Idelette, informed of Porral’s danger, came in the afternoon. ‘Whatever may befall,’ the Christian syndic said to her, ‘be of good courage; remember that you did not come here by chance, but that you were conducted hither by the wonderful council of God, in order that you might be of service in the work of the church.’ A little while after he made a sign that his voice failed him. However, he made known that he perfectly recollected the confession which he had made, and added that in this faith he died.
Having recovered a little strength, he pronounced with faith, but with a feeble voice, the song of Simeon. ‘Lord,’ said he, ‘now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word; for mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.’ He added, ‘I have seen, I have touched with my hand that merciful Redeemer who saves me.’[[203]] He then lay down to rest, as if to wait for the Lord; and after that he spake no more, only showing from time to time, by some sign, that his spirit was present.
At four o’clock, Calvin came with the other three syndics, Porral’s colleagues. The dying man made an effort to speak to them, but could not. Calvin, affected, began to speak himself, ‘and spoke,’ says he, ‘as well as he could, his friend listening to him in perfect peace. Hardly had we left him, before he gave up his pious soul to Jesus Christ. He had been entirely renewed in his mind.’[[204]]
This death clearly shows that Calvin’s work was not merely to establish order in the church and to prescribe for all a moral life. He was the instrument of still greater good. Porral had found Jesus Christ, perhaps in his latter days; he had become a new creature; he called upon God as his Father; he was in possession of that peace which passeth all understanding, and had the hope of eternal life. Calvin was not the teacher of a scholastic theology; he was the minister of a living Christianity, and none are his true disciples but those in whom the Christian life exists.
No sooner had Porral passed away than Calvin was threatened with a greater affliction still. Idelette, who regarded the first syndic as her husband’s protector, seems to have been deeply affected by his death. At the beginning of July she was ill and prematurely gave birth to a child. Her life was in danger, and Calvin feared that the loss of his friend might be followed by that of the faithful companion of his life. To Viret, then at Lausanne, he wrote, ‘I am in very great anxiety.’[[205]] But God preserved to him this precious helper for some years more.
Development Of Religious Life.
In the midst of his griefs, Calvin had great consolations. The Christian work was prospering. He was not easy to satisfy; and yet, as early as November, 1541, he wrote to Farel—‘The people are quite disposed to conform to our wishes. The preaching is well attended, the hearers behave well. Many things, it is true, have to be set right, both with respect to the understanding and with respect to the affections, but the cure can only be effected by degrees.’ In March, 1542, he wrote to Myconius—‘What consoles and refreshes me is the fact that we are not laboring in vain or without fruit. Fruit, indeed, is not so abundant as we might desire; nevertheless, it is not so very rare, and there are tokens of a change for the better. A fairer future shines before us, if only Viret be left us.’[[206]]
Pierre Tissot And His Mother.
Thus the action of the reformer, of his friends and of the institutions which he had established, under the blessing of God, gradually wrought a change in this Genevese population, so passionate, so full of excitement, and so much addicted to pleasure. A real religious life developed itself in many individuals, and its influence was general. Luxury diminished; simplicity, morality, and the other virtues, which are the fruit of faith, increased. There still remained, indeed, some evil; enmity and discord frequently sprung up, sometimes among the people in general, sometimes in families; but there was also much that was good. Calvin believed ‘that we ought to adopt a way of living so regulated that it should make us beloved of all, while at the same time we should be prepared to incur hatred for the love of Christ;’ and further ‘that we are bound to take pains to settle the differences which exist among others.’ Occupation of this sort did not fail him, and he was frequently successful. Calvin’s manner of proceeding has been so much misrepresented that it is necessary to give some examples of it in order to re-establish the truth. We shall have brought before us at the same time a scene characteristic of the period. Françoise, mother of the noble Pierre Tissot, treasurer of the republic, was a woman of irritable and intractable temper. Her bad disposition was the occasion of trouble in the family, and made herself unhappy. The fact was the more to be regretted because it concerned a family of high standing, so that any dissension prevailing in it was the worse example. It was resolved that an attempt should be made to effect a reconciliation between the mother, her son, and her daughter-in-law, Louise.
The task was entrusted to Calvin and the syndic Chiccand. They summoned the treasurer before them. ‘Your mother,’ they said, ‘is annoyed with you and your wife.’ ‘I give honor and reverence to my mother,’ replied the treasurer, ‘as God commands.’ The mother having made her appearance in the hall of the consistory, Tissot, who desired to maintain a decorous and honorable deportment, approached and saluted her, and wished her ‘Good-day’; but she replied passionately—‘Keep your “good-days” to yourself, and the devil fill your belly with them!’ Thereupon Tissot said to the consistory—‘I make my mother a larger allowance than my father fixed for her, and it is regularly paid her. If my mother does not like the wheat which I send her I give her money to buy other. I furnish her with wine, the best that is to be had. She has but lately asked me for eight écus for her servant. I paid the apothecary and the physicians the expenses of her recent illness. My wife during that time visited her, but my mother refused to eat the soups which she prepared for her. With regard to my brother Jean,’ continued the treasurer, ‘I have used all the means which appeared to me likely to bring him back to an honorable life, but without effect; he is a profligate.’