Letters of John Calvin, Volume II. Calvin Jean
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Letters of John Calvin, Volume II / Compiled from the Original Manuscripts and Edited with Historical Notes
CXLIV. – To Viret. 1
When a crowd of the godly had come hither, and I heard some things which it was of great consequence you should know, I wished two of them at once to set out for you. You will understand that Satan seeks by every sort of artful contrivance to keep all men from thinking of succouring these people, and to give a keener edge to the ferocity of the King and courtiers, which is already more than sufficiently whetted against them. The Swiss also are uncommonly severe upon me, not only the pensionaries, but all those who have no other wisdom than that of Epicurus, because, by my importunity, I have drawn down upon their nation the hatred of the King. But may there be nothing of such moment as shall retard us in the discharge of our duty beyond what cannot be avoided.
Charles the schoolmaster, on whose account Sebastian abused me, has deserted his post, induced by what prospect I know not. We have appointed Francis his successor; but as he had received one month's payment out of the salary of your school, it seemed the more honourable course that he should previously request permission and his discharge from the Bernese Council, a matter in which, as I trust, there will be no difficulty. A maternal uncle also of our colleague Peter sought a recommendation [for him,] which he brings with him. If you think it called for, you will likewise lend the aid of your suffrage. We have always found him an excellent and ingenuous man, peaceable and modest. He is said, for instance, to have laboured faithfully, and with success, in the vineyard of the Lord in Provence.
Adieu; may the Lord be ever present with you. – Yours,
[Lat. orig. autogr. – Library of Geneva. Vol. 106.]
CXLV. – To Monsieur de Falais. 2
Monsieur, – Although I do not know the state of mind or body in which you are at present, nevertheless, I have good confidence in God that, whether in health or sickness, he gives you strength to overcome all the annoyance you may have to encounter. For you are no novice in the fight, seeing that for a long time past the good Lord has begun to prepare you for it; and nothing has happened to you which you had not looked for beforehand. But it is time to show in reality that when you have set yourself frankly to follow Jesus Christ, you have not done so without being resolved to hold fellowship with him at the cross, since he has done us that honour to be crucified in us, to glorify us with himself. And there is no doubt, even at the time when you were in your own mansion, and in the peaceable enjoyment of your property, you would have had the courage to quit everything had it so pleased him, and that you were of the number of those who use the things of this world as not abusing them, (1 Cor. vii. 31.) But, forasmuch as it is very reasonable that one should be taught by experience to discern what our affection is most set upon, you are to consider that it has been our Lord's will to give you to many others for an example, and, by this means, to glorify his name in you.
On the other hand, we know not what it is to part with everything for the love of him, until he has brought us to the test. True it is, that he who has taken off his affection from the goods of this world has already sold all, and has made himself poor, so far as depends upon himself; but the fruit and the proof of this spiritual poverty are, patiently to endure the loss of worldly goods, and without any regret, when it pleases our heavenly Father that we should be despoiled of them. I do not set these things before you as to one who is ignorant, or who has need of lengthy remonstrances, but for the love that I bear you, of which God is my witness. I take comfort along with you, as I also suffer in your person.
The time then is arrived when you must manifest that you reckon all things no more than dung, that you may reach forward to Him who not only has bestowed on you all his benefits, but also himself. And since God has permitted that you should be disburdened of a part of your worldly goods, you are to consider that he has clearly perceived that, for the present, they would prove a useless fardel for you. I say a part, albeit that, as it were, the whole has been snatched away from you, yet, so that there remains, as I hope, an abundance for your use. These whirlpools, however, which engulf the whole world, have daily greater want than those whose substance they have swallowed down.
In short, you have not been lessened one whit, seeing that our Lord, while teaching you that your inheritance is in heaven, has made provision for what might be useful for the life of the body, by bestowing contentment upon you, and, as regards property, more than was needful to make you contented. If the whole should be taken away from you, there would yet remain the consolation to which we must chiefly betake ourselves, namely, to yield ourselves up entirely. It is certain, that having the Son of God, we suffer no injury in being deprived of all else: for thus highly ought we indeed to prize him. But further, since this kind Saviour has so benignly upheld you, that while calling you to the fellowship of his cross, he has provided for your worldly comfort, it is quite fitting that you submit yourself to his good pleasure, and, besides, rejoice that in being minished, so far as the world is concerned, you are thereby so much the more exalted before him and his angels. For howsoever the world strives, by all means, to bury Jesus Christ in ignominy, his burial cannot be otherwise than glorious, not only in himself, but also in his members. Let us therefore endure personal humiliation, as shall seem good to him. But my letters would never come to an end were I to follow out the drift of this discourse. Therefore, Monseigneur, after having humbly commended me to your kind favour, I pray our good Lord that he would so work in you now more powerfully than ever, to make you despise all that is in the world, and to make you breathe upwards direct to him with your whole heart, without being turned aside by anything whatsoever, making you taste what is the worth of the hope which he reserves for us in heaven; and that it may please him to lighten your burden as regards the body, in order that you may be all the better disposed, well to meditate upon the favours he has bestowed upon you, and to take delight in them, acknowledging the love which he has shewn you. My wife, who is sick in bed, begs also to be humbly commended to your kind remembrance. This bearer, who is of the better sort, and of the stamp such as you require, will inform you more at large concerning our state.
Your humble brother, servant, and assured friend,
[Fr. orig. autogr. – Library of Geneva. Vol. 194.]
CXLVI. – To Madame de Falais
Madame, – I have not leisure to write at such length as I willingly would, on account of the state in which we are. The present letter shall be solely to praise our good Lord for the trust which he has bestowed on you, enlarging your heart in the midst of anxieties, by which it might have been tried, without your having his comfort from on high. Whatsoever may happen, if we have the patience to hearken to our Saviour, he will always give us wherewithal to rejoice our spirits, and will make us taste and feel, in a lively way, that it is not in vain that he has promised to make us unconquerable in tribulations. Now, then, learn in reality what that beautiful promise is worth, that we are indeed happy, when all the world shall speak ill of us, and shall hate us, and shall persecute us for his name's sake. Therefore it is, that he has prepared you, long before exposing you to danger. To this truth it is that you must now recur, that you may acquiesce in it; and, indeed, he is actually leading you thither by the hand.
Wherefore are we not together, to provoke Satan, by meditating upon the things which may well cause us spiritual rejoicing, and give us matter for glorying more than ever, even when we are utterly discomfited according to the world's estimation? But I am aware that you have no need of my fellowship in that; and besides, I say so, more to content myself than because of your necessity. Above all, understand that now the hour is come when you must shew what a helpmeet you are to Monseigneur your husband, in such
The letters of the Cantons to the King, in favour of the Vaudois of Provence, only served to irritate that monarch. He passionately replied, – "The Vaudois have but received the just punishment of their crimes. Besides, the Swiss have no more right to busy themselves with what passes in my kingdom, than I have to make inquiry into what they do at home." –
Letter without date, written at the same time as the following, (September 1545.) Summoned in the name of the Emperor to leave Strasbourg and return to Brabant, M. de Falais had not obeyed that command. This refusal, in stirring up the imperial displeasure against him, had exposed him, without defence, to the interested denunciations of his enemies. The butt of most calumnious accusations, he saw his character misunderstood, his name outraged, his property put under sequestration, while he pined away himself – a prey to sickness and discouragement.