Approval of a letter of Viret to the Seigneuries of Berne—the ecclesiastical property—Italian emigrants at Geneva—troubles caused by the differences of that town with Berne.
[September 1542.]
(For yourself only.)
That day on which I thought of writing to you by Nicolas, some other business came in the way; this is the reason why I did not perform what I had undertaken. At length, when I was looking about for an opportunity whereby to write, this brother conveniently offered his services, but saying that he wished me to reply immediately. But when I would have excused myself, owing to my not being able to write so soon, because the Consistory was about to meet, without any hesitation he granted me the whole day. As even then, however, there is not very much time left, I shall briefly run over the particular points which I intended to discuss with you.
The letter to the Senate,[374] seeing that we cannot have the other remedy, which I thought better, pleases me remarkably well. There is somewhat manly and spirited about it. Moreover, it closes the door for the future against mischievous and tyrannical precedents. In my opinion, Erasmus has been very leniently dealt with, especially since others may be brought under more severe discipline, who, unless I am mistaken, had both a better case and were less reprovable in their conduct. Nor do I express myself in this way, because I would have you to flatter others; but caution is required, lest while you are reproving the many, you take care, at the same time, that, on a like occasion, you do not spare the individual offender. However that may be, the whole affair has turned out better than I had even ventured to hope. May the Lord cause your letter to be well received and hearkened to by men.
As to the ecclesiastical property, I have almost no information beyond hearsay.[375] First of all, therefore, I shall mention what I have heard; then, what is my own opinion. They have determined, that whatever the Church possessed of property or annual rents should be put up to sale, on condition that part of the purchase-money should be paid down: that the balance of the price should be met by an annual payment. They add, by way of exception, that they cannot guaranty or defend possession to the purchasers beyond the period of their own administration. Subject to this condition, Peter Wendel purchases the priory for the sum of one thousand five hundred crowns, others bought vineyards, others fields, others dwelling-houses. Now, you may at once conjecture what I must think of all this. You perceive an alienation of the property has been made, that the Church is to be left unprovided, that the magistrate may grant just what he pleases, as if the property were his own, and if the incumbent does not discharge the duty entirely to his satisfaction, he can even curtail the provision which he allots to the ministers, and may even threaten to withhold it altogether. It is not an easy matter to unravel this business or to say what ought to be done, especially when there are so few who, without self-seeking, dare venture disinterestedly to expose themselves to the shafts of envy; and there are many who rather prefer by connivance to forget their duty, and so to obtain the favour of men, than to incur their displeasure by a firm and honest opposition. In this affair of the Church property, however, nothing can be accomplished without an entire agreement amongst ourselves. In vain, therefore, you may attempt to set any train of operations in motion, unless you have them all ready at the same time to pull along with you. We have this much, however, in our own power, that we withhold our approval, either by words or by any other token, of whatever may be even questionable.
I am glad that lately I did not put myself to trouble to no purpose, by writing into Italy, since my letter after all could not have arrived in time. We have here now another Italian,[376] an old man of a reverend aspect, even in his outward appearance.[377] He was of great authority among his countrymen, lives here at his own charges; and if he can acquire the language, I expect will become some time or other exceedingly useful.
John the bookseller, who has lately returned hither, spoke to me about Zebedee,[378] and says that he is ready to come hither if there was any opening for him. I made no other reply except that I would write to you about it. But what to write, verily I know not; for, as you are aware, we have not the means to engage him; and you are better able yourself to form an opinion as to the many obstacles which may lie in the way of such an arrangement than I am to express them in writing to you.
There is another affair which sadly vexes me. When I was supposing that everything was conclusively settled by arbitration with the Bernese,[379] lo! all of a sudden the whole affair is broken off. It was thereupon resolved, on the part of the Council of Two Hundred, that the claims of the Bernese ought to be yielded up to them. There remained an appeal to the General Council or Assembly of the people, which, when the Senate was considering deliberately about convoking them, our friend Amy Perrin[380] said that he retracted his former opinion. Then in magniloquent terms he discoursed about the meanness of making such a base concession. There were some who followed him on the same side. The upshot of the whole was, that the Council of Sixty, and next the Council of Two Hundred, were to be assembled. When the two hundred met, and the matter was propounded to them, lo and behold! Paguet, as if he were the sole Atlas of the commonweal, broke out in a bitter invective, reproaching the men who were so ready, of their own accord, to despoil the city of such a distinguished privilege. To such a degree did he allow himself to be carried away by the spirit of contention in debate, that he even went so far as to threaten the members of Council with the Wood-market, where traitors to the republic are wont to be beheaded. A serious disturbance and riot was the consequence. At length, however, it passed away, on a resolution being come to, that he must humbly, on his bended knees, ask pardon of the Senate for having made use of such language. The whole affair, as you may perceive, is hatched in the workshop of Macrin, who seems to me to be determined, of set purpose, to keep the two towns in a state of perpetual dissension with each other. Now, if you could make it suit your convenience to come hither at present, you would do me a very great favour. For even although there may be no possibility of falling on any remedy, it will afford some comfort both to me and to yourself to have the opportunity of deploring this calamity together. There cannot be a doubt, however, that your arrival will be of great importance to us, provided you are here by Monday. Take care, however, to keep to yourself the reason of your coming, for all those who were present bound themselves by oath to keep silence, so that it will not be without danger. The advantage to be derived from your journey you shall hear of when we meet; and, as I hope also, you will yourself acknowledge it.
Adieu, my dear brother; may the Lord preserve you, and bring you speedily hither in safety. Salute all the brethren and your family in my own name and in that of my wife.—Yours,
John Calvin.
[Lat. orig. autogr.—Library of Geneva. Vol. 111.]
XCVII.—To Viret.
The plague at Geneva—conduct of the ministers in these circumstances—Italian refugees—the question of the ecclesiastical property examined.
[Geneva, October 1542.]
Your letter, in which you requested that I would write somewhat about the ecclesiastical property, was delivered to me on Monday, while I was engaged upon the relics of the wedding. Although that by no means had prevented me from writing, yet since that time I have not had a single moment of leisure.
The pestilence also begins to rage here with greater violence, and few who are at all affected by it escape its ravages.[381] One of our colleagues was to be set apart for attendance upon the sick. Because Peter offered himself, all readily acquiesced.[382] If anything happens to him, I fear that I must take the risk upon myself, for as you observe, because we are debtors to one another, we must not be wanting to those who, more than any others, stand in need of our ministry.[383] And yet it is not my opinion, that while we wish to provide for one portion we are at liberty to neglect the body of the Church itself. But so long as we are in this ministry, I do not see that any pretext will avail us, if, through fear of infection, we are found wanting in the discharge of our duty when there is most need of our assistance. In what concerns yourselves I have already told you what occurred to me.[384] Now, since that colleague has been removed, you must seek for some one else to be put in his place. If no such person can be found, you must devise some plan, but with the common advice of the brethren.
Our friend Bernardino[385] has been assailed by strange manœuvres to induce him to leave us. He remains constant, however; and in a great measure, he has so broken with Antichrist, that they need not think of troubling him for the future. He has written a volume of sermons, at the end of which he professes that he entirely, and, without any exception whatever, goes along with us—thinks as we do. Many of the Italians visit him; and we have already two other preachers. Those who have known him, consider that the kingdom of Christ has got no small addition in that single individual. In the meantime, as you may conceive, I need to have all my wits about me. The more attentively I observe him, the more highly do I esteem him. He acknowledges, however, that he has been greatly helped and relieved by me, so as to be less easily shaken. The Senate has already granted allowance for his preaching as often as he thinks proper.[386] We have here at present Julio Camillo,[387] whose manifold tergiversations are somewhat suspicious; for although he talks boastingly of the Gospel, yet, because he has something of a secret purpose, which, even although unknown to us, we do not like, we have reason to be upon our guard with him. It is well, however, that Bernardino is on his guard, and dreads him as an enemy.
Now, however, I return to that request of yours about the ecclesiastical property; for you remind me of it again in your last letter. I beg, however, that you may pardon me; for you are aware that the nature of this question is of a kind that requires both time and leisure, a composed mind, and no little diligence. When we were at Ratisbon I lent a hand to Bucer in collecting those materials which he published among the acts of the conferences; but as the question was there only incidentally brought under discussion, what was written there at that time will not suffice for the present exigency. Some little insight, however, may be derived from it. To me it seems twofold. The case seems to me to divide into two heads. In the first place, that you may declare that this alienation will occasion stumbling and causes of offence, and, in the next place, you may demonstrate that it is not lawful.
The occasions of stumbling are readily stated. Because that on that account the Papists defame the Gospel, and they have begun to do so even at a time when they had not such a specious pretext for doing so. Formerly, therefore, they took advantage of these calumnies; they will now have a just ground of accusation when they talk about the plunder of Church property. In the next place, because the common people throughout the whole canton dare not speak out openly, they complain about it everywhere in corners, and the ministers have not a word to answer. For after having cried out without ceasing against the sacrilege of the Pope and the whole of the Popish priesthood, with what face can they defend the sale of property which entirely strips the Church bare, and may leave her naked, while they could not even submit to any abuse or misapplication of the revenues? In the third place, because they afford the very worst precedent to other states and rulers. They are more eager than enough to seize upon church property without having further inducement from any other quarter presented to them, but now, if they shall transgress in this respect, one half of the blame will lie upon those who set them the example. Fourthly, that they are not aware, and have no means of knowing, what posterity will do in this matter; for it may so happen, that when the Church has been plundered of everything of her own, she may be left entirely helpless and destitute.
With reference to that second head which is above stated, keep in mind that argument on which the chief hinge of the whole question turns, that what has once been devoted to Christ and the Church, is not the property of the magistrate. And here it will be necessary to put them in mind of that law and ancient method, by which rule of appropriation property of this kind was to be dispensed. You must, therefore, insist upon it that those ungodly paunches have taken possession of what had been solemnly set apart to the service of the Church, that it is clear enough what is a lawful application of Church property, and that appropriation ought now to be adopted; that the alienation is liable to anathema and to the curse, because it profanes that which is sacred. In the meantime all suspicion will need to be taken off, that they may not think you have a hankering desire after the property. It will need to be demonstrated to them, however, that the rule of reformation which King Josiah prescribed is the best, that the magistrates may have a power of inspection, and that the deacons be the administrators. You can testify, however, that you are content that the magistrate may have the full power of administration, provided he faithfully dispenses the annual income, and neither diminishes nor dilapidates the property.
You perceive how confusedly and hurriedly I have run over these few heads. I make no apology, however; with you especially, who are so well aware that I do not, on so grave a matter, babble with carelessness and rashness whatever comes uppermost, but am forced, by the urgency of the case, to launch forth at once what I would willingly elaborate had I more leisure. Adieu, my excellent and very dear brother. We shall see to the relative of Cordier. The brethren salute you,—my wife and the whole household. Again, farewell. May the Lord preserve you and other good men. I am very glad that you have at length removed to another house, which, if you had not done, I would have turned you out of the old one by my abuse. Farewell; may the Lord always guide you by the counsel of his own Spirit, and protect you by his strength from on high.—Yours,
John Calvin.
I scarce know what I have written, my eyes are so much affected.
[Lat. orig. autogr.—Library of Geneva. Vol. 106.]