We are thus made acquainted by the author's own statement with the purpose which he had conceived; and it is for the reader to judge how far that purpose has been accomplished. This judgment has indeed been already pronounced. It declares that the work of Merle d'Aubigné, everywhere learned and accurate, animated and attractive, approaches in some passages the very perfection of literary art. Amongst these passages are the pleasant and lively pages in the first volumes devoted to the youth of Luther, and in the posthumous volumes the chapters of a more serious and severe character devoted to Calvin and his work at Geneva.
Little is wanting to the completion of the monument erected by Merle d'Aubigné. It is to be regretted that we can not follow John Knox in Scotland, or Marnix in the Netherlands, to the full accomplishment of their work. In these countries the temple door is closed before us just as our feet are pressing the threshold. To complete his history the author would have required two more years of life and of labor; and this was denied him. Every thing, however, that is essential to the history of the Reformation is narrated in these thirteen volumes.
Those portions of the work which have been most recently published are not in all cases the latest written. Some of them were written long ago and have never been retouched. It is not to be supposed that the author would have published these without alteration. M. Merle d'Aubigné's method of procedure in composition was as follows:—First, he would make a summary study of an important period, and rapidly sketch its history; next, he would refer to the original sources, collecting around him all the documents which he could discover, and sometimes making a long journey for the purpose of consulting a manuscript preserved in some library. He would then plunge again into his theme, familiarizing himself thoroughly with its form and its color, so as to make it real and present to his mind, and see it as it were with his own eyes. And, finally, he would rewrite the story, completing and giving life to his narratives, and depicting the scenes for the reader as he had already done for himself. The result of this process was an entirely new work.
A third and even a fourth recasting was not seldom undertaken before the author was satisfied: so vast and so complex was that spiritual movement which he had undertaken to describe, so numerous and almost inexhaustible were the documents of all kinds which he continued to examine throughout his life.
Some of the later chapters, and particularly that which relates to Germany, had not been subjected to this revision. The editor, however, has not felt himself at liberty to suppress these chapters, both on account of their intrinsic value, and because they contain information not accessible to general readers. We hope that they will be read with interest and profit.
The editor wishes here to express his thanks to Mr. Cates for his valuable assistance as translator of the last three volumes of the work into English.
The editor has now fulfilled what he considers a duty to the Christian public, by presenting to them this last volume of a work the composition of which was not only the principal occupation, but also the principal enjoyment of 'the noble life, consecrated to toil,'[3] of J. H. Merle d'Aubigné.