THE SERMON AT THE MOLARD.
(NEW YEAR'S DAY, 1533.)
For nearly twenty years liberty had been clearing the ground on which
the Gospel was to raise its temple. For nearly eight years a few pious
voices had spoken of the doctrine of salvation in private conversations
and meetings; but the Reformation had not yet been preached in the face
of the people. The hour that was to make it a public and notorious thing
was about to strike; the world was about to witness the birth of the
principles of that moral power which for two centuries, whatever may
have been the meanness of its origin, has influenced the destinies of
christendom; which, fanning the flame, that is to say, inspiring the
friends of the Reformation with heavenly courage, has waged heroic
battles against the Jesuits and the inquisition, and preserved the
Gospel and liberty from dangerous assaults. Geneva was about to hear the
voice of a protestant.
[Sidenote: A NEW YEAR.]
The last night of the year 1532 had passed away, and first of 1533 was
beginning. In every house relations and friends were greeting the new
year, which the reformed hoped would be better than all that had gone
before. The family congratulations being over, they went to church.
Bocquet was again preaching at the Gray Friar's monastery, where many
evangelicals attended; but the monk had hardly finished, when numbers of
his hearers quitted the chapel and hurried eagerly along the Rue de Rive
to the Croix d'Or. There were many curious persons among them, who,
knowing that the council had prohibited Froment's preaching, were all
the more desirous of hearing him. In a moment the hall was filled, then
the stairs and passage ... and at last the street in front of the house.
Froment arrived with a few friends, and seeing the crowd, observed: 'The
streets are so full, that it is quite a crush.' He tried however to make
his way through the mass, and his friends assisted him; but do what he
would, all his exertions were ineffectual.
Was all this unforeseen, or was it premeditated by some of the
huguenots? Were these energetic men determined at last to bring the
evangelist from his narrow schoolroom and force him to preach in public?
Is there not some truth in Sister Jeanne's statement that, on the
evening before, they had desired to make him preach in the large area of
the Madeleine? And may we not believe, that as they did not succeed
then, they now desired to compensate themselves by taking a still larger
space and making the reformer preach in the open air? These suppositions
appear probable, but there is no decided evidence in their favour. At
all events, the crowd recognized Froment, and saw that he could not
reach the usual place of his ministrations. Those who were in the street
perceived that if the evangelist succeeded in entering the Croix d'Or,
they would be left outside, which was not agreeable to them. One man
shouted out: 'To the Molard,' and in a short time the cry became
general: 'To the Molard, to the Molard.'[604]
[Sidenote: FROMENT AT THE MOLARD.]
The Molard was situated in the most populous quarter of the city, near
the lake and the Rhone. It was a large square, about 200 yards from the
Croix d'Or. Froment hesitated, but the crowd, getting into motion,
carried him along with them towards the south-west corner of the square,
where the fish market is still held. The fishwomen were there with their
fresh wares displayed on their stalls. The huguenots, finding no other
pulpit, took one of these stalls, and invited Froment to get on it. He
was determined, like his master Farel, to preach the truth in every
place.
As soon as his head appeared above the others, the multitude that filled
the square manifested their delight, and those around him shouted louder
than ever: 'Preach to us, preach the Word of God to us.' Froment, who
was moved, answered with a loud voice: 'It is also the word that shall
endure for ever.' The tumult was so great that the preacher could not
make himself heard: 'He made a sign to them with his hand to keep
silence, and they were still.'[605] 'Pray to God with me,' he said, and
then getting off the stall, he knelt upon the ground. He was agitated:
the tears flowed down his cheeks;[606] a deep silence prevailed in that
square which was so often in those days the scene of tumultuous
movements. Some knelt, others remained standing; all heads were
uncovered, and even those who were strangers to the Gospel, appeared
thoughtful. Froment joined his hands, lifted his eyes to heaven, and
speaking so distinctly that all could hear him, he said:[607]
[Sidenote: PRAYER AT THE MOLARD.]
'Eternal God, father of all mercies, thou hast promised thy children to
give them whatsoever they shall ask in faith, and wilt refuse them
nothing that is reasonable and just; and hast always heard the prayers
of thy servants, who are oppressed in divers manners. Thou knowest now
what is the need of this people better than they or I do.... This need
is principally to hear thy Word. It is true we have been ungrateful in
not acknowledging thee as our only Father, and thine own son Jesus
Christ, whom thou hast sent to die for us, in order to be our only
Saviour and intercessor. But, Lord, thou hast promised us that
whensoever the poor sinner draws near thee, by reason of thy Son, born
of the Virgin Mary, thou wilt hear him. We know and even are assured
that thou desirest not the death and destruction of sinners, but that
they should be converted and live.... Thou desirest that they should not
remain under the great tyranny of Antichrist, and under the hand of the
devil and his servants, who are continually fighting against thy holy
Word and destroying thy work.... Our Father! look down upon thy poor
blind people, led by the blind, so that they both fall into the ditch,
and can only be lifted out by thy mercy.... Lift them out by thy Holy
Spirit, open their eyes, their ears, their understandings, their hearts,
in order that, confessing their sins, they may look to the goodness of
thy Son whom thou hast given to die for them. And since it hath pleased
thee, Lord, to send me to them, give both them and me the infinite grace
that by thy Holy Spirit they may receive what thou shalt put into the
mouth of thy servant, who is unworthy to be the bearer of so great a
message. But as it hath pleased thee to choose me from among the weak
things of the world, give me strength and wisdom so that thy power may
be manifested ... not only in this city but in all the world. How can
thy servant stand in the presence of such a multitude of adversaries,
unless thou art pleased to strengthen him? Show, then, that thy power is
greater than Satan's, and that thy strength is not like man's strength.'
Froment concluded with the Lord's prayer.
[Sidenote: SERMON AT THE MOLARD.]
The people were touched: they had often heard the mechanical prayers of
the priests, but not a prayer of the heart. They acknowledged that the
reformers were certainly not partisans, but Christians who desired the
salvation of all men. The evangelist rose and stood once more upon the
stall, which was about to become the first pulpit of the Reformation in
Geneva. He had heard of the proceedings of the vicars of the Madeleine
and St. Germain's, and was moved by the furious opposition of the
priests to the preaching of the Gospel. He had their swords and
arquebuses still before his eyes, and resolved to oppose them with the
sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. It was necessary to lead
the Genevans away from the teachers who deceived them and direct them to
Scripture; it was necessary to break with the papacy. All eyes were
fixed on him: they saw him take a book—it was the Gospel. He opened it
at the seventh chapter of Matthew and read these words: _Beware of false
prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are
ravening wolves: by their fruits ye shall know them_. Then fixing his
eyes on his numerous audience, Froment began by expressing his faith in
the mysteries of God: 'Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, very God and
very Man, conceived of the Holy Ghost and born of the Virgin Mary,
knowing the things that were to happen, foresaw that false prophets
would come, not with hideous faces, but with the most pleasing exterior
in the world, under the colour of holiness, and in _sheep's clothing_,
so that the children of God might be deceived. For this cause he
exhorted his disciples to be _wise as serpents and harmless as doves_.
Our God does not desire to have a foolish, giddy people, but a people
endowed with great wisdom, who can distinguish between the doctrine of
God and the doctrine of man. They who do not know it go astray, and are
like swine which cannot discern good things from bad, and swallow
everything indiscriminately.... Ah! if the serpent, which is but a
brute, is so wise in his generation, if he shuts his ears so as not to
hear the voice of the charmer, if he casts off his old skin when the
time for doing so has come, shall we not fear to follow the
cunningly-devised doctrines of men? Shall we not cast off our old skin
to put on a new one? Yes, we must put off our old nature which is sin,
Satan, idolatry, impurity, robbery, hypocrisy, pride, avarice, and false
doctrine, and put on the new man, which is Christ.... It would be of no
use to hear the Word of the Gospel if we did not change our wicked
intentions, and to distinguish the false teachers if we did not avoid
them. What! if we recognized venomous beasts should we live among them?
If we saw a dish of poison should we not beware of eating it?
'But Christ desires us further to be _harmless as doves_. Not with the
simplicity of monastic hypocrisy or bigotry, but with simplicity of
heart, without gall, lovely as that of doves.... If we walk in such
simplicity we shall overcome all our enemies, as Jesus Christ overcame
his enemies by his meekness.... Let us not begin fighting, killing, and
burning as tyrants do. The child of God has no other sword of defence
than the Word of God; but that is a two-edged sword, piercing even to
the marrow.'
Everybody understood Froment's allusion, and many, as they thought of
the riot of the evening before, looked and smiled at each other. But
while these words, delivered with energy, were stirring the crowd
assembled in the Molard, there was still greater agitation in the rest
of the city. The priests were irritated; they had tried to shut
Froment's schoolroom, and now he was preaching in the great square. They
went from one to another and excited the laity. 'The Lutherans,' they
said, 'have taken their _idol_ to the Molard to make him preach there.'
The vicar-episcopal being instructed by them, apprised the syndics, who
sent for the chief usher (_grand sautier_) Falquet, and ordered him to
stop the preaching. That officer immediately went down to the Molard,
the sergeants cleared a way through the crowd, and going up to Froment,
who was then speaking with great boldness, he stretched out his staff
towards him and said, 'In the name of my lords I command you to cease
preaching.'
Froment stopped, and turning to the chief usher answered him in a loud
voice, '_We ought to obey God rather than man_. God commands me to
preach His word, you forbid it; I am therefore not bound to obey you.'
The presence of the public force caused, however, some little sensation
in the audience. The evangelist noticing it turned to the people and
said, 'Do not be disturbed, my friends, but listen to what our Lord
says—that we must beware of false prophets.' Silence was restored,
everyone became calm, and Falquet, finding the evangelist was determined
to preach, thought it the safest plan to refer to his masters, and
withdrew with his officers. Froment then continued his discourse: 'In
order to be on our guard against false prophets, we must know what they
are, what is their doctrine and life, and with what they are clothed.
When they have been described to you in their natural colours, you will
avoid their teaching and their life as more deadly than the plague. The
plagues with which God has visited you heretofore[608] only touched you
outwardly; but this, more venomous than all the other poisons of the
earth, infects the soul, kills it, and casts it into perdition. With
this plague we and our fathers have been infected for nearly a thousand
years. Not that it came upon us suddenly, and in villanous and deformed
appearance; no, it came gradually, under the colour of holiness and in
sheep's clothing, these ravening wolves having even some good
intentions. But although Jesus Christ had warned us of their coming, and
had pointed them out to us, we have been blinded and led by the nose to
the ditch of deceit like cattle to water.... The son of perdition, who
sitting in the temple of God is worshipped as God—him you worship and
keep his commandments. Oh! what a fine master you serve, and what
prophets you have! Do you know them? Not to keep you in suspense I
declare openly that I am speaking of the pope, and that the false
prophets of whom I bid you beware are the priests, monks, and all the
rest of his train.
'But some of you, who yourselves belong to that band, will say: "It is
you that are the false prophets! Our law is old, and yours is but of
yesterday, and brings confusion among the people of every country. While
our friends reigned, we enjoyed so much good, so many happy years, that
it was quite marvellous; but since you have come to preach this new law
there have been wars, famines, pestilences, divisions, strifes, and
ill-will. Certainly you are not from God."
'Well, let us examine this statement; let us find out who are these
false prophets—we or your priests?... In order to discriminate in such a
matter the two parties ought to have a competent judge, who is no
acceptor of persons, and that the parties should not be judges in their
own cause. For if, in civil causes, we need good judges, good pleadings,
good witnesses, good reasons, and letters patent, how much more so in
the things of God!... We shall take, therefore, a competent judge, and
shall produce witnesses, documents, and ancient customs for the defence
of our right.'
Curiosity was excited; the hearers asked each other what was the judge's
name. Hitherto the pope had been appealed to as sole judge of
controversies: who was Froment going to put in his place?
'In the first place,' he continued, 'the judge shall be—God. Yes, God
who judges with righteous judgment, not regarding either rich or poor,
wise or foolish, and who gives right to whom it belongs;—the judge shall
be His true Son Jesus Christ, attended by His good and lawful witnesses
the prophets and apostles; and here,' said he, holding up the New
Testament, and showing it to the people, 'here are the sealed letters,
signed with the precious blood of our Lord, and the cloud of martyrs who
were put to death in order to bear this testimony. What read we there?
'Firstly, the Lord condemns the Pharisees as _blind leaders_. Now, do
you not think that yours (the Romish priests) are condemned by him?...
Those who call themselves saints through their own merits, the only
saints of the church, and who wish to lead you by their bulls, pardons,
auricular confessions, masses, and other tricks or manœuvres which they
have invented out of their own heads ... which the Pharisees never dared
do.
'Moreover, the Lord in St. Matthew bears this testimony: There shall
arise false prophets in the latter days who will say unto you, _Lo, here
is Christ or there_![609] Do they not tell you that Christ is there ...
in the inner part of the holy house, hidden in the farthest place, _in a
vessel_? Do not believe them. The true Christ is he who hath ransomed us
with his blood. Seek him by a real faith at the right hand of the
Father, and not in a house, in a cupboard, in the pyx ... as your new
redeemers and high-priests do.
'And what says Jesus Christ to-day for the fuller identification of the
false prophets? He not only says that they come in sheep's clothing, but
that _they walk in long robes, devour widows' houses, and for a show
make long prayers_.[610] The Lord does not forbid wearing long robes for
the necessities of the body, but the hypocritical superstitions
connected with them, the wearers esteeming themselves holier than the
laity, by being dressed, shaven, and shorn differently from us.... Yes,
by such means they have devoured widows; I do not mean to say that they
eat women; it is a manner of speaking, as we say of tyrants that they
devour their people, and of lawyers that they devour their clients, that
is to say, their substance; and not that they eat men's flesh, as the
cannibals do. _They break their bones_ (to get at the marrow), says a
prophet, _and eat the flesh of my people, as flesh within the
caldron_.[611]
'Look now, O people, I pray you, and judge for yourselves. Tell us who
are those who wear such clothing, such _long robes_, who _devour
widows_, making long prayers for show.... You know very well it is not
us, for we are dressed like other people; but if your priests were to
dress like us they would be apostate and excommunicate.
'Nay more, we do not lead poor people to understand that they ought to
bring us a portion of their goods, and that then we will save them; that
praying for them and the dead, we will bring them out of purgatory....
But your priests do so, and under such pretexts they have dragged into
their paws almost all the riches of the earth; and not a word must be
said about it ... for whosoever speaks of it will suddenly be put to
death, or be excommunicated, or called heretic and Lutheran.
'Ah! Jesus Christ, St. Paul, and the other apostles paint them so truly
to the life that there is no one so blind or stupid as not to recognise
them easily, except those who are afraid of losing their soup-tickets.
The Holy Scriptures call them wells without water, anti-christs,
despisers of the Lord, and say that they _give heed to doctrines of
devils, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats which
God hath created to be received with thankfulness of them which
believe_.'[612]
While Froment was thus haranguing the people in the Molard, the
magistrates assembled in the hotel-de-ville learnt from the chief usher
that the sermon was still going on. The syndics were exasperated. The
canons and priests argued that as the civil power was helpless, they
ought to take the matter into their own hands, and, grasping their arms,
prepared to descend. At the same time, the council being resolved to
make an example, ordered the preachers to be apprehended wherever they
were found; and consequently the lieutenant of police, the
procurator-fiscal, with sergeants, soldiers, and priests, marched in a
large body to the Molard, angry and indignant at the evangelist's
boldness, and determined to throw him into prison. If Farel had been
placed beyond their reach, Froment at least should not escape. While
this excited band was descending the Perron with deadly intentions,
Froment, who either had no suspicion, or did not care about it, was
continuing his discourse to the people of Geneva.
'There are many other passages of scripture,' he said, 'which might be
brought forward for a stronger proof; but these must suffice to put you
in a position to judge whether we or your pastors are false prophets.
There is none among you who does not know that we do not forbid marriage
or meats; that we declare marriage holy, ordained from the beginning of
the world to all such as have not the gift of continence, without any
distinction of persons. But the pope does otherwise, and says that he
who hath not a lawful wife may keep a concubine (_Distinctio_ xxxiv.
cap. xvi. _Qui non habet uxorem, loco illius concubinam habere potest_);
for, he adds, I desire that they be holy.... Verily a wonderful holiness
is that!... I make you all judges. You have long known them better than
I have.
'As for meats, we leave every man free, as our Lord has done, exhorting
the people to use them profitably, without excess or superfluity, giving
thanks to God.... But these do the very opposite. Although Christ was
sent by the Father to teach us the truth, they bring us lies, dreams,
false doctrines, prohibitions of marriage and of meats, and all sorts of
nonsense, as if they were holy things.'...
[Sidenote: THE SERMON INTERRUPTED.]
At this moment a confused noise was heard. Claude Bernard, whose eyes
and ears were on the watch, perceived a band of armed men entering the
square. The lieutenant of the city, the procurator-fiscal, the soldiers
and the armed priests, exasperated and impatient, were occupying the
Molard. Bernard saw that resistance would be dangerous and useless;
besides the Reformation must not be established in Geneva by violence,
it must make its way by conviction. There was not a moment to be lost;
every one knew what would be the fate of the evangelist if he were
taken.... He must be saved. Bernard therefore sprang from his place and
rushed 'in great excitement' towards Froment, shouting to him at the top
of his voice:[613] 'Here are all the priests in arms ... the
procurator-fiscal and the lieutenant of the city are with them.... For
the honour of God descend, get off the stall, and let us save your
life!... Make your escape!' Froment would not come down: they entreated
him in vain; his heart burnt within him, for he perceived that his
discourse was stirring their souls.... How could he forsake his work at
such a decisive moment? But the priests and arquebusiers were coming
nearer; Some of the huguenots were already grasping their swords and
preparing to resist the sacerdotal gang. There would have been bloodshed
and death. 'Pray, for God's honour, let us avoid the spilling of blood,'
exclaimed Bernard. Froment could not resist these words. Some of his
friends caught hold of him, lifted him off the stall and dragged him
away. They took him through a narrow private passage, and by this means
reached Jean Chautemps' house. The door opened and the evangelist was
put into a secret hiding-place. The priests and soldiers vainly
endeavoured to reach him; the mass of hearers was between them and him.
The lieutenant ordered the people 'under heavy penalties' to retire; and
when the preacher was in safety, the assembly dispersed. The magistrates
and priests returned angry and disappointed to report this second
failure to the syndics. The Word had not been sown in vain; many of the
hearers found that they had received a glorious new year's gift. Such
was the first day of the year 1533 at Geneva.
[Sidenote: FROMENT IN HIDING.]
All the priests and their followers had not returned to the hotel de
ville. Froment had disappeared, but he could not be far off. Some of
them prowled about the adjacent streets, trying to discover the
reformer's hiding place. At last one of them found it out. Chautemps was
known to be a decided evangelist, and they called to mind that Olivetan
had lived in his house. Several catholics stationed themselves under his
windows, and when the night came, they began to make an uproar. This
alarmed Froment's friends; and going to his hiding place they told him
that 'he must move to the house of another citizen.' They went out by a
back-door, and, owing to the darkness, he was conducted without being
recognised to the house of the energetic Perrin, who was more dreaded
than the honest Chautemps. Ere long, however, the priests and their
adherents followed him there: 'Ami Perrin,' they shouted, 'we will pull
down your house and burn you in it if you do not send the Lutheran
away.' Perrin made use of stratagem: going out to the riotous catholics,
he said: 'We have liberty to keep an honest servant in our houses
without impediment from anybody.' He then said to Froment: 'You are my
servant, I engage you as such, and you shall work for me.' At the same
time a few of Perrin's friends, stanch huguenots, came up the street,
presenting such a threatening front to the priests, that they were
forced to retire. The syndics determined to convoke the great council on
the morrow.[614]
The circumstances were serious: the new doctrine had been preached
publicly, and Froment's bold address had made an impression, especially
on the huguenots. They had discovered that the surest means of
guaranteeing their political emancipation was to establish a religious
reformation. At the Molard, liberty and the Gospel had shaken hands. The
catholics asked whether the pope's sovereignty was about to fall to the
ground. The various parties grew warm, abused each other, and lively
discussions took place between them. The politicians maintained that if
the city was divided on such all-important matters, their
irreconcileable enemy Savoy would plant his white cross on the walls he
had coveted so long. Certain laymen, full of confidence in their own
ability, doubted whether strangers and madmen (_follateurs_) should be
permitted to vent their nonsense everywhere?... The priests spoke the
loudest: they asked the Genevans if they would forsake the faith of
their ancestors; if the catholic and apostolic religion, attacked,
overthrown, and annihilated, was to give place to a new doctrine that
would bring down the ruin of Geneva. The huguenots replied that if the
religion announced by the reformers was not that of the pope, the
schoolmen, the councils, and perhaps even of the Fathers, it was at
least that of the apostles and Jesus Christ, and consequently was older
than that of Rome. They represented that as the papal government was
nothing else than despotism in the church, it could produce nothing but
despotism in the state. The two parties became more distinct every day.
The syndics and councillors, wishing to restore concord, went from one
to another, trying to calm down the more violent; but it was a very hard
task.
[Sidenote: THE COUNCIL MEETS.]
On the 2nd of January, when the council of Two Hundred met, the premier
syndic proposed, 'that it should be forbidden to preach in private
houses or in public places without the permission of the syndics or the
vicar-episcopal,—and that all who knew of preachers guilty of infringing
this law should be bound to inform against them, under penalty of _three
stripes with the rope_.' At these words the huguenots exclaimed, 'We
demand the Holy Scriptures;' to which the friends of the priests
replied, 'We desire that sect to be utterly extirpated.' The council
thought to restore harmony between everybody by carrying a resolution
that Bocquet the gray friar should preach until next Lent.[615]
The premier syndic, who was distressed at the strife and hatred by which
the citizens were divided, proposed that 'all men, citizens, and
inhabitants, should forgive one another.' The Genevans, who were prompt
to anger, were equally prompt to reconciliation. 'Yes, yes,' they
exclaimed, as they lifted up their hands, 'We desire to love those who
are of a contrary opinion.' And soon bands of men might be seen parading
the streets, in which persons of the most opposite opinions held one
another affectionately by the arm.[616]
Meantime Froment remained in Perrin's house and wove ribbons, 'otherwise
he could not have stayed there,' as he informs us. Whilst seated in
silence at the loom, passing the shuttle to and fro, he deliberated
whether he should remain in hiding or again openly proclaim the Gospel?
Having made up his mind to go from house to house to strengthen those
who had believed, he went out and knocked at certain doors; a few of his
friends, armed with stout sticks, followed him at a distance, without
his knowledge, to prevent his being insulted. One day, however, a vulgar
woman abusing him roundly, Jean Favre, a violent huguenot, and his
body-guard, went up and gave her 'a sound slap on the face.' Froment
turned round, distressed at his friend's hastiness: 'It is not by
violence,' said he, 'that we shall gain friends, but by gentleness and
friendship.'
[Sidenote: ATTACK ON FROMENT.]
Another time Froment was crossing the Rhone bridge to go to Aimé
Levet's.[617] It was a holiday, and the priests at the head of a
procession were advancing on one end of the bridge as Froment arrived at
the other. They were carrying crosses and relics, mumbling prayers and
invoking the saints: _Sancte Petre_, chanted some; _Sancte Paule_,
chanted others. Froment, being taken by surprise and embarrassed,
determined to be moderate, and not to throw the saints into the river as
Farel had done at Montbeliard. He therefore stood still, but did not bow
to the images. When they saw this, the priests left off chanting and
began to shout: 'Fall on him!... fall on the dog!... to the Rhone with
him!' The devout women who followed them, breaking their ranks, rushed
upon the reformer; one caught him by the arm, another by the dress,
while a third pushed him from behind: 'To the Rhone' with him they
cried, and endeavoured to throw him into the river. But his body-guard,
consisting of John Humbert and some other huguenots, who were a little
way off, ran up and rescued Froment from the hands of these furies. Upon
this the women, priests, and sacristans, seeing that the Lutherans had
saved their _idol_, shouted still louder than before. A tumultuous crowd
filled the bridge. The huguenots, wishing to put Froment in a place of
safety, hurriedly thrust him into Levet's house, which was situated at
the corner of the bridge.[618] The populace, excited by the clergy,
instantly besieged the house: they flung stones at the windows, threw
mud into the shop, and at last rushed in and scattered the drugs and
bottles upon the floor. Levet was an apothecary—a profession much
esteemed. The huguenots, having put Froment in safety in a secret
chamber, went out and assisted by a few friends drove the priests,
women, and rioters from the bridge.
At night Froment left his hiding-place and returned to Perrin's, where
he assembled a few friends and told them that he thought it was his duty
to leave the city on account of these 'raging tempests.' Chautemps,
Perrin, Levet, and Guerin were much distressed, but they confessed that
the violence of his enemies rendered the evangelist's longer stay in
Geneva useless. Claude Magnin offered to accompany him, and when the
night came Froment bade his brethren farewell. Proceeding cautiously, he
quitted the city, crossed the Pays de Vaud, and arrived at the village
of Yvonand, where he rested from his Genevese battles.
Froment was not one of those eminent men who play a part because of
their great character, and whose influence is continually on the
increase. His ministry at Geneva during part of the winter 1532-33 was
the heroic period of his life, after which he seldom appears but in the
second or third rank: he was eclipsed by teachers who were superior to
him. In the briefness of his ministry he resembles those heavenly bodies
which attract all eyes for a few weeks, and then disappear; but he
resembles them also by the influence which the people ascribe to their
ephemeral passage. Froment's stay in Geneva shook the Romish traditions,
secured the Holy Scriptures from oblivion, began to shed a few rays of
light in the city, and laid the first foundations of the Church. Ere
long the Word of God was carried thither in greater fulness by Farel and
Calvin: the sun poured out all its light, and a solid majestic edifice
was built on the foundations laid by the poor schoolmaster.
[604] Froment, _Gestes_, p. 22.
[605] Ibid.
[606] Ibid.
[607] These particulars, this prayer, and the first sermon that followed
it have been recorded by Froment himself in his _Gestes de Genève_
published by M. Revillod, pp. 22-42.
[608] The plague was then pretty frequent at Geneva.
[609] Matth. xxiv. 23.
[610] Matth. xxiii. 14; Mark xii. 38; Luke xx. 46.
[611] Micah iii. 3.
[612] 1 Timothy iv. 1-3.
[613] 'Anhelo pulmone, in effusissimam vocem laxato.'—Spanheim, _Geneva
restit._ p. 52.
[614] Froment, _Gestes_, pp. 43, 44. La Sœur J. de Jussie, _Le Levain_,
&c. p. 50.
[615] Council Registers, 2 Jan. 1533; Gautier MS. Roset MS. _Chron._
liv. ii. ch. v. La Sœur J. de Jussie, _Hérésie de Genève_, p. 50.
[616] Council Registers, 2 Jan. 1533; Gautier MS. Roset MS. _Chron._
liv. ii. ch. v. La Sœur J. de Jussie, _Hérésie de Genève_, p. 50.
[617] 'In Leveti ædes, in ponte quo flumen Rhodani transitur sitas,
migrat.'—Spanheim, _Geneva restit._ p. 50.
[618] Froment, _Gestes_, p. 4.