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

Boulet did not rejoice alone. His friends the mamelukes having met, agreed to work this assault in such a way as to make the blow which had severed Lévrier’s head be forgotten. ‘Good!’ said they; ‘we have now an opportunity of beginning the old dance again; 358that is, to surrender Geneva to Savoy. Go to Chambéry,’ they continued; ‘make your complaint; say that you are not safe in this huguenot city, and entreat his Highness’s council to summon the syndic who offended you to appear before them—even at Chambéry.’

Boulet did all he could to exaggerate his injury. He bandaged his head, he carried his arm in a sling. In vain the surgeon assured him that his left arm was but slightly bruised, and that he had no other wound; no matter: ‘I will make my complaint to the bishop,’ he said; ‘I will make it to the duke!’ 359He would have gone even to the emperor. The wrath of Achilles, after he had been robbed of Briseis, hardly equalled the wrath of this wretch, and, in his opinion, Geneva deserved to receive a punishment as severe as that under which Troy fell. He had retired across the Arve, like Pelides to his tent. Some of his friends, his father-in-law and the judge of Gex in particular, called upon him and sought to pacify him; but he remembered the affront that had been done him, and was implacable. ‘Geneva shall pay dearly for it,’ he repeated to his friends.

He set out for Chambéry, asked an audience of the ducal council, and reported the syndic’s violence. People were very uneasy at Geneva. ‘These Savoyards,’ said the prior of St. Victor, ‘would like nothing better than to plunder the huguenots.’ The Savoy bailiffs soon appeared; they set up posts at the bridge of Arve, at Les Grottes, and at the Mint—all round the city—and fastened letters of citation to them. The council of Geneva was summoned to appear before the council of Savoy. That was not all: the macers (massarii) of the Savoyard council declared the possessions of the Genevans in Savoy confiscated, and consequently forbade the farmers and vine-dressers to till the land or to grind at the mill. Meadows, fields, vineyards, all were to remain uncultivated. Hitherto it had pertained to God alone to send years of famine; now Messieurs of Chambéry claimed to have the same privilege; and some Genevese farmers, who had begun to till the earth with the permission of the local magistrates, were put in prison by the superior authority. Almost at the same time other citizens were arrested on frivolous pretexts and thrown into one of the dungeons of Château Gaillard. These poor creatures climbed by turns to the loophole, by means of a beam placed against the wall, in order to breathe the fresh air and speak to their wives and children. One day when they were indulging in this consolation, the beam was taken away by the duke’s order, and the unhappy wretches were compelled to crouch at the bottom of their filthy prison.

Boulet wished, however, to enjoy his triumph; he longed to set the magistrates at defiance and ask them whether a blow might not cost them too dear. A bailiff of Chambéry arrived at Geneva, just as if that city had been within his jurisdiction, and posted a ‘protection’ on the door of Boulet’s house. This was a daring usurpation, an insult; but if the treasurer suffered the least harm, the duke would consider it as if done to himself. Boulet reappeared, and had the audacity to show himself at a general council. This was a little too much: the wretch who had brought so many calamities upon the citizens, dared appear among them! Did he hope to receive another blow? Who can say? The Genevans restrained themselves; no one raised a hand against him; but he overheard some persons speaking of his peculations: ‘I will produce my books and accounts,’ he said. He met with looks that alarmed him. Suppose they were to put him in prison, as they had the right, for he was accused of malversation towards the State. Fearing some mischance, he disappeared again, and went to beseech the ducal council to ‘vex’ the Genevans. All this was threatening. The syndics gave orders that prayers should be offered up and masses sung for the safety of the city. 360

During this time, the bishop was beginning one of his frequent evolutions; his rule being to go with the wind, he turned his prow more to the southward, that is, towards Savoy. He feared lest the Genevans should offend the duke, and wrote to them from Piedmont: ‘So conduct yourselves that God and the world may have reason to be satisfied.’ 361He returned to Geneva, but did not stay there. He ought to have intervened between the duke and his own subjects, exposed the serious crimes of the dishonest treasurer, and prevailed upon the council of Chambéry to withdraw their violent threats; but though he was both bishop and prince of the Genevans, he took care not to do them justice. He escaped to St. Claude, more sensible to the charms of a worldly life and of the wine of Arbois, than to the misfortunes of the city. In his eyes the epitome of wisdom was to satisfy God and the world , but the seductions of the world were so attractive that he forgot to be the friend of God. Some Genevans even asserted that ‘he cared no more for the life to come than a brute beast.’ Pierre de la Baume had noticed that since the accession of Clement VII. the house of Savoy had been in greater favour than ever at the court of Rome; it was his policy to keep on good terms with it, to flatter it, in order to obtain a cardinal’s hat through its influence, as he did a little later. For a red hat it was worth while abandoning his sheep to the wolves.

But if the bishop turned to every wind, the duke did not. The council of Savoy increased its severity towards Geneva. Richardet had raised his staff against one man; Charles raised his against a whole people. All Geneva was agitated. The citizens besieged the syndics with their complaints; the syndics assembled the council. They described the scenes that were taking place in the country, and all the violence of Savoy. Two of the noblest magistrates, Syndic Dumont and Aimé Girard, hastened to St. Claude to inform the bishop of the oppressions of the Savoyards. Girard possessed a lofty soul and impetuous disposition; he described with such spirit the outrages heaped upon Geneva, that De la Baume seemed touched, and promised the Genevans his support. ‘If needs be,’ he exclaimed, ‘I will go to the pope myself.... I will go to the emperor.... I will beseech them to protect my good right and the franchises of your city.’ The deputation was delighted. But the bishop hastened to restrain himself: the duke, the duke’s power, and the red hat recurred to his mind. ‘Do not let us be in a hurry,’ he said more coldly; ‘I shall first send the noble Albalesta to the duke.’ A month having elapsed, while Albalesta had obtained nothing, the Genevese resolved to take their cause into their own hands. This was what the bishop desired to avoid at any cost. He swore that he would cite the officers of Savoy before the pope, under a penalty of 10,000 ducats. 362But Geneva, which placed little trust in the bishop, resolved to maintain its independence, and to resist that foreign Pharaoh who had dared to punish with barrenness that earth which God waters with the rain from heaven.

The new campaign required a new leader. Berthelier, Lévrier, those noble-hearted men, were no more.... But there was a third, and he the very man they required. Besançon Hugues had neither the impulsiveness of Berthelier nor the firmness of Lévrier; but, mild and tender, he felt a love for his country, the fire of which never ceased to animate him. Moderate, friendly, and of insinuating manners, he was able to win over even his enemies, and often exercised great influence over Pierre de la Baume. Possessing great physical strength, bold, devoted, never sparing himself, he braved the most inclement seasons, and rushed, sword in hand, into the midst of the most furious enemies. Gifted with a rare discernment, which permitted him to see clearly into the most complicated questions, a keen diplomatist, a wise politician, a warm patriot, he was able by his consummate wisdom to remove obstacles, by his powerful eloquence to convince the most obstinate, even the senators of Berne, and to draw tears from those iron hearts. He bore in his person a prestige that secured him an irresistible influence in the councils, and with a few lines, a few words, he could still the popular waves ere they came into collision. He has been called the Nestor, the Sully, the Washington, of Geneva. This is perhaps saying too much: this Nestor was only twenty-five when he began his struggles with the duke, thirty-four at this period of our narrative, and when he died, two or three years before the final Reformation of Geneva, he was under forty. Yet Hugues was, on a small scale and on a small stage, what these great men were on a large one.