For a long time Calvin's able and vigorous scheme of ecclesiastical polity was accompanied by practical success at Geneva. Public order and morality were placed under careful supervision. Gaming-houses were prohibited; and in order to keep the citizens out of taverns, which were at that time greatly frequented, Calvin proposed the establishment of 'clubs open only to members of the association, in which young men, and fathers of families, could meet and discuss matters relating to the war, and other things useful to the commonwealth.' Four such clubs were immediately established. All gross immorality and coarse abuse of the evangelical religion and worship were punished, and so were all drunkards, men and women who led evil lives, and midnight brawlers. In a little municipal republic, with a small population, the character of individual members, and all facts connected with them, were generally so well known that any abuse of power was difficult. The pastors, if they were not active in the discharge of their duty, or did not lead a good life, were suspended, or even banished. There was perfect accordance between the Venerable Company, the Consistory and the Council; and, on the whole, the public approved of and supported all the steps taken in concert by the civil and religious rulers.
But although Calvin's system was righteously conceived and carried out, his thoughts and legislation were influenced by two false notions which soon proved fatal; for when truth and error are blindly united, the evil will assuredly be developed, and will compromise the good. Calvin's religious system for the evangelical church almost entirely overlooked individual liberty. He desired to regulate private life in accordance with the laws of morality and by means of the powers of the State; to penetrate all social and family life, and the soul of every man, and to restrict individual responsibility within an ever-narrowing circle. In the relation of the evangelical church to the State, he asserted and carried out the principle adopted in the Catholic Church, the right of the spiritual power to appeal to the secular arm in order to suppress and punish those offences against religion recognised by the State; that is, impiety and heresy. Calvin thus denied and violated the rights of conscience and personal liberty in private life and in matters of religion,—a deplorable but natural consequence of his contempt for, and denial of man's free-will in his general doctrine.
In spite of the enthusiasm which had been called forth by Calvin's return, the Libertines, whether sceptical or licentious, of noble or simple birth, soon began to manifest their discontent. They responded to the meddlesome interference and demands of the magistrates, in matters of faith and religious ordinances, by persistent coldness or insolent contempt. 'What a pleasant thing it is to see the delightful liberty that there is in this city!' said a refugee from Lyons, who had not long previously arrived in Geneva: 'Yes!' answered a woman, 'formerly they made us go to mass, and now they make us go to church.' A man was found in the streets on horseback during the hours of divine service: 'Why are you not at church?' said one of the municipal officers: 'Oh!' said he, 'is there room enough in church for my horse and me?' A peasant said, 'My faith and religion are a block of wood, and I am cutting them into chips.' Another heard an ass braying, and called out, 'What a fine psalm he's singing!' A young man presented an account-book to his betrothed, and said, 'Madam, this is your best hymn-book.' These words were repeated, and the speakers prosecuted and punished. One of them was even banished from the city. Disorderly conduct and language were guarded against and repressed with watchful severity. M. Gaberel, the learned and judicious author of the history of the Church of Geneva, whilst he relates these facts with scrupulous impartiality, adds: 'The most vigilant of police-forces failed to discover more than eleven offences against public worship between 1541 and 1546; a country deserves warm praise in which religious feeling leaves so little room for transgression.' [Footnote 92]
[Footnote 92: Gaberel, i. 356-367.]
The remark is just; nevertheless, it is not so much the number as the nature of these rigorous puerilities which gives such a vexatious character to arbitrary power, and excites irritation that, sooner or later, is sure to become contagious. There is no doubt that there was a great improvement in the moral and social condition of Geneva at this period, that good order and good conduct were restored both in public and domestic life, and that Calvin's government was infinitely superior to that of his adversaries; but his unwarrantable interference in private life, and his contempt for the rights of individuals, furnished his enemies with dangerous weapons and prepared grave perils which he had afterwards to encounter.
These perils from within were augmented by dangers from without, in the attacks of an anti-Christian or sceptical pantheism, which sought to disguise its immorality and anarchy under the name of liberty. At this period pantheistic doctrines were taught on the banks of the Rhine, in some of the great cities of western Europe, as Antwerp and Lille, and they had even penetrated the little court of Nérac, where Queen Margaret of Navarre, who had formerly befriended many reformers, and even Calvin himself, now granted hospitality to some of the advocates of these views, thus showing more liberality than discretion. The sect assumed the name of 'Spiritual Libertines.' Their tenets were soon made known at Geneva, where they obtained prompt recognition from the local and practical Libertines. Calvin was not one who could remain indifferent and inactive in the presence of new germs of impiety and immorality. In 1544 he published a pamphlet Against that fantastic and furious sect of Libertines who call themselves Spiritual. 'How is it possible,' said he, 'that I should condemn the Pope and his accomplices, and should nevertheless pardon these men who are much greater enemies of God and more hostile to his truth? For, after all, the Pope does leave some form of religion; he does not rob men of the hope of eternal life; he instructs them in the fear of God, and shows the difference between good and evil; he acknowledges our Lord Jesus Christ to be very God and very man, and recognises the authority of the Word of God. But the whole aim of these men is to confound together heaven and earth, to destroy all religion whatsoever, to efface all knowledge of the spiritual nature of man, to deaden his conscience, and obliterate all distinction between men and brutes.' [Footnote 93]
[Footnote 93: Calvini Opera, vii. 162 (1868).]
Queen Margaret complained to Calvin of this violent attack upon men whom she honoured with her protection and favour. He answered: 'My intention, Madam, was in no wise to seek to diminish your honour, or lessen the respect which every believer ought to feel for you. For I say that true believers owe you more reverence than that which is your due from all men, on account of the majesty to which our Lord has exalted you, the royal house from which you have sprung, and your great excellence in the things which pertain to this world. For those who know me are well aware that I am not such a savage, nor so inhuman as to despise and seek to inspire contempt for princes and nobles, and that which belongs to the order and government of this world. But I behold the most pernicious and execrable sect that ever existed in this world. I see what destruction they are causing, and that they are a fire kindled to scathe and destroy everything, a contagion which will infect the whole earth, unless some remedy be found. Since our Lord has called me to the position which I occupy, my conscience constrains me to resist them so far as it is in my power. A dog will bark if he sees his master attacked, and should I not be a cowardly wretch if I could see God's truth assailed and stand silent, and utter no word?' [Footnote 94]