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friend, Nicholas Cop, was elected rector of the Sorbonne, and had to deliver a sermon on the "Festival of All Saints'." Calvin offered to compose the sermon for him-the offer was accepted. When the day arrived, all the orthodox catholics were assembled; Cop ascended the rostrum, and delivered Calvin's sermon, which insisted on the doctrine of Justification by Faith, and referred to the Bible as the sole standard of religious truth. The sermon created quite a consternation. The Parliament of Paris sent their officers to apprehend Cop; but Cop was one of those prudent men who foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself-he was not to be found. It now oozed out that the sermon was Calvin's. The police went to his lodging, but he had got an inkling of their approach, and believing that "discretion was the better part of valour," he thought it most prudent to follow Cop's example. It is said that he was let down from his window by means of his sheets, and escaped in the habit of a vinedresser. A severe persecution now broke out in Paris, and in other parts of France; many were imprisoned, and others were put to death. And Calvin thought it to be the safest and best course to leave his native country. For some time he wandered about, visiting various places, and passing by several fictitious names, and at length settled in Basle. At this place he became acquainted with some of the leading German Reformers; it was here too that he finished the first edition of his celebrated Institutes, which in one of the most eloquent compositions ever penned, he dedicated to Francis the First in 1535,* In the beginning of the following year, he set out for Italy, travelling as usual under a fictitious name. He did not remain there many months, and when returning from Italy to Strasburg, he was compelled to take a circuitous ron through Savoy and Geneva, and entering decided the whole character of his after "

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It was late in the summer of 1536 when he arrived, and took up his abode at the house of Viret, a devoted protestant minister. Farel, another earnest minister, who, by his great eloquence, had made many converts in France, heard of Calvin's arrival, and immediately visited him, and explained the great need there was for some such man in Geneva. He told him that the fields were white for harvest,—that his own strength was failing, and his colleagues were feeble, and implored him to stay with them. But Calvin excused himself. At that time he had a strong repugnance to a public life. His constitution was naturally delicate; his health was already broken by hard study, and he did not feel strong enough to take the helm in such stormy and dangerous seas. He therefore refused Farel's request, stating, that he had fully determined to devote his life to retirement and study. But Farel, with a true instinct, perceived the great talents of the young man, and his adaptation to the work in Geneva, and said unto him, "I perceive what it is, you are wrapt up in a selfish love of leisure and books." And then assuming the air of a prophet, he solemnly threatened him with God's curse upon all his undertakings, if he refused to help them in so pressing a crisis. Calvin was so alarmed and shaken by this denunciation, that he abandoned his projected journey. "It was," he said, "as if God had seized him by His awful hand from heaven." Having now resolved to join Farel in the work of carrying on the reformation in Geneva, he was chosen one of the preachers, and nominated "Teacher in Theology." To rightly set forth Calvin's work, and understand the secret of his great influence, it will be necessary to say a word or two about Geneva. Geneva then was nominally one of the free cities of the empire, but practically it was under the sovereignty of its own prince bishop. And in the beginning of the sixteenth century, the bishop had delegated his temporal jurisdiction to the Duke of Savoy. The citizens, to a large extent, governed themselves: they regulated

the police of the town and the markets; they levied taxes, and elected their magistrates; in fact, it was practically a little republic. But in the year 1504, when Charles the Third succeeded to the ducal coronet of Savoy, a death-struggle ensued between him, as the representative of the prince, bishop, and the burgesses of the city. This quarrel lasted twenty yearsmuch blood was spilt-and it terminated in the Genevese renouncing the authority of the prince bishop, and placing the supreme power in a board of magistrates.

Such then was the state of things in Geneva, when Farel insisted that Calvin should proceed no further on his journey, but tarry there and help him in his great work. And now Calvin's troubles fairly begin. In conjunction with Farel, he drew out a doctrinal confession of faith in twenty-one articles, which they persuaded the people to adopt without much difficulty.. They then proceeded to reform the life and manners of the people, but this they found far more difficult. They laid down a great number of laws, interfering with people's dress, and food, and amusements, and nearly all the concerns of private life. There was to be no dancing, neither in public rooms nor private houses. Plays and cards were absolutely prohibited. A man who was caught playing cards was put in the pillory with his pack of cards about his neck. Marriage was to be observed with as little show as possible. On one occasion, a dressmaker was arrested in open day, because she had adorned a bride in too much finery; and the mother and two bridesmaids were subjected to the same punishment for having assisted in dressing. the bride, and accompanying her to church. The citizens were strictly enjoined to attend the sermons; and every night they were all required to be home by nine o'clock. Of course a stern discipline like this was sure to press heavily upon many. A spirit of opposition was soon evoked. Those who were quite willing to join Calvin in calling the Pope Anti-Christ

were very unwilling to be home always by nine o'clock in the evening. The patriots, who, a few years before, had drawn their swords on behalf of liberty, said that the new despotism was as bad as the old, and they became very restive under Calvin's bridle. His endless, petty restrictions irritated their temper, and mutterings of deep discontent were heard. When the engineer tightly screws down his valves, there is sure to be an explosion before long. And this Calvin had done. Every day it grew more manifest that the two parties must soon try their strength. And at length it came to wager of battle between them. It was, as usual, about a very simple thing. If disease be in the system, a very slight cause will manifest it. In Bazantium, a jealousy between the blue and green charioteers in the theatre produced a civil war. In Verona, Capulet's servant, Samson, has only to bite his thumb at Montague's servant, Abram, and presently the whole city is in a ferment. And so in Geneva; the exciting cause of the quarrel was, whether the church should use leavened or unleavened bread at the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. The church at Berne advised the church at Geneva to use unleavened bread, and to observe certain festivals. The council at Geneva approved of this advice, but Calvin did not approve of it (indeed, he was never the man to receive much advice.) However, the council ordered Calvin to comply, but he firmly refused. He did not care a fig whether the bread was leavened or unleavened, but he cared a great deal about preserving his own authority intact; and he refused to recognise the council in matters pertaining to the discipline of the church, except that they were bound to carry out the church's decision. As the Communion Sunday drew near, the excitement of the people was great, for everyone that the real quarrel was not about the unleavened wafer, but it was whether Calvin and Farel should rule the city after the stern fashion which then prevailed. When Easter Sunday came, both Calvin and Farel

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preached on the communion; and at the conclusion of their sermons, announced their determination, not only not to use unleavened bread, but they refused to administer the sacrament at all, in the present excited state of the people. On Monday morning the council met, and decreed that Calvin and Farel should be banished. They were commanded to leave the city in forty-eight hours. When informed of the decree, Calvin said, Well, it is better to serve God than man," and at once prepared to depart. After wandering about for some time, he took up his residence at Strasburg, and became the pastor of a congregation of persecuted French refugees. While here, he also employed himself in preparing the second edition of his institutes, in writing his famous commentary on the epistle to the Romans, and in manifold ways-which we have not space to notice-was of great service to the protestant cause. But his writing of books and pamphlets, his preaching, teaching, and lecturing, brought him very little pecuniary reward. He was very poor; and it is exceedingly touching to read his letters to Farel, giving him instructions to sell his library, in order that his daily wants might be supplied. However, amid all his labours and difficulties, he has come to the sound conclusion that it is not good for man to live alone, and that it is high time he had a wife. And one is naturally curious to know what sort of a lover a stern man like Calvin will make. We should never expect him to be fascinated by a beautiful face or a handsome figure. Nothing of the sort. We little people might perhaps be touched with these small matters, but Calvin lived in a far higher region. Hence he committed the matter into the hands of his friends. He gives them certain general instructions, such as he might have done if they were buying him a horse; and he has no doubt but their sound judgment will bring the matter to a successful issue. Writing to Farel (on the 19th of May, 1539), he says "I will now speak more plainly about

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