The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1896-09-26


the Bishop of Geneva, and his rescue
of prosecuted persons from their ty-
rannical measures; but thereby he
made himself especially obnoxious to
those powerful individuals, who even
tually worked out his ruin. He was
traitorously inveigled by two of
his most trusted friends. compelled
to renounce his priory in favor of one
of them, and turned over to the GUS
tody of the duke, who imprisoned
him for two years in one of his cas-
ties, while at the same time the
bishop and the duke subjugated the
city of Geneva ami imprisoned tor
tured, and hanged the citizens.
Some five years later Downward got
possession again of his priory, but
the estates had been wrested from it
by the duke and his minions, and he
had to depend on the bounty of the
city of Geneva for something to live
on, amounting to five and a half
crowns monthly-hardly sufficient to
enable him to keep up state worthy
of the dignity of sovereign. He had
again made himself very obnoxious
to the duke by attempting to regain
by force of arms some of the estates
of which he had deprived the priory,
and, having gone to visit his mother,
who was i'll at her old home at Seys-
sci, in Savoy, he was seized in his at
tempt to return by emissaries of the
duke and secreted in the dukes cas-
tie of Chillon, and for six years he
was hidden from the world. The first
two years he was kept in the upper
chamber of the castle and treated
kindly, but at the end of this time, on
the duke visiting the castle, he was
remanded to the awful and somber
crypt. In 1886 the army of Berne eff
fected his release, and he was taken
in triumph to Geneva, where he found
a revolution, duke and bishop and all
their functionaries having been ex-
PEELED and the reformers having ia
ken the place of priests and friars
st. Victor was no more, only heap
of ruins. He was allowed to select
house, given and furnished at the
public expense, a pension of two hun
dred crowns year was settled on
him, and he was made a senator of
the republic.
But his old convivial habits revived,
and he was in continual difficulties
with the officials and his wives, of
whom he had in succession three; but
yet devoted much time to his literary
work. His greatest trouble was with
the Church authorities, Calvin at
their head, who could not easily al
low for his infrmities, and by them
he was looked upon as weakling in
religious matters. He fingered along
to the age of seventy-seven, watched
with filial gratitude by the little State
whose liberty he had helped to save
and whose heroic history he had re-
corded. The manuscript of that
work was referred to a committee
with Calvin at the head, who declined
to have it printed, but after the lapse
of many years sit has been the pride
of Geneva scholars to print in elegant
archaic style every page written by
the prisoner of Chillon in prose or
verse on history, poetry. philosophy,
and theology" The cherished col
lection of Bonnivard's books, which
he bequeathed to the city, as he died
childless, has grown into the library
of university, and the little walled
town for whose ancient liberty he
ventured such perils and suffered
such imprisonments is, and for the
three hundred years since has been,
one of the chief radiant centers of
light and liberty for all the world.
Byron, in note to the poem, says:
"When the foregoing poem was COM
posed | was not sufficiently aware of
the history of Downward, or | should
have endeavored to dignity the SUBJ
ject by an attempt to celebrate his
courage and his virtues" He adds
to the sonnet note in French, giving
some account of Bonnivard's life.
Furnished by the kindness of a citi-
zen of that republic, which is still
proud of the memory of man wor-
thy of the best age of ancient free
DOM" The true history of the pris-
oner of Chillon consequently tran
sends in interest that of the fabu-
lous hero of the poem.-Springfeld
Republican.