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

779See nineteen letters from the bishop to William de la Mouille, his chamberlain, printed in Galiffe, Matériaux pour l'Histoire de Genève , ii. pp. 461-485.

780Galiffe, ii. p. 477.

781 Memoir to Lord Townshend on the History of Geneva , by Mr. Secretary Chouet. Berne MSS. vi. 57.

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THE first measure Charles exacted from his new ally was to revoke the civil rights he had conceded to the citizens. The bishop consented. In order to deprive the secular magistrate of his temporal privileges, he resolved to employ spiritual weapons. Priests, bishops, and popes have always found their use very profitable in political matters; princes of great power have been known to tremble before the documents launched into the world by the high-priest of the Vatican. The bishop, therefore, caused an order to be posted on the church doors, forbidding the magistrates to try civil causes under pain of excommunication and a fine of one hundred pounds of silver. It seems that the bishop had thought it prudent to attack the purses of those who were not to be frightened by his pastorals . 'Remove these letters,' said the syndics to the episcopal secretary, 'and carry them back to the bishop, for they are contrary to our franchises.' At the same time they said to the judges: 'You will continue to administer justice, notwithstanding the excommunication.' This, be it remarked, occurred at Geneva in the beginning of the sixteenth century.

=THE BISHOP AND THE SYNDICS.=

When informed of these bold orders, the bishop-prince roused himself.... One might have fancied that the spirit of Hildebrand and Boniface had suddenly animated the weak La Baume. 'What! under the pretence of maintaining your liberties,' he wrote to the Genevans, 'you wish to usurp our sovereignty!... Beware what you do, for if you persevere, we will with God's help inflict such a punishment that it shall serve for an example to others.... The morsel you desire to swallow is harder to digest than you appear to believe.... We command you to resign the administration of justice; to receive the vidame whom the duke shall be pleased to send you; to permit him to exercise his power, as was done in the time of the most illustrious princes his grace's predecessors; and finally to remit to his highness and us the whole case of the fugitives. If within a fortnight you do not desist from all opposition to our authority, we will declare you our enemies, and will employ all our resources and those of our relations and friends to punish you for the outrage you are committing against us, and we will strive to ruin you totally, whatever may be the place to which you flee.'

Great was the commotion in the city at hearing such words addressed by the pastor of Geneva to his flock; for if the bishop made use of such threats, it was with the intention of establishing the authority of a foreign prince among them. The true huguenots, who wanted neither duke nor bishop, were silent under these circumstances, and allowed the episcopal party, of which Hugues was the chief, to act. Two ambassadors from the bishop having been introduced before the general council on the 14th of June, 1528, the premier syndic said to them: 'If the bishop desires to appoint a vidame to administer justice among us, we will accept him; but the dukes of Savoy have never had other than an unlawful authority in Geneva. We have no prince but the bishop. Has he forgotten the great misfortunes that have befallen the city in consequence of these Savoyard vidames?... Citizens perpetually threatened, many of them imprisoned and tortured, their heads cut off, their bodies quartered.... But God has helped us, and we will no longer live in such misery.... No!' continued the speaker with some emotion, 'we will not renounce the independence which our charters secure to us.... Rather than lose it, we will sacrifice our lives and goods, our wives, and our children.... We will give up everything, to our last breath, to the last drop of our blood.'... Such words, uttered with warmth, always excite the masses; and, accordingly, as soon as the people heard them, they cried as with one voice: 'Yes! yes! that is the answer we will make.'

This declaration was immediately sent into Switzerland; and, strange to say, such patriotic enthusiasm was received with ridicule by some persons in that noble country. Geneva was so small and so weak, that her determination to resist a prince so powerful as the duke seemed mere folly: the Swiss had forgotten that their ancestors, although few in number, had vanquished Austria and Burgundy. 'These Genevans are all mad ,' said they. When they heard of this insult, the council of Geneva was content to enter in its registers the following simple and spirited declaration: 'Considering our ambassadors' report of what the Swiss say of us, it is ordered that they be written to and told that we are all in our right minds .' 782

On hearing of these proceedings, La Baume, who was at the Tour de May in Burgundy, flew into a violent passion. He paced up and down his room, abused his attendants, and uttered a thousand threats against Geneva. He included all the Genevans in the same proscription, and had no more regard for conservatives like Besançon Hugues than for reformers like Baudichon de la Maison-Neuve. He was angry with the citizens who disturbed him with their bold speeches in the midst of his peaceful retreat. 'In his opinion the chief virtue of a prelate was to keep a plentiful and dainty table, with good wines; and,' says a person who often dined with him, 'he had sometimes more than he could carry. 783He was, moreover, liberal to women of doubtful character, very stately, and fond of great parade.'

=THE BISHOP AND THE MESSENGER.=

One day, as he was leaving the table where he had taken too much wine, he was told that a messenger from Geneva, bearing a letter from the council, desired to speak with him. 'Messieurs de Genève, remembering,' says Balard, 'that dulce verbum frangit iram , 784wrote to him in friendly terms.' The messenger, Martin de Combes, having been admitted to the bishop, bowed low, and, courteously approaching, handed him the letters of which he was the bearer. But the mere sight of a Genevan made the bishop's blood boil, and, losing all self-control, he said 'in great fury:' 'Where do you come from?'—'From Geneva.'—'It is a lie,' said the bishop; and then, forgetting that he was contradicting himself, he added: 'You have changed the colour of your clothes at Geneva;' wishing apparently to accuse the Genevans of making a revolution or a reformation. 'Come hither,' he continued; 'tell the folks in Geneva that they are all traitors—all of them, men, women, and children, little and big; that I will have justice done shortly, and that it will be something to talk about. Tell them never to write to me again.... Whenever I meet any persons from that city, I will have them put to death.... And as for you, get out of my sight instantly!' The poor messenger, who trembled like a leaf, did not wait to be told twice.

La Baume, who had forgotten Plutarch's treatise, De cohibenda ira , could not recover from his emotion, and kept walking up and down the room with agitated step. Suddenly, remembering certain cutting expressions, uttered in Switzerland by Ami Girard, a distinguished, well-read, and determined huguenot, who was generally envoy from Geneva to Berne and Friburg, he said to his servants: 'Bring that man back.' Poor De Combes was brought back like a criminal whose rope has once broken, and who is about to be hanged again. 'Mind you tell those folks at Geneva all that I have ordered you,' exclaimed the bishop. 'There is one of them (I know him well—it is Ami Girard) who said that I wish to bridle Geneva in order that Monsieur of Savoy may ride her.... I will be revenged on him ... or I will die for it.... Out of my sight instantly. Be off to your huguenots.'