MARRIAGE PROJECTS.
Among the connections of Calvin at Strasburg there was a German patrician or noble, a very pious man, who felt the warmest affection for Calvin and recognized him as a great man. The thought occurred to him of marrying Calvin to his sister; and his wife, who likewise had the highest opinion of the reformer, supported her husband with all her influence. The young lady, Calvin said himself, was above him in rank, and few men would have rejected so flattering a proposal. But the rich dower did not allure the reformer, poor as he was. It was indeed the very brilliancy of the match that made him hesitate. The young maiden, who was probably not pious like her brother, was more struck with Calvin’s mean appearance than with his high qualities, and was by no means eager to yield to her brother’s wishes. Calvin perceived this. He was afraid that the noble maiden would not easily forget her rank and her education. He was also very sensitive on another point. The wealthy young lady did not understand French. In this circumstance he saw a way of escape without offence to the brother and sister-in-law, and he told her brother, who appeared inclined to press him unduly in the matter, that he required above all that the young lady should undertake to learn the French language. She asked for time to consider of it. The scheme failed, and Calvin, anxious to put an end to the solicitations of the brother, thought of another person who was highly spoken of, but whose qualifications seem not to have answered to her high reputation. Calvin certainly wished to marry, but it must be with a Christian woman. He thought of it frequently. During one of the journeys which he made into Germany on religious affairs, sitting one day at table with a few friends, one of whom was Melanchthon, the young French doctor was dreamy and absent. ‘Our theologian,’ said the friend of Luther, ‘is evidently thinking of marrying.’[816] The difficulty that he experienced in finding such a wife as he wished for speaks in his favor, and shows how much he thought of moral qualities. He was, however, saddened and distressed about it. He questioned with himself whether it would not be better to give up all thought of marrying. This man, to whom it is the fashion to attribute a heart so dry, so hard, shows us by his very sufferings, which were soon succeeded by great joy, what wealth of true feeling and of tender affection lay in his heart. But it was precisely at the time when he nearly despaired that he found what he was longing for.
IDELETTE DE BURE.
There was at that time at Strasburg a pious, grave, and virtuous woman, living in retirement, esteemed by all who knew her, and particularly by Bucer; a most choice woman, says Theodore Beza.[817] She came from Liége and her name was Idelette de Bure. Lambert de Bure, probably one of her kinsfolk, had been banished from Liége in 1533, with six other citizens, because they professed the Gospel.[818] It is known that Liége was among those cities of the Netherlands in which the awakening had been most remarkable. Idelette was a widow. Her husband, Jean Storder, had been amongst the number of those who called themselves Spirituals. Bucer, it appears, had introduced Calvin to the family, in the hope, doubtless, of enlightening Storder. Calvin had held private conversations with him, and the Belgian had been converted to the true Gospel by the ministry of the reformer. Idelette had probably also been converted at the same period. The like change was wrought in many of their fellow-religionists. ‘He had the happiness of bringing to the faith a very large number who were directed to him from all quarters,’[819] and amongst others an ex-abbé named Paul Volse, to whom Erasmus had dedicated, in 1518, his Chevalier Chrétien, and who was a minister at Strasburg. Idelette paid to her children all the attention of the tenderest mother, and at the same time administered consolation to those who were in affliction. Calvin had observed in her a deep-seated faith, an affection full of devotedness, and a Christian courage which enabled her to face all the perils to which the confession of Jesus Christ at that time exposed her. This distinguished woman, as Theodore Beza calls her, was exactly such a one as Calvin wanted. Unfortunately there was one thing which was wanting to her, as also to Calvin—good health. But the soul of Idelette was prospering; and the reformer asked for her hand.
The nuptials were celebrated about the end of August 1540, with a certain solemnity. Calvin’s friends, and they were many, testified their sympathy with him. Some deputies even came from Neuchâtel to attend the marriage. The friends of the bridegroom in France likewise took part on the occasion. ‘The tidings of thy marriage,’ wrote one of his old fellow students at the university of Bourges, ‘was very pleasant to us. As thou hast found according to thy wish an upright and faithful wife, endowed with the virtues to which thou attachest so much value, we hope that this union will be a source of happiness to thee.’ It was so. From the beginning of his married life Calvin felt happy in having a faithful companion who served the Lord with him, who loved her husband, and sought to make life peaceful and sweet to him. The happiness which Calvin enjoyed at this time Idelette gave him to the last. He prized ever more and more highly the treasure which God had intrusted to him. He called Idelette ‘the excellent companion of my life,[820] the ever-faithful assistant of my ministry.’ ‘Never,’ adds he, ‘did she throw the least hindrance in my way.’ Her greatness of soul filled him with admiration.[821] He understood well that saying of the Bible, that a wise woman is a crown to her husband, and that whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing and obtaineth favor of the Lord.
Catherine von Bora and Idelette de Bure, the wives of the two great reformers, eminent women, whose surnames are nearly alike, were not alike in person or in character. There was also a marked difference in the way in which their husbands spoke of them. Catherine is frequently mentioned in Luther’s letters to his friends, often, it is true, with a touch of archness. Sometimes he calls her Herr Kathe. Calvin, on the contrary, seldom speaks of Idelette. We may say indeed that Calvin in his letters, as in his life, was always swayed by one sovereign thought, to which all others had to yield: the work of God, the glory of Jesus Christ, this was the aim of his life. All that concerned his mere personal existence and his domestic circumstances was eclipsed by Jesus Christ, that sun of righteousness which he delighted to contemplate and exalt. There is however another explanation of the fact. What Calvin most highly prized in Idelette was ‘the hidden man of the heart, the incorruptibility of a meek and quiet spirit,’ her modesty. ‘Nothing is more becoming to women than a meek and peaceful spirit,’ he said; ‘we know what kind of creature a bold and obstinate woman is, who, from pride, vanity, and wantonness, is fond of showing herself off. Happy is the woman whose style of dress is modest, who does not go gadding about the streets, but keeps the house because of her love to her husband and her children.’ Calvin being happy, and feeling respect for the modesty and humility that he found in Idelette, no more thought of speaking of her in his letters than of seeing her gadding about the streets.
ASSEMBLY AT HAGENAU.
Happy both in this Christian union and in the sphere of action which opened before him at Strasburg and in Germany, Calvin thought less than ever of returning to Geneva. In fact his intercourse with Germany became more frequent. In June 1540, in accordance with the decision come to at Frankfort, a new assembly was held at Hagenau in Alsace, at which the doctors of the two parties were to seek a good basis of agreement. The Protestant princes, summoned too late, were not present, but their envoys and theologians came. Calvin went, ‘by way of rest,’ he says, as if for relaxation. He was rejoiced to see the Protestant doctors ‘thoroughly united together.’ They held several consultations among themselves on the way to establish discipline in the Church. This was doubtless at Calvin’s instigation. ‘This will be,’ said he, ‘the most weighty subject for our consideration.’ As Luther, Melanchthon, and other doctors were absent as well as the princes, nothing was done; ‘but each one promised to exert himself to the end that at some meeting attention should be paid to it.’ Cruciger, a colleague of Luther and Melanchthon, who was present at Hagenau, was astonished at the knowledge and activity of Calvin. In fact, nothing that concerned the evangelical cause escaped him. He perceived distinctly the contrivances of politicians. ‘Our adversaries,’ he said, ‘wish to extend their league and to weaken ours, but God will avert that misfortune. Our friends seek the enlargement of the kingdom of Christ, and will not give way. Some Catholics desire nothing but war, and the pope has caused 300,000 ducats to be offered to begin it. The emperor,’ he thinks, ‘would like nothing better than to crush the forces of Germany, in order to subdue it with greater ease. But on the one side the emperor is so involved that he dare not undertake a war, and on the other all the electors wish to have things quietly settled.’ If Calvin were not particularly pleased with the pope, he was pleased with the archbishops. The following passage is striking enough for quotation: ‘The Archbishops of Mayence and Treves love peace and the liberties of the country, and they think that they would be lost if the emperor had subdued us.’ This shows in Calvin a fair temper, a man free from prejudice.[822] ‘The Archbishop of Cologne is not among the worst,’ says he, ‘for he knows that the Church ought to be reformed, and sees clearly that we are superior in respect of truth.’