Thanksgiving for the happy deliverance of Madame de
Falais--false reports concerning the state of Geneva--details
regarding the publication of the Apology--indisposition of
Calvin, and his regret at being separated from Monsieur de
Falais.
FROM GENEVA, _this 16th of August 1547_.
MONSEIGNEUR,--Two days after the arrival of M. Budé, I received your
letter, which you had delivered to James Dallichant; so that all
of them have been delivered. Thinking to find a messenger, I have
twice since then been disappointed; and I was also in doubt whether
to undertake the journey. For notwithstanding the hindrances which
might detain me, I was afraid that I had no sufficient excuse. But
the tidings which have since reached us, have removed that doubt. I
return thanks to our Lord, and all our friends along with me, for
the happy delivery which he has granted to Madame, praying that he
would so bless the offspring which he has given you, that you may
have a twofold comfort in them in the time to come, as I do also
hope. We shall look for a letter from you shortly. It is enough in
the meanwhile to know that all is well as to the main point.
In reply to all that you have sent to me, I had requested Gallars to
translate the _Apology_, promising to revise it finally myself. But
he has been so negligent, that Master Francis Baulduin[153] came
just in time to begin it. I send you, therefore, his translation,
which we have revised together, not to polish it very highly, but
merely to see whether the meaning had been truly rendered, at the
same time with the French copy in the handwriting of Saint André.
[153] Francis Baudouin of Arras, a distinguished lawyer, fled
to Geneva on account of religion. He became the friend and the
secretary of Calvin, whose opinions at a later period he attacked,
and betrayed his confidence by robbing him of his most precious
papers.--(See Drelincourt, Defence of Calvin, pp. 251, 252.) Called
successively as Professor of Law to Bourges, to Strasbourg, and to
Heidelberg, Baudouin died in 1573, leaving the reputation of one of
the most learned men of his time, and of a most versatile spirit in
matters of religion. It has been justly said of him, that he was a
Roman Catholic in France, a Lutheran at Strasbourg, and a Calvinist
at Geneva.
In the Latin epistle of Dryander,[154] I have corrected what
appeared to me to be right; you can follow that which shall seem
best to yourself. I hope that you will understand who has induced me
to write many things, which I did not object to, but which appeared
to me to be superfluous, or at least that they would be of no weight
with the individual to whom they were addressed.
[154] See note 1, p. 111. Dryander seems at this period to have
filled the office of secretary to M. de Falais. He carried on at
the same time a correspondence with Calvin, expressing the highest
esteem for his character and talents.--_Library of Geneva_, Vol.
110. One of his brothers, John Ensinas, had been burnt at Rome in
1545, a martyr to the Protestant faith.
You will see the answers which I have made in the name of
Mademoiselle de Wilergy, and may give effect to, if you think they
are the right thing. I speak drily enough to the Abbess, because of
the suspicion, which is very strong.
If it please God to settle a church there, it will be a great
comfort to your family. But the blessing will extend much further,
and will have the effect of removing many stumblingblocks. It is
a great pity the scattering of the handful who met at Vezel.[155]
Our Lord, I fear, must have been disposed to punish that excessive
moroseness, which could only arise from a despising of his blessing.
However, I hope that, after having punished the fanatics and
crack-brained persons who have been the cause of all the mischief,
he will yet set up again his little flock which remains, and will
hold out a hand to them, to lead them always in the right way.
[155] Some Flemish and French refugees had already formed a
community at Vezel, which was enlarged in 1553 by the dispersion of
the foreign congregation of London, and which was constituted as a
church by the minister Francis Pérucel, called La Rivière.
What moved me to urge you about the house, was my fear of the shame
I should feel if perhaps you did arrive here and should not find a
lodging ready. Besides, the repairs which the landlord thought of
making thereon, would not make it fit for your occupation. Thus the
rent you are paying for it, would be so much money lost, unless we
should fall upon some remedy for it. Although I have taken it for
three years, it was at my option to be quit of the bargain at the
end of the half-year, on giving intimation three weeks before the
term. At this time we shall be foreclosed of that liberty. If you
could have decided upon coming, I would have desired the whole to be
put in proper repair, that you might be exempt from annoyance. But
seeing the matter stands as it does, it is very unadvisable indeed
to charge yourself with a house here; only I could have wished to
cause you no needless expense. But since you have allowed this half
year to pass away, we shall need to take care between this and the
end of January, so as not to enter upon the second year.
I perceive that the troubles which we have had here are also
exaggerated with you as well as elsewhere. At Lyons they have had
me dead in more than twenty ways. Everywhere throughout the country
they tell of wonders, of which, God be thanked, we perceive nothing.
It is very true Satan has here very many firebrands; but the flame
passes off with a blaze like that of flax. The capital punishment
which has been inflicted upon one of their companions,[156] has laid
their horns in the dust. As for your landlord,[157] I know not what
face he will wear towards us when he returns. He appeared to go away
on friendly terms, at least manifesting more compunction and respect
towards me than formerly. Meanwhile, however, his wife has played
the she-devil to such a degree, that she has found it necessary to
gain the open country. It is already about three months that he has
been absent. He must needs walk softly upon his return. Up to the
present time, we have got on very well, considering the condition
of the servants of God. Had we not been so depressed, we should
have been too much at our ease. I believe, indeed, that he may have
opened the letter, and that that may have given boldness to Valeran,
and to that worthy man with whom he was lodged, to take a second
look into them. However that may be, in complaining about it as he
does, he must at once avow himself to be a breaker-open of letters,
which is certainly the act of a lawless man. As for his wrongs, they
weigh no more with me than his person in the scale of importance,
which is a little less than a feather. Moreover, it is evident
that he was drunk, or at least seeing double, when he thus wrote.
Provided he does not go the length of throwing stones, our patience,
yours and mine, will not find it very hard to bear with his abuse.
We are not better than David, were we even called to bear further
injury, and he is at least quite as worthy as Shimei. In that and in
greater things, let us pray God that he may vouchsafe us grace to
call us to his light, despising the calumnies of those who judge in
darkness. I am more sorry than for aught else to see him gone so far
astray.
[156] Jacques Gruet. See p. 128.
[157] Amy Perrin.
If there is no pressing hurry, or if there might be more hope of
reasonable despatch in the absence of the protonotary, I think
that it would only be right to await his return, as well that
nothing may be done by halves, as to avoid the suspicion he might
take up, that you had watched the opportunity, or anticipated the
complaint he meant to make, in terms of his letter, which was
not a little dissatisfied. But should there be any _damnum aut
periculum in mora_, this consideration ought not to hamper you, so
at least methinks. Otherwise the better way will be, to wait for an
opportunity to get rid of the whole at once.
As for the book-mark--your own arms, as well as the motto,
everything will be liable to be blazoned abroad by those who,
without good ground, are, nevertheless, always open-mouthed in
speaking evil of us. Howbeit, I find nothing amiss, neither in
the one nor in the other. Even had there been no diminishing of
the expenses, there could be no harm in putting the arms at the
beginning, and the motto at the end. But I am much puzzled which
of the two methods to choose, unless you were to put your armorial
bearings with the saying underneath,--_Qui recedit a malo prædœ
est expositus_, with the citation of the chapter.[158]
[158] Isaiah lix. 15.
As regards the marriage,[159] for my part, I would by no means
consent to it. You see how confidentially I reply to you. 'The
family is very poor indeed. The noblesse of Savoy is very different
from that of your country; the man himself is well enough, but not
so steady as to withstand evil counsels; subject to illnesses,
arising chiefly from a sanguine temperament,--(you fear one
reproach; I am afraid of a quite different one, which I would only
mention if I desired to be put out of the way, &c.) You had been
rash in entertaining his proposal.' Pardon me if I am too forward.
I would like better to take the other whom I know, if it fell to me
to decide. But it is full time for me to pull up, having certainly
exceeded due bounds.
[159] Of Mademoiselle de Wilergy.
* * * * *
Before I have concluded, a cough has seized me, and hits me so hard
upon the shoulder that I cannot draw a stroke of the pen without
acute pain.[160] There is a letter to Wendelin, to which I would
much desire to have a reply, because there is some inquiry regarding
the Commentaries on St. Paul, of which several persons urge the
printing. I hope that it shall be profitable, otherwise I would not
have composed them. Seeing that the present bearers are not quite
certain of going so far as Strasbourg, and that even if they do go,
I could not be sure to have an answer by them, I beg you kindly to
charge some one of your servants to convey the letter in good time,
and to procure the answer.
[160] The conclusion of the letter is in the handwriting of Francis
Baudouin.
Monsieur, having heartily commended me to your kind favour, and that
of Madame, and also presented to you remembrances from my wife,
I pray our Lord that it would please him to have you in his holy
keeping, to preserve to you the blessing he has bestowed, that you
may even see the fruit of it, so as to derive more full consolation
and joy; and, in the meanwhile, to help you in everything, and
that continually. I am sorry that I cannot be with you for at least
a half of a day, to laugh with you, while we wait for a smile from
the little infant, under the penalty of bearing with his cries and
tears. For that is the first note, sounded as the key-note, at the
beginning of this life--the earnest of a better, that we may smile
from the heart when we shall be about to depart from it.
I entreat of you to bear with my indisposition, commending me to the
goodly company.
Your servant and humble brother,