PREPARATION FOR A PUBLIC DISPUTATION AT GENEVA.
(FROM APRIL TO WHITSUNTIDE, 1535.)
[Sidenote: THE TEN PROPOSITIONS.]
Jacques Bernard and the Reformers had a meeting for the purpose of
drawing up their propositions. The justifying power of faith was to hold
the first place, for, according to the Gospel, man must, before
everything, condemn the selfish existence he has lived until the moment
of his awakening, and place all his confidence in the redemption
accomplished by Jesus Christ alone. The theses drawn up by the Reformers
were as follows:—
I. _Man must seek justification for his sins in Jesus Christ_
ALONE.[509]
II. _Religious worship must be paid to God_ ALONE.
III. _The constitution of the Church must be regulated by the Word of
God_ ALONE.
IV. _The atonement for sins must be ascribed to Christ's sacrifice,
offered up_ ONCE, _and which procures full and entire remission_.
V. _We must acknowledge_ ONE ONLY _Mediator between God and man—Jesus
Christ_.
The fault of Rome had been to add to the Gospel many strange dogmas and
ceremonies, and place them above the primitive edifice, stage after
stage, pile after pile, thus crushing it: this is indeed the proper
meaning conveyed by the word superstition. The Reformers aspired to pull
down this framework, and liberate Christian truth from all the fables by
which it was disfigured. Hence, as we see, the word _alone_ plays a
great part in this disputation. Its object was to exclude all human
additions and to exalt God alone, Christ alone, the Gospel alone. These
propositions, however, did not entirely satisfy Farel. In his opinion it
was necessary, after laying down truths, to point out errors. Five
negative theses were, therefore, added to the five positive theses:—
VI. _It is wrong to put our trust in good works and look for our
justification in them._
VII. _To worship saints and images is to be guilty of idolatry._
VIII. _Hence our traditions and ecclesiastical (or rather Roman)
constitutions are not only useless but pernicious._
IX. _The sacrifice of the mass, and prayers to the dead or for them, are
a sin against the Word of God, and men are wrong to look to them for
salvation._
X. _The intercession of saints was introduced into the Church by the
authority of men and not of God._
These propositions seem to us now mere theological formulæ: they were
more than that. There was the true spirit in them. 'There are different
ways of speaking,' said the friend[510] to whom Farel wrote an account
of this disputation; 'the roaring of a lion is different from the
braying of an ass.' There was indeed in these theses, destined to throw
down a whole world of errors, the formidable 'roaring of a lion.'
On the 23d of April Jacques Bernard went to the hôtel-de-ville and
presented his propositions to the council, who authorized him to defend
them, and desired him to inform the members of the chapter of St. Pierre
and other priests, monks, and doctors.[511] At Constance, freedom of
discussion had been suppressed; and that assembly, therefore, had
produced no other light than the flames of the scaffold. It was not thus
that the Reformation was to advance. 'Let the truth appear and triumph!'
The theses were immediately distributed in all the churches and
monasteries of the city. No worshipper crossed the threshold of the
sanctuary without receiving one of the printed handbills. The superior
of the Franciscans waited personally upon the canons and presented each
of them with a copy of the propositions. He gave them to every member of
the government, lay and clerical: there was no shop or refectory in
which the ten propositions were not read and commented upon. They were
posted on the church doors and in the public places, not only in Geneva,
but in the allied and neighboring cities. They were even sent to
gentlemen at their châteaux. In its very infancy, the Reformation
proclaimed and practised the widest publicity. The trumpet sounded in
every quarter of the city, and the herald announced that a discussion
would take place on the 30th of May in the great hall of the Cordeliers
of Rive, and that scholars of all classes, Genevese or foreigners,
clerks or laymen, were invited with full liberty of speaking, and the
offer of a safe-conduct. 'Ah!' said Froment, one of the champions, 'if
such a license were given by every prince, the business would be soon
settled, without burning so many poor Christians. But the pope and his
cardinals forbid all discussion of this or that, except it be with fire
and sword: a fashion they have learnt no doubt from the Grand
Seignor.'[512]
[Sidenote: ALARM OF THE PAPISTS.]
The remark was but too true. The news of the discussion had no sooner
reached the bishop than a feeling of horror came over him. 'What!' he
said, 'convoke a council in my own city! nobody has the right to do it
but myself.' And he immediately published throughout his diocese a
proclamation 'forbidding the faithful to be present at the assembly
under pain of excommunication.' The duke of Savoy also forbade his
subjects to attend it, and the Franciscans, at that time assembled in
general chapter at Grenoble, having received the invitation, declared
they would not come.[513] There were, no doubt, capable men among them;
but to discuss the truths taught by the Church was, in their eyes,
aiming a blow at its authority. The result was a universal silence on
the part of the priests. They were very clever in making the most of
miraculous appearances, of dead children restored to life; but of
discussion, not a word. One or two fervent Catholics would, however,
have willingly broken a lance with Farel, but the orders of their chiefs
held them back. The army of the pope, summoned by the voice of the
trumpet, was wanting on the day of combat.
Still Roman-catholicism did something. Monsignor de Bonmont went to the
council on the 25th of May, and begged the syndics to take part in a
torchlight procession and other ceremonies which were to take place on
the 27th of the month, the festival of Corpus Christi. That procession,
however brilliant it might be, was very displeasing to the zealous
Reformers: they did not like that the Word of God should be supplanted
by millinery, lace, and all the empty glitter which dazzles the eye in
sacerdotal costumes. The answer of the council was judicious: 'We have
appointed a discussion,' said the premier syndic to the vicar-episcopal;
'that will decide whether the procession is holy or not. Wait a little,
then; if the conference is in favor of the procession, it shall be
proclaimed with sound of trumpet.'[514]
At the same time the council resolved to send a deputation to all the
convents to invite the monks, who answered, 'We have no learned men
among us; it is impossible for us to take part in the discussion.'[515]
One convent, however, displayed resolution: it was that of the nuns of
Ste. Claire. The mother-vicar, Mademoiselle de Montluet de Château-Fort,
a woman of warm and fiery temperament, answered the invitation: 'Begone!
you are wicked people who want to vex the servants of God.' The deputies
replied, 'It is said, madam, that certain of your nuns remain only by
force under your instruction, and would like to hear the voice of the
Good Shepherd.'... At these words the mother-vicar burst out. 'Satan has
no part among us,' she cried; and turning towards the nuns, added, 'My
sisters, speak, speak!' Almost all exclaimed at the top of their voices,
'We will live and die in our holy calling.' The clamor was so great that
the deputies could not make themselves heard. 'Do not be afraid,
gentlemen,' said the mother, 'this is nothing. You will hear something
very different if you take us to your _synagogue_. When we are there, we
will make such an uproar, that we shall remain mistresses of the place.'
'Dame vicar,' said a deputy, 'you are very arrogant.' Thereupon the
gentlemen retired, acknowledging however that they had not witnessed
such courage in the convents of the monks.[516]
Farel, who was distressed at seeing the priests of Geneva refuse the
discussion, would have supplied their place by distinguished athletes
belonging to one party or the other. He wrote to Lefèvre of Etaples, the
celebrated doctor of the Sorbonne, and invited him to the combat in
which liberty and truth were about to engage in Geneva.[517] The aged
and venerable doctor shed tears, and returned thanks to God for what he
heard.[518] But he was too old to take part in a disputation; perhaps,
too, his faith was not bold enough; he declined the invitation. Farel
turned his eyes in another direction. A chapter of the order of St.
Francis was at that time sitting at Lyons, its president being Pierre de
Corne, or _de Cornibus_, the most intrepid adversary of the heretics,
the butt of Rabelais' jests and of some unbelieving worldlings, but
highly extolled by the devout, and especially by Loyola's friend,
Francis Xavier. Farel pressed De Cornibus to come to Geneva; the
reformer could not give a plainer proof of the seriousness of his
intentions and the impartiality of the discussion. 'I am quite ready to
break a lance in Geneva,' wrote De Cornibus. The council were highly
delighted with this answer, and prepared to receive the warlike doctor
with great honor. But all of a sudden De Cornibus informed them that he
could not come.
If the combatants were not to be very numerous, the spectators at least
were crowding in from all sides—men and women, great and small.
Everybody wanted to see and hear, but nobody was willing to speak. The
reformers were in despair, lest the dialogue should be turned into a
monologue, and instead of a grand combat, one army alone should appear
on the field of battle.[519]
[Sidenote: CAROLI AT GENEVA.]
An unexpected help now appeared. A doctor of the Sorbonne, named Caroli,
arrived in Geneva and declared himself ready to dispute. Possessing
insupportable vanity, tossing his head as he walked along the street,
assuming a haughty and impudent air with everybody, the Parisian doctor
made a great stir, talked incessantly, aped the gentleman, and boasted
loudly. Much taken up with himself, he sought marks of honor, and to
obtain them employed cunning, artifice, and intrigue. He represented
himself to be, or allowed others to call him, _bishop_. 'Have you
heard,' said the citizens, 'that a bishop has arrived from France?'[520]
Everybody thought that Farel had found his man at last. But the
reformer, who had known him long, shook his head. The foolish admiration
which Caroli felt for his own person had drawn upon him the contempt of
those who were not to be deceived by his braggadocio. The reformer knew
that he was fluent of tongue, but was without firm principle,
uprightness, or solid character, and that his sole desire was to make a
name—whether in the Roman or in the evangelical camp mattered little to
him. He was known to unite and to quarrel with everybody in turn. He was
neither catholic nor reformer, but simply Caroli. As skilful as the
famous Beda in the tricks of sophistry, he had disputed in Paris with
that illustrious champion; and the Sorbonne having interdicted him,
Margaret of Valois looked upon him as a victim of the Gospel, and gave
him the living of Alençon. He had come from that city to Geneva, where
nobody had expected or wanted him.[521] It was rumored abroad that there
would be a great stir in the city; and Caroli, who had 'a keen scent'
(to use the words of a contemporary), thought that Geneva would be a
theatre where he might display his profound learning and fine voice, and
gather fresh laurels to adorn his brow. There was only one point about
which he still hesitated: should he take the side of Rome or of the
Reformation?
[Sidenote: FAREL REBUKES CAROLI.]
Farel liked not those ambiguous characters who hoist one flag or another
according to the place they may be at. Catholic at Paris, Erasmian at
Alençon, Caroli would probably be a reformer at Geneva. Farel went to
his inn, where he found him at breakfast. Entering upon business
immediately, the reformer said to him frankly: 'You are driven from
France for the faith, you say; certainly you have not deserved it, for
you have done nothing that was unworthy of the pope or worthy of Jesus
Christ.'[522] The doctor of the Sorbonne, offended by such words, held
his tongue and continued his meal. 'The song I sang him while he was at
breakfast,' said Farel, 'did not seem to please him much.'[523] 'Are you
willing now,' resumed Farel, 'to confess the truth openly, as God
requires, and to repair the evil that you have done by your
dissimulation?' The Parisian doctor cleverly turned the conversation and
began to parade a great zeal for the poor. 'I am going to send my
servant back to France,' he said, 'to receive the money from my
benefices, and I shall distribute it among your poor refugees.' Farel
remembered how certain monks in Paris had made a great display about a
collection in favor of the poor, not a penny of which had the latter
ever seen. 'God,' he said, 'will never fail either the poor or us. Let
us now give the bread of the Word to men's souls,' and left him. Several
days elapsed. Caroli compensated himself for the humiliation Farel had
inflicted upon him by representing himself everywhere as one of the
greatest orators of France; and accordingly all the Genevans wanted to
hear him. 'Let us put him to the test,' said Farel, who asked him to
preach. But Caroli, no doubt fearing the proof, urged a thousand excuses
to get off. 'Your sermons charm me,' he said to Farel, 'and I cannot
persuade myself not to hear them.'[524]
This braggart priest, who pretended to support the refugees, was living
upon them, extorting their money, wine, and other things. 'Our master,'
said one of them to Farel, 'behaves very theologically: he uses wine
magisterially, and even Sorbonically.' The reputation of certain doctors
of the Sorbonne was established on that point. 'He has women to make his
bed,' they added, 'to pull off his stockings, and even for other
familiarities.'[525] The wretched man imagined that, coming into a
country which rejected the law of the pope, he could throw off the law
of God. Farel, assured of the truth of these reports, visited this vain
and impure priest, spoke to him of his dissolute life, reminded him of
the judgment of the Lord, and entreated him to change his conduct. Farel
spoke with so much authority, that all who were present were struck with
it. The Sorbonne doctor was confounded: he hid his face in his hands,
and did not open his mouth. From that time he behaved more prudently,
and did nothing (openly, at least) that could be charged against him. He
had his reasons for not quarrelling with the reformers.
Jacques Bernard, who had but recently thrown off the cowl, was not so
clear-sighted as Farel; Caroli tried, therefore, to throw dust into his
eyes. He hinted that, as a doctor of the Sorbonne of Paris, celebrated
by former struggles with the most illustrious doctors, he was well
qualified to be appointed arbiter in the disputation, and invited to
pronounce authoritatively the final judgment.[526] Thus, becoming umpire
between Geneva and Rome, he already fancied himself the most important
person of Christendom. The simple-minded Bernard, circumvented by the
artifices of the wily Frenchman, consented to make the strange
proposition to Farel.—'No,' at once answered the reformer; 'it is to God
and to Holy Scripture that we must pay supreme honor. We do not want men
as judges of our controversy: the Lord is the only judge, who will
decide authoritatively by the Scriptures. That presumptuous man would
only seek his own glorification in the dispute.' The magistrates
supported this opinion.
[Sidenote: THE DEBATE PROCLAIMED.]
In fact, the council, finding itself between two confessions—one coming,
and one departing—regarded itself as mediator, and wished to see which
was right or wrong; then, if there were cause, to do as certain good
kings of Israel and Judah had done—'extirpate the idolatry of their
people.'[527] Placed at the head of the republic, the magistracy did not
understand that religious matters, so important at that period, were not
within its jurisdiction; and even when the question was decided somewhat
later, when the firm Calvin was established at Geneva, the State
continued to hold under its jurisdiction all matters which are
considered in this day as belonging to the Church. The council,
therefore, nominated eight commissioners, empowered to regulate the
discussion, and chose them from among the most respected leaders of the
people: four belonged to the catholic party,[528] and four to the
reformed opinions;[529] all of them had been syndics. The council,
moreover, named four secretaries, belonging to the two parties, and
instructed them to draw up the minutes. The discussion was proclaimed by
sound of trumpet, and it was published everywhere, that the disputation
would be entirely free. Then, fearing lest the enemy should take
advantage of the opportunity to attack Geneva, the syndics bade the
captain-general 'keep careful watch and ward at the gates, towers, and
ramparts, and prevent any disturbance taking place in the city.'[530]
[509] 'Justificationem a peccatis in _solo_ Christo quærendam.'—Theses
Genev.
[510] Calvin.
[511] Registres du Conseil du 23 Avril 1535.—Chron. MSC. de Roset.
[512] Froment, _Gestes de Genève_, pp. 137, 138.
[513] Froment, _Gestes de Genève_, p. 138. Jeanne de Jussie,
_Commencement de l'Hérésie dans Genève_, p. 112.
[514] Registres du Conseil des 25 et 26 Mai 1535.
[515] Registres du Conseil du 29 Mai 1535.
[516] Jeanne de Jussie, _Commencement de l'Hérésie dans Genève_, p. 117,
&c.
[517] 'Cupiebam habere pium Stapulensem.'—Farel's Letter to Calvin,
_Epist. Calv._, p. 76.
[518] 'Non sine lacrymis audiebat.'—Farel's Letter to Calvin, _Epist.
Calv._, p. 76.
[519] Froment, _Gestes de Genève_, p. 140.—Registres du Conseil des 26
et 29 Mai 1535.
[520] 'Dicebant omnes episcopum Gallicum venisse.'—Farel's Letter to
Calvin, _Epist. Calv._, p. 76.
[521] 'Venit Genevam neque expectatus neque expetitus.'—_Ibid._
[522] 'Cum nihil egisset pontifice indignum nec Christo dignum.'—Farel
to Calvin, _Epist. Calv._
[523] 'Non fuit satis grata Carolo hæc cantio quæ in prandio
canebatur.'—_Ibid._
[524] 'Se rapi concionibus nostris.'—_Ibid._
[525] 'Habere quæ lectum ejus sternerent, tibialia exuerent, ac
familiarius dormituro adessent.'—Farel to Calvin.
[526] 'Satagebat per Bernardum Carolus ut præsideret in disputatione, et
omnia resolveret.'—_Ibid._
[527] Froment, _Gestes de Genève_, p. 134.
[528] Girardin de la Rive, J. Balard, Cl. Richardet, and Cl. de
Châteauneuf.
[529] Michel Sept, Cl. Savoye, Ami de Chapeaurouge, and Aimé Curtet.
[530] Registres du Conseil du 29 Mai 1535.