[363] Without date. The end is wanting. We believe that this letter
refers to the first month of the year 1552.
Rigorous and inflexible spirit of Calvin against heresy--Praise
of Theodore Beza.
GENEVA, _January 1552_.
MADAME,--I am very sorry that the praiseworthy act which you did
about half a year ago, has met with no better return. This is
because no good and true servant of God found himself within reach
of such help, as that received by as wicked and unhappy a creature
as the world contains. Knowing partly the man he was, I could have
wished that he were rotting in some ditch; and his arrival gave me
as much pleasure as the piercing my heart with a poniard would have
done. But never could I have deemed him to be such a monster of all
impiety and contempt of God, as he has proved himself in this. And
I assure you, Madame, that had he not so soon escaped, I should, by
way of discharging my duty, have done my best to bring him to the
stake.[364] Nevertheless, if the good we purpose does not come to
pass, it is quite enough that God accepts our service. He commands
us to help all those who need, and above all, those who suffer
for his name. If men are often found unworthy of our help, let us
be content that the Master acknowledges it all as done to himself;
and that even if men prove ungrateful, he will confer so ample a
reward, of which we cannot be deprived. And in this we enjoy a great
advantage over those who, in serving their own fancies, persuade
themselves that they do God service. For when we follow that which
he approves, we are in no danger of losing our labour. Wherefore,
let us not weary in well-doing, as likewise St. Paul exhorts us,
signifying that we should not fail to find much in men that would
immediately discourage us, did we not look beyond them. And, indeed,
there is no doubt that our Lord wishes to try our constancy when
he allows such temptations to befall us. Accordingly, he who would
shield himself behind the ingratitude of mankind, will not be
excused. As regards ourselves, there is much need that we should be
confirmed against such scandals, for we meet them every day. And I
have no doubt, that our Lord has so confirmed you, that you will not
cease exerting yourself for his people when the opportunity occurs,
and you have the means of doing what your duty requires. For seeing
that God accepts and puts down to his account whatever is done to
his people, it is to him that we fall short, and not to men, when we
do not fulfil this duty. Now, our Lord presents you by us with an
occasion of showing your perseverance, albeit that it is enough for
me to have exhorted you in general.
[364] Who is the personage to whom these words refer, stamped at
once by the inflexible spirit of the time and the stern rigour of
the Reformer? The historian can only offer conjectures: can it be
Jerome Bolsec? But a regular sentence had banished him from Geneva,
and Calvin himself does not appear to have called for a more severe
judgment against this innovator whom resentment had transformed
into a vile pamphleteer. "That fellow, Jerome, is driven out into
perpetual exile by a public sentence. _Certain revilers have spread
abroad the falsehood, that we earnestly desired a much severer
punishment, and foolishly, it is believed._"--(Calvin to Bullinger,
in the month of January 1552.) In that age of inexorable severity
against unsound doctrine, Servetus only appeared at Geneva to
expire at the stake, and Gentili only escaped the scaffold for a
time, by the voluntary retraction of his opinions. To name Gentili,
Servetus, Bolsec, is to recall the principal victims of Calvinistic
intolerance in the sixteenth century, but not to solve the mystery
which attaches to the personage designated in the letter of Calvin
to Madame de Cany.
With regard to the present matter, I prefer to entreat you, as I
now entreat with all possible affection. It is on the behalf of
Monsieur de Bèze,[365] against whom a certain Monsieur de Sunistan
has a lawsuit for the priory of Londjumeau. Upon his retirement,
his condemnation was inevitable, for you are aware how things go
in our favour. Be that as it may, Monsieur de Sunistan would have
been well content with much less, and has obtained more than he
could have ventured to wish, seeing that the Sieur de Bèze has been
found liable for the whole of the costs, with restitution of the
rents. Whereupon he (Sunistan) proceeds against the commissioners,
who have received them in the name of the aforesaid De Bèze. To
remedy this evil, we have bethought ourselves, Madame, of having
recourse to you as to a refuge which God vouchsafes to us. We hope,
indeed, that Madame[366] will do much for us. And since it has been
through her that the said Sunistan has got the benefice, this is
a reason why she should have authority to make him relinquish his
claim upon the costs. I assure you, in all sincerity, that when
he shall have done his utmost, he will not be able to get what he
seeks. And therefore, Madame, I again beseech you, that it may
please you to write so urgently to the said lady, that she may exert
herself warmly to make the aforesaid Sunistan satisfied with the
presentation. I do not make this request so much on my own account,
as in the name of our Master, who has all credit and power with you
as he deserves. I say this, not only to excuse the liberty I take,
but also to obtain more easily from you what I ask. Nevertheless, I
protest in truth, if I did not all I could to deliver from annoyance
the man for whom I speak, I should do wrong to Jesus Christ and his
Church. Our Lord has so wrought upon him, that he has withdrawn,
notwithstanding the ease which he enjoyed, from the expectation of
further advancement. But I let that alone in order to speak as to
what I have known. I shall not even touch upon many virtues, which
would have won your affections, had you seen them as I have done.
I will only tell you, that he has received excellent graces from
God, and has so improved them for the general benefit of the Church,
that he is truly a pearl. This is why I have said that I less regard
in this case the private individual, than my duty to my Master and
his whole household, who have so much interest in such a spirit not
being quenched by vexations and annoyances. And I am not the only
person who think of him thus, but all those to whom the honour of
God is dear, love and value this man as a treasure. I believe that
my brother De Normandie does not write of him to you with less
affection than I. We agree in this respect as in everything else,
so that I believe that we both equally love him. You may have some
taste of his mind by certain passages which he has translated,
although he has other gifts which are surpassing and far more
valuable. But I hope, Madame, that the reading of the Psalms, which
you will receive by the bearer,[367] will of itself be my excuse
towards you for so pressingly requesting you to be pleased to be the
means of giving him relief, so that he may follow out this work, and
also better things besides: and in doing so, you will oblige many
worthy persons whom I know you would willingly please....
[_Fr. Copy._--_Library of Geneva._ Vol. 107, _a_.]
[365] Theodore Beza, then professor of Greek literature in the
Academy of Lausanne. Born the 24th June 1519, at Véselay in
Burgundy, he had left Paris after a brilliant and dissipated
youth, and retired to Geneva the 24th October 1548, giving up the
possession of the rich benefices which he held of his uncle, the
Abbé of Froidmont. Of this number was the priory of Londjumeau,
which became the matter of a tedious lawsuit between Beza and the
new titular, M. de Sunistan, the protégé of the Duchesse d'Etampes.
[366] Anne de Pisseleu, Duchesse d'Etampes. She was a sister of
Madame de Cany.
[367] Laurent de Normandie. See note 1, p. 311.
This passage seems to refer to an edition of the Psalms translated
into French verse by Theodore Beza, earlier than that which is
mentioned by Senebier.--(_Histoire Littéraire de Genève_, tom.
i. p. 289.--_Septante-Neuf Pseaulmes mis en Rithme Française,
Quarante-Neuf par Clement Marot, avec le Cantique de Siméon et les
Dix Commandements_, in 24. Genève, chez Simon de Bosc, 1556.) M.
Picot, _Hist. de Genève_, tom. ii. p. 7, mentions an edition of the
Psalms, published in 1551. We know that the first complete edition,
for the use of the Reformed Churches, appeared at Lyons in 1562,
with the "Privilège du Roi."