Meanwhile the council were still deliberating, and many wished Farel to be put to death. Heresy in that age, as is but too well known, was punished capitally; but the magistrates pointed to the danger of using violence towards the preacher of the lords of Berne. Their opinion prevailed, and the reformers having been brought into the room again, the grand-vicar said: 'William Farel, leave my presence and this house, and within six hours get you gone from the city with your two companions, under pain of the stake. And know that if the sentence is not more severe, you must ascribe it to our kindness and to our respect for my lords of Berne.'—'You condemn us unheard,' said Farel. 'I demand a certificate to show at Berne that I have done my duty.'—'You shall not have one,' the abbot hastily replied; 'leave the room all of you, without a word more.'[530]
The priests and people collected in front of the house, learning that Farel was about to appear, crowded one upon another, uttering angry cries. It would seem that the reformer heard them and stopped an instant, knowing full well what was in reserve for him. It was in truth a solemn moment, perhaps his last. 'The caitiff dared not come out,' said Sister Jeanne, afterwards Abbess of Annecy, 'for he had heard the noise made by the church people before the door, and feared they would put him to death.' Seeing that Farel hesitated, two of the senior canons addressed him coarsely: 'As you will not go out willingly, and in God's name,' they said, 'go out in the name of all the devils, whose minister and servant you are.' Thus spoke a few fanatical priests. Their God was the church, and there was no salvation for the sinner except in the sacrifice of the mass: in them imagination took the place of understanding, and passion of judgment. They had no idea of the living faith which animated the hearts of Farel and his friends, and looked upon them as impious. Putting aside the holy authority and wise precepts of scripture, they had no other rule than strong attachment to their church and the excess of zeal which carried them away. Inflamed by violent passion they did not confine themselves to abuse. The sister of St. Claire is far from wishing to conceal their exploits: 'One of them,' she says, 'gave him a hard kick, the other struck him heavily on the head and face; and in great confusion they put him out with his two companions.'[531]
=ATTEMPT TO STAB FAREL.=
Farel, Saunier, and Olivetan quitted the house, and thus escaped the ill-treatment of those reverend gentlemen. But turned out of doors by the canons, they fell from Scylla into Charybdis: they had to experience still more culpable excesses of religious fanaticism. The priests, chaplains, sacristans, and the furious populace assembled in the street, hooted, hissed, groaned, and howled; some threateningly flourished their weapons. It was like an impetuous hurricane that seemed as if it would sweep everything before it. It was a human tempest more terrible perhaps than that of the winds:
Venti, velut agmine facto,
Qua data porta ruunt, et terras turbine perflant;
Insequitur clamorque virum stridorque rudentum.[532]
On a sudden there was a movement in the crowd, those who were on the outside falling back in alarm upon their comrades: there was a body of armed men approaching. At this time up came the syndics and all the watch with their halberds. 'Pray, sir priests,' said they, 'do nothing rash.' The mob gave way. 'We are come to execute justice,' added the magistrates. Upon this they took 'the caitiff,' placed him and his companions in the midst of the guard, and all marched off in the direction of the Tour Perce, the crowd parting right and left to make way for the escort. The priests, fourscore in number, kept together, forming a dark and agitated group, and so stationed themselves that the three ministers must necessarily pass before them on their road to the inn. They had heard that Farel and his friends were to be expelled from the city; 'but the worthy men could not be satisfied with this,' says Sister Jeanne. Considering that the syndics and even the episcopal council refused to do justice to them, they were resolved to take the matter into their own hands. Just as the three preachers were passing in front of them, one of them rushed forward sword in hand upon Farel 'to run him through.'[533] One of the syndics who was at the reformer's side saw him, caught the assassin by the arm, and stopped him. This act of the magistrate seriously grieved the devout. Laymen who prevented the clergy from killing their adversaries were looked upon as impious. 'Many were chagrined,' says the good nun innocently, 'because the blow failed.' The halberdiers closed their ranks, thrust the priests and their creatures aside, and the reformers continued on their way. The mob, finding they could not touch the Lutherans, compensated themselves with hooting. In every street through which they passed, men and women cried out that they ought to be flung into the Rhone. At length the procession reached the Tour Perce; the reformers entered, and the syndics left a guard.
=FAREL'S DEPARTURE.=
They must go—of that there could be no doubt. Farel and his friends might have been overwhelmed with sorrow, and have fainted in the midst of their work; but their Heavenly Master had said, When they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another. (Matth. x. 23.) What grieved them was the thought of the generous men who had listened to them; these Farel was determined not to abandon. If the tempest obliged him to depart, he would take advantage of the first moment of calm weather to introduce into Geneva that Gospel which many huguenots desired with all their heart. The next day (4th October) a few citizens, friends of the reformer, rose early, got ready a boat near the Molard, and went to the Tour Perce to fetch the missionaries, hoping that if the latter set off betimes they would not be observed. But the priest-party was quite as matutinal as they were: some of them were already before the door, and it is probable they had been there all night for fear the huguenots should take advantage of the darkness to get the ministers away. Claude Bernard, Ami Perrin, John Goulaz, and Peter Verne—all stanch huguenots—came up; they gave the signal, a door was opened, and they entered the inn. A few moments elapsed during which a number of priests and citizens assembled in that part of the Rue du Rhone which lies between the Tour Perce and the Molard. Presently the inn door opened again, and the four huguenots came out with Farel and Saunier. When they saw them the crowd became agitated. 'The devils are going,' shouted the priests, as the two evangelists and their friends passed along. Farel, seeing the numbers around him, wished to exhort them, 'as he walked along;' but Perrin would not permit it, representing to him that it was necessary to push on quickly for fear the priests should block the way. When the reformers reached the water's edge, they got into the boat with their defenders. The boatmen immediately began to row, and the crowd that lined the shore could do nothing but hoot. Perrin, fearing violence, would not land at any of the towns or hamlets of Vaud, but steered the boat to an unfrequented place between Morges and Lausanne. Here they all got on shore and embraced each other; after which the huguenots returned to Geneva, and the reformers made their way to Orbe and thence to Grandson.