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

To the stake! to the stake! with the heretic crew,

That day and night vexes all good men and true.

Shall we let them Saint Scripture and her edicts defile?

Shall we banish pure science for Lutherans vile?

Do you think that our God will permit such as these

To imperil our bodies and souls at their ease?

O Paris, of cities the flower and the pride,

Uphold that true faith which these heretics deride;

Or else on thy towers storm and tempest shall fall....

Take heed by my warning; and let us pray all

That the King of all kings will be pleased to confound

These dogs so accursed, where'er they be found,

That their names, like bones going fast to decay,

May from memory's tablets be clean wiped away.

To the stake! to the stake! the fire is their home!

As God hath permitted, let justice be done.

A crowd equally great assembled before this placard, as cruel as it was crafty. The writer appealed to the people of Paris; he entitled them 'the flower and pride of cities,' knowing that flattery is the best means of winning men's minds; and then he called for the stake. The 'stake' was the argument with which men opposed the Reform. 'Burn those who confute us!' This savage invocation was a home-thrust. Many of the citizens, kneeling down to write, copied out the placard, in order to carry it to every house: the press is less rapid, even in our days. Others committed the verses to memory, and walked along the streets singing the burden:

To the stake! to the stake! the fire is their home!

As God hath permitted, let justice be done.

These rude rhymes became the motto of their party; this cruel ballad of the sixteenth century erelong summoned the champions of the Church in various quarters to fatten the earth with the ashes of their enemies. Pierre Siderander happened to be in the crowd; noticing several papists copying the incendiary verses, the Strasburg student did the same, and sent copies to his friends. By this means they were handed down to our times. 336

The next day there was a fresh placard. The Sorbonne, finding the people beginning to be moved, wished to arouse them thoroughly. This ballad was not confined to a general appeal to the stake; Roussel was mentioned by name as one who deserved to be burnt. The fanatical placards of the Sorbonnists were not so soon torn down as the satirical couplets of their pupils. They could be read for days together, such good watch did the sacristans keep over them.

But the Sorbonne did not limit themselves to a paper war; they worked upon the most eminent members of the parliament. Their zeal displayed itself on every side. 'Justice! justice!' they exclaimed; 'let us punish these detestable heretics, and pluck up Lutheranism, root and branch.' 337The whole city was in commotion; the most odious plots were concocted; and the matéologues , as the students called the defenders of the old abuses, took counsel at the Sorbonne every day.

=PROGRESS OF THE REFORM.=

In the midst of all this agitation the Reformation was advancing quietly but surely. While the Queen of Navarre boldly professed her living piety in the palace, and preachers proclaimed it from their pulpits to the believing crowd, evangelical men, still in obscurity, were modestly propagating around them a purer and a mightier faith. At this period Calvin spent four years in Paris (1529-1533), where he at first engaged in literature. It might have been thought that he would appear in the world as a man of letters, and not as a reformer. But he soon placed profane studies in the second rank, and devoted himself to the service of God, as we have seen. He would have desired not to enter forthwith upon a career of evangelical activity. 'During this time,' he said, 'my sole object was to live privately, without being known.' He felt the necessity of a time of silence and christian meditation. He would have liked to imitate Paul, who, after his conversion and his first preaching at Damascus, passed several quiet years in Arabia and Cilicia; 338but he had to combat error around him, and he soon took a step in advance. While Courault and Roussel were preaching in the churches to large audiences and dealing tenderly with the papacy, Calvin, displaying great activity, 339visited the different quarters of Paris where secret assemblies were held, and there proclaimed a more scriptural, a more complete, and a bolder doctrine. In his discourses he made frequent allusions to the dangers to which those were exposed who desired to live piously; and he taught them at the same time 'what magnanimity believers ought to possess when adversity draws them on to despair.'—'When things do not go as we wish,' he said, 'sadness comes over the mind and makes us forget all our confidence. But the paternal love of God is the foundation of an invincible strength which overcomes every trial. The divine favour is a shelter against all storms, from whatever quarter they may come.' And he usually ended his discourses, we are told, with these words: ' If God be for us, who can be against us? ' 340

Mere preaching did not satisfy Calvin: he entered into communication with all who desired a purer religion, 341made them frequent visits, and conversed seriously with them. He avoided no one, and cultivated the friendship of those whom he had formerly known. He advanced step by step, but he was always busy, and the doctrine of the Gospel made some progress every day. All persons rendered the strongest testimony to his piety. 342The friends of the Word of God gathered round him, and among them were many burgesses and common people, but there were nobles and college professors also.

These christians were full of hope, and even Calvin entertained the bold idea of winning the king, the university, and indeed France herself, over to the Gospel. Paris was in suspense. Every one thought that some striking and perhaps sudden change was about to take place in one direction or another. Will Rome or will the Reformation have the advantage? There were strong reasons for adopting the former opinion, and reasons hardly less powerful for adopting the latter. Discussions arose upon this point, even among friends. Men were on the look-out for anything that might help them to divine the future, and the more curious resorted to the various places where they hoped to pick up news. Public attention was particularly turned towards the Sorbonne, when it was known that the heads of the Roman party were holding council.

=PIERRE SIDERANDER.=

On the 23rd of May, 1533, Pierre Siderander (who was naturally inquisitive), instigated by a desire to learn what was going to happen, and wishing in particular to know what was doing in the theological clubs (for from them, he doubted not, would proceed the blow that would decide who should be the victors), stole into the buildings belonging to the faculty of divinity. 343He did not dare penetrate farther than the great gate: stopping there like any other lounger, he began to look at the pictures that were sold at the entrance of the building. 344But, with all his innocent air, his eyes and ears were wide open, trying to pick up a word or two that would tell him what was going on; for the doctors, as they went in or out talking together, must necessarily pass close by him. Pierre wasted his time sauntering about before the pictures of the saints and of the Virgin (which he looked upon as idolatrous). On a sudden he saw the illustrious Budæus coming out of the Sorbonne. 345At that time Budæus was playing the same part as the noble Chancellor l'Hôpital afterwards did: he was present in every place where it was necessary to moderate, enlighten, or restrain the hot-headed. He passed Siderander without saying a word, and quitted the building; but the curious student could not resist; he left his post and began to follow the celebrated hellenist, wishing to look at him at his ease, and hoping no doubt to learn something. 346'Am I not,' he said, 'the friend of his two sons who like myself attend the course of Latomus? Has not the eldest invited me to come and see his museum? 347Did not I go there the other day, and ought he not to return my visit along with his brother?' Siderander, who burnt with desire to know what was said in the assembly which the founder of the college of France had just left, quickened his pace; the words were already on his lips, when he suddenly stopped intimidated. Timidity was stronger than curiosity, and he soon lost sight of the man whom Erasmus called 'the prodigy of France.' And yet, had he asked him, he would perhaps have learnt what the Roman party was plotting, and been able to tell his friends the probable issue of the crisis. He had often asked the sons of Budæus what their father was planning. 348'He is much with the bishop,' answered they, 'but he is planning nothing.' 349Thus Siderander did all he could, but to no purpose, to elicit some interesting communication and to learn some rare news. He was unable to satisfy his extreme curiosity. 'And that is not all,' he said to himself, 'for if, instead of losing my time under the portico of the Sorbonne, I had been elsewhere, I might have learnt something.' He desired to be everywhere, and yet was nowhere. 'Ha!' he said with vexation as he returned from running after Budæus, 'while I throw my hook in at one place, the fish goes to another. Things occur in our quarter which the inhabitants of the others know nothing about, and we know nothing of what takes place elsewhere. 350Alas! everything assumes a threatening aspect; everything announces a violent storm.' 351