J. H. Merle d'Aubigné

“ To justify the innocent was one of the tasks which the Queen of Navarre had imposed upon herself. 'Sire,' she said to the king, 'the reformers are righteous, learned, peaceful men, who have no other love than that of truth, no other aim than the glory of God, and no other thought than to banish superstition and to correct morals.' The Queen of Navarre was so gracious, so true, so eloquent, that the king left her completely changed—at least for the day. ”

“ The Gospel, more human than literature, more divine than philosophy, exerts an influence over man that these two things cannot possess. It goes down into the depths—that is, into the people—which the Renaissance had not done; it rises towards the high places—that is, towards heaven—which philosophy cannot do. When the Gospel lifted up its voice in the days of the Reformation, the people listened. It spoke to them of God, sin, condemnation, pardon, everlasting life—in a word, of Christ. The human soul discovered that this was what it wanted ”

“ Thus, then, did that city of Geneva, which had been so engrossed with political independence, begin to reflect on Jesus Christ. It was the new topic which the Reformation presented everywhere to the consideration of earnest men. In Germany, Switzerland, France, and England, still more than at Geneva, serious minds were beginning to meditate on Christ—de Christo meditari. Some did so in a superficial manner; others devoted themselves to it in the depths of their soul; and holy thoughts found a home in the houses of the citizens, in the colleges, in obscure cells, and even on the throne. ”

“ Being a great admirer of that philosopher, he was annoyed that the world had not given him the place he deserved, and spoke of him to all his friends. If one of them entered his little room and expressed surprise at seeing him take such pains to make the writings of a pagan philosopher better known, Calvin, who thought he had discovered a vein of Gospel gold in Seneca's iron ore, would answer: 'Did he not write against superstition? Has he not said of the Jews, that the conquered give laws to their conquerors? When he exclaims: "We have all sinned, we shall all sin unto the end!" ”

“ At the very time when a beautiful princess was coveting Geneva, an ambitious duke intriguing, and courtiers agitating, and when a puissant monarch was granting his imperial favours, a humble schoolmaster arrived in the city. And while all those pomps and ceremonies were among the number of things worn out and passing away, this teacher brought with him the principles of a new life. Farel, as we have seen, ardently desired that the Word of God should be circulated and even publicly preached at Geneva. He thought that then only would the Reformation be truly established and independence secured. ”

“ It was during this period of sorrow and alarm, when the adversaries imagined that by getting rid of Berquin they had got rid of the Reformation as well, and when the remains of the noble martyr were hardly scattered to the winds of heaven, that Calvin once more took up his abode in Paris, not far from the spot where his friend had been burnt. Rome thought she had put the reformer to death; but he was about to rise again from his ashes, more spiritual, more clear, and more powerful, to labour at the renovation of society and the salvation of mankind. ”

“ The people were in great agitation. The cause of liberty had just been vanquished at Cappel; the armies of the duke surrounded the city, and the Swiss desired to cancel the alliance. Geneva was not exempt from secret terrors: the women shed tears, and even the men felt an oppression like that of the nightmare; but enthusiasm for liberty prevailed over every fear. Deprived of the help of men, the Genevans raised their eyes to heaven. ”

“ THE sack of Rome had made a great sensation in catholic countries. Pierre de la Baume almost believed that the reign of popery had come to an end, and was much alarmed for himself. If a prince so powerful as the pope had succumbed, what would become of the Bishop of Geneva? The alliance with the cantons, and the Gospel which a Swiss magistrate had just been preaching, seemed to him the forerunners of his ruin. He had no lansquenets before him, like those who had compelled Clement VII. to flee, but he had huguenots, who, in his eyes, were more formidable still. ”

“ The men who were about to appear on the theatre of the world were still immersed in disorder and barbarism. Everything betokened great virtues in the new generation, but also tumultuous passions; a divine heroism, but also gigantic crimes; a mighty energy, but at its side a languishing insensibility. A renewed society could not be constituted out of such elements. It wanted the divine breath to inspire high thoughts, and the hand of God to establish everywhere the providential order.
At the end of the fifteenth and the beginning of the sixteenth century, society was in a state of excitement. ”

“ There is probably no city of the sixteenth century which arrived at the possession of truth and liberty through such great perils. When their supplies failed, when their communications, with Switzerland were interrupted, when no one could leave the city, when all around the arms of the Savoyards were seen flashing in the rays of the sun, the citizens no doubt displayed an heroic courage; but yet the women and the aged men, and even men in the vigour of life, felt a mortal fear and anguish. ”

“ Paul, explained to him the doctrine of imputed righteousness which forms the essence of their teaching. Calvin, seated in his master's study, listened in silence, and respectfully embraced that mystery so strange and yet so profoundly in harmony with the righteousness of God!... 'By faith,' said Wolmar, 'man is united to Christ and Christ to him, so that it is no longer man whom God sees in the sinner, but his dearly beloved Son himself; and the act by virtue of which God makes the sinner an inheritor of heaven, is not an arbitrary one. ”

“ THE Reformation was necessary to christian society. The Renaissance, daughter alike of ancient and of modern Rome, was a movement of revival, and yet it carried with it a principle of death, so that wherever it was not transformed by heavenly forces, it fell away and became corrupted. The influence of the humanists—of such men as Erasmus, Sir Thomas More, and afterwards of Montaigne—was a balmy gale that shed its odours on the upper classes, but exerted no power over the lower ranks of the people. ”

“ How admirable, how holy must this divine philosophy be, since, in order to bring it to men, God was willing to become man, and, to teach it to us, the Immortal put on mortality! Could God better manifest his love to us than by the gift of his eternal Word? What stronger and tenderer bond could God establish between himself and us than by becoming a man such as we are? ”

“ If a prince like Louis IX. maintained the rights of the Gallican Church in the thirteenth century; if a king like Charles VII. restored ecclesiastical liberty in the fifteenth; shall we not see in this universal revival of the sixteenth century a monarch like Francis I. emancipating France from the Roman yoke? At a great sacrifice he has just done much for Wurtemberg, and will he do nothing for his own kingdom? The friends of the Reformation encouraged one another to entertain the brightest hopes. ”

“ But it is not sufficient to reject what is false; the truth preached by Christ and the apostles must be believed. Faith is the principle of the Reformation. There was at Geneva, to some extent, that negative protestantism which rejects not only the abuses of popery, but also evangelical truth itself; which can create nothing, and which is little else than a form—and certainly one of the least interesting forms—of philosophy. If Geneva was to be reformed, to become a centre of light and morality, and to maintain her political independence, she must have a positive and living christianity ”

“ The King and Queen of Navarre were in the chief places, seated in costly chairs, whence the active Margaret cast a satisfied glance on all those courtiers, those notables of the city, those curious Parisians, those friends of Reform, who were flocking to hear the Word of God. There were people of every rank: John Sturm, already so decided for the Gospel, was seen by the side of the elegant John de Montluc, afterwards Bishop of Valence. ”

“ The prior smiled as he heard these words: 'Gentlemen,' he said, in a sarcastic tone, 'I think your sentiments very praiseworthy, and confess that all ecclesiastics (of whom I am one) have great need to be reformed. But ought not those who wish to reform others to begin by reforming themselves? If you love the Gospel, as you say you do, you will live according to the Gospel. But if you wish to reform us without reforming yourselves, it is evident that you are not moved by love for the Gospel, but by hatred against us. ”

“ The young prince had everything in his favour: an age which always charms, a courage universally acknowledged, virtues, talents, {149} graceful manners, an ancient family, a respected name, indisputable rights, and the love of his subjects. They had not seen him, indeed, since the day when he had bedewed the pet lamb with his tears; but they hailed him as their national prince who would recover their independence. Protected by the Duke of Bavaria, by the Landgrave of Hesse, and by the powerful King of France, Christopher had all the chances in his favour. ”

“ Then the schoolmaster raised the trumpet of the Gospel to his lips and announced the great mystery of Redemption, without concealing what the Greeks would have called its foolishness. 'Let us turn then,' he exclaimed, 'to the Mediator, who has consummated the alliance and purified us by his own blood, with which our consciences are sprinkled and watered. The Old Covenant always depended on the blood of beasts; the New Covenant depends on new blood. Eternal Redemption was effected by an eternal sacrifice. ”

“ And, thanks to the spiritual weapons they employ, two or three humble instruments of the Word of God will scatter the councils of their terrible adversary, destroy his fortresses, and humble even to the dust the barriers he had raised against the knowledge of God. The rough Farel, the gentle Viret, the weak Froment, will overcome the powers of Rome in Geneva, even before Calvin, the great captain, appears. God chooses the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty, and the things which are not to bring to nought things that are. ”

“ The trials, the terrors, the repeated attacks that Geneva was forced to undergo at the hands of her enemies, are the characteristics of her history at the epoch of the Reformation. Her citizens, plundered, hunted down, captured, thrown into the dungeons of the castles, always between life and death, lived continually in the apprehension of an assault, and almost every year their fears were changed into terrible realities ”

“ It was one of the greatest, most original, and boldest conceptions of modern times: we recognise in it the genius of Du Bellay and the aspirations of a new era. 'It is true, as the holy father affirms,' said the King of France, 'that the assembling of a council has its dangers. On the other hand, the reasons of the emperor for convoking it are most worthy of consideration; for the affairs of religion are reduced to such a pass that, without a council, they will fall into inextricable confusion, and the consequence will be great evils and prejudice to the holy father and all christian princes. ”

“ When we wish to reform a vicious man, it is not enough to take off his filthy clothes and wash the dirt from his face: his will must be transformed. At Wittemberg the Reformation began in the person of Luther with the internal; at Geneva it began in the huguenots with the external. This would have been a great disadvantage, if religion at Geneva had not become, under the influence of Calvin, as internal as in Germany. ”

“ It has been said that Margaret's poems are theology in rhyme. It is true that her verses are not so elegant as those of our age, and that their spirit is more theological than the poetry of our days; but the theology is not that of the schools, it is that of the heart. What specially irritated the Sorbonne was the peace and assurance that Margaret enjoyed, precious privilege of a redeemed soul, which scholasticism had condemned beforehand. The queen, leaning upon the Saviour, seemed to have no more fear. 'Listen again,' said Beda:
Satan, where is now thy tower? ”

“ This was too much for Charles. 'What! ask a favour for a king who has put away my aunt Catherine, who is quarrelling with the pope and rushing into schism!'... 'The emperor took this request,' says Du Bellay, 'in very bad part.'—'We can see clearly,' said Charles to those around him, 'that the affairs of these two kings are in the same scales; that one does not less for the other than for himself.' Then, throwing off his usual reserve, he openly expressed his disapprobation. ”

“ In the visits they made to each other, in their friendly walks on the shore of the lake of Zurich or on the hills which overlook the Aar, these pious reformers of German Switzerland said to the huguenots: 'The kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. [821] Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, but born as a man, has become our Redeemer by his death and by his resurrection. He alone satisfies completely the religious wants of mankind. ”

“ But there were politicians also among them, lawyers for the most part, who founded their pretensions on a legal basis. The bishops and princes of Geneva ought by right, as we have seen, to be elected at Geneva and not at Rome, by Genevans and not by Romans. The issue of the struggle was not doubtful. How could the bishop make head against magistrates and citizens relying on positive rights, and against the most powerful aspirations of liberty that were awaking in men's hearts? How could the Roman doctrine escape the floods of the Reformation? ”