CALVIN AT FERRARA.
(WINTER AND SPRING.)
There was in Italy, as we have said in another place,[763] a city in
which the love of letters flourished, and where the Gospel found a firm
support: that city was Ferrara. It was embellished by a university,
bishop's palace, and cathedral; by the castle of the ancient dukes, the
palace of Este; but its fairest ornament was Renée of France. That
princess, daughter of King Louis XII., wife of the duke of Este, was not
more distinguished by the graces of her mind and her learning, than by
the love of holiness which shone in her, like a divine flame, according
to the testimony of one of the most learned Christians of Italy.[764]
For some time she had turned her attention towards heavenly science and
theological studies, and had attracted successively to Ferrara the most
eminent Christians of Italy—Curione, Occhino, Flaminio, and Peter
Martyr. Two young Frenchmen arrived in their turn some time before the
events we have just described. One was called Charles d'Espeville and
the other Louis de Haulmont. They soon made their arrival known to the
duchess, who was expecting them; and Renée, whose heart had remained
French, was happy to possess in her palace two such distinguished
fellow-countrymen. She knew that they had left their homes on account of
that Gospel of Christ which she herself had learnt to love in the
society of her dear cousin, Margaret of Angoulême, the king's sister.
She lodged them in the Palace del Magistrato, situated in the Piazza del
Duomo, and adjoining the castle.[765]
[Sidenote: RENEE AND CALVIN.]
Louis de Haulmont was an amiable young man, pious but timid, still
undecided as to the road he should take, and the victim of fierce
struggles. His companion, Charles d'Espeville, was a man of humble
appearance: his eyes were lively and piercing, his manner serious and
firm, and everything in him indicated a soul of a different stamp from
that of his friend. Haulmont's true name was Louis du Tillet; he was a
canon and archdeacon of Angoulême; Charles d'Espeville was none other
than John Calvin. As these two Frenchmen were about to sojourn in the
states of a prince, a vassal of the pope, they were compelled (says
Muratori) to appear under a false name and in a costume different from
what they usually wore.[766]
Renée, whose compassionate heart had been so often touched by the
recital of the terrible punishments and victorious faith which animated
the evangelicals, could not look upon one of them who had escaped a
dungeon and the scaffold, without experiencing towards him the feelings
of a mother and a sister. 'She was struck with Calvin's fine genius,'
says a catholic historian,[767] and the perfection with which he spoke
and wrote the French language. She presented her two countrymen to the
duke, as men of letters who had come to visit the brilliant Italy: this
was a better claim to the favor of the grandson of Pope Alexander VI.
than their condition as reformers.
Ferrara presented many subjects of interest to Calvin. The duke of Este
liked to play the Medici: Bernard Tasso, a poet not without imagination,
was secretary to the duchess; and his son, the illustrious author of the
'Jerusalem Delivered,' was soon to fill the court of Ferrara with his
genius, his sorrows, his despair and folly, caused (it is supposed) by
his unhappy passion for the beautiful Leonora, daughter of Renée, and
even to expiate by a seven years' captivity in a madhouse the crime of
having loved a granddaughter of Louis XII. and Lucrezia Borgia. Celio
Calcagnini, canon, poet, orator, mathematician, and antiquary, who
guided in the _land of the Muses_ the footsteps of the youthful Anne of
Este, who afterwards became duchess of Guise, and her friend Olympia
Morata, was then also at the court of Este. A year sooner, the author of
'The Institutes of the Christian Religion' might have met the author of
the 'Orlando Furioso;' but the somewhat discordant individualities of
Calvin and Ariosto were not destined to be found side by side.
It was not the men of learning, however, whom the young theologian had
come to see: it was the duchess herself. That princess, who had already
received in France a few rays of evangelical light, did not yet possess
a sufficient knowledge of Christian truth: she felt this, and was
determined to seek above all things peace with God. She therefore had
frequent interviews with Calvin. Holy Scripture was the subject of their
conversation; the reformer explained to Renée one passage by another,
and the light of heaven beaming from all these passages of Holy Writ,
carried brightness and warmth into the princess's heart. The young
doctor spoke with simplicity and modesty, but at the same time with
affection and decision. 'If I address you, madam,' he said, 'it is not
from rashness or presumption, but pure and true affection to make you
prevail in the Lord. When I consider the pre-eminence in which He has
placed you, I think that, as a person of princely rank, you can advance
the kingdom of Jesus Christ.' But even this consideration was not
necessary to arouse the zeal of the evangelist of Noyon. The princess's
noble character and her love for the Gospel touched him deeply. 'I
observe in you,' he added, 'such fear of God, and such a real desire to
obey Him, that I should consider myself a castaway if I neglected the
opportunity of being useful to you.'[768] Calvin was the most profound
and most earnest commentator of Holy Scripture; and Renée embraced with
her whole heart the truths that he proclaimed, so that the reformer was
able to say to her some time later: 'It has pleased God, madam, to
enlighten you with the truth of His holy Gospel. Let us now confess that
if God has withdrawn us from the depths of darkness, it is in order that
we should follow the light straightforwardly, turning neither to this
side nor to that.'[769] The duchess profited by this advice. 'Calvin,'
says Muratori, 'so infected Renée with his errors that it was never
possible to extract from her heart the poison she had drunk.'[770]
[Sidenote: A CHRISTIAN WALK.]
An open Christian walk was difficult at a court where popery and
worldliness ruled together. Hence Renée felt keenly the need of
directions in harmony with the Word of God; and in her difficulties and
agonies, at the times when she was about to faint, 'as if she was sunk
in water almost over her head,' she had recourse to the evangelical
theologian. Calvin then invited her always to walk 'forwards, in order
that the gifts of God might increase in her.' 'The main point,' as he
wrote to her some time after, 'is that the holy doctrine of our Master
should so transform us in mind and heart, that His glory may shine forth
in us by innocence, integrity, and holiness.'[771]
Some of the most illustrious divines of Roman-catholicism have been, in
France and other countries, the directors of princes; but there was a
great difference between them and the reformer. That practical
evangelist, whom Romish controversialists and others have reproached
with speaking of nothing but doctrines, urged the daughter of Louis XII.
to 'seek after _innocence_, _integrity_, and _holiness_.'
The relations of Calvin with the duchess lasted all his life, and they
were always marked with frankness and respect. Touched with a zeal so
Christian and so pure, she loved and honored him, 'as long as he lived,'
says Theodore Beza, 'as an excellent instrument of the Lord.'[772] Even
when he could no longer hold a pen on account of his extreme weakness,
Calvin, borrowing the hand of his brother, wrote to her; and to her were
addressed the last three French epistles of the reformer.[773]
[Sidenote: THE COUNTESS OF MARENNES.]
The duchess of Ferrara was not the only person whom Calvin called at
that time to a Christian life. 'Many others, especially among those
about her person, were _seduced_,' says Muratori; that is to say,
brought over to evangelical truth.[774] These conversions, probably,
must not be ascribed solely to Calvin: some, like Renée, had already
enjoyed a certain knowledge of the Gospel; others were afterwards
strengthened in their faith; but all received something from the young
reformer. Soon after his arrival at the court of Ferrara, Calvin had
remarked a lady of great intelligence and learning, who was one of its
principal ornaments. This was Anne de Parthenay, first lady of honor to
the duchess, and wife of Antoine de Pons, count of Marennes, first
gentleman to the duke. The countess of Marennes was a great musician,
and often sang in the duchess's apartments, where she was admired for
the beauty of her voice.[775] But Anne busied herself with more serious
labors. Not satisfied with studying the Latin authors, she had a taste
for Greek, and 'intrepidly' translated the poets and prose writers.[776]
That eminent woman did more: she read books of divinity, and even took a
particular pleasure in 'discussing almost every day with the theologians
the matters of which they treated.'[777] She therefore talked with
Calvin on these subjects, and before long the pure and living faith of
the reformer gave a new direction to her soul. Hitherto she had been
somewhat of a 'blue-stocking,' but now she 'ceased to have any
confidence in herself,' and sought in the holy books and in her Saviour
the means of quenching the thirst for knowledge and the divine life
which tormented her. From that hour she became a new creature and a
'good huguenot.' She even won over her husband to the convictions that
were dear to herself, and, so long as the countess lived, the latter
showed himself a great lover of virtue and of truth.[778]
Adjoining the hall of Aurora, where Renée and her court usually
assembled, was a chapel adorned by the pencil of Titian. Until now
Calvin had only spoken in the duchess's apartments, and respect
naturally prevented the servants (according to the historians of the
Roman church) 'from inquiring too curiously into what occurred
there.'[779] But ere long Renée began to think that she ought not to
keep for herself only and a few court favorites the words of life and
light which fell from the lips of the French divine. While listening to
them, she had felt the bitterness of sin and the fear of God's
judgments; but she had at the same time tasted the sweets of pardon and
eternal life. Ought not others to enjoy them also? Should she prevent
those from entering who desired to enter?
Calvin was ready. Renée invited him to preach in Titian's chapel. Had he
not preached in the catholic churches of Noyon, Angoumois, and Poitou?
The duchess threw open the doors of that service to all who desired to
take part in it. The count of Marennes and his wife, the youthful Jean
de Parthenay, seigneur of Soubise and brother to the countess, with
other members of that family, the count of Mirambeau, Anne of
Beauregard, Clement Marot, and Leon Jamet, the ex-clerk of finance, who
had fled from Paris after the affair of the Placards—were all present at
these meetings.
The charms which French people found in a French service might excuse
these assemblies in the eyes of the duke of Este. But they were soon
joined by learned Italians, friends of the Gospel, and among others by
Giovanni Sinapi and his brother, as well as by the pious, sprightly, and
beautiful Francesca Baciro, whom Giovanni Sinapi married two years
later.[780] At this epoch so glorious for Italy, when Curione taught at
Pavia, protected by the admiration of his hearers; when Aonio Paleario
at Sienna glorified Jesus Christ, 'the king of every people;' when
Mollio at Bologna commented on the Epistles of Saint Paul to the great
scandal of the pope; when Juan Valdes, Peter Martyr, and Occhino filled
Naples with the Gospel; when Christ's truth seemed to be gliding even
into Rome itself, a Frenchman, under the patronage of a French princess,
was announcing in Ferrara the same Gospel, but with a voice even more
distinct. What a future for Italy, if Rome had not extinguished these
lights! There was gathered around the preacher a serious and friendly
audience in the chapel of the castle of Ferrara.
Calvin, full of the truths he had just set forth in his _Institutes_,
'put forward that Word of the Lord whose majesty by a holy violence
constrains souls to obey it,' and showed that this 'Gospel, whose
smallness many folks despised, as if it crouched at their feet, so far
surpassed the range of the human mind that the greatest geniuses lift
their eyes in vain, for they can never see the top.'[781]
[Sidenote: ANNE OF BEAUREGARD.]
Among the persons whose heart sought after God was the beautiful Anne of
Beauregard, who, though still very young, had accompanied Renée to
Ferrara. Being betrothed, and all radiant with the joy of her youth, she
was soon to be called to other altars than those of marriage. Falling
ill, she profited by the Word she had heard, and, content with Christ
alone, despised the world. Death cut down that beautiful flower. Renée
regretted her bitterly; all the court wept with her; and Marot, who was
then at Ferrara, wrote these melancholy lines upon her tomb:
De Beauregard, Anne suis, qui d'enfance,
Laissai parents, pays, amis et France,
Pour suivre ici la duchesse Renée;
Laquelle j'ai depuis abandonnée,
Futur époux, beauté, fleurissant âge;
_Pour aller voir au ciel mon héritage_.
Laissant le monde avec moins de souci
Que laissai France, alors que vins ici?[782]
The count of Marennes, a man of no decision of character, often attended
Calvin's preaching. He was rather afraid that the duke, his master,
would be displeased; still the duchess herself had arranged these
meetings. The countess, his wife, whose humble servant he was, asked him
to join them; his brother-in-law, Soubise, also invited him; Marennes,
therefore, followed the others to chapel, being urged from without and
not from within.
[Sidenote: ZEAL OF SOUBISE.]
Soubise, on the contrary, an independent man, of noble, decided, and
energetic character, went with his whole heart, and, after Renée, was
the best conquest of the Gospel at Ferrara. In that fanatical age it was
choosing a hard and miserable life; but the Gospel Word had conquered
him, and he was determined to walk among the thorns. 'John of Soubise, a
hero of the sixteenth century,' says Moreri, 'suffered himself to be
perverted at the court of the duke of Ferrara, when Renée of France
received there certain doctors of the pretended reformed religion.'[783]
He had been trained for the profession of arms; he now found at Calvin's
side the sword of the Word of God, and returning into France
courageously 'occupied himself in defending the truths he had
believed.'[784] A gentleman of the king's chamber, a knight of the
Order, having had command of the French army in Italy, a man of great
resources and great service, 'having effected a hundred masterstrokes,'
he was, above all, very zealous for God; and, without neglecting the
important affairs of the kingdom, he sought the salvation of the
humblest tenant on his estates. A good old pastor, Mulot des Ruisseaux,
'impelled by the singular virtue of the lord of that place' (Soubise),
used to leave his house at the approach of night—the only time when
evangelical Christians dared meet together—and visit the adjoining
districts, everywhere teaching the Scriptures. More than once, on
hearing the signal of alarm, he had to hide in the woods and pass the
night there. In a short time a great part of the people had forsaken
mass.[785] Soubise even desired to convert Catherine de Medicis, and
with that view held long conversations with the queen,[786] and the
crafty Italian woman led him to hope for a moment that she was on the
point of turning Protestant. The trouble that he had taken was not
entirely lost. The duchess of Bourbon Montpensier, 'a woman of virile
character and of wisdom beyond her sex,' as De Thou describes her,[787]
being present at Soubise's conversations with Catherine de Medicis,
received the truths which he was explaining to another; and somewhat
later two of that lady's daughters, the duchess of Bouillon and the
princess of Orange, bravely professed the doctrines of the Reformation.
By his only daughter, Catherine of Parthenay, Soubise was grandfather of
the celebrated duke of Rohan.
It was not only among his compatriots at Ferrara that Calvin was a
fisher of men. The traditions of certain families of the peninsula place
several eminent Italians[788] among the number of those who heard and
received light from him. One of them was a Neapolitan nobleman, the duke
of Bevilacqua, then at Ferrara. His ancestors, who descended from the
Boileaux, barons of Castelnau, a family which in France has produced
many distinguished men, were of Languedocian origin, and had been
compelled by the persecutions directed against the Vaudois and
Albigenses in the thirteenth century to take refuge in the kingdom of
Naples.[789] Bevilacqua discovered at Ferrara, in Calvin's teaching, the
truth for which his forefathers had been compelled to leave France.
Another Italian, more eminent still, who used to attend these
evangelical assemblies, was Titian, then about the age of fifty-eight.
That great painter, who had decorated the castle of duke Alphonso of
Este, was again at Ferrara. Possessing a calm, solid, judicious, and
truth-loving mind, devoted to nature, and seeking to represent her in
all her truth, Titian was naturally struck with the pure and living
religion which Calvin preached. The great artist was no stranger to the
deep affections of the soul, and the sublimest heroism in his eyes was
the devotedness of the Christians, who sacrificed their lives for their
faith. There are no scenes more terrible and pathetic than those
represented in his pictures of martyrs. Nurtured with the writings of
Dante, Petrarch, and other great men of Italy, who had shown themselves
opposed to the abuses of the popes and their adherents, Titian could
applaud the opposition led by the young Frenchman against the papacy.
But if at that time he greeted evangelical truths with admiration, there
is no evidence that they sank very deeply into his heart. It would
appear that Bevilacqua asked him to paint Calvin's portrait; but however
that may be, the portrait still exists in the palace of the duke of
Bevilacqua at Naples.[790] There is no indication that Titian preserved
the impressions he received at Ferrara. 'Among those who seem touched by
the beauty of the Gospel,' says Calvin, 'there is scarcely one out of
ten in whose heart the Word of God is not stifled.' Titian was, no
doubt, an instance of the truth of the fact indicated by the Reformer.
[Sidenote: THE WORD STIFLED BY THE WORLD.]
Calvin had been a faithful and active workman in his Master's vineyard,
yet he did not always meet with friendly and docile hearers, even in
Ferrara. Among the persons forming the duchess's court, he had noticed a
cringing person with insinuating manners, whose look and expression
displeased him greatly. That man, by name Master François, chaplain to
Renée was one of those double-hearted people who wish to satisfy God and
their own cupidity. Calvin had heard that the life of that priest was
far from saintly. 'I do not interfere,' he answered, when called upon to
declare his opinion as to the chaplain's superstitious doctrines—'I do
not interfere, for if I laid myself out to speak evil of him, I should
have to speak of far different matters, on which I remain silent.'
Master François, seeing the favor which the young stranger enjoyed at
court, assumed an air of being convinced by his words, appeared to
become his friend, and began to preach as evangelically as he could. He
raised no objections to Calvin's meetings, but prevailed on the duchess
to be present at mass also, which he continued to say, notwithstanding
his evangelical appearances. Such a man could not please the upright and
inflexible reformer. 'When I see any one extinguishing the light of
truth,' he wrote one day to Renée, 'I cannot forgive him, were he a
hundred times my father.'[791]
Calvin tried, therefore, to convince François that the celebration of
what he called 'the sacrifice at the altar' was contrary to Holy
Scripture. Whenever the chaplain went astray the reformer admonished
him. 'I have often tried to bring him into the true path,' he said. The
priest would then appear sorrowful, and ashamed of his weakness, and
Calvin, pressing him still more closely, would succeed in 'making him
confess his iniquity.' But human respect still prevailed in François,
and if any one about the court happened to be present at his
conversations with the reformer, he would make excuses for himself
before them.
[Sidenote: THE CHAPLAIN AND THE INSTITUTES.]
One day, finding his discourses useless, Calvin determined to present
him with 'a treatise of his;'[792] that is all he says. He does not
mention the title of this work; but as it cannot have been either his
commentary on Seneca's _De Clementiâ_ or the _Psychopannichia_, it was
evidently the _Institutes of the Christian Religion_, which he had just
printed at Basle—these three works being at that time all the reformer
had written. Even on the supposition that Calvin had left Basle before
the actual publication of his book, it would have been very natural for
him to take a copy with him when starting for Italy. Master François
opened that volume, which, by God's grace, has imprinted indelible
convictions in so many minds. This is the first notice we have of the
reading of the _Institutes_: it is mentioned by Calvin himself, and took
place during his Italian journey, in the castle of Lucrezia Borgia's
son. These circumstances impart to it a peculiar interest. François
probably did not read the whole treatise. The mass was the subject of
difference between him and Calvin, and consequently it was that part of
his work to which the latter referred him. There was much in it
calculated to disturb the chaplain. 'Christ,' said the treatise, 'being
immortal, has been appointed by God everlasting priest; he has no need
then for others to succeed him. Now do not those priests who offer
sacrifice every day put themselves in Christ's place, and rob him of the
prerogative of his eternal sacrifice?'[793] Further on he adds: 'The
mass being established in such a manner that a hundred thousand
sacrifices are offered up daily, swamps and buries the sacrifice of
Christ which was offered as _sole_ sacrifice. To set up an altar now is
to pull down the cross of Jesus Christ. The mass blots out of the
remembrance of men the Saviour's true and only death.' And still further
on the chaplain read: 'The mass robs us of the fruits which resulted to
us from the death of Christ; for who will believe himself redeemed by
that death, when a new redemption is presented to him in the mass?'
Other considerations put forward by Calvin in his book, were equally
calculated to convince the priest.
Calvin who was not deficient in classical recollections and who
anticipated a second Iliad in which the princes of the earth would
meet—some to retain the mass, others to remove it—compares it, in
conclusion, to that woman of antiquity, so notorious by the impure
passions and the cruel war she stirred up. 'Assuredly,' he exclaimed,
'Satan never constructed a stronger machine to attack the kingdom of
Jesus Christ. Behold that Helen under whose eyes the enemies of the
truth are fighting with so much rage, with whom they commit adultery,
and plunge into a spiritual impurity which is the most detestable of
all.' He then draws up and displays the long catalogue of 'great and
serious abuses' which the mass has engendered, namely, disgraceful
markets, illicit and dishonest gains, great extortions—all kinds of
impurity, idolatry, sacrilege, and other 'consequences' that we omit.
[Sidenote: CALVIN AND FRANCOIS.]
The priest was greatly agitated. The beauty of the language, the
clearness of style, the energy of expression, the powerful logic, the
strength of affection, the rapidity and seriousness of the reproaches,
the accusations and recriminations which fell upon his soul, like
hailstones in a storm, and above all the idea that the mass robbed
Christ of his cross and his crown, and insulted his divinity, alarmed
François who had imagined nothing of the sort. He was 'convinced in his
conscience;' he thought himself really guilty and exposed to great
danger, while his anguish increased more and more. He hastened to the
reformer, and there (says Calvin), 'he protested with strong oaths he
would never assist at the mass, it being so great an abomination.'[794]
The chaplain's emotion was sincere, only it was not permanent. He soon
relapsed into his habitual condition, and recommenced preaching the word
of God 'solely because he thought he might thus catch benefices and
other prey.' At a later period Calvin wrote of him: 'Madam, I know my
man so well that I do not value his oath more than the chattering of a
magpie. If persons who can raise him to dignities, or are rich enough to
fill his wallet, ask him to give glory to God, he will take pains to
gratify them; but if any persecution should come, he will be quite ready
to renounce the Gospel. He plays different parts at different times. It
is not the duty of a Christian to speak ill of his neighbor, but there
is no one with whom I wage such fierce war as with those who, under the
cloak of the Gospel, play the hypocrite with princes, and by their
cunning and tricks keep them always enveloped in clouds, without leading
them to the true goal.[795] This man,' he said, 'is convinced in his
conscience, and yet he continues doing what he acknowledges to be
wrong.' He added: 'All the hatred which I have shown him hitherto is,
that I have endeavored with all my power to edify him in what is
right.'[796] Such were the struggles which the valiant champion of the
Gospel had to maintain in the palace of the dukes of Este.
One of the duchess's ladies—her name is not known—who had found peace
with God in the Saviour's death, refused to be present at mass. François
attempted to convince her, but the young lady remained firm as a rock.
'She would not offend her conscience.' The angry priest complained to
the duchess and did all in his power to deprive the young maid of honor
of the kindly feeling which Renée was accustomed to show towards her.
Before long the duchess herself was 'warned,' that those who 'conducted
themselves like that young lady' would not be tolerated, seeing that
they would give occasion for scandal. The princess, knowing full well
that the duke would not permit any one at court to reject the mass, was
in great distress, and Calvin was informed of it by the countess of
Marennes.[797] The enemies of the Reformation added falsehood to
violence. The confessor tried to make the duchess believe that the
churches of Germany had not discussed the matter, but that they admitted
the mass. Calvin complained loudly of the great injury done to the
churches of God. 'All the churches that have received the Gospel,' he
wrote a little later, 'and even all individuals hold this article—that
the mass ought not to be endured. Even Capito, one of those who
endeavors earnestly to _moderate_ matters, teaches in a work dedicated
to the king of England, that it is the duty of Christian princes to
drive from their realms such a detestable idolatry. There is now not a
single man of reputation who is not of that opinion.'[798]
[Sidenote: CALVIN WRITES TO DUCHEMIN.]
During his residence at Ferrara, Calvin was not satisfied with combating
the errors of those who surrounded him: he did not forget France, to
which his heart was always attached; and he watched, although from afar,
the friends he had left there. The superstitions of Italy and the
profane spirit displayed by the priests in the midst of their relics and
empty ceremonies, produced the same effect upon him as upon Luther, and
made him all the more desirous to see his fellow-countrymen withdraw
from the authority of the pope. He was therefore deeply moved by the
news which reached him at this time. Nicholas Duchemin, with whom he had
lived at Orleans, whose character he esteemed, and of whom he had said,
'that he was dearer to him than his life,' had been appointed official
or ecclesiastical judge, which brought him into close relations with the
Roman clergy and worship. Calvin was alarmed and sent him a letter
which, revised and enlarged, was published under this title: _How we
must avoid the papal ceremonies and superstitions, and observe the
Christian religion with purity_.[799] 'I do not mean,' said Calvin to
his friend, 'that you should make a conscience of things which it is not
in your power to escape, and with regard to which you should be free. I
do not forbid your entering the temples which surround you, although
numberless examples of impiety are witnessed in them daily. Although the
images are consecrated to detestable sacrileges, I do not forbid you to
look at them. It would not even be in your power, for the streets are
full of a multitude of idols. But have a care lest a too great license
should make you overstep the bounds of liberty.'[800]
Duchemin was very sensible of the danger, and wishing to be at the same
time faithful to the Gospel, and to preserve an advantageous
appointment, had put this question to Calvin: 'How can I keep myself
pure among the pollutions of Babylon?' Calvin showed him, as he had
shown François, that the mass was the most dangerous enemy.
'Do not believe,' he said, 'in that conjuror who approaches the altar
and begins to play his tricks, now turning this side, now that; at one
time resting motionless, at another muttering his magic murmurs, by
means of which he pretends to draw Christ down from heaven to make
reconciliation between God and man, and thus substitute himself for the
Saviour dead and raised again.'[801]
The more Calvin reflected on Duchemin's position the more it alarmed
him. He thought himself on the point of losing one of the earliest
objects of his tender affection. A few moments longer on the verge of
the abyss and his friend would fall into it. He called to him with all
his strength and with a cry of anguish. 'I feel very great regret for
your condition,' he said. 'I am sorry that you are not permitted to
extricate yourself from that Egypt where so many monsters are always
before you. A man thinks to himself that it is of no great importance to
trifle a little in order to preserve the favor of the people, and to
take part with others in wicked ceremonies. Then one foot is placed a
little further on, and thus declining gradually, he falls from the
straight path, and is precipitated to ruin and perdition. Let us be
careful never to recede, even a nail's breadth, from the obedience due
to our heavenly Father. Awake, then, awake, most virtuous man! Display
in your actions such piety, goodness, charity, chastity, and innocence,
that the superstitious, even while vexed that you are not like them, may
be constrained to confess, whether they will or not, that you are the
servant of God.'[802]
[Sidenote: CALVIN'S APPEAL TO ROUSSEL.]
It was not long before the Reformer received still more distressing
news. It was not merely a disciple, it was a teacher who grieved him.
One of the men whom he esteemed the most was not only exposed to peril,
but had succumbed. Calvin learnt that, on the death of Pierre d'Albret,
bishop of Oleron, Queen Margaret of Navarre, who was falling away from
evangelical simplicity, had sent to Rome to beg the vacant see for
Roussel; and that, after some difficulty, the court of the Vatican had
granted the favor. Roussel a bishop, and by favor of the pope! Calvin
was amazed. People wrote to him that the appointment had been celebrated
by the poets of Bearne, and that Roussel was overwhelmed with
congratulations; and Calvin wondered whether his friend, amid the
seducing songs of the sirens, would lend an ear to his warnings. He
determined, however, to give utterance to the solemn voice of
faithfulness. The stern language he addressed to the new bishop shows
us, more clearly than the cleverest portrait, the great decision of his
soul.
'It will seem to you that I dream,' he wrote to Roussel, 'if alone among
the multitude of those who flatter you, I come to disturb the
rejoicings. And yet, if you suffer yourself in the least degree to be
cozened by such prettinesses, they will lead you into a heavy and
dangerous forgetfulness. Those who have once drunk, be it but a little
drop, of that cup of the Roman table, are intoxicated and
bewitched.'[803]
Calvin pictured to himself the magnificent state of his friend, the
great splendor, the grand appearance, the mitre, crosier, mantle and
ring, and all the rest of the paraphernalia with which he was bedizened;
the riches, the pomp displayed in his household, the long train of
servants, the dainty table, and a thousand other forms of luxury and
superfluity, and exclaimed: 'Now that you have become the favorite of
fortune, remember that He who appointed bishops (that is, God) wills
that, while the people sleep, they should be in a watch-tower on a hill,
casting their eyes on all around them, and that their voice should be
like the sound of a trumpet. With what faithfulness do you labor to
raise up that which has fallen? True religion is defamed, mocked at,
trodden under foot, and even entirely ruined; the poor people are
deceived, abused, plundered by a thousand frauds, and led to slaughter ...
and all that is done before your eyes! You not only let these things
pass, but there is hardly any impiety in your diocese which you do not
sanction by your seal!
'What ought to be done with one who, like you, deserts his captain,
passes over to the enemy, and damages the camp in whose defence he had
sworn to employ his life?
'Blow the trumpet, watchman! Arm thyself, shepherd! Why waitest thou? Of
what art thou thinking? Is this a time for sleep? What! a murderer,
guilty of shedding blood, every drop of which the Lord will require of
thee again! And thou art not afraid?[804]
'O Rome, Rome! how many good people thou corruptest who otherwise were
not ill-born? How many among those already corrupted whom thou makest
worse daily? How many of those whom thou hast debauched, whom thou
plungest into eternal perdition?[805]
'O my dear Roussel, come out of that slough as soon as possible, for
fear lest while lingering in it you should sink deeper and deeper into
the mire.[806]
'You will say, I know: "What then will become of us poor wretches? Must
we, who live at our ease, go into foreign lands, like needy vagabonds?
Must we, who always have our pantry and cellar full, without any toil,
live upon coarse fare procured by the sweat of our brows and the labor
of our hands?"[807]
'If you find such a life strange, you are not a true Christian. It is
very hard, I confess, to leave one's birthplace to be a wanderer and a
stranger. And yet the Lord, who is a marvellous worker, contrives that
this poverty, so bitter in the opinion of men, is made pleasing to them,
and that, tempered with a heavenly sweetness, it procures them especial
pleasure.'
Thus the young man of twenty-seven was already a teacher abounding in
energy and good sense. These two letters, which (according to the most
trustworthy evidence) were written at Ferrara, would of themselves be
sufficient to mark his residence in that city with a special character.
It was then he began to appear, to speak, and to lead with the authority
of a reformer. In him God gave His church a teacher gifted with that
indomitable firmness which, notwithstanding all obstacles and all
seductions, is able to break with error and to uphold the truth. At the
same time He gave a man whose activity was not to be limited to the
place where he lived, but whose wide spirit would embrace all
Christendom, and who would be able to send into France, the Low
Countries, England, Poland, and wherever it became necessary, the words
of wisdom and of faith.
Calvin taught not only by his words but by his example. He might have
been able, by softening down some expressions in the Gospel, to remain
in the palace of the dukes of Este, and to enjoy the favor of princes.
But if he required fidelity and renunciation in Roussel, he first
possessed them himself. He made the sacrifices to which he invited
others, and was ready to exchange the pleasures and brilliancy of a
court for the horrors of a prison, or of a flight environed with danger.
Calvin remained firm, as 'seeing Him who is invisible,' and preferred to
be afflicted with the people of God rather than have a part in the joys
of the great ones of the earth. This spirit of self-denial characterized
him to the last. The friend of princes, the councillor of kings, he
lived humbly, having scarcely the means of supplying the ordinary wants
of life.
[Sidenote: CALVIN'S INFLUENCE IN ITALY.]
It is said that Calvin visited Padua, Venice, and even Rome; but it does
not appear that history can accept this tradition. It is probable that
all the time he spent beyond the Alps was passed near the Duchess Renée.
His influence, however, extended beyond the palaces and the principality
of the dukes of Este. One of the men who may be considered the best
judges, one of the literary historians of the peninsula, the jesuit
Tiraboschi, declares that Calvin's sojourn at the court of Ferrara was
more injurious to Italy than all the soldiers, active disciples of
Luther, who propagated his doctrines there.[808] And yet Calvin scarcely
quitted Ferrara. Just when the star of Ariosto, which had shone over
that city, had set, and when that of Tasso was about to appear, the star
of Calvin shone there with a purer light than that of the bard of
Orlando or of Godfrey. But the faithful Christian could not long remain
in the bosom of worldliness and popery without suffering from their
violent attacks. Calvin's sojourn was about to end in a tragic and
unexpected manner.
[763] See Vol. IV. bk. vii. ch. 18.
[764] 'Sic versari in _studiis nostris, ut excellat_. . . . Sed ob
magnitudinem ingenii et studium sanctitatis quæ in ista semper veluti
divinum aliquid eluxit, retulit se ad _cœlestes artes_ et ad
_disciplinas theologicas_.'—Paleario, _Epp._ iv. 4.
[765] A. Frizzi, _Guida per la città di Ferrara_, p. 43.—Bonnet, _Calvin
à la cité d'Aoste_.
[766] 'Sotto abito finto.'—Muratori, _Annali d'Italia_, xiv. p. 305.
[767] Varillas.
[768] A madame la duchesse de Ferrare.—_Lettres françaises de Calvin_,
i. p. 44. There is no date to this letter, and it may possibly belong to
the following year, 1537. At page 154, Calvin refers to a book that
Capito had written '_naguères_,' not long ago, and that work, _De
Missa_, dedicated to Henry VIII., bears the date of 15 March 1537.
[769] 'Sans décliner ni de çà ni de là.'
[770] 'Talmente infetto Renea degli errori sui, che non si potè mal
trarle di cuore il bevuto veleno.'—Muratori, _Annali d'Italia_, xiv.
p. 305.
[771] Letter of 1537 addressed to Renée, duchess of Ferrara.
[772] Beza, _Vita Calvini_, p. 21.
[773] See the Letters dated the 8th and 24th January and the 4th April
1564, in Mons. J. Bonnet's _Recueil_. Calvin died on the following 4th
May.
[774] 'Poichè non solo confermò nell' errore la duchessa Renata, ma più
altri ancora sedusse.'—Muratori, _Antichità Estensi_, ii. ch. xiii.
[775] 'Quali venustate canas.'—Gyraldus, _Epistola dedicatoria, Hist.
Poetarum_.
[776] 'Ut Græcos autores intrepide evolvas.'—_Ibid._
[777] Bayle, _Dictionary_, sub voce _Anne de Parthenay_, iii. p. 600.
[778] Beza, _Hist. ecclés._ i. p. 127.
[779] Maimbourg, _Hist. du Calvinisme_, p. 62.
[780] Jules Bonnet, _Olympia Morata_, p. 43.
[781] Calvin, _passim_.
[782] Œuvres de Marot.
[783] Moreri, _Grand Dictionnaire historique_, vi. p. 317.
[784] Bayle, _Dictionnaire hist. et crit._ iv. p. 142.
[785] Beza, _Hist. des Eglises réformées_, i. p. 127.
[786] Bayle, _Dictionnaire_, iv. p. 142.
[787] Thuanus, lib. xxviii.
[788] See the _Bulletin de la Société de l'Histoire du Protestantisme
français_, Paris, 1860, p. 168.—Documents historiques inédits et
originaux, communiqués par M. de Triqueti.
[789] _Histoire de l'Inquisition en France_, par De la Mothe, vol. ii.
pp. 538, 603, &c.—_Bevilacqua_ is _Boileau_ translated into Italian.
Some of the _Drinkwaters_ and _Boileaus_ of England claim to belong to
the same family.
[790] In the _Bulletin du Protestantisme français_ for 1860, p. 170, we
read:—'About the year 1840 the duke of Bevilacqua showed to Sir John
Boileau the portrait of Calvin, painted by Titian on this occasion, and
offered him a copy of it. I have had many opportunities of seeing it at
London in Sir John's house.' M. de Triqueti, whose words we have just
quoted, speaks of another portrait of Calvin painted by Titian,
purchased in 1860, at a public sale in Paris. We ourselves have seen in
one of the Italian picture galleries a portrait of Calvin also assigned
to Titian. There is one in the public library of Geneva, and several are
to be found in various Italian museums (Stählin: _Johannes Calvin_, ii.
p. 7); but these are rather pictures painted by Titian's pupils and
touched up by the master, as was the custom of the teacher and his
students in those days.
[791] Letter to the duchess of Ferrara, in the _Lettres françaises de
Calvin_, i. p. 47.
[792] 'Un sien traité.'—_Ibid._ i. p. 48.
[793] Calvin in the _editio princeps_ (March 1536) of his _Institutes_
treats of the Lord's Supper at pages 236-284.
[794] A la duchesse de Ferrare.—_Lettres françaises de Calvin_, i. p.
48.
[795] A la duchesse de Ferrare.—_Lettres françaises de Calvin_,
pp. 47, 48.
[796] _Ibid._—The letter to the duchess of Ferrara was written later;
but what we have quoted above refers to Calvin's sojourn at Ferrara,
when he had these conversations with Master François.
[797] A la duchesse de Ferrare.—_Lettres françaises de Calvin_,
i. p. 45.
[798] A la duchesse de Ferrare.—_Lettres françaises de Calvin_, p. 54.
[799] 'Comment il faut éviter,' &c. Des Gallars, Calvin's friend, says
in his edition of the reformer's _Opuscules_ (1552), 'Epistolas duas
edidit, quas de hâc re ad quosdam amicos _ex Italia_ scripserat.' The
latest editors of Calvin's works say in the prolegomena to vol. v.
(Brunswick, 1866): 'Eas _in itinere Italico_, anno 1536, suscepto,
Calvinum scripsisse dicit Colladonius.' Colladon was one of the
reformer's intimate friends. The first of these writings contains (in
the French edition) 38 pages folio, and the second 35.
[800] Calvin, _Opuscules français_ (1566), p. 82.
[801] _Ibid._ pp. 58, 62, 64, 73, 74, 84, &c.
[802] Calvin, _Opuscules français_ (1566), pp. 58, 59, 84, 92.
[803] _Quel est l'office de l'homme chrétien en administrant ou rejetant
les bénédictions de l'Eglise papale?_ Jean Calvin à un ancien ami à
présent prélat.—_Opuscules français_, pp. 36, 37.
[804] _Opuscules français_, p. 108.
[805] _Ibid._ p. 124.
[806] _Ibid._ p. 128.
[807] _Ibid._ p. 129.
[808] 'Più dannoso all' Italia fu il soggiorno che, per qualche tempo,
fece occultamente Calvino, sotto il nome di Carlo d'Heppeville, alla
corte di Ferrara, circa il 1535.'—Tiraboschi, _Hist. de la Litt. ital._
vii. p. 358.