Charles D'Espeville.
[Fr. Copy, Library of Geneva. Vol. 107.]
CCXXIX.—To the Protector Somerset.[209]
Duties imposed on the Protector by the high office which he holds—plan of a complete reformation in England—preaching of the pure word of God—rooting out of abuses—correction of vices and scandalous offences.
Geneva, 22d October 1548.
Monseigneur,—Although God has endowed you with singular prudence, largeness of mind, and other virtues required in that station wherein he has set you, and for the affairs which he has put into your hand; nevertheless, inasmuch as you deem me to be a servant of his Son, whom you desire above all else to obey, I feel assured, that for the love of him you will receive with courtesy, that which I write in his name, as indeed I have no other end in view, save only, that in following out yet more and more what you have begun, you may advance his honour, until you have established his kingdom in as great perfection as is to be looked for in the world. And you will perceive likewise as you read, that without advancing anything of my own, the whole is drawn from his own pure doctrine. Were I to look merely at the dignity and grandeur of your position, there would seem no access whatever for a man of my quality. But since you do not refuse to be taught of the Master whom I serve, but rather prize above all else the grace which he has bestowed in numbering you among his disciples, methinks I have no need to make you any long excuse or preface, because I deem you well disposed to receive whatsoever proceeds from him.
We have all reason to be thankful to our God and Father, that he has been pleased to employ you in so excellent a work as that of setting up the purity and right order of his worship in England by your means, and establishing the doctrine of salvation, that it may there be faithfully proclaimed to all those who shall consent to hear it; that he has vouchsafed you such firmness and constancy to persevere hitherto, in spite of so many trials and difficulties; that he has helped you with his mighty arm, in blessing all your counsels and your labours, to make them prosper. These are grounds of thankfulness which stir up all true believers to magnify his name. Seeing however, that Satan never ceases to upheave new conflicts, and that it is a thing in itself so difficult, that nothing can be more so, to cause the truth of God to have peaceable dominion among men, who by nature are most prone to falsehood; while, on the other hand, there are so many circumstances which prevent its having free course; and most of all, that the superstitions of Antichrist, having taken root for so long time, cannot be easily uprooted from men's hearts,—you have much need, methinks, to be confirmed by holy exhortations. I cannot doubt, indeed, that you have felt this from experience; and shall therefore deal all the more frankly with you, because, as I hope, my deliberate opinion will correspond with your own desire. Were my exhortations even uncalled for, you would bear with the zeal and earnestness which has led me to offer them. I believe, therefore, that the need of them which you feel, will make them all the more welcome. However this may be, Monseigneur, may it please you to grant me audience in some particular reformations which I propose to lay here briefly before you, in the hope, that when you shall have listened to them, you will at least find some savour of consolation therein, and feel the more encouraged to prosecute the holy and noble enterprise in which God has hitherto been pleased to employ you.
I have no doubt that the great troubles which have fallen out for some time past, must have been very severe and annoying to you, and especially as many may have found in them occasion of offence; forasmuch as they were partly excited under cover of the change of religion. Wherefore you must necessarily have felt them very keenly, as well on account of the apprehensions they may have raised in your mind, as of the murmurs of the ignorant or disaffected, and also of the alarm of the well-disposed. Certes, the mere rumour which I heard from afar, caused me heartfelt anxiety, until I was informed that God had begun to apply a remedy thereto. However, since perhaps they are not yet entirely allayed, or seeing that the devil may have kindled them anew, it will be well that you call to mind what the sacred history relates of good King Hezekiah, (2 Chron. xxxii.,) namely, that after he had abolished the superstitions throughout Judea, reformed the state of the church according to the law of God, he was even then so pressed by his enemies, that it almost seemed as if he was a lost and ruined man. It is not without reason that the Holy Spirit pointedly declares, that such an affliction happened to him immediately after having re-established the true religion in his realm; for it may well have seemed reasonable to himself, that having striven with all his might to set up the reign of God, he should have peace within his own kingdom. Thus, all faithful princes and governors of countries are forewarned by that example, that however earnest they may be in banishing idolatry and in promoting the true worship of God, their faith may yet be tried by diverse temptations. So God permits, and wills it to be thus, to manifest the constancy of his people, and to lead them to look above the world. Meanwhile, the devil also does his work, endeavouring to ruin sound doctrine by indirect means, working as it were underground, forasmuch as he could not openly attain his end. But according to the admonition of St. James, (James v. 11,) who tells us, that in considering the patience of Job, we must look to the end of it, so ought we, Monseigneur, to look to the end which was vouchsafed to this good king. We see there that God was a present help in all his perplexities, and that at length he came off victorious. Wherefore, seeing that his arm is not shortened, and that, in the present day, he has the defence of the truth and the salvation of his own as much at heart as ever, never doubt that he will come to your aid, and that not once only, but in all the trials he may send you.
If the majority of the world oppose the Gospel, and even strive with rage and violence to hinder its progress, we ought not to think it strange. It proceeds from the ingratitude of men, which has always shewn itself, and ever will, in drawing back when God comes near, and even in kicking against him when he would put his yoke upon them. More than that, because by nature they are wholly given to hypocrisy, they cannot bear to be brought to the clear light of the word of God, which lays bare their baseness and shame, nor to be drawn forth out of their superstitions, which serve them as a hiding-hole and shady covert. It is nothing new, then, if we meet with contradiction when we attempt to lead men back to the pure worship of God. And we have, besides, the clear announcement of our Lord Jesus, who tells us that he has brought a sword along with his Gospel. But let not this daunt us, nor make us shrink and be fearful, for at last, when men shall have rebelled most stoutly, and vomited forth all their rage, they shall be put to confusion in a moment, and shall destroy themselves by the fury of their own onset. That is a true saying, in the second Psalm, that God shall only laugh at their commotion; that is to say, that seeming to connive, he will let them bluster, as if the affair did not at all concern him. But it always happens, that at length they are driven back by his power, wherewith if we be armed, we have a sure and invincible munition, whatsoever plots the devil may frame against us, and shall know by experience in the end, that even as the Gospel is the message of peace and of reconciliation between God and us, it will also avail us to pacify men; and in this way we shall understand, that it is not in vain that Isaiah has said, (Is. ii. 4,) that when Jesus Christ shall rule in the midst of us by his doctrine, the swords shall be turned into ploughshares, and the spears into pruning-hooks.