[292] Commentarii in Iesaiam Prophetam. In fol. Geneva, 1550. A work dedicated to the King of England.
[293] In omnes Pauli Epistolas atque etiam in Epistolam ad Hebraeos Commentarii. In fol. Geneva, 1550. With a preface by Theodore Beza.
[294] The title:—To William Rabot, "Dictus a Salena" of Avignon.
It appears from a letter of Rabot's to Calvin, preserved in the Library of Gotha, that, exiled from his native country from conscientious motives, this young man was then engaged in the study of law at the University of Padua, in company with a number of gentlemen, among others Charles de Jonvillers, Francis and Louis de Budé, &c. Their studies were intermingled with religious discourses, which contributed to the spread of the Gospel in certain distinguished families, among which we remark that of Contarini, originally of Padua. The increasing rigours of persecution soon scattered this focus of Evangelism, and led some of those youthful missionaries to Geneva, where Charles de Jonvillers, one of their number, gained the friendship of Calvin, and became his secretary.—Divers MSS. of Gotha and of Geneva.
[295] The Treatise on Scandals, one of the most remarkable of Calvin's writings appeared this same year, with a beautiful dedication addressed by Calvin to Laurent de Normandie, his old and constant friend. It was published at first in Latin, under the following title:—De Scandalis quibus hodie plerique absterrentur, nonnulli etiam alienantur a pura Evangelii Doctrina. Geneva, 1550. This work was translated into French by Latern during the following year. It is to be found in tom. viii. of his Opera, and in the Recueil des Opuscules, p. 1145.
[296] Henry II. of France, to gain the good-will of the cantons, pretended at that time to take a lively interest in the protection of Geneva, menaced by the Duke of Savoy and the Emperor of Germany. He even informed the magistrates of the republic regarding certain plots, real or imaginary, laid for its destruction.—Registers of the Council, 1549, 1550, passim.
[297] The Emperor Charles V. published, at that time, his bloody edict against the Protestants, Lutherans, Zuinglians, and others, and seemed to be preparing himself for a general crusade against the Reformed Churches.—Sleidan, book xxii.
[298] See note 3, p. 277.
[299] This passage in the letter is addressed to Christopher Fabri, or Libertet, a colleague of Farel's at Neuchatel.
[300] Calvin had stood godfather to one of the daughters of Libertet, whose wife he habitually called by the familiar name of my godmother.