, 1875-02-21

Il person wi1hstood the torture,
Was accused OF being the possessor c
charm which took away the power {
feeling. Two French savans were immured aliy
after having resisted all the ingenuity Of tol
ture. This was in the rnildoBt period OF Calvin
reign. Loter, the executioner, who Was honor
ed with the right Of citizenship by virtue of hi
Office, was the busiest man in Geneva, the NUN
ber OF executions averaging $50 per year.
buch is the picture drawn by Galiffa Of Cal
Vln's reign. It ia not q pleasant one bui
unless the archives Of Geneva lie, and tn
| records OF the trials which took plac
there during Caiyin's time, it is true one. Pes
CHER, Galitfe's reviewer, asys that Calvin de
serves to be tied to the whipping-post Of history
and will not even excuse him On the plea tha
his toleration was the roleration Of his age
claiming that as . reformer he should have beel
in advance Of hm time. The cowardly command
er who turns his back to escape the enen1y's fire
ssys Peschier, falls under the lash Of publ
opinion and, asks he, shall We have only word
OF praise tor the man who Assumes to restor
Christianity to its primitive form, but who tread
the doctrines and the lore Of Christianity unde
his feet7
Downward, Byron'a :prisoner Of Chillon, who
By the way, was no martyr at all, but . devoted
adherent Of Calvin, was the first, ne are told. tt
give to the world the false picture Of Calyi1
which historical criticism is destroying. He wrote
q work on the earlier and later policy Of Genevs
"swarming with lies 80 much so that eveu
those in whose interests it was written were
compelled to disown it. Tho manuscrip: lay IN.
published for years IN the archives Of Geneva
until, one day. historian gave it to tue light,
and with it, currency to \ false account Of CAL
wins timos. Michael Rosct, second adyocate
Of Calvin, undertook to correct the errors Of his
chives and all others nero prohibited from H.
spectng them. Roset vas, we are told, very
unreliable writer.-a man who had proved him.
self perjurer before the courts Of his country
in order to deprive fellow-creature Of his life.
Galifra has been unmerciful and il n he 49,
sures us the facts are what he states them to be,
he Was warranted in being SO.
Ca1vin's labors in Geneva have not been
permanent, however permanently he may have
impressed himself on some portions Of humani-
ty. The Canton OF Geneva has to-day an Ultra-
montane majority and the city but 8 small na-
jority in favor Of the National Church but even
these are not Calvinistic IN their tendencies.
Galife and Peschier might, however, have said
something in e1tenuatioo OF Calvin's deeds.
True, he was as fntolernnt as Torquemada but
who in his age Was not? It WAS not the intol-
erance Of the Roman Church that gave birth to
the Reformation. It Was the desire to
eliminate from Christianity what the Reform
ers considered the e1croscences which had grown
upon it in the comse Of ages.
OF all the Reformers, Calvin waa the only one
who had any direct influence On political ideas
He had been educated lawyer rs wen as q the-
ologian and this had no little influence in rnak
ing him the kind OF statesman he Was. He was
ths Dictator in tho Republic q Pope in tho Be-
formed Church. He has often been compared
With Gregory VII. and those most competent to
mensa ability ho doubtless had. When
greatest Of his works, ~The Institutes
Of the Christian Religion" Judged from tho
point Of view from which men in our day view
things, he may be condemned for having made
the confession Of faith which be had formulated
The fundamental law Of the Republic he gov
erned+ md for excluding from the rights Of citi-
zenship all those who refused to accept it. His
desire to enforce the moral law by the machinery
of govexnmont was unwise and impractical
but it was part cf aud parcel OF himself to en-
force it. Even when boy we are told be waa
Tho moral consor Of Ill around him. But his
morality was too intoler ant 70 DO long enforced.
LII his political doctrines were based On the
;eachings Of the Old Testament The Mosaic
Aw was the pattern OF his. Hence he cent
women Who did not dress according to bis stand
nd Of decency to jail. d-plsyers uere put
o the pillory and the cards hung around their
leckH. Han who had failed in business were
:arried On IN asss back through the streets,
heir faces turned Away from the auimals head
3laHphemy WIS punished with death.
We are scarcely prepared to believe, with
be writer's above named, that Calvin waa
uided ia his treatment Of his opponents by
MY. We prefer the view Of him, advocated
y one OF the most eminent jurists Of Germany,
'rof. Bluntschu: "H Calvin ia to bo judged
. the standard Of the law and thought which
btained in his day among theologians and
urists, his treatment OF eerYetus must be juBti-
cd. They do him injustice who aacribe low |
,otives to his acts and say that jealousy caused
i'm to persecuts his fellow-citizens- It vas |
10 devotion to his own belief, OF which |
is whole being was full TINT urged |
i'm to it. When, Oh the other hand, this act is |
adged bT the higher standard OF human thought !
+ OF Christian morals, it appears great crime,
dark blot upon his soul. Nor is this stain
ashed out by the memory OF the numerous OK
,utions OF heretics BY Catholics. On tho con-
ary, it appears al1 the darker in the COMPARE
N; for the Reformed Church had confidence
the right Interpretation Of Scripture, and in
10 revolution Of the Spirit to those who honest
seek it, cut loose from tho ancient authority
: tho Church, and should not have taken away
nuns life because hs had attained
faith after sincere endeavor to
i'd the truth, different from It's
lthority. Poste1ity will look at Calvin from this
,int Of view, and Calvin cannot EXCUSE himself
appeaiing to the naxrowness Of the age in
aich he lived, for he was man and Christian
highly gifted, that sincere and serious in
.stigation would have taught him a higher
stioo. His act Ia great historical warning
ainst theological intolerance.-a warning, too,
ainst tho danger Of allowing thoologians 10
1e the State"
PERSONAL
JUBrIsANo Ro1As, Of Santa Cruz, Cal, Is 137