[1069] Letter of La Rivière, in the name of all the ministers of Paris, Aug. 10, 1561, Baum, ii., App., 37-39.
[1070] The letter, now in the State archives of Geneva, is signed "Le Roy de Navarre bien vostre, Anthoyne," Baum, ubi supra, ii. 40. The character of this contemptible prince is best understood when such lines are read in the light of the intrigues he was at this very moment—as we shall have occasion to see—carrying on at Rome. When it is borne in mind that the colloquy of Poissy preceded the edict of January by four months, and that Beza manifested no little hesitation in coming to France, it becomes somewhat difficult to comprehend Mr. Froude's account (Hist. of England, vii. 390): "The Cardinal of Lorraine demanded from the Parliament of Paris the revocation of the edicts (sic) of January. Confident of his power, he even challenged the Protestants to a public discussion before the court. Theodore Beza snatched eagerly at the gage; the Conference of Poissy followed," etc.
[1071] Letter of Calvin to Martyr, Aug. 17, 1561, apud Baum, ii., App., 40; and Bonnet, Calvin's Letters, Eng. tr., iv. 209.
[1072] Letter of Beza to Calvin, Aug. 22, 1561, written three hours after his arrival, apud Baum, ii., App., 44.
[1073] See the admirable biography of Beza, by Dr. H. Heppe, being the sixth volume of the Leben und ausgewählte Schriften der Väter und Begründer der reformirte Kirche; as well as the more extended work of Prof. Baum, frequently referred to.
[1074] "Les avertissant qu'il ne leur donneroit congé de se départir jusques à ce qu'ils y eussent donné ordre." Letter of the Sieur du Mortier, French amb. at Rome, to the Bp. of Rennes, Aug. 9, 1561, apud Le Laboureur, Additions to Castelnau, i. 730. This authority would seem to be a positive proof that the speech which is attributed by La Place and other historians of the period to the king at the opening of the conference with the Protestants on the 9th of September, has, by a very natural error, been transposed from this place. De Thou, La Popelinière, and others have made the more serious blunder of placing the chancellor's speech, which belongs here, at the same conference, and omitting the true address which La Place, etc., insert. Prof. Baum (Theodor Beza, ii. 242, note) first detected the inconsistencies between the two reported speeches of L'Hospital on the 9th of September, but gave preference in the text to the wrong document. Prof. Soldan has elucidated the whole matter with his usual skill (Geschichte des Prot. in Frankreich, i. 440, note).
[1075] De Thou, iii. 63; La Place, 155.
[1076] "Sans venir au fait de la doctrine, où ils ne veulent toucher non plus qu'au feu." Letter of Secretary Bourdin to his brother-in-law Bochetel, the Bishop of Rennes, French ambassador in Germany, Aug. 23, 1561, apud Laboureur, Add. aux Mém. de Castelnau, i. 731. If we are to construe the language of the Histoire ecclés. des égl. réf. (i. 307) with verbal strictness, the theological discussions occasionally waxed so hot that the prelates found themselves unable to solve the knotty questions with which they were occupied, without recourse to the convincing argument of the fist!
[1077] Languet, letter of Aug. 6th, ii. 130.
[1078] Letter of Chantonnay, Aug. 31 (Mém. de Condé, ii. 16).