Читать книгу History of the Reformation in Europe in the Time of Calvin (Vol. 1-8) - J. H. Merle D'Aubigné - Страница 82

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THE Wurtemberg affair being ended, Du Bellay thought of nothing but his great plan; that is, a Reformation according to the ideas of the Queen of Navarre—the combination of catholicism and truth by the union of France and Germany. They were not the only persons who entertained such thoughts: Roussel, Bucer, and many other evangelical christians asked themselves whether the great success obtained in Germany would not decide the reformation of France. Intercourse was much increased between the two countries. Frenchmen and Germans were continually crossing and recrossing the Rhine.

=A WITTEMBERG STUDENT.=

In the month of July 1534, the Queen of Navarre was in one of the chambers of her palace: before her stood a bashful timid young man, and she had a letter in her hand which she appeared to be reading with the liveliest interest. The young man was a native of Nîmes, Claude Baduel by name. He had just come from Wittemberg, where he had found, at the feet of Melanchthon and Luther, the knowledge of the Saviour. He was not an ordinary student. Of reserved manners,612 generous heart, rare disinterestedness, and great firmness in the faith, he had at the same time a highly cultivated mind. He spoke Latin not only with purity, but with great elegance, and his discourses were as full of matter as of harmony.613

Like many other young scholars, Baduel was very poor, not having the means of studying and scarcely of living. Often during his residence at Wittemberg, he found himself in his little room reduced to the last extremity. He had uttered many a groan, and had prayed to that heavenly Father who feedeth the birds of the air. As the moment of his departure approached, his distress had increased. How could he perform the journey? What would become of him in France? He had asked himself with sorrow whether he ought not to abandon letters and devote himself to some manual labour. On a sudden, he conceived the idea of applying to the Queen of Navarre; and going to Melanchthon, he said to him: 'Ill fortune compels me to forsake the liberal arts for vulgar occupations, which my nature and my will abhor with equal energy.614 In vain have I zealously devoted myself to the study of Holy Scripture and of eloquence; in vain have I ardently desired to make further progress; a cruel enemy—poverty—lays its barbarous hands upon me, and compels me to renounce a vocation which transported me with joy.615 Yet I am determined to make a last and supreme attempt. The Queen of Navarre is a sort of providence, almost a divinity for the friends of letters and of the arts.616 ... Pray, dear master, give me a letter to her.'

Melanchthon, grieved at the destitute condition of a young man whose fine understanding he appreciated, did not hesitate to accede to his request. In those days there was less etiquette and formality and more familiarity between princes and the friends of letters than there has been since. On the 13th of June, 1534, a month after the battle of Laufen, the master of Germany wrote to the sister of Francis, to introduce the scholar to her. It was this letter which Baduel had delivered to the queen, and which she, delighted at entering into direct communication with Melanchthon, was reading with the greatest interest.

'It is certainly a great boldness,' wrote the illustrious reformer, 'for a man like me, of low condition and unknown to your highness,617 to dare recommend a friend to you; but the reputation of your eminent piety, spread through all the world,618 does not permit me to refuse an upright and learned man the service he begs of me. The liberal arts can never be supported except by the generosity of princes.' Melanchthon ended by saying: 'Never will alms more royal or more useful have been bestowed. The Church, scattered over the world, has long counted your highness among the number of those queens whom the prophet Isaiah calls the nursing mothers of the people of God, and will take care to hand down the remembrance of your kindnesses to the most distant generations.'619 But the student, that living message of the reformers, interested Margaret no less than the letter itself. Baduel had seen and heard them, in their homes, in the street, and in the pulpit. 'Talk to me,' she said with that amiable grace which distinguished her, 'talk to me about Melanchthon and Luther; tell me how they teach and how they live, what are their relations with their pupils, and what they think of France.' Margaret desired to know everything. She questioned him on several points, a knowledge of which might be useful for the projects she had conceived in conjunction with Du Bellay.

=MARGARET'S PATRONAGE.=

The queen did not forget the young man himself: observing the beauty of his mind, the liveliness of his faith, and the elevation of his soul, she thought that to protect Baduel was to prepare a chosen instrument to propagate evangelical principles in France. Thanks to her care, the young man, recommended by Melanchthon, became erelong a professor at Paris. Subsequently, when a college of arts was founded at Nîmes, the youthful doctor resolved to sacrifice the advantageous post he held in the capital to devote his services to the city of his birth. The queen recommended him to the consuls of that city for rector of their new institution. 'I provided for his studies,' she told them. But persecution did not allow Baduel to serve France unto the end; he was obliged to take refuge at Geneva, where he became professor in the academy founded by Calvin.620

=THE MISSION OF CHELIUS=

The communications of the young man of Nîmes strengthened Margaret, the king, and Du Bellay in their plans, and Francis resolved to send across the Rhine a confidential person, empowered to ask the doctors of the Reformation for a sketch of the means best suited to found an evangelical catholicism in Europe. It was not Baduel whom Du Bellay selected for this mission: he was too young. The diplomatist cast his eyes on Ulric Chelius, a doctor of medicine and native of Augsburg, at that time living at Strasburg, a great friend of Sturm and Bucer, and more than once employed by the King of France in various negotiations. Intelligent, active, and animated like Bucer with the double desire of reforming and at the same time of uniting christendom, Chelius was well suited for such a work. Although a German, and consequently knowing Germany thoroughly, he had all the promptitude of a Frenchman; and the circumstance that he was not of exalted rank rendered him fitter still for entering into negotiations that were to be carried on secretly. He left Strasburg and arrived at Wittemberg in July 1534.

Melanchthon was at that time greatly agitated. The divisions which separated catholicism from reform, and the quarrels between the Zwinglians and the Lutherans, filled him with anguish. He often stole away from that crowd of every age, condition, and country which continually filled his house, eager to see him.621 His wife's anxious heart was wrung when she saw her husband's sadness, and even the children could scarcely cheer him by their innocent smiles. The future alarmed him.... 'What sad times are hanging over us,' he exclaimed, 'unless there be somebody to remedy the existing disorders!... We are moving to our destruction.... They will have recourse to arms ... and State and Church will perish!'622

As soon as Chelius reached Wittemberg, he called upon Melanchthon. 'King Francis,' he said, 'desires truth and unity. In almost every particular he is in accord with you, and approves of your book of Common-places.623 I am authorised to ask you for a plan to put an end to the religious dissensions which disturb christendom; and I can assure you that the King of France is doing, and will do, all he can with the pope to procure harmony and peace.'624 Nothing was better adapted to captivate Melanchthon. At this period the moderates had not yet renounced the idea of preserving external unity; they desired to maintain catholicity: even Melanchthon saw no other safety for divided and agitated christendom. Accordingly, never had message arrived at a more suitable time. Chelius was to him like an angel come from heaven; a beam of joy lighted up the great doctor's clouded brow. He went to see Luther, and conversed with him and other friends about the proposals of the King of France. 'If a few good and learned men,' said he, 'brought together by certain sovereigns, were to confer freely and amicably together, it would be easy, believe me, to come to an understanding with each other.625 Ignorant men know nothing about the matter, and make the evil greater than it is.'626

=DIFFERENT OPINIONS ON THE UNION.=

Melanchthon thought that he could unite catholics and protestants. We must not be surprised at it, for in our days very estimable, though not very clear-sighted men, entertain the same idea. Truth was dear to the doctor of Germany, but concord, unity, and catholicity were not less so. The Church, according to Melanchthon and his friends, ought to be universal; for redemption is appointed for all men, and all have need of it. The Church ought therefore to strive to unite all the children of Adam in communion with God, on the foundation of Christ, the only Redeemer. It possesses a power which can embrace all humankind and keep all differences in subjection. Such were the thoughts by which Melanchthon was inspired: if there were any sacrifices to be made to preserve the catholicity of the Church, he would gladly make them; he would recognise the bishops, and even the head of the bishops, rather than destroy unity. 'There is no question of abolishing the government of the Church,' he said; 'the chief men among us ardently desire that the received forms should be preserved as much as possible.'627 Luther's friend took the matter so much to heart that he began to address Du Bellay personally: 'I entreat you,' he said, 'to prevail upon the great monarchs to establish a concord which shall be consistent with piety.628 The dangers which threaten us are such that so great a man as you ought not to be wanting in the cause of the State and of the Church.... But what am I doing?... What need to urge you to walk who are running already?'629 Catholicity and truth: such was the device graven on the arms borne by the champions who, under the auspices of the King of France, were to appear between the two camps of Rome and the Reformation.

Melanchthon busied himself with sketching the plan of the new Church, which, with God's help and the support of the great monarchs (Francis I., Henry VIII., and probably Charles V.), was to become the Church of modern times. It might be eventually one of the most important labours ever undertaken by man. Not only the politicians, but all pious, loving, and perhaps feeble hearts, who feared controversy more than anything, ardently hoped for the success of this heroic attempt. The chief men, said Melanchthon, shared his opinion and encouraged his projects. Yet there were simple, earnest, christian men, with minds determined to set truth above everything, who saw with uneasiness these theologico-diplomatic negotiations. Neither Farel, nor Calvin, nor probably Luther, was among those who rallied round the standard raised by Du Bellay and grasped by Melanchthon.

That pious man, however, was far from wishing to sacrifice the truth. 'I am quite of your opinion,' said he to Bucer, 'that there can be no agreement between us and the Bishop of Rome.630 But, to satisfy the worthy men who are endeavouring to bring this great matter to a happy issue, I shall lay down what ought to be the essential points of agreement.' Melanchthon then believed, and many evangelical christians in France, and particularly in Germany, believed also, that if a reform, though incomplete, were once established, the power of truth would soon bring about a complete reform. He therefore finished his sketch and gave it to Chelius.

=NOTES OF THE THREE DOCTORS.=

The latter, imagining that he held the salvation of the Church in his hands, hastened to Strasburg to communicate Melanchthon's project to his friends. On arriving at Bucer's house (17th of August), he found him writing his answer to the Catholic Axiom of the Bishop of Avranches, a great enemy of protestantism. Bucer put aside his own papers and took those of the Wittemberg doctor, which he was impatient to see. He read them eagerly over and over again. 'Really there is nothing here to offend anybody,' he said, 'if people have the least idea of what the reign of Christ means. But, my dear Chelius,' he added, 'a union is possible only among those who truly believe in Christ. That there should be a superior authority, well and good! but it must be a holy authority in order that every man may obey it with a good conscience.631 If we are to unite, all additions must be cut away, and we must return simply to the doctrine of Scripture and of the Fathers.'

Chelius desired Bucer to give him his opinion in writing. The reformer hastily drew up a memoir, which, being approved by his colleagues, he handed to his friend on the 27th of August.632 Francis's agent had fixed that day for his departure; but at the last moment he changed his mind, and remained twenty-four hours longer in Strasburg. There was another doctor in that city, a meek, pious, and firm man, an old friend of Zwingle's:633 it was Hedio, and Chelius asked him for his opinion also. Then, taking with him the memoirs of the three doctors, he started without delay for Paris, convinced that catholicity and truth were about to be saved.

On reaching the capital Chelius gave the papers to William du Bellay, who immediately laid them before the king. The latter ordered that the Bishop of Paris and certain of the nobles, men of letters, and ecclesiastics, who desired to see a united but reformed Church, should have these documents communicated to them. The arrival of this ultimatum of the Reformation was an event of great importance; and accordingly the memoirs of the three doctors were anxiously perused at the Louvre, in the bishop's palace, and in other houses of the capital. Perhaps history has made a mistake in taking so little note of this. Three of the reformers, with England, Francis I., and some of the most eminent men of the epoch, demanded one only catholic but reformed Church. A great evangelical unity seemed on the point of being realised. Shall we not set forth in some detail a proposal of such high interest? There are individuals, we are aware, who are always looking for facts and sensations, never troubling themselves about principles and doctrines; but the wise, on the contrary, know that the world is moved by ideas, and, whatever may be the objections of curious minds, history must perform her task, and give to opinions the place that belongs to them.

At this time several meetings of an extraordinary kind were held at the Louvre, and upon them, as some thought, the future of christendom depended. The opinions of Melanchthon, Bucer, and Hedio, demanded by the king, brought by Chelius, and laid before the monarch by Du Bellay, were in his majesty's closet. The walls of the Louvre, which had witnessed such levity of morals, and which hereafter were to witness so many crimes, heard those holy truths explained in which everlasting life is to be found. Around the table on which these documents lay, there were politicians no doubt who in this investigation looked only to temporal advantages, and Francis was at their head; but there were also serious men who desired for the new Church both unity and reform. We will let the reformers speak. They were not present in person, it will be understood, before the King of France; it is their written advice which he had asked for, and which was probably read by one of the Du Bellays. But, for brevity's sake, we shall designate these memoirs by the names of their authors, since it is the authors themselves who speak, and not the historian.

=THE PROPOSALS EXAMINED.=

Francis I., eager both to emancipate France from its subordination to the papacy, and to form in Europe a great united party capable of vanquishing and thwarting Austria, listened with goodwill to Melanchthon and his friends; yet he found the language of the reformers a little more severe and heretical than he had imagined. Some of the persons around him were pleased; some were astonished, and others were scandalised, and not without reason. To place the moderate Melanchthon by the side of the pacific Bishop of Paris, well and good! but to hope to unite the unyielding Luther and the fiery Beda, the pious elector and the worldly Francis ... what a strange undertaking! Let us listen, however; for these personages have taken their seats, and the inquiry is about to begin.634