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CCCXXXII. – To Madame De Pons

He encourages her to come out of the spiritual bondage in which she is held

The 20th of November 1553.

Madame and good Sister, – If God had given you a husband who had been loyal to you, and had lived in concord with you, there would be need to comfort you at present, and to exhort you to patience. But since he who ought to have considered you as dear to him as the half of himself, has been, while he lived, a very severe scourge, you have occasion rather to acknowledge that in removing him our gracious God has acted in mercy towards you. Furthermore, the annoyances which you have undergone ought to teach you to humble yourself under the hand of Him who has thought fit thus to try you, in order to make you feel the value of his help, and how his faithfulness never fails his people. But all the ill-treatment under which you have pined away, has been nothing at all compared to that wretched captivity by which you were kept back from the worship of God, and kept away from the Son of God, so as to be unable to keep faith in the holy and sacred marriage which he has contracted with you; and now you must all the more consider, to what end he has set you so much at liberty. Call to mind, I beseech you, the continual sighs you have been heaving for so long a time. Although you had many kinds of grief, I doubt not that your chief regret was that of not being permitted to devote yourself entirely to the service of God. Consider well, whether you have not vowed daily before God, that you wished for nothing but the means of getting rid of the servitude in which you were held. Now that your wish is granted, rely upon it that God holds you to your promise. It is for you to anticipate him, even as your conscience prompts you, without incitements from without. And yet further, call to remembrance that Saint Paul, in saying that married persons are as it were divided, but that widows have nothing to do but to apply themselves entirely to God, takes away from you the excuse which hitherto you could have alleged. It is certain that nothing whatever ought to hinder us from the discharge of what is due to our heavenly Father, and to that kind Redeemer whom he has sent to us; but the better the opportunity of each, so much the more guilty does he become if he does not the more readily discharge his duty. I am well aware that you have regard to your children, and I do not say but that this is right, provided that the sovereign Father of both you and them be not left out. But consider that the greatest benefit which you can confer upon them, is to shew them the way to follow God. However that may be, it will no longer be permitted you to allege that you are under compulsion, and forced to offend, seeing that God has opened a door to you which might have been shut. What remains for you then but to take courage, yea even so as to strive to the very utmost to surmount all the difficulties which keep you back: for I know very well that you cannot without great opposition dedicate yourself fully to our Lord Jesus. But to come to the point, make a right use of the knowledge which he has for a long time past vouchsafed you; and do not allow the zeal which he has at one time imprinted by the Holy Spirit upon your heart to die away; and do not knowingly quench the holy desire which has burned within you in bygone times. Behold how God allows those to slip away who grow careless little by little, and how easily he permits them to be so utterly depraved that they go to perdition; and it is just that the Lord should thus avenge himself upon those who have preferred the vanities of the world to the treasure of his Gospel. Now, while many allow themselves to be seduced by such examples, let this serve as a warning to you, to keep all the more closely fenced about in fear and solicitude. Finally, let the adversity which you have passed through, during a part of your life, make you ponder all the more seriously that true happiness and perfect glory which is prepared for us in heaven, that we may not beguile ourselves with worldly repose, which can only be fleeting and highly seasoned with never-ceasing care and troubles, and, worse than all, which makes us unmindful of that soul-rest which alone is blessed. But that I may not seem to distrust your good-will, I shall conclude for the present, after having affectionately commended me to your kind favour and prayers, and having besought our merciful God that if, in times past, he has poured forth upon you the graces and virtues of his Holy Spirit, he would not only continue them, but would increase you therein, and never allow you to decline from the straight path, but advance you therein still more and more, while in the meantime he holds you under his protection. I do not know whereabouts your brother is, or if I should give him pleasure by writing to him, which withholds me from doing so. Nevertheless, I desire that God would hold him with a strong hand, so that he may not be estranged from him.⁴⁵⁹ From what I hear, he is a little gone out of the way in some things, and has much need to be brought back into the straight path; but as I do not know how to effect this, I reserve it for a better opportunity. Once more I commit you to the love of our merciful God. – Your humble brother and servant,

Charles D'Espeville.

[Fr. copy. – Impl. Library. Coll. Dupuy, Vol. 102.]

CCCXXXIII. – To Viret. ⁴⁶⁰

Recommendation of several English refugees in Switzerland

Geneva, 20th November 1553.

Those Englishmen, on leaving this place to resort to you, requested me to give them an introduction, in order that by your assistance they might secure suitable lodgings. Indeed they were anxious to live with yourself or M. Beza, but they will not urge this, especially as they were informed that they could scarcely expect it. You will, however, receive them as a good and kind host should; for I understand that they are pious and honourable men, and am confident that they will be easily accommodated. The elder, the father of the young man, is a person of good birth, and was wealthy in his own country. The son merits higher praise for piety and holy zeal; for, under the reign of King Edward, seeing that the Church suffered from want of pastors, he undertook voluntarily the labours of that office. Add to this, that they, with a generous liberality assisted with their entire property our French brethren, who, on account of the Gospel, had crossed over to England. We must on no account, therefore, deny to these exiles at least a similar friendship. You will also inform our friend Beza of the intended visit of a friend, who will, I expect, be with him to-morrow or soon afterwards. He is brother to Luzarch, whom he had formerly at his house – older than he, however, although not the eldest of the family. Our bold leaders have dined together several times since you left.⁴⁶¹ I have not as yet witnessed any proof of that intrepidity of which they were boasting. Adieu, very worthy brother. Salute M. Beza and the rest of the brethren, also your wife, and little daughters at home. May the Lord guide and watch over you. – Yours,

John Calvin

[Lat. orig. autogr. – Library of Geneva. Vol. 107, a.]

CCCXXXIV. – To Bullinger. ⁴⁶²

Appeal to the Magistrates of Zurich in reference to ecclesiastical discipline – thanks for the aid afforded by the ministers of that Church in the affair of Servetus

Geneva, 26th November 1553.

Here is another new labour for you. Those desirous of living a life of licentiousness, have not ceased for the past seven years to oppose the discipline of the Church, which is in a tolerable state of efficiency here. We would not, however, have been so much annoyed by loose-living men among the common people, if there had not been leaders who wished to convert this license into a means of power. It has now come to this, that whatever church order has hitherto flourished will be rooted up if you cannot afford us a remedy. And it is on this account that our very excellent brother, M. de Budé, has not scrupled to undertake a journey to you, at this trying season of the year, in order to acquaint you with the whole business. However, the main point is in brief this: that your most illustrious Senate give as their reply, that the form which we have hitherto employed is agreeable to the word of God; in the next place, that it discountenance innovation. You will learn the rest from the circular letter which I have written; on this condition, however, that should you not deem it expedient to circulate it more widely, you communicate it expressly to M. Gualter. I leave it entirely to your judgment. Should I obtain through you those two chief points, viz., unambiguous confirmation of our regulations by the suffrages of your Senate, and a discountenancing in our men of their desire for innovation, it will bring peace to this Church for a long time to come. I hope you have received the letter which I sent you lately, in which I thanked you all in my own name and that of my brethren, for the faithful and pious response which you gave in the case of Servetus. The very brilliant commendation with which you honoured us, had its own weight with good men.⁴⁶³ It has not as yet, as you may perceive, put a check upon the lawless and the abandoned. However, things will be better in a short time, I trust, if you will come to our assistance. A citizen of yours has conveyed to you the book of Servetus and that farrago which you asked for. Of the sad desolation of England you know too much; I shall stop therefore. Adieu, most distinguished sir, and venerable brother. Salute earnestly M. Gualter, your wife, your relatives, and the faithful. May the Lord shield you all by his protection, and guide you by his Spirit.

John Calvin.

[Calvin's Lat. Corresp. Opera, tom. ix. p. 75.]

CCCXXXV. – To the Pastors and Doctors of the Church of Zurich. ⁴⁶⁴

Account of the struggles at Geneva for the maintenance of ecclesiastical discipline – appeal to the Pastors of Zurich for their influence with the magistrates of that town

Geneva, 26th November 1553.

I feel indeed ashamed, very excellent and sincerely respected brethren, at bringing before you again a new topic of consideration, inasmuch as our Council troubled you lately with the case of Servetus. There is, however, good grounds for excuse in the present instance: for, as the wickedness of certain parties is vaunting itself with a headstrong insolence not to be resisted, the pious and upright are forced to apply to you for aid; and while I am assuredly anxious above all things to avoid giving you trouble, I have, nevertheless, from the necessity of the case, thought it my duty not to spare you. From the time of my return to this Church, discipline has at least made tolerable advancement, if it has not been perfect, or such as could have been wished. The Consistory was instituted, and charged with the regulation of morals. It possessed no civil jurisdiction, but simply the administration of rebuke from the word of God; its ultimate punishment was excommunication. Among the other disputes which Satan has been continually stirring up during the past three years, the present one has been a source of extreme vexation to us; for a certain wretch, of abandoned effrontery, having attempted, contrary to the decision of the Church, to force his way to the Holy Table, when he saw that we were prepared to offer a determined resistance to his madness, filled the city with a great tumult. Nor, indeed, had he much difficulty in doing so, seeing that he could make choice of the irreligious faction to act the drama. And because he was not only patronized by those men, who were not ashamed to make a noise in defence of Servetus, but also aided and abetted by them, he, by their assistance, succeeded, after an intense struggle, and by very outrageous behaviour, in prevailing upon the Greater Council rashly to break through the established and hitherto observed order of the Church. We again opposed them. Those who had fallen into the error have resolved upon consulting the Swiss Churches. And although they have not yet written you, yet because it is certain that the reply of your most illustrious Council will be in accordance with your mind, I have thought that you should be apprised and solicited regarding it in time. Accordingly, a very excellent and eminently judicious man, and my dearly beloved brother, has gladly undertaken a journey to you, in the name of the Church, at the cost of great toil and trouble at this severe season of the year. Let me earnestly beseech you, therefore, in the first place, to reflect, that it should not be treated by you as some ordinary matter; but, that the case proposed for decision concerns the entire welfare of this Church. And because I consider that it would be perfidious cowardice in me, so long as I occupy my present position, not to contend keenly, even to the utmost, in behalf of a holy and lawful discipline, I have resolved that I should a hundred times rather leave this life – not to say this place – than suffer to be overthrown, that which I am confident is taken from the word of God. All are not agreed at the present time regarding excommunication. Nor am I ignorant that there are pious and learned men who do not consider excommunication to be necessary under Christian princes. And yet I am confident that there is no person of sound mind, and unbiassed disposition, who would discountenance the employment of it. To me it is clearly the doctrine of Christ. If on any occasion people cannot be got to come under this yoke of Christ, after pastors have exerted themselves to the utmost respecting it, it is their business then, not ours; but it would be exceedingly base for us to stand by and look on, while an edifice which Christ committed to our defence, was being overthrown, and utterly razed to the ground. Nor have I any fear that you will censure my zeal for its pertinacity, when once you have got a thorough understanding of the plan which we have followed up to the present time, and of which godless men are endeavouring forcibly to deprive us. And now, if it shall appear to you to contain nothing but what is consonant with the pure doctrine of Christ, I solemnly beseech you to use your influence, so that your most illustrious Council may bear a similar testimony. For this is of especial importance, in order that our men may understand that they cannot compass that innovation which they desire, without abandoning the example of Christ, or, if this seem too strong, without swerving from it. As for whatever is not sufficiently set forth in this letter, M. de Budé will explain it in your presence. The Lord will be a witness to myself and my colleagues, that for four years wicked men have done all in their power, to accomplish the gradual overthrow of this Church in its present tolerable condition. I saw through their secret machinations from the first; but I did not know what to make of it, unless that the Lord was preparing whips before our eyes, in order that by inspiring us with fear, he might win us back to himself. For the past two years, we have been precisely as if living among the professed enemies of Christ. The last act is now played; for after many victories, the enemy meditates a splendid triumph over Christ, his doctrine, his ministers, and in a word, over all his members. I shall not speak of how inhumanly, insolently, and barbarously, they have tortured those exiles of Christ who had embraced his faith. And, indeed the very perpetrators of those wrongs will not be able to deny, with what mildness, modesty, and patience, those who found a ready asylum here, have borne all their indignities. Their profligacy has now reached such a pitch, that having shaken off all shame, they obstinately desire to convert the House of the Lord into a brothel. And, in order that you may know how foully dishonourable they are, they lately, when our brother Farel was here, – to whom they are, as you know, under so great obligations, – and who gave them a free and independent advice, were so inflamed with rage, that they made bold to threaten him with a criminal prosecution.⁴⁶⁵

I am indeed well enough aware, that it is nothing new for factious men, in a free city, to stir up mobs. Yet our Council have been deplorably left to themselves, for they demanded of the people of Neuchatel that they should deliver up to them the father of their liberty, yea, the father of this Church, as accused of a capital offence. I feel constrained to proclaim the infamy of this city, although I could desire to wipe it off with my blood. Farel came: before he entered the city, the officer of the Council delivered an official intimation at my house, that he was not to enter the pulpit. I shall not dwell upon the rest; for it is sufficient to let you have a taste of this ingratitude, which will stir the just indignation of all good and honest men. And as I have many reasons for not making an open lament over our evils, so, of this be convinced, and that briefly, that unless Satan receive a check through you, he will fling the reins loose altogether. It becomes you, therefore, to make as great exertions, as if the welfare of this Church was entirely in your hands. Nor let it be ascribed to peevishness in us, if we would rather yield up our position than sacrifice our opinions. For all good men know, that we have been hitherto over-accommodating, in order to obviate troubles, even when there could be no doubt at all, that our patience was tried by the wicked. But we must not yield them this victory; nay, we must not knowingly and wilfully surrender the entire liberty of the Church; not only because the authority of our ministry would fall to the ground, but because the name of Christ would be subjected to any the foulest disgrace: an unbridled license for all vices would increase with more and more effrontery: the condition of the pious would not only become exposed to all manner of wrongs, but utterly cast down by suffering, – they would lie in sad prostration. This makes me all the more confident, that you will do your endeavour to assist, by your support, the faithful of this place, so that they may worship God with a little more peace. Adieu, my very excellent and truly revered brethren. May the Lord be present with you, and guide you by his Spirit; may he supply you with an abundance of wisdom, sufficient, not only for maintaining your own Church, but also for upholding that of others. Fare ye well, my very excellent and truly revered brethren. May the Lord be ever present with you, to guide and watch over you.

My colleagues salute you earnestly, and commend this Church, with all possible zeal, to your faithfulness and wisdom. – Yours,

John Calvin.

It will be desirable to conceal this letter, lest our men hear of it.⁴⁶⁶

[Lat. orig. autogr. – Archives of Zurich. Gest. vi. 105, p. 515.]

CCCXXXVI. – To Bullinger

Fresh details regarding ecclesiastical discipline – hope of speedy realization – announcement of the publication of a book against the errors of Servetus

Geneva, 30th December 1553.

The messenger arrived six days after I had received your letter. The people of Schaffhausen give a pious and judicious reply; those of Bâle give a very meagre response; they offer us almost no advice, sending us simply a copy of their edicts, without, however, pronouncing any judgment. Our brother, Sulzer, earnestly apologizes for not having been able to accomplish more. And I can perceive, in various ways, indeed, most upright and respected brother, how strenuously you have exerted yourself in our behalf; nor do I doubt but that our friend Gualter performed his part also. Whatever may have happened, I feel that I owe more to your singular faithfulness and remarkable zeal, than I am able to express. But the Lord, in whose cause you have made such endeavours, will give you his reward. Assuredly my affection for you will not be found wanting. Nothing has as yet been done in the Senate, the letters being still in the hand of the translator. Seeing that we have to do with very base calumniators, they will get up various quarrels with us. I expect, however, either victory, or a satisfactory winding up of the matter. As soon as anything has been effected, I shall see to it that you be informed of it. For it will be a matter of common gratulation to us, if the event turn out according to our wishes. The pamphlet against Servetus, in which I have set forth that argument which you wished me to employ, was published at the late Frankfort Fair.⁴⁶⁷ With respect to those matters which the men at Bâle are making a clamour about, and of which I complained to you, I resolved to spare their reputation, and have done so, lest the disgrace of a few men should bring dishonour on the whole Church;⁴⁶⁸ and certainly they deserve to be overwhelmed in eternal oblivion. The progress of events convinced me of what had not previously occurred to me, viz., that your letter concerning Servetus, should be inserted in the book; and trusting to your kindness, I took the liberty of inserting it. Should you not approve of my plan, however, I shall endeavour to remedy it. Adieu, very distinguished sir, illustrious minister of Christ, and revered brother. May the Lord continue to guide you by the spirit of wisdom and fortitude, and to protect your Church.

Salute earnestly in my name your colleagues, and your family. My colleagues, MM. Celso Martinengo and Budé, and the other brethren, respectfully salute you. – Yours truly,

John Calvin.

[Lat. Copy. – Library of Zurich. Coll. Simler, tom. 80.]