Publication of the book on _Scandals_--persecution by the King
of France--Bucer's discouragement.
GENEVA, _19th August 1550_.
How I am to repay you for your letter, I know not, unless that, as
soon as the Lord shall have enabled me to complete the first three
chapters of my Commentary on _Genesis_, I give you a reading of
it. If it please you, it will be worth the trouble of plucking the
fruit before the time; and besides, I shall have the benefit of
your judgment on the remainder of the context, if you should think
there is anything of which I should be made aware. The pamphlet
_De Scandalis_, considering the immense fulness of the proof, will
be not only short but even concise.[295] But then the evidence is
all traced back to this conclusion,--that there is no reason why
ungodly men should bring the Gospel into disrepute, and expose it to
popular odium, under the pretext of stumblingblocks; and that the
weak should be strengthened, in order that by the firmness of their
faith they may overcome whatever stumblingblocks Satan may cast in
their way. To put so great a check upon error, that should any one
turn aside from the right path, or stumble or be disheartened, he
may be without excuse. Yet I show at the same time, how dreadful a
vengeance God will take on the authors of offences. Meanwhile, you
will attack that monster when the signs are favourable, which I
confidently trust you have already done.
[295] The Treatise on Scandals, one of the most remarkable of
Calvin's writings appeared this same year, with a beautiful
dedication addressed by Calvin to Laurent de Normandie, _his old
and constant friend_. It was published at first in Latin, under the
following title:--_De Scandalis quibus hodie plerique absterrentur,
nonnulli etiam alienantur a pura Evangelii Doctrina_. Geneva, 1550.
This work was translated into French by Latern during the following
year. It is to be found in tom. viii. of his _Opera_, and in the
_Recueil des Opuscules_, p. 1145.
Whatever good hopes of Henry, Viret led you to cherish, they were
vain.[296] Rumours of this sort are daily afloat. We should,
therefore, place no more reliance on them than they deserve. It
is a sure enough token that the ferocity of the beast is in no
degree appeased, when our brethren, so far from experiencing any
alleviation of their sufferings, are more closely pursued every
day. ANOTHER LION is said to be making certain extraordinary
exertions.[297] We should, therefore, ask God to subdue their rage,
or, at all events, to waste their strength by mutual collision--as
he has hitherto done--that they may not be able to do any more
damage. I am not ignorant of the danger from which the Lord has
extricated us. Nor need we thank that abandoned faction, truly, for
not bringing this unfortunate, nay devoted, city into utter ruin.
But as I had all along good hopes of a remedy, nothing gave me great
alarm.
[296] Henry II. of France, to gain the good-will of the cantons,
pretended at that time to take a lively interest in the protection
of Geneva, menaced by the Duke of Savoy and the Emperor of Germany.
He even informed the magistrates of the republic regarding certain
plots, real or imaginary, laid for its destruction.--_Registers of
the Council_, 1549, 1550, _passim_.
[297] The Emperor Charles V. published, at that time, his bloody
edict against the Protestants, Lutherans, Zuinglians, and others,
and seemed to be preparing himself for a general crusade against the
Reformed Churches.--Sleidan, book xxii.
It is to be feared that I shall gain some ill-will on account of the
taxes.[298] For they know that Normandie and I are consulted [on the
matter]. I prefer running this risk, however, to allowing those to
ruin themselves whom I ought to advise. I was not able to bring them
to a friendly agreement. All I could do was, to point out to them
the best course.
[298] See note 3, p. 277.
My dear Christopher,[299] confessing as you do in the beginning
of your letter, that you are not standing firm in the faith, I am
astonished at your refusing to think about the state into which you
have fallen. Are you and Mirabeau to be here, then, at Whitsuntide
or not? I shall write to my godmother concerning her little daughter
at my earliest opportunity.[300] The whole of yesterday was spent in
some trifling manner, I hardly know how.
[299] This passage in the letter is addressed to Christopher Fabri,
or Libertet, a colleague of Farel's at Neuchatel.
[300] Calvin had stood godfather to one of the daughters of
Libertet, whose wife he habitually called by the familiar name of
_my godmother_.
I return to you again, my dear Farel. I do not know whether you
have sent Bucer's letter to Viret. Anyhow, I have gathered from
it that the worthy man is labouring under too much moroseness at
present.[301] I shall write him a quiet letter by and by. There will
be silence in future concerning the Zurichers; for I perceive that
it only heightens his exasperation. Seeing that he longs greatly for
your [letter], I should like him to approve of mine. For that saying
of Terence's applies to him, that the unfortunate abuse everybody.
For he makes no secret of thinking, that his old friends neglect
him when they do not write frequently. Nor is he deceived in Sturm,
perhaps, who formerly stood so high in his favour that he would have
wronged most men before him.
[301] Saddened by his exile, and tormented by a malady under which
he sunk the year following, Bucer complained bitterly of being
continually the object of an unjust suspicion to the theologians of
Zurich, and of being neglected by his friends in Switzerland.
Adieu, brethren, both very dear to me. May the Lord be always
present with you, to guide and watch over you.--Amen. I was more
tedious than I imagined on Saturday. For I did not wish to give [the
letter] to Latern just when I had it ready. But, having striven
in vain to reconcile him to his wife, I sent them both away, not
without considerable displeasure.--Yours,