A plot had been formed, of which Furbity was to be the chief instrument. The syndics, Du Crest, Baud, Malbuisson, and many other good Genevans had been gained over by the priests to the cause of the pope, and by this means the latter held in their hands the council, the treasury, the artillery, and, in one word, the city property, besides the ignorant populace.[[421]] The Sorbonne doctor had hardly alighted at the convent of his order when a deputation from the canons came and asked him to preach in the cathedral and not in the Dominican church. ‘The sermons delivered at St. Pierre’s, said the monks, ‘will produce a greater sensation.’—‘Very good,’ said Furbity, ‘I promise you that I will cry out pretty loudly against the modern heretics.’ It was objected that it was contrary to the established custom to have such preachings in the cathedral. ‘We will put him there by force of arms,’ answered the churchmen, ‘and he shall say what he pleases.’
On the morning of Sunday, the 30th of November, a certain number of priests and laymen armed themselves; and the zealous Furbity, taking his place in the middle of the band, proceeded to the cathedral. ‘Really,’ said some of the Genevese with astonishment, ‘he is going to preach by main force.’ But he restrained himself that day, and he met with no opposition. The next day, Monday, he went to work in earnest. His sermon was a continued declamation, full of pompous phrases extolling the papacy, and of invectives against the preachers. ‘In the pulpit he behaves like a madman,’ said Froment, who was present; ‘he roars without rhyme or reason.’ But the bigots were in ecstasies. ‘Have you heard Dr. Furbity?’ they said in the city. On Wednesday an immense crowd assembled to hear him. The Dominican went into the pulpit resolved to crush the heretics, as his patron, St. Dominick had done before him.
He imagined that his great business was to lower the Bible and then to exalt the pope, and he set to work accordingly. ‘All who read the Scriptures in the vulgar tongue,’ he said, ‘are gluttons, drunkards, debauchees, blasphemers, thieves, and murderers.... Those who support them are as wicked as they, and God will punish them. All who will not obey the pope, or the cardinals, or the bishops, or the curates, or the vicars, or the priests, are the devil’s flock. They are marked by him, worse than Jews, traitors, murderers, and brigands, and ought to be hanged on the gallows. All who eat meat on Friday and Saturday, are worse than Turks and mad dogs.... Beware of these heretics, these Germans, as you would of lepers and rottenness. Have no dealings with them in the way of business or otherwise, and do not let them marry your daughters. You had better give them to the dogs.’[[422]]
Among the evangelicals who listened to this string of abuse was one Janin, a man of small stature, a maker of pikes, halberds, javelins, and arrows, whence he was usually called the collonier, or armorer. His activity was indefatigable; he was present everywhere; he held discussions in private and preached ‘to companies, urging with all his might’ those who listened to him to embrace the faith which Luther had found in the Holy Scriptures.[[423]] Having gone to St. Pierre’s, he sat down near some good catholics, among others Pierre Pennet, whose brothers were soon to become famous in Geneva for their zeal in behalf of the Romish faith. Janin, unable to put up with such insulting language, became restless, and exclaimed that the preacher did not know what he was saying. The catholics around him, annoyed at being disturbed in their devotions, said: ‘Begone; one preacher is enough here.’[[424]] But they had some trouble to make him hold his tongue. A more telling interruption was to disturb the orator before long.
Furbity Challenges The Lutherans.
The Dominican saw clearly that abuse alone would not restore the papacy; its fundamental doctrines must be established, and this he undertook to do in other discourses. Continuing to insult the reformers as ‘wretches who, instead of wearing the robe, are dressed like brigands,’ he maintained that priests only, by virtue of the sacramental institution, could bring souls into communion with God. He even used language that must have sounded strange to the worshippers of Mary. ‘A priest who consecrates the elements of the Sacrament,’ he said, ‘is above the Holy Virgin, for she only gave life to Jesus Christ once, whereas the priest creates him every day, as often as he likes. If a priest pronounces the sacramental words over a sack full of bread, or in a cellar full of wine, all the bread, by that very act, is transformed and becomes the precious body of Christ, and all the wine is changed into blood—which is what the Virgin never did.... Ah! the priest! ... you should not merely salute him, you should kneel and prostrate yourselves before him.’
This was not enough; the Dominican thought it his duty to establish the doctrine of transubstantiation, on which the dignity of the priest is founded. He exclaimed: ‘We must believe that the body of Jesus Christ is in the host in flesh and bone. We must believe that he is there as much as he was in the Blessed Virgin’s womb, or on the wood of the true cross. We must believe it under pain of damnation, for our holy theological faculty of Paris at the Sorbonne, and our mother the holy Church, believe it. Yes; Jesus Christ is in the host, as he was in the Virgin’s womb, ... but small ... as small as an ant. It is a matter that admits of no further discussion.’
Whereupon the Dominican, satisfied that he had gained a signal victory, indulged in the impetuosity of his clerical haughtiness, and, pouring out a torrent of insults, exclaimed: ‘Where are those wretched Lutherans who preach to the contrary? Where are these heretics, these rascals, these worse than Jews, Turks and heathens?... Where are these fine chimney-preachers? Let them come forward, and they shall be answered.... Ha! ha! They will take good care not to show themselves, except at the chimney-corner, for they are only brave in deceiving poor women and such as know nothing.’[[425]]
Having spoken thus, the monk sat down, proud of his eloquence. A great agitation prevailed in the congregations; the reformers were challenged to the combat; the people wondered whether they would reply to the challenge. There was a momentary pause, when Froment rose, and standing in the middle of the church, motioned them with his hand to be silent. ‘For the love of God,’ he said, ‘listen to what I have to tell you!’ The congregation turned their eyes on the person who uttered these words, and the evangelist, with sonorous voice, exclaimed: ‘Sirs, I offer my life—yea, I am ready to go the stake if I do not show, by Holy Scripture, that what Dr. Furbity has just said is false, and the language of Antichrist.’ He then adduced scriptural authorities against the Dominican’s assertions. ‘It is the truth,’ exclaimed the reformers; and some of them looking towards the monk, called out: ‘Let him answer that.’ Furbity, astonished at hearing himself refuted by such plain passages, dared not rise, but remained fixed to his seat, hiding his head in the pulpit. ‘Let him answer,’ shouted the huguenots on all sides: their shouts were useless.
Tumult In The Church.