[485] The name of the Princess of Navarre has already appeared
several times in this collection, pp. 36, 207, 342. Th. de Bèze
does not hesitate to place her among the most illustrious witnesses
for the truth in the sixteenth century. Endowed with the noblest
and most brilliant qualities both of the head and heart, which
rendered her the idol of her brother Francis I., and an object of
admiration to all her contemporaries, she was long a steady friend
of the Reformation, whose early representatives she protected in the
persons of Lefevre d'Etaples, Bishop Briçonnet, and Gérard Roussel,
and whose ministry she encouraged in the kingdom of Navarre. She
died in 1549. In the later years of her life her piety gradually
degenerated into a kind of contemplative mysticism, whose chief
characteristic was indifference towards outward forms, uniting the
external ordinances of the Romish Church with the inward cherishing
of a purer faith. We find numerous proofs of this in her poems,
published during her life, as well as in her letters, published
for the first time in Paris by M. Genin, under the following
title:--Lettres de Marguerite d'Angoulême; 8vo, 1841.--_Nouvelles
Lettres de la Reine de Navarre_; 8vo, 1842.
Calvin corresponded at different times with this Princess, whose
character and talents he admired, while, with holy boldness, he
censured her infirmities. Unfortunately only one of these letters
has been preserved, and is here presented to the reader as a
testimony of the faithful courage of the Reformer.--Bèze, _Hist.
Eccl._, tom. i. p. 49.
Calvin vindicates himself from the charge of having intended to
attack her in his book against the Libertines.
FROM GENEVA, _this 28th April 1545_.
MADAME,--I have received a letter from a man of this town, written,
as he said, by your command, by which I understand that you are
very ill-pleased with me because of a certain book by me composed,
the which I have intituled Against the Libertines.[486] I am sorry
to have saddened you, except in so far as it was for your welfare;
for such sadness, as saith St. Paul, is so profitable that we have
no occasion to repent having caused it. But I do not know, Madame,
wherefore or how this book has been able to make you so angry.
The man who has written to me alleges as the reason, that it is
forasmuch as it is composed against you and your servants. So far
as you are concerned, it has not been my intention to touch your
honour, nor to lessen the reverence which all the faithful ought to
bear you. I mean in addition to the reverence which we all owe to
you, because of the royal majesty in which our Lord has exalted you,
the house whence you are descended, and all the excellence that is
in you, as regards the world. For those who are acquainted with me
are well aware, that I am neither so barbarous nor so inhuman, as to
despise, nor to go about to bring into contempt the principalities,
the worldly nobility, and what belongs to human policy. Besides, I
know the gifts which our Lord has put on you, and how he has engaged
you in his service, and has employed you for the advancement of his
kingdom, which affords reason enough for honouring you, and holding
your honour in estimation. Likewise, Madame, I pray you do not allow
yourself to be persuaded by those who excite you against me, seeking
neither your advantage nor my damage, but rather to estrange you
from that good-will and affection which you bear to the Church of
God, and to discourage you from the service of our Lord Jesus, and
of his members, which you have rendered to this hour. As regards
your servants, I do not think that you value your household so
highly as to reckon it more precious than that of our Lord Jesus, of
which one member is called a devil, yea, forsooth, a servant who had
been seated at his Master's table, and appointed to so honourable
a condition as to be ambassador of the Son of God. But although I
have not been so inconsiderate as to name your household, rather,
indeed, concealing that those of whom I have to speak are any way
attached to you, I have spoken in truth, and as before God. It
remains for you to consider whether I have taken pleasure in casting
reproach upon them, or whether I have been constrained by great and
just occasion, yea, even of necessity, to tax them in this way. Now,
Madame, if you have been well informed of the whole, I think so well
of you, that not only you will excuse what I have done, but you will
reckon my simplicity worthy of praise.
[486] This was the treatise, _Contre la Secte Fantastique et
Furieuse des Libertins qui se disent Spirituels_. 1544, in 8vo.
This sect spread more particularly in the Netherlands, denied
the authority of the written word, and, by a false spiritualism,
overturned the foundations of all Christian truth. Two of the
principal leaders, Quintin and Pocquet, were attached to the
household of the Queen of Navarre.
I see a sect the most execrable and pernicious that ever was
in the world. I see that it does much harm, and is like a fire
kindled for the general desolation and destruction, or as a
contagious disease to infect the whole earth, unless some remedy
is applied. Since, then, our Lord has called me to that office,
my conscience constrains me to resist it so far as it is possible
for me. And, more than that, with strong and earnest entreaties,
I am seriously importuned by the poor believers, who see with
concern the Netherlands of the Emperor altogether corrupted, that
as soon as possible, and without delay, I put my hand to the work.
Nevertheless, even after such requests, I have put off a whole
year, to see whether the malady would be lulled asleep by silence.
If any one should allege that, I could well, indeed, write against
the wicked doctrine, letting the individuals alone, I have my more
than reasonable excuse; it is that, considering what ruin Messieur
Antony Pocquet has spread in the country of Artois and of Hainault,
according to the relation of the brethren who have come hither
expressly on that account, having heard the same repeated here; and
considering that Quintin pretends no other object than to draw the
poor simple souls to that more than brutal sect, and not so much by
the report of others as having heard with my ears, understanding
that they are always very bitter in opposing the doctrine of
holiness, to draw poor souls into perdition, to beget in the world a
despising of God, judge, Madame, whether it would have been lawful
for me to dissemble? A dog barks and stands at bay if he sees any
one assault his master. I should be indeed remiss, if, seeing the
truth of God thus attacked, I should remain dumb, without giving
one note of warning, I am quite persuaded that it is not your mind,
that in order to favour you I must betray the Evangel which God
has committed to me. Wherefore I do beseech you, Madame, not to be
offended, if, being constrained by the duty of my office, under
penalty of incurring the offence of God, I have not spared your
servants, without, however, addressing yourself.
As for what you have said, that you would not like to have such a
servant as myself, I confess that I am not qualified to render you
great services; for I have not the ability, and besides, you do not
need my services. It is most sure, however, that the inclination is
not wanting, and as long as I shall live, please God, I shall always
persevere in this purpose; and howsoever you may disdain my service,
that will not prevent my being at heart your humble servant, and
with a good will. For the rest, those who know me are well aware
that I have never aspired to gain access to the courts of princes,
the more that I have never been tempted to court worldly honour.
Even had I made the attempt, possibly it might have been in vain.
But I render thanks to our Lord that I have never been tempted; for
I have good reason to be content to serve so good a Master, who has
accepted me and retained me in his household, yea, forsooth, in
appointing me to an office of such dignity and excellency, however
contemptible it may be according to the world's reckoning. I would
be above measure exceeding in my ingratitude did I not prefer that
situation to all the riches and honours of the world.
As to the reproach of inconstancy which you make against me, in so
far as I have retracted anything, I assure you, Madame, that you
have been misinformed; for our Lord would never have brought me
thus far without having required the confession of my faith. Had it
pleased himself to try me in that respect, I do not vaunt about what
I would have done; but I do not doubt, that since he bestowed that
constancy upon me to expose my life to danger for another, out of
respect solely to his word, that he would have stood with me in his
strength, had there been any question about the glorifying of his
name. Howsoever, he has so preserved and kept me from this reproach,
that never have I unsaid, neither directly nor indirectly. What is
more, I have ever contemplated with horror such faint-heartedness as
to renounce Jesus for the saving of life or of property. I have said
the same from the time when I was in France, of which there are many
witnesses. But in order that you may be more confidently certain,
that those who have made such a report of me have abused your too
unsuspecting confidence, I refer to Monsieur de Clerac,[487] who
can tell you that it is a false calumny which they lay upon me,
which I ought by no means to bear, inasmuch as that by submitting
to it the name of God would thereby be blasphemed. For although I
am nothing, yet seeing that it has pleased God to make use of me,
as one of his instruments for the edification of his Church, I see
what consequence such an imputation would draw along with it, if it
should stick to me to the discredit of the Evangel. But I praise the
Lord, who has not so far permitted Satan to have his will over me,
and has even supported my infirmity in that he has never proved me
either by trial or imprisonment.
[487] Gerard Roussel, preacher to the Queen of Navarre, one of
the earliest missionaries of the Reformation at Paris. Appointed
Abbot of Clerac and Bishop of Oleron, he continued to preach the
new doctrines without breaking with the Roman Catholic Church, and
thus he drew upon himself the most severe censure of both Farel and
Calvin. This latter addressed a letter to him in 1536, concerning
the duty of a Christian man in the administration or the rejection
of the benefices of the Papal Church, and urged him in vain to
separate from the Romish Church, to which he remained attached
until his death in 1550. "His life," says a Roman Catholic writer,
"was without reproach; his kennel of dogs and of greyhounds was a
great crowd of poor people; his horses and his train a flock of
young children instructed in letters. He had much credit among the
people, upon whom he stamped by degrees a hatred and contempt for
the religion of their fathers."--Florimond de Rémond, _Hist. de
l' Héresie_, lib. vii. pp. 850, 851. See especially the ingenious
and learned Biography of Gerard Roussel, by M. Charles Schmidt,
Strasbourg, 1845, in 8vo.
I beseech you to excuse the brevity and the confusedness of my
letter; for immediately on receiving the news of your displeasure, I
have resolved to exert myself with all my might to satisfy you in so
far as I could, were it for no other reason than to avoid my being
the cause of your growing cold, or being turned away from that kind
inclination which you have shewn hitherto toward the poor faithful
brethren. And for that, Madame, after having very humbly commended
me to your kind favour, I beseech the Lord Jesus to guard and guide
you by his Spirit, to uphold you as well in prudence as in zeal to
follow forth your holy calling.
Your very humble and obedient servant in the Lord,