In these circumstances, Calvin ventured to quit his retirement; but the hopes which had been entertained were soon miserably disappointed. Bigotry and persecution regained their ascendancy; and Calvin, finding it impossible to exert himself to any useful purpose, left the country in the beginning of 1535, and took up his residence at Basle. Having remained here for some time, a retired and laborious student, he at length published The Christian Institutes. The publication forms a kind of era in the history of the Theological Literature of the Reformation; and as several questions of interest have been raised with regard to it, the present seems the appropriate place for entering into the consideration of them.
One question relates to the date of the First Edition of the Institutes.
It is admitted on all hands, that the earliest edition extant is that which was printed at Basle in 1536; but it is argued that there must have been an edition of a date not later than 1535. The chief ground of this opinion is the following passage from Calvin's Preface to the Commentary on the Psalms:
"Ecce autem quum incognitus Basileæae laterem, quia multis piis hominibus in Gallia exustis, grave passim apud Germanos odium ignes illi excitaverant, sparsi sunt, ejus restinguendi causa, improbi ac mendaces libelli, non alios tarn crudeliter tractari quam Anabaptistas ac turbulentos homines, qui perversis deliriis non Eeligionem modo sed totum ordinem Politicum convellerent. Ego hoc ab aulicis artificibus agi videns, non modo, ut indigna sanguinis innoxii effusio falsa sanctorum Martyrum infamia sepeliretur, sed ut posthac per caedes quaslibet absque ullius misericordia grassari liceret, silentium meum non posse a perfidia excusari censui, nisi me pro virili opponerem. Hæc mini edendae Institutions causa fuit: primum ut ab injusta contumelia vindicarem
