus with the canons and the nobles. Not considering
themselves beaten, they surrounded the Bernese; and mingling, as they
always do in similar cases, religion and politics, endeavoured to
shake them. "Do you not see," said they, "that unless we support the
spiritual power, we shall compromise the civil power? The surest
bulwark of the throne is the altar! These men, whose defenders you
have become, are but a handful of mischief-makers: the majority are
for the Mass!"--"Turn which way you like," replied one of the stubborn
Bernese, "even though the majority should be on your side, still you
must go that way; never will our lordships abandon the defenders of
the Evangelical faith."[1022]
[1022] Chambrier, Hist. de Neuchatel, p. 296. (The governor's letter.
Quand bien _le plus_ sera des votres, si passerez vous par là, &c.)
[Sidenote: HATRED AND DIVISION.]
The people assembled at the castle for the definitive vote. The
destiny of Neuchatel was about to be decided. On one hand were crowded
around the governor the privy council, the canons, and the most
zealous of the Romanists; on the other were to be seen the four
aldermen, the town-council, and a great number of the citizens,
gravely ascending the steep avenue leading to the government-house,
and drawing up in front of their adversaries. On both sides there was
the same attachment to the faith they had embraced, the same decision;
but around the canons were many anxious minds, troubled hearts, and
downcast eyes, while the friends of the Reform advanced with uplifted
heads, firm looks, and hearts full of hope.
George de Rive, wishing to gain over their minds, began to address
them. He described the violence with which the Reformed had broken the
images, and thrown down the altars; "And yet," continued he, "who
founded this church? It was the princess's predecessors, and not the
citizens. For which reason, I demand that all those who have violently
infringed our sovereign's authority, be obliged to restore what they
have taken away, so that the holy Mass, and the canonical hours may be
celebrated anew."[1023]
[1023] Choupart MS.; Reces du MM. de Berne.
Upon this the _prudhommes_ of Neuchatel advanced. They were not a
troop of young and giddy persons, as the Papists had pretended; they
were grave citizens, whose liberties were guaranteed, and who had
weighed what they had to say. "By the illumination of the Holy Ghost,"
replied they, "and by the holy doctrines of the Gospel, which are
taught us in the pure Word of God, we will show that the Mass is an
abuse, without any utility, and which conduces much more to the
damnation than to the salvation of souls. And we are ready to prove
that by taking away the altars, we have done nothing that was not
right and acceptable to God."[1024]
[1024] (Ibid.)
[Sidenote: PROPOSED DELAY.]
Thus the two parties met face to face with "great hatred and
division," says the Bernese report. The arbitrators consulted
together. The governor persisted, feeling that this movement would
decide the future. A few votes would suffice for the triumph of Rome,
and he reckoned on gaining them by his assurance. "You should
understand," said he, "that the majority of this town, men and women,
adhere firmly to the ancient faith. The others are hot-headed young
soldiers, vain of their persons, and puffed up with the new
doctrine."[1025]--"Well!" replied the Bernese deputies, "to prevent
all mischief, let us settle this difference by the plurality of
suffrages, in accordance with the treaty of peace made at Bremgarten
between the cantons."
[1025] Devez entendre que la pluspart de cette ville, hommes et
femmes, tiennent fermement à l'ancienne foi. Les autres sont jeunes
gens de guerre, forts de leurs personnes, remplis de la nouvelle
doctrine, ayants le feu à la tête. (Choupart MS.)
[Sidenote: THE ROMANIST PROTEST.]
This was what the Reformed desired. "The vote! the vote!" cried they
according to the expression consecrated to such cases.[1026] But the
lord of Prangins and the priests, who had desired it when they were
alone, shrunk back in the presence of Berne. "We ask for time," said
they. If the Reformed allowed themselves to be cheated by these
dilatory measures, it was all over. When once the Bernese had quitted
Neuchatel, the governor and the clergy would easily have the
upperhand. They therefore remained firm. "No, no!" said they,
"now!--no delay!--not a day! not an hour!" But the governor, in the
face of a proceeding that would decide the legal fall of Popery,
trembled, and obstinately opposed the cries of the people. The
magistrates were already indignant, the burghers murmured, and the
most violent looked at their swords. "They were resolved to compel us,
sword in hand," wrote the governor to the princess. A fresh storm was
gathering over Neuchatel. Yet a few more minutes' resistance, and it
would burst forth upon the church, the town, and the castle,
destroying not only statues, images, and altars, but "there would have
remained dead men," said the lord of Rive.[1027] He gave way in
trouble and affright.
[1026] _Le plus_, the majority.
[1027] The Governor's letter to the Princess.
At the news of this concession, the partisans of Rome saw all their
danger. They confer, they concert their measures, and in an instant
their resolution is taken: they are resolved to fight.[1028] "My
lord," said they, turning to M. de Rive, and touching the hilt of
their swords, "all of us who adhere to the holy Sacrament are resolved
to die martyrs for our holy faith."[1029] This demonstration did not
escape the notice of the young soldiers who had returned from the
Genevese war. One minute more and the swords would have been drawn,
and the platform changed into a battlefield.
[1028] Ibid.
[1029] Ibid.
Monseigneur de Prangins, more wily than orthodox, shuddered at the
thought. "I cannot suffer it," said he to the most violent of his
party; "such an enterprise would forfeit my mistress's state and
lordship."[1030]--"I consent," said he to the Bernese, "to take the
votes, with reserve nevertheless of the sovereignty, rights, and
lordship of Madame."--"And we," replied the townspeople, "with the
reserve of our liberties and privileges."
[1030] Ibid.
The Romanists, seeing the political power they had invoked now failing
them, felt that all was lost. They will save their honour at least in
this great shipwreck; they will subscribe their names, that posterity
may know who had remained faithful to Rome. These proud supporters of
the hierarchy advance towards the governor; tears course down their
rough cheeks, betraying thus their stifled anger. They write their
signatures as witnesses at the foot of the solemn testament that
Popery is now drawing up in Neuchatel, in the presence of the Bernese
deputies. They then added, with tears in their eyes, "that the names
and surnames of the good and of the perverse had been written in
perpetual memory, and declared that they were still good and faithful
burghers of Madame, and would do her service unto death."[1031]
[1031] Alors iceux dirent en pleurant que les noms et les surnoms. des
bons et des pervers fussent écrits en perpétuelle mémoire, et qu'ils
protestoient être bons et fidèles bourgeois de Madame, et lui faire
service jusqu' à la mort.
[Sidenote: MAJORITY FOR REFORM.]
The reformed townspeople were convinced that it was only by frankly
bearing testimony to their religious convictions that they could
discharge their debt before God, their sovereign, and their
fellow-citizens. So that the Catholics had scarcely protested their
fidelity towards their lady, when, turning towards the governor, the
Reformed cried out: "We say the same in every other thing in which it
shall please our Mistress to command us, save and except the
Evangelical faith, in which we will live and die."[1032]
[1032] Governor's letter. Nous disons le semblable en toute autre
chose où il plaira à Madame nous commander, sauf et reserve icelle foi
évangelique, dans laquelle nous voulons vivre et mourir.
Everything was then prepared for taking the votes. The church of our
lady was opened, and the two parties advanced between the shattered
altars, torn pictures, mutilated statues, and all those ruins of
Popery, which clearly foretold to its partisans the last and
irrevocable defeat it was about to undergo. The three Lords of Berne
took their station beside the governor as arbitrators of the
proceedings and presidents of the assembly, and the voting began.
George de Rive, notwithstanding the despondency of his friends, was
not altogether without hope. All the partisans of the ancient worship
in Neuchatel had been forewarned; and but a few days previously the
Reformed themselves, by refusing the voting, had acknowledged the
numerical superiority of their adversaries. But the friends of the
Gospel in Neuchatel had a courage and a hope that seemed to repose on
a firmer basis. Were they not the victorious party, and could they be
vanquished in the midst of their triumph?
[Sidenote: PROTESTANTISM PERPETUAL.]
The two parties, however, moved forward, confounded one with the
other, and each man gave his vote in silence. They counted each other:
the result appeared uncertain; fear froze each party by turns. At
length the majority seemed to declare itself;--they took out the
votes,--the result was proclaimed. A majority of eighteen voices gave
the victory to the Reformation, and the last blow to the Papacy!
The Bernese lords immediately hastened to profit by this advantage.
"Live henceforth," said they, "in good understanding with one another;
let the Mass be no longer celebrated; let no injury be done to the
priests; and pay to your Lady, or to whomsoever they may be justly
due, all tithes, quit-rent, cense, and revenues." These different
points were proclaimed by the assembly, and a report was immediately
drawn up, to which the deputies, the governors, and the magistrates of
the city of Neuchatel affixed their respective seals.[1033]
[1033] Reces de MM. de Berne, MS. Et que l'on paie à Madame ou à qui
il sera dû justement dîmes, cens, rentes et revenus.
[Sidenote: THE IMAGE OF ST. JOHN.]
Farel did not appear in all this business: one might have said that
the reformer was not at Neuchatel: the citizens appealed only to the
Word of God; and the governor himself, in his long report to the
princess, does not once mention him. It was the Apostles of our Lord,
St. Peter, St. John, St. Paul, and St. James, who by their divine
writings re-established the true foundations of the Church in the
midst of the people of Neuchatel. The Word of God was the law of the
prudhommes of Neuchatel. In vain will the Roman Church say, "But these
very Scriptures,--it is I who give them to you; you cannot therefore
believe in them without believing in me." It is not from the Church of
Rome that the Protestant Church receives the Bible. Protestantism has
always existed in the Church. It has existed alone in every place
where men have been engaged in the study of the Holy Scriptures, of
their divine origin, of their interpretation, and in their
dissemination. The Protestantism of the sixteenth century received the
Bible from the Protestantism of every age. When Rome speaks of the
hierarchy, she is on her own ground: as soon as she speaks of the
Scriptures, she is on ours. If Farel had been put forward in
Neuchatel, he would not perhaps have been able to stand against the
Pope; but the Word of Christ alone was concerned, and Rome must fall
before Jesus.
Thus terminated, by a mutual contract, that day at first so
threatening. If the Reformed had sacrificed any of their convictions
to a false peace, disorder would have been perpetuated in Neuchatel. A
bold manifestation of the truth and the inevitable shocks that
accompanied it, far from destroying society, preserved it. This
manifestation is the wind that lifts the vessel from the rocks and
brings it into the harbour.
The Lord of Prangins felt that, between fellow-citizens, "it is better
to touch one another, even if it be by collision, than to avoid each
other continually." The free explanation that had taken place had
rendered the opposition of the two parties less irritating. "I give my
promise," said the governor, "to undertake nothing against the vote of
this day, for I am myself a witness that it has been honest, upright,
without danger, and without coercion."[1034]
[1034] Ungefährlich, ungezwringen, aufrecht und redlich. (Berne to the
Governor, 17th Dec. 1530.)
It was necessary to dispose of the spoils of the vanquished party: the
governor opened the castle to them. Thither were transported the
relics, the ornaments of the altars, the church papers, and even the
organ; and the Mass, expelled from the city, was there mournfully
chanted every day.
All the ornaments, however, did not take this road. Some days after,
as two citizens, named Fauche and Sauge, were going out together to
their vineyards, they passed a little chapel, in which the latter had
set up a wooden figure of St. John. He said to his companion, "There
is an image I shall heat my stove with to-morrow." And, in fact, as he
returned, he carried away the saint and laid it down in front of his
house.
[Sidenote: A MIRACLE.]
The next morning he took the image and put it on the fire. Immediately
a horrible explosion spread dismay through this humbly family. The
trembling Fauche doubts not that it is a miracle of the saint, and
hastens to return to the Mass. In vain does his neighbour Sauge
protest to him upon oath that, during the night, he had made a hole in
the statue, filled it with gunpowder, and closed it up again. Fauche
will listen to nothing, and resolves to flee from the vengeance of the
saints. He went and settled with his family at Morteau in Franche
Comté.[1035] Such are the miracles upon which the divinity of Rome
reposes!
[1035] Boyve Annals, MS.
By degrees everything became settled: some of the canons, as Jacques
Baillod, William de Pury, and Benedict Chambrier, embraced the
Reformation. Others were recommended by the governor to the priory of
Motiers, in the Val de Travers; and, in the middle of November, at the
time when the winds begin to rage among the mountains, several canons,
surrounded by a few singing-boys,--sad relics of the ancient,
powerful, rich, voluptuous, and haughty chapter of Neuchatel,
painfully climbed up the gorges of the Jura, and went to conceal in
these lofty and picturesque valleys the disgrace of a defeat, which
their long disorders and their insupportable tyranny had but too
justly provoked.
[Sidenote: POPERY AND THE GOSPEL.]
During this time the new worship was organized. In room of the
high-altar were substituted two marble tables to receive the bread and
wine; and the Word of God was preached from a pulpit stripped of every
ornament. The pre-eminence of the Word, which characterizes the
Evangelical worship, replaced in the church of Neuchatel the
preeminence of the sacrament, which characterizes Popery. Towards the
end of the second century, Rome, that ancient metropolis of all
religions, after having welcomed the Christian worship in its
primitive purity, had gradually transformed it into mysteries; a magic
power had been ascribed to certain forms; and the reign of the
sacrifice offered by the priest had succeeded to the reign of the Word
of God. The preaching of Farel had restored the Word to the rights
which belong to it; and those vaulted roofs, which the piety of Count
Ulric II. had, on his return from Jerusalem, dedicated to the worship
of the Virgin, served at last, after four centuries, to nourish the
faithful, as in the time of the Apostles, "in the words of faith and
of good doctrine."[1036]
[1036] 1 Tim. iv. 6.
IX. The convention, drawn up under the mediation of Berne, stipulated
that "the change should take place only in the city and parish of
Neuchatel." Must the rest of the country remain in darkness? This was
not Farel's wish, and the zeal of the citizens, in its first fervour,
effectually seconded him. They visited the surrounding villages,
exhorting some, combating others. Those who were compelled to labour
with their hands during the day went thither at night. "Now, I am
informed," writes the governor to the princess, "that they are working
at a reformation night and day."
George de Rive, in alarm, convoked the magistrates of all the
districts in the earldom. These good folks believed that their
consciences, as well as their places, depended upon Madame de
Longueville. Affrighted at the thought of freely receiving a new
conviction from the Word of God, they were quite ready to accept it
from the countess as they would a new impost. A sad helotism, in which
religion springs from the soil, instead of descending from heaven! "We
desire to live and die under the protection of our lady," said the
magistrates to the Lord of Rive, "without changing the ancient faith,
_until it be so ordered by her_."[1037] Rome, even after her fall,
could not receive a deeper insult.
[1037] Choupart MS. Nous voulons vivre et mourir sous la protection de
Madame, sans changer l'ancienne foi, _jusqu' à ce que par elle en soit
ordonné_.
[Sidenote: FAILURE OF THE PLOT.]
These assurances of fidelity and the absence of the Bernese restored
De Rive's confidence, and he secretly prepared a reaction among the
nobles and the lower classes. There is in every historical
catastrophe, in the fall of great establishments, and in the spectacle
of their ruins, something which excites and improves the mind. This
was what happened at the period in question. Some were more zealous
for Popery after its fall than in its day of power. The priests
gliding into the houses said Mass to a few friends mysteriously called
together around a temporary altar. If a child was born, the priest
noiselessly arrived, breathed on the infant, made the sign of the
cross on its forehead and breast, and baptized it according to the
Roman ritual.[1038] Thus they were rebuilding in secret what had been
overthrown in the light of day. At length a counter-revolution was
agreed upon; and Christmas day was selected for the restoration of
Roman-catholicism. While the Christians' songs of joy should be rising
to heaven, the partisans of Rome were to rush into the church, expel
the heretical assembly, overthrow the pulpit and the holy table,
restore the images, and celebrate the Mass in triumph. Such was the
plan of the Neuchatelan vespers.[1039]
[1038] Berne to Neuchatel, 17th December.
[1039] Berne to the Governor, 23d December.
The plot got wind. Deputies from Berne arrived at Neuchatel on the
very eve of the festival. "You must see to this," said they to the
governor: "if the Reformed are attacked, we, their co-burghers, will
protect them with all our power." The conspirators laid down their
arms, and the Christmas hymns were not disturbed.
This signal deliverance augmented the devotion and zeal of the friends
of the Gospel. Already Emer Beynon of Serrière, where Farel had one
day landed from a small boat, ascending the pulpit, had said to his
parishioners: "If I have been a good priest, I desire by the grace of
God to be a still better pastor." It was necessary for these words to
be heard from every pulpit. Farel recommenced a career of labours,
fatigues, and struggles, which the actions of the apostles and
missionaries alone can equal.
[Sidenote: FAREL'S LABOURS.]
Towards the end of the year 1530, he crossed the mountain in the
middle of winter, entered the church of Valangin, went into the
pulpit, and began to preach at the very moment that Guillemette de
Vergy was coming to Mass. She endeavoured to shut the reformer's
mouth, but in vain, and the aged and noble dowager retired
precipitately, saying: "I do not think this is according to the old
Gospels; if there are any new ones that encourage this, I am quite
amazed."[1040] The people of Valangin embraced the Gospel. The
affrighted lieutenant ran to Neuchatel, thence to Berne, and on the
11th February 1521 laid his complaint before the council; but all was
useless. "Why," said their excellencies of Berne to him, "why should
you disturb the water of the river? let it flow freely on."
[1040] Chambrier, Hist. de Neuchatel et Valangin, p. 299. Je ne crois
pas que ce soit selon les vieux évangiles; s'il y en a de nouveaux qui
fassent cela faire, j'en suis esbahie.
Farel immediately turned to the parishes on the slopes between the
lake and Mount Jura. At Corcelles a fanatic crowd, well armed and led
on by the curate of Neuchatel, rushed into the church where the
minister was preaching, and he did not escape without a wound. At
Bevay, the abbot John of Livron and his monks collected a numerous
body of friends, surrounded the church, and having thus completed the
blockade, entered the building, dragged the minister from the pulpit,
and drove him out with blows and insults. Each time he reappeared,
they pursued him as far as Auvernier with stones and gunshots.
[Sidenote: THE PASTOR MARCOURT.]
While Farel was thus preaching in the plain, he sent one of his
brethren into the valley; it was John de Bély, a man of good family
from Crest in Dauphiny. Beyond Valangin, at a little distance from
Fontaine, on the left side of the road to Cernier, was a stone that
remains to this day. It was here in the open air, as if in a
magnificent temple, that this herald of the Gospel began to proclaim
salvation by grace.[1041] Before him stretched the declivity of
Chaumont, dotted with the pretty villages of Fenin, Villars, Sole, and
Savagnier, and beyond, where the mountains fell away, might be seen
the distant and picturesque chain of the Alps. The most zealous of
his hearers entreated him to enter the church. He did so; but suddenly
the priest and his curate "arrived with great noise." They proceeded
to the pulpit, dragged Bély down; and then turning to the women and
young persons of the place, "excited them to beat him and drive him
away."[1042]
[1041] It does not appear that Bély could have stood and preached on
this stone, as is generally said, unless what now remains is but a
fragment of the original.
[1042] MS. AA. in the Choupart MS.
John de Bély returned to Neuchatel, hooted and bruised, like his
friend after the affair at Valangin; but these evangelists followed
the traces of the Apostle Paul, whom neither whips nor scourges could
arrest.[1043] De Bély often returned to Fontaine. The Mass was
abolished erelong in this village; Bély was its pastor for
twenty-seven years; his descendants have more than once exercised the
ministry there, and now they form the most numerous family of
agriculturists in the place.
[1043] 2 Cor. xi. 24, 25.
Farel, after evangelizing the shores of the lake to the south of
Neuchatel, had gone to the north and preached at St. Blaise. The
populace, stirred up by the priests and the lieutenant, had fallen
upon him, and Farel escaped from their hands, severely beaten,
spitting blood, and scarcely recognisable. His friends had thrown him
hurriedly into a boat, and conveyed him to Morat, where his wounds
detained him for some time.[1044]
[1044] De Perrot: L'Eglise et la Réformation, ii. p. 233.
At the report of this violence the reformed Neuchatelans felt their
blood boil. If the lieutenant, the priest, and his flock have bruised
the body of Christ's servant, which is truly the altar of the living
God, why should they spare dead idols? Immediately they rush to St.
Blaise, throw down the images, and do the same at the abbey of
Fontaine-André,--a sanctuary of the ancient worship.
[Sidenote: DISGRACEFUL EXPEDIENT.]
The images still existed at Valangin, but their last hour was about to
strike. A Frenchman, Anthony Marcourt, had been nominated pastor of
Neuchatel. Treading in Farel's footsteps, he repaired with a few of
the citizens to Valangin on the 14th June, a great holiday in that
town.[1045] Scarcely had they arrived when a numerous crowd pressed
around the minister, listening to his words. The canons, who were on
the watch in their houses, and Madame de Vergy and M. de Bellegarde
from their towers, sought how they could make a diversion against this
heretical preaching? They could not employ force because of Berne.
They had recourse to a brutal expedient, worthy of the darkest days of
Popery, and which, by insulting the minister, might divert (they
imagined) the attention of the people, and change it into shouts and
laughter. A canon,[1046] assisted by the countess's coachman, went to
the stables and took thence two animals, which they led to the spot
where Marcourt was preaching. We will throw a veil over this scene: it
is one of those disgraceful subjects which the pen of history refuses
to transcribe.[1047] But never did punishment follow closer upon
crime. The conscience of the hearers was aroused at the sight of this
infamous spectacle. The torrent, that such a proceeding was intended
to check, rushed out of its channel. The indignant people, undertaking
the defence of that religion which their opponents had wished to
insult, entered the church like an avenging wave; the ancient windows
were broken, the shields of the lords were demolished, the relics
scattered about, the books torn, the images thrown down, and the altar
overturned. But this was not enough: the popular wave, after sweeping
out the church, flowed back again, and dashed against the canons'
houses. Their inhabitants fled in consternation into the forests, and
everything was destroyed in their dwellings.
[1045] This incident is generally attributed to Farel, but Choupart,
following an older manuscript, says, _le ministre de Neuchatel_, by
which title he always means Marcourt, and never Farel.
[1046] Some historians say "the coachman of the countess;" but
Choupart, on three different occasions, writes _a canon_. The latter
is no doubt more revolting; but there is nothing incredible in it.
[1047] De equo admissario loquitur qui equam init.
[Sidenote: THE REFORM ESTABLISHED.]
Guillemette de Vergy and M. de Bellegarde, agitated and trembling
behind their battlements, repenting, but too late, of their monstrous
expedient, are the only ones who have not yet suffered the popular
vengeance. Their restless eyes watch the motions of the indignant
townspeople. The work is completed! the last house is sacked! The
burghers consult together.--O horror!--they turn towards the
castle,--they ascend the hill,--they draw near. Is then the abode of
the noble counts of Arberg about to be laid waste? But no!--"We come,"
said the delegates standing near the gate of the castle, "we are come
to demand justice for the outrage committed against religion and its
minister." They are permitted to enter, and the trembling countess
orders the poor wretches to be punished who had acted solely by her
orders. But at the same time she sends deputies to Berne, complaining
of the "great insults that had been offered her."[1048] Berne declared
that the Reformed should pay for the damage; but that the countess
should grant them the free exercise of their worship. Jacques Veluzat,
a native of Champagne, was the first pastor of Valangin. A little
later we shall see new struggles at the foot of Mount Jura.
[1048] Curate of Bezancenet's chronicle. Des grands vitupères qu'on
lui avait faits.
Thus was the Reformation established at Valangin, as it had been at
Neuchatel: the two capitals of these mountains were gained to the
Gospel. Erelong it received a legal sanction. Francis, Marquis of
Rothelin, son of the Duchess of Longueville, arrived in the
principality in March, 1581, with the intention of playing on this
small theatre the part of a Francis I. But he soon found out that
there are revolutions which an irresistible hand has accomplished, and
that must be submitted to. Rothelin excluded from the estates of the
earldom the canons who had hitherto formed the first power, and
replaced them by four bannerets and four burgesses. Then, availing
himself of the principle that all abandoned property falls to the
state, he laid his hands upon their rich heritage, and proclaimed
freedom of conscience throughout all the country. All the necessary
forms having been observed with Madame, the politic M. de Rive became
reformed also. Such was the support Rome received from the State, to
which she had looked for her deliverance.
[Sidenote: GATHERING TEMPEST.]
A great energy characterized the Reformation of French Switzerland;
and this is shown by the events we have just witnessed. Men have
attributed to Farel this distinctive feature of his work; but no man
has ever created his own times; it is always, on the contrary, the
times that create the man. The greater the epoch, the less do
individualities prevail in it. All the good contained in the events we
have just related came from that Almighty Spirit, of which the
strongest men are but weak instruments. All the evil proceeded from
the character of the people; and, indeed, it was almost always Popery
that began these scenes of violence: Farel submitted to the influence
of his time, rather than the time received his. A great man may be the
personification and the type of the epoch for which God destines him:
he is never its creator.
But it is time to quit the Jura and its beautiful valleys, brightened
by the vernal sun, to direct our step towards the Alps of German
Switzerland, along which thick clouds and horrible tempests are
beginning to gather. The free and courageous people, who dwell below
the eternal glaciers, or on the smiling banks of the lakes, daily
assume a fiercer aspect, and the collision threatens to be sudden,
violent, and terrible. We have just been witnessing a glorious
conquest: a dreadful catastrophe awaits us.