1845.] Life of John Calvin. 489 ARTICLE IV. LIFE OF JOHN CALVIN. [Based chiefly on a Life of Calvin by P. Henry of Berlin.] By R. D. C. Robbins, Librarian Theological Seminary, Andover, Mass. [Continued from p. 356, No. VI.] The Institutes of the Christian Religion. MANY suppose that Francis I. in the earlier part of his reign, favored the reformed doctrines from conviction. Beza says: "This king was not like his successors; he was possessed of acute discrimination, and not a little judgment in distinguishing between the true and the false; he was a patron of learned men and not personally opposed to us." The same author supposes, that he was on the point of acceding publicly to the reformed tenets in 1534.1 But the historian Robertson is probably not far from right, when he says, that 'his apparent willingness to hear the truth was a mere political mask, not the result of conviction.'2 Whatever the king's real feelings may have been, he for a time lost the reputation of a good Catholic. His league with the apostate Henry VIII., his attack upon the emperor Charles, who made great pretension to zeal for the defence of the Romish faith, just as he was preparing for an expedition against Tunis, and his reception of the envoy of Solyman, contributed to this suspicion of his sincerity. But he was not long in finding an occasion for retrieving his reputation. The Sorbonne in 1534 forbade the protestant preachers, Girard Roux, Coraud and Berthaud, to hold public assemblies; and when they afterwards turned their attention to private instruction, they were kept in close custody.4 The Christians were, however, too decided in their belief to be thus thwarted. They determined, if their mouths must be shut, to appeal to the people by other means. Accordingly, a man named Feret, son of the apothecary of the king, was sent to Neufchatel to obtain a short summary of the reformed tenets. 1 See Beza, Cal. Vita, et Hist. Eccl. p. 15. Henry 1. 72, 73. Robertson's Charles V. Book V1. 3 Robertson's Charles V. B. VI. Works, Vol. IV. p. 305. He re 4 They were finally set at liberty through the intercession of the Queen of Navarre, and Coraud soon after went to Switzerland.-Du Pin, Hist. Eccl. Tom. 12. p. 175. turned with manifestos against the mass and the pope, afterwards called Placards, which were scattered in every direction, and even put up in the king's palace at Blois. The intemperate zeal thus manifested is sincerely to be regretted; for, although these documents contained truth, the spirit exhibited in them, was not approved even by Coraud and his companions, who were temperate in their zeal. In consequence of them the martyr-fires burned with a brighter glow. The police were the obedient subjects of the furious king. The bloody Morin was indefatigable in inventing and applying new and frightful tortures. The Lustration, as it was called, was made by the king at Paris, January 29th, 1535. The image of the holy Geneveva, the patron saint of Paris, was borne in procession, a thing which was done only on occasions of imminent peril. The king with his three sons marched with uncovered heads and lighted torches, at its foot, through the city. The nobles and the court followed. The king declared before the assembled multitude, that if one of his hands were infected with heresy he would cut it off with the other, and that even his own children, if found guilty of that crime, should not be spared. During this procession six men were burned in the most torturing manner in the frequented parts of the city. The people were so enraged at the sight, that the executioners could scarcely prevent their victims from being forcibly snatched from the flames. The constancy of these martyrs3 exceeded the rage of the persecutors, and showed the influence of the doctrines of the Bible, as preached by Calvin, and his associates. Soon after this infamous proceeding, the king found that he had gone further than was politic, in his attempts to appease the Catholics. The indignation of the protestant princes of Germany, whose favor he greatly needed in order to accomplish his political purposes, was roused. An explanation of his conduct was therefore published in which he represented, that he had only punished some enthusiasts, called anabaptists, who had substituted their own inspiration for the word of God, and set at defiance all authority both civil and ecclesiastical. He also sent for Melanchthon 1 Robertson's Charles V. Book VI. Works, Vol. IV. p. 306. 2 Beza says, Vita, p. 3, Quatuor urbis celebrioribus locis octonos Martyres vivos ustulari juberet, but Du Pin says: Six Lutheriens * * * furent brulet. Tom. XIII. p. 176. 3 See a sketch of their lives, and their firmness amidst the tortures prepared for them, Henry, I. 75 sq. 1945.] Occasion of the First Edition of the Institutes. 491 at this time, to come to France for the purpose of aiding in composing church-difficulties. This was a decisive moment for the reformation in France. All eyes were upon the king, and as he decided, the current of public opinion would flow. Already in consequence of the late persecutions many weak adherents to the truth, had gone away and walked no more with their persecuted companions. Calvin, therefore, decided to publish his Institutes. They had been previously commenced for the purpose of supplying his countrymen with a compendium for their instruction in the principles of true religion. He says in the Latin preface to his Commentary on the Psalms: "Whilst I was living in obscurity at Basil, after many pious men had been burned at the stake in France, and the report of this had awakened great indignation in Germany, wicked and false pamphlets were circulated, in which it was said, that only anabaptists, turbulent persons, who in their fanatical zeal would not only destroy religion but even political order, had been thus cruelly punished. When I perceived that this was a court-device, not only to cover over the crime of shedding innocent blood, and to cast reproach upon these holy mar tyrs who had been slain, but also to give permission for the future to murder without compassion, I concluded that my silence, if I did not make a vigorous resistance, would be treason. This was the occasion of the first edition of the Institutes. First, I wished to vindicate from unjust opprobrium the character of my brethren, whose death was of great value in the sight of God. Secondly, since the same death threatened many unfortunate victims, I desired that other nations, at least, might feel some compassion for them."2 It is a much disputed point whether the Institutes was first published in 1534, 1535 or 1536. The oldest copies now extant bear date in 1536; but these cannot belong to the first edition, for in them Calvin mentions himself three times, and he expressly says, in the preface to his Commentary upon the Psalms, that the first edition was anonymous. There also could not have been an edition previously to 1535, since events which transpired at the beginning of that year and in the latter part of 1534, were the immediate occasion of publishing the first edition. Beza seems, See an account of the expedient by which Cardinal Tournon prevailed upon Francis to countermand the order for Melanchthon's visit, in Browning's History of the Huguenots, p. 7. 2 See further, in Cal. Opp. Omn. Vol. III, or an English Translation in Wa terman's Calvin, p. 235 sq. then, to be right in referring this edition to 1535. It will be recollected that this work had been partly prepared in Angouleme during Calvin's stay there, so that the time from the last of January until August would have been sufficient for the preparation and printing of it; and it can hardly be believed, that in such urgent circumstances the publication was delayed a year. This edition, in order more effectually to reach the French court, was issued in the French language, and the Latin Version was made in the beginning of 1536, with special reference to Italy, where French was not generally understood. In accordance with this view, the French edition of 1566 has the Preface to the king in Calvin's ancient style, dated: Basle le premier d'Aout, 1535, whilst in the ancient Latin editions, the date is 1536; and the modern editions follow their respective prototypes. The entire absence of this first French edition from all collections of ancient works, may be accounted for from a decree of the Sorbonne, that it should be suppressed. A passage in a letter to Calvin from Samarthanus, Professor in an academy at Poitu, April, 1537, seems to have reference to such a proceeding: "I am grieved, since you are torn from us, that the other Calvin speaking to us, I mean your Christian Institutes, has not reached us. I envy Germany for possessing what we cannot obtain." In a letter to Daniel, Oct. 13, 1536, Calvin himself says, that 'he is daily expecting the French edition of his little work, which he will send to him with letters; this, says his biographer, shows that there had been a French edition of the Institutes, for Daniel had long before received the other works of Calvin.3 This edition, a small octavo, of about 500 pages, was but a germ of the work we now possess, and cannot be compared with it, either for completeness of doctrinal statement or elegance of style; for the body of the work was prepared hastily, so as to meet a peculiar exigency. Yet the changes made were not in fundamental doctrines. Calvin's belief at twenty-five, was his Nearly all of Calvin's works were published both in French and Latin. The Psychopannychia, and the Treatise on the Lord's Supper (1540) appeared first in French.-Henry, 1. 16€. 2 See Henry, I. 102. The title of the First Latin edition is as follows: Christianae religionis institutio, totam ferè pietatis summam, et quicquid est in doctrina salutis cognitu necessarium, complectens; omnibus pietatis studiosis lectu dignissimum opus, ac recens editum.-Prefatio ad Christianissimum REGEM FRANCIAE, qua hic ei liber pro confessione fidei offertur. Joanne Calvino Noviodunensi autore, Basiliae, MDXXXVI. 1845.] Second Edition of the Institutes. 493 conviction on the day of his death. This has justly been called his first and his last work. Beza, who had the best means of knowing, says: "True to the doctrines which he first promulgated, he never changed anything; which can be said of few theologians within our memory." Joseph Scaliger remarks: " He made no retractions, although he wrote much; this is wonderful. I leave to your decision, whether he was not a great man."2 The reception which this book met at first, and Calvin's feelings in reference to it, are expressed in the Preface to the last edition published during his life: "Since I did not expect that the first edition of this book would meet so favorable a reception, I prepared it somewhat carelessly, seeking especially to be brief. But finding in process of time, that it had been received with a degree of favor which I did not dare even to desire, much less to hope, I felt the more obliged to acquit myself better, and with greater completeness, on account of those who received my doctrine with so much affection; for it had been ungrateful in me, not to comply with their desire, according to my limited capacity. Hence I attempted to do what I could, not when the volume was first reprinted only; every successive edition has been enlarged and improved. And although I have no cause to repent the labor which I previously bestowed upon it, I confess that I never satisfied myself until I had digested it in the order which you here see, and which I hope you will approve. And in truth I affirm, for the purpose of securing your approbation, that in serving the church of God, I have not withheld the exertion of all my powers; for last winter, when a quartan ague threatened my life, the more the disease pressed upon me, the less I spared myself, until I completed this book, which surviving my death, might show how much I desired to recompense those who had already profited by it." Although the edition here spoken of, (that of 1559), received the careful revision of its author, the changes were merely in form. The second Latin edition, published in 1539, when Calvin was about thirty years of age, is justly considered as the perfected fruit of his mature studies. The occasion which called forth the first edition had passed away, but the value of the work was not limited by changing circumstances. Calvin now recurred to his original plan of making it a Manual for those who desired a cor 1 Vita Cal. Opp. Omn. Tom. I. at the beginning. 2 Scaligeriana secunda. The testimony of Bossuet, Hist. des Variations, is to the same amount. See Henry, I. 134, 135. |