THE MILLENNIAL CITY 



465 



worthy of one of the Arthurian knights. 

 Such was the stormy career of this Gen- 

 evan. 



THE LAST TRAGIC EPISODE 



The story of the last grim episode in 

 his life deserves to be told. 



Having reached the age of nearly three- 

 score and ten, and while still engaged in 

 his literary pursuits, one of his works be- 

 ing his "Chroniques de Geneve," which 

 he was commissioned to write by the City 

 Fathers, Bonivard took into his house a 

 young woman who had fled to him for 

 protection. 



The kindly act scandalized the proprie- 

 ties of the religious community and he 

 was called upon to marry the girl. All 

 arguments that his relations with his 

 ward were of a Platonic nature, and that 

 he was old enough to be her grandfather, 

 were of no avail. The marriage was sol- 

 emnized. 



In a short time Bonivard's worst fears 

 were realized. This fourth wife, weary 

 of her septuagenarian spouse, became in- 

 volved in a love affair and the guilty pair 

 were haled to trial. 



Bonivard, who had not lodged the com- 

 plaint, loyally testified in his wife's be- 

 half, declaring that he did not believe the 

 charges, and that she had always been a 

 dutiful helpmate, his only cause for com- 

 plaint being (and here we may assume 

 that the veteran was adroitly pleading his 

 wife's cause with the intense religion- 

 ists who were her judges) that she had 

 nagged him for his remissness in preach- 

 ing the gospel and had beaten him for in- 

 viting friends to his house to drink wine. 



It was a noble effort, but the evidence 

 against the young wife was overwhelm- 

 ing. Her lover was decapitated and she, 

 after the practice of the age, was sewn in 

 a sack and thrown into the Rhone. 



HOW CALVIN CAME TO GENEVA 



Mention has been made of Guillaume 

 Farel, the intrepid zealot whose mission- 

 ary work, extending over a period of nine 

 years, was responsible in a large measure 

 for Geneva's definite adoption of the 

 Protestant faith in 1535. But his in- 

 fluence did not end here. 



By one of those curious chances upon 

 which hinge events of monumental mo- 



ment, the young French philosopher, 

 John Calvin, a native of Picardy, passed 

 through Geneva one evening on his way 

 to Strassburg. He had intended spend- 

 ing only one night ; but Farel, hearing of 

 his arrival, rushed to him and, with the 

 fiery impetuosity which characterized 

 every act of his life, convinced Calvin 

 that it was his duty to remain and assist 

 in the organization of a theocratic State. 

 Both men were soon driven from the 

 city because they refused to officiate at a 

 communion service for their "godless 

 flock"; but upon his recall several years 

 later, Calvin, who was then only 32 years 

 of age, laid the foundation for a govern- 

 ment which in its rigorous supervision of 

 the private lives of the people has seldom, 

 if ever, been equaled. Geneva became 

 known as the City of Calvin as well as 

 the Protestant Rome. Every act of the 

 individual was under the scrutiny of the 

 Council, of which Calvin was the moving 

 spirit. 



A CODE WHICH TOOK THE JOY OUT OE LIFE 



The austerity of the Calvin code pre- 

 sents many amusing phases to the mod- 

 ern reader. For example, a hairdresser 

 was imprisoned because he made one of 

 his clients too beautiful. Any man who 

 swore "without necessity" was required 

 to take off his hat, "kneel down in the 

 place of his offense, clasp his hands, and 

 kiss the earth." The wearing of silk or 

 embroidered hose was prohibited; like- 

 wise the adornment of one's person with 

 chains of silver or gold, and eating or 

 drinking in taverns outside of the city. 

 Hosts and hostesses were enjoined to 

 warn their guests to be in their own lodg- 

 ings "after the trumpet sound to the 

 watch or the ringing of the bell" (nine 

 o'clock at night). 



The penalties inflicted for wrong-doing 

 under this hierarchy were of varying 

 severity. The punishment meted out to 

 Bonivard's wife has been related. In the 

 case of Clement Marot, the famous 

 French poet, who made the first met- 

 rical version of the Psalms and wielded 

 tremendous influence upon Protestant 

 thought in France, tradition says that the 

 offender was whipped about the streets 

 of the city upon complaint of an inn- 

 keeper, who had learned that his distin- 



