FAREL'S zeal was not cooled by the check he had received at Orbe; he saw before him other places that must be evangelised. If he withstood the ambitious demands of the new converts who, like Hollard, fancied themselves more capable than they really were, and indiscreetly sought for consecration to the holy office, he did but seek with more zeal for servants of God, who possessed a spirit of strength, charity, and prudence. Certain men appeared to him to have been ripened in France by persecution. He invited into Switzerland Toussaint, Lecomte, Symphoranus, Andronicus, and others. As soon as these brethren arrived, he sent them into the harvest;[425] and frequently after fervent prayers he seemed to see the whole valley enclosed between the Jura and the Alps filled with the living waters of the Gospel. 'Of a truth,' said he, 'if we look at the times that have gone before, the work of Christ is glorious now.... And yet what roots remain to be torn up before the field is ready to receive the divine seed.[426] What works to be accomplished, what toils to be endured, what enemies to be overcome!... We have need of labourers inured to labour.... I cannot promise them mountains of gold,[427] but I know that the Father will never abandon His own, and that He will give them an abundant harvest.'
=MALADY OF PETTY QUESTIONS.=
In Farel's heart overwhelming depression often followed close upon the fairest expectations. One sorrow especially afflicted him: the malady of petty questions seemed threatening to invade the new Church. At all times narrow and ill-balanced minds attach themselves to certain details in the doctrine of baptism, the Lord's Supper, the ministry, and so forth: they are eager about anise and cummin[428] and by their minutiæ encumber the kingdom of Christ. Farel, who with a holy doctrine and unwearied activity combined a wise discernment and a large liberal spirit, trembled lest this weakness of little understandings had crept into the minds of the ministers to whom he addressed his call. There happened to be at Strasburg just then a christian man named Andronicus, whom the reformer desired to attract into Switzerland; but he wished to know whether he was tainted with formalism or fanaticism—two evils which sometimes met on the banks of the Rhine. He resolved to speak frankly to him, and his letter shows us his opinion of the ministry: 'Dear brother,' he wrote to Andronicus, 'do you possess Christ so as to teach Him purely, apart from the empty controversies of bread and water, taxes and tithes, which in the eyes of many constitute Christianity?[429] Are you content to require of all that, renouncing ungodliness and unrighteousness, they should arm themselves with faith, and press to their hearts the heavenly treasure, Christ who sitteth at the right hand of the Father? Are you ready to give to all authorities what is their due—taxes, tithes—to pay them not only to the ungodly, but also to the brethren? Do you seek Christ's glory only? Do you propose simply to plant in their hearts the faith that worketh by charity? Are you resolved to bear the cross? for, be assured, the cross awaits you at the door. If you are ready to bear it, then, dear brother, come instantly.' Such was the wise language of the most ardent of the reformers.
=FAREL'S MODE OF RECRUITING.=
While Farel was thus loudly calling for new workers, he was getting rid of the idle and cowardly, promising to all of them fatigue, insult, and persecution: it was with such promises that the reformer levied his soldiers. 'Do not look for idleness, but for labour,'[430] he said; 'only after fatigue will you find repose, and you will not reap until after you have sown at your own cost. A wide door is opened, but no one can enter except those who desire to feed the sheep and not to devour them, and who are determined to reply with kindness to the insults with which they are assailed. Labour and toil await you.[431] I can promise you nothing but trouble.... If you will come with us, know that you are entering into a hard service. You will have to fight not against craven and disheartened adversaries, but against enemies brimful of decision and strength. Be therefore a brave and noble soldier; attack the enemy joyfully, and rush into the hottest of the fight, placing your confidence in God, to whom alone belong the battle and the victory. It is not we who fight, but the Lord.'[432]
But Farel called to the battle in vain: the timid recruits would not join the army. He received some little help indeed, but what was that for so great a work? Then his appeals grew louder. In the presence of the gigantic Alps, this humble man rose like them: his language swelled and resembled rather the cry of a soldier struggling in the midst of the enemy's ranks, than the sweet and subtle voice of the Gospel of peace. 'We are in the thick of the fight,' he said; 'the conflict is terrible; we are fighting man to man ... but the Lord giveth the victory to his own.[433] Take up the sword, set the helmet on your head, buckle on the breastplate, hang the shield to your arm, gird your loins; and being thus armed with the panoply of God, rush into the midst of the battle, hurl the darts, throw down the enemy on every side, and put all the army to flight.[434]... But alas! instead of joining the soldiers of Christ, instead of rushing into the Lord's battles, you fear the cross, and the dangers that lie in wait for you. Preferring your own ease, you refuse to come to the assistance of your brethren.... Is that the behaviour of a christian?... The Holy Scriptures declare that the Lord will exact a severe reckoning for such cowardice.... Beware lest you bury the talent you have received.... Call to mind that you must give an account of all those souls, whom tyranny holds captive in its gloomy dungeons. You can set the light before their eyes, you can deliver them from their chains, you must conjure them to throw themselves into the arms of Jesus Christ.... Do not hesitate.... Christ must be preferred to everything. Do not trouble yourself about what your wife wishes and requires, but about what God asks and commands.'[435] More powerful solicitations had never been made; there was a new Paul in the world at this time. At last Farel's earnestness prevailed. Andronicus and others hastened to him, and laboured with him in the country that stretches from Basle and Berne as far as Geneva.
=FIRST BATTLE OF GRANDSON.=
Delighted at receiving such helpers, the reformer hastened to fresh combats. Every parish, village, and town was to be won to Christ by an obstinate struggle. There is no soldier that has fought more battles. We can only find a parallel to Farel in the convert of Damascus. He took with him De Glautinis, minister of Tavannes, in the Bernese Jura, who had come to his help, and quitted Orbe, leaving on his left the picturesque gorge of the Jura, where the village of St. Croix lies hid, and over which soar the lofty tops of the Chasseron, and turned his steps towards Grandson. Ere long he came in sight of the celebrated walls of the old castle which stood near the extremity of the lake of Neuchâtel. This place, which was about to become an evangelical battle-field, had witnessed a far different struggle. Here, in 1476, the Swiss had rushed from the heights of Champagne and Bonvillars, while the terrible roaring of the bull of Uri portended death, and the cow of Unterwald uttered its warning sound.[436] Here they bent the knee in presence of the hostile columns, and rising with shouts of 'Grandson!' playing their fearful music, unfurling their ancient banners, and guarding them with their long and formidable spears, they charged the Burgundians with the rush of the tempest. Vainly did the commander of the cavalry, Sire Louis of Château-Guyon, brother of the Prince of Orange and of the Lord of Orbe and Grandson,—vainly did he spur his large war-horse and charge impetuously at the head of six thousand horsemen; vainly did he seize the banner of Schwytz, In der Gruob of Berne had given him a death-blow, and the Burgundians, as they saw the gigantic warrior fall, were struck with terror. Grandson as well as Orbe were lost to the family of that hero, and the sovereignty of the two towns passed to the cantons of Berne and Friburg. A panic spread through the ranks, and Charles the Bold was forced to fly, leaving behind him four hundred silk tents embroidered with gold and pearls, six hundred standards, and an immense quantity of plate, money, jewels, and precious stones. This vigorous attack and glorious victory, the fame of which still remained in that peaceful country, was a type of the work that Farel was to accomplish. By his means, Berne was about to strike at Grandson as well as Orbe a more formidable enemy than the Lord of Château-Guyon.[437]
On the shore of the lake at the entrance of the town stood the vast convent of the Gray Friars. Farel and his friend De Glautinis, who accompanied him, stopped before its walls and said to each other that to this place doubtless the Lord had first directed their steps. They rang, entered the parlour, and the superior of the monastery, Friar Guy Regis, having asked them what they wanted, they begged him very coolly 'in the name of the Lords of Berne,' to grant them the use of the church. But Guy Regis, a resolute man and earnest priest, who knew all that had happened at Orbe, was offended at such insolence. 'Heretic!' said he to Farel. 'Son of a Jew!' exclaimed another monk. The reception was not encouraging. The two ministers discussed with some friends of the Word of God, what was to be done. 'Go to the priory on the hill,' said the latter. 'As you bear a letter from Messieurs of Berne for the prior, the monks will not dare refuse you.'
=THE BENEDICTINE CONVENT.=