=MARGARET AND CALVIN.=
'A man cannot enter the ministry of God,' says Calvin, 'without having been proved by temptation.' The queen's wit, the court of St. Germain, intercourse with men of genius and of rank, the prospect of exercising an influence that might turn to the glory of God—all these things might tempt him. Would he become Margaret's chaplain, like Roussel? Would he quit the narrow way in which he was treading, to enter upon that where christians tried to walk with the world on their right hand and Rome on their left? The queen's love for the Saviour affected Calvin, and he asked himself whether that was not a door opened by God through which the Gospel would enter the kingdom of France.... He was at that moment on the brink of the abyss. What likelihood was there that a young man, just at the beginning of his career, would not gladly seize the opportunity that presented itself of serving a princess so full of piety and genius—the king's sister? Margaret, who made Roussel a bishop, would also have a diocese for Calvin. 'I should be pleased to have a servant like you,' she told him one day. But the rather mystical piety of the princess, and the vanities with which she was surrounded, were offensive to that simple and upright heart. 'Madame,' he replied, 'I am not fitted to do you any great service; the capacity is wanting, and also you have enough without me.... Those who know me are aware that I never desired to frequent the courts of princes; and I thank the Lord that I have never been tempted, for I have every reason to be satisfied with the good Master who has accepted me and retains me in his household.'[241] Calvin had no more longing for the semi-catholic dignities of the queen than for the Roman dignities of the popes. Yet he knew how to take advantage of the opportunity offered him, and nobly conjured Margaret to speak out more frankly in favour of the Gospel. Carried away by an eloquence which, though simple, had great power, she declared herself ready to move forward.
An opportunity soon presented itself of realising the plan she had conceived of renewing the universal Church without destroying its unity; but the means to be employed were not such as Calvin approved of. They were about to have recourse to carnal weapons. 'Now the only foundation of the kingdom of Christ,' he said, 'is the humiliation of man. I know how proud carnal minds are of their vain shows; but the arms of the Lord, with which we fight, will be stronger, and will throw down all their strongholds, by means of which they think themselves invincible.'[242]
Luther now appears again on the scene; and on this important point Luther and Calvin are one.
[215] 'Cum facultate retinendi simul archiepiscopatum tolosanum.'—Gallia Christiana.
[216] 'Scis nos episcopum nationis tuæ habere.'—Daniel Calvino, Berne MSS.
[217] 'Ut officialis dignitate aut aliqua alia te ornaret.'—Daniel Calvino, Berne MSS.
[218] Calvin, Lettres Françaises.
[219] 'Unus de plebe, homuncio mediocri seu potius modica eruditione præditus.'—Calvinus, Præf. de Clementia.
[220] 'Peccavimus omnes ... et usque ad extremum ævi delinquemus.'—De Clementia, lib. i.