April 1553.
A letter was shown me lately at Farel's, addressed to himself, in which you informed him that you were gradually recovering from a very severe and all but fatal illness. The life of our brother Farel was at that time despaired of; so much so, that on my return, I declared everywhere that he was dead. We have now to offer our sincere thanks to the Lord, who has restored both of you to us and to his Church. I was very glad to find from your letter, three days ago, that you are quite recovered. Although, to speak the truth, the reading of it would have filled me with more joy, had I not ascertained that it was written to prevent me from entertaining any hostility towards you. Certainly such a thing never entered my mind; nor do I think that Ulmius had any reason for saying so. He came twice to me. We conversed together for a long time on various matters, freely and familiarly. Mention was made of yourself, and the whole of your colleagues, but not a syllable escaped me, so far as I know, calculated to convey an unfavourable opinion of you. On desiring him, however, as he was leaving me, to present my regards to you, I omitted Bibliander, inasmuch as he was openly professing hostility towards us.[428] When Ulmius[429] seemed to regard this with incredulity, and turned away from it as if from an unlucky omen, I briefly explained to him the cause of it:—that having been tormented here by a vile and perfidious character, I led myself to think that we were sure of support from you; that the issue was not what I had expected; that, notwithstanding, our brotherly regard for one another remained unchanged, and no token, certainly, of alienation had been given by you. I added, moreover, that myself and my fellow-ministers, while we had not been so fully supported by you as we could have wished, were nevertheless inclined to put a favourable construction on it. Also, that Bibliander was throwing out threats about being engaged on a work against my doctrine, and that he went babbling about concerning it, in some violent way or other, among all without distinction. Our conversation at length concluded, by my saying,—"Bibliander may write what he chooses; I shall not consider him worthy of a reply."
But, to return to yourself, most excellent and venerable brother, as I would be very far indeed from estimating you by the character of that man, so I was never led to believe that you entertained any hostility towards me whether publicly or privately. If that individual kept up a great deal of offensive babbling, and was, as I have said, boasting about his book, there was really no reason why I should disguise the matter, or make any hesitation about it, for the thing was notorious; and while I am accustomed to say nothing about it to others, I did not think that I required to be silent on it to Ulmius and a select few. This, therefore, I have in the first place to testify to you—and I solemnly declare it—that, so far am I from regarding you as an enemy, I desire to remain bound to you for ever by all ties of brotherly attachment; and, confidently assured that it will be so, I hail you in no other manner than as a loving and inseparable companion in the work of the Lord. In the next place, I wish you to believe that I never either wrote or spoke anything but what was loving and honourable of that man who has publicly earned so much distinction in the Church, and has been ever my friend in private. If, therefore, you have been vexed at all by this matter, let your mind be hereafter at ease.[430]
John Calvin.
[Lat. copy.—Library of Geneva. Vol. 107, a.]
CCCXVIII.—To the Five Prisoners of Lyons.[431]
He exhorts them to steadfastness unto the end, in the assurance of eternal joy reserved in heaven.
From Geneva, May 15, 1553.
My very dear Brothers,—We have at length heard why the herald of Berne did not return that way. It was because he had not such an answer as we much desired. For the King has peremptorily refused all the requests made by Messieurs of Berne, as you will see by the copies of the letters, so that nothing further is to be looked for from that quarter. Nay, wherever we look here below, God has stopped the way. This is well, however, that we cannot be frustrated of the hope which we have in him, and in his holy promises. You have always been settled on that sure foundation, even when it seemed as though you might be helped by men, and that we too thought so; but whatever prospect of escape you may have had by human means, yet your eyes have never been dazzled so as to divert your heart and trust, either on this side or that. Now, at this present hour, necessity itself exhorts you more than ever to turn your whole mind heavenward. As yet, we know not what will be the event. But since it appears as though God would use your blood to sign his truth, there is nothing better than for you to prepare yourselves to that end, beseeching him so to subdue you to his good pleasure, that nothing may hinder you from following whithersoever he shall call. For you know, my brothers, that it behoves us to be thus mortified, in order to be offered to him in sacrifice. It cannot be but that you sustain hard conflicts, in order that what was declared to Peter may be accomplished in you, namely, that they shall carry you whither ye would not. You know, however, in what strength you have to fight—a strength on which all those who trust, shall never be daunted, much less confounded. Even so, my brothers, be confident that you shall be strengthened, according to your need, by the Spirit of our Lord Jesus, so that you shall not faint under the load of temptations, however heavy it be, any more than he did who won so glorious a victory, that in the midst of our miseries it is an unfailing pledge of our triumph. Since it pleases him to employ you to the death in maintaining his quarrel, he will strengthen your hands in the fight, and will not suffer a single drop of your blood to be spent in vain. And though the fruit may not all at once appear, yet in time it shall spring up more abundantly than we can express. But as he hath vouchsafed you this privilege, that your bonds have been renowned, and that the noise of them has been everywhere spread abroad, it must needs be, in despite of Satan, that your death should resound far more powerfully, so that the name of our Lord be magnified thereby. For my part, I have no doubt, if it please this kind Father to take you unto himself, that he has preserved you hitherto, in order that your long-continued imprisonment might serve as a preparation for the better awakening of those whom he has determined to edify by your end. For let enemies do their utmost, they never shall be able to bury out of sight that light which God has made to shine in you, in order to be contemplated from afar.