CALVIN. 



C.ilvin. neva. On his arrival there in August l.*36, he found 

 that tin- reformed religion had made considerable pro- 

 gress, in consequence of the exertions of Farcl and 

 t. Having gone to pay his respects to them, 

 Farel most earnestly entreated him to remain in that 

 city, and to help them in the important work in 

 which they were engaged. And when Calvin obsti- 

 nately declined the invitation, Farel addressed to him 

 a solemn warning in the name of the Almighty, de- 

 claring that God would not bless his designs, since he 

 preferred his own repose to Jesus Christ. The so- 

 lemnity of this appeal, in connection with the extra- 

 ordinary incidents which had brought him to Gene- 

 va, and the prospect which he had of being in a high 

 degree useful to a cause which he had deeply at heart, 

 subdued Calvin into an entire acquiescence in Farel's 

 proposal. And accordingly he accepted of the office 

 which the consistory and magistracy had offered him, 

 with the consent of the people, by becoming both 

 their preacher and professor of divinity. 



He was no sooner installed, than he set himself se- 

 riously and zealously to the discharge of his public- 

 duties. He composed a Formula of Christian Faith, 

 accommodated to the Genevese, who were just emer- 

 ging from the corruptions of Popery : and to this he 

 added a Catechism, embracing the chief points of re- 

 ligion. In the following year, (1537,) he succeed- 

 ed, with the help of Farel and Corault, in making the 

 senate and people openly abjure the church of Rome, 

 and swear to a summary of doctrine and plan of dis- 

 cipline which he drew up for them, and which dis- 

 tinctly recognised the Presbyterian form of church 

 government. Various circumstances occurred, how- 

 ever, to counteract his efforts, and to give him per- 

 sonal trouble. The Anabaptists opposed him, and 

 laboured to overturn what he had established. But 

 he confuted them so completely in a public disputa- 

 tion, that they never afterwards gave him any distur- 

 bance. A turbulent outcast from the Sorbonne, of 

 the name of Peter Caroli, also endeavoured to bring 

 him into discrrdit, by accusing him of heretical te- 

 nets respecting the Trinity. The subject was brought 

 before the synod of Berne, which, after various dis- 

 cussions, found Caroli guilty of defamation. He was 

 exposed, however, to evils of a more serious and in- 

 vincible kind. Though the Genevese had agreed to 

 the reform in religion which Calvin and his colleagues 

 had introduced, and professed submission to the ec- 

 clesiastical authorities which had been instituted, yet a 

 great proportion of them remained quite unchanged, 

 in their principles and practice, and addicted as much 

 as ever to those impurities in which they had former- 

 ly Lduigfd. Besides this, a great deal of animosity 

 between families and individuals had been engendered 

 during the war of Savoy, which continued to burn, 

 and to prr dace effects tin. most i.iimical to religion. 

 Calvin and the other ministers did every thing in 

 thcT power to conxct these errors. They preached 

 against them with the greatest energy. They used 

 all their official influence j and applied to the civil 

 power for it:, interference in behalf of public morals. 

 But these attempts only excited the resentment of 

 those whose unworthy conduct had culled for them ; 

 and the more vicious and refractory of the people now 

 wished for nothing but to relieve themselves from the 

 VOL. v. PAIIT i. 



jurisdiction of such vigilant pastors. Some differen- 

 ces which !..-.d occurred with respect to the adminis- 

 t ration of the Lord's Supper, gave encouragement 

 and facility to the execution of that design. Not 

 only had Calvin and his associates refuted to adminis- 

 ter the Lord's Supper at all to the Genevete while 

 so much immorality and strife prevailed, but they 

 maintained opinion! with respect to the celebration 

 of this ordinance, and certain other ceremonial points, 

 opposite to those which seem to have then been re- 

 ceivcd in that district of the Protestant church. 

 The church of Geneva made use of leavened bread 

 in the eucharist : they had removed the baptismal 

 fonts as unnecessary appendages ; and abolished all 

 the festivals except Sunday. The churches of the 

 canton of Bern disapproved of their practice in these 

 particulars, and by an act made in a synod held at 

 Lausanne, required them to change it. To this or- 

 der Calvin and his brethren refused obedience. And 

 the syndics, or chief magistrates, who were their 

 greatest enemies, faking advantage of that fact, and 

 making it seem as an aggravation of their other offen- 

 ces, assembled the people, and procured an order from 

 the council, for the immediate expulsion of Farel and 

 Calvin. When the sentence was communicated to 

 Calvin, he said, " Truly, if I had served men, I 

 would have had a poor reward ; but it is well that 1 

 have served a Master who never forgets to pay his ser- 

 vants all that he has promised." 



Calvin retired to Strasburgh, where, through the 

 influence of Bucer and others, he was appointed 

 professor of theology, and pastor of a French church, 

 which he modelled according to the form adopted at 

 Geneva. Notwithstanding the harsh treatment which 

 he had received from the Genevese, he still remem- 

 bered them with affection ; and this affection he dis- 

 played in writing to them several letters, full of 

 wholesome instructions, tender remonstrances, and 

 encouraging prospects. He was particularly suc- 

 cessful and happy in an answer that he wrote for their 

 use, to a letter of Cardinal Sadolet, Bishop of Car* 

 pentia, in which that artful priest endeavoured to re- 

 cal them to the Romish communion. The reply of 

 Calvin was so able and eloquent, that he abandoned 

 his project. While at Strasburgh, he published an 

 excellent treatise on the Lord's Supper, produced a 

 new edition of his Institutes, was useful in reclaim- 

 ing many Anabaptists, and was appointed in 154J, 

 by the divines of that city, to attend the diet convo- 

 ked to meet at Worms, and afterwards at Ratisbonne, 

 for settling the religious differences which had arisen 

 in Germany. He went there with Bucer; had a con- 

 ference with Melancthon, who was highly pleased 

 with him, and called him, byway of eminence, the 

 theologian; and proved highly useful to the pro- 

 testant churches, especially to those of France. 



The Genevese had now repented of their unjust 

 banishment of Calvin, and longed to enjoy again the 

 benefits of his instruction and authority ; aud, after 

 much solicitation on their part, he consented to re- 

 turn. His arrival, which happened in May 154-0, 

 was welcomed with the acclamations of the people, 

 and being released from his engagements at Stras- 

 burgh, in a manner honourable both to himself and 

 to the magistrates and inhabitants of that city, 



Calvin. 



