The council having heard the letter, very gladly accepted the compliments paid to Geneva, sincerely thanked the cardinal’s messenger, and charged him to say that a full reply should be sent in due course. This was necessary, for the partisans of the pope in Geneva praised the cardinal’s letter to the skies, and eagerly circulated it in all directions. But there was no one able to answer it. The pastors established by the government were not strong enough to venture a struggle with Sadoleto. Morand himself, who was requested by the council to undertake it, was incompetent. All those who in any degree adhered to the Reformation were in a state of alarm, for they understood that silence in this state of things would inevitably be a great calamity to Geneva.[793]
It was on March 26 that the letter in which Sadoleto urged the Genevese to forsake the Reformation had been delivered to the council, and on the 27th this body resolved to reply to it in due time and place. On the 28th several citizens appeared before the council; one of them, François Chamois, demanding on their behalf that the confession of faith of the Reformation which had been sworn at St. Peter’s, July 29, 1537, should be withdrawn from the possession of the former official secretary, as contrary to their liberties; and that they themselves should be released from the oath which they had taken to that confession.[794] There is so intimate and evident a relation between the proposal of Sadoleto and this proceeding of the citizens, the one so punctually followed upon the other, that it is very difficult not to suppose that the letter of the bishop had much to do in promoting the requisition of Chamois and his friends. The audience given by the council to the deputy of a cardinal, and the proposal of which he was the bearer, were a matter so considerable and of such exciting interest that the rumor of it could not fail to spread immediately in this town, where people so habitually used to say, ‘What is the news? What is talked of? What is going on?’
IMMEDIATE CONSEQUENCES.
Among the citizens who accompanied Chamois there might be some who did not belong to the Catholic party, and who merely took advantage of the opportunity for getting rid of a confession of faith which was burdensome to them. But it is not to be wondered at that some Roman writers have looked on the demand of Chamois as the consequence of the letter of Sadoleto. Michael Rozet, the son of Claude, says, not undesignedly, in his Chronicles, that it was one day after the reception at Geneva of the cardinal’s despatch, that the citizens protested against the articles. He even adds, ‘There was warning from neighbors of a body of armed men in preparation by the enemy, and that these had an understanding with a party in the town.’ This measure was not unsuccessful. Claude Rozet had received the oaths of the citizens on July 29, and in his hands the original of the famous articles was still deposited. The council gave him orders to deliver them up. However grave a step this might be, it cannot be said that the faith was given up with the articles of faith. Many had never held this faith, and those who had held it, held it still. Nevertheless, the surrender of the fundamental document of the evangelical reformation was certainly an important step towards Rome.[795]
It was soon apparent what was to be thought of the Christian charity, and the affection touched with double pity and compassion, of which Sadoleto had given assurance. In the very month which followed the delivery of his letter, an eminent Genevese, Curtet, castellan of Chaumont on the Mount du Vuache, went to Annecy, which was not far distant; and during his stay, April 17, in his hostelry, talked with the country people of God and his Gospel.[796] Among those present was Montchenu, who, annoyed at having failed in his scheme for giving up Geneva to Francis I., continued to feel much bitterness about it; and, quite as much out of pique as from hatred of the Reformation, denounced the Genevese citizen and inflamed the clergy against him. Curtet was seized and burnt alive.
Another Genevese, Jean Lambert, brother of the councillor, had been for some time a prisoner in Savoy, on a like charge. A week after the execution of Curtet, the public place of Chambery was filled with such a crowd as always runs after the terrible spectacle of a violent death. Lambert was brought there about three o’clock. He was a ruddy and strong young man, and they led him up and down to show him to the people. ‘This is one of the bigots of Geneva,’ people said as he passed, with other speeches of the like kind. He was taken to the front of the castle, where a pile was erected. The provost wanted him to make some confession, but Lambert did not open his mouth. ‘Slit his tongue if he will not speak,’ barbarously cried the enraged provost to the executioner. The priests who stood round their victim would fain have compelled him to recite the Ave Maria, but the martyr refused to do it. Then addressing the Father who is in heaven, he uttered aloud the Lord’s prayer. This provoked the priests and the monks, who cried to the spectators, ‘Do not pray for this cursed dog, for he is damned to all the devils.’ ‘Lambert died,’ says one of the narratives, ‘for his faith in God and without any trial.’ If the words of Sadoleto were tender, the deeds of his fellow religionists were harsh.[797]
CALVIN’S REPLY TO SADOLETO.
The letter of the Bishop of Carpentras could not remain unknown to Calvin; in fact it was communicated to him in April by Sulzer, a pastor of Berne. The reformer read it, and his first impulse was to consider whether it was worth while to reply to it. But apprehending the evil which the letter might bring on Geneva, ‘forgetting all the wrongs that he had received,’[798] and yielding to the entreaties of his Strasburg friends, he undertook the task. ‘It will occupy me for six days,’ he wrote to Farel. Calvin’s letter bears date September 1, 1539.[799] It is an important document, both for the light which it throws on the character and the work of Calvin, and because it is necessary to know in what manner the blow then struck by Rome at the Reformation was parried. This letter, we may say, was the mighty voice which led back Geneva to the true Gospel.[800] Two feelings are conspicuous in it with regard to Sadoleto. Calvin, in addressing one of the most distinguished and most enlightened men in the Catholic Church, will speak to him with respect and even with praise, but at the same time he will not hide from him the indignation aroused by his attacks.
‘Thy surpassing learning,’ says he in beginning his letter, ‘thine admirable elegance of speech, have deservedly caused thee to be held in high esteem and admiration by the true votaries of polite literature, and it is exceedingly painful to me to be obliged by this complaint to sully thy fair renown. I should never have undertaken the task if I had not been compelled to do so.... No one can suppose that I could have abandoned the cause without great cowardice and contempt of my ministry.
‘Thou hast very recently written a letter to the council and people of Geneva, and having no wish to display harshness towards those of whom thou hadst need in order to gain thy cause, thou hast attempted by soft words to circumvent them. Next, thou hast come up impetuously, and so to speak, at full speed to discharge thy force against those who, according to thy saying, have involved that poor town in trouble by their sophistries. I would have thee know, Sadoleto, that I am one of those against whom thou speakest; and although I am at the present time relieved of the administration of the Genevese Church, this does not prevent my cherishing towards it a fatherly love.