Defeat Of The Libertines.
But egotism and hatred cannot be extinguished by defeat. The
Libertines sought to attack Calvin on other grounds, and
succeeded in their attempt; for although the question they raised
was on a lower level than the right of excommunication, it was
more plausible, and seemed to involve national rights. The
persecution of the reformers had become more active and cruel,
and it had brought a great number of refugees to Geneva, more
particularly from France and Italy. Nobles, burgesses, men of
letters, peasants, and artisans, hearing that the Reformation had
triumphed in Geneva, and that the pastors were men of great
renown, hoped to find in it a safe and sacred asylum. They were
warmly welcomed by their zealous Christian brethren; but the
local patriots were inclined to be uneasy and jealous: 'We have
no certain knowledge,' says M. Gaberel, 'of the number of
refugees who fled to Geneva at this time. During the revolution
of 1793, the friends of equality wished to destroy all
distinction between families living in the same republic, and
they therefore burnt the registers in which the names of
burgesses and inhabitants had been inscribed ever since the
sixteenth century.
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Fortunately some persons possessed copies of the registers, but
these private documents are not complete. The book which records
the admission of strangers gives the names of 1,376 persons to
whom the right of residing in the city was granted between the
years 1549 and 1564; seventy-eight of them were made burgesses
during the same period, and paid considerable sums for the
privilege of incorporation. The city was in great want of money,
in order to rebuild and fortify its walls; therefore the new
burgesses were very well received. Indeed, popular feeling was so
strong in their favour that one day when a vessel, bringing
several refugees, entered the port of Geneva, several of the
citizens exclaimed: "That is well; there is a boat-load of money
and stone, which will help on the fortifications!"' [Footnote 99]
[Footnote 99: Gaberel, i. 426.]
The strong religious feeling of these refugees was shown by their
flight from their own country; they were undoubtedly reliable and
zealous allies for Calvin and his party. The Libertines were not
slow to perceive this, and from the very first they displayed the
most active ill-will towards the new-comers. They found many who
were only too ready to join them; there were the old-established
burgesses of the city, who were annoyed at seeing strangers
invested with the rights, and sharing the advantages offered by
their country; and there were men of the lower and labouring
classes who dreaded the competition of labourers and artisans who
were often much more skilful and industrious than themselves.
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Appeals were made both to national feeling and personal interest,
in order to keep up this hostility, and the discontented rich
fostered the jealousy of the discontented poor. Sometimes their
animosity was shown in the sneers uttered by men who had secretly
remained Catholics. 'Why, my good friends,' they said to the
French refugees, 'you were in a great hurry to leave your
country; the consecrated wafers seem to have stuck in your
throat.' At other times it was popular jealousy which broke
forth: 'By my faith,' said some, 'these people who ran away from
the fire for the sake of the Gospel, raise the price of
provisions very considerably.' 'See!' said the women, 'when the
Frenchmen are here, there is nothing done for the townspeople;
may the devil break the necks of all these Frenchmen!' Some of
the principal Libertines took advantage of the popular ill-will
to procure the passing of measures which would tend to weaken the
position and influence of the refugees. Calvin wrote to
Bullinger: 'They treat barbarously our brothers in the cause of
Christ who have fled to us. They subject them to inhuman
outrages, and yet the refugees bear it with a gentleness and
patience which even those who injure them cannot deny.' Ami
Perrin allowed the shops of the French refugees to be plundered;
he proposed to take all arms from them except their swords, which
they were no longer to be allowed to wear in public. Some days
later he went a step further, and demanded that the refugees
should also be deprived of their swords, as he was afraid of some
treason on their part in behalf of Henry II. king of France.
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The refugees were indignant; they called upon Perrin to prove
that they had any intention of 'throwing themselves again into
the power of that Catherine who, with her husband, was bathed in
the blood of their brethren.' The first syndic, Jean Lambert,
laid their complaints before the Two Hundred: 'Gentlemen,' he
said, 'I ask myself in vain, why Captain Perrin and M. Vandel are
so furious against the foreign burgesses, saying that they desire
to drive the elders from the city and to give it up to the king
or to some other prince. Think for a moment if it is at all
probable that such an accusation is true! These men came to us
from different countries, with different manners, customs, and
languages. What plan could be proposed in which they would all
agree, or how could they be induced to unite in order to betray
and expel us? They have forsaken their own country, their
relations and friends, and all their worldly goods, to obey the
commands of God; and now we are told that they intend to throw
themselves back again into the power of those princes from whom
they have escaped, and that they propose to betray the city which
has given them shelter. Certes, Captain, I marvel greatly at your
suspicions, for you were quite free from them seven years ago
when you wished to admit two hundred dragoons into the city,
sworn servants of the king of France. For my part I hold that we
ought to grant every privilege to men who bring us fidelity,
honour, and money. The city will be greatly improved if we can
get men of good conduct and good report to become burgesses.'
[Footnote 100]
[Footnote 100: Gaberel, i. 427-434. Bonnivard, _De
l'ancienne et nouvelle Police de Genève_, pp. 127-131.]
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At the beginning of the preceding year [Footnote 101] a
concession had been made with which the Libertines might well
have been contented.
[Footnote 101: January 16th, 1554.]
A resolution had been carried stating that eligible members of
the Grand Council must have inhabited Geneva and shared its
perils during the war of 1536--that is, at the period when the
Reformation had been proposed and established. The fresh demands
for the exclusion of the refugees, made by Ami Perrin, were
rejected; and during the beginning of the year 1555, sixty new
burgesses were received. The malcontents declared that 'many of
the people regretted that so many new burgesses were admitted
from the same country.' The complaints of the Libertines were
changed to threats; they stated definitely to the Council that
their 'opposition might stir up the people, and that it was
absolutely necessary to put an end to these admissions in order
to preserve the public peace.'
The Libertines took the initiative in the breach of the peace,
and assumed the whole responsibility of it. Restless and defiant,
they saw that their influence over the popular mind was
diminishing rapidly, and they were driven to attempt a decisive
blow by their own passions and by the knowledge of their
approaching fall. On the 18th of May, 1555, three days after the
Council had rejected their last demands, the leaders of the party
supped together at a tavern, 'with many riotous companions,' says
Bonnivard; 'they tore the Frenchmen and the receivers of
Frenchmen to tatters with their sharp tongues. After the tongue
had done its office, the wine induced the feet and the hands to
do theirs. "Captain," said one of them to Ami Perrin, "I find you
lukewarm, but the people trust you; take the affair into your own
hands."
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"Forward, gentlemen!" said Perrin; "what we do is for the
honour of Geneva!" They rushed out, and hurrying to all parts of
Geneva, summoned their partisans: "To arms, to arms, all good
citizens of Geneva! The French are going to sack the city. To the
Rhone with the Frenchmen! Down with every French rascal that
shows his head!" One of the bands attacked the Hôtel de Ville;
another passed before the house of the syndic Aubert. The
magistrate, hearing a great noise, goes down into the street in
his dressing-gown, with his baton of office in one hand and a
lighted candle in the other. He is knocked down and trampled
under foot, but gets up again, and friends come to his aid.
Another of the syndics rapidly calls together two or three
companies of militia, and they hasten to the defence of the Hôtel
de Ville. The struggle commences, many persons are killed, but
the insurgents are everywhere attacked, defeated and pursued.
Their resistance was as short as their attack had been sudden and
violent; many were taken prisoners, but their leaders, Perrin
amongst others, escaped and left the Genevese territory. The
insurrection was quickly repressed, and the rioters were severely
punished. When they were brought to justice, some of those who
had been taken in combat were condemned to death, and executed;
others were banished, and a hundred and fifty of their friends
withdrew with them to the Bernese territory. But they did not
consider themselves defeated. They asked the Bernese Government
first to solicit and then openly to insist on their return, thus
making Berne the judge between Geneva and those whom she had
proscribed.
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The republic, after that, would only have needed to become the
vassal, and then the subject of Berne. In order to allay this
storm, much firmness and also much prudence were necessary; for
Berne was powerful, and Berne had no love for Geneva. It was
Calvin who conducted the whole business, and Berne was compelled
to renounce her ambitious pretensions.' [Footnote 102]
[Footnote 102: Bungener, p. 339. Gaberel, i. 432-435.]
The Libertines now carried their animosity and treason elsewhere;
they applied to the Duke of Savoy to subdue Geneva: 'See,' said
they, pointing to the fortifications of their native city, 'look
at those white walls; before long they will be so battered with
cannon that there will not be one stone left upon another.' But
the city had been put into a good state of defence, and it was
not therefore attacked. The Libertines did not abandon their
plots, but the Duke of Savoy adjourned his projects. Calvin asked
the Council to ordain a Fast-day as a thanksgiving for great
mercies, and the pious solemnity took place. After nineteen years
of internal struggle the young republic, which in 1536, had so
boldly ranged itself under the banner of the Reformation, was
able, in 1555, to entertain the hope of living in peace under the
influence of its great reformer.
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