[240] James Bernard, formerly a monk, converted to the Reform by the preaching of Farel and Viret, and a minister of the Church of Geneva during the exile of Calvin. Feeling his insufficiency and that of his colleagues, he had written a touching letter to the Reformer, to urge upon him to resume the direction of his former charge:—"Indeed," said he, "one Sunday lately, when I was preaching in the chapel of Rive, seeing our church desolate, and the people all in tears, I was impelled to exhort them earnestly to turn to God, and to entreat of him humbly, in Christ's name, that he would send them a faithful pastor, such as is necessary for the interests of his Church. Two days thereafter the Council of Two Hundred was assembled, and unanimously called for Calvin; on the following day the General Council met, and all, without one dissenting voice, cried, 'We must have Calvin, that wise and holy man, that faithful minister of Jesus Christ.'... Come, then, most honoured father; come, for you are ours."—Calvini Opera, tom. ix. p. 12.
[241] Calvin was setting out for the Diet at Ratisbon.
[242] James Bernard and his colleagues, appointed ministers of Geneva after the expulsion of Calvin, had, by their weakness and want of firmness, sanctioned the disorders against which Calvin, Farel, and Courault had opposed themselves in vain.
[243] While Calvin was present at the Diet of Ratisbon, the plague was raging in upper Germany and on the banks of the Rhine. It also visited Strasbourg, where the victims were numbered by thousands. Many of the friends of the Reformer fell under this scourge; Idelette de Bure, his wife, escaped by flight. Calvin, in writing to Farel, gives him some account of the ravages it had made at Strasbourg, and of the solemn conferences at which he assisted at Ratisbon.
[244] Claude Ferey, French refugee at Strasbourg. See Calvini Opera, tom. ix. p. 15, a letter of Claude Ferey to Farel.
[245] Louis and Charles de Richebourg, sons of M. de Richebourg, to whom the next letter is addressed.
[246] The two brothers, William and Louis of Bavaria, reigned in common in that country.
[247] Henry, Duke of Brunswick, unhappily distinguished throughout the whole of Germany by his turbulent spirit and disorderly conduct. He was deprived of his states in 1542 by the Elector of Saxony and the Landgrave of Hesse.
[248] Christopher of Wurtemberg, who succeeded Duke Ulrich his father in 1550.
[249] Gaspar Contarini, a prelate as remarkable for his moderation as for his enlightened mind and understanding. Legate of Pope Paul III. at the Diet of Ratisbon, he in vain attempted to bring the two parties to agreement, and died the year following, not without suspicion of poison.