Letters of John Calvin, Volume II. Calvin Jean
you,148 and who wrote to you from Berne, rebelled very proudly. But it has been necessary that she should betake herself to the country, feeling herself but ill at ease in town. The others, indeed, lower the head, in place of lifting up the horn; and there is one of them who is in danger of paying a very heavy reckoning; I know not even whether it may not cost him his life.149 The young people think that I press them too hard. But if the bridle were not held with a firm hand, that would be the pity. Yea, we must look to their wellbeing, however distasteful to them it may be.
Monsieur, having humbly commended me to your kind favour and that of Madame, I pray our good Lord that he may have you always in his keeping, strengthening you by his Holy Spirit to resist all temptations, and making you abound in all well-doing to his honour. And seeing that the time of the trial of Madame draws near, we shall remember her in prayer for her happy delivery. My wife also presents her humble remembrance to both of you.
Your servant and humble brother,
[Fr. orig. autogr. – Library of Geneva. Vol. 194.]
CCI. – To Viret. 150
There is nothing new in our affairs. The Syndics protract the case of Gruet against the will of the Senate, which does not, however, as would be proper, utter any protest against the delay. For you know that few of them are judicious. I exercise my severity in dislodging common vices, and principally the sources of corruption among the youth. I conceal all sense of the dangers which good men from several quarters allege to exist, lest I should appear over solicitous about myself. The Lord will give the issue in the way that may please himself. Adieu, brother, and most sincere friend, as also your wife and family. May the Lord Jesus continually direct you, and be present with you. You will convey best greetings to the brethren, and to your wife in my name. My wife salutes you and your family. Yours,
[Lat. orig. autogr. – Library of Geneva. Vol. 106.]
CCII. – To the Faithful of France. 151
The electing love of God our Father, and the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, rest always upon you by the communion of the Holy Spirit.
Very dear lords and brethren, I doubt not that you have daily much news, as well from hence as from Germany, which might prove a stumblingblock to those who are not overmuch confirmed in our Lord Jesus Christ. But I trust in God he has so strengthened you, that you shall not be shaken, either thereby or by any still greater marvel which may yet arise. And verily, if we are indeed built upon that solid stone which has been ordained for the foundation of the Church, we may well sustain more boisterous storms and tempests without being foundered. It is even expedient for us that such things should happen, that the firmness and constancy of our faith may be approved.
As for the state of Germany, our Lord has so abased the worldly pride of our people, and given all power and authority to him from whom we can look for nought but ill, as that it indeed appears that he means himself to maintain his spiritual kingdom wheresoever he had already set it up. It is very true, that according to the carnal mind it is in danger; yet in commending to himself the care of his poor Church and the kingdom of his Son, let us hope that he will provide for all, beyond what we can think. The danger hitherto has been, lest human means might have dazzled our eyes. Now, however, since there is nothing to prevent our looking to his hand, and recalling to mind how he has preserved his Church in time past, let us not doubt but he will glorify himself in such sort that we shall be amazed. Meanwhile, we must never grow weary of fighting under the ensign of the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, for that is worth more than all the triumphs of the world.
As regards the rumours of our troubles which have flown abroad, they seem, the greater part of them, in the first place, to have been improvised; because, were you upon the spot, you would not see a tenth part of what is told at a distance. True it is, that we have many hard-headed and stiff-necked rebels, who on all occasions seek only to raise themselves, and by riotous courses to dissipate and abolish all order in the Church, and these, indeed, as well young as old. And the state of our young people, especially, is very corrupt; so that, when we will not allow them every license, they go from bad to worse.152 Of late, they were sorely enraged under cover of a small matter. It was because they were not allowed to wear slashed breeches, which has been prohibited in the town for these twelve years past. Not that we would make overmuch of this, but because we see that, by the loop-holes of the breeches, they wish to bring in all manner of disorders. We have protested, however, in the meantime, that the slashing of their breeches was but a mere piece of foppery, which was not worth speaking about, but that we had quite another end in view, which was to curb and to repress their follies. During this little conflict, the devil has interjected others, so that there has been great murmuring. And because they perceived in us more courage than they could have wished, and more determination to resist them, the venom which some of them had concealed within their heart burst forth. But this is nought but smoke; for their threats are nothing else but a splutter of the pride of Moab, who is powerless to execute what he thus presumes to threaten.
Howsoever that may be, you need not be astonished. There have been greater commotions stirred against Moses and against the prophets, although they had to govern the people of God; and such exercises are needful for us. Only beseech our Lord, that he would vouchsafe us grace not to flinch, but that we may prefer his obedience to our life if need be, and that we may be more afraid of offending him than of stirring up all the fury of the wicked against ourselves, and that at length it may please him to allay all the tumults which might otherwise break the courage of the unsettled, for it is that which down-weighs me more than all the rest. This grace our Lord has vouchsafed us, that we have a right good will to remedy the evil, and all our brethren are well agreed to go forward earnestly in that which is our duty, so that there is the same constancy in all. Nothing is needful, except that this good Lord continue to conduct his own work.
I entreat of you, my dear brethren, continue steadfast on your part also; and let no fear alarm you, even although the dangers were more apparent than you have seen them hitherto. May the reliance which God commands us to have in his grace and in his strength always be to you an impregnable fortress; and for the holding fast the assurance of his help, may you be careful to walk in his fear, although, when we have made it our whole study to serve him, we must always come back to this conclusion, of asking pardon for our shortcomings. And inasmuch as you know well from experience how frail we are, be ever diligent to continue in the practice which you have established, of prayer and hearing of the holy word, to exercise you, and to sharpen and confirm you more and more. Let nothing turn you aside, as sometimes there are many colourable pretexts adduced to justify the remission of such duties. I am convinced that it would be much better that all those who desire to honour God should assemble together, and that every one should call the others thither as by sound of trumpet. But yet, it is much better to have what you have, though it be but a part, than nothing at all. And so, watching well against declension, seek rather to advance in the way of proficiency, and make use of what God gives you, – edifying one another, and in general all poor and ignorant ones, by your good life, that so, by the same means, the wicked may be put to confusion. In so doing, you will perceive the hand of God upon you, to whom I pray that he would increase in you the graces which he has put within you; that he would strengthen you in true consistency; that, in the midst of dogs and of wolves, he would preserve you, and every way glorify himself in you; after having commended me affectionately to your kind prayers.
Your humble brother and entire friend,
[Fr. copy – Library of Geneva. Vol. 107.]
CCIII.
Amy Perrin. His wife, daughter of a rich burgess, François Favre d'Echallens, and reprimanded incessantly by the Consistory, was the implacable enemy of the ministers and of Calvin.
Jacques Gruet, formerly a Canon, and a man of licentious and irregular morals, impatient of all restraint either of Church or State. Severely censured by the ministers on account of his debaucheries, he had uttered threats of death against them, which he even ventured to affix to the pulpit of St. Peter's Church. His trial, conducted with all the rigour of that period, terminated by a sentence of capital punishment. Condemned for sedition, blasphemy, and atheism, he perished on the scaffold the 26th July 1547.
Subjected to torture, Gruet admitted his guilt, and as well on the ground of his impious and blasphemous productions, as of a letter written to a private individual, in which he exhorted the Duke of Savoy to turn his arms against Geneva, he was condemned to death. It appeared, according to the letter of Calvin to Viret, of which a fragment is here reproduced, that this sentence was not unanimous, and that Gruet reckoned up to this time, in the councils of the republic, friends or accomplices who were desirous of saving him. This did not prevent his execution on the 26th July 1547, and the example threw terror into the ranks of the party of the Libertins. On the trial of Gruet, see the various historians of Geneva, – Spon, Picot, and the
Ils font des mauvais chevaulx à mordre et à regimber.