[414] Declared guilty of the crime of heresy, and delivered over to
the secular arm by the Judge Ordinary of Lyons, the five students
made their appeal to the Parliament of Paris, while the authorities
of Berne strove in vain to save "leurs escholiers." Transferred
from dungeon to dungeon, during a trial which lasted for more than
a year, brought back at last from Paris to Lyons, to await the
sentence of their judges, the constancy of these young men never
faltered for a single day. At length, the 1st March 1553, they
received the communication of the decree of the Parliament of Paris,
which gave them over to the stake.--_Hist. des Martyrs_, lib. iv.,
p. 230. That melancholy intelligence soon spread around, and brought
mourning to Lausanne and to Geneva.
Exhortations to constancy--Mention of Oritz, the Inquisitor.
_7th March 1553._
MY BRETHREN,--We have been for some days past in deeper anxiety and
sadness than ever, having heard of the resolve taken by the enemies
of the truth. When the gentleman you wot of passed this way,[415]
while he was dining very hurriedly, to avoid all delay, I drew up
such a form of letters as seemed to me expedient to write. God has
given, both to you and all his people, some further respite; we wait
the event as it shall please him to dispose it, always praying him
to uphold you, and not permit you to fall away; in short, to have
you in his keeping. I feel well assured that nothing shakes the
firmness which he has put within you. Doubtless, for a long time
past, you have meditated upon the last conflict which you will have
to sustain, if it be his good pleasure to lead you thereto, and
have even so fought hitherto that long practice has inured you to
fill up what remains. It cannot be but that you feel some twinges
of frailty; yet, be confident that He whose service you are upon
will so rule in your hearts by his Holy Spirit, that his grace shall
overcome all temptations. If he has promised to strengthen with
patience those who suffer chastisement for their sins, how much less
will he be found wanting to those who maintain his quarrel,--those
whom he employs on so worthy a mission as being witnesses for his
truth! You must therefore keep this sentence in mind, that _He who
dwells in you is stronger than the world_. We who are here shall do
our duty in praying that he would glorify himself more and more by
your constancy, and that he may, by the consolation of his Spirit,
sweeten and endear all that is bitter to the flesh, and so absorb
your spirits in himself, that in contemplating that heavenly crown,
you may be ready without regret to leave all that belongs to this
world.
[415] This was the pious merchant, John Liner, of Saint Gall.--See
the Letter of the 10th August, p. 358. He was present with the
prisoners at the bar of Roanne when they received their sentence
of death. He set out immediately for Berne, in order to try a last
application on the part of the seigneury of that town to the King
of France.--_Hist. des Martyrs_, pp. 230, 231. Various MSS. of the
library of St. Gall.
I have received a certain paper containing some very subtle
arguments of that unhappy animal Oritz,[416] to prove that it is
allowable to make idols. I do not know whether it is you who have
sent it me, and whether you would have me to reply to it. I have not
thought it worth while to do so, because I was in some doubt about
it, and really I do believe that you have no great need of it. But
if you like you shall have an answer to it by the first. There is
one thing which I have to request of you: you saw some time ago the
letters of a paltry mocker of God in this place, who does nothing
but trouble the Church, and has never ceased to deal in that trade
for five years past. I wish much that by the first, you would write
a word of warning to make known his malice, as there is really no
end to him. And this I beseech you, as you love the repose of this
Church, which is more teased than you can well believe by internal
foes.
[416] The inquisitor, Nicolas Oritz, who presided at the trial of
the five students. The paper here mentioned still exists in the
library of Geneva, 113, with this title:--"_Copy of a paper of the
Inquisitor Houriz, given to the prisoners for the Word at Lyons, to
be conveyed to M. Calvin to retain_."
And now, my brethren, after having besought our good Lord to have
charge over you, to assist you in everything and through everything,
to make you taste by experience how kind a Father he is, and how
careful of the salvation of his own, I pray to be remembered in your
prayers.
[_Fr._--_Printed in Hist. des Martyrs_, lib. iv., p. 247.]