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THE bishop was about to have enemies more formidable than the duke and the League. The Reformation was approaching. There is a characteristic trait in the history of Geneva; the several surrounding countries were by turns to scatter the seeds of life in that city; in it was to be heard a concert of voices from France, Italy, and German Switzerland. It was the last of these that began.

=LAYMEN AND CLERGY.=

At the time when treason was expelled from the city in the person of Cartelier, the Gospel entered it in that of an honest Helvetian, one of the Bernese and Friburg deputies who went there in 1527 about the affairs of the alliance concluded in 1526. Friburg would not have permitted a heretic preacher to accompany the deputation; even Berne would not have desired it just yet; but one of the Bernese ambassadors, a pious layman, who was coming to give a valuable support to national independence, was to call the Genevese to spiritual liberty. The lay members of the Church occupied in the time of the apostles, as is well known, a marked station in the religious community;712 but by degrees the dominion of the clergy had been substituted for evangelical liberty. One of the principal causes of this revolution was the inferiority of the laity; for many centuries ecclesiastics were the only educated men. But if this state of things should change, if the laity should attain to more knowledge and more energy than the clergy, a new revolution would be effected in an opposite direction. And this is really what happened in the sixteenth century. The christian layman who then arrived at Geneva was Thomas ab Hofen, a friend of Zwingle, whom we have already mentioned.713 In the year 1524 he had declared at Berne in favour of the Reformation. The Zurich doctor, hearing of his departure for the shores of Lake Leman, was rejoiced, for the piercing eye of his faith had fancied it could perceive a ray of evangelical light breaking over those distant hills. He desired that the Genevans, now united to Switzerland, should find in her not only liberty but truth. 'Undoubtedly,' wrote Zwingle to the excellent Bernese, 'undoubtedly this mission may be of extraordinary advantage to the citizens of Geneva, who have been so recently received into alliance with the cantons.'714

Ab Hofen did not go to Geneva with the intention of reforming it; his mission was diplomatic; but he was one of that 'chosen generation' of whom St. Peter speaks—one of those christians who are always ready to 'show forth the praises of Him who has called them to his marvellous light.'715 As he entered the city, he said to himself that he would do with earnestness whatever work God might set before him, as his Zurich friend had prayed him. Simple-minded, moderate, and sensitive, Ab Hofen placed the kingdom of heaven above the things of the earth; but he was subject to fits of melancholy, which occasionally made him faint-hearted. When he arrived at Geneva, he visited many citizens, attended the churches and the meetings of the people, and, having reflected upon everything, he thought to himself that there was much patriotism in the city, but unfortunately little christianity, and that religion was the weak side of Genevan emancipation. He was distressed, for he had expected better things. With a heart overflowing with sorrow he returned to his inn (17th of January, 1527), and feeling the necessity of unburdening himself on the bosom of a friend, he sat down and wrote to the great reformer of Zurich: 'The number of those who confess the doctrine of the Gospel must be increased.'716 There were, therefore, at this time in Geneva christians who confessed salvation by Jesus Christ, and not by the ceremonies of the Church; but their number was not large.

=AB HOFEN'S CHRISTIAN CONVERSATION.=

Ab Hofen determined to do his best to remedy this evil. He had a loving heart and practical mind, and with indefatigable zeal took advantage of every moment of leisure spared him by his official duties. As soon, therefore, as a conference with the Genevan magistrates was ended, or a despatch to the Bernese government finished, he laid aside his diplomatic character and began to visit the citizens, conversing with them, and telling them of what was going on at Zurich and preparing at Berne. Being received into the families of some of the principal huguenots, and seated with them round the hearth, at the severest portion of the year (January 1527), he spoke to them of the Word of God, of its authority, superior (he said) to the pope's, and of the salvation which it proclaimed. He taught them that in the Gospel God gives man full remission of his sins. These doctrines, unknown for so many ages, and subversive of the legal and ceremonial religion of Rome, were heard at Geneva with astonishment and pleasure.

At first the priests received the evangelist magistrate rather favourably. The rank which he bore made him honourable in their eyes; and he, far from being rude towards them, like certain huguenots, was amiable and sympathising. Some ecclesiastics, believing him to belong to their coterie, because he spoke of religion, did not conceal their uneasiness from him, and described to him, very innocently, the fine times when presents of bread, wine, oil, game, and tapers were plentiful in their kitchen, and when they used to say, with a gracious tone, to the believers who brought these donations in white napkins: Centuplum accipietis et vitam æternam possidebitis.717 Then they added, with loud complaints: 'Alas! the faithful bring us no more offerings, and people do not run so ardently after indulgences as they used to do.'718

The Bernese envoy, inwardly delighted at these candid avowals, which he did not fail to transmit to Zwingle, apparently avoided all controversy, and continued to announce the simple Gospel. The citizens listened to him; they sought his company, and invited him to take a seat in their family circle, or in some huguenot assembly, and to speak of the noble things that were doing at Zurich. These successes encouraged him: his eyes sparkled, he accosted the citizens freely, and his words flowed copiously from his lips. 'I will not cease proclaiming the Gospel,' he wrote to Zwingle; 'all my strength shall be devoted to it.'719 Erelong the well-disposed men who had gathered round him were joined by other citizens, exclusively friends of liberty; they listened to him with interest; but when he began to blame certain excesses, and to require certain moral reforms, he met with coldness and even determined opposition from them, and they turned their backs on him. Ab Hofen, although a man of zeal and piety, did not possess the faith which moves mountains; he returned dispirited to his inn, shut himself up in his room, and, heaving deep sighs, wrote all his trouble to Zwingle. The latter, who possessed a sure glance, saw that the opportunity was unique. To establish the Reformation at the two extremities of Switzerland, at Zurich and Geneva, appeared to him a most important work. Would not these two arms, as they drew together, drag all Switzerland with them, especially if the powerful Berne lent its support in the centre? But he knew Ab Hofen, and fearing his dejection, he wrote to him: 'Take care that the work so well begun is not stopped. While transacting the business of the republic, do not neglect the business of Jesus Christ.720 You will deserve well of the citizens of Geneva if you put in order not only their laws and their rights, but their souls also.721 Now what can put the soul in order except it be the Word and the teaching of Him who created the soul?'722

=ZWINGLE ENCOURAGES AB HOFEN.=

Zwingle went further than this, and, in order to revive Ab Hofen's fainting heart, made use of an argument to which the politician could not be insensible. The reformer of Zurich was the friend of liberty as well as of the Gospel, and he believed that a people could be governed in only one of two ways: either by the Bible or by the sword, by the fear of God or by the fear of man. In his opinion Geneva could protect her independence against the attacks of Savoy, France, and all foreign powers, only by submitting to the King of heaven. 'O my dear Thomas,' he wrote to his friend, 'there is nothing I desire so much as to see the doctrine of the Gospel flourishing in that republic (Geneva). Wherever that doctrine triumphs, the boldness of tyrants is restrained.'723 At the same time, not wishing to offend the Bernese deputy, Zwingle added: 'If I write these things, it is not to awaken one who sleeps, but to encourage one who runs.'724 He ended his letter with a fraternal salutation to the evangelical christians of Geneva: 'Salute them all in my name,' he said.

Ab Hofen was not insensible to this appeal; if he was easily cast down, he was as easily lifted up. He therefore redoubled his zeal, and pressed Geneva to imitate Zurich and Berne; but he perceived that his evangelical exertions were appreciated by a very small number only, and regarded with coldness, and even with displeasure and contempt, by the majority of politicians. Citizens, who had at first given him the warmest welcome, scarcely saluted him when he met them, and if he went to any meeting his presence put a restraint upon the whole assembly. He soon encountered opposition of a more hostile nature; the priests eyed him angrily, and the confidence which some ecclesiastics had placed in him was succeeded by a violent hatred. The clergy proclaimed a general crusade against heresy; the canons put themselves at the head of the opposition; priests and monks filled the streets, going from house to house, and bade the citizens be on their guard against the evangelical addresses of the Bernese envoy. They cried down, abused, and anathematised the doctrines he taught, and made war against the New Testament wherever they found it. They encouraged one another, and frightened the women especially. According to their representations, the city would be ruined if it listened to the heretical diplomatist.

=AB HOFEN'S INFLUENCE AND DEATH.=

Ab Hofen now fell into a state of discouragement more serious than the former. 'All my efforts are vain,' he wrote to Zwingle; 'there are about seven hundred clergymen in Geneva who do their utmost to prevent the Gospel from flourishing here.725 What can I do against such numbers? And yet a wide door is opened to the Word of God.... The priests do not preach; and as they are unable to do so, they are satisfied with saying mass in Latin.... Miserable nourishment for the poor people!... If any preachers were to come here, proclaiming Christ with boldness, the doctrine of the pope would, I am sure, be soon overthrown.'726

But such preachers did not appear. Convinced of his insufficiency, and continually repeating that true ministers, like Zwingle and Farel, were wanted in that city; finding that many of the Genevans desired to be liberated not only from the vexations of Savoy, the shuffling of the bishop, and the doctrines of the pope, but also from the laws of morality; struck with the evils he saw ready to burst upon Geneva, and which the Gospel alone could avert,—this simple-minded, pious, and sensitive man returned heartbroken to Berne. Had this disappointment any effect upon his health? We cannot say; but he died not long after, in the month of November, 'as a christian ought to die,' it was said. It was found after his departure that his exertions had not been useless, and that some Genevans at least had profited by his teaching: among their number were counted Besançon Hugues and Baudichon de la Maison-Neuve. Some astonishment may be felt at seeing these two names together, for they are those of the chiefs of two opposite parties; but there is nothing improbable about it, for Hugues must have been frequently brought into contact with Ab Hofen, and it is not impossible that he listened to his religious conversation. Hugues was a serious man; he was, moreover, a statesman, and must have desired to know something about the religious opinions which seemed at that time likely to be adopted by the whole confederation; but his policy consisted in maintaining the rights of the bishop-prince on one side, and those of the citizens on the other; as for his religion, he was a catholic, and we do not see that he changed in either of those relations. What he might have been, if he had been living at the time when the Reformation was carried through, no one can say. De la Maison-Neuve, on the contrary, was a decided huguenot, and certainly needed the Gospel to moderate the ardour of his character. William de la Mouille, the bishop's chamberlain and confidant, appears to have been the person who profited most by the teaching of the layman of Berne.

=SACK OF ROME.=

While the Gospel was entering Geneva, desolation was entering Rome. It is a singular circumstance, the meeting of these two cities in history: one so powerful and glorious, the other so small and obscure. That, however, is capable of explanation: the great things of the world have always come from great cities and great nations; but the great things of God have usually small beginnings. Conquerors must have treasures and armies; but evangelical christianity, which undertakes to change man, nations, and the whole human race, has need of the strength of God, and God affects little things. In the first century, he chose Jerusalem; in the middle ages, the Waldensian valleys; in the sixteenth century, Wittemberg and Geneva. 'God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty.'727

In the month of May (1527) a rumour of startling importance suddenly spread through the world: 'Rome has just been destroyed,' said the people, 'and there is no more pope.' The troops of Charles V. had taken and sacked the pontifical city, and if the pope was still alive, he was in concealment and almost in prison. The servants of the Church, who were terrified at first, soon recovered their breath, and directly their alarm was dissipated, avarice and covetousness took its place. In the presence of the ruins of that ancient city, its friends thought only of dividing its spoils. The Bishop of Geneva, in particular, found himself surrounded by petitioners, who sought to be collated to the benefices hitherto held by clergymen resident in Rome. 'They have all perished,' he was told; 'their benefices are vacant: give them to us.' The bishop granted everything; and he even conferred on himself (Bonivard tells us) the priory of St. Jean-lez-Genève, which belonged to a cardinal. Seldom had so many deaths made so many people happy.728

The sack of Rome had more important results for Geneva and the protestant nations. When they saw the ruin of that city, it appeared to them that the papacy had fallen with it. The huguenots never grew tired of listening to the wonderful news and of commenting upon it. Struck with the example set them by Charles V., they thought to themselves that 'if the emperor had set aside the bishop and prince of Rome, they might well abandon the prince and bishop of Geneva.' Their right to do so was far clearer. The pope-king had at least been elected at Rome, and in conformity with ancient custom; while the bishop-prince had not been elected at Geneva and by Genevans, in accordance with the ancient constitutions, but by a foreign and unlawful jurisdiction. The huguenots promised even to be more moderate than his catholic majesty. Finally, the acts which impelled them to turn Pierre de la Baume out of the city, were far more vexatious in their eyes than those which had induced Charles to expel Clement VII. from Rome. 'Are we not much more oppressed by ecclesiastical tyranny,' they said, 'than by secular tyranny? Are we not forced to pay, always to pay, and is it not our money that makes the bishop's pot boil?'729 Further, the shameful conduct of many of the ecclesiastics seemed to them a sufficient motive for putting an end to their rule.

A scandal which occurred just at this time increased the desire felt by certain huguenots to withdraw themselves from the government of the monks and priests. On the 10th of May, certain inhabitants of St. Leger appeared before the council. For some time past their sleep had been disturbed by noises and shouting, in which the cordeliers, jacobins, and other friars were concerned; and they desired to put an end to it. 'Some disorderly women have settled in our quarter,' they told the council, 'and certain monks frequent their houses.'730 ... 'If you observe the monks going there at night-time,' replied the council, 'give information to the syndics and the captain-general. The watch will immediately go and take them.' The citizens withdrew half satisfied with the answer, but fully determined to call the watch as soon as the disorder was renewed.

=UNION OF FAITH AND MORALITY.=

These scandals—an acknowledged thing at Rome—greatly exasperated the citizens of Geneva, and made the better disposed long for a reformation of faith and morals. They said that soldiers use their arms as their officers command them: that the monks and priests (they should have said all christians) ought also to use their lives as their chief orders them; and that if they make a contrary use of them, they enlist under the standard of vice and avow themselves its soldiers. The worthy citizens of Geneva could not make that separation between religion and morality, of which the greater part of the clergy set the example. In proportion as the Reformation made progress in the world, the opposition increased against a piety which consisted only in certain formulas, ceremonies, and practices, but was deprived of its true substance—living faith, sanctification, morality, and christian works. Christianity, by the separation which Rome had made between doctrines and morals, had become like one of those spoilt and useless tools that are thrown aside because they can no longer serve in the operations for which they were made. The reformers, by calling for a living, holy, active faith, were again to make christianity in modern times a powerful engine of light and morality, of liberty and life.

712 Acts i. 15; vi. 5; xv.

713 See above, vol. i. p. 371.

714 'Nunc vero cum te Gebennæ reipublicæ gratia abesse constat ... reficiemur. Utilitatem autem non vulgarem recens factis civibus per te comparari.'—Zwingle to Thomas ab Hofen, 4 Jan. 1527. Epp. ii. p. 9.

715 1 Peter ii. 9.

716 'Hic Genevæ numerus Evangelii doctrinam confitentium augeri incipiat.'—Ab Hofen to Zwingle, January 17, 1527. Zwinglii Epp. ii. p. 15.

717 'You shall receive a hundredfold, and shall possess everlasting life.'

718 'Clerici queruntur homines neque amplius sacra dona præbere velle, neque tam vehementer ad indulgentias currere.'—Ab Hofen to Zwingle. Zwinglii Epp. ii. p. 16.

719 'Quousque meæ vires valeant, in ea re nequaquam me defecturum esse.'—Ab Hofen to Zwingle. Zwinglii Epp. ii. p. 15.

720 'In mediis reipublicæ negotiis, Christi negotiorum minime sis negligens.'—Zwinglii Epp. ii. p. 9.

721 'Optime de Gebennæ civibus merebere, si non tantum leges eorum ac jura, quantum animos componas.'—Ibid. p. 10.

722 'Animos autem quid melius componet, quam ejus sermo atque doctrina qui animos ipse formavit?'—Ibid.

723 'Hæ enim ubi crescunt, tyrannorum audacia coerceretur.'—Ibid.

724 'Non quasi torpentem sim expergefacturus; sed currentem adhortor.'—Zwinglii Epp. ii. p. 10.

725 'In hac urbe clerici sunt ad 700, qui manibus pedibusque impediunt, quominus Evangelii doctrina efflorescat.'—Zwinglii Epp. ii. p. 10.

726 'Si prædicatores haberent, fore puto ut pontificia doctrina labefactetur.'—Ibid.

727 1 Cor. i. 27.

728 Bonivard, Chroniq. ii. p. 461.

729 'Ne sont-ce pas nos écus qui font bouillir le pot de l'évêque?'

730 'Querelaverunt de putanis et certis religiosis qui ibidem affluunt.'—Registres du Conseil du 10 mai 1527.