[340] The Pope and the King of France were at that time engaged in a struggle about the town of Parma, which the former wished to plunder, and the latter to defend in behalf of Ottavio Farneso. Tho Emperor was not slow in joining the cause of the Pope, and peace was not concluded till the following year.
[341] This letter without an address, was written to a friend, perhaps to one of the members of the family of Beza in France, during an illness which endangered his life, in 1551, and which called forth from the Reformer the most touching testimonies of his affection.
[342] See the letter to the King of the month of January, p. 299. The ministor, Nicolas des Gallars, charged to present to the King the letter and the Commentaries of Calvin, had met with the most flattering reception at Court.*
*See Calvin's letter to Farel, p. 311, ante.
[343] Calvin published his treatise, De Æterna Dei Praedestinatione, during the following year, in reply to certain attacks directed against this doctrine by an Italian Doctor named George of Sicily, and the German theologian, Albert Pighius, whom he had already assailed in 1543.—(See vol. i. p. 371 of the present Collection.) Little is known regarding George of Sicily. Suspected by the Catholics on account of his professing certain of the Reformed doctrines, and by the Protestants from his holding certain heterodox opinions, he was disclaimed alike by both of those Churches, and ultimately fell a victim to the Inquisition, at Ferrara.—MSS. of the Library of Ferrara.
[344] Notwithstanding the interested advances made by the King of France to the Swiss Cantons, and despite his alliance with the Protestants of Germany, the persecutions did not terminate in France. A minister of the district of Neuchatel, originally from the neighbourhood of Mans, named Hugues Gravier, having undertaken a journey to his native country, was arrested at the bridge of Maçon, and, after a long imprisonment, condemned to the flames, notwithstanding the intervention of the Seigneurs of Berne in his behalf. He submitted to this cruel torture at Bourg-en-Bresse, with wonderful firmness; and his death, says the historian of the Martyrs, was the means of forming a nursery of the faithful throughout the entire neighbourhood.—Hist. des Martyrs, p. 234, anno 1552. Hist. Eccl., p. 86.
[345] The new opinions made every day fresh progress in France, in spite of the rigour of the edicts, and the severity of the judges. Inspired by the evil spirit of Cardinals Tournon and Lorraine, the King resorted to measures of great cruelty. The Edict of Chateaubriand, issued on the 27th of June 1551, declared Protestants amenable at once to ecclesiastical and civil tribunals, so that if absolved by the jurisdiction of the one, they were liable to condemnation by that of the other! This was a violation of the laws of the most ordinary justice; but at a time when the Emperor, aided by the heretic Maurice of Saxony, was attacking the Pope, the King of France could not give too strong a pledge of his orthodoxy. The blood of the disciples of the Gospel flowed like water, to expiate the alliance of this persecuting monarch with the Lutherans of Germany.—Haag, France Protestante, Introduction, p. x.
[346] There were at that time proposals of marriage between the young King Edward, and Elizabeth of France, daughter of Henry II., but the negotiations relative to that match wore without result.—Burnet, History of the Reformation, vol. ii. p. 282, (Nares' Edition.)
[347] Calvin, referring to the same circumstance in a letter to Viret, (Aug. 1551,) expressed himself thus:—"An ignorant monk, from an obscure village, disparaged me. A ridiculous affair. He was a demagogue, who from the front of the platform, bawled out that we were worse than the Papists, and brought forward a paper before the Consistory, written by himself, in which he accused me, by name, of teaching what was false and contrary to the word of God; called me an impostor; babbled out that those who agreed with me held impious opinions," &c.—(Calv. Opera, vol. ix. p. 61.) From these last traits, we recognize the same obscure individual, who made bold to bring forward such accusations against Calvin, and whose disputes with the Reformer were soon to acquire a sad notoriety over all Switzerland. This man was Jerome Bolsec!—See the following letter.
[348] At a general meeting, held October 16, 1551, the minister of Jussy, Jean de Saint André, in preaching from the words of St. John, (viii. 47,) "He that is of God heareth God's words ...," took occasion to develope the doctrine of eternal election, declaring that "those who are not regenerated by the Spirit of God, continue in a state of rebellion even to the end, because obedience is a gift accorded only to the elect." He had scarcely finished speaking when one of the hearers rose up, and pronounced this doctrine false and impious, accompanying his discourse with coarse abuse of those who make God the author of sin, and exhorted the people to guard against this new doctrine as a detestable piece of folly. This man was the old Carmelite monk, Jerome Bolsec, a physician, preacher, and poet, who, wandering by turns in France and Italy, had retired to Geneva some months previously, where he had already frequently attacked the doctrines of Calvin. Unnoticed in the crowd, the Reformer, whom Bolsec had thought absent, immediately rose up, and by a succession of testimonies borrowed from the writings of Augustine, eloquently refuted his adversary. Arrested on account of the temerity of his language, and interrogated by the magistrate, Jerome refused to retract, and was thrown into prison. The case was brought before the Council, where he boldly maintained his opinion, adding, besides, that many of the Swiss ministers shared in his sentiments. Before pronouncing a judgment, which the ministers of Geneva earnestly desired, the magistrates wrote concerning the subject to three Reformed towns, namely, Zurich, Berne, and Bâle, furnishing them with a list of the errors of Bolsec, and asking their advice as to how they should treat him. See the Registers of the Council, Oct. 1551; Gautier, Manuscript History of Geneva, and Ruehat, tom. v. p. 456.