Calvin’s letter to Farel, Strasburg, Feb. 19, 1541.—Calv. _Opp._ xi. p. 156.
Calvin’s letter to Bernard. Ulm, March 1, 1541.—Calv. _Opp._ xi. p. 166. Letter to Farel.—_Ibid._ p. 170.
‘Nullum esse locum sub cœlo quem magis reformidem... Jam nescio qui factum sit ut animo incipiam esse inclinatione ad capessenda ejus gubernacula.’—Calv. _Opp._ xi. p. 167.
‘In illis (literis) enim Periclis tonitrua mihi audire videbar.’—Cl. Feræus to Farel. Calv. _Opp._ xi. p. 171.
See Calvin’s letter to Farel, March 29.—Calv. _Opp._ xi. p. 175, and his letter to Richebourg, _ibid._ p. 188.
Calvin had at this time anxieties of another kind, which may well have contributed to make the republic of Geneva preferable to the Germanic empire as a residence. When the conference was broken off at Worms in 1541, he had been elected deputy to the assembly of Ratisbon. It was with reluctance that he went there, either because he felt that he was no diplomatist, and did not consider himself at all fit for business of that kind,[52] or because he anticipated that his stay at Ratisbon would occasion him much annoyance. He was doubtless hoping always for the final victory of Jesus Christ, the theme of his song of triumph; but the conferences which he had already attended, the prolixities, the questions of mere form which arose, the direction which the Reformation seemed to be taking, all this disquieted and offended him. He had not gone to these Germanic assemblies with any large expectations or ready-made plans. He had no doubt that the Protestant divines would seek to extend the kingdom of Christ, but he saw more clearly than they did the obstacles which they would encounter. Many things afflicted and irritated him; and, perhaps, he could not at all times control his temper. The Catholics, it is true, made some [Sidenote: Concessions of the Lutherans.] concessions on important points; but even this failed to tranquillize Calvin, nay, it excited his suspicions, as it did those of Luther and the Elector of Saxony. Dr. Eck, who was one of the commissioners, was not a man to inspire much confidence in Calvin. The latter would sometimes speak rather hard words about him. This theologian had had an apoplectic fit, the consequence, it was rumored, of his intemperance, but he was gradually recovering. ‘The world,’ wrote Calvin to Farel, ‘does not yet deserve to be delivered from this brute.’[53] He acknowledged the pacific sentiments of Cardinal Contarini, the papal legate, who at the same time that he was a thorough-going Catholic so far as the Church was concerned, leaned towards reconciliation with the Protestants with respect to matters of faith. But Calvin, who assuredly saw more clearly than others, did not doubt that the Roman dignitary really wished to bring back Protestants into the pale of the Church. The only difference which he perceived between him and the nuncio Morone was this—Contarini wishes to subdue us, but without shedding our blood; he tries to gain his end by all means except by fighting, while Morone is altogether sanguinary, and has always war on his lips.[54] Calvin instituted a contrast between Morone and Contarini. The former is a man of blood, the latter a man of peace. Is it just to say that he hated Contarini?[55] We think not.