[206] See the letter to M. de Falais of 17th July 1548, and the relative note.
[207] We have reproduced (Vol. i. p. 449,) a letter of Calvin to Viret, containing a severe judgment of the Reformer upon the magistrates of Geneva. Stolen from Viret by a faithless servant, and given to the Seigneury by Trolliet, this letter excited real commotions, the traces of which are to be found in the Registers of Council.
"Calvin justifies himself in council with regard to a certain letter he had written, in which it was alleged he blamed the Seigneury of this city. He also complains of the calumnies directed against him by Trolliet."—24th September.
On the 15th October following, Farel appears in Council, "and prays them to entertain a constant regard for Calvin; that he observes with grief they do not show to that servant of God the deference that is due to him ... praying the Council to take order therein."—28th October. "Farel testifies anew that too little regard is had for the character and merits of Calvin; that he has no equal in learning; that it was not necessary to take such offence at what he might have said, as he had censured with great freedom the greatest men, such as Luther, Melanchthon, and many others.
"Resolved, to thank the said Farel, and to remit to him the original of the foresaid letter, in order that it might be restored to Viret."
[208] Perhaps to Charles de Jonvillers, who became some years afterwards the secretary and friend of the Reformer. It was in fact in 1549, and in consequence of the advice of Calvin, that this Seigneur left Chartres, his country, to go to Geneva, which received him as inhabitant in 1550, and as burgess in 1556.
[209] Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford, Duke of Somerset, Regent of England, under the minority of Edward VI. It was under his administration that the Reformation was victoriously established in England. Supported by Parliament, he suppressed the troubles which arose in some parts of the kingdom after the death of Henry VIII., confirmed the king's supremacy, abolished the worship of images, private masses, and restored the communion in both kinds. He held a correspondence with Calvin, who dedicated to him, June 24, 1548, his Commentary on the First Epistle of Paul to Timothy; and by advice of the Reformer, he offered an asylum to the exiles, Bucer, Fagi, Ochino, and Peter Martyr,—banished for the sake of their religion from the Continent. Beloved by the people, hated by the nobles, he made himself unpopular by his want of success in the war which he kept up against the Scots and in France; was overthrown by a conspiracy of the nobility, imprisoned in the Tower of London, (October 1549,) and only recovered his liberty the year following, to perish in 1552 on the scaffold, victim of the ambition of Warwick, Earl of Northumberland, his relative.
[210] Deprived, the preceding year, of his office of councillor and captain-general, Amy Perrin had contrived, by the force of intrigue, to recover his former dignities.
[211] The city of Bourdeaux having risen in revolt against the authority of the king on the ground of fresh taxation, the Constable Montmorency, being commissioned to suppress the disturbances, acted with relentless severity, and signalized his entry into the capital of Guienne by frightful executions.—De Thou, Lib. v.
[212] Bucer wrote to Calvin:—"Earnestly entreat the Lord for this republic that it may learn to put away its own will and obey him."—Calv. Opera, Lib. ix. p. 46. But the magistrates had already resolved to make their submission, which involved the suppression of the Gospel in that unhappy city.