CALVIN'S SEPARATION FROM THE HIERARCHY: HIS FIRST WORK, HIS FRIENDS.
(1532.)
Lecoq had been caught in the snares of the world; Caturce had perished
in the flames; some elect souls appeared to be falling into a third
danger—a sort of christianity, partly mystical, partly worldly, partly
Romanist. But there was a young man among the evangelicals who was
beginning to occasion some uneasiness in the lukewarm. Calvin—for it is
of him we speak—was successively attacked on these three sides, and yet
he remained firm. He did more than this, for every day he enlarged the
circle of his christian activity. An advocate, a young _frondeur_,
a pious tradesman, a catholic student, a professor of the university,
and the Queen of Navarre—all received from him at this time certain
impulses which carried them forward in the path of truth.
[Sidenote: DANIEL'S VIEWS FOR CALVIN.]
The advocate Daniel loved him dearly, and desired to keep him in the
Romish communion. His large understanding, his energetic character, his
indefatigable activity seemed to promise the Church a St. Augustin or a
St. Bernard; he must be raised to some important post where he would
have a prospect of making himself useful. The advocate, who thought
Calvin far less advanced in the ways of liberty than he really was, had
an idea of obtaining for him an ecclesiastical charge which, he
imagined, would perfectly suit his young friend: it was that of official
or vicar-general, empowered to exercise episcopal jurisdiction. Would
Daniel succeed? Would he rob the Reformation of this young and brilliant
genius? Influential men were ready to aid him in establishing Calvin in
the ranks of the Romish hierarchy. Accordingly the first temptation to
which he was exposed proceeded from clerical ambition.
An ecclesiastic of high birth, John, Count of Longueville and Archbishop
of Toulouse, had been appointed Bishop of Orleans in 1521, with
permission to retain his archbishopric.[215] In 1532 a new bishop was
expected at Orleans, either because Longueville was dead, or because, on
account of his illness, a coadjutor had become necessary. The pluralist
prelate was a fellow-countryman of Calvin's.[216] Daniel, thinking that
he ought to seize this opportunity of procuring the post of official for
the young scholar, made the first overtures to Calvin on the 6th of
January, 1532. 'I never will abandon,' he said, 'the old and mutual
friendship that unites us.' And then, having by this means sought to
conciliate his favourable attention, he skilfully insinuated his wishes.
'We are expecting the bishop's arrival every day; I should be pleased
if, by the care of your friends, you were so recommended to him that he
conferred on you the charge of official or some other post.'[217] There
was much in this to flatter the self-love of a young man of
twenty-three. If Calvin had been made vicar-general at so early an age,
he would not have stopped there; that office often led to the highest
dignities, and his brilliant genius, his great and strong character,
would have made him a bishop, cardinal, who can say? ... perhaps pope.
Instead of freeing the Church he would have enslaved it; and instead of
being plain John Calvin he might perhaps have been the Hildebrand of his
age.
What will Calvin do? Although settled as regards doctrine, he was still
undecided with regard to the Church: it was a period of transition with
him. 'On the one hand,' he said, 'I feel the call of God which holds me
fast to the Church, and on the other I fear to take upon myself a burden
which I cannot bear.... What perplexity!'[218] Erelong the temptation
presented itself. 'Consider!' whispered an insidious voice; 'an easy,
studious, honoured, useful life!'—'Alas!' he said, 'as soon as anything
appears which pleases us, instantly the desires of the flesh rush
impetuously after it, like wild beasts.' We cannot tell whether these
'wild beasts' were roused in his ardent soul, but at least, if there was
any covetousness within, 'which tempted the heart,' he forced it to be
still. Strong decision distinguishes the christian character of Calvin.
The new man within him rejected with horror all that the old man had
loved. Far from entering into new ties, he was thinking of breaking
those which still bound him to the Roman hierarchy. He therefore did not
entertain Daniel's proposal. Of the two roads that lay before him, he
chose the rougher one, and gave himself to God alone.
[Sidenote: CALVIN'S COMMENTARY ON SENECA.]
Having turned his back on bishops and cardinals, Calvin looked with love
upon the martyrs and their burning piles. The death of the pious Berquin
and of other confessors had distressed him, and he feared lest he should
see other believers sinking under the same violence. He would have
desired to speak in behalf of the dumb and innocent victims. 'But,
alas!' he exclaimed, 'how can a man so mean, so low-born, so poor in
learning as I, expect to be heard?'[219] He had finished his commentary
upon Seneca's treatise of _Clemency_. Being a great admirer of that
philosopher, he was annoyed that the world had not given him the place
he deserved, and spoke of him to all his friends. If one of them entered
his little room and expressed surprise at seeing him take such pains to
make the writings of a pagan philosopher better known, Calvin, who
thought he had discovered a vein of Gospel gold in Seneca's iron ore,
would answer: 'Did he not write against superstition? Has he not said of
the Jews, that the conquered give laws to their conquerors? When he
exclaims: "We have all sinned, we shall all sin unto the end!"[220] may
we not imagine that we hear Paul speaking?'
Another motive, however, as some think, influenced Calvin to select the
treatise on _Clemency_. There was a similarity (and Calvin had noticed
it) between the epochs of the author and of the commentator. Seneca, who
lived at the time of the first persecutions against the christians, had
dedicated his treatise on _Clemency_ to a persecutor. Calvin determined
to publish it with a commentary, in the hope (it has been said) that the
king, who was fond of books, would read this legacy of antiquity.
Without absolutely rejecting this hypothesis, we may say that he was
anxious to compose some literary work, and that he displayed solid
learning set off by an elegant and pleasing style which at once gave him
rank among the literati of his day.
These are the words of Seneca, which, thanks to Calvin, were now heard
in the capital of the kings of France: 'Clemency becomes no one so much
as it does a king.—You spare yourself, when you seem to be sparing
another. We must do evil to nobody, not even to the wicked; men do not
harm their own diseased limbs. It is the nature of the most cowardly
wild beasts to rend those who are lying on the ground, but elephants and
lions pass by the man they have thrown down.[221] To take delight in the
rattling of chains, to cut off the heads of citizens, to spill much
blood, to spread terror wherever he shows himself—is that the work of a
king? If it were so, far better would it be for lions, bears, or even
serpents to reign over us!'[222]
[Sidenote: THE YOUNG AUTHOR'S DIFFICULTIES.]
As soon as the work was finished, Calvin thought of publishing it; but
the booksellers turned their backs on him, for an author's first work
rarely tempts them. The young commentator was not rich, but he came to a
bold resolution. He felt, as it would appear, that authorship would be
his vocation, that God himself called him, and he was determined to take
the first step in spite of all obstacles. He said: 'I will publish the
book on _Clemency_ at my own expense;' but when the printing was
finished, he became uneasy. 'Upon my word,' he said, 'it has cost me
more money than I had imagined.'[223]
The young author wrote his name in Latin on the title-page of the first
work he published, _Calvinus_, whence the word _Calvin_ was derived,
which was substituted for the family name of _Cauvin_. He dedicated his
book to the abbot of St. Eloy (4th April, 1532), and then gave it to the
world. It was a great affair for him, and he was full of anxiety at its
chances and dangers. 'At length the die is cast,'[224] he wrote to
Daniel on the 23rd of May; 'my Commentary on _Clemency_ has appeared.'
Two thoughts engrossed him wholly at this time: the first concerned the
good that his book might do. 'Write to me as soon as possible,' said he
to his friend, 'and tell me whether my book is favourably or coldly
received.[225] I hope that it will contribute to the public good.' But
he was also very anxious about the sale: all his money was gone. 'I am
drained dry,' he said; 'and I must tax my wits to get back from every
quarter the money I have expended.'
Calvin showed great activity in the publication of his first work; we
can already trace in him the captain drawing out his plan of battle. He
called upon several professors in the capital, and begged them to use
his book in their public lectures. He sent five copies to his friends at
Bourges, and asked Sucquey to deliver a course of lectures on his
publication. He made the same request to Landrin with regard to the
university of Orleans.[226] In short, he lost no opportunity of making
his book known.
Daniel had asked him for some Bibles. Probably Calvin's refusal to
accept office in the Church had not surprised the advocate, and this
pious man desired to circulate the book which had inspired his young
friend with such courage and self-denial. But it was not easy to execute
the commission. There was Lefèvre's Bible, printed in French at Antwerp
in 1530; and the Latin Bible of Robert Stephens, which appeared at Paris
in 1532. The latter was so eagerly bought up, that the doctors of the
Sorbonne tried to prohibit the sale. It was probably this edition which
Calvin tried to procure. He went from shop to shop, but the booksellers
looked at him with suspicion, and said they had not the volume. Calvin
renewed his inquiries in the Latin quarter, where at last he found what
he sought at a bookseller's who was more independent of the Sorbonne and
its proclamations than the others. 'I have executed your commission
about the Bible,' he wrote to Daniel; 'and it cost me more trouble than
money.'[227] Calvin profited by the opportunity to entreat his friend to
deliver a course of lectures on the _Clemency_. 'If you make up your
mind to do so,' he wrote, 'I will send you a hundred copies.' These
copies were, no doubt, to be sold to Daniel's hearers. Such were the
anxieties of the great writer of the sixteenth century at the beginning
of his career. Calvin's first work (it deserves to be noted) was on
_Clemency_. Did the king read the treatise?... We cannot say; at any
rate, Calvin was not more fortunate with Francis I. than Seneca had been
with Nero.
[Sidenote: AN UNHAPPY FRONDEUR.]
Another case of a very different nature occupied his attention erelong.
Calvin had a great horror of falsehood: calumny aroused his anger,
whether it was manifested by gross accusations, or insinuated by
equivocal compliments. Among his friends at the university there was a
young man whom he called his excellent brother, whose name has not been
preserved. All his fellow-students loved him; all the professors
esteemed him;[228] but occasionally he showed himself a little rough.
This unknown student, having received the good news of the Gospel with
all his soul, felt impelled to speak about it out of the abundance of
his heart, and rebelled at the obligation he was under of concealing his
convictions. There was still in him some remnant of the 'old man,' and
feeling indignant at the weakness of those around him, and being of a
carping temper, he called them cowards. He could not breathe in the
atmosphere of despotism and servility in which he lived. He loved
France, but he loved liberty more. One day this proud young man said to
his friends: 'I cannot bend my neck beneath the yoke to which you so
willingly submit.[229] Farewell! I am going to Strasburg, and renounce
all intention of returning to France.'
Strasburg did not satisfy him. The eminent men who resided there
sometimes, and no doubt with good intentions, placed peace above truth.
The caustic opinions of the young Frenchman displeased Bucer and his
friends. He was a grumbler by nature, and spoke out bluntly on all
occasions.[230] He had a sharp encounter with a Strasburger, whose name
Calvin does not give, and who was perhaps just as susceptible as the
Parisian was hasty. The young Frenchman was declaiming against baptismal
regeneration, when on a sudden his adversary, whom Calvin judges with
great moderation, began to accuse the poor refugee of being an
anabaptist. This was a dreadful reproach at that time. Wherever he went
the Strasburger scattered his accusations and invectives. Every heart
was shut against the poor fellow; he was not even permitted to make the
least explanation. He was soon brought to want, and claimed the
assistance of friends whom he had formerly helped. It was all of no use.
Reduced to extreme necessity, having neither the means of procuring food
nor of travelling, he managed however to return to France in a state of
the greatest destitution. He found Calvin at Noyon, where the latter
chanced to be at the beginning of September 1532.
[Sidenote: CALVIN RECEIVES HIM KINDLY.]
The young man, soured and disappointed, drew a sad picture of Strasburg.
'There was not a single person in the whole city from whom I could
obtain a penny,' he said. 'My enemy left not a stone unturned;
scattering the sparks of his wrath on every side, he kindled a great
fire.... My sojourn there was a real tragedy, which had the ruin of an
innocent man for its catastrophe.' Calvin questioned him on baptism, and
the severe examination was entirely to the advantage of the young
refugee. 'Really,' said the commentator on _Clemency_, 'I have never met
with any one who professed the truth on this point with so much
frankness.' Calvin did not lose a moment, but sat down (4th of
September) to write to Bucer, whom he styled the _bishop_ of Strasburg.
'Alas!' he said, 'how much stronger calumny is than truth! They have
ruined this man's reputation, perhaps without intention, but certainly
without reason. If my prayers, if my tears have any value in your eyes,
dear Master Bucer, have pity on the wretchedness of this unfortunate
man![231] You are the protector of the poor, the help of the orphan; do
not suffer this unhappy man to be reduced to the last extremity.'
Shortly after writing this touching appeal, Calvin returned to Paris. As
for the young man, we know not what became of him. He was not, however,
the only one who first attacked and then called for pity.
The literary movement of the capital manifested itself more and more
every day in a biblical direction. Guidacerio of Venice, devoting
himself to scriptural studies, published a commentary on the _Song of
Solomon_, and an explanation of the _Sermon on the Mount_,[232] to the
great annoyance of the doctors of the Sorbonne, who were angry at seeing
laymen break through their monopoly of interpreting Scripture. Priests
in their sermons, students in their essays, put forward propositions
contrary to the Romish doctrine; and Beda, who was beside himself,
filled Paris with his furious declamations. He soon met with a cutting
reply. Some young friends of learning gave a public representation of a
burlesque comedy entitled: 'The university of Paris is founded on a
monster.'[233] Beda could not contain himself: 'They mean me,' he
exclaimed, and called together the Faculties. They laid the matter
before the inquisitors of the faith, who had the good sense to let it
drop.[234]
[Sidenote: THE MERCHANT DE LA FORGE.]
When Calvin returned to Paris, he did not join this literary world,
which was jeering at the attacks of the priests: he preferred the narrow
and the thorny way. Every day he attended the meetings which were held
secretly in different parts of the capital. He associated with pious
families, sat at the hearths of the friends of the Gospel, and
discoursed with them on the truth and on the difficulties which the
Reformation would have to encounter in France. A pious and open-hearted
merchant, a native of Tournay, Stephen de la Forge by name, particularly
attracted him at this time. When he entered his friend's warehouse, he
was often struck by the number of purchasers and by the bustle around
him. 'I am thankful,' said La Forge, 'for all the blessings that God has
given me; and I will not be sparing of my wealth, either to succour the
poor or to propagate the Gospel.' In fact, the merchant printed the Holy
Scriptures at his own expense, and distributed copies along with the
numerous alms he was in the habit of giving. Noble, kind-hearted, ready
to share all that he possessed with the poor, he had also a mind capable
of discerning error. He was good, but he was not weak. Certain doctors,
infidel and immoral philosophers, were beginning at that time to appear
in Paris, and to visit at La Forge's, where Calvin met them. The latter
asked his friend who these strange-looking people were: 'They pretend to
have been banished from their country,' said La Forge; 'perhaps.... But
if so, believe me it was for their misdeeds and not for the Word of
God.'[235] They were the chiefs of the sectarians afterwards known by
the name of _Libertines_, who had just come from Flanders. La Forge
not only gave his money, but was able somewhat later to give himself,
and to die confessing Jesus Christ. When Calvin remembered at Geneva the
sweet conversations they had enjoyed together, he exclaimed with a
sentiment of respect: 'O holy martyr of Jesus Christ! thy memory will
always be sacred among believers.'[236]
Besides La Forge, Calvin had another intimate friend at Paris, whose
personal character possessed a great attraction for him, although the
tendency of his mind was quite different from that of his own. Louis du
Tillet was one of those gentle moderate christians, who fear the cross
and are paralysed by the opinion of the world. The _frondeur_ and
he were two extremes: Calvin was a mean between them. Du Tillet wished
to maintain the Catholic Church, even when reforming it, for he
respected its unity. The reformer had been struck with his charity, his
humility, and his love of truth; while Louis, on the other hand,
admiring 'the great gifts and graces which the Lord had bestowed on his
friend,' was never tired of listening to him. He belonged to a noble
family of Angoulême; his father was vice-president of the Chamber of
Accounts; his eldest brother was the king's valet-de-chambre; and his
other brother was second chief-registrar to the parliament. He was
continually fluctuating between Calvin and his own relatives, between
Scripture and tradition, between God and the world. He would often leave
Calvin to go and hear mass; but erelong, attracted by a charm for which
he could not account, he returned to his friend, whose clear ideas threw
some little light into his mind. Du Tillet exclaimed: 'Yes, I feel that
there is much ignorance and darkness within me.' But the idea of
forsaking the Church alarmed him, and he had hardly uttered such words
as these when he hurried off again to confess.
Calvin, thanks to the numerous friends who saw him closely, began to be
appreciated even by those who calumniated his faith. 'This man at least
leads an austere life,' they said: 'he is not a slave to his belly; from
his youth he has abhorred the pleasures of the flesh;[237] he indulges
neither in eating nor drinking.[238]... Look at him ... his mind is
vigorous; his soul unites wisdom with daring.... But his body is thin
and spare; one clearly sees that his days and nights are devoted to
abstinence and study.'—'Do not suppose that I fast on account of your
superstitions,' said Calvin. 'No! it is only because abstinence keeps
away the pains that disturb me in my task.'
[Sidenote: CALVIN AND COP.]
Professor Nicholas Cop, son of that William Cop, the king's physician,
the honour of whose birth (says Erasmus) both France and Germany
disputed,[239] had recognised an inward life in Calvin, and a vigorous
faith which captivated him, and he never met him in the neighbourhood of
the university without speaking to him. They were often seen walking up
and down absorbed in talk, while the priests looked on distrustfully.
These conversations disturbed them: 'Cop will be spoilt,' they said, and
they endeavoured to prejudice him against his friend; but their intimacy
only became stricter.
Calvin's reputation, which was beginning to extend, reached the ears of
the Queen of Navarre, and that princess, who admired men of genius and
delighted in agreeable conversation, wished to see the young literary
christian. Thus there was an early intercourse between them. The
christian and learned scholar undertook the defence of the sister of
Francis I. in a letter written to Daniel in 1533, and this princess
afterwards made known to him the projected marriage of her daughter
Jeanne d'Albret—circumstances which indicate an intimate connection
between them. During the time when the piety of the Queen of Navarre was
the purest, a mutual respect and affection united these two noble
characters. 'I conjure you,' said Margaret to Calvin, 'do not spare me
in anything wherein you think I can be of service to you. Rest assured
that I shall act with my whole heart, according to the power that God
has given me.'[240]
[Sidenote: MARGARET AND CALVIN.]
'A man cannot enter the ministry of God,' says Calvin, 'without having
been proved by temptation.' The queen's wit, the court of St. Germain,
intercourse with men of genius and of rank, the prospect of exercising
an influence that might turn to the glory of God—all these things might
tempt him. Would he become Margaret's chaplain, like Roussel? Would he
quit the narrow way in which he was treading, to enter upon that where
christians tried to walk with the world on their right hand and Rome on
their left? The queen's love for the Saviour affected Calvin, and he
asked himself whether that was not a door opened by God through which
the Gospel would enter the kingdom of France.... He was at that moment
on the brink of the abyss. What likelihood was there that a young man,
just at the beginning of his career, would not gladly seize the
opportunity that presented itself of serving a princess so full of piety
and genius—the king's sister? Margaret, who made Roussel a bishop, would
also have a diocese for Calvin. 'I should be pleased to have a servant
like you,' she told him one day. But the rather mystical piety of the
princess, and the vanities with which she was surrounded, were offensive
to that simple and upright heart. 'Madame,' he replied, 'I am not fitted
to do you any great service; the capacity is wanting, and also you have
enough without me.... Those who know me are aware that I never desired
to frequent the courts of princes; and I thank the Lord that I have
never been tempted, for I have every reason to be satisfied with the
good Master who has accepted me and retains me in his household.'[241]
Calvin had no more longing for the semi-catholic dignities of the queen
than for the Roman dignities of the popes. Yet he knew how to take
advantage of the opportunity offered him, and nobly conjured Margaret to
speak out more frankly in favour of the Gospel. Carried away by an
eloquence which, though simple, had great power, she declared herself
ready to move forward.
An opportunity soon presented itself of realising the plan she had
conceived of renewing the universal Church without destroying its unity;
but the means to be employed were not such as Calvin approved of. They
were about to have recourse to carnal weapons. 'Now the only foundation
of the kingdom of Christ,' he said, 'is the humiliation of man. I know
how proud carnal minds are of their vain shows; but the arms of the
Lord, with which we fight, will be stronger, and will throw down all
their strongholds, by means of which they think themselves
invincible.'[242]
Luther now appears again on the scene; and on this important point
Luther and Calvin are one.
[Footnote 215: 'Cum facultate retinendi simul archiepiscopatum
tolosanum.'—_Gallia Christiana._]
[Footnote 216: 'Scis nos episcopum nationis tuæ habere.'—Daniel Calvino,
Berne MSS.]
[Footnote 217: 'Ut officialis dignitate aut aliqua alia te ornaret.'—
Daniel Calvino, Berne MSS.]
[Footnote 218: Calvin, _Lettres Françaises_.]
[Footnote 219: 'Unus de plebe, homuncio mediocri seu potius modica
eruditione præditus.'—Calvinus, _Præf. de Clementia_.]
[Footnote 220: 'Peccavimus omnes ... et usque ad extremum ævi
delinquemus.'—_De Clementia_, lib. i.]
[Footnote 221: 'Ferarum vero, nec generosarum quidem, præmordere et
urgere projectos.'—_De Clementia_, cap. v.]
[Footnote 222: 'Si leones ursique regnarent.'—Ibid. cap. xxvi.]
[Footnote 223: 'Plus pecuniæ exhauserunt.'—Calvinus Danieli, Geneva
MSS.]
[Footnote 224: 'Tandem jacta est alea.'—Ibid.]
[Footnote 225: 'Quo favore vel frigore excepti fuerint.'—Ibid.]
[Footnote 226: 'Ut Landrinum inducas in protectionem.'—Calvinus Danieli,
Geneva MSS.]
[Footnote 227: 'De Bibliis exhausi mandatum tuum.'—Ibid.]
[Footnote 228: 'Ita se gessit, ut gratiosus esset apud ordinis nostri
homines.'—Calvinus Bucero, Strasburg MSS.]
[Footnote 229: 'Cum non posset submittere diutius cervicem isti
voluntariæ servituti.'—Calvinus Bucero, Strasburg MSS.]
[Footnote 230: 'Cassait toutes les vitres.']
[Footnote 231: 'Si quid preces meæ, si quid lacrimæ valent, hujus
miseriæ succurras.'—Calvinus Bucero, Berne MSS.]
[Footnote 232: _Versio et Commentarii_, published at Paris in 1531.]
[Footnote 233: 'Academiam parisiensem super monstrum esse fundatam.'—
Morrhius Erasmo, March 30, 1532.]
[Footnote 234: 'Res delata est ad inquisitores fidei.'—Ibid.]
[Footnote 235: 'Quod ex Stephano a Fabrica (_De la Forge_) intellexi,
istos potius ob maleficia ... egressos esse.'—_Adv. Libertinos._]
[Footnote 236: Ibid.]
[Footnote 237: 'Calvinus strictiorem vivendi disciplinam secutus
est.'—Flor. Rémond, _Hist. de l'Hérésie_, ii. p. 247.]
[Footnote 238: 'Cibi ac potus abstinentissimus.'—Ibid.]
[Footnote 239: 'Illum incomparabilem, quem certatim sibi vindicant, hinc
Gallia, hinc Germania.'—Erasmi _Epp._ p. 15.]
[Footnote 240: _Calvin's Letters_, i. p. 342. Philadelphia, ed. J.
Bonnet.]
[Footnote 241: _Lettres Françaises de Calvin. A la Reine de Navarre_,
i. p. 114, ed. J. Bonnet.]
[Footnote 242: Calvin, _in 2ᵃᵐ Epist. ad Corinth._ ch. x.]