IF it had pleased God to haue kept longer among vs hys Faithfull seruaunt Maister Iohn Caluin, or ra­ther if the peruersitie of the world had not caused y ^e Lord to take him so sone to himselfe: thys should not haue bene y ^e last of his labours, wherin he hath so faithfully & so aptly emploied him­self for the aduancement of y ^e glory of God, & for the edification of his Church: And also now this Cōmentarie should not haue gone forth, without being as it were crowned w ^t some excellēt Preface, as are y ^e reast. But it fareth with it as it doth w ^t poore Orphanes, which are not so well prouided for as their Brethren, bicause y ^t their father is to time­ly taken from them. In this meane time I do see this Orphane to be of so good a house, thanks be to God, & so well resembling his father, that without any other Testimonie, he wil of himselfe become not onely agreea­ble, but also very honorable to all those that shall see him. And therefore also mine intent [Page] hath not bene to recommende him by thys Testimonie, (for what needeth it?) but ra­ther to lament more with him of the death of him, which hath bene as a father, both to him & to mee: forsomuch as I neither may, nor ought to esteeme him lesse to be my fa­ther in that which God hath taught mee by him, than this Booke, and so many others, which haue bene by him writtē. I will then bewayle mee, but it shal not be w ^tout conso­lation: for hauing regarde to him of whom I speake, I had rather haue had him lyuing here belowe, if y ^e felicitie wherin he is now placed, did not chaunge y ^e sorowfulnesse of my losse into reioysing of his gaine: and I should smally haue profited by his so holye & maruellous doctrine, & by his lyfe that was so sincere & good, and by his death y ^t was so happy & Christian, if I had not learned by al these meanes to submit my selfe to the pro­uidence of God, being fully contented and satisfyed therwith. Now as concerning his doctrine, wherof I will first speake, so farre vnable are the multitude which haue spokē against him, to yelde it suspected with all men of good iudgement, that on the contra­ry, the same might serue for an infallible ar­gument to approue and confirme the same: [Page] for so much as none hath at any time stoode against it, but he hath well felt that he hath addressed himselfe not against a man, but against a very true seruant of God. Also he maye lawfully affirme (and all those who haue knowen him will be good and lawfull witnesses) that he had neuer enimie, which in assayling of him made not warre against God. For after that God did cause his cham­pion to enter within that lyst or stecade, it may be well sayde, that Satan hath picked him out euen as though he had forgotten al the reast, to assayle him, and to plucke hym thorowly downe, if he had bene able. But on the other syde God hath gyuen him that grace, y ^t he hath adorned him with so many trophees or victorious tokens, as he hath set manifest enimies against him. If then wee shall speake of the combats that hee hath inwardly indured for y ^e doctrine, there may nothing make them to seeme easy & sleight, but onely y ^e diligence which he did alwayes vse, bicause he would not suffer his enimies to take breath, and the constancy which God gaue vnto him, neuer to yelde or bend how little so euer it were, in the quarell of the Lorde. The Anabaptistes can beare wit­nesse, who shortlye after the beginning of [Page] his Ministerie in thys Churche, to wit the yere .1536. that he could so wel and happily behaue himselfe in open disputation with­out the helpe of the Magistrate, that imme­diately y ^e race of them was vtterly destroyed in this Church: which is y ^e more to be won­dred at, bicause that the greatest number of the Churches of Almaigne are yet at thys day greatly hindred by them: and if there be any that is free from them, it hath bene ra­ther by rigour of Iustice than otherwyse. He had an other combat to fight against an Apostate named Carol, vpō certain calum­nies & false reportes: who beyng also ouer­throwen as well by writing as by worde, and cast out of the Church of God, dyed mi­serablye at Rome in an hospitall, as an ex­ample to those which do reuolte from Iesus Christ, to folow a Maister which doth so wel recompēce his seruants, both in this world and in the other. And an other time, to wit the yeare of our Lord .1553. Michel Seruet a Spaniard of cursed memory, happened to come, who was not a man, but rather, an horrible Monstre, compounded of the aunci­ent and new heresies, and aboue all an exe­crable blasphemer against the Trinitie, and namely against the Eternitie of the Sonne [Page] of God: This same beyng come to thys towne, and apprehended by the Magistrate bicause of hys blasphemies, hee was here so substancially encountred, that he had no de­fence but a certaine vntamed obstinacie, by reason wherof by the iust iudgemēt of God and man, hee ended by the punnishment of fyre, his wicked life and blasphemies which he had vomited, both by mouthe & writing by the space of thirty yeares & more. About two yeares before there came a certaine de­ceitefull fryer a Carmelite, & was sodainly become of a deuine, a Phisitian, named Hierosme Bolseck of Paris, who to get him estimation, thinking himselfe to bee in Cloistre, and not in a Church of God, which he neuer did know but by heare say, and af­terward being procured by certaine naugh­tie and euill disposed persons, of whom it shalbe hereafter spokē, began in open Con­gregation to condempne the doctrine of the eternall prouidence & predestatiō, as though we made God the auctor of sinne, & culpable in the condemnation of y ^e wicked: Caluin in y ^t very place did stand against this disguised Woolfe, & did so answere him by word both opēly & priuatly, & afterward also by writing that the aduersarie had no trouth of his syde [Page] remaining, but a certaine Monkish shame­lessenes, which made him & doth make him at this day filthy & stincking to euery man y ^t hath any good vnderstanding: yea by his owne iudgemēt, as shalbe declared by testi­monie of hys owne hand whensoeuer neede shal require. For this wicked man who had deserued punnishment for a seditious acte, beyng vsed by the Magistrate very gentlye, bicause that they thought that there might hereafter some remedie be founde for hys sophisticall ignoraunce, after that he had done so many offences and wickednesses as he was able in the Churches nere there a­bout, seing himselfe three times driuen out of the dominions of the Lordes of Berne, in the ende being intollerable to anye man, did giue glory to God, acknowledging hys errours: and especially his euill conscience, at Orleance in open general Synode of the Frenche Churches, the yeare .1562. in such sort that men had some hope in him. But after that being againe possessed by suche a lyke euill spirite, is retourned to his first er­rours, and is driuen from all men, as hee is well worthy, and doth serue yet at this pre­sent daye in all places where he goeth, for a testimonie of the wrath of God against all [Page] such as do resist y ^e truth. Shortly after there was a certaine remanaunt of Seruetistes, who declared themselues, as one being a lawyer of those quarters: who afterwarde for the lyke cause was driuen from the vni­uersitie of Tubing by y ^e right noble Duke of Wirtemberg, and bicause he did cōtinue in his blasphemies, for which hee had bene chastized by imprisonments and suffred to recant by the iudgement of the sayd Lordes of Berne, with this man there was confe­derate a certaine man of Calabria named Valentine Gentill, an other of Sardegna, a Piedmontois named Iohn Paul Alciat, a Phy­sition of Saluces named George Blandrata. These men wrought vnder ground as well as they coulde, shewing their blasphemies againste the three persons in one deuine Essence and beyng, vntill the time that this faithful seruant of God withstāding them, some vanished awaye, others of them ac­knowledging their blasphemies, haue de­maūded mercy at y ^e handes of God & of the Seignorie. But shortly after, those wycked ones retourned (contrarie to theire othe) to theire blasphemies, & in the ende with their complices conueyed thēselues into Polognia, where they haue styrred vp and doe yet at [Page] this day, innumerable troubles, yet haue they notwithstanding euen to & in the very place where they are, felt & perceyued what the force was of y ^e faithfull seruant of God, of whom we speake: by whose writings the Churches of Polognia haue bene so fortified, that the Faithfull haue bene greatlye esta­blyshed, & the enimies of the truth so wea­kened, y ^t with the helpe of God, their ruine is at hande. Behold these are the principall combats that he hath fought within, for the doctrine, which is much more harde to sus­taine than to resite, as y ^e Bookes shall testi­fie to the posteritie. As for y ^e other enimies, they haue alwayes assailed him from a farre of, but not so farre of, but that he hath tou­ched them more nigh than they would wil­lingly: his learned workes against the Ana­baptistes and Libertines can make sufficiēt declaration. And as for the great Goliath Pighius, who was it that did beate downe and ouerthrow him and his Pelagianisme, but only the power of the Lord in the hande of Caluin? who did shut vp the mouth of the glorious Cardinall Sadolet, but only hee? who hath more happily fought with & ouer­throwne y ^t hierde of Boares gathered togi­ther to destroy & wroute vp y ^e Vineyard of y ^e [Page] Lord? who hath more greuously or more pe­rilouslye in deede wounded Antichrist to the death? who hath more boldely & more aptlye made answere to the wicked (interim) which hath so troubled Germanie? This is not all, for who hath bene of a more cleare sight to knowe and to reproue the wickednesse of false Euangelists, who framed themselues to all men meete? Who hath more constāt­ly defended y ^e puritie of the doctrine against the most daungerous kinde of enimies: to wit, those which vnder the colour of peace and vnion doe endeuor thēselues to corrupt the puritie of the same? And as touching the miserable contencion that was moued about the matter of the Supper, seyng the fire so greatly kindled, his whole desire was to quenche it by a cleare exposition of the matter; wythout naming of any man: the which he hath so wel and so aptly done, that he that shal wel consider his writings, must confesse y ^e next after God, it is to him, that the honor of the resolution is due, which since hath bene folowed by all men of good iudgement. This notwithstanding, Satan enforced himselfe by all meanes possyble, to haue set deuision betweene hym and the Churche of Zuriche in thys discentyon: [Page] which among others hee hath alwaye este­med and honored. But it was in vaine, for on the contrarie when they had in presence conferred togither, they continued thorow­lye of one accord: and then was the consent of all the Churches of Guise & of the Gui­siās, framed & imprinted in many tongues, to the great edificatiō of the people of God. That did much displease certaine obstinate men, among whom there was one named Ioachim Wesphale, an other Tilemā He­shusius, which were the moste earnest and feruent enimies of the truth and concorde. He was thē enforced to entre into combat, whereby he dyd so maintaine the truth, and ouerthrowe and suppresse the ignoraunce and shamelesnesse of such personages, that he wonne great commendation, and the a­boue named great shame: yea euen among those of their sect & nation, and the Church of God hath bene the more confirmed in the true and holesome doctrine. In conclusiō, I think y ^t there is no heresie auncient, nor re­newed, nor newly forged in our time, which he hath not destroyed to the very foundati­ons. For among al other his excellēt Graces there were twoo that did shyne in hym: to wit, a singular sharpnesse of spirite to disco­uer [Page] where the difficultie of matters did lye, and then also a meruellous dexteritie and aptnesse to make his aunswers without the losing of any one worde, as all they wil con­fesse, yea the very enimies of the Gospell, which would attentiuely reade his workes. I haue also omitted one Monstre which hee lykewise did defeate, albeit that in that be­halfe I fought on hys side: it is one named Sebastian Castalion, who bicause hee had some knowledge in the tongues, and had also a certaine aptnesse in the Latin tongue, he was here receiued to gouerne the schoole, But this spirite being so naturally enclined to please himselfe, did so diue hym in his va­nitie, that in the ende he drowned himselfe therein, bicause we coulde neuer winne so much of him, as to cause him to take the paines to reade the Cōmentaries and other workes to resolue him. That was the cause why he did openlye condemne y ^e song called Canticum Canticorum, in Latin, as a filthye and wanton Booke: which when it was layde to hys charge, he vomited out openly a thousande iniuries against the Pastors of this Church: Wherupon being commaun­ded by y ^e Magistrate to auouch his sayings, and being conuinced of manifest malice and [Page] euill speaking, by iustice he was appointed to depart the town after y ^t he had acknow­leged his fault: being then in y ^e ende retired to Basil, hee continued there, vntill y ^e time of the trouble y ^t was stirred vp by Hierosme Bolsec, vpon Predestination, the same man which helde alwayes of the perfection of the Anabaptistes, but it was secretelye and a­mong his owne sect, otherwyse making no difficultie at all to shape hymself like to eue­ry man, and beyng also greatlye prouoked by the death of Seruet, he discouered hym­self openly, first in a booke which he caused to be imprinted in Latin and in French vn­der a false and counterfeyt name of Martin Bellie, to whose errors and blasphemies I haue aunswered. Hee also made an other treatise which he calleth in Latin Theologia Germanica, vnder the name of Theophile, and in Frenche an other treatise of the olde and newe man. In the ende he did turne or rather ouerthrowe and confounde y ^e whole Bible in Latin and Frenche with so vile a shamelesnesse & ignoraunce, that it is mar­uell that anye man coulde delight therein, were it not that newe things are alwayes agreable to Ambitious spirites, whereof there is at this daye as great plenty as euer [Page] there was. He did set before his translation, an Epistle dedicated to the late good king Edwarde of Englande, whereby vnder co­lour of preaching Charitie, he ouerthroweth the auctoritie of the Scriptures, as darke or vnperfect: to y ^e ende to sende vs to perticuler reuelations, to wit, to y ^e dreames of the first abuser & deceiuer y ^t would declare and shew himselfe. Hee did also make certaine notes vpon the ninth chapiter of the Epistle to the Romaines, wherby he doth opēly maintain Pelaglanisme, & doth not acknowledge a­ny decree and ordinaūce of God, but only in those things y ^t are good of their own nature, forging in God a permission cōtrarye to hys wyll, & falsely laying to our charge, that we make God the Auctor of sinne. All this did not any thing moue the faithfull seruant of God, bicause y ^t such calumnies & errors had bene already aunswered a thousand times, vnto the time that hee himselfe made a cer­taine collection in Latin of certaine Arti­cles and arguments, which some men saide were taken oute of the Bookes of M. Iohn Caluin, adding thereunto certaine replica­tions: & this booke was sent closely to Paris there to bee imprinted, but God prouided for it and caused the firste copye to come [Page] to my hands, in such sort that we our selues did cause them to be put in print here, wyth such aunsweres as it did deserue: hee after that he vnderstoode the whole matter, knew not how to aunswere the Pastors and Mi­nisters of Basil, but sayde that he was not Auctor of those articles, being shortly after called to aunswere vpon the doctrine of free wyll and of the prouidence of God, in open disputacion at Basil, hys doctrine was con­demned. And bicause that certaine yeares before he had bene receiued to the profession of the Greeke tongue, by those that did not vnderstande of hys errors, hee was com­maunded not to deale neither by worde nor writing but with hys lecture, which thing he promised and did verye euill obserue it, cōtinuing alwaies as he mought, in sowing of hys errors and disceiptes: and of a verye malice that he had against mee, who at that tyme was in Fraunce greatlye troubled, to my great griefe, in the ciuil warres: or at the least beyng moued with some vnmea­surable ambition, hee wrote a little booke intituled, Counsell to desolate Fraunce, without putting his name to it, or naming y ^e place wherin it was printed, albeit it was a free towne: in it doth he condemne all the [Page] French Churches of sedition and rebellion, and giueth councell to euery one to beleue what he wyll, and by that very meane ope­ning the gate to all Heresies and false doc­trines. I did not vouchsafe to make aun­swere to that worthy counsell, which decla­red this man to be ouer beastly and ignorant in that whereof he did entreate, & very euill exercised in suche affaires, but in the steade of it I did aunswere to many pointes wher­of hee rebuketh mee, mingling with them most villaine and intollerable errors, vnder colour of defēding that which I did mislike in his Latin translation. This myne aun­swere being dedicate to the pastors of the Church of Basil, was the cause that the same Castalion was called by the Churche and afterwarde by the Seignorie, and was commaunded to make aunswere to that wherewith I charged him, and did offer my selfe to proue by hys owne writings: but within few dayes after death deliuered him from that trauaile. I knowe well that thys long discourse shalbe misliked of some men, as though I spake as a man loded with pas­sions, and coulde not be content to suffer the dead to be at rest in their graue. But I may well protest before God y ^t I did neuer hate [Page] the man in hys lyfe time, with whom also I neuer had to doe nether in good nor euill in perticuler, much lesse that I woulde nowe hate and persecute the deade which are put ouer to the iudgement of the Lorde. But it was needefull to make thys knowen, to the ende that euery man myght beware of hys Bookes and disciples that hee hath left be­hind him. Whilest these things were doing, a certaine Disciple aduaunced himselfe, to wit, Fraūces Baldwin, who could no more continue in one Religion than in one place, but chaunged dwelling place & condition in maner euery day, & Religion at y ^e least three times, in y ^e ende hauing no more consciēce to loose, he placed himself in a certain Reli­gion, like to y ^t of Chanonnes Regulers, the which being such in general as were y ^e reast of al their troupe, yet whē ther is a question of their perticuler, thei become Moncks in y ^e that is profitable for the Monkes: and on y ^e contrarie they be alwayes seculers, when Monkry pleaseth them not: & thys worthie personage did kisse y ^e Pantophle as the reast haue done, & bicause y ^e people should be out of doubt y ^t he did it vnfainedly, he receiued a good and a worthy absolucion of his king, to enter againe into y ^e fauour of his holinesse & [Page] his Cardinals, vnto whom for recompēce of all his euill hap he became slaue. If then it cōe in question to haue one to write against vs, this is the best Catholique in the world: but on the other side if he must frame him­selfe to those y ^t are as it were betweene twoo yrons, & boast them y ^t they holde the meane, then this good man spitteth out y ^e reformati­ons of y ^e Romish Church, & speaketh stoutly of certaine abuses, but it is w ^tout touching the principal, & in such sort notwithstāding, y ^t euery mā which knoweth him not, would think he did meane good faith, & not to pur­chase him credite. This galaunt for his be­ginning, fayled not in the yeare .1561. to set forth a booke of such stuffe, w ^tout any name, at the present time y ^e men were at the confe­rence of Poyssy. Caluin vnderstanding the meaning of this wicked one, made answere briefely according to his vsage: but verye paremptorilie and fully, giuing certaine at­taints to him that was chiefely culpable of this euil. Baldwine vpō this begā to chafe, & afterwarde left not to fome oute his rage against him whom he had so often called fa­ther and Maister, onely to make it knowen y ^t he was reuolted in deede, whereupō Cal­uin did ouerthrow him, by one only silence. [Page] For as touching the iniuries and outrages against his person, he did alwayes esteeme them honorable for the name of the Lorde whom he serued, forsomuch as to be blamed by a wicked man, is a token of vertue. And as for his reprehensions concerning the doc­trine, the one sort were so slender and so im­proper in his iudgement, that they deserued no aunswere, the others were but recitals borowed elsewhere, and refuted more than a thousande times. And for so much as it is to me, that this Apostate hath also addressed him to gratifie his Maisters, I haue taken vpon mee to aunswere hym for the seconde tyme, which thing I hope also well to dis­charge, with the grace of our God. These be the principall combats that this worthye personage hath happily endured for y ^e truth of the Lorde. As touching the reast, in thys discourse I thinke I haue entreated of the greatest part of hys lyfe: for what was hys lyfe other than a continuall doctrine, as wel by worde as by writing, and by all his man­ners and order of lyfe? the which also will doe very well to be declared perticularly, to the ende y ^t euery man may vnderstande the maruels of God in the person of this excel­lent man. Hee was borne in Noyon, an aun­cient [Page] and famous towne of Picardie, the yeare .1509. the tenth of Iuly, of an honest house and of a reasonable wealth, his father was named Gerard Caluin, a man of good vnderstanding and counsell, and therefore greatly desired in the houses of noble men dwelling in those partes: by reason wherof his saide Sonne was the better and more li­berallye brought vp, at his fathers charges notwithstanding, in company with the chil­dren of the house of Mommor, with whom also he was in cōpanie at y ^e schole at Paris. Hee was alway of a singuler good wit, and aboue all other things of a very good consci­ence, enimy to vices, and greatly giuen to the seruice of God as men did then call it: in such sort as his minde was wholy to deuini­tie, which was also an occasion that he was prouided of a benefice in the Cathedrall Churche of Noyon. Yet was his father al­wayes minded that hee shoulde studie the Lawes, and he also on his part hauing alre­die, (by y ^e meane of a cosin and frinde of his, named Maister Peter Robert, otherwyse Oliuentanus, who afterwarde tourned y ^e Bi­ble out of Hebrue into French and imprin­ted it at Neufchastle,) tasted some thing of the pure Religion, began to withdraw him­selfe [Page] from Popishe superstitiōs: which was the cause that beside the singuler reuerence that he had towarde his father, he did agree to go to Orleaunce to the same ende, where there did then reade an excellent mā named Peter de l' Estoille, who was afterwarde Pre­sident of the Court of Parliamēt in Paris, vnder whom he did so profite in short space, that he was not accompted a scholer, but as an ordinarie Doctour, as oftentimes hee was rather in deede a teacher than a hearer, and he was offered to proceede Doctor with­out paying anye thing, which thing also he did refuse. And bicause that the vniuersitie of Bourges was then̄ also famous by the meane of that excellent Lawyer Andre Al­ciat which then did reade there, hee woulde him. In the meane time he exercised himself also see and heare in holye letters, with such fruite and profite, that all those whose heartes it had pleased GOD to touche, giuing them to vnderstande what the dif­ferences were that were then moued con­cerning matters of Religion, did not on­lye beare towarde hym singuler affection, but had him forthwith in great admiration for the learning and zeale that was in hym. Among other with whome he did frequent [Page] and companye, then at Bourges there was an Almaigne an excellent personage a Professor of the Greeke tongue, named Melchior Volmar, whom I doe so much the more willingly remember, bicause it is very he that was my faithfull gouernor and tea­cher all the time of my youth, for the which cause I will praise God all the dayes of my lyfe. Thys good man seyng Caluin not to be well instructed in the Greeke tongue, caused him to studie the same, wherin he did greatly helpe him, as he himselfe hath wit­nessed, dedicating to him hys Cōmentaries vpon the seconde Epistle of S. Paule to the Corinthians, and did him the honor to call him his Maister & instructer. In this meane time his father died, which was the cause y ^t he left y ^e studie of the Lawes, and returned to Noyon, and then to Paris: where not­withstanding his youth, hee was not long vnknowen, nor without honor, by all such as had anye feeling of the truthe: hee of hys parte dyd then resolue to dedicate hym­selfe wholye to GOD, and did trauaile wyth great profyte in suche sorte, that be­ing in Paris in the tyme of the Rector na­med Monsieur Copus, there happened a seditiō [Page] whereupon hee was sent to the Court to be preferred, where he was knowen and very well receiued of all those that had any pure affection and sounde iudgement in those af­fayres: In the ende seyng the miserable estate of the Realme of Fraunce, hee deter­mined to absent himselfe and to be where he might liue more quietly & according to his conscience. He then departed out of Fraūce in the yeare .1534. and in the same yeare he caused to imprint at Basil his first instructiō as an Apologie, dedicated to Fraūces y ^e first Frenche King of that name, in the behalfe of the poore faithfull that were persecuted, whom they did most falsely name Anabap­tistes, to excuse them towarde the Princes Protestantes, of the persecutions that they then vsed against them. He passed also into Italie, where he saw my Lady y ^e Duchesse of Ferrare, yet at this day liuing, thankes be to God, who when shee had seene & heard him, forthwith iudged of him as hee was, and euer after vntyl his death, did loue and honor him as an excellent Organe of the Lorde. In hys returne from Italie y ^e which he had but seene, he passe (in a happie time) thorow this towne of Geneua, which not long before had receiued the Gospell by the [Page] preaching of M. William Farell, and dyd meane nothing lesse than to tarry there, but to passe thorow it and to go to Basil, or else to Strasbourgh. But the Lord being euen then willing to prepare away to his so great goodnesse as his pleasure was to bestowe vpon his Church by the meane of him, did put in the heart of the sayde Farel to staye him: which thing was very harde for him to doe, in such sort that after many requestes & desyres he was fayne to vse adiurations. Thē he was cōtented to stay, not to preach, but to reade Diuinitie, and this came to passe in the yeare .1536. in the beginning of September. When hee was in this sort de­clared Doctor in thys Churche by lawfull election and auctoritie, hee then framed a briefe forme of Confession and Discipline to giue some shape to thys new erected Chur­che. Hee made also a Cathechisme which may be wel called one of his excellēt works, and hath yelded maruellous fruite, beyng so well framed, that it was afterwarde tur­ned out of Frenche into Hebrue to winne y ^e Iewes, into Greeke & Latin for y ^e scholes, also into Italian, Dutch, Englishe, Scotish and Flēmishe, & also Spanishe, for all these nations. These prosperous beginnings dyd [Page] greatly mislike Satan & his, who failed not, (as it was an easy matter to doe in the first change of y ^e estate of Religiō) to set himself against the proceding of the Gospel. Albeit y ^t it was receiued w ^t an oth by all those of this town. Maister Caluin on y ^e other side as he was in deede of a noble minde, withstoode firmely & constantly with Maister Farel, y ^e seditious persons, hauing also on his side an other good mā named Conrant, a Minister al­so of this Church, being blinde of his bodily eyes, but could wel see w ^t the eyes of his spi­rite, whom also y ^e said Caluin had brought frō Basil, where he did remaine bicause of the great persecutions, y ^t were in Fraunce: The ende was such, y ^t the Lord being min­ded euen at once to take his seruant out frō the presse, & to purge this Towne of certain seditious persōs which did abuse y ^e name of y ^e Gospel, to plāt his name else where, & last of al to frame his seruāt by certain experiēce of things which did afterward stand him in great steade: it was ordeined (y ^e greater part of y ^e Coūsel not being the best) y ^t the forena­med should depart y ^e town w ^tin .24. houres, bicause y ^t they wold not minister y ^e Supper of the Lord in a Citie y ^t was thē so troubled and stirred. Whē thys was declared to the [Page] said Caluin, his aunswere was y ^t if hee had serued mē, he should haue bene ill recōpen­ced, but he serued him, who in steade of euil recompēcing his seruāts, did alwayes giue thē more than they deserued. And he might iustly so say: for he had folowed the example of S. Paule, in seruing of the Church vpon his own charges & cost. He then departed to the great griefe of all the good, first to Basil, & then to Strasbourgh, wher being receiued as a treasure, by those excellent mē M. Mar­tin Bucer, Capito, Hedio, and others, who at y ^e present did shyne as precious Pearles in y ^e Church of God, hee there erected a French Church, & therin did establish Ecclesiastical discipline in such sort, as y ^e Almaignes could neuer yet attaine vnto, for their Churche, euen to this very daye: he did also reade Di­uinitie w ^t great admiration of euery man, & then he began to write vpon S. Paule, dedi­cating his Cōmentarie vpon the Epistle to the Romaines to M. Simon Grinee, who was accompted to be the best learned of the Almaigne nation, & was his great friende: he had also this grace among others, that hee brought to the faith a great number of Anabaptists which were sent vnto hym out of all partes, and among others one named [Page] Iohn Stordeur of Liege, who within short tyme after dying of the Plague at Stras­bourgh, he tooke his widow to wyfe, whose name was Idelleto de Bure, a verye graue and honest woman, with whome hee liued af­terwarde verye quietly, vntyll our Lorde tooke hir away to himself, the yeare .1548. without hauing had any childe: at the same very time there were holden in Almaigne certaine imperiall assembles or diets for the matter of Religion, at Woormes and at Ratisbone, in the which Caluin was chosē for one of the chiefe by the aduise of all the Diuines of Almaigne, where he did so be­haue himselfe y ^t his renoume became great euen among the very enimies, and Phillip Melancthon among others, did euen then receiue him into singuler friendship which did alwayes laste afterwarde, and did then call him ordinarilye the Diuine, in token of singuler honor. In the meane time y ^e Lord did execute his iudgements at Geneua, pu­nishing certaine which beyng in the place of Syndique .1538. were the cause of the ba­nishement of Caluin and Farel, in such sort as one of them beyng gyltie of a sedition, & thinking to saue himself thorow a window, did all burst himselfe, an other of them ha­uing [Page] committed a murder, was by order of iustice beheaded, the other twaine being cō ­uinced of certain vntrouth against the state of the towne, fledde awaye and were con­demned in their absence. When the towne was purged of this froth, they began then to bewayle Caluin, & he was desyred thither againe by sundry Ambassades frō Geneua, and by the intercession of the Lordes of Zu­riche, to y ^e Lords of Strasbourgh, who made great difficultie. On y ^e other side Caluin se­ing how he profited in Strasbourgh, would in no wyse cōsent therunto, albeit to declare the good wyll that he bare to the towne, the yeare .1539. a whole yeare after hys banish­ment, hee maintained the cause therof or ra­ther of the truth of God against the Cardi­nal Sadolet, in a large and learned Epistle which is printed among the reast of hys workes. In thende he was threatened with the iudgements of God if he did not obey to that vocation, in such sorte that to the great sorrowe of the Lordes of Strasbourgh, and especially of Maister Bucer and his compa­nions, he was licenced to be at Geneua for a certaine time. But when he came thither and was receiued of singuler affection by those poore people which acknowleged their [Page] fault, & hauing a great desire to heare their faithful Pastor, they helde him there conti­nually: wherunto in the ende the Lordes of Strasbourgh consented, vpō condition that he should be alwayes a Bourgeois of their towne. They would also y ^t he should haue had alwayes y ^e reuenue of a Prebend which was appointed vnto him for hys scipende of his reading. But as he was a man clearely voide of all greedinesse of the goodes of thys worlde, so coulde they neuer bring to passe that hee woulde receiue so much as the va­lue of one Denier thereof. And in this sorte he was againe established at Geneua, the yeare .1541. the .13. of September, where forthwith hee framed an order of Ecclesia­sticall Discipline, which hath alwayes since continued there firmely, albeit Satan and hys adherentes haue employed all theire forces to abolishe it. Now hee that woulde here declare particulerly all the trauayles & paines that thys excellent personage hath endured since by the space of .23. yeares as well within as without, hee shoulde haue matter sufficient to fil a great volume. For if euer there were towne furiously assayled by Satan, and valiantly defended during y ^t tyme, it was Geneua, the honor belongeth onely [Page] to God, but it ought and may lawfullye be said y ^t Caluin hath bene y ^e instrumēt of hys vertue & power. If there be questiō of vigi­lance, Satan & his could neuer take him vn­prouided, but either he hath warned y ^t flocke before hande, or else preserued it in y ^e place. If wee shal speake of integritie, he is yet vn­borne, y ^t hath sene him cōmit any fault in his office, or to yelde, be it neuer so little, for any man liuing, or to haue varied in doctrine or life, nor neuer misreported man. If we shall speake of labour & paine, I beleue y ^t his like is not to be founde, beside y ^t he preached cō ­tinually euery daye in the weeke, and most commonly, and as often as he was able, hee preached twice euery Sonday: hee did reade diuinitie three times in a weeke: hee made declaration in y ^e Consistorie or as it were a whole lesson euery Friday, in conference of the Scripture which we call Cōgregation, & did continue this order thorowly w ^tout in­terruption vntill his death, & in dede neuer did fayle so much as once, except it were by extreme sicknesse. Further, who is able to recite his trauailes ordinarie and extraordi­nary, I knowe not if any man of our tyme hath had more to heare, to aunswere, and to write, nor matters of greater importaunce. [Page] The onely multitude and number of hys bookes and writings are sufficient to asto­nishe any man that shall se them: but much more those that shall reade them. And that which maketh hys labours more wonder­full, is that hee had a bodye so weake of na­ture, and so lowe brought with watchings and ouermuch sobrietie, yea and being sub­iect to so many diseases, that all men y ^t had sene him, would haue thought y ^t he coulde not haue lyued at all. And notwithstanding this, hee neuer left of day nor night his tra­uaile in the workes of the Lorde: & he coulde not endure to heare y ^e requestes and exhor­tations of hys friendes which they daylye made vnto him, to the ende that he shoulde take some rest. I wyll alledge onely two ex­amples. The yeare .1559. beyng assayled and maruellously greued with a feuer quar­tane, he did notwithstanding, in the chiefest of hys sicknesse, set forth the laste edition of his Christian Institution, and did translate it thorowe oute into Frenche. Likewise in his last sicknesses, which were the stone, the goute, y ^e Hemorrhodes, a Phthysike feuer, shortnesse of wynd, beside his ordinarie dis­ease of the Miegrame, be did him self trans­late wholly that great volume of his Com­mentaries [Page] vpon the foure laste Bookes of Moyses: examined the translation of y ^e fyrst: made this booke vpō Iosue, and did peruse the greatest part of the translation and an­notations of the Newe Testament, in sor [...] that he neuer ceased from writing but only eyght dayes before his death, hys voice be­ginning to fayle him. Beside hys innume­rable paines and his charges, in all the mis­chiefes and perilles, wherein this poore Ci­tie hath bene, assayled within by many mu­tinous and desperate Citizens, tormented without a hundred thousand wayes, threat­ned by the greatest Kings and Princes of Christendome, bicause it was alwayes a re­fuge and defence for all the poore children of God afflicted in Fraunce, Italie, Spayne, Englande, and else where, it was so that Caluin bare alwaye the greatest burden: to be short he myght well saye with S. Paule, who is he y ^t is troubled & I do not sorrowe? And it was not without cause y ^t euery mā had his refuge to him: for God had adorned him with so wyse and good councell, that neuer man repented him of the following of it, but I haue knowē many fal into great and extreme inconueniences which would not beleue him. Thys hath bene founde so [Page] by many experiences and proofes, namely in the seditions that happened the yeare .48. 54. and .55. to breake and disorder the disci­pline of the Church, where he thrust himself naked in among y ^e swordes drawne, and w ^t hys presence & wordes he so frayed the most desperate mutines of them, y ^t they were en­forced to prayse God. The lyke was in the conspiracie Catilinarie, which was the verye yere .55. to haue murdred all the French, by y ^e Captaine of y ^e towne named Amied Perrin and his conspirators, which coniuration ca­rying with it a maruellous number of daū ­gers and trauayles, in the ende, the Lords of hys great grace, by the wysedome of hys seruaunt brought it to that passe y ^t it is now at: to wyt, to the greatest quietnesse and fe­licitie y ^t euer this Citie did knowe. As tou­ching his ordinary life & dyet, euery man cā witnesse that it was so temperate, that ther was neuer excesse in it, no more was there of nigardise, but a commendable meane, sa­uing that he had alwayes to small regarde to his health, being cōtented for the space of many yeares w ^t one repast in .xxiiij. houres, and neuer receiuing any thing betwene his meales in such sort y ^t all that euer the Phi­sitians could persuade him vnto in y ^e point, [Page] was y ^t about half a yere before his last sick­nesse, he did take at times about noone a litle wine and would soupe of an egge, y ^e causes were the weakenesse of his stomack, and y ^e Miegrame, for the which he saide hee coulde neuer find any remedy but a cōtinual dyet, in suche sort as I haue knowen him often­times to eate no meate in two dayes. Be­ing of so smal a dyet, he slept very little: & for the more parte he was cōstrained to warme him vpon his bedde, whereon also hee hath made the greatest number of his bookes, be­ing continually happily occupyed in spirite. This is the order y ^t this excellent seruant of God did continuallye obserue, forgetting himself to serue God & his neighbour in his vocation & charge: yet coulde hee not so doe but y ^e Satan did rayse vp against him al the shamefullest slaunders of y ^e worlde, but y ^t is no newes, for it is the rewarde y ^t the world in all ages hath giuen to those that woulde drawe them from perdition. I wyll not aunswere those that doe call him Heretique and woorse than Heretique, (whereupon they haue forged a name of Caluinistes) for hys Doctrine maketh aunswere on the contrarye more than sufficientlye. Some haue charged hym wyth ambition, [Page] but if they be able in anye point to proue it, I am content to be cōdemned. Is there any man that hath folowed greater simplicitie in the expositiō of the Scriptures, and hath more wherewith to set hymselfe forthe if hee woulde haue profaned the Scriptures with subtile and vaine ostentations? Hee would rule all, saye they. O villaine & false shamelesnesse: what preheminence did hee euer seeke? & if he had sought it, who coulde haue kept him from it? with whom did hee euer striue for the first or the seconde place, when men haue not giuen vnto him that which the giftes and graces that God had giuen him did require? when hath hee bene seene alter, be it neuer so little? when hath it bene sene that euer hee did abuse his charge and his auctoritie towarde the simplest in y ^e world? when did he take in hande any thing without the aduise or against the opinion of hys companions? To be short, what diffe­rence was there euer betweene him and vs, but that he did excell vs all in all humilitie among other vertues, and also in that hee tooke more paine than all we did? was there any man more simplye apparelled or more modest in al respectes? was there any house considering the estate of the man, I doe not [Page] saye lesse sumpteous, but more slenderlye furnished with moueables? And if men wil not beleue mee and ten thousand witnesses with mee, at the least let them beleue the slender wealth of hys brother & onely heire, and also the inuentorie of all his goods, and it shall be founde that all that euer hee lefte behinde him (accompting also hys bookes which were dearely solde bicause of his pre­cious memorie, to all men that were lear­ned) doth not exceede the value of two hun­dred crownes. These maye also aunswere these shamelesse euill reporters who haue talked so largely, that the one sorte sayd hee was a Vsurer, the other that he was a very bancker: a matter so worthie of scorne and so falsely raysed, that anye man that euer did knowe him, wyll neuer require aun­swere to such an vntrouth. He was so coue­tous that hauing in the whole sixe hundred Florines for his stipende, which doth not al amount to three hundred liures tournois, yea he sought to haue lesse, & the accomptes of this Seigniorie can witnesse it. Hee hath bene so couetous of thys worldely goodes, that being in fauour, yea & honored both of Kings, Princes & Lordes of many nations, and hauing dedicated his workes to them, [Page] I know not (and I think I should haue kno­wen it if it had bene otherwise) that euer he receiued of them to hys vse the value of .xx. Crownes. Also he had the sacred woorde of God in such reuerence, that he had rather to dye than to vse it as a bayte to Ambition or auarice. Hee did dedicate hys bookes to pri­uate persons, acknowledging some benefite or friendship, as he did a very learned & sin­guler Cōmentarie vpō the booke of Seneca concerning the vertue of Clemencie & gen­tlenesse, which he wrote in Parris, being of the age of .24. yeares, & did dedicate it to one of the Lordes of Monmor, wyth whom hee had bene brought vp, not at theire charges notwithstanding. The like hee did with his Commentaries vpon y ^e Epistle of S. Paule to the Romanes, being dedicated to Simon Grinee: vpon the first to the Corinthians, to the Lord Marques Caraciol: vpō the second to the Corinthians, to Melchior Volmar his Maister that taught him the Greeke: vppon y ^e first to y ^e Thessaloniās, to Mathurin Cordier his gouerner in the colledge of S. Barbara at Parris in his first youth: vpon the second, to Benet Textor his Phisitian: vppon the Epistle to Tite, to his two singuler friends & companions in y ^e worke of y ^e Lord, Maister [Page] William Farel & M. Peter Viret: and the booke of offences to Lawrent of Normādie his auncient & continuall friend. As concer­ning y ^e others which hee did dedicate to cer­taine Kings, Princes, or cōmon wealthes, his meaning was to encorage the one sorte to perseuer in y ^e defence of y ^e childrē of God, & to stirre vp the others to the lyke. Where­fore also when he saw y ^t such men did y ^e con­trary, he made not straunge to put out their names & to put in others, which onely came to passe in two of his Prefaces. This be said as touching this crime of auarice. Others on y ^e other side haue reported him to be pro­digall & a player, but it was as true as y ^e re­port of those y ^e charged him w ^t fornicatiō. As concerning prodigality & the fruites therof, hys bookes wyll well declare euen to y ^e ende of the world, of his pastimes, & of the shame­lesnesse of such lyers. As cōcerning whore­dome, it is maruell y ^t any mā durst so farre to stray, as to forge y ^e euil report, were it not that it is a thing accustomed against y ^e most excellent seruants of God. But he is yet vnborne that euer did suspect him of whom we speake in any place whersoeuer he vsed: hee liued about nine yeares in Mariage ve­rye chastely, when hys wyfe was deade, [Page] hee continued in wydowerhead aboute the space of .xvj. yeares, euen to hys death. In all that time who is he that euer percei­ued the least token that might be of so vn­worthie an acte in him? And what woman was there so villaine and shamelesse y ^e durst to beholde without shame a forehead so re­uerende and shewing to all men that did beholde it, all puretie and fredome? Who hath bene a more rigorous enimy to whor­dome than he? It is true that the Lord hath exercised him touching this matter toward such as touched him neare. There hath yet worse happened in the house of Iacob and Dauid, than to him of whom wee speake, and in a more straunge sorte. But what did Satan in this behalfe gaine of the faithfull seruaunt of God, but only shame & rebuke to himselfe in the later daye before the seate of the Sōne of God? And now to them that hee had stirred vp, to rayse such sclaunder, Whoredomes, Adulteries, and incestes, are accompted for pastimes and exercises of the wicked ones, in sort, that one of the greatest faultes that they finde with the reformed Churches, is y ^t there whoredome and adul­terie is punished: In the meane while if there be any such fault or offence founde a­mong [Page] vs, albeit that it be extremely pun­nished, they accuse vs with open mouth. In so doing, (if they sayde truth,) what other thing doe they than blame vs in that that we resemble thē? But without entring any further into this discourse, it muste needes bee, (will they or no) confessed y ^t the theeues do not haunt where y ^e Magistrates & Potē ­tates are: but to exercise such thīgs it were more meete to dwell among thē where such offence is a vertue. But to returne to my purpose, it shalbe well founde y ^t this faith­full seruant of God hath shewed to all the worlde a singuler example, in condemning this villaine and stincking vice, as well in them as in others: for when there were any found faultie, he had no regarde at al w ^tout accepting of persons, but to GOD and hys Church: and I say nothing in thys, but that which all such as did knowe hym well, wyll testifie before God. Ther haue bene others which haue named him to be irreconcilia­ble, cruell, and also bloudye, which some of them woulde moderate, naming him only, to seuere. The defence is sone made, God be praised, and it shoulde not be necessarie, were it not y ^t it shal do well to rebuke some of them for their peruersitie, and to aduer­tise [Page] the others of their ingratitude towards God. I sayde in the beginning that which I doe now saye, which is, y ^t he neuer had eni­mies but such as did not knowe him, or else such as made open warre against GOD. I wil bring forth to witnesse the same, a proofe more than sufficient, it is, that hardely may there be any man founde in our time of hys calling, againste whom Satan hath made more cruel warre by al kindes of outrages, but he neuer pursued any man in any court nor attempted y ^e law against any, no, he ne­uer sought any reuenge: also hee neuer had house nor enheritaunce, nor neuer did deale w ^t any traffique or occupying whatsoeuer it bee, but it is very true y ^t when they banded against y ^e doctrine of God which he taught, hee woulde neuer yelde in any thing, but would according to the holy lawes that bee here established, prosecute, that the mockers of God might be hādled according to theire desert. But which are they that will blame that, but onely those that doe transforme a vertue moste rare and singuler, into a vice ouermuch common and hurtfull. By the waye, what if I say, and may lawfully say it in deede, that a number euē of those against whom hee hath bene enforced to stande for [Page] matters before recited, haue honored his cō ­stancie by their own testimonies? I coulde name at y ^e least thre, which I wil not name, notw ^tstanding twoo of them being brought to punishmēt for their faults & offences, did in the sight of all the people, thinke all the honor & thanks y ^t they might yeld vnto him during the same, not to be sufficient, calling him their Father, crying out, saying, y ^t they were vnworthie of hys presence, aduertise­ments & prayers, considering they had not harkened to his fatherly admonitions. The third being in his bed sick euē to death, who had bene during his lyfe y ^e counseller of all these strayed ones, coulde neuer be persua­ded y ^e God would forgiue him, if y ^e his faith­full seruāt, whom he had so much offended, did not also forgiue him. So far were these men of from charging him either w ^t cruelty or ouermuch seueritie. I confesse y ^t hee hath alwayes shewed y ^e Magistrates, how dete­stable y ^t accepting of persons is in the sight of God, that they must holde the Balaunce aright: & that God abhorreth not only those which doe condemne the innocent, but also those which pardon y ^e offender. Now if it be vice to say so, & to put it in vse, y ^e holy Ghost must then be condemned who hath so saide: [Page] or if it be otherwise, such blasphemers that doe call the ordinance of God, crueltie, must haue their mouthes stopped. But, say they, he was ouer rigorous againste adulterers and heretiques. I may well aunswere that which is true, as all the towne doth know, that hee neuer iudged anye man, for it was not his office, and he neuer thought to do it: & if they haue demaunded his aduise, not to confounde the estates which God hath de­uided, but to be gouerned according to the worde of the Lorde. I knowe well that I myght auouth it, if I sayde that they haue not alwayes folowed his counsell. But lea­uing that, what are these mercifull censors able to alledge, when I shall say vnto them that which is true, which is, that there was neuer yet good gouernement in anye com­mon wealth wherein adulterye hath not bene iudged worthy of death: and yet it can not be proued that any one simple adulterer hath bene punnished in this Citie by death. As concerning Heretiques, where is, I pray you, that great rigour? where is it that this bloudy mā hath shewed one iote of a bloudy nature? There are fewe townes of Guisse and of Almaigne where they haue not put Anabaptistes to death, and lawfully: they [Page] haue bene cōtented here with banishment. Bolsec hath here blasphemed againste the prouidence of God. Sebastian Castalion hath here spoken euill of the very bookes of the holy Scriptures. Valentine hath here blas­phemed against y ^e essence of God: None of them haue here bene put to death, twoo of them were onely banished, the other was set free by an honorable amendes towarde God and the Seignorie. Where is this cru­eltie? Only one Seruet was put to the fire. And who was euer more worthy than that wicked one, hauing for the space of thirtie yeares in so many sundrie sorts blasphemed against the Eternitie of the Sonne of God, giuing the name of Cerberus, to the Trini­tie of the three persons in one onely Diuine essence, making the baptisme of yong chil­dren of no value, hauing gathered and hea­ped togither all the filthy stinckes that euer Sathan did vomite out against the truth of God, hauing seduced an infinite number of persons, and for the chiefe and principall of all his wickednesses, would neuer neyther repent in giuing place to the truth, wherby hee had bene so often times conuinced, nor shewe any token of conuersion. And if wee should come to the iudgement of the Chur­ches, [Page] who would not rather alowe y ^t which al the Churches of Almaigne, and namely Philip Melancthon a mā greatly renoumed for hys meekenesse, hath not only spoken, but also published by writing, the prayse of so iuste an execution? To ende this matter, they which discommende such an act, coulde neither better set forth their ignoraunce in blaming y ^t which deserueth singuler com­mendation, nor yet their rashenesse, when they deale wyth him who did but the office of a faithfull Pastour, putting y ^e Magistrate in minde of hys dutie, endeuoring him by all meanes to bring suche a wicked man to some amendement, and in the ende, not for­getting anye thing that might let that such a pestilēce should not infect his flock. There are others which haue reported hym to bee very cholericke, I wyll not make of a man an Angell, yet notwithstanding, bicause I do know how maruellously God hath bene serued by that same very vehemencie, I ought not to keepe silent that which is true, and that I doe know. Besyde his owne na­turall inclination to choller, hys witte be­ing maruellous prompt, the folly of many, the multitude and infinite varietie of the [Page] affaires for the Church of GOD: and to­warde the later ende of hys lyfe, hys great and continuall diseases, had made him vn­quiet and frowarde: but sure hee was farre of from any delight therein, for on the con­trarie, no man did better perceaue nor so much finde it as did hee. Thys be sayde con­cerning hys lyfe and conuersation in hys house, in whome this onely default (that euer I knewe) was tempered wyth so great and amiable vertues, and so seldome or neuer at all acompanied with other vices which are alwayes wont to folowe y ^e same, that he neuer offended any of hys friendes neither in woorde nor deede. But as tou­ching in publique concerning the charge that GOD had committed vnto him, it is there that I muste needes maruell at the great wysedome of God, turning all things to hys glorye, and chiefely in hys most sin­guler instrumentes and Organes. Such as haue seene and knowen wyth what kinde of men he hath moste commonly had to doe, the thinges that God hath declared and done by him, the circumstāces of times and places, they in deede may iudge wherto suche a vehemencie, I say, a vehemencie in [Page] déede Propheticall, did serue and shall serue to all posteritie. And that which made him [...]ore maruellous, was, that nether hauing nor seeking any thing lesse than that which is so muche required by those that would be feared by meane of an outward apparance, the moste obstinate and peruers were con­strained to bende vnder the great power of God, which did compasse about his faithful seruaunt. They which shall reade his wry­tinges, and shall rightly seeke the glory of God, shall there see this maiesty (whereof I speake) to shine. As concerning such as doe at this day handle religion, as they doe poli­tique affaires, which are more cold than yse in Gods cause, and more enflamed than the fire, in y ^t which concerneth their particuler causes, and which doe cal al y ^e choller, which is more frankly spoken than they woulde, euen as he neuer sought to please such men, euen so doe I thinke it not meete to stand a­bout the answering of them. What would these wise & temperate men say then, (seing there is no question but of God,) if they had more earnestly felt such a choller? I am sure they would haue bene also on their part as euill contented, as I doe thincke, and shall [Page] thinke my self happy during my life, to haue enioyed so great and so rare a vertue, bothe openly & priuately. Euen as I coulde neuer be weary of solacing my self in the absence of so worthy and excellent a personage, in re­presenting him vnto me by the discourse of his rare and exquisite vertues: no more can I without very great sorowe, make an end of that which resteth, and may notwithstā ­ding in no wise bee lefte vntouched, for so muche as it is, as it were, the crowne and beautye of all his life. Beside that God did place this great wisdom and vnderstanding in a weake bodye, and disposed of it selfe to the disease of the Pthysike, whereof he also died: the studies of his youth had made him verye leane and weake, and when he came once to the affaires, he had alwaies so small respect concerning the trauaile of his mind, that withoute the speciall grace of GOD, (whom it pleased to builde his Churche by the meanes of that instrumente) it had not ben possible for him to haue come to the age which the Phisitians doe call the declining. The yeare .1558. being required by the Lordes of Franckfort to make a voyage thyther, to appease and prouide remedie for [Page] certaine troubles that were in the Frenche Church, which was newlye receiued in to that towne: at the retourne of thys long & trauaylsome voyage, he had a terciā feuer, very sharpe, which was as it were the first pushe at hys health: in such sorte that in the yeare of our health .1559. hee was assayled with a long and perillous feuer quartane, during the which, to his great grief, he was enforced to abstaine from both preaching and reading: but hee was neuer vnoccu­pyed in his house, what counsell so euer mē gaue him, in sort that during that time, hee began and ended his last Christian insti­tution both in Latin and in French, wher­of wee will speake in the conclusion. Thys sicknesse brought him so lowe, that neuer afterward he coulde recouer his full health, he drewe euer afterwarde hys right legge after him, which oftentimes did greatly greeue him: his auncient diseases put them in order also: to wit, the head ache, and great rawnesses which caused a continuall de­fluxion: hee was also greued with the He­morrhoides, so much the more in that that at some other time by chaūce that part was made verye weake: the cause was for that he neuer suffered his minde to rest. He had [Page] a continuall vnperfect digestion, wherunto he neuer gaue any heede, but when the dis­ease compelled him. The colliques also fo­lowed, and then in the ende the goute and the reast. Beside this, by strayning himselfe, and by a gnawing defluxion, hee fell into a spitting of bloud, which did weaken him to the vttermost. In the middest of so many diseases, it is a thing very straunge that this sharpnesse of Spirit was rather letted than diminished, and this dexteritie of iudgemēt nothing altered. There was only this euil, that the body coulde not followe the spirite, albeit that he did sometime enforce himself, vntil the time that he was so grieued wyth the shortnesse of his wynde, that with great paine hee was scarcely able to remoue hym twoo or thre paces. The Phisitiās employed all their industrie, and he on his side did fo­low their counsel to the vttermost, notwith­standing his griefes & so many diseases togi­ther mingled. But it was all in vaine, as he did alwaies say, looking vp to Heauen, spea­king often these wordes, Lorde how long? And then in the ende he remained without stirring, hauing yet the vse of hys speache, but could not long speake or continue any purpose by meane of the shortnesse of his [Page] breath, yet notwithstanding this, he ceassed not to laboure. For in this laste sicknesse, as hath ben aboue said, he did wholly translate out of Latin into frenche, his Harmony vp­on Moyses, did peruse the Translation of Genesis, wrote vppon this booke of Iosue: and in the ende did peruse and correcte the greatest part of the Frenche notes vpon the Newe Testament, whiche other men had before hande gathered. Beside this he was alwaies occupied in the affaires of the chur­ches, answering by worde and by wryting, when occasion required: all be it that on our parte wee made request vnto him, praying him to haue greater regard to himself: but his answer was alway to vs, that y ^e whiche he did was nothing, requiring vs to suffer, that God mought finde him alwaies wat­ching and labouring according to his abili­ty in his worke, euen to his last breath. The xxv. of April, he made his Testamēt in brief sort, as he did alwaies auoid the vse of moe words than neded, as much as in him was. which doeth containe an excellent and sin­guler testimony for euer, that he spake as he beleued, which was the cause that I did willingly inferre this same, word by word, [Page] by the consent of his brother and only heire Antonie Caluin, to the end that this acte may remain for euer, as it hath pleased God that the Testaments of some of his moste excel­lent seruauntes haue bene enregistred, to be perpetuall witnesses, that one very spirit of God did gouerne them, both in their life, and in their death: and also to make the bet­ter knowen the extreme shamelessenesse of suche as would beare men in hand that hys death was not according to his life. And if any man doe thincke any thing to be herein other than trouth, I will not stand much in saying againste him: onely I doe gyue him warning whatsoeuer he be, to thinke what thing it is, that maye be true and firme among liuing men, if it be lawfull for a man to dout that which hath bene done in a Towne, in the sighte and knowledge of such as wold heare or vnderstand it.