[670] 'Une allée qui n'aura pas de retour.'
[671] Froment, Gestes de Genève, p. 199.—MSC. de Roset, liv. iii. ch. 41.—Schweizer Chronik in Liedern, Berne, 1535.
[672] Registres du Conseil du 12 Octobre 1535.—MSC. de Roset, liv. iii. ch. 42.
[673] Froment, Roset, &c.
[674] Chron. MSC. de Roset, liv. iii. ch. 51.
CHAPTER XI.
MOVEMENTS FOR THE ATTACK AND DEFENCE OF GENEVA—FAITH AND HEROISM.
(From the beginning of November 1535 to the end of January 1536.)
=GENEVA BLOCKADED.=
A reverse is not always an evil; it may sometimes lead to a decisive victory. There were few regular troops among those who had been beaten at Gingins, which made the defeat a lesson by which the duke of Savoy might profit. He resolved, in effect, to benefit by it, to bring up veteran soldiers, to place a distinguished general at their head, and thus to crush that rebellious city which presumed to set up a religion unknown at Rome. But as these troops were not ready, Charles III. ordered the chiefs of the great valley of the Leman to exact of their vassals the military service which they owed. The nobles of that district were persuaded that they would easily triumph over Geneva, if the Swiss did not come to their help; and as that was not likely, the hatred felt against the city, and the hope of enriching themselves with its spoil, induced a great number of liegemen to rally round the banners of their lords. About the end of October the Sire de Lullin took his measures for blockading Geneva. Mangerot, baron of La Sarraz, a prompt, violent, obstinate man, filled with contempt for the reformation of the Church and the liberty of the citizens, was placed at the head of the attack. On the 1st of November these armed bands occupied certain villages and small towns which formed a kind of circle round the city, and began to plunder, burn, and kill all who fell into their hands. Famine and the cold, which was very severe that year, soon caused distress in the city. The churches were filled with old men, women and children, and even armed men. 'There is no resource and refuge left but God alone,' said Farel from the pulpit, and voices were heard responding to him from the midst of the congregation, 'In Him alone we place our trust.' If a musket-shot was heard, or shouts, or the drum, the armed men left immediately, but 'without noise or confusion; nobody else moved from the sermon,' and the service was not interrupted. As the firing grew hotter without, those who had remained in the temple cried to God that 'not to man's arm did they look for deliverance, but to His great faithfulness.' One night, the Genevans, startled out of their sleep and rising hastily, found the city surrounded by fires kindled by the men-at-arms of Savoy, with the intention of giving them light for the assault, and heard the bells of the convents and chapels all round ringing as loud as possible to increase their terror. The citizens fought valiantly, and the enemy was once more repulsed.[675]
Yet the blockade was still maintained round the city, and no one could tell whence succor would arrive. One day a messenger coming from France succeeded in making his way through the troops which surrounded Geneva: he was the bearer of a letter conceived in these terms: