_This 22d October 1540._
With the seal: Post tenebras spero lucem.
Calvin at Worms--he excuses himself to the magistrates of Geneva
for his inability to comply with their request, on account of
the mission with which he had been charged into Germany in the
general interest of the Church.
WORMS, _12th November 1540_.
MY VERY WORTHY, POTENT, AND HONOURABLE LORDS,--I have received the
letters which you have been pleased to write me; have heard, at the
same time, the statement of your ambassadors conformable thereto.
Were it only on account of the courtesy and the consideration of
every kind which you shew towards me, I could no otherwise discharge
myself of my duty, except in striving to the utmost of my power to
agree to your request. And besides, it is so reasonable, that it
ought well to persuade me to accede to the wish expressed in it.
Nevertheless, there is still a reason which constrains me to pay
attention to the method and the means whereby duly to comply with
your will. It is the special love which I bear to your Church,
having always in remembrance that she has been formerly recommended
to my care and intrusted to my oversight by God, and that on that
account I am for ever obliged to seek her welfare and prosperity.
Howbeit I think I have so just and adequate an excuse for not
immediately acquiescing in your wish and my own desire, that is to
say, declaring the affection of my heart by doing what you wish,
that you shall not be very much displeased with the answer which
I have made to your ambassadors. I pray you then, as I wrote you
not long ago, always to keep in mind that I am here at present
on-waiting in case of need, according to the small ability which God
has bestowed, in the service of all the Christian Churches, in which
number yours is also comprised; and for that reason I can neither
relinquish nor delegate such a vocation, but am constrained to await
the issue, and to see what success the Lord will give. For although
of myself I can do nothing, it ought to suffice me that I am set
here in this place by the will of the Lord, on purpose to employ
me in whatsoever he would have me to apply myself; and howsoever
that we do not see the matters in hand disposed to go forward very
expeditiously, so much the more must we take heed diligently and
keep upon our guard, inasmuch as our enemies would desire nothing
better than to surprise us unawares; and what is more, as they are
full of guile and craftiness, we do not know what they are planning.
Wherefore, we ought to be preparing to meet them in another new
diet, should they succeed in obtaining the end and aim of their
intrigues at present, which is, that nothing of real business may
be despatched in the diet which is here met. Thus it happens, that
for the present I cannot come to serve you in the preaching of the
Evangel, and in the ministry of your Church. For like reason, in so
much uncertainty, I dare not fix upon any appointed time, on this
account, as I have already said, that this assembly will probably
occasion a second, to which I may be sent, and I cannot refuse.[228]
While I entertain some doubt how far this reply will be agreeable to
you, yet, were I in your place, I would take the same advice from
you.
[228] The Conferences of Worms, where Melanchthon and Eck appeared
as the principal actors, were in fact broken off at the request of
the Emperor, and resumed with greater _éclat_ the year following
at the Diet of Ratisbon. Calvin went thither, and his wonderful
intelligence procured for him, on the acknowledgment of Melanchthon
himself, the surname of _Theologian_. He retraced the picture of
that Assembly in several of his Latin letters, and above all, in
the following writing:--"The Proceedings of the Imperial Diet held
in the City of Regensbourg, otherwise called Ratisbon, the year one
thousand five hundred forty and one, about the differences which are
at present concerning Religion." Geneva, 1541.
Over and above all this, the instant that God shall have vouchsafed
me the leisure and opportunity, that is to say, when I shall be
freed from this extraordinary employment, I assure you, that in
every manner of way that it shall be possible to employ me to help
your Church in her time of need, I will therein do my duty, just
the same as if I had already accepted the charge to which you have
called me--exactly as though I was already in the midst of you doing
the office of pastor. This anxious wish that I entertain, that your
Church may be rightly governed and held together, will not suffer me
to rest without attempting, by every possible means, to assist in
the time of her necessity.
True it is, indeed, that I cannot quit the call in which I am at
present placed at Strasbourg without the advice and consent of
those to whom our Lord has given the authority in that matter; for,
that we may not confuse the order of the Church, as we ought not
to undertake the administration and government of a well-regulated
Church without some one presenting us, in the same manner we ought
never to desert the Churches which are committed to us according
to our mere fancy, but to wait until those who have the power have
freed us from the charge in a right and lawful way. Thus, as not
being free, I desire always to regulate myself by the advice of my
brethren who serve in the ministry of the word along with me, but
that shall not prevent me from a readiness to do you all the service
which the Lord would graciously bestow upon you; for themselves,
indeed, are no otherwise inclined than to induce me, rather than to
hinder me that I should come to the aid of your Church, inasmuch
as they do acknowledge that it is expedient for her safety and
preservation. Wherefore, I beseech you affectionately, that you
would repose that confidence in me to believe, that heart and mind,
my whole soul, is engaged to prove to you that I am thoroughly
prepared to assist your Church in so far as shall be allowable, and
to see that she be provided according to her consequence in regard
to worldly goods and provision. Furthermore, I thank you very humbly
for the good inclination which you have been pleased graciously to
declare in my behalf, as I have understood by your letter, and more
fully by the relation of your ambassadors.
And now, worthy, potent, and honourable Lords, after my humble
commendation to your kindly favour and consideration, I pray the
Lord that, from day to day, he would increase the grace already
begun in you, and so keep you by his Holy Spirit that you may hold
your dignity as subserving to the glory of his name, so that the
state and government of your town may be daily prospered by his
blessing. Above all things, I beseech you, in the name of the Lord
Jesus, to maintain peace and good agreement among yourselves, as far
as shall be possible, and not only among yourselves, but also with
those who are joined together with you in our Lord.
Your humble servant in the Lord,