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

What joy! the aged Lefèvre, the fervent Roussel, are recalled with honour , says Erasmus. 503The Strasburgers embraced them with tears; the old man felt happy that he was going to die in the country where he was born. He immediately took the road to France in company with Roussel; others followed them; all believed that the new times were come. In their meetings the evangelicals called to mind these words of the prophet: The ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away . 504Lefèvre and Roussel hastened to their protectress. Margaret received them kindly, lodged them in the castle of Angoulême, where she was born, on that smiling hill which she loved so much, near that ‘softly-flowing’ Charente, as she describes it. Lefèvre and Roussel had many precious conversations with her. They loved to speak of their life at Strasburg, of the new views they had found there, and of the brotherly communion they had enjoyed. ‘We were there,’ they said, ‘with William Farel, Michael of Aranda, Francis Lambert, John Vedastes, the Chevalier d’Esch, and many other evangelicals ... scattered members of a torn body, but one in Christ Jesus. We carefully put out of sight all that might interrupt the harmony between brethren; the peace that we tasted, far from being without savour, like that of the world, was perfumed with the sweet odour of God’s service.’

This meeting at Strasburg had borne fruit. The energetic Farel, the learned Lefèvre, the spiritual Roussel, gifted with such opposite natures, had reacted upon each other. Farel had become more gentle, Roussel more strong; contact with iron had given an unusual hardness to a metal by nature inclined to be soft. The sermons they heard, their frequent conversations, the trials of exile, and the consolation of the Spirit of God, had tempered the souls which had been not a little discouraged by persecution. Roussel had taken advantage of his leisure to study Hebrew, and the Word of God had acquired a sovereign importance in his eyes. Struck by the virtues of which the early christians had given an example, he had found that we must seek for the secret of their lives in the history of the primitive Church, in the inspired Scripture of God. ‘The purity of religion will never be restored,’ he used to say, ‘unless we drink at the springs which the Holy Ghost has given us.’ 505

It was not enough for the refugees to have returned; their christian activity must be employed to the advantage of France. At the beginning of June, Roussel went to Blois. Margaret wished to make this city—the favourite residence of the Valois, and notorious for the crimes perpetrated there in after years—a refuge for the persecuted, a caravanserai for the saints, a stronghold of the Gospel. On the 29th of June Lefèvre also went there. 506The king intrusted him with the education of his third son and the care of the castle library. Chapelain, physician to the Duchess of Angoulême, and Cop, another doctor, of whom we shall see more hereafter, were also in that city; and all of them, filled with gratitude towards Francis I., were contriving the means of imparting ‘something of Christianity to the Most Christian King’ 507—which was, in truth, very necessary.

Thus things were advancing. It seemed as if learning and the Gospel had returned with the king from banishment. Macrin, whose name Zwingle placed side by side with that of Berquin, was set at liberty. 508Cornelius Agrippa returned to Lyons. Sprung from an ancient family of Cologne, he had served seven years in the imperial army; he then became a great savant (and not a great magician, as was supposed), doctor of theology, law, and medicine. He published a book on Marriage and against celibacy, which excited much clamour. Agrippa was astonished at this, and not without reason. ‘What!’ he exclaimed, ‘the tales of Boccaccio, the jests of Poggio, the adulteries of Euryalus and Lucretia, the loves of Tristan and of Lancelot, are read greedily, even by young girls 509... and yet they cry out against my book on Marriage!’—This explains an incident in history: the youthful readers of Boccaccio became the famous ‘squadron’ of Catherine de’ Medici, by whose means that impure woman obtained so many victories over the lords of the court.

When men heard of these deliverances, they thought that Francis I., seeing Charles V. at the head of the Roman party, would certainly put himself at the head of the evangelical cause, and that the two champions would decide on the battle-field the great controversy of the age. ‘The king,’ wrote the excellent Capito to the energetic Zwingle, ‘is favourable to the Word of God.’ 510Margaret already saw the Holy Ghost reviving in France the one , holy , and universal Church . She resolved to hasten on these happy times, and, leaving Angoulême and Blois in the month of July, arrived in Paris.

Toussaint was waiting for her. Having reached the capital under an assumed name, the young evangelist at first kept himself in concealment. On hearing of the arrival of the sister of Francis, he asked permission to see her in private; and the princess, as was her custom, received him with great kindness. What a contrast for this poor man, just rescued from the cruel talons of the abbot of St. Antoine, to find himself in the palace of St. Germain, where Margaret’s person, her urbanity, wit, lively piety, indefatigable zeal, love of letters, and elegance, charmed all who came near her! Toussaint, like the poet, was never tired of admiring

A sweetness living in her beauteous face

Which does the fairest of her sex eclipse,

A lively wit, of learning ample store,

And over all a captivating grace,

Whether she speaks, or silent are her lips. 511

One thing, however, charmed Toussaint still more: it was the true piety which he found in Margaret. She treated him with the kindness of a christian woman, and soon put him at his ease. ‘The most illustrious Duchess of Alençon,’ he wrote, ‘has received me with as much kindness as if I had been a prince or the person who was dearest to her. 512I hope,’ he added, ‘that the Gospel of Christ will soon reign in France.’ 513The duchess, on her part, touched with the faith of the young evangelist, invited him to come again and see her the next day. He went and he went again; he had long and frequent conversations with Margaret on the means of propagating the Gospel everywhere. 514‘God, by the light of his Word,’ he said, ‘must illumine the world, and by the breath of his Spirit must transform all hearts. The Gospel alone, Madame, will bring into regular order all that is confused.’—‘It is the only thing that I desire,’ replied Margaret. 515She believed in the victory of truth; it seemed to her that the men of light could not be conquered by the men of darkness. The new life was about to rise like the tide, and erelong cover with its wide waves the arid landes of France. Margaret espied tongues of fire, she heard eloquent voices, she felt swelling hearts throbbing around her. Everything was stirring in that new and mysterious world which enraptured her imagination. It was to inaugurate this new era, so full of light, of faith, of liberty, that her brother had been delivered from the prisons of Charles V. ‘Ah!’ she said to Toussaint in their evangelical conversations, ‘it is not only myself that desires the triumph of the Gospel; even the king wishes for it. 516And, believe me, our mother (Louisa of Savoy!) will not oppose our efforts. 517The king,’ she protested to the young man, ‘is coming to Paris to secure the progress of the Gospel—if, at least, the war does not prevent him.’ 518Noble illusions! Certain ideas on this subject, in accord with his policy, were running, no doubt, in the king’s mind; but at that time Francis was thinking of nothing but compensating himself for the privations of captivity by indulging in gallantry.