The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-09-30

GaEhsr, which occurred IN the spring Of
1874. Calvin returned 10 tho University
Of Paris. where under tho guidance o.
Pisrrs Danes hS pursued eagerly the
study OF Greek, whis under FRANCOIS
vatable he began that OF Hebrew. Mean
while his preparation for tho lGw must
have besn completed, for q legal document
Of February. 1882. described him a. heSne's
20 ktx.
In April. iSs2, Calvin brought out, at an
expense which must q " severely taxed
his means. q commentary on Seneca's
Treatise on ClemcnSy, . work Of $50 paWos
In quarto. The book seems 20 have been
prompted by q desire TO reply TO Erasmus,
who had expressed what seemed 10 Calvin
a too disparaging Judgment OF the Roman
Stole philosopheS. Prof. Walker testtBes
that the commentary N remarkable for its
maturity. There In in It, be sayS, scarcely
. suggestion Of q youthful effort. Con-
spicuous in Il are Calvin's high sense Of
moral values, and conception OF the sin
fulness Of conduct not In accordance with
them. Had IL not been for Calvin's latsr
history. no one would probably have seen
In this commentary more b the work
OF an unusually high minded, ethically
strenuous humanist. One would not have
looked upon the author a. specially inter-
ested In religious problems. The Bib
Is cited but three times. and then In an
incidental way. We may infer. than. that
the Bible had no such attraction for the
youthful commentator on Seneca ~ was
exercised by the great writer's OF classical
antiquity. From the viewpoint Of scholar
ship the commentary seems to have been
a monument to the erudition OF the young
author. Prof. Walker says hat written
In a Latin style OF singular clarity mi brill
fancy, with not a little OF the lawyers sense
for lucid presentation and cogent argu-
ment, the book showed a range OF reading
almost marvellous in a man OF Calvtn's
years Itwenty-threel.' The impression OF
precocity is intensified when we call to
mind how recently he had begun the study
Of Greek. The text is Illuminated by
citations from ifty-six Latin and twenty
two Greek classical writer's, seven Fathers
OF the Church, and the humanists Of his
own age" Evidently the long hours Of
study and reflection at Orleans and Bourg es.
and Of work under the Royal Lecturers
at Paris, had produced abundant fruitage.
III.
At date and under what circum-
stances Calvin became a Protestant IL a
question that has given rise to endless
controversy, to an outline OF which many
pages Of the book before US are devoted.
We a space only to note the conclusion
at which Prof. Walker arrives, namely,
that between the publication Of the Com
mentary on Seneca's essay, in April. 1882,
and the address delivered by Calvin's friend,
Nicolas Cop, on the assumption Of the rector
ship Of the University Of Paris on Novem-
Der 1. 1888. q great change had taken place
in Calvin, and the query naturally suggests
itself whether IL was not this change that
he himself describes as his sudden con-
version" HIS own account OF tho expert
ence shows that he regarded il as a crisis
Of the utmost significance, wrought by
nothing less than divine power. Calvin's
conversion does not appear to have been
one Of the will only. 1t was, whenever it
occurred, IN enlightening OF the under
standing. no less than the formation Of a
determination to act. Thenceforth to the
eager young humanist religion became the
chief concern. He himself testiHes hat
before a year passed. all those who had
some desire for pure doctrine betook them
selves to me in order TO learn, although 1
myself had lone little more than begin.
For my part, I comnenOed to seek some
hiding place and means Of Withdrawing
from people
II, however, Calvin had come BY Novem-
Der, 1888, to doctrinal positions. now uni
versally recognized az characteristic OF
Professionalism, the logical outcome OF which
was soon to be separation from Rome, IL
by no means follows that he recognized the
full consequences OF his belief or regarded
himself as a Protestant. On August a
Of the year named, he was present at a
meeting OF the Chapter at Noyon. On
October p he expressed himself in a way
that shows ed that he held himself In full SYM
patty with the humanistic reformers, who
hoped that the Church of France might be
reformed from within by truer teaching and
truer doctrine without breach Of its his
toric continuity. According to Prof.
Walker nothing more radical than this is
necessarily involved in Cops address, in
which Calvin has been thought to have had
a hand, even II he did not write the whole
Of it.
Certain IL IL that it was not until May,
1884, that Calvin resigned his benefces.
In that month, and again in June Of the
same year, he was arrested and impris-
oned at Noyon. After his final release from
imprisonment in that city he betook him
self TO Angouleme, whence he went for
a time to Orleans, and then made his
way through Lorraine to Strassburg and
Basel, arriving at the latter place about
the beginning OF 1885. Calvin's friend Cop
had found a refuge in the same city about
a year earlier, and his presence there may
have been the main reason inducing Calvin
| to make it his home. Basel afforded not
merely a safe retreat but abundant oppor-
tunities for study and publication. The
conditions which had led the now aged
Erasmus to make OF II an asylum had at
tracted many a less known scholar. Under
the leadership Of Johann Gcolampadius,
whose death had occurred more than three
wears before Calvin's arrival, Basel had been
thoroughly committed TO Professionalism.
Here, though living very quietly under a
pseudonym, Calvin began some important
friendships. with Pierre Viret for instance.
who wa TO be his associate In the efoma-
ton OF French speaking Switzerland, and
with Bulinger. Zwingli's successor in the
spiritual leadership Of Zurich. Already
Calvin was also in friendly relations with