[491] Turin Archives.
[492] In a document at Basle under the latter date, the late (feu) Besançon Hugues is mentioned. Galiffe, Hugues, p. 459.
[493] 'Novas quasdam opiniones et sectas apud vos pullulare cœpisse.'—Turin Archives. We found this letter, which appears to have been hitherto unknown, in the national archives at Turin. Geneva, bundle 12, No. 47.
CHAPTER VII.
THE REFORMERS AND THE REFORMATION ENTER GENEVA.
(October 1532.)
ON one fine autumn day (2nd October), Farel and Saunier 'having finished their journey through Piedmont,' reached that beautiful neighbourhood where the Alps and the Jura, drawing near each other, form a rich valley, in the midst of which calmly sleep the pure waters of an azure lake. They soon distinguished the three old towers of the cathedral of Geneva rising high above the houses. They pressed their horses, whose speed was relaxed through fatigue, and entered the city of the huguenots. They had been directed to the Tour Percée,[494] which they found in a street situated on the left bank of the Rhone, and bearing its name. They stopped in front of the inn, dismounted from their horses, spoke to the landlord, and took up their quarters under his roof.
=FAREL CONSULTS WITH OLIVETAN.=
One of their first thoughts, after resting themselves, was to inform Robert Olivetan of their arrival. Calvin's cousin, who was still tutor to Jean Chautemps' children, hastened to them, delighted at the coming of his brethren. Farel desired to consult with him on the best means of advancing the knowledge of the Gospel in Geneva; but another idea had also occupied him during his journey. Knowing how learned Olivetan was in Greek and Hebrew, he had cast his eyes on him to make the translation of the Bible which the Waldensian synod had decided upon. Farel having spoken to him about it, Olivetan exclaimed in alarm: 'I cannot accept such a commission, considering the great difficulty of the work and my own weakness.'[495] Farel did not admit the excuse, and continued to solicit his friend, who would not give way. 'You could do this work much better yourself,' he said to the travellers. But Farel believed that God gives every man a calling for which He has prepared him, and that Olivetan was a scholar while he was an evangelist. 'God has not given me leisure,' said Farel, 'He calls me to another work. He wills me to sow the pure seed of the Word in His field, and water it and make it flourish like the garden of Eden.'[496] He dropped the subject, however, in order to talk with Olivetan about the evangelisation of Geneva.
Chautemps' tutor, who had so often sunk under the weight of his task, and so earnestly called for a stronger hand, looked upon Farel as one sent from heaven. But how to begin? The evangelist of Orbe took from his pocket the letters given him at Berne for some of the chief huguenots. Olivetan saw that a door was opening for the Gospel, and without loss of time the two friends went out to deliver the letters to their addresses. Olivetan gave Farel the information he required, and explained to him that although some of those to whom he was introduced inclined to the side of the Gospel, the majority were content to throw off the Romish superstitions, and were simply true patriots.
The huguenots having opened the letters that Farel presented, found that the bearer was William Farel, preacher of the Gospel, and that their Bernese friends invited them to hear him speak. This was great news. No name was better known than Farel's in the districts bathed by the lakes of Geneva, Morat, Bienne, and Neuchatel. The huguenots, delighted to see him, looked attentively at him, and some of them reflected on such an unexpected incident, which religious and political motives rendered most important in their eyes. Friends of the Reformation had often told them that the independence of Geneva would never be secure until the dominion of the bishop and the pope had given place to that of the Gospel, and now the Gospel was knocking at their doors in the person of Farel. Was it not he who had filled Aigle, Morat, Neuchatel, Valengin, Orbe, and Grandson with the evangelical doctrine? Political men hoped that at his voice the temporal dominion of the church would fall, and the phantoms of the middle ages, which still entangled liberty, would flee away in alarm to distant hiding-places. Religious men, who had found pleasure in the words of Am Thun, of Olivetan, and of the Gospel more especially, expected that this great preacher would make the light of heaven to shine in their hearts. All, therefore, expressed themselves ready to hear him,[497] and Farel, saying he should be happy to see them at his inn, took his leave.