As soon as Chelius reached Wittemberg, he called upon Melanchthon. 'King Francis,' he said, 'desires truth and unity. In almost every particular he is in accord with you, and approves of your book of Common-places.[623] I am authorised to ask you for a plan to put an end to the religious dissensions which disturb christendom; and I can assure you that the King of France is doing, and will do, all he can with the pope to procure harmony and peace.'[624] Nothing was better adapted to captivate Melanchthon. At this period the moderates had not yet renounced the idea of preserving external unity; they desired to maintain catholicity: even Melanchthon saw no other safety for divided and agitated christendom. Accordingly, never had message arrived at a more suitable time. Chelius was to him like an angel come from heaven; a beam of joy lighted up the great doctor's clouded brow. He went to see Luther, and conversed with him and other friends about the proposals of the King of France. 'If a few good and learned men,' said he, 'brought together by certain sovereigns, were to confer freely and amicably together, it would be easy, believe me, to come to an understanding with each other.[625] Ignorant men know nothing about the matter, and make the evil greater than it is.'[626]
=DIFFERENT OPINIONS ON THE UNION.=
Melanchthon thought that he could unite catholics and protestants. We must not be surprised at it, for in our days very estimable, though not very clear-sighted men, entertain the same idea. Truth was dear to the doctor of Germany, but concord, unity, and catholicity were not less so. The Church, according to Melanchthon and his friends, ought to be universal; for redemption is appointed for all men, and all have need of it. The Church ought therefore to strive to unite all the children of Adam in communion with God, on the foundation of Christ, the only Redeemer. It possesses a power which can embrace all humankind and keep all differences in subjection. Such were the thoughts by which Melanchthon was inspired: if there were any sacrifices to be made to preserve the catholicity of the Church, he would gladly make them; he would recognise the bishops, and even the head of the bishops, rather than destroy unity. 'There is no question of abolishing the government of the Church,' he said; 'the chief men among us ardently desire that the received forms should be preserved as much as possible.'[627] Luther's friend took the matter so much to heart that he began to address Du Bellay personally: 'I entreat you,' he said, 'to prevail upon the great monarchs to establish a concord which shall be consistent with piety.[628] The dangers which threaten us are such that so great a man as you ought not to be wanting in the cause of the State and of the Church.... But what am I doing?... What need to urge you to walk who are running already?'[629] Catholicity and truth: such was the device graven on the arms borne by the champions who, under the auspices of the King of France, were to appear between the two camps of Rome and the Reformation.
Melanchthon busied himself with sketching the plan of the new Church, which, with God's help and the support of the great monarchs (Francis I., Henry VIII., and probably Charles V.), was to become the Church of modern times. It might be eventually one of the most important labours ever undertaken by man. Not only the politicians, but all pious, loving, and perhaps feeble hearts, who feared controversy more than anything, ardently hoped for the success of this heroic attempt. The chief men, said Melanchthon, shared his opinion and encouraged his projects. Yet there were simple, earnest, christian men, with minds determined to set truth above everything, who saw with uneasiness these theologico-diplomatic negotiations. Neither Farel, nor Calvin, nor probably Luther, was among those who rallied round the standard raised by Du Bellay and grasped by Melanchthon.
That pious man, however, was far from wishing to sacrifice the truth. 'I am quite of your opinion,' said he to Bucer, 'that there can be no agreement between us and the Bishop of Rome.[630] But, to satisfy the worthy men who are endeavouring to bring this great matter to a happy issue, I shall lay down what ought to be the essential points of agreement.' Melanchthon then believed, and many evangelical christians in France, and particularly in Germany, believed also, that if a reform, though incomplete, were once established, the power of truth would soon bring about a complete reform. He therefore finished his sketch and gave it to Chelius.
=NOTES OF THE THREE DOCTORS.=
The latter, imagining that he held the salvation of the Church in his hands, hastened to Strasburg to communicate Melanchthon's project to his friends. On arriving at Bucer's house (17th of August), he found him writing his answer to the Catholic Axiom of the Bishop of Avranches, a great enemy of protestantism. Bucer put aside his own papers and took those of the Wittemberg doctor, which he was impatient to see. He read them eagerly over and over again. 'Really there is nothing here to offend anybody,' he said, 'if people have the least idea of what the reign of Christ means. But, my dear Chelius,' he added, 'a union is possible only among those who truly believe in Christ. That there should be a superior authority, well and good! but it must be a holy authority in order that every man may obey it with a good conscience.[631] If we are to unite, all additions must be cut away, and we must return simply to the doctrine of Scripture and of the Fathers.'
Chelius desired Bucer to give him his opinion in writing. The reformer hastily drew up a memoir, which, being approved by his colleagues, he handed to his friend on the 27th of August.[632] Francis's agent had fixed that day for his departure; but at the last moment he changed his mind, and remained twenty-four hours longer in Strasburg. There was another doctor in that city, a meek, pious, and firm man, an old friend of Zwingle's:[633] it was Hedio, and Chelius asked him for his opinion also. Then, taking with him the memoirs of the three doctors, he started without delay for Paris, convinced that catholicity and truth were about to be saved.
On reaching the capital Chelius gave the papers to William du Bellay, who immediately laid them before the king. The latter ordered that the Bishop of Paris and certain of the nobles, men of letters, and ecclesiastics, who desired to see a united but reformed Church, should have these documents communicated to them. The arrival of this ultimatum of the Reformation was an event of great importance; and accordingly the memoirs of the three doctors were anxiously perused at the Louvre, in the bishop's palace, and in other houses of the capital. Perhaps history has made a mistake in taking so little note of this. Three of the reformers, with England, Francis I., and some of the most eminent men of the epoch, demanded one only catholic but reformed Church. A great evangelical unity seemed on the point of being realised. Shall we not set forth in some detail a proposal of such high interest? There are individuals, we are aware, who are always looking for facts and sensations, never troubling themselves about principles and doctrines; but the wise, on the contrary, know that the world is moved by ideas, and, whatever may be the objections of curious minds, history must perform her task, and give to opinions the place that belongs to them.
At this time several meetings of an extraordinary kind were held at the Louvre, and upon them, as some thought, the future of christendom depended. The opinions of Melanchthon, Bucer, and Hedio, demanded by the king, brought by Chelius, and laid before the monarch by Du Bellay, were in his majesty's closet. The walls of the Louvre, which had witnessed such levity of morals, and which hereafter were to witness so many crimes, heard those holy truths explained in which everlasting life is to be found. Around the table on which these documents lay, there were politicians no doubt who in this investigation looked only to temporal advantages, and Francis was at their head; but there were also serious men who desired for the new Church both unity and reform. We will let the reformers speak. They were not present in person, it will be understood, before the King of France; it is their written advice which he had asked for, and which was probably read by one of the Du Bellays. But, for brevity's sake, we shall designate these memoirs by the names of their authors, since it is the authors themselves who speak, and not the historian.