C A L 



271 



C A L 



Calvary, 



Foucques is navigable from Lisieux to the set ; and 

 the Dive from St Pierre to the sea. The Seull forms 

 at its embouchure the small !; rh, ur of Caerreule, 

 where the oysters of Cancale are brought to be en- 

 closed. The principal towns are Caen, Falaise, 

 Lisieux, Bayeux, Viae, Pont L'Evcque, each of 

 which ii the capital of a communal district. The 

 superficies of this department is 5700 square kilome- 

 ters, or 375 square leagues, of 2000 toises. The fo- 

 rests contain 36 or 37 Hectares, about 70,000 arpens, 

 one half of which belong to the nation. Contribu- 

 tions for the year 1 803, 6,348,465 francs. Popula- 

 tion 506,000. (o) 



CALVARY. See JERUSALEM. 



CALVIN, or CAUVIN, (JOHN,) the celebrated re- 

 former, was born at Noyon, in Picardy, on the 10th 

 of July 1509. His father's name was Gerard Cal- 

 vin, and his mother's Joanna Franca ; persons of re- 

 spectable character, but by no means in affluent cir- 

 cumstances. From his earliest years he lived in the 

 family of Montmor, which was of some distinction 

 in the country, and received there, though at his fa- 

 ther's expence, a very liberal education. He then 

 accompanied the children of that family to the col- 

 lege of La Marche, in Paris, and studied under 

 Marturin Cordery, a man of equal probity and learn- 

 ing, and celebrated throughout France as a teacher 

 of youth. Leaving the college of La Marche, he 

 went to that of Montaign, where, under the tuition 

 of a learned Spaniard, he made the most rapid pro- 

 gress in the elements of literature. Outstripping all 

 his companions, he advanced quickly from the study 

 of the languages to dialectics and philosophy. His 

 father having always observed in him an uncommon 

 degree of piety and moral virtue, concluded that he 

 should be consulting the young man's inclinations, 

 by devoting him to the sacred office ; and according- 

 ly he procured for him (in 1521,) from the bishop 

 of Noyon, the Chapel de la Gesirie, in that city. Jn 

 1527 he obtained the curacy of Marteville ; and 

 two years after he exchanged it for that of Pont 

 L'Eveque. There he preached several times, though he 

 had not received any regular ordination, nor was any 

 farther an ecclesiastic than by simple tonsure. But 

 it was not long till Calvin's views, as well as those of 

 the father, completely changed with respect to the 

 profession which he had adopted. Having acquired 

 some correct notions of Christianity, from the instruc- 

 tions of his relation, Robert Olivetan, and from a 

 careful perusal of the scriptures, he became disgusted 

 with the superstitions of Popery, and had actually 

 begun to withdraw himself from the Romish com- 

 munion. Gerard, too, finding that to remain in the 

 church was not the most likely way of advancing the 

 worldly interests of his son, was perfectly willing that 

 he should abandon the church, and betake himself 

 to a more profitable line of life. The study of the 

 law was fixed on as a department in which Calvin 

 himself expected at least to enjoy greater liberty of 

 conscience ; and which his father regarded as one 

 that would be productive to his favourite child both 

 of opulence and fame. In pursuance of this design, 

 he went to Orleans, where the civil law was taught 

 by Pierre de 1'Etoile, the greatest of the French ci- 

 vilians, and afterwards president of the parliament of 



Paris. There he made such great and rapid pro- 

 ficiency, that he very often supplied the place ofthe 

 professors iu their absence 5 and they ananimouily and 

 gratuitously offered him, when he wa leaving the 

 university, a doctor's degree, as a jutt tribute to hi 

 superior talents hi* great diligence, and his high at- 

 tainmentiin legal science. Although, however, he ap- 

 plied chiefly to law, he did not neglect the study of 

 theology. And so much was he respected on ac- 

 count of his acquaintance with that subject, that all 

 those in Orleans who were desirous to know any 

 thing of the pure doctrines of religion, had frequent 

 recourse to him for information ; and on these occa- 

 sions they had equal reason to admire hit erudition 

 and his zeal. At this period of hit life he wa a re- 

 markably severe student. So incessant and laborious 

 was his application, that while it greatly improved 

 his intellectual powers, and provided him with a rich 

 fund of knowledge, it also induced that weakness in 

 his stomach whi :h was afterwards the source of 

 much distress to him, and at length shortened his 

 days. From Orleans he went to Bourges, and there 

 prosecuted his professional studies, under Andre" Al- 

 ciati, one of the most noted civilians of his age. At 

 Bourges, he contracted an intimate friendship with 

 Melchior Wolmar, professor of Greek, a man dis- 

 tinguished for his personal worth, and his skill in 

 teaching. With his assistance Calvin acquired the 

 Greek language, a benefit which he always recollect- 

 ed with pleasure, and for which he afterwards testi- 

 fied hia gratitude, by dedicating to Wolmar his Com- 

 mentary on the 2(1 Epist. to the Corinthian*. Amidst 

 all his other pursuits, Calvin still persevered in sacred 

 study, and sometimes preached in Ligneres, a small 

 town in Berri, with the permission and in the presence 

 of the governor of that district. 



The sudden death of his father called him back to 

 Noyon, where, however, he remained but for a short 

 time. He went to Paris in 1533, being then 23 years 

 of age, and wrote a commentary ou Seneca's book De 

 dementia. It was in the title page of this work 

 that he first took the surname of Calvin, instead of 

 Cauvin, which it had hitherto been ; a circumstance 

 which his enemies have weakly and maliciously per- 

 verted to his prejudice, and of which, if an explana- 

 tion be thought necessary, a sufficient explanation 

 may be found in the Dcfntse de Calvin par Drelin- 

 court. He soon became known to all the friends of 

 true religion, among whom was one Enienne de la 

 Forge, a celebrated merchant, who was afterwards 

 burned for his attachment to the gospel, and of whom 

 Calvin makes honourable mention in his Treatise 

 against the libertines. While at Paris he formed the 

 resolution, which he immediately carried into effect, 

 to the unspeakable satisfaction of the reformed in 

 that city, of abandoning every secular pursuit, and 

 consecrating himself to the service of God. He had 

 scarcely entered on his new course, when he was sub- 

 jected to severe trial. Nicholas Cop, rertor of the 

 university of Paris, having delivered a speech which 

 gave great offence to the Sorbonne and the parliament, 

 was summoned to appear before them, and answer 

 for his conduct ; but by the advice of his friends, he 

 declined compliance, and left the kingdom. Calvin, 

 who was au intimate friend of Cop's, and known to> 



r v-u 



