THEIR VINDICATION AT BERNE.
Calvin and Farel were struck with astonishment. The letter from Berne had arrived on December 13. On the morning of the 14th they went to the council and asked that the Two Hundred might be convoked for the afternoon. Before that assembly they repeated that after having heard them, the Bernese magistrates had declared that ‘the thing (the confession) had been well done.’ As to the charge of having said that all the mischief came from Germany, they pointed out, that as ambassadors were about to be sent to Berne, they ought to be instructed to ascertain who it was that had reported such things. The council determined that Farel himself should go to Berne with the ambassadors, and should make inquiry.[553]
The deputies of Geneva, charged with the defence before the Bernese government, of certain interests of state, were Claude Savoye, Michel Sept, Claude Rozet, secretary of the council and father of the chronicler; all of them true friends of the reformers and the magistrates; and Jean Lullin, who had at last consented to form part of the embassy, and who was the only member of the opposition.[554] They went to Berne with Farel; and the latter having given satisfactory explanations, the Bernese magistrates wrote, December 22, to Geneva, ‘that they and their preachers had found the Genevese confession to be according to God’s will and the Holy Scriptures, and thereby in conformity with their own religion.’ They added, ‘Set then these matters in good order. May dissensions cease, and may the sinister intrigues of the wicked be confounded.’[555]
Would the passions which actuated one part of the Genevese people allow them to follow such good counsel? They were not to wait long for an answer to this question.
CHAPTER VIII.
TROUBLES IN GENEVA.
(Jan. and Feb. 1538.)
AGITATION IN GENEVA.
Six days later, December 28, Farel and Calvin appeared before the council, and stated that they were about soon to celebrate the Lord’s supper, and requested to be sustained in their admonition to those who were leading evil lives.[556] An exhortation to live well had nothing revolting about it. If a man is living ill, it becomes a duty to entreat him to live well. That is most of all the duty of faithful pastors, especially on the approach of the supper. But what need had the ministers of being sustained by the magistrate? This request transformed a religious act into a matter of civil business, and thus totally altered its nature. The answer to be made to the reformers was put off until the return of the delegates sent to Berne. This step of the reformers was irritating to those who supposed they would be among the subjects of the admonition. Claude Sérais, who had a free tongue, that source of all debate, said daringly in the presence of a numerous company, ‘Farel is a bad man.’[557] Others took part with him in censuring the ministers. They indulged in detraction, in aspersions, in cutting speeches; they cast about in all directions for anything which might be taken amiss. It was but a small fire at first, but little by little it spread far and wide. On January 1 and 2 (1538) the council was occupied with the affair, and resolved that ‘those who had circulated insults against the preachers about the town should be taken before the lieutenant, at the instance of the attorney-general.’ ‘We shall see,’ they said, ‘who is bad, and the bad shall be punished.’[558] The preachers made no complaint; but it was their unfortunate application to the council which had given occasion to these insults. This agitation would certainly not have arisen had each pastor, in conformity with the precept of Jesus Christ—‘Go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone’—addressed those who were blameworthy kindly and privately. One fact, however, exonerates the preachers: they were not at liberty to act otherwise than they did. The state had resolutely placed itself above the Church, and was intermeddling with matters which pertained only to the pastors. If the latter had rebuked some citizens without the consent of the council, they would certainly have been liable to rebuke themselves. The fault was above all with the magistrate. Geneva sailed for some years on a high tide of Cesaropapia (government of the Church by the state).[559]
On January 3 the reformers presented themselves again before the council. They did not come to complain of the insults to which they had been subjected. They proposed a nobler object, the union of all the members of the Church in the same faith and the same charity. They drew a vivid picture of the discord which was increasing day after day, and of the divisions which were fomented in the republic by restless and factious spirits; and they represented that one of the best methods of applying a remedy would be to keep the disturbers away from the supper. ‘As it is determined to celebrate it on Sunday next,’ they said, ‘we are of opinion that, those persons should not be admitted. On this point we desire the opinion of the council.’[560]
THE CHURCH AND THE STATE.