History of the Reformation in the Sixteenth Century Volume III Part 49

[Sidenote: FAREL'S BIRTHPLACE AND FAMILY.]

In these alpine districts, then disturbed by Romish fanaticism, three leagues from the ancient town of Gap,[683] in the direction of Gren.o.ble, not far from the flowery turf that clothes the table-land of Bayard's mountain, at the foot of the Aiguille and near the pa.s.s of Glaize, towards the place where the Buzon takes its rise, stood and still stands a group of houses, half hidden by the surrounding trees, and which bears the name of Farel,--or, in the dialect of the country, Fareau.[684] On an extensive terrace raised above the neighbouring cottages might be seen a house of that cla.s.s which is denominated _Gentilhommiere_, a manor-house. It was surrounded by an orchard which led to the village. Here, in these days of trouble, dwelt a n.o.ble family of established piety, known by the name of Farel.[685] In 1489, the very year in which the papacy was employing its severest measures in Dauphiny, was born in this modest mansion a son who received the name of William. Three brothers, Daniel, Walter, and Claude, and one sister, grew up with William, and shared his sports on the banks of the Buzon and at the foot of the Bayard.

[683] Chief town of the Hautes Alpes.

[684] Revue du Dauphine, July 1837, p. 35. As you go from Gren.o.ble to Gap, a quarter of an hour's journey beyond the last post-house, and about a stone's throw to the right of the high road, may be seen the village of the Farels. The site of the house inhabited by Farel's father is still shown. It is now occupied only by a cottage, but from its dimensions it may be seen that it could not have belonged to an ordinary house. The present inhabitant bears the name of Farel. I am indebted for this information to M. Blanc, pastor of Mens.

[685] Gulielmum Farellum, Delphinatem, n.o.bili familia ortum. Bezae Icones.--Calvin, writing to Cardinal Sadolet, sets off Farel's disinterestedness-_-sorti de si n.o.ble maison_ (sprung from so n.o.ble a family). Opuscula, p. 148.

There William's childhood and early youth were pa.s.sed. His parents were among the most devoted servants of the papacy. "My father and mother believed everything," he tells us himself;[686] "and accordingly they brought up their children in all the observances of Romish devotion."

[686] Du vray usage de la croix, par Guillaume Farel, p. 237.

[Sidenote: PILGRIMAGE TO THE HOLY CROSS.]

G.o.d had bestowed rare qualities on William Farel, such as were fitted to give him a great ascendency over his fellows. Possessing a penetrating mind and lively imagination, sincere and upright, having a greatness of soul that never allowed him, at whatever risk, to betray the convictions of his heart, he was remarkable also for ardour, fire, indomitable courage, and daring, which never shrunk from any obstacle.

But, at the same time, he had all the defects allied to these qualities; and his parents were often compelled to check his impetuosity.

William threw himself with his whole soul into the superst.i.tious habits of his credulous family. "I am horror-struck," said he, "when I consider the hours, the prayers, and the divine honours, which I myself have offered and caused others to offer to the cross and other such things."[687]

[687] Du vray usage de la croix, by W. Farel, p. 232.

Four leagues to the south of Gap, near Tallard, in a hill that rises above the impetuous stream of the Durance, was a place in great repute, named Sainte Croix (the holy cross). William was only seven or eight years old when his father and mother resolved to take him thither on a pilgrimage.[688] "The cross in that place," they told him, "is made of the very wood on which Christ was crucified."

[688] J'estoye fort pet.i.t et a peine je savoye lire. Ibid. p. 237. Le premier pelerinage auquel j'ay este a este a la saincte croix. Ibid.

p. 233.

The family began their journey, and at last reached the highly venerated cross, before which they all fell prostrate. After gazing for a time on the sacred wood and the copper of the cross, the latter being made (as the priest told them) of the basin in which Christ washed his apostles' feet, the pilgrims turned their eyes to a small crucifix attached to the cross: "When the devils send us hail and thunder," continued the priest, "this crucifix moves about so violently, that it seems to get loose from the cross, as if desirous of running at the devil, and it continues throwing out sparks of fire against the storm; if it were not for this, nothing would be left upon earth."[689]

[689] Ibid. p. 235-239.

The pious pilgrims were deeply moved by the account of these wonderful prodigies. "No one," continued the priest, "sees or knows aught of these things except myself and this man." The pilgrims turned their heads, and saw a strange-looking person standing near them. "It was frightful to look at him," said Farel.[690] White scales covered the pupils of his eyes, "whether they were there in reality, or Satan only made them appear so." This extraordinary man, whom the incredulous denominated "the priest's wizard," on being appealed to by the latter, immediately replied that the prodigy was true.[691]

[690] Du vray usage de la croix, par Guillaume Farel, p. 237.

[691] Ibid. p. 238.

[Sidenote: IMMORALITY AND SUPERSt.i.tION.]

A new episode completed the picture by mingling a suspicion of criminal disorders with these superst.i.tions. "There came up a young woman, intent on other devotion than that of the cross, carrying her infant wrapped in a cloth. Then the priest went up, took hold of the woman and child, and led them into the chapel. I may safely a.s.sert, that never did dancer take a woman and lead her out more lovingly than these two did. But such was our blindness, that neither their looks nor their gestures, even when they had behaved in an unseemly manner before us, appeared otherwise than good and holy. It was clear that the woman and my gallant of a priest understood the miracle thoroughly, and made it a cover to their intercourse."[692]

[692] Ibid. p. 235.

Such is a faithful picture of religion and morals in France at the commencement of the Reformation. Morality and belief were alike poisoned, and both required a powerful renovation. The greater the value attached to external works, the farther men were removed from sanctification of heart; dead ordinances had been everywhere subst.i.tuted for a christian life, and a strange but not unnatural union had taken place between the most scandalous debauchery and the most superst.i.tious devotion. Theft had been committed before the altar, seduction practised in the confessional, poison mingled with the consecrated elements, adultery perpetrated at the foot of the cross. Superst.i.tion, by destroying belief, had destroyed morality.

[Sidenote: WILLIAM DESIRES TO STUDY.]

There were, however, numerous exceptions in the Christianity of the middle ages. Even a superst.i.tious faith might be sincere, and of this William Farel is an example. The same zeal that afterwards urged him to travel to so many different places to spread the knowledge of Jesus Christ was at this time attracting him wherever the Church exhibited a miracle or claimed any adoration. Dauphiny had its seven wonders, which long possessed the power of striking the imagination of the people.[693] But the beauties of nature that surrounded him had also their influence in raising his soul to the Creator.

[693] The burning spring, the cisterns of Sa.s.senage, the manna of Briancon, &c.

The magnificent chain of the Alps, those summits covered with eternal snow,--those vast rocks, here rearing their sharp peaks to heaven, there stretching their immense and jagged ridges high above the clouds, as if an island was suspended in the air;--all these wonders of creation, which were at this time elevating the soul of Ulrich Zwingle in the Tockenburg, were appealing also in mute but powerful language to the heart of William Farel among the mountains of Dauphiny. He thirsted for life, for knowledge, and for light;--he aspired to be something great;--he asked permission to study.

This was a great blow to his father, who thought that a young n.o.ble ought to know nothing beyond his rosary and his sword. At this time fame was trumpeting the prowess of a young countryman of William Farel's, a Dauphinese like himself, named Du Terrail, but better known as Bayard, who at the battle of the Tar, on the other side of the Alps, had just given a signal display of courage. "Such sons," it was observed, "are like arrows in the hand of a strong man. Blessed is the man that hath his quiver full of them!" Accordingly, Farel's father opposed the taste which William manifested for learning. But the young man was not to be shaken. G.o.d destined him for n.o.bler conquests than those of Bayard. He persevered in his entreaties, and the old gentleman gave way at last.[694]

[694] c.u.m a parentibus vix impetra.s.sem ad literas concessum. (Farel, Natali Galeoto, 1527. MS. letters belonging to the consistory of Neufchatel.)

Farel immediately applied to study with surprising ardour. The masters whom he found in Dauphiny were of little help to him, and he had to contend with bad methods and the incapability of his teachers.[695]

These difficulties excited instead of discouraging him, and he soon surmounted these obstacles. His brothers followed his example. Daniel afterwards entered on the career of politics, and was employed in important negotiations concerning religion.[696] Walter gained the entire confidence of the Count of Furstemberg.

[695] A praeceptoribus praecipue in Latina lingua ineptissimis inst.i.tutus. Farelli Epist.

[696] Vie de Farel. MS. at Geneva.

[Sidenote: FAREL GOES TO PARIS.]

Farel, eager in the pursuit of knowledge, having learnt all that could be acquired in his province, turned his eyes elsewhere. The renown of the university of Paris had long filled the christian world. He desired to see "this mother of all learning, this true lamp of the Church which never knew eclipse, that clear and polished mirror of the faith, dimmed by no cloud, and spotted by no touch."[697] He obtained the permission of his parents, and set out for the capital of France.

[697] Universitatem Parisiensem matrem omnium scientiarum......speculum fidei torsum et politum......Prima Apellat.

Universit. an. 1396, Bulus, iv. p. 806.

CHAPTER II.

Louis XII. and the a.s.sembly of Tours--Francis and Margaret--Learned Men--Lefevre--His Courses at the University--Meeting between Lefevre and Farel--Farel's Hesitation and Researches--First Awakening--Lefevre's Prophecy--Teaches Justification by Faith--Objections--Disorder of the Colleges--Effects on Farel--Election--Sanctification of Life.

[Sidenote: LOUIS XII.--FRANCIS AND MARGARET.]

One day in the year 1510, or shortly after, the young Dauphinese arrived in Paris. The province had made him an ardent follower of the papacy; the capital was to make him something very different. In France the Reformation was not destined to go forth, as in Germany, from a small city. All the movements that agitate the people proceed from the metropolis. A concurrence of providential circ.u.mstances made Paris, at the beginning of the sixteenth century, a focus whence a spark of life might easily escape. The young man from the neighbourhood of Gap, who arrived there humble and ignorant, was to receive that spark in his heart, and many others with him.

Louis XII., the father of his people, had just convoked the representatives of the French clergy to meet at Tours. This prince seems to have antic.i.p.ated the times of the Reformation; so that had this great revolution taken place during his reign, the whole of France might have become protestant. The a.s.sembly of Tours had declared that the king possessed the right of waging war on the pope, and of enforcing the decrees of the Council of Basle. These measures were the object of general conversation in the colleges, the city, and the court; and must have made a deep impression on the mind of young Farel.

Two children were then growing up in the court of Louis XII. One was a prince of tall stature, striking features, who showed little moderation in his character, and followed blindly wherever his pa.s.sions led him; so that the king was in the habit of saying: "That great boy will spoil all."[698] This was Francis of Angouleme, duke of Valois, and cousin to the king. Boisy, his tutor, had taught him, however, to honour literature.

[698] Mezeray, vol. iv. 127.

By the side of Francis was his sister Margaret, his senior by two years, "a princess," says Brantome, "of great mind and ability, both natural and acquired."[699] Accordingly, Louis had spared no pains in her education, and the most learned men in the kingdom hastened to acknowledge her as their patroness.

[699] Brant., Dames ill.u.s.tres, p. 331.

Already, indeed, a group of ill.u.s.trious men surrounded these two Valois. William Budus, a man giving the run to his pa.s.sions, fond of the chase, living only for his hawks, his horses, and his hounds, on a sudden, at the age of twenty-three, had stopped short, sold his hunting train, and applied himself to study with the zeal he had formerly displayed in scouring the fields and forests with his dogs;[700] the physician Cop, Francis Vatable, whose knowledge of Hebrew was admired by the Jews themselves; James Tusan, a celebrated h.e.l.lenist; and many others, encouraged by Stephen Poncher, bishop of Paris, by Louis Ruze, the civil lieutenant, and by Francis de Luynes, and already protected by the two young Valois, resisted the violent attacks of the Sorbonne, who looked upon the study of Greek and Hebrew as the most deadly heresy. At Paris, as in Germany and Switzerland, the restoration of sound doctrine was to be preceded by the revival of letters. But in France the hands that thus prepared the materials were not destined to construct the edifice.

[700] His wife and sons came to Geneva in 1540, after his death.

[Sidenote: LEARNED MEN--LEFEVRE.]