J. H. Merle D'Aubigné - History of the Reformation in Europe in the Time of Calvin (Vol. 1-8)

160'Interim tamen penum vino instruendum curabo.'—Calvinus Danieli, Geneva MSS. This passage presents some difficulty. 'Penus' in Persius means a safe where meat is kept; in Festus and Lampridius, the sanctuary of the temple.

161'Odysseam Homeri quam Sucqueto commodaveram, finges a me desiderari.'—Ibid.

162 Calvin's Letters , i. p. 30. Philadelphia, edit. J. Bonnet.

163'Ita habent Hebræa.'— Actes du Parlement.

164Crévier, Hist. de l'Université de Paris , v. p. 249.

165'Hæc propositio temeraria est et scandalosa.'—D'Argentré, Collectio Judiciorum de novis Erroribus , ii. p. 78.

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WHEN was France to turn herself towards the Word of God? At the time of her brother's return from his Spanish captivity, Margaret had solicited him to grant liberty of preaching the Gospel, and the king, as will be remembered, had deferred the matter until his sons were restored to freedom. That moment seemed to have arrived. In order to recover his children, Francis had sacrificed at Cambray (June 1529), in the Ladies' Peace , the towns he had conquered, the allies who had been faithful to him, and two millions of crowns besides.

It was not, however, until ten months later that the children of France returned. All the royal family hurried to the Spanish frontier to receive them; all, except Margaret. 'As it would be difficult to take you further without danger,' said her mother, 'the king and I have determined to leave you behind for your confinement.' 166Margaret, uneasy and perhaps a little jealous, wrote to Montmorency: 'When the King of Navarre is with you, I pray you to advise him; but I much fear that you will not be able to prevent his falling in love with the Spanish ladies.' 167At the beginning of July the king's children were restored to their father; Margaret was transported with joy, and showed it by her enthusiastic letters to Francis I. 168She loved these princes like a mother. More serious thoughts soon filled her mind: the epoch fixed by her brother had arrived, but would he keep his promise?

=MARGARET PROMOTES UNITY.=

Margaret lost no time. Being left alone at Blois, she endeavoured to strengthen the good cause, and carried on an active correspondence with the leaders of the Reform. 'Alas!' said the priests, 'while King Francis is labouring to protect his kingdom from the inundations of the Rhine (that is, the Reformation), his sister the Queen of Navarre is trying to break the dykes and throw down the embankments.' 169There was one work above all which Margaret had at heart; she wished to put an end to the divisions among the evangelicals. She entreated the Frenchmen who were at Strasburg, 'waiting for the consolation of Israel,' to do all in their power to terminate the disunion; she even commanded Bucer to do so. 170Bucer's fine talents, benevolent character, and cultivated understanding, the eloquence of his language, the dignity of his carriage, the captivating sound of his voice, his discerning of spirits, his ardent zeal—all seemed to fit him for a peace-maker. He set to work without delay, and informed Luther of the princess's injunctions. 'If our opinions are compared with yours,' he said, 'it will be easily seen that they are radically the same, although expressed in different terms. Let us not furnish our enemies with a weapon with which to attack truth.' 171

If Margaret had confidence in Bucer, he too had confidence in her. He admired the sincerity of her faith, the liveliness of her piety, the purity of her manners, the beauty of her understanding, the charms of her conversation, and the abundance of her good works. 'Never was this christian heroine found wanting in her duty,' he wrote to Luther. 172The Strasburgers thought that if Luther and the Germans on one side, and Margaret and the French on the other, were united, the cause of the Reformation would be triumphant in Europe. Whenever any good news arrived from France, Bucer thrilled with joy; he ran to communicate it to Capito, to Hedion, to Zell, and to Hohenlohe; and then he wrote to Luther: 'The brethren write to us from France, dear doctor, that the Gospel is spreading among them in a wonderful manner. A great number of the nobility have already received the truth. 173There is a certain district in Normandy where the Gospel is spread so widely that the enemy call it Little Germany . 174The king is no stranger to the good doctrine; 175and as his children are now at liberty, he will no longer pay such regard to what the pope and the emperor demand. Christ will soon be publicly confessed over the whole kingdom.' 176

=DEATH OF MARGARET'S CHILD.=

The Queen of Navarre was obliged to discontinue her correspondence with the reformers of Germany; great joys and great anguish gave another direction to her thoughts. About a fortnight after the return of the children of France, Margaret became the mother of a fine boy at the castle of Blois. When the king passed through that place on his return from the Pyrenees, he took his sister with him, after her churching, to Fontainebleau. But erelong bad tidings of her child summoned Margaret to Alençon, where he was staying with his nurse; he died on Christmas day, 1530, at the age of five months and a half. The mother who had watched near him, who had felt his sweet breath upon her cheek, saw him now lying dead in his little cradle, and could not turn away her eyes from him. At one time she thought he would revive, but alas! he was really dead. The queen felt as if her life had been torn from her; her strength was exhausted; her heart bled, but God consoled her. 'I place him,' she said, 'in the arms of his Father;' and as she felt the necessity of giving glory to God publicly, she sent for one of her principal officers, and, with a voice stifled by tears and sighs, ordered that the child's death should be posted up in the principal quarters of the city, and that these words should be at the foot of the notice:

The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away.

A sentiment of joy mingled, however, with her inexpressible sorrow; and, confident that the little child was in the presence of God, the pious mother ordered a Te Deum to be sung. 177'I entreat you both,' she wrote to her brother and to her mother, 'to rejoice at his glory , and not give way to any sadness.' 178Francis, who had not long before lost two daughters, was moved at this solemn circumstance, and replied to his sister: 'You have borne the grief of mine, as if they were your own lost children; now I must bear yours, as if it were my own loss. It is the third of yours and the last of mine, whom God has called away to his blessed communion, acquired by them with little labour, and desired by us with such great travail.' 179There are afflictions from God which awaken deep feelings, even in the most frivolous hearts, and lips which are ordinarily dumb sometimes utter harmonious sounds in the presence of death. Other consolations were not wanting to the queen. Du Bellay, at that time Bishop of Bayonne, and afterwards of Paris, hastened to Alençon: 'Ah!' said Margaret, 'but for our Lord's help, the burden would have been more than I could bear.' 180The bishop urged her, on the part of the king, to go to St. Germain, where preparations were making for the coronation of Queen Eleanor, the emperor's sister. Margaret, who always obeyed her brother's orders, quitted Alençon, though with sorrow, in order to be present at his marriage.

=MARRIAGE OF FRANCIS AND ELEANOR.=

The court had never been more brilliant. The less happiness there was in this marriage, the more pomp the king desired to display; joy of the heart was replaced by the sound of the fife and drum and of the hautboy. The dresses were glittering, the festivities magnificent.