CALVIN
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CALVIN
Calvin found a welcome and gave ear to the religious
discussions which Cop favoured. And a fourth was
Pierre-Robert d'Olivet of Noyon, who also translated
the Scriptures, our youthful man of letters, his
relative, writing (in 1535) a Latin preface to the Old
Testament and a French one — his first appearance as
a native author — to the New Testament. By 1527,
when no more than eighteen, Calvin's education was
complete in its main lines. He had learned to be a
humanist and a reformer. The "sudden conversion"
to a spiritual life in 1529, of which he speaks, must not
be taken quite literally. He had never been an ardent
Catholic; but the stories told at one time of his ill-
regulated conduct have no foundation; and by a very
natural process he went over to the side on which his
family were taking their stand. In 1528 he inscribed
himself at Orleans as a law-student, made friends with
Francis Daniel, and then went for a year to Bourges,
where he began preaching in private. Margaret
d'Angouleme, sister of Francis I, and Duchess of
Berry, was living there with many heterodox Germans
about her.
He is found again at Paris in 1531. Wolmar had taught him Greek at Bourges, from Vatable he learned Hebrew; and he entertained some relations with the erudite Budanis. About this date he printed a com- mentary on Seneca's " De dementia". It was merely an exercise in scholarship, having no political signifi- cance. Francis I was, indeed, handling Protestants severely; and Calvin, now Doctor of Law at Orleans, composed, so the story runs, an oration on Christian philosophy which Nicholas Cop delivered on All Saints' Day, 1532, both writer and speaker having to take instant flight from pursuit by the royal inquisi- tors. This legend has been rejected by modern crit- ics. Calvin spent some time, however, with Canon du Tillet at Angouleme under a feigned designation. In May, 1534, he went to Noyon, gave up his benefice, and, it is said, was imprisoned. But he got away to Nerac in Beam, the residence of the Duchess Mar- garet, and there again encountered Le Fevre, whose French Bible had been condemned by the Sorbonne to the flames. His next visit to Paris fell out during a violent campaign of the Lutherans against the Mass, which brought on reprisals; Etienne de la Forge and others were burnt in the Place de Greve; and Calvin, accompanied by du Tillet, escaped, though not with- out adventures, to Metz and Strasburg. In the latter city Bucer reigned supreme. The leading reformers dictated laws from the pulpit to their adherents; and this journey proved a decisive one for the French humanist, who, though by nature timid and shy, com- mitted himself to a war on paper with his own sover- eign. The famous letter to Francis I bears date 23 Aug., 1535. It served as a prologue to the "Insti- tutes", of which the first edition came out in March, 1536, not in French but in Latin. Calvin's apology for lecturing the king was, that placards denouncing the Protestants as rebels had been posted up all over tie realm. Francis I did not read these pages; but i he had done so he would have discovered in them a plea, not for toleration, which the Reformer utterly scorned, but for doing away with Catholicism in fa- vour of the new gospel. There could be only one true Church, said the young theologian, therefore kings ought to make an utter end of popery. (For an ac- count of the "Institutes" see Calvinism.) The sec- ond edition 1 i<-!otiL;s to 1539; the first French trans- lation to 1541; the final Latin, as revised by its author, is of 1559; but that in common use, dated 1660, has additions by his disciples. "It was more God's work than mine", said Calvin, who took for his motto "Omnia ad Deigloriam", and in allusion to the change he had undergone in 1529 assumed for his device a hand stretched out from a burning heart.
A much-disputed chapter in Calvin's biography is the visit which lie was long thought to have paid at
Ferrara to the Protestant Duchess Renee, daughter
of Louis XII. Many stories clustered about his jour-
ney, now given up by the best-informed writers. All
we know for certain is that the Reformer, after set-
tling his family affairs and bringing over two of his
brothers and sisters to the views he had adopted,
undertook, in consequence of the war between Charles
V and Francis I, to reach Basle by way of Geneva, in
July, 1536. At Geneva the Swiss preacher Farel, then
looking for help in his propaganda, besought him with
such vehemence to stay and teach theology that, as
Calvin himself relates, he was terrified into submis-
sion. We are not accustomed to fancy the austere
prophet so easily frightened. But as a student an.',
recluse new to public responsibilities, he may well
have hesitated before plunging into the troubled
waters of Geneva, then at their stormiest period.
No portrait of him belonging to this time is extant.
Later he is represented as of middle height, with bent
shoulders, piercing eyes, and a large forehead; his
hair was of an auburn tinge. Study and fasting oc-
casioned the severe headaches from which he suffered
continually. In private life he was cheerful but sensi-
tive, not to say overbearing; his friends treated him
with delicate consideration. His habits were simple;
he cared nothing for wealth, and he never allowed
himself a holiday. His correspondence, of which
4271 letters remain, turns chiefly on doctrinal sub-
jects. Yet his strong, reserved character told on all
with whom he came in contact; Geneva submitted to
his theocratic rule, and the Reformed Churches ac-
cepted his teaching as though it were infallible.
Such was the stranger whom Farel recommended to his fellow-Protestants, 'this Frenchman", chosen to lecture on the Bible in a city divided against itself. Geneva had about 15,000 inhabitants. Its bishop had long been its prince, limited, however, by pop- ular privileges. The vidomne, or mayor, was the Count of Savoy, and to his family the bishopric seemed a property which, from 1450. they bestowed on their younger children. John of Savoy, illegiti- mate son of the previous bishop, sold his rights to the duke, who was head of the clan, and died in 1519 at Pignerol. Jean de la Baumc, last of its ecclesiastical princes, abandoned the city, which received Protes- tant teachers from Berne in 1519 and from Fribourg in 1526. In 1527 the arms of Savoy were torn down: in 1530 the Catholic party underwent defeat, and Geneva became independent. It had two councils, but the final verdict on public measures rested with the people. These appointed Farel. a convert of Le Fevre, as their preacher in 1534. A discussion be- tween the two Churches from 3(1 May to 24 June. 1535 ended in victory for the Protestants. The altars were desecrated, the sacred images broken, the Mass done away with. Bernese troops entered and "the Gospel" was accepted. 21 May, 1536. This implied persecution of Catholics by the councils which acted both as Church and State. Priests were thrown into prison; citizens were fined for not attending sermons. At Zurich, Basle, and Berne the same laws were established. Toleration did not enter into the ideas of the time.
But though Calvin had not introduced this legisla- tion, it was mainly by his influence that in Jan.. 1537. the "articles" wen' voted which insisted on com- munion four times a year, set spies >>n delinquents, established a moral censorship, and punish..! the un- ruly with excommunication. There was to be a chil- dren's catechism, which he drew up: it ranks among his best writings. The city now broke into "jurants and "nonjurors", for many would not swear t.. the "articles"; indeed, they never were completely ac- cepted. Questions had arisen with Berne touching points that Calvin judged to be indifferent, lie made a figure in the debates at Lausanne defending the freedom of Geneva. But disorders ensued at home, where recusancy was yet rife; in 1538 the council
