A True Church
AREL and Froment were for a season absent from } Geneva, but the good seed was sown, and the tender blade was soon found piercing the frozen clod. The BS work went on according to the word of the Lord by Isaiah (lv. 11): ‘So shall My word be that goeth forth out of My mouth, it shall not return unto Me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.”
The beautifully pathetic description of the Church in troublous times given by Malachi (iii. 16), as well applies to the newborn church in Geneva as anything we have seen. ‘‘Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another, and the Lord hearkened and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him, for them that feared the Lord and that thought upon His name.” Here, in a garden outside the walls of the city, were a few needy sinners seeking the way to Zion with their faces thitherward, and the Lord was in their midst. It was a true and complete Church similar to the little band that met at Gethsemane...
‘A band of faithful men
Met for God’s worship in some humble room,
Or screened from foes by midnight’s star-lit gloom, On hill-side or lone glen,
To hear the counsels of His Holy Word,
Pledged to each other, and their common Lord. These, few as they may ba,
Compose a church, such as in pristine aga,
Defied the tyrant’s steel, the bigot’s rage: For where but two or three,
Whate’er the place, in faith’s communion meet,
There, with Christ present, is a church complete.”
The ‘‘little flock” met together to talk of Him whom they loved, and to receive the Lord’s supper in commemoration of His death. This sacred and solemn part of the Lord’s service is now too often neglected by the godly, and idolized by the carnally-minded professor. Yet it is well when the truly God-fearing, attending to the dying command of their Redeemer, sit at His table in remembrance of Him, and by living faith,
“ View Him in that olive press, Squeezed and wrung till ’whelmed in blood, View their Maker’s deep distress, Hear the sighs and groans of God! Then reflect what sin must be, Gazing on Gethsemane.”
F By the demand of Catholic Fribourg the prince-bishop returned to Geneva to try the prisoners. He invited the chiefs of the Protestant movement to his palace, and as soon as the doors were closed behind them, threw them into irons. This inroad upon the liberties of Geneva offended both Catholic and Protestant, and before the trial was over, he gladly returned to his snug quarters.
PUBLIC DISPUTATION.
The next attempt to crush the growing thirst for liberty of conscience, was upon a more lawful plan, and if fairly conducted, no Protestant would have had cause for complaint. Guy Furbity, a Dominican, a doctor of Sorbonne, of great reputation for learning and eloquence, was brought to Geneva, and escorted with great pomp to St. Peter’s by a large body of armed Oatholics. ere the doctor was to have preached Advent sermons, but instead of this, he so loaded the Protestants with abuse, that Berne, Geneva’s ally, took it as a personal insult and demanded his arrest. Farel, Viret, and Froment were sent back to Geneva by the Bernese, under the protection of their ambassador, to counteract the evils arising from the doctor’s abuse.
Furbity undertook to proye from the Word of God all he had stated. A public disputation between him and the Reformers therefore took place, but the poor doctor broke down and miserably failed in his attempt. Farel, Viret, and Froment then went forward, preaching the Word under the protection of the Bernese ambassadors, and the Reformation in Geneva made rapid progress.
SPIRITUAL AND POLITICAL PROTESTANTISM.
As Protestantism and liberty always go hand-in-hand, it can readily be: understood that vast numbers of the people were willing at any time to fight for the Reformation, not from a love to, the Gospel itself, but for the national freedom which the Gospel brought with it. Bearing this in mind, it will not be difficult to conceive how that while some, hearing the Word preached, were brought up out of the horrible pit and miry clay, and rejoiced in the pardoning love and eternal mercy of God in Christ; others finding themselves relieved from the iron yokes of Popery, shook themselves, as it were, from the dust, and looked round for revenge upon the monster that had held them so long under a superstitious spell.
The convents, the strongholds of superstition and sinks of iniquity, were first attacked and pulled down for materials to strengthen the fortifications.
THE NUNS OF ST. CLAIRE.
The nuns of St. Claire obtained permission to depart to Anneci. ‘One of the szsterhood, in « book still extant,” says Dyer in his life of Calvin, ‘‘has painted in the most lively colours the particulars of their removal. It was a piteous thing,” this sister tells us, ‘‘to see this holy company in such a plight, so overcome with fatigue and grief, that several swooned by the way. It was rainy weather, and all were obliged to walk through the muddy roads, except four poor invalids who were in the carriage. There were six poor old women, who had taken their vows more than sixteen years before. Two of these, who were past sixtysix, and hed never seen anything of the world, fainted away repeatedly. They could not bear the wind; and when they saw the cattle in the fields they took the cows for bears, and the long-woolled sheep for ravishing wolves. And though our mother, the vicaress, had supplied them all with good shoes to save their feet, the greater number could not walk in them, but hung them at their waist. And so they walked from five in the morning, when they left Geneva, till near midnight, when they got to St. Julien, which is only a little league off.”
But the good sister who gives the foregoing account of the holy company, omits to name that after they were gone subterraneous passages were found, communicating with the Franciscans.
NUNS AND NUNNERIES.
These subterraneous passages must have been dug by some of the holy brothers or holy sisters. But apart from what this means of communication suggests, before leaving this subject may we not justly ask what good can possibly arise from this unnatural system of imprisoning women for years within convent walls, until they are unable to walk in shoes, and are so ignorant as to take sheep for wolves, and cows for bears?
Is this what we are to understand by the Apostle’s words: ‘‘ Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean, and I will receive you” (2 Oor. vi. 17)? Certainly the context does not favour such an idea, and if such a construction be put upon the passage it must apply to all believers. How then shall they be ‘‘diligent in business?” How will their ‘light shine before men?” How shall “ wives be subject to their own husbands,” or ‘‘children obey their
arents,” if all such relationships cease to exist in the church of God?
The whole system of conventual life is contrary to human nature, even in its pristine perfection (Gen. ii. 18, 26). It is contrary to Divine revelation, a plague spot on the face of any civilized nation, and a disgrace to modern society.. It is Mormonism, despotism, tyranny and slavery, under the gutse of Christianity, enclosed by walls to hide it from public scrutiny. The anguish of the poor hapless creatures, who too late find out their mistake, is touchingly represented in the following lines:
CONVENT BELLS,
Sorrow and Sin, come in, come in! Open our doors and see;
We chose it? True, but little knew here was such misery.
Alone? Ah no, would God ’there so. Watched, hated, forced to sin, Oh, ye who dare to speak your care,—-men of the world, come in.
Men of the world, come in, come in! Of what are you afraid?
Each Convent has its prison doors of strongest iron made;
Each mother (Heaven avenge the lie!) has keys and scowls and thongs;
Men of the world, come in, come in, and scan the convent wrongs.
A woman in a woman’s power: & priest where no one hears, Can ye not guess what secrets live within these iron bars? Are English Senators so dull in these enlightened days, That they can see no need to let the light in on our ways?
Ask us once more to take the veil in the broad light of day,
With no intimidation near, and all the pomp away.
Say, ‘‘ Will ye ba the Brides of Heav’n while yet ye stay below ?” We turn our eyes upon the priests, and shuddering answer, ‘“‘ No.”
Clamour away, O women, for admittance to our cells,
Men of the city, men of state, ring, ring the Convent Bells, O melancholy madness of the people so to sleep
While we are too much maddened by indignities to weep.
Men of the world, come in, come in, and if ye find no crime, Better for all,—the devils fear torment before their time; But while the world is bolted out and we are bolted in, To test the holiness of Rome, men of the world, come in! Mrs. T. CHapyin.
These and similar wailings call upon the British senators to put the law in force for the rights of helpless British subjects.
ALL BIBLES ORDERED TO BE BURNT.
The sword. of the Spirit, the Word of God, was the powerful weapon by which the Reformation in Geneva was being obtained. This the priests soon discovered, and on January Ist, 1534, they issued an order for all copies of the Bible, whether in French or German, to be burned.
In Protestant countries, where "the Word of God’ is considered of more authority than the word of poor, puny, sinful man, such an order would bring the priesthood into contempt. In the place of it, therefore, we hear such uascrupulous assertions as the following: ‘‘ Protestants do not believe al? the Bible.” ‘‘They worship a book; the Lord Jesus is nothing to them.” “They trust to a book instead of the living voice of the Church.” True Protestants, however, are too well taught to believe that a few self- -seeking men are the “Church.” They know: that every real believer in Jesus is a member of His Church. Jesus to them is the one thing needful. And the Bible, the whole Bible, “not cunningly devised fables,” they value as ‘‘the more sure Word of prophecy,” as Peter said: ‘‘.Whereunto YE DO WELL THAT YE TAKE HEED.”
SHAM PILGRIMS,
Conspiracy after conspiracy was formed between the prince-bishop, the Duke of Savoy, and Catholic Fribourg, to humble the people who had cast off their authority. But God defended the right, and the little city stood like a light- -house upon a rock, as a beacon to the surrounding nations to guide them to the Harbour of Rest. In May, 1534, a large company of armed men, under the guise of pilgrims, presented themselves at the city gates with banners, crosses and relics, desiring, as it would seem, to do homage to some of the saints before their images. The Genevese, however, saw through the pious fraud, and kept the army outside. fled for refuge to lay hold on the hope set before us, but such as make pilgrimages to the works of men’s hands.
GOD PRESERVED THE REFORMERS FROM BEING POISONED.
In 1535, a determined effort was made to poison the three Reformers. Farel, Viret and Froment lodged in the same: house, and a woman, who waited upon them and professed tobe a convert, was induced by the priests to put poison into some Spanish soup under the idea that she would be performing a very meritorious act. Froment was just about to taste it when a messenger announced that his wife and children had arrived, so he escaped. Farel preferred something else. Viret, who had not recovered from a wound received from a priest, took some, but the woman's conscience immediately smote her, and she entreated with tears that he would drink some water as an antidote. She escaped to the house of the canon who had induced her to commit the sin, but was brought back and confessed all.
PROTESTANTISM ESTABLISHED IN GENEVA,
On August 10th, 1535, the Council of Two Hundred was assembled. Farel addressed them, and the result was that the Mass ceased to be publicly performed in Geneva, and on the 27th of the same month the Council issued an order requiring the citizens to worship God according to the Scriptures, and forbidding all papistical idolatry. Thus the Reformation of Geneva was so far established, and a republican form of Government more definitely arranged. Many and terrible, however, were the battles yet to be fought to defend the city from outside foes, and many victories had to be gained by the sword of the Spirit within.
The Reformers had so far, at the risk of their lives, struggled to bring light and truth into Geneva, and God had given them the victory. But a more calm, powerful, and logical mind was necessary to ground and settle the national and spiritual affairs of Geneva. Farel felt the need of this. He and his companions had pioneered the way, but now they feel the need of a man to take the work from their hands and consolidate it. Their hearts are uplifted to God. He sees and hears His praying servants, and while they are praying, Calvin, having finished his business at Noyon, is on his way to Geneva.
“Q the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out.”