UC-NRI 
 
LIBRARY 
 
 OF THK 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. 
 
 GIFT OK 
 
 Accession 
 
 lass 
 
Ube IReformer 
 of <5ene\?a 
 
 Hn Ibietorical Drama 
 
 Cbarlea Woofcruff 
 
 prcfcesor in Princeton "University 
 
 G. P. PUTNAM S SONS 
 
 NEW YORK & LONDON 
 fcntcfcerbocfcer press 
 1898 
 
COPYRIGHT, 1897 
 
 BY 
 CHARLES WOODRUFF SHIELDS 
 
 All rights reserved 
 Entered at Stationers Hall, London 
 
 Ube fmfcfterbocfcer prea0, Hew ffiort 
 
tit. 
 
 "Post Tenebras Lux." 
 
 Motto of Geneva. 
 
 86271 
 
Gbe IReformer of (Senetm 
 
DRAMATIS PERSONS. 
 
 AMIED PERRIN. The Captain-General. 
 
 PHILIBERT BERTHELIER. A Libertine Courtier. 
 
 CLAUDE RIGOT. The Attorney-General. 
 
 PIERRE TISSOT. The Lord Lieutenant. 
 
 VANDEL. A Senator favoring Perrin. 
 
 Du PAN. A Senator favoring Calvin. 
 
 D ARLOD. Lord Syndic and leader of the Majority. 
 
 JOHN CALVIN. The Reformer. 
 
 NICOLAS DE LA FONTAINE. Secretary to Calvin, and 
 
 lover of Idelette. 
 
 GERMAIN COLLADON. A French Refugee and Lawyer. 
 FAREL J 
 POUPIN > Pastors. 
 BERNARD ) 
 
 MICHAEL SERVETUS. The Heretic. 
 WILLIAM GUEROULT. Printer to Servetus. 
 CLAUDE DE GENEVE. Jailer and instrument of Perrin. 
 FRANCESCA. Wife of the Captain-General. 
 IDELETTE. Their daughter. 
 
 The City Herald, the State Secretary, State Messen 
 ger, French Papal Envoy, Jailers, Archers, Senators, 
 Citizens, Burghers, Peasants, Artisans, Attendants. 
 
 Scene in Geneva. Time, 1553. 
 
ACT I. 
 
 THE PLOT OF THE LIBERTINES. 
 
 SCENE I. THE CAPTAIN-GENERAL S PALACE. 
 SCENE II. THE DOOR OF THE CATHEDRAL. 
 SCENE III. THE SAME AT CURFEW. 
 SCENE IV. INTERIOR OF THE CONSISTORY. 
 

 ACT I. 
 
 SCENE I. 
 
 A Room in the Palace of the CAPTAIN-GENERAL. FRAN- 
 
 CESCA and IDELETTE are embroidering. The 
 
 Cathedral bell rings. 
 
 Francesca. Come ! there s the bell for vespers, 
 Idelette. 
 
 Idelette. No, mother; t is the evening sermon now. 
 
 Francesca. Ah ! I forget No matins and no vespers 
 Nothing but sermons, doctrines, all day long. 
 The very peasants have befogg d their brains 
 With wordy talk about the Trinity, 
 Free-will, Election, what-not why not leave 
 Such things to priests ? 
 
 Idelette. Why not, indeed ? And yet 
 
 I never liked the filthy priests, nor would 
 Confess to them. 
 
 Francesca. To whom, then, will you go ? 
 
 Idelette. Alas ! to Master Calvin, for some counsel. 
 
 Francesca. And little would you get: a catechism 
 On the fine points of his divinity; 
 Some goodish talk about old Jewish saints; 
 And preachments gainst the wickedness of plays, 
 Cards, dances, and the dire enormity 
 Of frills and flounces. Child, is thy new gown 
 
 5 
 
"Reformer 
 
 Made ready for the fete to-night ? 
 
 Idelette. It seems 
 
 I dare not wear it. The Consistory * 
 Has pass d an edict 
 
 Francesca. The Consistory! 
 
 Pray, what has the Consistory to do 
 With thy toilette ? 
 
 Idelette. (Handing a scroll?) It s in the missive left 
 By the French gentleman, their Secretary. 
 
 Francesca. What ! that young Nicolas de la Fontaine ? 
 How dare he bring to us their pious twaddle ! 
 
 Idelette. (Aside, kissing a letter as she withdraws."] 
 Ah ! my good mother, something else he brought ! 
 
 [Exit IDELETTE. 
 
 [PERRIN and BERTHELIER enter apparently conversing, and 
 approach FRANCESCA while she peruses the scroll. 
 
 Francesca. See here, most gallant Berthelier, and you 
 That are, or seem the Captain-General 
 Of this proud city and my lord and master, 
 What petticoat government we are under! 
 
 [Reads.] " It is decreed: No woman in what rank 
 Or quality soever she may be 
 Dareth to be so hardy as to make, 
 Or cause to be made or to wear two flounces 
 Or more than two, embroider d, fac d or lin d 
 With silk, on pain to forfeit sixty sous." 2 
 
 Berthelier. Ha! ha! our Master Calvin even sets 
 The fashions for us. Here are other edicts : 
 
 [Produces a paper and reads.] 
 " No man durst wear gay hose or figur d doublet; 
 Nor dance with any woman at a fete ; 
 On pain of bread and water for three days." 
 
 Francesca. What a religion! Lent ! the whole year 
 round. 
 
 6 
 
of Geneva. 
 
 Berthelier. (JReads.) " Let there be no more games 
 
 no more stage-plays 
 No holidays sermons on three work-days 
 All citizens to be at home for prayers 
 And lights put out at half-past nine o clock, 
 What time the curfew of St. Peter tolls." 
 
 Perrin. Great Caesar! Who is master in Geneva ? 
 
 Berthelier. One of our stately dames has been rebuk d, 
 Because her maid had dress d her coiffure too 
 Coquettishly for the Consistory. 
 
 Francesco,. Ha! ha! Most reverend court of co 
 quetry! 
 
 Berthelier. And a pert, laughing damsel has been 
 
 deem d 
 Not good enough to wear a bridal wreath. 
 
 Francesca. " Penthesilea! Queen of Amazons, " 3 
 Dares he call me. Oh! would I were a man, 
 Or might but use the power of you men, 
 I d make this wand ring preacher stick to his text 
 And leave us women to our millinery. 
 
 [Tears the paper to pieces] 
 He calls you " Comic Caesar." 8 
 
 Perrin. Comic Caesar ? 
 
 By Caesar! He shall pay dear for that jest. 
 I yet will play me such a comedy 
 As he may find a rueful tragedy. 
 Our friend the noble Berthelier is here 
 To lay the plot. He comes to talk state matters 
 With me alone. 
 
 Francesca. (Withdrawing.) Choose well your parts, 
 my Lords. 
 
 [Exit FRANCESCA. 
 
 Perrin. Have we cast off the yoke of dukes and 
 bishops 
 
IReformer 
 
 But to be rul d by this evangelist! 
 
 Berthelier. The dukes, my lord, have had their day, 
 
 because 
 
 They colleagued with the bishops: so they fell 
 Together. Now the burghers lose the game 
 By calling back this subtle divine from Strasburg 
 To play the pope among us. 
 
 Perrin. Not yet: not yet: the noblesse of Geneva 
 Have not all bowed to the adventurer 
 From Picardy. T is true, we take his creed; 
 It s neither French nor Genevese, and suits 
 The rabble, But his rule in civic rights 
 We take not, and will crush his rule in manners. 4 
 
 Berthelier. That s easy said. The banish d cleric 
 
 comes 
 With popular gales to waft him back to power. 
 
 Perrin. But not to grasp quite all the reins of power! 
 We hold the ancient rights episcopal, 
 Descended with the ducal to our hands. 
 
 Berthelier. Perhaps he means to yield the sword of 
 
 State 
 
 But keep himself the keys o the Church : 6 a game 
 That he plays well. 
 
 Perrin. No doubt. But still 
 
 We have our curb: the edict lately pass d: 
 No clergy henceforth in the Senate, there 
 To thwart our counsels and to kill our votes. 
 
 Berthelier. How stand the new elected senators ? 
 
 Perrin. Most favorably: Vandel, Sept, Defosses, 
 Des Arts and Favre, men whom we can trust, 
 Kinsmen or friends of mine, good livers all 
 And haters of the new ascetic rule. 
 Our Vandel leads them with his haughty tongue. 
 
 Berthelier. And how do stand the other senators ? 
 8 
 
of 6enev>a. 
 
 Perrin. Well, not so well. Du Pan leads Botellier, 
 Aubert, Corne", and Lambert; these we know 
 To be austere and wily puritans. 
 Fifteen remain to lean to either side. 
 
 JBerthelier. Ay, there remain the dangers to the cause. 
 Our power is based upon the populace, 
 In both the civic Councils, Great and Small; 
 And as the city fills with Calvinists, 
 Exiled from all the provinces of France, 
 Some day the alien creed may undermine 
 The whole republic. 
 
 Perrin. Ah, but you forget, 
 
 The Senate has decreed, within the walls, 
 These dogs of Frenchmen shall not carry arms." 
 So have we plucked away the serpent fangs 
 Nurs d in the gen rous bosom of the state. 
 
 Berthelier. Most noble lord and Captain-General, 
 You quite mistake me. These our enemies 
 Fight not with carnal weapons, as they like 
 To say, though well enough they fight with fagots 
 Among themselves, their power is in the realm 
 Of thought and spirit, where no state-craft comes. 
 Some different doctrine must be sown broadcast. 
 
 Perrin. What ! would my lord turn preacher then ? 
 You speak a riddle. 
 
 Berthelier. No: a simple secret ; 
 
 And a state-secret, if you keep it well. 
 Know you, there is a preacher come to town, 
 Not reverend in title, but disguised, 
 A gallant like ourselves and hidden safe 
 At the Inn-of-the-Rose, across the Lake, 
 One Michael Servetus, the physician, 
 Known as a sower of great heresies 
 Through Christendom. 7 
 
 9 
 
vibe IReformer 
 
 Perrin. Well ? more of this state-secret. 
 
 Berthelier. He much hath writ against our famed 
 
 divine, 
 
 The printer of his book, William Gueroult, 
 A sometime banished Libertine, but now 
 In sheep s clothing, near the sacred pale, 
 Under the very noses of the pastors spreads 
 The heresy like murrain through their flocks. 
 
 Perrin, But when the shepherds scent the murrain 
 
 there, 
 What then ? 
 
 Berthelier. Why, better, then, for us ; and worse 
 For them Dissensions in the folds themselves 
 By two reformers Power in our hands 
 To drive one at the other or send both 
 Of them where they can never plague us more. 
 
 Perrin. Bravo ! bravo ! Not that I care a sou 
 For either doctrine. Anything to put 
 This upstart alien down and keep intact 
 Our civic rights and ancient liberties. 
 
 Berthelier. If one must choose, I d choose the newer 
 
 doctrine. 
 
 Our sham Reformer only half reforms. 
 His discipline destroys indulgences, 
 But keeps the old-time penances, and kills 
 The joy and charm of life while in the bud. 
 The later gospel of true liberty 
 Frees both the spirit and the flesh, with all 
 Their natural and innocent desires; 
 And so makes full communion of saints 
 In bodies and in goods as well as souls 
 A holy wedlock with a holy kiss. 8 
 
 Perrin. Aha! I see you have the greater stake. 
 It is a bargain. Philibert Berthelier, 
 
 10 
 
of Geneva* 
 
 Son of that sire who freed us from the yoke 
 Of Savoy, give to me thy hand. 
 [They clasp hands.} And so 
 
 We have the prologue of our " Comic Caesar." 
 The play is on. Come, drink success to it. 
 Long live Geneva! 
 
 Berthelier. Long live the Libertines! 
 
 SCENE II. 
 
 Before the ancient Gothic 9 Doorway of the Cathedral of 
 St. Peter. A Psalm concluding within. Worship 
 pers dispersing. Tivo Burghers tarry. 
 
 First Burgher. Well, brother, think you the discourse 
 
 was sound ? 
 Second Burgher. T was meat for men, not milk for 
 
 babes. 
 
 First Burgher. Too tough 
 
 For my digestion, some of it. 
 
 Second Burgher. By prayer 
 
 And meditation only we digest 
 Sound doctrine. 
 
 First Burgher. Truly : yet we cannot pray 
 Against Eternal Will ; nor meditate 
 How Three are One and still One must be Three. 
 Second Burgher. And therefore am I for a Trinity. 
 First Burgher. And therefore am I for a Unity. 
 Second Burgher. Your Unity would be you know not 
 
 what. 
 
 First Burgher. Your Trinity would be a Cerberus. 19 
 Second Burgher. What s that ? 
 ii 
 
TTbe Reformer 
 
 First Burgher . The fabled hell-hound with three heads. 
 
 Second Burgher. Flat blasphemy ! You ne er learned 
 
 aught like that 
 From Master Calvin s sermons or his books. 
 
 First Burgher. Oh, there s another doctor now abroad, 
 Another book beside the Institutes. 
 
 Second Burgher. What doctor, and what book ? 
 
 First Burgher. A doctor learn d 
 
 In new divinity, a second Luther, 
 Reformer of reformers; and his book, 
 Sometime to be discreetly shown to you, 
 Is the quintescence of the faith, distilled 
 Into a pure " Restored Christianity." 
 
 Second Burgher. T is heresy! vile heresy! both book 
 And heretic fit to be burn d. Look you ! 
 [SERVETUS, disguised as a Libertine, passes with a gallant 
 
 air^\ 
 Yon flaunting Libertine! 
 
 First Burgher. A citizen 
 
 He seems of gallant mien. 
 
 Second Burgher. Last Sabbath morn, 
 
 As Satan came among the sons of God, 
 Came he into the assembly of the saints, 
 Affronting them with jewels, gay attire, 
 And silly foppish airs. Came he to pray, 
 He must be warned to wear the sober garb 
 Ordained by the Consistory. Came he 
 To spy our Canaan out, then as a spy 
 Shall he be treated. I must hence away 
 To put the brethren on their guard. 11 {Exit. 
 
 First Burgher. Good soul ! 
 
 He little deems that flaunting Libertine 
 The heretic himself, Michael Servetus, 
 Reformer of this now deform d Geneva. \Exit. 
 
 12 
 
of (Benevm. 
 
 SCENE III. 
 
 The same transformed by Nightfall. The Curfew tolling. 
 
 The NIGHT WATCHMAN, with flambeau, 
 
 going and returning. 
 
 Night V/atch. Past nine o clock! To prayers! Hie 
 
 home to prayers ! 
 [Enter SERVETUS and GUEROULT, meeting as the Night 
 
 Watch passes. 
 Servetus. (To GUEROULT). Off, caitiff, with thy cap, 
 
 before thy masters. 
 
 Gueroult. Our masters force us to be meek and lowly. 
 Night Watch. The curfew bids you home, good 
 
 citizens. 
 
 Servetus. What if we tarry here ? 
 Night Watch. To prison till 
 
 To-morrow morn, and then a reprimand 
 From the most reverend Consistory. 
 
 Gueroult. T is better to obey the powers that be. 
 Night Watch. Past nine o clock! To prayers! Hie 
 home to prayers ! [Exit. 
 
 Servetus. Is that old prowler out of ear-shot yet ? 
 I sometimes fancy we are dogg d and watch d. 
 Gueroult. He d never take you for a heretic. 
 Servetus. He d never take you for a Libertine. 
 Gueroult. Now we are safe, unless church walls have 
 
 ears. 
 
 Servetus. How goes the good work on ? 
 Gueroult. Bravely; the book 
 
 Is read upon the sly and handed about 
 And tasted like some titbit. 
 
 Servetus. Do the parsons 
 
 Suspect it ? 
 
 Gueroult. Bless you! Pastor Poupin has 
 13 
 
ilbe "[Reformer 
 
 A nose for heresy that scented it 
 
 As far off as Vienne in Dauphiny, 
 
 But does not smell it now under his pulpit. 
 
 Servetus. And Pastor Bernard ? 
 
 Gueroult. Oh, the more he rails 
 
 Against Servetus all the more they read 
 Servetus. 
 
 Servetus. And that lying old impostor, 
 Who answers not my letters ? 
 
 Gueroult. Master Calvin! 
 
 Oh, he but writes to princes and grand ladies, 
 That like to have him for a conscience-keeper. 
 Why think you we are watch d ? 
 
 Servetus. The other day 
 
 I stroll d to church 
 
 Gueroult. Rash, very rash. 
 
 Servetus. To hear once more an orthodox discourse. 
 Methought the brethren look d askance and eyed 
 Inquiringly my figured hose and doublet. 
 
 Gueroult. Did any of them follow you ? 
 
 Servetus. Since then 
 
 The landlord of the Inn is very curious. 
 
 Gueroult. To know you better as a paying guest ? 
 
 Servetus. Oh, no ! He slyly asked about my wife. 
 
 Gueroult. Ha! ha! Your answer ? 
 
 Servetus. That a Libertine 
 
 Could take his pleasures as he chose 
 Without the yoke of marriage. 
 
 Gueroult. Shrewdly said. 
 
 Servetus. He also queried of my coming and going. 
 
 Gueroult. That may have been but mere civility. 
 
 Servetus. From Spain, I said, to Naples there to ply 
 My healing art among the Spanish exiles. 
 
 Gueroult. Well, that was true enough. 
 14 
 
ot Geneva. 
 
 Servetus. To-morrow I 
 
 Shall air my promise, and sail down the lake ia 
 
 Gueroult. Returning when the business is more ripe. 
 Servetus. Come, come ; the moon will soon be up and 
 
 show 
 Our faces. 
 
 Gueroult. And our plans, worse than our faces. 
 
 [Exeunt. 
 
 SCENE IV. 
 
 The Consistory adjoining the Cathedral. Tomes upon the 
 
 shelves, the table, and floor. A suspended lamp. 
 
 CALVIN is dictating to LA FONTAINE. 
 
 Calvin. How many letters have we, Nicolas ? 
 
 La Fontaine. Too many, Sir, to be despatched to 
 night. 13 
 
 Calvin. We take the urgent. Name them one by one. 
 [LA FONTAINE takes up each letter as he names its pur 
 port. 
 
 La Fontaine. The Duchess of Ferrara, Italy, 
 Sends greetings to her well-remembered friend, 
 And begs his good advice. 
 
 Calvin. Ah! brilliant court 
 
 Of letters, wit and piety ! Brief dream 
 Of worldly glory not to be ! We send 
 An answer only after thought and prayer 
 And in most courteous phrase, as shall beseem 
 This gracious lady. 14 Pass we to the next. 
 
 La Fontaine. " Appeal of Persecuted Protestants 
 In France." By secret messenger. 
 
 Calvin. Most urgent. 
 
 15 
 
IReformer 
 
 Our brethren faint and perish. We must write 
 Before we sleep. 
 
 La Fontaine. " His Grace of Canterbury " bids to 
 
 Lambeth 
 
 A Council of Reformed divines, to heal 
 The broken unity of Christendom. 
 
 Calvin. Mark that Important, not Immediate. 
 A noble summons! I would cross ten seas 
 To answer it. Mayhap, I be not stayed 
 To heal some deadly breach in our own walls. 
 
 La Fontaine. " Queen Margaret of Navarre " is not 
 
 well pleas d 
 
 To hear that Monsieur Calvin writes a book 
 Against the sect of Libertines, of whom 
 She reckons some amongst her chosen friends. 15 
 
 Calvin. Alas ! Madam ! though loyal to thy house, 
 As to all Christian princes, speak I must, 
 Else I were false to thine own Lord and mine, 
 Betrayed by those who mask their fleshly sin 
 In heavenly grace and call that " liberty " 
 Which is but lust. Even a dog will bark, 
 Whose master is assail d. 
 
 La Fontaine. The next is seal d 
 
 With the great ancient seal of the Republic: 
 The noble the Lord Syndics of Geneva 
 Mandamus to the Reverend Presbytery " 
 That certain censur d Libertines have leave 
 To take the Holy Supper. 
 
 Calvin. Put that aside for the Consistory. 
 So falls the first bolt from the low ring cloud 
 That gathers over this unhappy Church. 
 
 La Fontaine. " Philip Melancthon, to his Dearest 
 
 Friend 
 And Brother " 
 
 16 
 
ot (Benera. 
 
 Calvin. That must wait some tranquil hour. 
 O Philip Melancthon ! a hundred times 
 Upon this bosom hast thou laid thy head, 
 And pray d to live and die with me. Would God 
 That thou wert near me at this hour! Afar 
 Thou watchest now the spiritual combat, 
 And forward lookest to the Righteous Judge, 
 Who holds th unfading wreath for which we strive. 18 
 
 La Fontaine. One letter more a servant maid that 
 
 craves 
 A note to Pastor Farel. 
 
 Calvin. Write at once: 
 
 And add a safe-conduct to Neufchatel. 
 
 La Fontaine. Another! An old worn letter, out of 
 
 date, 
 
 Left by an unknown hand, from Michael 
 Servetus, in Vienne, Province of Lyons: 
 Too insolent, I think, for you to read. 
 
 Calvin. Poor, stiff-necked, crazy heretic! 
 Throw it unread into the escritoire 
 With thirty others like it. \_Loud knocks at the door.] 
 
 See who comes. 
 None but the members of Consistory. 
 
 [Enter POUPIN and BERNARD, ushered by LA FON 
 TAINE. 
 
 La Fontaine. The reverend pastors Poupin and 
 Bernard. 
 
 Calvin. Right welcome, brethren. What good tidings 
 
 do 
 Ye bring ? 
 
 Poupin. Most honored master, only bad: 
 A wolf is in the fold. 
 
 Bernard. A pack of wolves ! 
 
 Calvin. Ye speak in proverbs, darkly. 
 17 
 
Reformer 
 
 Poupin. Plainly then: 
 
 That compound of all heresy, the Spaniard 
 Michael Servetus, our worst enemy, 
 Is in Geneva. 
 
 Bernard. And the Libertines 
 
 Are plotting with him to pull down our Church. 
 
 Calvin. How came he here ? 
 
 Poupin. Nobody knows. Since he 
 
 Escap d the papal fagots at Vienne, 
 He has been wandering in Italy 
 Or France; and now, with that outlaw d Gueroult, 
 His secret printer, he has turned up here, 
 Inside the very portals of the church. 
 
 Calvin. What fatal madness! 
 
 Poupin. Madness of long standing. 
 
 Bernard. The moth into the flame! 
 
 Calvin. Long since I warn d him 
 
 That if he came he never would depart 
 Alive. 17 But is there no way out for him ? 
 
 Poupin. None: he leaves none, he has been sowing 
 
 tares 
 Among our wheat for several weeks. 
 
 Bernard. Is such a murderer of souls to be 
 Let loose in Christendom ? 
 
 Calvin. Right or wrong, 
 
 He must at least be tried. So may we hope 
 To save him from himself and save the Church. 
 If he recants, and God shall change his heart, 
 We cannot but rejoice. If he is punished, 
 The churches will have rest. If he escapes 
 
 Bernard. Can there be any ifs ? 
 
 Calvin. The risks are great: 
 
 This Senate lately pack d with Libertines 
 This fickle Council of Two Hundred led 
 
 18 
 
of (Beneva, 
 
 By crafty Berthelier this young noblesse 
 Chafed by our discipline this furious queen 
 Penthesilea, with her bacchanals 
 This play-house Caesar, playing government 
 And now this crazy heretic come to be 
 Their tool and leader, we must look to God, 
 And set our faces as a flint. Go now; 
 Keep watch and bring me word of the arrest. 
 
 \_Exeunt the Pastors. Enter COLLADON ushered by LA 
 FONTAINE. 
 
 La Fontaine. Here is our learned Counselor Colla- 
 don. 
 
 Calvin. (Advancing.*} A timely visit in a time of 
 
 need. 
 We want the lawyer more than the divine. 
 
 Colladon. Some whisper of this business brings me 
 here. 
 
 Calvin. The case is serious, with but one recourse: 
 The law must take in hand the heretic. 
 
 Colladon. You being judge of that a judgment I 
 Can but approve command me, and I serve. 
 The edicts of the Swiss here govern us; 
 They have the Lex talionis. 
 
 Calvin. Pray explain. 
 
 Colladon. T is written in the Book of Exodus 18 : 
 
 " Thou shalt give eye for eye, and tooth for tooth." 
 As heresy is spiritual murder, made 
 In law the highest capital offence, 
 Th accuser goes to prison with th accused, 
 And puts his life in forfeit, under pain 
 Of strict retaliation, should he fail 
 To prove his charge. 18 
 
 Calvin. I knew as much. Meanwhile 
 
 This pressing work of mine ? 
 
 19 
 
tReformer 
 
 Colladon. As I have said, 
 
 The accuser must become a prisoner. 
 
 La Fontaine. {Starting up.) Let me be th accuser 
 
 then. To save 
 
 The leader of our Christendom, I go 
 To prison and to death. 
 
 Calvin. Brave words, my son. 
 
 I knew thee ever quick to sacrifice 
 Thyself upon the altar of the faith. 
 
 Colladon. The law could not forbid such sacrifice, 
 Though youth and mercy well might plead against it. 
 
 Calvin. {Aside to COLLADON.) 
 Whoever suffers, he is to be safe. 
 I see to that. 
 
 Colladon. Well then; that risk assumed, 
 
 Write out the bill of charges in detail 
 To-night. Inside of four and twenty hours 
 They must be brought unto the lord lieutenant. 
 I go at once to get the writ of arrest. [Exit. 
 
 Calvin. Pray, Nicolas, bring to me the books and 
 
 papers 
 
 In evidence, as I shall name them; First, 
 Those ribald letters in the escritoire ; 
 Also, that copy of my Institutes, 
 Soiled with the vomit of his margin notes ; 
 Also the writings of Melancthon, Bucer, 
 CEcolampadius, Niger, and Capito; 
 Also, the works of Justin, of Augustine, 
 And of Tertullian. That is all, Good-night! 
 Stay: thou hast often noticed the device 
 Upon my seal. " A heart held forth as in 
 The flame of sacrifice : Remember, since 
 My first-born went to God, thou art my son. 
 I pray for thee to-night even in my dreams. 
 
 20 
 
of Geneva. 
 
 [Exit LA FONTAINE 
 
 [He goes to the table and writes .] 
 
 " These are the accusations to be brought 
 Against the Spaniard, Michael Servetus, 
 Guilty of heresy, of blasphemy, 
 And of disturbing Christendom." 
 
 [After a pause. ] O God ! 
 
 What tragedies may not this conflict breed 
 To our posterity in after-times! 20 
 
 21 
 
ACT II. 
 
 THE COUNTERPLOT OF THE REFORMERS. 
 
 SCENE I. THE GARDEN NEAR THE PALACE. 
 SCENE II. THE SAME BY MOONLIGHT. 
 SCENE III. ANTEROOM IN THE PALACE. 
 SCENE IV. INTERIOR OF THE CONSISTORY. 
 
ACT II. 
 
 SCENE I. 
 
 The Garden of the Palace. Night. Torch bearers, 
 
 Masquers, with PERRIN, FRANCESCA, BERTHELIER, 
 
 VANDEL, and Revellers, opening the Fete. 1 
 
 Francesca. Ha! ha! no woman dares to wear two 
 
 flounces! 
 
 Vandel. Nor any man gay hose or figured doublet ! 
 Perrin. {Mimicking CALVIN.) a "Let there be no 
 
 more plays." 
 
 Francesca. Except the play 
 
 Of Caesar Comicus. 
 
 Perrin. {Mimicking CALVIN.) " And no more 
 
 dances." 
 
 Francesca. Except the dance Penthesilea leads 
 Her crew of bacchanals. 
 Perrin. {Mimicking CALVIN.) " And no more 
 
 games." 
 Berthelier. Except the game which Master Calvin 
 
 tries 
 
 Betwixt the Huguenots and Libertines. 
 No dances, games, and plays ? Aha! We shall see. 
 [Sings, all joining in the. chorus^\ 
 
 Life is but a Dance 
 
 Through the whirling hours 
 25 
 
IReformer 
 
 Ending in a trance 
 Of its jaded powers. 
 Trip it lightsomely, 
 Hail! true Liberty. 
 
 Life is but a Game, 
 
 And the stake is high. 
 T is a fickle dame 
 Holds the fateful die. 
 Toss it recklessly, 
 Hail! true Liberty! 
 
 Life is but a Play; 
 
 Each must act his part: 
 Sporting life away 
 Is its highest art. 
 Play it merrily, 
 Hail! true Liberty! 
 
 Dances, games and plays; 
 
 Love and wine and song 
 These shall fill our days, 
 Thro our whole life long. 
 Bid all scruples flee! 
 
 Hail! true Liberty! [Exeunt. 
 
 SCENE II. 
 
 The same. Moonrise, revealing Lake Leman and the dis 
 tant Alps. Muffled music of the fete near by. LA 
 FONTAINE and IDELETTE meeting. 
 
 La Fontaine. My Idelette ! 
 
 Idelette. I have been waiting long. 
 
 26 
 
of Geneva. 
 
 La Fontaine. Our grave Consistory was late to-night. 
 
 Idelette. Not later than these wanton revellers. 
 
 La Fontaine. From such extremes of grave and gay 
 
 we come 
 
 Into this heaven of love, where vows are chaste 
 As the Alpine moon and hearts transparent 
 As this dreaming lake. 
 
 Idelette. (Brief twilight.) But look! there is a cloud 
 Upon the moon, a shadow in the lake. 
 
 La Fontaine. And now the cloud has passed, the 
 
 shadow gone. 
 The earth and sky are bright again. 
 
 Idelette. Sometimes 
 
 The future of our love, so pure and sweet, 
 Seems to me all too dreamy for this world. 
 
 La Fontaine. That was the shadow of the passing 
 
 cloud. 
 
 Still let us keep the faith of happy lovers, 
 Until we come into the light again. 
 
 Idelette. I dread my father s frown, my mother s rage. 
 He hates the Frenchman ; she, the Huguenot. 
 He says this Calvin is the French Reynard, 
 Who came to steal away our liberties, 
 And mimics his long face and solemn drawl 
 Until the table roars. 2 She calls him " Cain " 
 For Calvin ; bids street urchins set their curs 
 Upon him; mingle cat-cries with his curfew, 
 And fire off blunderbusses at his door. 
 She says our roist ring, pleasure-loving Swiss 
 Disturb his nerves with so much revelry. 
 At church she lolls and yawns and rolls her eyes. 
 She had a placard fastened to his pulpit 
 In sermon time, which cost a gallant s head. 3 
 To hate him is a part of her religion. 
 
 27 
 
tReformer 
 
 La Fontaine. And what is thy religion, Idelette ? 
 
 Idelette. Ah! It s a simple thing of trust and hope. 
 With neither priest nor preacher moulding it, 
 I could not choose but make thee my confessor, 
 And take my sermons only from thy lips. 
 Easy it was to share thy faith and love, 
 And sweet it is to mingle prayers and vows. 
 
 La Fontaine. Idelette, I must tell thee something 
 
 now, 
 
 Thou mayst not fully understand as yet. 
 We soon shall go into the passing cloud 
 And seem to lose each other for a while. 
 
 Idelette. What ! wilt thou leave Geneva ? 
 
 La Fontaine. No; not that. 
 
 An evil man with evil words has crept 
 Among the brethren ; and my loving master 
 Has work for me to do, which will be long, 
 And may be perilous. 
 
 Idelette. Oh! I like not much 
 
 Your Calvin, with his harsh and bitter tongue 
 Against the heretics, and sermons cold 
 And lofty as those peaks of snow, that seem 
 So far off from our lowly lives ; albeit 
 Sometimes a sad, sweet smile lights up his face, 
 As if caught from that other world of his, 
 When at the font he takes the little children 
 And blesses them. 
 
 La Fontaine. At such times have you seen 
 
 What is but seldom shown, his inner self, 
 Masked in the courtly scholar and divine 
 And gentle as a woman or a child. 
 As most men see him, he is mailed and nerved 
 To fight the battles of the Lord in times 
 Of evil strife. His keen retorts are like 
 
 28 
 
of (Beneva. 
 
 A fencer s thrusts at error; and he writes 
 His creed, as with a pen of flame, upon 
 The hearts of princes. Some day he will save 
 Geneva; and Geneva save the Church, 
 Thence to give truth and freedom to the world. 
 
 Idelette. Well, whoso loves Geneva, him I 11 like. 
 
 La Fontaine. And I will love Geneva s fairest flower, 
 My Alpine rose! my own sweet Idelette! 
 
 [Enter PERRIN and BERTHELIER, with some Revellers. 
 IDELETTE quickly veils herself. 
 
 Perrin. Ho ! ho ! What lovemaking have we here ? 
 
 Berthelier. Aha! T is Nicolas de la Fontaine! 
 So Master Calvin trains his saintly pupils. 
 What pretty jade is this? [Tries to draw her veil. LA 
 FONTAINE springs toward him and they draw 
 swords. 
 
 Perrin. Peace! Stop these brawlers. 
 
 \_They are separated^ 
 
 Boy, boy, put back thy sword, or give it me. 
 Didst thou forget: no Frenchman draws his sword 
 Within Geneva save to perish by it ? 
 
 La Fontaine. I do remember, and to thee alone 
 I yield it; but to any other, never! 
 
 [Turns on his heel and goes. 
 
 Berthelier. As hot in temper as in love. It were 
 A pity to have spilt such rash young blood. 
 
 Perrin. More pity it s in such a race and creed. 
 For this bold trespass the philandering saint, 
 Like any common sinner, must account. 
 
 Berthelier. There is some mystery here to be unveiled. 
 
 [Looking touiard IDELETTE. 
 
 Perrin. And now, my pretty one, we take thee back 
 Into the dance, near to thine elders, where 
 Thou shalt be safer than with this young stranger. 
 
 29 
 
Ube Reformer 
 
 [IDELETTE unveils to her father. 
 Perrin. My daughter! Idelette! Idelette! 
 [PERRIN leads her away, the others rushing out after LA 
 
 FONTAINE, with outcries : 
 Dog! Frenchman! Calvinist! Kill him! 
 
 SCENE III. 
 
 Anteroom in the Palace. Morning. Perrin enters 
 excitedly, throwing down LA FONTAINE S sword. 
 
 Perrin. The Play-house Caesar ! Ay, a farce in 
 deed; 
 
 A tragic farce and comic tragedy ! 
 \_Enter two of the Revellers. ] 
 What! Did ye not take him ? 
 First Rev. He was too fleet 
 
 For us. 
 
 Second Rev. Cur that he is, he slunk away 
 Into the darkness. 
 
 First Rev. With his tail between 
 
 His legs. 
 
 Second Rev. Well, we did not see his legs. 
 French legs, when young, are swift and nimble. 
 
 First Rev. And Genevese legs, when drunken, are 
 
 unsteady. 
 Perrin. Have done with all this fooling. Where is 
 
 he? 
 Second Rev. That is a secret which the night has 
 
 hidden. 
 Perrin. Zounds ! How ye waste the time with words ! 
 
 Go straight 
 
 Unto the lord lieutenant; bear from me 
 
 30 
 
of Geneva, 
 
 As the chief Syndic, orders to search out 
 
 And seize one Nicolas de la Fontaine, 
 
 Alive or dead ; and if alive, have him 
 
 Forthwith confined and bound on mortal charge, 
 
 An alien bearing arms within the city walls ; 
 
 And keep this captur d sword as evidence [handing 
 
 him the sword]. 
 
 We soon shall see if there is power enough 
 In our high office to bring forth this stripling. 
 
 {Enter FRANCESCA. {Exeunt the Revellers. 
 
 Perrin. Madame, where now is Idelette ? 
 
 Francesca. Where else 
 
 But in her chamber could she be, my lord ? 
 
 Perrin. Where else ? Last night she could be some 
 where else. 
 To-day the devil only knows where else ! 
 
 Francesca. My lord, you do yourself and me no 
 
 honor 
 By such sallies. 
 
 Perrin. No honor will be left 
 
 To us, unless we part these puling fools. 
 I little dream d a daughter of this house 
 Could e er go moonstruck with a Frenchman. 
 
 Francesca. I little dreamed a daughter of this house 
 Could e er go moonstruck with a Calvinist. 
 She gets it not from me; nor from the Favres, 
 Who hate the alien creed more than the Perrins 
 Can hate the alien race. Hast thou forgot 
 The day my valiant Sire defied the rule 
 Of this proud preacher, and with cries of " Freedom! " 
 Was borne to prison, while his son-in-law, 
 Clad in his shirt, with candle in his hand, 
 Followed the meek-eyed parsons through the streets 4 
 Fit prelude to his now eloping daughter ? 
 
 31 
 
Ube IReformer 
 
 Perrin. Well, well; enough of this. How did she 
 
 take 
 Your chiding ? 
 
 Francesco,. Like a Perrin, for a while. 
 Until my storm of words was spent, she wept 
 And sobbed; then wept again; and then 
 Grew hard and silent as a stone. And now, 
 I think, her pretty demure face but hides 
 Some flinty purpose. 
 
 Perrin. Then she must be warned. 
 
 Go bring her hither that she may confront 
 The other culprit. {Exit FRANCESCA. 
 
 {Enter BERTHELIER. 
 
 Perrin. The ever welcome Berthelier! 
 
 How goes our little play ? 
 
 Berthelier. As good as a play, 
 
 The plot thickens. 
 
 Perrin. Is it comic or tragic ? 
 
 Berthelier. Neither ; yet both. As you foresaw, 
 
 these dogs 
 
 Of Frenchmen have smelt out the heretic, 
 And in full cry are on the heresy hunt. 
 
 Perrin. On the right track ? 
 
 Berthelier. They have their game in bounds. 
 
 Servetus, by some freak of folly, went 
 To church; his gay disguise but marked him out; 
 The brethren watch d and track d him to the Inn, 
 Where he was straightway seized on capital charge 
 Of heresy. 
 
 Perrin. And the accuser who ? 
 
 Berthelier. In fact, our Master Calvin; but in law, 
 His pupil, De la Fontaine, as a scape-goat 
 Magnanimously put forth in his stead, 
 And safely jailed on forfeit of his life. 
 
 32 
 
of 6enev>a. 
 
 Perrin. Hero of last night s escapade ? 
 
 Berthelier. The same. 
 
 Perrin. Ha! Now we have both of them where we 
 
 want them. 
 
 The Spaniard is our club to beat the Frenchman ; 
 And the same double blow which frees the State 
 Shall free my house from intermeddlers 
 We must away at once to push this business. 
 
 [Enter FRANCESCA with IDELETTE.] 
 Madame, the cause of your coming is met 
 By our going. State-secrets call me hence, 
 The which disclos d shall bring to a safe end 
 This trouble of our house. Enough to say, 
 That smart young Frenchman is in prison now 
 On forfeit of his life. 
 
 \_Exeunt PERRIN and BERTHELIER. 
 
 Francesca. The Blessed Virgin 
 
 Be ever praised ! And all the saints, that pluck 
 Us from the gulf which yawned to swallow up 
 Our honor. Go, false daughter of Geneva! 
 Weep, if thou wilt, thy folly and its fall: 
 Thou canst not weep a fallen, ruin d house. 
 
 [Exit FRANCESCA. 
 
 Idelette. Now have we gone into the passing cloud, 
 And lose each other in its thickest gloom. 
 But I will force a way into the light. 
 Somehow my Nicolas shall yet be free ! [Exit. 
 
 SCENE IV. 
 
 The Consistory. Morning. CALVIN Studying. 
 
 Calvin. Ah! brother Farel! all goes well, I trust, 
 At Neufchatel. 
 
 33 
 
IReformer 
 
 FareL Ay, well enough. What news 
 
 Here in Geneva ? 
 
 Calvin. A delicious bit 
 
 I heard last night, at billiards with the seigneurs. 
 Our Bonnivard has taken his fourth wife. 
 The town is laughing at the dear old priest. 
 But we forgive the prisoner of Chillon 6 
 As many wives as he had years of durance. 
 Ha! ha! he uses his full liberty. 
 
 Farel. Why not ? Old men, who once were priests, 
 
 have earn d 
 Home life and joy as part of our Reform. 
 
 Calvin. Take care, good brother, our Reform end not 
 Too often in these marriage comedies. 
 
 Farel. Some other news more serious I hear 
 Our enemy Servetus in our hands. 
 
 Calvin. Say, rather, in the hands of law and justice. 
 
 Farel. T is a most admirable Providence. 
 Will he repent ? that were too much to hope. 
 Hostile to Christ and cruel to His Church 
 Will be the judges, if they stay their hands. 
 Shall petty altar-thieves be put to death, 
 And murderers that kill men s souls go free ? 
 
 Calvin. I hope the sentence may be capital : 
 Th atrocious penalty I would remit. 8 
 
 Farel. What ! treat your worst enemy as your friend ? 
 
 Calvin. I have no private grudge and never had 
 Yet shrink not from the Master s public call: 
 That call which brought me here, as by a hand 
 Reach d down from heaven, with your prophetic curse 
 Upon my love of studious repose: 
 That call which held me here among the foes 
 Of virtue, even while their swords were flashing 
 Around our pulpits, till a hooting mob 
 
 34 
 
ot 
 
 Escorted us beyond the city gates: 
 
 That call which forced me back from happy exile, 
 
 From learning, friendship, ease, and growing fame, 
 
 A second Jonah to this Nineveh. 
 
 Here have I come as to a bleeding cross; 
 
 Here have I offered up my heart to God; 
 
 Here will I stay and face a hundred deaths, 
 
 Rather than yield my flock to ravening wolves. 
 
 Whate er befalls this troubler of our peace, 
 
 The Church at any hazard must be saved. 
 
 Farel. But not by weak and foolish clemency. 
 Look at that insolent heretic Bolsec! 
 Banished, he only used his liberty 
 To spoil the Church and ruin helpless souls. 
 How often have I said no death would be 
 Too frightful for me, if I taught false doctrine. 
 I cannot judge Servetus otherwise. [Exit FAREL. 
 
 Calvin. (Alone.) Farel, thou judgest with impetuous 
 
 mind, 
 
 Which later thought will temper to more kindness. 
 God knows I never hated, scarce despised 
 This rash, hot-headed Spaniard, who so long 
 Hath striven to mix me up with his wild dreams. 
 Yet were I made of iron not to feel 
 His railings at all saving truth and grace, 
 And blind with folly not to see the ruin 
 He would pull down both on himself and us, 
 With myriads of other helpless souls. 
 T is Mercy s self that cries aloud to Justice, 
 As voic d by prophet and evangelist, 
 Against a foe of God no less than man. 
 O why has He who made us to be like 
 Himself, exacted such severity, 
 But that His glory may shine forth in us, 
 
 35 
 
TRetormer 
 
 T* eclipse our native weakness and blot out 
 The merely human from our memories ! 
 Pride Passion Pity; kneel ye all to Him, 
 Sole absolute Right! pure Reason Infinite! 
 Eternal Will! that rules all other wills 
 And moulds and nerves them to its high decrees. 7 
 
 [Returns to his Studies .] 
 So do perplexities thicken with our cares. 
 Books, sermons, lectures, letters all confused. 
 How I miss Nicolas! [A knock is heard. ~\ A gentle 
 
 knock 
 As if it were some gentle visitor. 
 
 [Goes to the door and admits IDELETTE.] 
 
 Idelette. Father, I only come as to the priest. 
 
 Calvin. Daughter, confess to God, and not to man. 
 Freely thou hast my counsel with my prayer. 
 
 Idelette. Such help I crave and other help may give 
 To thee, and to this young French gentleman [hesitat 
 ing 
 
 Calvin. Nicolas de la Fontaine, whom I call 
 My son ? 
 
 Idelette. Pursued by revellers last night 
 
 Calvin. Pardon ; mayhap thou speakest of some friend 
 Not known to me ; if of my son, he now 
 Is safe from such pursuers. 
 
 Idelette. Not in prison ? 
 
 Calvin. In prison ; but by his own act, as soon 
 The city shall be told, to do a work 
 Of justice for the Church, most generous, 
 Not perilous. 
 
 Idelette. They said his life was forfeit ! 
 
 Calvin. In their eyes forfeit: not in mine. His life 
 Is safe as thine, and safer far than mine. 
 Whoever is in peril, he is safe. 
 
 36 
 
of (Beneva, 
 
 If thou dost think of such a prisoner, 
 
 Fear not for him; fear only for the Church, 
 
 The exiled Church that he and I would save. 
 
 Idelette. Father, I am a daughter of Geneva: 
 Henceforth this exiled Church shall be my mother; 
 Her people be my people; and her God, 
 My God. 
 
 Calvin. Doubt not, my daughter, that her God 
 Shall bless thee, and her people cherish thee. 
 Nor fear aught strange or alien in her welcome. 
 Since hapless France has spurned her truest sons 
 And left them only citizens of Heaven, 
 Geneva is the city of my heart, 
 That is to be the city of our God 
 And capital of a new Christendom. 8 
 
 Idelette. Somewhat of these high things I understand, 
 And more may learn hereafter. 
 
 Calvin. Easily 
 
 May they be learn d by simple, trusting souls. 
 God hath not chosen the mighty and the wise 
 To be His children, but the childlike, pure 
 In heart, and ever open to His truth. 
 Of such is heaven itself; and their good angels 
 Do always guide them. Go not out that door. 
 
 \Opens another door communicating with the Cathedral^ 
 Come through the church; and when thou passest where 
 The ancient altar stood, kneel there and pray 
 For thy Geneva. 
 
 Idelette. And for the exiled Church ! 
 
 [ Through the open door, she is seen kneeling in the distant 
 window light. 
 
 Calvin. A daughter of Geneva! Something in 
 Her face I saw, above our maidens, yet 
 Like them. And does she know my Nicolas ? 
 
 37 
 
ACT III. 
 
 THE TRIAL OF SERVETUS. 
 
 SCENE I. A DUNGEON IN THE OLD BISHOP S PALACE. 
 SCENE II. A HALL OF JUSTICE IN THE SAME. 
 
ACT III. 
 
 SCENE I. 
 
 A Dungeon in the old Bishop s Palace. A window with 
 
 shelf in view. Enter the Jailer, CLAUDE DE 
 
 GENEVE, with SERVETUS. 
 
 Claude. Thou lookest the most gallant prisoner 
 That ever came to pine within these walls. 
 
 Servetus. I look not all I may be. \Handing his 
 sword. 
 
 Claude. Art thou not 
 
 A soldier ? 
 
 Servetus. Keep these trinkets and this gold 
 
 Safely, as listed by your lord lieutenant: 
 One hundred crowns; a chain worth twenty more; 
 Six jeweled rings, one large turquoise, a ruby, 
 A sapphire, diamond, emerald of Peru: 
 Beside this signet ring of coraline. 1 
 
 Claude. Ah! thou rt a courtier ? 
 
 Servetus. Only a physician, 
 
 A scholar, and somewhat of a divine. 
 
 Claude. They call d thee " heretic," " blasphemer," 
 
 " dog-" 
 Servetus. I 11 call them worse names when we fight 
 
 with words. 
 Claude. And this young Frenchman here in the next 
 
 cell 
 Accuses thee ? 
 
 41 
 
TReformer 
 
 Servetus. Not he: a catspaw he 
 
 Of that old lying tyrant, Master Calvin. 
 
 Claude. Gramercy ! how these brethren love one 
 another! 
 
 Servetus. Pray, leave me. I would be alone. 
 
 Claude. {Bowing low.) I have 
 
 My orders from the Captain-General 
 To humor thee with certain privileges, 
 That may befit so learn d a prisoner. [Exit CLAUDE. 
 
 Servetus. What privileges in this hateful place ? 
 So ends my vision of a new reform ! 
 Almost within my reach it vanishes. 
 An outlaw hunted throughout Christendom, 
 Escaping from the dungeon, rack, and flame, 
 Have I at last been driven like a rat 
 Into this hole, here but to rot and die ? 
 May God confound these tyrants of the Church! a 
 
 [Raps are heard on the window barsJ\ 
 What s that ? Who s there ? 
 
 Gueroult. {Appearing at the window.} Your caitiff 
 Libertine! 
 
 Servetus. Halloa! William Gueroult. What brings 
 you here ? 
 
 Gueroult. The grace of Madame Perrin, and therewith 
 Some prison fare, [Hands in fruit and wine. 
 
 Servetus. For which I thank her grace. 
 
 Claude. And likewise good cheer from her doughty 
 
 lord, 
 
 Our trusty Captain-General, who thinks 
 A Spaniel good enough to chase away 
 The " French Reynard." 
 
 Servetus. What if Reynard should turn 
 
 And rend the Spaniel ? It s a dang rous game. 
 
 Gueroult. Ay, and the danger thickens with the plot. 
 42 
 

 of (Geneva, 
 
 Orders have come to have the men enrolled 
 In fifties, sworn and arm d with hidden daggers; 
 Each wearing on his cuirass a white cross, 3 
 To be the sign of his most Christian mission. 
 
 Servetus. What mission ? When ? 
 
 Gueroult. Perchance, some Sunday morn, 
 
 When the Great Bell from out St. Peter s tower 
 With solemn peal that is to be their knell, 
 Is calling forth the alien hordes to church, 
 Our wolves, disguised, shall enter with the sheep. 
 And while the silly flocks are in the heaven 
 They dream of, shall their dismal psalms be turned 
 To shrieks, and everywhere the white cross gleam 
 Above their puddled blood, old men and youths 
 And babes and maidens, the whole vermin breed 
 Must be stamped out and utterly extinct, 
 Ere this infested city can be free. 4 
 
 Servetus. The end seems good ; the means more 
 questionable. 
 
 Gueroult. Your meek divines may settle that. I am 
 A printer, not a theologian. 
 But yonder comes our noble Berthelier 
 To tell you more of this inside. Adieu; 
 Until we meet outside with freer tongues. 
 
 {Exit GUEROULT. 
 
 Servetus. So at the darkest comes a gleam of dawn. 
 Would I were what this jailer took me for, 
 The soldier more than the philosopher! 
 
 {Re-enter CLAUDE, ushering BERTHELIER. 
 
 Claude. My orders were to grant some privileges: 
 Here is a most distinguished visitor. {Exit CLAUDE. 
 
 Berthelier. Well, Doctor, not so pleasant as the Inn 
 But martyrs have had worse accommodation, 
 
 {looking around r ] 
 43 
 
IReformer 
 
 And from this worse we may proceed to better. 
 
 Servetus. But why this worse ? Why tear me from 
 
 my plans 
 Ere they were ripe ? 
 
 Berthelier. Upon that text I come 
 
 To preach to you. Take wisely the wise counsel 
 Of friends in power, who only wish you well. 
 
 Servetus. I can but be their willing instrument. 
 
 Berthelier. This portrait first behold, as in a glass: 
 A stranger knowing little of Geneva, 
 A scholar knowing less of men than books, 
 And a reformer with more zeal than knowledge, 
 Such as this stranger and this scholar lacks. 
 Add now a nature quick, impetuous, proud; 
 Chaf d by a long defeat and desperate, 
 Yet simple and unguarded as a dupe, 
 And with one domineering aim possessed 
 As with a devil; there you have the portrait. 
 
 Servetus. It s somewhat rudely drawn, but like 
 
 enough. 
 Now for the sermon. 
 
 Berthelier. T will be brief and plain. 
 
 Patrons you have among the senators, 
 And in the city secret followers. 
 As knowing this, be cool and self-contained: 
 The storm will be the fiercer when it bursts. 
 The judges hear you have been turbulent: 
 Hide your proud aims in meek simplicity. 
 Deny each charge presented without proof: 
 Who of us has a right to the whole truth ! 
 I will be at your elbow, as a friend, 
 To speak for you, should any need arise. 
 Meanwhile, the hidden leaven of your book 
 Is working with a yeast of revolution. 
 
 44 
 
of Geneva, 
 
 The Council of Two Hundred in a ferment 
 
 Will rally at my call with our brave Captain, 
 
 Around the martyr-hero of the hour, 
 
 And in the whirlwind of o erturned affairs, 
 
 Even as a leaf is caught up in the storm, 
 
 You shall be carried to high place and fame. 
 
 As soon as Gueroult musters forth his bands, 
 
 Our Claude shall bring you word 5 And so farewell. 
 
 {Exit BERTHELIER. 
 Servetus. Good counsel which I take in my own 
 
 sense. 
 
 These noble friends have aims; and I have aims; 
 And all of us aim at one common foe, 
 The tyrant ruler of both Church and State. 
 My secret prayers and lifelong vows, it seems, 
 Express to them more diabolic zeal. 
 Well, there are devils on the other side; 
 And ev n as Michael fought in heaven, will I, 
 A Michael, fight this dragon in the Church. 6 
 
 SCENE II. 
 
 A Hall of Justice in the old Bishop s Palace. Enter the 
 City Herald, the Lord Syndic D ARLOD, Eight SENA 
 TORS as Assessory Judges, including Du PAN, VAN- 
 DEL, BERTHELIER; the Attorney- General RIGOT, the 
 Secretary of Justice. All taking their places as in a 
 Tribunal. COLLADON with LA FONTAINE and his 
 Jailer ; and TISSOT in waiting with SERVETUS and 
 his Jailer and Guards, 
 
 Herald. The High Court of Geneva sits in judgment. 
 D Arlod. Call the accuser and the prisoner. 
 45 
 
ZTbe IReformer 
 
 Herald. The accuser, Nicolas de la Fontaine! 
 
 Colladon. (Coming for ward with LA FONTAINE and his 
 
 Jailer.} 
 So please your worships, he is here and ready. 
 
 Herald. The prisoner accused, Michael Servetus! 
 
 Berthelier. The Lord Lieutenant comes with him. 
 
 D A rlod. M ake way ! 
 
 Tissot. (Entering with SERVETUS, Jailer, and Guards. ) 
 I have examined well this prisoner, 
 And find the charges due in law and fact. 
 
 D Arlod. Then we will hear the deed of accusation. 
 
 The Secretary. (Reads.) " Here in your presence, 
 
 most redoubtable lords, 
 
 " Comes Nicolas de la Fontaine, of St. Gervaix 
 " Au Vixen, France, on forfeit of his life, 
 " To be accuser of this prisoner, 
 " Michael Servetus, of Arragon in Spain, 
 " For deadly heresies which he hath sown 
 Through Christendom these more than twenty years, 
 " In cruel murder of unhappy souls: 
 " For blasphemies which he hath writ gainst God, 
 " More horrible than any crimes gainst man; 
 And for sedition secretly infused 
 Within this church and city of Geneva, 
 To whelm the State in bloody anarchy. 
 " And if these charges be found good and true, 
 " And you do judge the said Servetus guilty: 
 Then the accuser humbly prays he may 
 " Be spared all further injury and risk 
 " Of life, and your Attorney-General 
 " Take up the plaint and further prosecute it. 
 " Not that he shuns a cause all Christians should 
 " Maintain ev n unto death, but he hath learn d 
 " Such is the ancient custom of your city, 
 
 46 
 
of (Benevm, 
 
 " And it belongs not unto him to take 
 " The Office and the duty of another." T 
 
 Colladon. Here are the Queries. 
 
 [Hands a roll to TISSOT.] 
 
 Let him not mock God 
 And your Lordships with vague and false replies. 
 
 D Arlod. Servetus, on your oath to God and man, 
 True answers make before this righteous court. 
 We hear you have been turbulent. You come 
 As but an old offender heralded. 
 Ill rumor should be killed outright with truth, 
 As kings kill graceless messengers of evil. 
 
 Tissot. (JReads.) " Some years ago in Germany there 
 
 was 
 A book of dreadful blasphemies condemn d." 
 
 Servetus. T is true that I did print a little book, 
 Not blasphemous, and not condemn d in court. 
 
 Colladon. Only because t was never brought in court. 
 
 Du Pan. Say you the book contained no blasphemies ? 
 
 Servetus. If any can be found, I will correct them. 
 
 Tissot. (Reads.) " Again in Strasburg and in Italy 
 There was another execrable book, 
 Which caused no end of trouble." 8 
 
 Servetus. I did print 
 
 Another little book, but never heard 
 That it caused trouble. 
 
 Du Pan. But why another ? 
 
 The Doctors had reproved you for the first, 
 CEcolampadius, Niger, Bucer, Capito ? 
 
 Servetus. Most noble lord, by long and deep re 
 search 
 
 Into the Holy Scriptures and Church Fathers 
 I gained new light, not to be hid, we re told, 
 Under a bushel: and I meant no harm, 
 
 47 
 
TTbe IRetormer 
 
 Nor have I anywhere been turbulent. 
 
 Du Pan. Oh, you knew well enough all Christendom 
 Would be disturbed! 
 
 Servetus. With but a few divines 
 
 In Germany I have discuss d these matters: 
 In France, for years, I spoke not to a soul. 
 
 Du Pan. Ah ! there you hid your light under a 
 bushel! 
 
 Colladon. You see with what repute he comes to us. 
 But there are other charges nearer home. 
 
 Tissot. (Reads.} " Through many years he hath 
 
 assail d the Church 
 And Pastors of Geneva." 
 
 Colladon. Here are letters 
 
 To Pastor Poupin full of vile abuse : 
 He says our Church is going to the devil ! 
 
 Servetus. I only used the strong polemic terms 
 Scholastic doctors use. The same they us d 
 Against me, both in Latin and in French. 
 
 Colladon. Here is our honour d Calvin s work, be- 
 
 smear d 
 With notes too filthy to be read aloud. 
 
 Servetus. Your Calvin injur d me in printed books. 
 My written notes but show where he has err d. 
 
 Colladon. Here is his own most revolutionary book, 
 His so-call d " New Restored Christianity." 
 
 Servetus. T is so called, not because there were no 
 
 truths 
 But many errors since the time of Nice. 
 
 Tissot. (Reads.) " The Papal Court of Vienne hath 
 
 adjudg d 
 His book destructive of the common faith." 
 
 Servetus. That charge came from your Calvin, through 
 De Trie. 
 
 48 
 
of (Beneva, 
 
 No thanks to him I was not burn d alive. 9 
 The priests let me escape. 
 
 Colladon. Why came he hither ? 
 
 Tissot. {Reads.} " He hath been leagu d with other 
 
 heretics, 
 
 In Frankfort, Venice, and in Genoa, 
 And hither comes to sow his heresies." 
 
 Servetus. A trav ler I was passing through your city, 
 And meant next day to sail across the Lake. 
 
 Du Pan. Ha! ha! You spent a month in passing 
 through! 
 
 Colladon. What was he doing at the Inn-of-the-Rose ? 
 
 Tissot. {Reads.) " While at the Inn he air d some 
 
 vile amours, 
 Which are the natural fruit of heresy. 
 
 Servetus. Oh, that was all the merest pleasantry. 
 I could not be a libertine if I would, 10 
 And have liv d purely as a Christian should. 
 
 Tissot. {Reads.) " With certain traitors here he 
 
 hath conspir d; 
 
 Chiefly that outlaw d fornicator, Gueroult, 
 The printer of his book." 
 
 Servetus. Oh ay no he 
 
 Did understand not that which he had printed. 
 Nobody do I know in all your city." 
 
 Colladon. Enough! enough on that point! Come we 
 
 now 
 
 Unto the kernel charge of heresy. 
 Wind not around it with mere sinuous words, 
 But let us have straight answers, Yes or No. 
 
 [CALVIN appears with the PASTORS, behind COLLADON. 
 
 Tissot. (Reads.) " He calls the Trinity a Cerberus; 
 Makes ev n the devil part of Deity; 
 Says there could be no more of incarnation 
 
 49 
 
ZTbe IRetormer 
 
 In men than asses, and " 
 
 Berthelier. (Interrupting.) Good my Lord Lieutenant, 
 Pray do be simply just and read no more. 
 These tropes and figures of polemic wit, 
 Stript of their prickly husk of verbiage, 
 Will yield the fruit of truth which I maintain ; 
 And so befriend this friendless prisoner. 12 
 
 Calvin. (Advancing beside LA FONTAINE.) 1S 
 Most honored lords, I crave your pardon, while 
 I claim my right to be th accuser here. 
 Not on this noble youth, but on my head 
 Be all the peril as I now confront 
 Not merely this new heresy in the Church, 
 But come to charge thee, Philibert Berthelier, 
 With treason to the State ! 
 
 Berthelier. And I hurl back 
 
 The charge as a spent javelin to smite 
 Its owner. 
 
 Vandel. It s false! 
 
 Du Pan. It s true! 
 
 [Cries of " True! " and " False! " 
 
 D Arlod. (To the HERALD.) Bid silence. 
 
 Herald. Silence! Silence! 
 
 D Arlod. Or true or false, it is beside the point. 
 Let the attorney speak, as to this prisoner. 
 
 Rigot. What need of words ? He hath condemn d 
 
 himself 
 
 In open court, and to his other crimes, 
 Sedition, blasphemy, conspiracy, 
 Now addeth perjury to cap his guilt. 
 A troubler throughout Christendom; long 
 A secret foe of our republic ; here 
 He hides, a lurking spider, with his web 
 Of heresy through Italy and France. 
 
 50 
 
ot Geneva, 
 
 Let web and spider both be swept away, 
 As with the avenging besom of the Law. 
 
 Du Pan. Away with him ! 
 
 Senators. Ay! Ay! 
 
 D Arlod. The Senate wills it, 
 
 Most learned Rigot; and through you its mouth 
 The city now becomes the prosecutor 
 For its own welfare, peace, and dignity. 14 
 
 Colladon. And what of him who for the city s life 
 Hath risk d his own ? Set forth the law, I pray you, 
 As to th accuser. 
 
 Rigot. He is more than free. 
 
 The freedom of the city he hath sav d 
 From peril he may claim his own by right, 
 And share the civic honor he hath won. 
 
 D Arlod. T is so decreed. Give him his sword 
 
 again, 
 
 A trophy twice his own. Enroll his name, 
 Defender of the city. Go; brave youth, 
 Begirt with all the power of Geneva, 
 As free as any of her free-born sons, 
 And radiant with honor. [Handing the sword. 
 
 Senators. Vive La Fontaine ! 
 
 [Exit LA FONTAINE, with COLLADON]. 
 Let Master Calvin wait our summons here, 
 With these expert divines, to probe and cut 
 The cancer of this fest ring heresy. 15 
 
 [CALVIN and the PASTORS withdraw.] 
 Look to your prisoner, Lord Lieutenant. Take 
 Him hence and keep him close with sentries, 
 And windows barr d against his plotting allies. 
 
 [BERTHELIER whispers to SERVETUS, as he is about to 
 withdraw with TISSOT. 
 
 Berthelier. First let us hear what he will say to us. 
 
IReformer 
 
 Servetus. Most wise, most mighty, most illustrious 
 
 lords, 
 
 I seek but justice through your clemency; 
 That justice of the holy fathers, who 
 Deem d heresy a sin gainst God and not 
 A crime gainst man, with bloody penalties. 
 Should so divine a thing as Christian truth 
 Be dragged into a prison and a court ? 
 If I am wrong, ye need but prove me so 
 By force of reason and by Holy Writ. " 
 Let not this fierce pursuer seek to write 
 His tenets in my blood, but bid him come 
 Before a full assembly of the Church 
 With weapons spiritual, with texts and proofs: 
 There let us have our wordy battle out 
 And by the issue will I stand or fall. 1 
 
 Calvin. {Returning.} No higher honor could this 
 
 court confer 
 
 Than bid me so defend my Master s cause, 
 With ail the people witnesses and judges. 
 
 [Exeunt CALVIN and PASTORS. 
 
 Vandel. He were ill-match d against this sharp 
 polemic. 
 
 Du Pan. It might be well to have his errors shown 
 In fair debate upon the public stage. 
 
 D Arlod. No; no: this trial is no mere debate: 
 We must not make a show of law and justice 
 Before a gaping crowd. 
 
 Rigot. Nor dare we yield 
 
 To this adventurer, who would seduce 
 And stir the people up to mutiny. 
 He plead for canon law and precedent 
 Who as a schoolboy read Justinian 
 Denouncing death to all such heretics ? 
 
 52 
 
of Geneva* 
 
 He prate of his offence as spiritual ? 
 
 And cite us to a wordy tournament 
 
 As though we were a synod of divines ? 
 
 We charge him with a crime as well as sin : 
 
 No subtle heresy of thought alone, 
 
 To rend the minds of men apart; nor yet 
 
 Mere blasphemy to shock the highest Heaven 
 
 And jar the base of order here on earth, 
 
 But that dire scourge alike of Church and State, 
 
 Sedition, with wild eyes and flaming torch, 
 
 And riot, rapine, ruin in its train. 
 
 [Pointing towards BERTHELIER and SERVETUS who are 
 
 seen whispering together^ 
 And must we add ? some whisper d treason there! 
 
 Servetus. My lords, I am a poor, lone stranger here, 
 Unknowing in the customs of your city, 
 Unus d to the procedure of this court. 
 I beg you let me have some learned man 
 Of law an advocate to plead my cause. 
 Since I am forc d to take a felon s place, 
 I would I might escape a felon s doom. 
 
 Rigot. Inept! impertinent! and insolent! 
 The law allows not one who breaks the law, 
 When self-convicted, to defend his crime; 
 Nor might the keenest lawyer find a grain 
 Of innocence in all his chaff or words. 
 In sooth, he lies so well, no advocate 
 Could help him lie, or would affront the face 
 Of justice with his brazen impudence. 
 Let us proceed, at once proceed, to judgment. 18 
 
 [Re-enter POUPIN and BERNARD. 
 
 Poupin. Why tarry ye, who are the ministers 
 Of justice! Do ye bear the sword in vain ? 
 While ye sit here our pulpits call down vengeance: 
 
 53 
 
IRetorrner 
 
 Our solemn meetings are aflame with rage 
 And holy horror at this impious Spaniard. 
 Verily: if Satan had come out of hell, 
 He could not vomit forth worse blasphemies. 19 
 
 Bernard. Ay ay he is an own son of the devil, 
 Well serv d were he torn limb from limb. 30 
 
 \_Shouts and groans outside. Enter PERRIN with CITI 
 ZENS. He takes his place as Chief Syndic. 21 
 
 Perrin. We come to voice your judgment, noble 
 
 lords ; 
 
 Ye hear it in the shouts of the Two Hundred 
 And distant murmurs of the populace, 
 Demanding that this hapless stranger, cast 
 Within th asylum of our open gates, 
 Have liberty, with vengeance on the head 
 Of his pursuers. And so end the brawl, 
 Which mars the city s majesty and peace. 
 
 Citizens. (One after another.} Liberty! Justice! 
 Vengeance! Down with Calvin! 
 
 Servetus. Hear the Two Hundred: Down with 
 Calvin! 
 
 Berthelier, Vandel ! 
 
 Citizens. Vandel! Vandel! 
 
 Perrin. Let Vandel speak! 
 
 [HERALD lifts his staff to signify silence. 
 
 Vandel. Ye come, my lord Chief Syndic, on the edge 
 Of time, as when a general arrives 
 To turn the battle from defeat and rout. 
 No hapless stranger is on trial now, 
 But free-born children of Geneva you, 
 And I, and all of us, the whole republic 
 At the behest of an intruding stranger, 
 As foreign to our laws as to our blood. 
 
 [Re-enter CALVIN. 
 
 54 
 
of Geneva, 
 
 Citizens. The old French fox! Reynard! Reynard! 
 Reynard! 
 
 Francesco,. {Appearing and disappearing in the crowd.) 
 Base, lying slanderer of my noble father! 
 
 Calvin. What crimes he hath committed ye well know 
 Who were his judges; and to veil such crimes 
 Is but to lose the veil of modesty, 
 In woman or in man. 
 
 Francesca. {Reappearing and disappearing.) Oh, ye 
 
 soft hearts! 
 
 Weak judges cringing to a vagrant priest! 
 Must ev n a woman shame you to be men ? 
 
 Calvin. I pray you, let these brawlers know that 
 
 they 
 
 Must go and build themselves another city 
 Ere they can make of yours their Babylon. 
 
 Francesca. You wicked man! you d like to drink 
 
 the blood 
 
 Of our family. But you will soon be driven 
 Out of Geneva! 22 
 
 Servetus. Hunt him from your city, out! 
 
 Out like a blind man howling in a desert! 
 Brand him as with a red-hot cross of fire ! 
 Wretch! Liar! Conjurer! Seducer! Tyrant! 
 Manslayer! Pity all your crimes, 
 As black and thick as swarming, stinging wasps, 
 Had not been nipp d i the belly of your mother! " 
 
 Citizens. Away with Calvin ! Live Servetus ! 
 
 D Arlod. Shame! 
 
 Shame, senators! These tongues disgrace the ears 
 That hear them. 
 
 Perrin. Yet they voice the public will, 
 
 Albeit rudely. Have ye heard enough ? 
 
 \To the HERALD.] Bid them away. 
 55 
 
IRefonner 
 
 \_At the signal from PERRIN, the HERALD, bearing his 
 staff before him, clears the hall and restores order. 
 
 Calvin. Let not the tumult move you, honored lords. 
 These idle charges waste themselves in air; 
 And with this obscene dog I bandy words 
 No more. Ye now may see the mask torn off 
 The trait rous faction here, that would drag down 
 Both Church and State into one common ruin. 
 
 Vandel. Who is this low-born Picard that dares talk 
 Of traitors among noble senators ? 
 
 Servet-us. Does he decree your doctrine like the Sor- 
 bonne ? 
 
 Perrin. Have we no head ? No civic dignity ? 
 Has this bold preacher-priest become confessor 
 To the whole city with his penances 
 And his inquisitorial court of morals ? 
 Shall high-born nobles and patrician dames 
 Be driven from the altar of their sires 
 As excommunicate ? Must even a Favre 
 In chains cry " Liberty! " along our streets, 
 While the proud daughter of his ancient house 
 Lowers her coronet to prison bars, 
 Because, forsooth, the pleasures of her rank 
 Suit not this carping censor of our manners 
 And this subverter of our cherish d laws ? 
 His yoke we cannot, and we will not bear. 
 
 Calvin. T is not my yoke, most noble Syndic; nor 
 By me impos d; it is the yoke of Christ 
 Ye would not bear; And neath that yoke 
 The proudest their stiff necks shall bend ; albeit 
 As many coronets as haughty heads 
 Were in the House of Favre! 24 
 
 Vandel. Ho! ye gods! 
 
 Where is our Comic Caesar now ? It seems 
 56 
 
of Geneva* 
 
 There is a Hildebrand upon the stage, 
 With mock anathemas, like mimic thunders, 
 In his small theatre. 
 
 Calvin. A part I have 
 
 To act, upon a stage invisible 
 To mortal eyes, beneath th all-seeing Judge, 
 With high onlooking angels round the scene 
 Where Truth with Error, Vice with Virtue strives, 
 While Christendom awaits th unfolding plot 
 Of Providence. Be this my theatre: 
 With its applauses I shall be content, 
 Though all the world should smite me in the face. 26 
 
 D Arlod. Bravo! A Cicero to Catiline! 
 
 Berthelier. My lords, I have no hidden part to act; 
 Nor have I any sermon here to preach, 
 Such as we now have heard, and heard before, 
 But a plain matter of our law, too dull 
 And dry for pulpit-tricks or stage-effects, 
 Yet gravely real and of public weight. 
 Ye have arraign d this learned foreigner, 
 A heretic, and if ye heed the words 
 Of his most rev rend prosecutor 
 
 Servetus. Tyrant! 
 
 Manslayer! Torturer! 
 
 Berthelier. Ye will at last 
 
 Condemn and burn him with anathemas. 
 Such power ye have in your high office; but 
 The power to punish carries power t absolve 98 ; 
 And justice which ye mete to a mere stranger, 
 That justice must ye mete to one free-born, 
 Ay, high-born, yet debarr d our ancient altar. 
 Wherefore, I stand upon our civic rights 
 Against this new usurping court of aliens, 
 And claim your absolution from its censure, 
 
 57 
 
ZTbe IReformer 
 
 With leave to take the Holy Eucharist, 
 Please God, on Sunday next. 
 
 Vandel. Vive Berthelier! 
 
 Perrin. Honor to his immortal sire! 
 
 Senators. Ay ! Ay ! 
 
 And freedom for us all! 
 
 Calvin. I pray you force me not, most honor d lords, 
 To do what God forbids. In your own realm 
 Your will is mine. But one there is, the Lord 
 Of lords, our Master, whom I must obey, 
 Though I lay down my life. 
 
 [CALVIN stands aside in quiet dignity. 
 
 Poupin. How dare we cast 
 
 The holy bread to dogs ? 
 
 Vandel. A dog art thou 
 
 To speak so in this presence! 
 
 Bernard. Your new edicts 
 
 Yield to Christ s ministers His power of keys, 
 To open or to shut the gates of Heaven ; 
 And being shut ye may not open them, 
 And let in outlaws to the Holy Feast. 
 
 Perrin. Talk not of new edicts. We have the old, 
 The rights episcopal as well as ducal. 
 The imperial eagle guards the Sacred Keys: " 
 
 \_Pointing to the Arms of Geneva. ~\ 
 We dare not yield them into foreign hands. 
 Nor did we wrest them from the grasp of Rome 
 To put your petty popedom in its place. 
 
 Servetus. O worthy judges! Upright magistrates! 
 Well do ye bear your Christian dignities! 
 
 Perrin. Give to the noble Berthelier his warrant, 
 With the great seal. If minded to live well 
 And clear in his own conscience, he may take 
 The Holy Supper in our Church St. Peter, 
 
 58 
 
of Geneva. 
 
 On Sunday next; and there attend we all 
 With him and see this mandate does not fail. 
 
 [The SECRETARY hands the document to BERTHELIER. 
 
 Servetus. Now justice, righteous lords, to one a 
 
 stranger, 
 
 Yet mayhap heaven-sent deliverer. 
 Accuser of my accuser here I stand. 
 Bid to your bar as prisoner with me 
 This liar, persecutor, slanderer, 
 False teacher, this seducing Simon Magus, 
 This would-be murderer, John Calvin ; 
 And by your Lex talionis take his life 
 For mine, with all his goods. No longer then 
 Can he bewitch and lord it o er your city. 
 Lo ! a Saint Michael come to slay the dragon ! a8 
 
 {Outcries of Hear! hear! " and " Shame! shame! " 
 
 D Arlod. My lords! my lords! we re like a wrang 
 ling crew 
 
 Upon a starless sea, and tempest-driven 
 We know not whither. What are these disputes, 
 These petty quarrels of inflam d divines, 
 These ravings of a craz d enthusiast 
 But mutiny in face of yawning shipwreck ? 
 Or what our civic laws and precedents, 
 As weigh d against the law and interest 
 Of Christendom ? Look out beyond our walls. 
 Hath not even Rome made common cause with us 
 Against this prisoner ? Send to Vienne, 
 That we may learn why they imprisoned him : 
 Why judg d him guilty: and how he escaped. 
 And are we not confederate with the Swiss, 
 To stand or fall by our protector, Berne ? 
 Let your State-Messenger go round the cantons 
 And from their syndics and their churches glean 
 
 59 
 
IReformer ot Geneva, 
 
 Such counsel as shall make us of one mind. 
 
 Else rampant Anarchy will soon dissolve 
 
 Your Senate, and your streets run red with blood. 
 
 Berthelier. (Aside to his partisans. ) Appeal! appeal! 
 
 Berne is no friend to Calvin, 
 And once pluck d Bolsec from his logic vise. 
 
 VandeL The senator speaks wisely. We appeal - 
 
 Servetus. To Berne! Let Berne be umpire! 
 
 Perrin. And what say 
 
 Our gracious lords the reverend ministers ? 
 
 Calvin. (Aside to his Colleagues.} Were we to say t is 
 
 daylight at high noon, 
 They would deny it in their present temper. " 
 
 [ To PERRIN.] Naught more, save that we join in the 
 
 appeal 
 
 From madness to sane reason if found elsewhere. 
 Though earthly judges all prove weak and false, 
 There is a Judge of judges, sitting high 
 Above the passions of their erring state, 
 Who oft reverses their crude, hasty judgment 
 And turns their seeming wisdom into folly. 
 
 Perrin. Well then ! we seem to be at last agreed. 
 Nothing remains but that our embassies 
 Shall bring us further light and counsel. Meantime 
 Let Monsieur Calvin preach and do his duty. 
 So shall we hear the voice of Christendom, 
 And find out who is master in Geneva. 80 
 
 60 
 
ACT IV. 
 
 THE JUDGMENT OF CHRISTENDOM. 
 
 SCENE I. A ROOM IN THE CAPTAIN-GENERAL S PALACE. 
 SCENE II. A DUNGEON IN THE OLD BISHOP S PALACE. 
 SCENE III. THE SENATE CHAMBER IN THE TOWN-HALL. 
 
 61 
 
ACT IV. 
 
 SCENE I. 
 
 A Room in the Palace of the CAPTAIN-GENERAL. Enter 
 LA FONTAINE and IDELETTE. 
 
 La Fontaine. At length the cloud has pass d, the 
 
 shadow gone, 
 
 And we are come into the light again, 
 Each dearer for the shadow and the cloud. 
 
 Idelette. Since now thou art a true son of Geneva. 
 
 La Fontaine. And thou, a daughter of the exiled 
 
 Church. 
 
 So always in the clouded heaven of Love, 
 The stars are shining, though we see them not. 
 The faith of lovers, like their faith in God, 
 Is but refined by trials, and their hope 
 Shines like the moon through every passing sorrow. 
 
 Idelette. Would that the skies would clear above this 
 
 house! 
 
 Some murky trouble gathers over it. 
 I feel it in the air, as one can feel 
 The chill of coming storms. My moody father 
 Sits in unwonted silence; and, at times, 
 Unseen I hear my mother s angry tongue 
 Break out in fierce reproaches. Seldom now 
 They see me; she, to watch me like a lynx, 
 And he, to only gaze with vacant look. 
 
 63 
 
Ube IRetormer 
 
 La Fontaine. T is but a common madness of the 
 
 hour 
 
 Which rages since that crack-brain d heretic came 
 To turn the city upside-down. Some plot, 
 I fear, is brewing elsewhere, if not here. 
 
 Idelette. T was that so overcast my dreams last night. 
 I saw the city wake to Sabbath prayer 
 And praise. The great bell, Clemence, peal d o er town 
 And lake and distant vale. The streets were throng d 
 With worshippers; and in the temples choirs 
 Of children sang their practic d melodies, 
 The songs of our sweet psalmodist, Marot. 1 
 And then I saw wild bands of dark-brow d men, 
 With murd rous looks and daggers drawn. And then 
 I shudder but to think of what I saw. 
 
 La Fontaine. A dream, yet not a dream. Often our 
 
 dreams 
 
 Are only dreams. Th unguarded thoughts in sleep, 
 When freed from Reason and the regnant Will, 
 Are but mere lawless images of things 
 By Fancy led as in a masque and revel, 
 Yet sometimes show the habit of the mind 
 And its affinity with good or evil. 
 Then wicked souls, like puppets grossly mo v d, 
 Make sport for mocking demons; but the good, 
 Whose waking thoughts are pure, ev n in their dreams 
 Lie open to all heavenly influence 
 And gracious ministry of kindred spirits. 
 The dear remember d dead come back to them. 
 Angels may visit them in troublous times 
 With warning visions of impending woes; 
 And they in turn become like angels, who 
 Can see us better than we see ourselves, 
 And guard us from the ills to which we re prone. 
 
 64 
 
of <$enex>a. 
 
 Perhaps thy dream thou wilt remember, should 
 Its pictur d terrors come in sight, and then 
 Of some safe refuge think for those still dear, 
 Some hiding-place beyond the city walls. 
 Meanwhile, fear not, but trust in Heaven s grace 
 Which yet may bring ev n to this troubl d House, 
 As to Geneva, " after darkness light." 
 
 [Exeunt LA FONTAINE and IDELETTE. 
 
 [Enter PERRIN and BERTHELIER. 
 
 Berthelier. T is time for " Caesar " to be tragical. 
 
 Perrin. Methinks we ve had enough of comedy. 
 
 Berthelier. Too much. This madcap Spaniard mars 
 
 the plot. 
 
 The senators will have no more of him. 
 The cantons will adjudge him to the stake. 
 T will but remain to lift him as a martyr 
 Before an angry, surging populace, 
 And whelm our foes as in a storm of blood. 
 Then may he serve us better dead than living. 
 
 Perrin. I hope we yet may save as w r ell as use him. 
 
 Berthelier. I much fear it. Our pious tyrant prayed 
 As if he were prime-minister of Heaven, 
 And doubtless sent before our Messenger 
 Letters to shape the judgment he invok d. 
 So do such saints oft answer their own prayers. 
 And now we can but thwart his art with force, 
 That desp rate remedy for tyranny 
 No less than heresy. 
 
 [Goes to the door and admits GUEROULT.] 
 
 Here is Gueroult, 
 Come to report as to your secret orders. 
 
 Gueroult. I have obeyed them as a willing slave. 
 65 
 
IRetormer 
 
 Perrin. Are the men listed ? 
 
 Gueroult. Ay, and posted all 
 
 By fifties in the sev ral parishes, 
 Like prowling wolves among the sleeping folds. 
 
 Perrin. And armed ? 
 
 Gueroult. Well armed: [Draws his 
 
 dagger, and throws open his cloak, to show a white 
 cross on his doublet^ 
 
 Each with a figured doublet, 
 Designed to flatter the Consistory 
 And help the Lord to know His own. 
 
 Perrin. Gueroult, 
 
 You jest too much. This is most serious. 
 
 Gueroult. And I am serious. Revenge but seems 
 To make men merry. 
 
 Perrin. Go with him, Berthelier: 
 
 See all the captains, charge them each by oath 
 To answer any gen ral call to arms. 
 And let the Great Bell give the signal peal. 
 
 \_Exeunt BERTHELIER and GUEROULT. 
 
 \_Enter IDELETTE, kneeling before PERRIN. 
 
 Idelette. O my good father, I like not the faces 
 Of those two men: have nought to do with them 
 I saw them pass have seen them in my dreams, 
 Wearing white crosses all besmeared with blood, 
 And rushing among slaughter d men and babes 
 And women who stretch d out their hands to Heaven 
 
 Perrin. Poor child! thy weak young nerves are all 
 
 unstrung, [lifting her up\ 
 Come to thy mother. 
 
 Idelette. No! no! tell her not, 
 
 Flee, flee with her out of this doomed city, 
 
 66 
 
ot Geneva. 
 
 Beyond the wall t our country-seat until 
 The storm is past! 
 
 [Exit IDELETTE, as FRANCESCA enters from the opposite 
 side. 
 
 Francesco,. Is all arranged ? 
 
 Perrin. (Absently.} All is arranged. 
 
 Francesca. Gueroult 
 
 And Berthelier have both been here ? 
 
 Perrin. (Absently. ) Gueroult 
 
 And Berthelier have both been here. 
 
 Francesca. What means this absent mood ? This 
 
 pallor on 
 A cheek that never blanches ? Art thou sick ? 
 
 Perrin. Sick ? Sick of the whole bloody business ! I 
 Have had a warning as from heaven. 
 
 Francesca. Tut! Tut! 
 
 Womanish fancies, mere dyspeptic humors, 
 Bred of last night s debauch, as the brain cools, 
 And turns its images to horrid shapes. 
 Shake off these visions of a morbid creed, 
 Be no weak Herod to this would-be John 
 The Baptist. Make not me a Herod s wife 
 To dare thee bring his head upon a charger! 
 
 Perrin. (Still absently looking where IDELETTE had 
 
 vanished. ) 
 What if this were an angel voice ? 
 
 Francesca . Aha! 
 
 My lord is in his role of " Tragic Caesar." 
 If this mood lasts, I 11 play the Amazon 
 To muster forth his troop of fierce crusaders 
 And through the streets cry out " To arms! to arms! " 
 
 [ Withdrawing. 
 
 Perrin. (Recovering. ] " To arms! " I should be 
 ready for that call, 
 
 67 
 
ZTbe IRetormer 
 
 Who never yet did hear it but to heed it! 
 And I must follow it, though it lead me on 
 Through seas of carnage to the brink of hell. 
 
 [Exit PERRIN, following FRANCESCA. 
 
 SCENE II. 
 
 A Dungeon in the Old Bishop s Palace. SERVETUS ap 
 pears, wasted and in ragged clothes? 
 
 Servetus. Day after day week after week and still 
 No tidings from the cantons. Morn and eve, 
 The prison lights and shadows come and go 
 Only to mock my hopes, and I grow sick 
 At heart and wasted with this foul disease, 
 This darkness, silence, and oblivion. 
 O my good Christian masters, Turks would treat 
 Me less unkindly! and you summer friends, 
 Where are ye now ? Yet I live on, and dream 
 Of liberty, as starving men will dream 
 Of feasts. [Goes to the window and looks out.~\ 
 
 So pined afar in Chillon s walls 
 That other prisoner of tyranny, 
 The patriot Bonnivard, through six long years, 
 Immured below the ripples of the lake 
 Until his island-dungeon seem d a tomb. 
 Then came deliverers and burst the bars, 
 As in a miracle of resurrection, 
 And led him forth into the living world 
 To free the State as I would free the Church. 
 
 [Clanging doors are opened behind him and light streams 
 into the prison as CLAUDE enters^} 
 68 
 
of Geneva* 
 
 Ha! is the vision real ? while I dream d it! 
 Light! Freedom! Glory! have ye come at last ? 
 
 Claude. Be ready for the worst ! 
 
 Servetus. The worst! I dream d 
 
 It was the best. 
 
 Claude. The cantons with one voice 
 
 Decree the penalty of heresy. 
 
 Servetus. O God! it must not be! It is too terrible. 
 To die to die accursed. I cannot bear it. 
 
 misery ! Mercy ! Mercy ! Mercy! \_Falls into a 
 
 paroxysm. 
 
 Claude. Poor wretch ! Thou canst not play the 
 
 Christian: be 
 At least a man. 
 
 Servetus. T is harder here to play 
 
 The Christian than the man. 
 
 Claude. Take one more hope: 
 
 Know that Gueroult, made desp rate by the news, 
 Is mustering now his bands. Thanks to their courage 
 Not to thy faith thou mayest yet be free. 
 
 Servetus. Bear with me, Claude. Thou rt no anato 
 mist, 
 
 And hast not pried into this curious frame 
 To see what vexing tricks it plays with us, 
 When under sudden impulse from the brain, 
 The nimble blood is scar d into the heart, 
 Like troops recoiling to a citadel, 
 Thence to rush out again and reinforce 
 The coward nerves and the o ermastered will. 3 
 
 1 m better now. 
 
 Claude. And I must go. New guards 
 
 And stricter take my place. 4 [Exit CLAUDE. 
 
 [Enter Guards with FAREL, followed by two SYNDICS 
 and CALVIN. 
 
 69 
 
TTbe IReformer 
 
 Servetus. Ugh! there s that Farel, 
 
 Who always stirs the hidden devil in me: 
 So lion-hearted, yet so meek he seems. 
 Now pluck up thy whole self, a true Saint Michael, 
 To fight these dragons in their guise of saints. 
 Why have ye come hither ? 
 
 Farel. To save thy soul. 
 
 Servetus. Thou rt not its Saviour. 
 
 Farel. And the souls of those 
 
 Thou seekest to destroy with heresy. 
 Recant, that life may come to thee and them, 
 And peace be made twixt brethren in the Church. 
 
 Servetus. What ye call heresy I call the truth. 
 Can I recant the truth ? and ye alone 
 Make brethren fight. How then can I make peace ? 
 
 Farel. Thou hast the sacred name of Christ dis 
 honor d. 
 
 Servetus. Proof! Cite one text for an eternal Christ! 
 
 Farel. In principle erat Verbum j 
 
 Servetus. Tush ! 
 
 Old straw thrice thresh d. Let s have no more of that. 
 
 A Syndic. Have mercy on thyself. We ministers 
 Of Justice even would be merciful 
 And pluck thee as a brand from out the flames. 
 
 Servetus. Away, ye cruel tempters! ye may kill 
 The body but ye cannot kill the soul; 
 And though ye cast my books into the fires 
 Of hell, their thoughts shall smoulder in the minds 
 Of men, and some day set the world aflame. 
 Begone! Mockers and murderers are ye all. 
 
 Syndic. Die if thou wilt. Yet make thy peace with 
 
 him 
 Thou hast so wrong d. 
 
 Servetus. Calvin ? Him I would see. 
 
 70 
 
of (Geneva. 
 
 Calvin. ( Coming forward. ) What would st thou have? 
 
 Servetus. Thy pardon, as we part. 
 
 Calvin. T was given ere t was ask d. No petty spite 
 Have I pursued through all this war of words. 
 None could I drag into this last, stern hour. 
 Remember how we met in youth at Paris; 
 Even then, and at the risk of life, I sought 
 To curb thy daring flight; and since that time 
 Have pray d good men might take thee by the hand 
 And lead thee to the way of truth; and thou 
 Hast shower d after me, I know not what 
 Scarce sane it seemed. Let all that be forgotten. 
 Ask pardon but of Him thy Saviour, whom 
 Thou hast degraded from the throne of Heaven, 
 And seek His mercy ere it be too late. 
 
 [SERVETUS falls into a reverie. The others withdraw. 
 
 Far el. Ah! if he only would recant! 
 
 Syndic. No! no! 
 
 We cannot spare him now. 
 
 Calvin. Is it not written: 
 
 " An heretic that hath been twice reproved 
 Ye shall reject, as one who but condemns 
 Himself ? \_Exeunt. 
 
 [SERVETUS remains in reverie. Re-enter Guards with 
 TISSOT and the SECRETARY OF JUSTICE. 
 
 Tissot. (Aside.} Sochang d! What spiritual Power 
 Restores his reason ? \_Touching his shoulder .] 
 
 Come with me 
 To hear of the good pleasure of my Lords. 
 
 Servetus. I follow, like my Master, but to die. 8 
 
 [Exeunt. 
 
IReformer 
 
 SCENE III. 
 
 The Senate Chamber in the Town- Hall. D ARLOD is 
 pacing meditatively. Enter to him COLLADON. 
 
 Colladon. I find thee where the State has need of thee, 
 Lord Syndic; but the Senate still not here! 
 What stays the sentence of the heretic ? 
 
 D Arlod. They say our doughty Captain has a head 
 ache. 
 
 Colladon. Ah! to be sure! Or call it stomach-ache: 
 Say he hath eaten unripe fruit, and now 
 His ill-digested scheme agrees not with him, 
 As one by one the cantons range themselves 
 Against his protege. 
 
 D Arlod. Poor maniac! 
 
 What shall be done with him, much troubles us. 
 This morning we must hear the embassies 
 That will conclude his guilt: And then What then ? 
 We may not turn him loose in Christendom, 
 A wolf to worry the whole flock of Christ ; 
 Nor dare we keep him pent up in Geneva 
 Asa mere smother d brand of revolution 
 Do with him what we will, he is a plague 
 Upon the State. We never shall have peace 
 Till we are rid of him. 
 
 Colladon. Ay, ay: to this 
 
 The brethren say Amen. It hath become 
 The general verdict, ever since the day 
 When Berthelier, that graceless reprobate, 
 Was smitten by the secret wrath of God. 
 So dread and awful was the scene, while round 
 The holy table came his impious crew 
 Foul harpies fain to snatch the heavenly food, 
 
 72 
 
of <3enev>a, 
 
 And like another holy Chrysostom, 
 
 Fearless our great Reformer stood and cried, 
 
 With hands extended o er the elements; 
 
 " Away! Profane! Ye would but eat and drink 
 
 Damnation to yourselves. Cut off these hands, 
 
 Ere they shall give the sacred things of God 
 
 To those whom He hath branded His despisers! " 
 
 Back through the parting throng the apostate fled 
 
 As though a flaming sword had driven him forth; 
 
 And fear fell on the saints, and brooding awe, 
 
 While silently they took the bread and wine. 7 
 
 And now there is a dread of pending judgments, 
 
 Because that heretic Servetus lives 
 
 An Achan in the camp. Saith not the Law 
 
 As writ in Deuteronomy Thirteenth 
 
 " A false prophet ye shall surely put to death." 8 
 
 D Arlod. Thou art a churchly statesman, Colladon, 
 And readest earthly things in heavenly light, 
 By visions and portents of Holy Writ. 
 But wordly conflicts call for arts and arms 
 As well as prayers. These plotting libertines, 
 Be sure, withdrew with some dark policy; 
 And even amid the general awe which reigns 
 Are lurking now like vermin in the shade. 
 
 \_Enter LA FONTAINE hurriedly. 
 
 La Fontaine. My duty to you, gentlemen, in haste. 
 I must be brief. The dastard plot is all 
 Unveil d. Our wily Berthelier himself, 
 As overheard when garrulous in his cups, 9 
 Has dropt the pass-word, sign, and countersign; 
 And telltale parcels of white crosses show 
 Where Claude and Gueroult have their secret haunts. 
 The lying butcher-signal may be flouted 
 At any moment in our streets. I wait 
 
 73 
 
Ube IRetormer 
 
 Your orders, losing time. 
 
 D Arlod. (To COLLADON.) How many names 
 Of citizens, said st thou, were registered ? 
 
 Colladon. At least three hundred, the best blood of 
 
 France. 
 D Arlod. (To LA FONTAINE.) Go have them arm d, 
 
 and by that well-won sword 
 Of thine, win back new freedom for Geneva. 
 
 [Exit LA FONTAINE. 
 
 Colladon. This is a sov reign remedy for headache. 
 Z> Arlod. Ay, it will kill or cure. {Voices outside .] 
 
 Now comes the Senate, 
 With a quick sentence to the heretic. 
 
 [Enter the SENATE of TWENTY-FIVE, preceded by the 
 CITY HERALD and the escort of Archers. PER- 
 RIN presides ; on one side BERTHELIER, VANDEL, 
 and three other Conspirators ; on the other side, 
 D ARLOD, Du PAN, CALVIN, and three other 
 Colleagues. The French PAPAL ENVOY and 
 Attendants with a Jailer and the Swiss STATE- 
 MESSENGER are in waiting. 
 
 Perrin. I have been ill, most noble lords, more ill 
 In mind than body, with a boding sense 
 Of evils coming on the State, which yet 
 I trust our wisdom somehow may avert. 10 
 We wait the embassies. First, from Vienne. 
 
 Herald. {Ushering the French PAPAL ENVOY and 
 
 Jailer.} 
 
 The sage, illustrious, and magnificent 
 Lords of Vienne, by this their honor d envoy! 
 
 Perrin. What say your noble masters should be done 
 As to our prisoner, Michael Servetus ? 
 
 Envoy. With all due courteous greeting, simply this: 
 74 
 
of Geneva, 
 
 Your prisoner, Servetus, at Vienna, 
 
 Known as Villeneuve, hath been already tried, 
 
 Condemn d, and even burn d in effigy, 
 
 Together with the five bales of his book. 
 
 Wherefore we pray you to remand him hence 
 
 Unto our court in Dauphiny, and let 
 
 This jailer take his body there and make 
 
 That real which were else a futile show 
 
 Of justice, and mere mockery of law. 
 
 So may you spare yourselves much further trouble. 
 
 Perrin. A point of law for you, most learned Rigot. 
 
 Rigot. The prisoner himself should make election 
 To go or stay; but if he own our laws, 
 We cannot give him up and must ourselves 
 See justice done. 
 
 Perrin. He shall be brought before us, 
 
 And make his choice. 
 
 Envoy. But should he choose to stay 
 
 And own your laws, we then some written proof 
 Must have from him that by no fault of ours, 
 No aid or favor, he broke jail and brought 
 Such scandal on our Holy Inquisition. 
 
 Perrin. Whatever he confesses ye shall have 
 With his sign-manual. 
 
 Envoy. And furthermore: 
 
 His goods, some thousand crowns and more, 
 Are now confiscate; and our King of France 
 By his lieutenant here demands to know 
 The debts and credits due on the estate. 
 
 Perrin. A gracious answer make, and say from us, 
 Full justice by our edicts shall be done 
 Alike upon his body and his goods. 
 
 Envoy. This seems all fair. If we must leave him 
 here, 
 
 75 
 
ZTbe TReformer 
 
 Thank God we leave him in good hands, with those 
 Who will not let him slip again, nor fail 
 In zeal against a common enemy. 
 
 Meanwhile we wait his choice and your good pleasure. 11 
 [Exeunt ENVOY and attendants. Manet Jailer. 
 
 Perrin. Now let us hear the cities of the Swiss. 
 
 Herald. (Ushering the STATE-MESSENGER.) 
 The noble lords of Berne, Schaffhausen, Zurich, 
 And Basel, by this trusty Messenger! 
 
 Perrin. The purport of these messages we know : 
 Give but the pith of them, and waste no words. 
 
 Messenger. (Glancing through each roll as he reads.) 
 Our potent ally BERNE condemns Servetus 
 As a destroyer of the Christian faith ; 
 Is much incensed by all his arrogance; 
 And prays we may have strength to put the churches 
 At once beyond the reach of such a pest. 
 
 BASEL has grown intolerant for once 
 And counsels, if he cannot be reclaimed, 
 To use the utmost power of our office 
 That we may stop his troubling of the Church. 
 
 ZURICH, so moderate, is deeply griev d 
 At the impunity of heretics, 
 And begs us make of him a lesson, which 
 Shall wipe off the reproach in time to come. 
 
 And blunt SCHAFFHAUSEN calls his blasphemy 
 A wasting gangrene in the limbs of Christ, 
 And warns us that to reason with him more, 
 Would but be growing crazy with a fool. 
 
 All leave to us the choice of penalty; 
 But Berne, we know by mandatory hint, 
 Would have us cast him to the flames. 
 That Heaven so may guide you, is their prayer. 
 
 [Exit the STATE-MESSENGER. 
 76 
 
ot cseneva. 
 
 P err in. A dismal showing this. 
 
 D Arlod. He is adjudg d 
 
 Guilty in the high court of Christendom; 
 By Protestant as well as Catholic. 
 
 Calvin. ( Withdrawing with his Colleagues. ) 
 Bear witness, honor d lords, we have not urg d 
 Nor stayed this general judgment; and we now 
 Must leave with you alone the penalty. 
 The tongue and pen are ours, and not the sword, 
 To prove, but not to punish heresy: 
 That we account your sole prerogative, 
 As heaven-sent guardians of our earthly peace, 
 For us ordained of God the Powers that be. 
 And since the State must keep its course of justice, 
 The Church can only plead with you for mercy. 17 
 If in your wisdom ye a forfeit life 
 Can save and save the State which it doth put 
 In peril, then let mercy turn the scale; 
 The which God grant. But since ye judge not so, 
 We pray you spare th atrocity of fire, 
 And use instead the quick and painless sword. 
 Leave to our foes their mock auto-da-fe 
 And let not scoffers weave its cruel flames 
 A martyr halo through all coming time. 
 
 \_Exeunt CALVIN with his Colleagues. 
 
 Perrin. Mercy ! Who dares to plead for mercy what 
 Is due to justice and to innocence ? 
 Shall meddling parsons shape our civic rule ? 
 And foreign voices drown our native sense 
 Of right ? Be just, and so be merciful, 
 To one, who though of alien creed, is still 
 The city s guest; and let the city s voice 
 Be heard for him, where only it can speak; 
 Not here, but in the Council of Two Hundred! 
 
 77 
 
ZTbe IReformer 
 
 D Arlod. Treason! 
 
 Du Pan. Treason ! 
 
 {Outcries of " The Plot! " " The Plot! " Groans and 
 hisses. 
 
 Perrin. {Leaving the Chair. ) 
 Enough! enough! I will not be your Pilate, 
 To wash from hypocritic hands the blood 
 Ye mean to shed. [Withdrawing with Conspirators.] 
 We go from these mad counsels; 
 Honor flees where Justice cannot stay; 
 Now light up, if ye will, that funeral pyre 
 Where future Genevese shall come to weep and wish 
 That they might quench it with their tears. 
 
 \_Exeunt PERRIN and the Conspirators. 
 
 D Arlod. Now Law and Order may resume their 
 
 sway, 
 
 Since Treason and Misrule have gone elsewhere, 
 To plot that mischief which they dare not here, 
 And which we now must thwart with swifter doom 
 Upon their tool and would-be leader. Justice ? 
 Our word is plighted to Vienne and Berne 
 That fullest justice shall be done. Mercy ? 
 No mercy can be shown to one who shows 
 No mercy to himself. A second time 
 He rushes to the flames. With his own hand 
 Plucks down the highest penalty of law 
 Do not our edicts call for death by fire ? 
 
 Senators. Ay ! Ay ! 
 
 D Arlod. Let him be brought to judgment. 13 
 
 \_Ushered by the HERALD and Guards enter TISSOT, the 
 SECRETARY OF JUSTICE, FAREL, and SERVETUS. 
 
 D Arlod. Michael Servetus, alias Villeneuve, 
 By which of these two names wilt thou be called ? 
 Choose whether to go with this jailer to Vienne, 
 
 7S 
 
of Geneva, 
 
 Or here await thy sentence ? \_The Jailer approaches. 
 
 Servetus. {Kneeling before the fudges.) Cast me not, 
 Most merciful lords, into the flames I have 
 Escap d. Let me in thy good pleasure hope, 
 Whate er it be. 
 
 D Arlod. Then art thou twice condemn d. 
 Syndics and Senators, as here conjoined 
 In the tribunal of your ancestors, 
 Having before your eyes the Holy Scriptures, 
 The canons of the code Justinian, 
 The civic edicts and the embassies, 
 The evidence as to this prisoner 
 How judge ye ? 
 
 Syndics. Let him be anathema. 
 
 Senators. Anathema. 
 
 D Arlod. Break over him the staff 
 
 Of honor. 
 
 Tissot. {Breaking a staff above his head.} Anathema. 
 
 D Arlod. Michael Servetus, 
 
 Guilty of heresy, of blasphemy, 
 And of disturbing Christendom, 
 Thou art condemn d to be led to the place 
 Of Champel; to be bound there to a stake; 
 And with thy books and writings in thy girdle, 
 To be then burn d alive, until thy body 
 Has been reduced to ashes. So thy days 
 Shall end in warning to all like offenders. 
 
 Servetus. The sword in mercy! and not fire! lest I 
 Despair and lose my soul! [Falling prostrate. 
 
 Du Pan. Too late ! too late ! 
 
 Another voice has prayed that prayer in vain ! 
 
 Far el. {Lifting up SERVETUS. ) Confess thy crime I 
 
 Servetus. I have not sinn d 
 
 Far el. Repent ! else I must leave thee to thy fate. 
 79 
 
TReformer ot Geneva, 
 
 Servetus. Or if I sinn d, I sinn d in ignorance. 
 Farel. Hear, gracious lords ! have pity ! pardon him ! 
 D Arlod. Guards! do your duty. 
 [SERVETUS and FAREL are quickly surrounded with the 
 escort of Archers and preceded by the HERALD and 
 LORD LIEUTENANT. [Exeunt. 
 
 Servetus. (Exclaiming as he disappears.} 
 Son of the Eternal God, have mercy on me! u 
 
 80 
 
ACT V. 
 
 THE TRIUMPH OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 SCENE I. THE PUBLIC SQUARE AND TOWN-HALL. 
 
 SCENE II. BEFORE THE CATHEDRAL. 
 
 SCENE III. THE INTERIOR OF THE CATHEDRAL. 
 
 8r 
 
ACT V. 
 
 SCENE I. 
 
 The Public Square. Steps leading up to the Town-Hall. 
 
 The Rhone and Alps in view. A group of Sailor s y 
 
 Peasants, and Artisans standing idly about. 
 
 First Bystander. Another boat-load of the French 
 out yonder! 
 
 Second Bystander. Ay, and that means more work 
 men on our walls 
 And on our quays and streets. 
 
 First Bystander. It means starvation. 
 
 The devil take these Frenchmen ! They pull down 
 Our wages and put up the price of bread. 
 
 Second Bystander. But bring the Gospel to us ! 
 
 First Bystander. I like not 
 
 That new imported article; it is 
 Too green; t will breed a deadly cholic in 
 The belly of the State. The renegades 
 Come running here so fast, the wafer still 
 Sticks in their throats. 
 
 Second Bystander. They promise us 
 New Freedom! 
 
 First Bystander. Bah ! We were free to go 
 To mass: now we are forc d to go to sermon, 
 Or pay three sous. 1 We sit and hear ourselves 
 
 83 
 
Ube IReformer 
 
 Berated in long prayers, and have our nerves 
 Fil d into shreds with donkey-braying psalms. 2 
 
 \_Gives a nasal imitation. 
 Second Bystander. Hush! hush! you will be fin d or 
 
 jail d for this. 
 
 CALVIN, with a tome under his arm, passes gravely along, 
 followed by CLAUDE and GUEROULT, hooting at him 
 until he disappears : 
 Dog! Tyrant! Pope Calvin! To the Rhone with 
 
 him! 
 
 \_The group approach CLAUDE and GUEROULT. 
 First Bystander. Ho ! What now ? 
 Gueroult. Vengeance ! 
 
 Claude. T was but a cruel murder. 
 Second Bystander. Where ? When ? 
 
 Claude. Have ye not heard the news, the heretic 
 That has been foully burned alive at Champel ? 3 
 
 First Bystander. Pooh! that s not new, but common: 
 
 anyone 
 Must burn that will not keep a canting tongue. 
 
 Second Bystander. Was he a Catholic or Protestant ? 
 Claude. Neither. He said that both were wrong, 
 
 and he 
 Had come to set them right. 
 
 Second Bystander. And which was right ? 
 
 Claude. Well, they both burn d him and that settl d it. 
 Second Bystander. But which was right ? 
 Claude. (To GUEROULT.) Say which was orthodox. 
 Gueroult. The Lord only knows. These reverend 
 
 doctors have 
 
 As many orthodoxies as bald pates. 
 They reason with a heretic before 
 They roast him, as a cat plays with a mouse, 
 To give him seeming chances for his life; 
 
 84 
 
of Geneva* 
 
 And in their Latin billingsgate will call 
 
 Each other canis, mendax, nebula, 
 
 As glibly as we say " dog," " liar," " rascal." 
 
 But when the word-fight has its gala-day, 
 
 And book and heretic must blaze together 
 
 Mark you! the noble syndics understand 
 
 Neither the book nor who s the heretic. 
 
 This time they flay d a simple wand ring scholar. 
 
 Second Bystander. Did he die game ? 
 
 Gueroult, I hear, like any other holy martyr. 
 
 [Enter BERTHELIER.] Lord Berthelier, 
 Some listeners as to the late martyrdom. 
 
 First Bystander. Come and let us hear this fine gentle 
 man. 
 
 [ They gather around him. 
 
 Berthelier. O never did the sun on such a sight 
 Look down, eclips d at noon with smoke and glare, 
 Sent up as from the flaming mouth of hell 
 Into the face of heaven. T would make you grind 
 Your teeth and weep with rage, were I to paint 
 The human devils in that scene. 4 
 
 Gueroult. Death to em! 
 
 Berthelier. But not of them I speak, to waste your 
 
 tears ; 
 
 Only of that poor victim of their hate. 
 T was pitiful to see him chain d and bound, 
 The green wood stack d about his trembling limbs; 
 A sulphurous wreath of oak-leaves on his head, 
 And at his girdle tied the foolish books 
 They call d heretical. 
 
 Claude. Shame ! Shame ! 
 
 Gueroult. Revenge ! 
 
 Berthelier. Then came the murderous torch the 
 blazing chaplet 
 
 85 
 
Ube IReformer 
 
 The crackling fagots and the lurid flames, 
 Stifling his piteous prayers. 
 
 Bystanders. Horrible ! 
 
 Berthelier. Alas! no priestly hand with crucifix 
 Before his dying eye but all the while 
 The mocking preachments [FAREL appears] of yon cant 
 ing zealot! 
 All. Farel! Farel! To the Rhone with him! To 
 
 the Rhone! 
 [As they rush toward FAREL, an arquebus is fired off by 
 
 GUEROULT, exploding at the trigger. 
 Farel. {Snapping his fingers at them. ) 
 Cowards! Would ye kill the servants of the Most High ? 
 [At the same moment he is surrounded by the Ministers, 
 
 led by LA FONTAINE with drawn sword* 
 La Fontaine. Back! By the armed majesty of law! 
 [Following LA FONTAINE, enter the armed Refugees 
 forming a guard around FAREL and the Ministers, 
 while D ARLOD and the SENATORS^TW^ themselves 
 near the steps of the Town- Hall. On the other side 
 where the other group have retreated, Francesca 
 rushes in and out excitedly. 
 Francesca. The French! the French! they re going 
 
 to sack the city! 
 To arms! to arms! 
 
 Berthelier. (Rushing out with FRANCESCA.) To 
 arms! good citizens! 
 
 [Enter IDELETTE to LA FONTAINE. 
 
 Idelette. Our Master comes! I ve read it in his face! 
 
 La Fontaine. Not now! not here! into the jaws of 
 
 death ! 
 Go, save thyself and him! 
 
 86 
 
of <Benex>a. 
 
 Far el. Bid him not come! 
 
 Idelette. He would not heed me, but mov d sternly on, 
 Smiling as with a dying benediction. 
 He comes with such a look as martyrs wear. 
 
 La Fontaine. Alas ! back to thy prayers ! 
 
 Idelette. {Appealing to Heaven. ) Oh, save him ! save 
 
 him! 
 And save Geneva! [Exit. 
 
 [The Great Bell is pealing rapidly. Re-enter BERTHE- 
 LIER, with PERRIN, VANDEL, and the band of Con 
 spirators, wearing white crosses and shouting 
 "Liberty! Liberty!" 
 
 Vandel. (While forming the ranks behind PERRIN.) 
 Down with La Fontaine, Farel, Calvin, all! 
 Kill every French rascal that shows his head! 
 
 Perrin. (Seizing from D ARLOD the SYNDIC S baton 
 
 and waving it before the rioters*) 
 The baton must not pass to alien hands! 
 We rescue it from those not fit to bear it, 
 And hold it as our pledge of victory. 
 Forward! for the honor of Geneva! 
 
 La Fontaine. Stand in defence of Christ and of His 
 
 Church! 
 
 \_Swords are drawn on both sides. 
 
 [CALVIN now appears in the background with folded arms 
 amid cries of Kill him ! " Death to him ! from 
 the Conspirators. Looking them fixedly in the face, 
 and advancing between the ranks, he stoops upon one 
 knee, throws open his mantle, and bares his breast. 
 Calvin. If ye want blood, here are some drops to 
 
 shed. 
 
 Before heaven I come to offer up myself 
 
 87 
 
ZTbe IReformer 
 
 A sacrifice. Ye will not strike ? Then hear me! 
 
 [Rising he goes to the Town- Hall steps. ~\ 
 Ye children of Geneva! and ye sons of France! 
 Let reason stay awhile your swords in truce, 
 If so ye yet may sheathe them without blood. 
 
 \_The swords are lowered^ 
 Twice have ye called me to your city, still 
 So beautiful in hope, so rich in memory, 
 But why so rent with feud and stain d with sin ? 
 Am I become the enemy of your peace ? 
 Speak but the word, I go at once, and leave 
 In other hands the reins ye put in mine. 
 
 [Pointing first to Conspirators, and then to Refugees^ 
 Behold on that side Treason, License, Crime, 
 And bloody Anarchy; on this behold 
 Religion, Virtue, Liberty, and Law; 
 And let your Senate choose between. 
 
 [CALVIN takes D ARLOD S arm and is followed by the 
 SENATORS into the Town- Hall, while the combatants 
 on both sides sheathe their swords, the Conspirators 
 sullenly retiring, and the Refugees embracing one 
 another for ioyJ 1 
 
 SCENE II. 
 Before the Gothic Doorway of the Cathedral. 
 
 [Enter BERNARD and POUPIN, approaching the Church 
 door. 
 
 Bernard. Now Korah, Dathan, and Abiram shall 
 Be swallowed up with all their rebel crew. 
 The judgment of the Senate will be swift 
 To my lords Perrin, Berthelier, and Vandel! 
 
of Geneva. 
 
 Poupin. Ay, for their sins this people long have 
 suffer d, 
 
 As Israel danc d even at the foot of Sinai, 
 They have been steep d in godless revelry. 
 But lo! our Moses, shining from the Mount, 
 Renews the broken tables of the Law. 
 
 [Entering the Church .] 
 
 T is well to give ourselves to prayer and praise 
 And then go we to the Consistory. 
 
 \_At the same time CALVIN enters pensively and follows 
 them into the Cathedral, a Choir of children inside 
 singing.* 
 Choir. Hail! My Redeemer! Sacrifice 
 
 For all my guilt and pain and woe! 
 What thanks, what praises will suffice, 
 
 When to Thine altar I shall go ? 
 Ah! nothing thither can I bring, 
 
 To tell of what to me Thou art ; 
 No other gift or offering 
 
 Than this poor flaming, melting heart. 
 
 \Enter two CITIZENS, meeting. 
 
 First Citizen. Whither so fast, good friend ? 
 
 Second Citizen. (Hurrying by.} To the Town-Hall. 
 
 First Citizen. Come back, and save your steps. 
 
 Second Citizen. (Returning.) Can I, in sooth ? 
 What has been done with the conspirators ? 
 
 First Citizen. Oh, a quick end was made of them! 
 
 Gueroult 
 
 And Claude, even where they stood resisting law, 
 Were slain with their own butcher swords, 
 And their white crosses made all red with blood. 
 Vandel is to be hang d and drawn and quarter d. 
 
 89 
 
ZTbe IReformer 
 
 Second Citizen. And my lord Berthelier 
 
 First Citizen. Will lose his head ; 
 
 Yet out of feeling to his patriot sire 
 Is to have decent burial by his side. 
 
 Second Citizen. And what of our poor Captain- 
 general ? 
 
 First Citizen. Ah! there the Senate paus d awhile. 
 
 He had 
 
 Been Calvin s friend, and after his first fall 
 Calvin had plead for him and even to 
 The Holy Sacrament had welcom d him. 
 So much weak treach ry could no more be trusted. 
 He is to have an honorable death. 
 But his right hand, cut off and clasp d around 
 The syndic s baton, which he wav d when he 
 Led on the rioters, is to be nail d 
 Above his empty senate-chair, a warning 
 To all such traitors. 9 
 
 Second Citizen. When will all this be ? 
 
 First Citizen. That s not yet certain. Both of them 
 
 are missing. 
 
 Since Madame Perrin fled to her country-seat. 
 I think they re also there, or will be soon. 
 
 \Exeunt CITIZENS. 
 
 [Enter BERTHELIER leading PERRIN. 
 
 Berthelier. Quick! This way! 
 
 Perrin. Stay! But one brief look across 
 
 The city walls at yonder river, lake, 
 And mountain. 
 
 Berthelier. Tush! we 11 have a longer look, 
 And safer, when outside the city walls. 
 And Madame Perrin waits. [Pulls him towards the exit. 
 
 90 
 
of Geneva. 
 
 Perrin. O Francesca! 
 
 The play-house Caesar is play d out! [Exeunt. 
 
 [Enter LA FONTAINE, meeting IDELETTE, emerging 
 from the Cathedral door. 
 
 Idelette. A happy eve! 
 
 La Fontaine. A happier morrow morn ! 
 
 All heavenly portents come like wedding-guests 
 To greet our wedding-day. 
 
 Idelette. And good men s prayers. 
 
 [They walk to and fro .] 
 But now, I knelt where first I plighted faith 
 With love. Thither from the Consistory 
 Our Master came; and after grave advice 
 And blessing, his worn spiritual face 
 Grew strangely young again. He had divin d 
 Our secret from the first, he said; and spoke 
 So sweetly of thy nobleness and truth. 
 And then, I know not why it was as if 
 He crav d some sympathy, he pour d out all 
 His own strange history; presag d to be 
 A life of sorrow and of strife even when 
 As a child crucifier he bore to mass 
 A heavy cross-hilt ending in a sword. 10 
 Tom a shy student from his books, and sent 
 Against his will, as by a Higher Will 
 Which yet he made his own, he found himself 
 In scenes of violence and crime; weigh d down 
 With mighty tasks; consum d with cares of State 
 And Church abroad ; bereft of wife and child 
 At home; fretted alike by friends and foes; 
 And badgered by sland rous tongues. And so, 
 Save for the few who knew that glowing heart, 
 
 91 
 
ZTbe IReformer 
 
 He cas d it with a breastplate wrought of steel, 
 
 And made some think him cruel who was kind. 
 
 Now I no longer fear but pity him. 
 
 How must his wife have lov d him! Oftentimes 
 
 We women worship a stern power in men 
 
 That makes more strange and sweet their tenderness, 
 
 Like flow rets hid beneath the Alpine crags. 
 
 SCENE III. 
 
 Interior of the Cathedral of St. Peter. Trumpets outside 
 and joy-bells from the church tower. Enter the CITY 
 HERALD, Ushers, Civic officers, Nobles, and Dames, 
 CITIZENS, Burghers, Peasants, Artisans. To a dais, 
 D ARLOD with the Senate on one side, and on the other 
 CALVIN with the Consistory. 
 
 D Arlod. Since Treason, License, Anarchy, and 
 
 Crime 
 
 Are slain, or fled beyond the city gates, 
 Religion, Virtue, Liberty, and Law 
 Have come to grace this glad and solemn day. 
 T is meet to welcome them with so much joy. 
 Give them our homage and sworn fealty, 
 As our Lord Secretary reads the oath. 
 
 [The STATE SECRETARY reads, all standing. ~\ 
 " We Syndics, Senators, Pastors, Doctors, 
 " Nobles, and commons of all sorts, assembl d 
 " At sound of trumpet and the great church bell, 
 " And with our hands uplift to the Most High, [all hands 
 
 lifted] 
 
 " Do swear allegiance to the Church Reformed, 
 
 92 
 
ot Genera. 
 
 " In name of Father, Son, and Holy 
 
 [A Gloria is sung by the Choir of Children in the bridal 
 train of IDELETTE and LA FONTAINE. 
 
 D Arlod. So "AFTER DARKNESS LIGHT." Be it 
 perpetual. 
 
 Calvin. Behold the victory of Christ! He rides 
 As in a flaming chariot on the winds, 
 And tramples down all Error, Vice, and Sin ! 
 The spiritual conqueror of the world! 
 Crown him, ye poets, with the laurel- wreath ; 
 And let the generations yet to come 
 Sing lo Pcean to the King of kings! u 
 
 Farel. Behold also God s chosen instrument, 
 Our Moses leading through the wilderness, 
 And the law-giver of our Israel! 
 
 Calvin. Mingle no praise of man with this high work 
 Of God. Remember, Israel s law-giver, 
 Because he smote the rock of Meriba 
 In sinful anger, could not enter Canaan, 
 But only viewed it from far Pisgah s top 
 And died unhonor d with a sepulchre. 
 So have ye seen like vehemence untam d 19 
 In him ye call the leader of your cause. 
 For this he craves forgiveness of you all, 
 In sight of God, of angels, and of men. 
 Millions for this may call him tyrant, who 
 Shall owe to him their liberty ; and though 
 All Christian lands should be his monument, 
 Let no man know his grave. 13 
 
 The glory is 
 
 Not ours. We are but shadows that o ercloud it 
 This living scene, and all that it portends, 
 The earth and sky around us, with the pomps 
 
 93 
 
Ube Reformer 
 
 Of rising morn and sinking eve, the heavens 
 Above us, with their shining ranks o er ranks 
 Of angel and archangel, and afar 
 The dazzling throne of godhead all are but 
 The pageantry of one Eternal Mind, 
 Upheld and mov d by one Eternal Will 
 The glory give to One alone ! 
 
 {Overcome by the vision he sinks down as in a swoon. 
 FAREL supports his head, while the SENATORS and 
 PASTORS gather around him. 
 
 Tissot. Stand back ! More light ! more light ! 
 
 Far el. What need of it ? 
 
 He hath such light as this world knows not of. 
 The glory of the Lord hath smitten him 
 That glory which no man can see and live ! 
 And now, like dying Simeon, he departs 
 In happy vision. 
 
 D Arlod. And in charity 
 
 With all the world. Ev n as he sought forgiveness, 
 So let him be forgiven. 
 
 [LA FONTAINE and IDELETTE approach and kneel at 
 his feet. 
 
 Idelette. Who can tell 
 
 But that his spirit lingers near us still 
 With some last word of blessing ? 
 
 Calvin. {Reviving for the moment^} Blessed ! blessed ! 
 As in the bridal of the Church with her 
 Own Heavenly Lord ! ( With hands folded as in 
 devotion, he dies.} 
 
 La Fontaine. Open ! ye gates of heaven ! 
 
 And ye good angels, be his convoy thither ! 
 To waft him on melodious waves of air 
 Beyond our sight. 
 
 94 
 
of Geneva* 
 
 [Angelic strains are heard dying away in the distance. 
 Farel. So dies he as he lived, 
 
 Victorious in faith. 
 
 END OF THE DRAMA. 
 
 95 
 
ERRATA. 
 
 On page 45, for " more " read " mere diabolic zeal." 
 On page 53, for " chaff or words " read " chaff of words." 
 Pp. 93 and 94 have been revised and amended by the Author, 
 when at Geneva, in August, 1900. 
 
NOTES 
 
 TO 
 
 THE REFORMER OF GENEVA. 
 
NOTES. 
 
 THE story of the Reformation in Geneva abounds in dramatic 
 materials. The author became impressed by them while en 
 gaged in a purely historical investigation, and has simply recast the 
 results of his studies in the literary form here presented. He is not 
 aware that any similiar attempt has been made. A tragical episode 
 has been detached and travestied in German, French, and Spanish ; 
 but no dramatic rendering of the whole story, with due regard to the 
 chief actor, has appeared in any language. It is possible that a more 
 historical treatment would secure artistic completeness as well as 
 moral instructiveness. As a mere dramatic figure Calvin is as im 
 pressive as Becket or Richelieu, and the current estimate of Servetus, 
 as well as of Calvin, may be favorably modified by restoring them both 
 to their original environment with an idealization based upon fact and 
 probability. These notes, therefore, are appended in order to verify 
 the strictly historical portions of the drama. 
 
 In distinction from the great mass of controversial histories, two 
 works may be selected as the most accessible, as well as authoritative 
 and free from prejudice. One was a memoir contributed to the His 
 torical Society of Geneva by Rilliet de Candolle, professor in the 
 University, who had access to public archives recently discovered, and 
 narrated the trial of Servetus, not only with judicial fairness but with 
 seeming disregard of theological considerations. The other was 
 written by the philosophical historian Guizot, a discriminating critic, 
 who in his sketch of " St. Louis and Calvin," endeavored to harmo 
 nize all that is best in Catholicism and Protestantism. These two 
 writers agree substantially in regard to any controverted incidents 
 that appear in the plot. At the same time, by dramatic license, the 
 opinions of enemies as well as friends of the Reformer are fully ex 
 pressed in the dialogue, often in their own language ; and some 
 expressions, which may have been falsely attributed to both parties, 
 are not withheld, but only discussed in these notes. It need scarcely 
 be added that events are sometimes grouped or blended in accordance 
 
 97 
 
TEbe IReformet 
 
 with the limitations of dramatic composition ; but their essential sig 
 nificance is not changed. 
 
 The original documents, upon which the work of Rilliet is based, 
 are included in the Corpus Reformatorunt, Calvini Opera, Brunswick 
 ed., vol. viii. They have been carefully studied in reference to every 
 fact, incident, and opinion. 
 
 DRAMATIS PERSONS. 
 
 The chief characters are real with one exception, and may be 
 found more or less clearly delineated by contemporary writers and 
 historians. 
 
 AMI PERRIN, military chief of the republic, was the popular leader 
 of the Patriots or native Genevese who resisted the Reformer as a 
 foreigner and innovator. At first, from political motives, in the con 
 flict for independence with the bishop-dukes of Savoy, he espoused 
 the Reformation, and had even advocated the recall of Calvin from 
 banishment ; but when his wife and father-in-law were condemned by 
 the Consistory for serious moral delinquencies his rage became ex 
 treme ; and from that day there followed a war of extermination in 
 which Calvin was conqueror only in consequence of the final expul 
 sion of Perrin and his party. Audin, his most favorable critic, de 
 scribes him as " a man of noble nature, who wore the sword with great 
 grace, dressed in good taste, and conversed with much facility ; but 
 a boaster at table and at the Council, where he deafened everyone 
 with his loquacity, his fits of self-love and his theatrical airs. For the 
 rest, like all men of this stamp, he had an excellent heart, was 
 devoted as a friend, and patriotic to an extreme." In person, he 
 was of swarthy complexion and martial figure. 
 
 PHILIBERT BERTHELIER was associated with Perrin, as a chief of 
 the same party, but with somewhat different aims. To him the Ref 
 ormation was an exotic puritanism. " As a son of one of the martyrs 
 to the political freedom of Geneva," says Rilliet, " his social position 
 and his taste for pleasure gave him the highest rank among the inde 
 pendent and dissipated youth. He was the irwprincepsjuventutis; 
 and we find him at the head of all the opposition offered to the aus 
 tere reforms of Calvin." Gay, astute, cool, and impudent, he was at 
 this time smarting under a sentence of excommunication for his alleged 
 immoralities. 
 
 98 
 
of Geneva. 
 
 PIERRE VANDEL, of the same party, was a handsome, brilliant, and 
 frivolous cavalier, who loved to exhibit himself with a retinue of 
 valets and courtesans, with rings on his fingers and golden chains on 
 his breast. He had been imprisoned for his debaucheries and inso 
 lent conduct before the Consistory. 
 
 CLAUDE DE GENEVE, the jailer, was an instrument of Perrin ; and 
 WILLIAM GUEROULT, an outlawed libertine of the worst class, who 
 had been the printer and proof corrector of the Christianismi Resti- 
 tutio, the heretical book of Servetus, 
 
 MICHAEL SERVETUS, a Spaniard of Arragon, physician, geographer, 
 astrologer, litterateur, philosopher, had become known as a fugitive 
 heretic in Germany, Italy, and France. Historians dwell upon his 
 versatile genius and moral inconsistency, as relieved by the sincerity 
 of an enthusiast or the insanity of a fanatic, as well as by pity for his 
 tragical fate and indignation at the reigning intolerance to which he 
 fell a victim. " Many persons," says D Aubigne, " thought that his 
 subtle understanding, his brilliant genius, his profound knowledge of 
 natural science, would make him one of the most surprising and in 
 fluential leaders of the epoch." He cannot be reproached with any 
 vices, and though he formed no school, he still has generous defen 
 ders. He is described as sensitive, imaginative, acute, of fiery and 
 and fitful temper, often incoherent, and at times with tongue and pen 
 uncontrolled. His frame was slender and delicate, his complexion 
 pale, and his eyes beaming with an expression of melancholy and 
 fanaticism. 
 
 JOHN CALVIN, of Noyon in Picardy, humanist, writer, scholar, 
 lawyer, divine, churchman, statesman, was establishing the Reformed 
 faith and discipline in Geneva at a time when it was noted for its 
 unrestrained licentiousness and a turbulence verging upon anarchy. 
 Of commanding intellect and exalted purity, severely just, inflexible, 
 and fearless, he inspired awe rather than popular enthusiasm. His 
 opponents declared that wealth and pleasure had no charms for him. 
 Those who feared him most could easily have destroyed him. Several 
 times he exposed himself to their swords. The city once banished 
 him, but afterwards recalled him in triumph. The public Registers 
 speak of " the majesty of his character." A patrician by education 
 and taste, he was grave and courtly in manner, and though a keen 
 polemic and sometimes truculent after the fashion of that age, yet he 
 
 99 
 
IRetormer 
 
 was affable among his disciples and friends and at fitting times kindly 
 and tender. 
 
 " Lofty and sour to them that lov d him not, 
 But to those men that sought him, sweet as summer." 
 
 In appearance he was of medium size, attenuated in frame, with 
 dark complexion, pointed black beard, chiselled features, large fore 
 head, and piercing eyes that never lost their lustre. His characteristic 
 dress was a broadcloth robe trimmed with fur and a velvet cap of 
 the period. 
 
 NICOLAS DE LA FONTAINE, his secretary, was also a Frenchman, 
 who is variously termed his connection, his intimate friend, his disci 
 ple, and once his servitor, but in no menial sense, as he is styled by 
 Calvin himself in legal documents " the honorable Nicolas de la Fon 
 taine." In historical paintings he appears with a young, handsome 
 face and intellectual expression. 
 
 GERMAIN COLLADON, a French emigre of distinguished family and 
 an able jurisconsult, represented the Calvinistic exiles in their con 
 flict with the Libertines and Patriots. Bred to the law, he aided the 
 Reformer in framing the theocratic edicts, becoming a legislator of 
 the puritanical type, with ideas derived from the Mosaic code. He 
 is depicted with a stout figure, massive head and features, and grave 
 magisterial aspect. 
 
 WILLIAM FAREL, of noble origin in Dauphiny, was pastor of 
 Neufchatel, and a devoted friend of the Reformer, whom he had 
 urged to undertake the Reformation of Geneva. He was a pop 
 ular leader, eloquent, passionate, impetuous, of indomitable cour 
 age, whether he harangued evil-doers from the pulpit or faced an 
 angry mob in the streets. Though uncouth in appearance, he had 
 a sonorous voice with the stentorian tones of the orator. POUPIN 
 and BERNARD were Genevan pastors and colleagues of CALVIN, who 
 were of inferior ability. 
 
 Du PAN led the Calvinists in the Senate, as VANDEL led the Per- 
 rinists, while the Syndic, D ARLOD, presiding in the absence of the 
 chief Syndic, led the majority as actuated by political rather than 
 religious motives. 
 
 FRANCESCA, the daughter of Fransois Favre and wife of the Cap 
 tain-General Perrin, belonged to one of the old families of Geneva, 
 
 100 
 
of <Benev>a. 
 
 whose gay and dissolute manners were in conflict with the ascetic 
 discipline of the Reformation. The Roman Catholic historian, 
 Audin, characterizes her "as one of those women whom our own 
 Corneille would have taken for heroines ; excitable, choleric, fond of 
 pleasure, enamored of dancing, and hating Calvin as Luther hated a 
 monk." 
 
 IDELETTE is an ideal personification of the spirit of reformed 
 Geneva, not improbable in the circumstances. As the daughter of 
 Francesca, affianced to La Fontaine, she may represent the blending 
 of the old and new regime. The same name was borne by Calvin s 
 wife, Idelette de Bure, who had died several years before the time of 
 the action. 
 
 The minor personages and accessory characters are such as appear 
 in the histories of the period. Legal usages and incidents are based 
 upon the contemporary treatise of Bonnivard (De Vancienne et 
 nouvelle Police de Geneve} as explained by Rilliet. 
 
 ACT I. 
 
 NOTE i Page 6. 
 
 The Consistory was an ecclesiastical court, composed of the five 
 city pastors and twelve laymen, with a Syndic presiding. It had 
 cognizance only of moral and religious offences, but under the Church- 
 State system referred them in some cases to the civic court or Senate 
 for punishment by fine, imprisonment, banishment, or death, accord 
 ing to the degree of the offence. 
 
 NOTE 2 Page 6. 
 
 The costume of the Genevese at this time had become excessively 
 gay and grotesque, and the sumptuary laws passed at the instigation 
 of the Consistory were trivial and irritating, prescribing in detail the 
 dress of men and women. For example, it was enacted " That no 
 man, in what state, qualitie or condition soever he might be, dareth 
 be so hardie as to make, or cause to be made, or to wear hosen or 
 doublettes cut, jagged, embroydered, or lined with silk, upon payne 
 to forfeyte sixty sous." Calvin refers to the " slashed breeches as a 
 
 101 
 
ZTbe IReformer 
 
 mere piece of foppery not worth speaking about, had it not been a 
 pretext for the most serious disorders." 
 
 The entire dialogue between Francesca, Perrin, and Berthelier is 
 founded upon actual incidents as exaggerated by the opponents and 
 critics of the Reformer. " I do not condemn amusements as such," 
 said he ; " dances and cards are not in themselves evil, but how easily 
 these pleasures succeed in making slaves of those who are addicted 
 to them ! Wherever wrong-doing has become an old-established 
 custom we must avoid every risk of falling back into it." In like 
 manner he opposed the licentious stage of the time, though favoring 
 academic and moral drama under a censorship, and in one instance 
 even postponing his sermon, that the people might attend the theatri 
 cals. Yielding at length to the stricter views of his colleagues the 
 magistrates refused to sanction any further representations "until 
 the time was more favorable for them." So far from discountenanc 
 ing all games he did not scruple himself to play the Keys with the 
 Seigneurs of Geneva, a game somewhat like billiards, which con 
 sisted in pushing the keys as near as possible to the edge of the table. 
 
 NOTE 3 Page 7. 
 
 In his conversation and correspondence Calvin veiled his allusions 
 to Madame Perrin under fictitious names characteristic of her im 
 proprieties, such as Penthesilea, the queen of the Amazons, who led 
 the Trojans in battle against the Greeks ; prodigiosa furia, a pro 
 digious fury, and Bacchante or Venus dansante. In like manner he 
 called the Captain-General Ccesar comicus or Ccesar tragicus, in refer 
 ence to his love of authority and theatrical effect, as he posed in a 
 sportive or serious humor before the public. 
 
 NOTE 4 Page 8. 
 
 " In consequence of bacchanalian conduct, Madame Perrin was 
 imprisoned for several days, and from that time the cordial friend 
 ship which had united her husband to the Reformer was replaced by 
 implacable hatred." Guizot. 
 
 NOTE 5 Page 8. 
 
 The power of the Keys, or ecclesiastical right of excommunication, 
 which had been exercised by the ducal bishop, was now claimed by 
 his successor, the civic magistrate, and became the crucial point upon 
 which the whole Reformation turned in Geneva. 
 
of Geneva, 
 
 NOTE 6 Page 9. 
 
 " Ami Perrin proposed to take all arms from the French refugees, 
 except their swords, which they were no longer to be allowed to wear 
 in public. Some days later he went a step further, and demanded 
 that the refugees should also be deprived of their swords." Guizot. 
 
 NOTE 7 Page 9. 
 
 4 It is necessary to describe the position which Perrin and his ad 
 herents mentioned under the name of Libertines, held in Geneva, 
 because their hostility to the Reformer, enabling Servetus to meet 
 such powerful allies at the side of his redoubtable opponent, proba 
 bly drew him to Geneva, and turned his trial into an episode in the 
 struggle which distracted the republican city." Rilliet. 
 
 " When Servetus entered Geneva, the Libertines had some reason 
 to expect that they might triumph ; one of their leaders, Ami Perrin, 
 was first Syndic : a man of their party, Gueroult, who had been ban 
 ished from Geneva, had been corrector of the press at the time when 
 the Restoration of Christianity was published, and thanks to the 
 influence of his patrons the Libertines, he had returned to Geneva, 
 and would naturally be the medium between them and Servetus. 
 Taking a comprehensive view of the whole case and the antecedents 
 of all those concerned in it, I am convinced that Servetus, defeated 
 at Vienne, went to Geneva, relying on the support of the Libertines, 
 whilst they on their side expected to obtain efficacious help from him 
 against Calvin." Guizot. See also Plainte contre Servet and the 
 evidence at the trial. 
 
 Michelet, describing himself as a partisan of Servetus, declares : 
 "Servetus counted on the victory of the Libertines, and it was for 
 this that he prolonged in Geneva the sojourn which caused his de 
 struction." 
 
 NOTE 8 Page 10. 
 
 There were several types or degrees of Libertinism in the city. 
 The political Libertines (enfans de Geneve) were advocates of civil 
 freedom, who had formerly espoused the Reformation, but now re 
 sisted it as a foreign intrusion because it sought to abolish the claim 
 of the Senate to the right of absolution, and thus interfered with 
 that impunity in vice which many hoped to secure. The intellectual 
 Libertines (here tigues) might be claimed as advocates of free 
 thought, had they not themselves maintained the right of the State 
 
 103 
 
Ube IReformer 
 
 to persecute, and only denied it when they became its victims by 
 their own seditious actions. The spiritual Libertines (spiritucls) 
 would now be classed as advocates of free love, who under pretense 
 of spiritual affinities and with a blasphemous abuse of Scripture 
 language practiced an adulterous commerce of the sexes. " Their 
 tenets" says Guizot, "were soon made known at Geneva, where 
 they obtained prompt recognition from the local and practical Liber 
 tines." These last, the practical Libertines, were the worst class, 
 who had turned the freedom of the Reformation into licentiousness, 
 even choosing a regina meretricium and parading the streets with 
 midnight masquerades, indecent songs, and bacchanalian orgies. 
 The different forms of Libertinism shaded into one another, and all 
 its factions at length conspired with Servetus against Calvin. 
 
 NOTE Q Page u. 
 
 The Corinthian portico which now forms the front of the ancient 
 Gothic edifice of St. Peter was not erected until the eighteenth cen 
 tury, more than a hundred years after the Reformation, when the 
 influence of Calvin had waned before that of Rousseau and Voltaire. 
 
 NOTE ID Page u. 
 
 A simile often used by Servetus in his controversial letters and 
 writings. 
 
 NOTE ii Page 12. 
 
 " According to his own declaration Servetus kept himself care 
 fully concealed, that he might not be recognized, waiting an oppor 
 tunity to procure a boat to Zurich and thence to reach the Kingdom 
 of Naples. But notwithstanding this assertion, it is probable that 
 in the inn where he preserved his incognito, he was not without some 
 communication with his allies in the city. If we may believe a con 
 temporary narrative, he had taken a fancy to be present at a sermon 
 preached in one of the churches, and it was there he was dis 
 covered . Rilliet. 
 
 NOTE 12 Page 15. 
 
 " He said he wanted a boat across the lake, so that he might go on 
 to Zurich. He did not cross the lake, but stayed for twenty-seven 
 days at Geneva, greatly exciting the curiosity of his host, who asked 
 him one day if he was married. No, said he, there are plenty of 
 women in the world without marrying. " Guizot. 
 
 104 
 
of <3ene\>a. 
 
 NOTE 13 Page 15. 
 
 Among the manuscripts of the Reformer in the Library of Geneva 
 is a folio entitled : Letters par Divers Rois, Princes, Seigneurs, et 
 Dames pour le Consulter sur les cas de Conscience Epineaux, ou pour 
 le Remercier de ses Ouvrages. 
 
 The examples here taken from his correspondence bear upon the 
 time and issue of the action. 
 
 NOTE 14 Page 15. 
 
 " I do not hesitate to affirm, that the great Catholic bishops who 
 in the seventeenth century directed the conscience of the mightiest 
 men in France did not fulfil this difficult task with more Christian 
 firmness, intelligent justice, fine knowledge of the world, than Cal 
 vin displayed in his intercourse with the Duchess of Ferrara." 
 Guizot. 
 
 " How was it," asks Renan, " that one of the most distinguished 
 women of her time, Rene of France, in her court at Ferrara, sur 
 rounded by the flower of European wits, was captivated by that 
 stern master, and by him drawn into a course that must have been 
 so thickly strewn with thorns. This kind of austere seduction is ex 
 ercised by those only who work with real conviction." 
 
 NOTE 15 Page 16. 
 
 The sect of Libertines prevailed not only in Geneva, but among 
 the higher classes of France and even at the court of Queen Mar 
 guerite of Navarre, who countenanced them without adopting their 
 practices. 
 
 NOTE 16 Page 17. 
 
 " O Philip Melancthon ! .... A hundred times, when worn out 
 with labors and oppressed with so many troubles, didst thou 
 repose thy head familiarly on my breast and say, Would that 
 I could die on this bosom. " Calvin in An Apostrophe to 
 Melancthon. 
 
 " I give thanks to the Son of God, who was the S>paftEvrr) < ^ [the 
 awarder of your crown of victory] in this your combat." Melanc 
 thon in a Letter to Calvin. 
 
 NOTE 17 Page 18. 
 
 " He offers to come hither, if it be agreeable to me. But I am 
 unwilling to pledge my word for his safety ; for if he does come and 
 
 105 
 
Ube IRetormer 
 
 my authority be of any avail, I shall never suffer him to depart 
 alive." 
 
 This sentiment occurs in a private letter to Farel or Viret, which 
 was attributed to the Reformer long after his death. If genuine, it 
 was a well-meant, salutary threat which for seven years had prevented 
 the tragedy at length precipitated by the victim himself. 
 
 On the same day, when this alleged letter was written, he wrote to 
 the publisher, Frellen, their common friend, that he despaired of 
 doing Servetus any good by discussion, unless God should change his 
 heart. " But," he adds, " we too ought to lend a helping hand. If 
 God give such grace to him and to us that the present answer will 
 turn to his profit, I shall have cause to rejoice." 
 
 NOTE 18 Page 19. 
 
 " In a case demanding corporal punishment, if a party pursue, the 
 said party pursuing must become a prisoner himself and subject him 
 self ad pcenam talionis, etc., according to the text of our franchises." 
 Ordonnances of 1529. 
 
 The Lex Talionis was based upon the Mosaic code in Exodus 
 xxi., 24, as well as in Leviticus xxiv., 20, and also in the civil codes 
 of Southern Europe. 
 
 " It was necessary that there should be a formal accusation and 
 prosecutor who consented to submit to imprisonment and to hold 
 himself criminally responsible for the truth of the charge. Nicolas 
 de la Fontaine, a French refugee, his secretary and intimate friend, 
 consented to take the painful office." Guizot. 
 
 NOTE 19 Page 20. 
 
 The seal of the Reformer bore this emblem, with the motto " Cor 
 meum Domino in sacrificium offero." In several emergencies he 
 alludes to its significance. See pp. 20, 35, 87, 89. 
 
 When reproached with childlessness by the calumniator Baldwin, 
 the Reformer replied: "God gave me a little son (filiolum), and 
 took him away ; but I have myriads of spiritual children in the 
 whole Christian world." 
 
 NOTE 20 Page 21. 
 
 " Good God ! to what tragedies will not these questions give occa 
 sion in times to come." A sentiment of Melancthon, writing in 
 reference to Servetus. 
 
 106 
 
of <3enex>a. 
 
 ACT II. 
 
 NOTE i Page 25. 
 
 " In spite of the ecclesiastical ordinances a grand ball had been 
 given, accompanied by excesses in which several of the most impor 
 tant families in the city took part ; among others that of the Syndic 
 Ami Perrin, who had at one time been one of Calvin s adherents. A 
 memoir still exists which gives a detailed account of these extraor 
 dinary amusements, and from this terrible record it appeared that 
 the dances then performed in private houses would not be tolerated 
 at the present day in the height of the most disorderly carnival." 
 Guizot. 
 
 NOTE 2 Page 25. 
 
 " It was his delight to imitate the Reformer, elongating his visage, 
 winking his eyes, and assuming the air of an anchorite of the The- 
 baid." Audin. 
 
 NOTE 3 Page 27. 
 
 All these incidents are historical, and at the time were more seri 
 ous than amusing. Jacques Gruet, the author of the placard, was 
 beheaded for the worst crimes, as well as for blasphemy. 
 
 NOTE 4 Page 31. 
 
 Perrin, his wife, and her father had incurred the censure of the 
 Consistory and been imprisoned for a few days in April, 1546, in 
 consequence of a disgraceful scene of debauchery in which they par 
 ticipated. Favre refused to make any confession, and went to prison, 
 shouting, " Liberty ! Liberty ! " Perrin made an humble apology to 
 the Consistory. 
 
 The victim of the amende honorable was obliged to parade through 
 the streets in his shirt, bare-headed, with a lighted torch in his hand, 
 and to ask pardon of the Senate on bended knees. 
 
 NOTE 5 Page 34. 
 
 " The Prisoner of Chillon," celebrated in verse by Byron without 
 full knowledge of his character, was Franois Bonnivard, Prior of 
 St. Victor, the heroic defender of Geneva against the Duke of Savoy. 
 After remaining six years in the dungeon of the Castle of Chillon, 
 an island fortress at the eastern end of the lake, he was restored to 
 
 107 
 
ZTbe IRetormer 
 
 liberty by the confederate Bernese forces and became the idol and 
 benefactor of the city. He was a friend of Calvin and favorable to 
 the Reformation, although in one instance he fell under censure of 
 the Consistory because he had played at dice for a quart of beer with 
 Clement Marot, the Huguenot poet. 
 
 The Reformer mentions in one of his letters the merriment occa 
 sioned by the fourth marriage of Bonnivard. But he was much 
 chagrined when Farel married a young girl after having lived as a 
 bachelor until he was more than seventy years old. 
 
 NOTE 6 Page 34. 
 
 " Spero capitale saltern fore judicium ; pcenae vero atrocitatem 
 remitti cupio." Letter of Calvin, Augtist 20, /JJj. 
 
 All the incidents and many expressions in this dialogue are taken 
 from the Reformer s correspondence, and may be found in the biog 
 raphies of Beza, Henry, D Aubigne, Guizot, and the Brunswick edi 
 tion of his Opera. 
 
 "Shall I go to Geneva in order to be better off? Shall I not 
 rather go to the cross ? To die at once is better than again in that 
 place of torture to suffer a living death." Letter to Viret. 
 
 "But since it is not I that decide this case, I offer my bleeding 
 keart a sacrifice to God." Letter to Farel. 
 
 I would rather die than allow myself to be nailed again to that 
 cross, where my blood would flow daily from a thousand wounds." 
 Letter to Frellen. 
 
 " I protest that I so much desire the welfare of the Genevan 
 Church, I am ready to suffer a hundred deaths rather than by aban 
 doning betray them." Letter to Farel. 
 
 "You see that insolent heretic, Jerome Bolsec, who, though often 
 convicted, has never yet returned to reason ; the clemency of the 
 judges, rather than equity, diverting them from their duty, has not 
 merely injured him, but very many more." Reply of Farel. 
 
 The letter of Farel makes it clear that he preferred the death pen 
 alty for Servetus, and was dissuading Calvin from banishment as 
 mistaken leniency in the case of Bolsec. Farel afterwards, before 
 the execution, pleaded for a milder form of the death penalty, and 
 could scarcely have here advocated the atrocity of burning, if that 
 be at any time conceivable as his meaning. See Calvini Opera, 
 viii., 254. 
 
 108 
 
of Geneva. 
 
 NOTE 7 Page 36. 
 
 The Reformer concluded his correspondence with Servetus in these 
 words : " Neither now, nor at any future time, will I mix myself in 
 any way with your wild dreams. Forgive me for speaking thus, but 
 truth compels me to do so. I neither hate you, nor despise you ; 
 I do not wish to treat you harshly ; but I must be made of iron if I 
 could hear you rail against the doctrine of salvation and not be 
 moved by it." Guizot. 
 
 " Why is so implacable a severity exacted but that we may know 
 that God is defrauded of his Honor, unless the piety that is due to 
 Him be preferred to all human duties, and that when His glory is to 
 be asserted, humanity must be almost obliterated from our memo 
 ries." From the Treatise on the Right to Repress Heresy with the 
 Sword. See also Letter to Zurkinda, State Secretary of Berne. 
 
 There can be no doubt that the Reformer, in the spirit of that 
 age, was actuated by high religious motives, which were in conflict 
 with his humane impulses. It was only after his enemies were hypo 
 critically making a saintly martyr of the unfortunate victim, that he 
 was provoked into some ungenerous expressions which have injured 
 his fame more than anything he actually did or said during the trial. 
 
 NOTE 8 Page 37. 
 
 In his letter to Cardinal Sadolet. when banished to Strasburg, he 
 avowed that he could never cease to love as his own soul that Geneva 
 which God had entrusted to him. 
 
 ACT III. 
 
 NOTE i Page 41. 
 
 41 Servet en prison avait six anneaux d or ; une grande turquoise, un 
 saphir, une table de diamants, rubis, emeraude, anneau de coralline 
 a cacheter, une chaine d or de seize pouces, deux obligations a 97 
 ecus, qui representaient aujourd hui 30,000 francs de notre mon- 
 naie." Audin: 
 
 NOTE 2 Page 42. 
 
 This malediction occurs at the close of his first treatise : " Perdat 
 Dominus omnes ecclesiae tyrannos." 
 
 109 
 
Reformer 
 
 NOTE 3 Page 43. 
 
 Perrin being restored, the malignity of the wicked rose to such a 
 height that some of them openly used collars cut into the form of a 
 cross for the purpose of mutual recognition." Beza. 
 
 NOTE 4 Page 43. 
 
 " Perrin and his friends, Peter Vandel and Berthelier, determined 
 on rule or ruin, concocted a desperate and execrable conspiracy which 
 at length proved their ruin. They proposed to kill all foreigners who 
 had fled to Geneva for the sake of religion, together with their 
 Genevese sympathizers, on a Sunday while people were at church." 
 Schaff. 
 
 NOTE 5 Page 45. 
 
 " He must have been informed of events transpiring outside of his 
 prison by some powerful friends. The jailer, named Claude de 
 Geneve, a member of the Libertine party and devoted to its leaders, 
 was probably the medium by which Perrin and Berthelier availed 
 themselves (if they were not so employed in person) to convey to 
 Servetus, whether for his sake or their own, directions which tended 
 more and more to embarrass their common enemy." Rilliet. 
 
 NOTE 6 Page 45. 
 
 It was one of his fancies, amounting at times to a delusion, that he 
 was a warrior of St. Michael, if not St. Michael himself, in the bat 
 tle with Antichrist, which was represented to him by the Reformers 
 as well as Catholics. 
 
 NOTE 7 Page 47. 
 
 " The year 1553, and on Monday, the I4th day of August, pur 
 suant to the criminal action raised at the instance of the honorable 
 Nicolas de la Fontaine, of St. Gervais au Vixen, a Frenchman, an 
 inhabitant of this city, against M. Servetus of Villeneuve, in the 
 kingdom of Arragon, in Spain," etc. Requete de N. de la Fontaine. 
 
 In this Act the evidence and the argument in the trial are pro 
 duced substantially in the order of events, together with the reported 
 sayings of the various actors, who figured in the proceedings. Some 
 portions of the text, though historically essential to a full record, may 
 not be found dramatically important in any recitation or representation. 
 
 no 
 
of Geneva* 
 
 NOTE 8 Page 47. 
 
 The public indignation was great, especially in Lyons and Ge 
 neva, the former the centre of Catholicism, and the latter of Protes 
 tantism." Guizot. 
 
 NOTE 9 Page 49. 
 
 This charge is still repeated by some modern critics. Calvin him 
 self denied it most emphatically. It is explained and refuted by 
 Guizot. 
 
 NOTE 10 Page 49. 
 
 Heresy was supposed to involve immorality and vice. Servetus 
 had exposed himself to such charges ; but declared that he suffered 
 from a hernia, which made him incompetent for libertinage. 
 
 NOTE ii Page 49. 
 
 " It was manifest from the explanations by the publisher [Ar- 
 noulet], and the part acted by Gueroult in the printing-house, that 
 the latter must have been in habitual connection with the author." 
 
 "The perseverance of Servetus in denying that fact is a distinct 
 proof of its reality ; and his conduct cannot be explained, except by 
 the fear which he felt lest they should establish between his connec 
 tion with the Genevese corrector and his own subsequent visit to 
 Geneva an agreement which might disclose the motive of his coming." 
 Rilliet. 
 
 " He was sincere enough in his adhesion to his own views, but on 
 other points they found him frivolous, vain, arrogant, irresolute and 
 untruthful. He denied any connection, even the most indirect, not 
 only with the Libertines of Geneva, but with their agent, Gueroult, 
 at Geneva, who had corrected the proofs of his book." Guizot. 
 
 NOTE 12 Page 50. 
 
 " The interposition of Berthelier in favor of Servetus is established 
 by the registers of the Council. Besides, the protection held out by 
 Berthelier to Servetus is notorious two contemporaries, Roset and 
 Beza, expressly declared it. It was the natural result of their com 
 mon hostility to the Reformer, and we have here the first indication 
 of the support given to the prisoner by the Libertine party." Rilliet. 
 
 in 
 
IRetormer 
 
 NOTE 13 Page 50. 
 
 Ceasing to conceal himself behind La Fontaine and Colladon, 
 Calvin became for the first time openly the accuser of the prisoner ; 
 and added that he learned by the process that Berthelier had inter 
 fered to plead in excuse and defence of those things which the said 
 Servetus had consented to name as established by his book." Rilliet. 
 
 NOTE 14 Page 51. 
 
 " Upon the request of Colladon, the Court finding by the proof 
 and facts, produced on the part of the pursuer, that Servetus clearly 
 appeared to be guilty, resolved immediately to liberate De la Fon 
 taine." Rilliet. 
 
 The charges upon which Servetus was actually tried and at length 
 condemned were not drawn up by the Reformer, nor by Colladon, 
 but by the public prosecutor, Rigot, on behalf of the city, and 
 referred less to the moral offences of heresy and blasphemy than to 
 the strictly political crimes of sedition and conspiracy, evidence of 
 which accumulated during the trial, as the plot of the Libertines 
 was brought to light. See Articles du Procureur-general. Requisi- 
 toire du Procureur-general. 
 
 NOTE 15 Page 51. 
 
 Calvin and his colleagues were now retained as experts rather than 
 as parties in the case, dogmatic questions being naturally beyond the 
 competence of the civic court : " Ces matieres n etant naturellement 
 pas de la competence des members ordinaires du tribunal." 
 NOTE 16 Page 52. 
 
 Two points were very well taken and defended by Servetus. He 
 prayed first that he might be freed from a criminal charge ; and 
 second, that if not thus liberated, being a foreigner, he might have 
 the aid of an advocate who knew the laws and procedure of the 
 country. In support of the former request he urged that the primi 
 tive Church did not treat heresy as a criminal offence before a civil 
 tribunal, nor impose any worse penalty than banishment upon a 
 heretic who would not repent. The whole petition, in the light of 
 our times, seems moderate and reasonable, and exceedingly well put 
 against a charge of heresy as distinguished from one of mere sedition. 
 
 NOTE 17 Page 52. 
 
 Servetus attacked Calvin still more keenly as instigator of the pros 
 ecution at Vienne, emboldened by the presence of Berthelier and Van- 
 
 112 
 
ot Geneva. 
 
 del who shared the same hostile feeling. He also offered to show in 
 a public discussion with Calvin, by proofs from reason and Holy 
 Scripture, that his opinions were not injurious to the Church of 
 Geneva, nor contrary to sound doctrine. By this bold manoeuvre he 
 might have gained a popular following and turned some of the fac 
 tions against his adversary. Calvin promptly accepted the challenge, 
 declaring that there was "nothing he more desired than to plead 
 such a cause in the temple before all the people." But the Syndics 
 would not permit the debate, some being jealous of their judicial 
 prerogative, and others fearing that their protege might be worsted in 
 such an encounter. 
 
 NOTE 1 8 Page 53. 
 
 Rilliet tells us that the Attorney-General had become convinced 
 that the prisoner was already self-condemned, and indignantly denied 
 his request for an advocate as inept and impertinent ; because he 
 knew so well how to lie that no procurator could help him in his 
 falsehoods ; because there was not a jot of innocence in the case to 
 require an attorney, and because the statutes would not allow such 
 seducers to speak by counsel. 
 
 NOTE 19 Page 54. 
 
 The language of Bullinger, one of the most temperate of the 
 Reformers. 
 
 NOTE 20 Page 54. 
 A sentiment of Bucer, said to have been uttered from the pulpit. 
 
 NOTE 21 Page 54. 
 
 While the trial was passing in the Bishop s palace the greatest 
 excitement prevailed in the city. The proceedings were watched 
 with keen interest. The factions were taking sides for and against 
 the prisoner. In the Great Council of Two Hundred, a popular 
 assembly then largely hostile to Calvin, the theatrical Perrin and the 
 fascinating Berthelier were mustering their followers, not so much 
 in sympathy with Servetus and his opinions as with the design of 
 using him as a tool in crushing the Reformer and his hated discipline. 
 On the other hand, Calvin and the pastors were rallying their people 
 in defence of sound doctrine and pure discipline, and thundering 
 from the pulpit against the horrible impieties of the heretic Spaniard 
 as well as his seditious connections with the Libertine party. The 
 
TOe IReformer 
 
 whole city was in a ferment and on the verge of a revolution. At 
 length the conflict found expression in the Council itself. Such 
 scenes of disorder were not unusual at this time even in the Senate 
 Chamber. 
 
 NOTE 22 Page 55. 
 
 " Mediant homme, vous voulez boire le sang de notre famille, mais 
 vous sortirez de Geneve avant nous." 
 
 NOTE 23 Page 55. 
 
 These epithets are but a selection from others preserved in the 
 archives of the trial, such as nebulo, Simon Magus \ impostor, sycho- 
 fhanta, perfidus, impudens, ridiculus mus, cacodtzmon, homicida. 
 In his last written argument the word mentiris (thou liest) occurs 
 repeatedly as in the ravings of a madman. After the outburst of 
 passion Calvin made no further replies. Guizot tells us that the 
 prisoner disgusted and shocked the judges by his brawling invectives. 
 The charitable judgment now would be that he was more insane than 
 culpable. 
 
 NOTE 24 Page 56. 
 
 "Calvin answered: If there were as many crowns as there are 
 empty heads in your family, you would not be able to change the cur 
 rent of ecclesiastical discipline. Your efforts to shake off the yoke 
 of the Gospel will be in vain." Guizot. 
 
 NOTE 25 Page 57. 
 
 " It is our duty to fight so much the more valiantly when we are 
 under the eye of the Great Judge of combats, who dwelleth in the 
 highest heavens. What ! that holy and glorious band of angels, who 
 promise us their favor, will they leave us without strength to drag 
 our limbs to the grave ? Still more the Church of God, which is in 
 this world, and which we know strives with us by prayer and is 
 encouraged by our example, shall its voice and its sympathy have 
 no weight with us ? Let this then be my theatre ; with the approba 
 tion which it accords me I shall be more than satisfied, though all the 
 world should tear me in the face." Letter to the Queen of Navarre. 
 
 NOTE 26 Page 57. 
 
 4 As to the right to inflict punishment for the errors of religious 
 opinion, and to chastise impiety, that was never a question in the 
 mind of the magistrate. In condemning Servetus and his doctrines, 
 
of Geneva. 
 
 the Senate did not think that it was doing aught more strange than 
 in declaring Berthelier capable of receiving the Communion." 
 Rilliet. 
 
 NOTE 27 Page 58. 
 
 The arms of Geneva then displayed the imperial eagle impaled 
 with the keys, representing the combined powers of the State and the 
 Church. 
 
 NOTE 28 Page 59. 
 
 " The opposition of the Council in favor of Berthelier," says 
 Rilliet, " had turned the head of Servetus." Borne aloft amid the 
 general excitement, he mistook his chance prominence for a personal 
 following in the city as well as in the Council. His tone became de 
 fiant and aggressive. No longer the meek, plausible suppliant that 
 he was a month ago, he heaped upon Calvin, as upon a fallen foe, 
 epithets more virulent than any he had ever before devised, and 
 eagerly joined against him in the appeal to the Bernese government. 
 Indeed, backed as he supposed by the whole Libertine faction, he 
 even dreamed of supplanting the Reformer in Geneva ; denounced 
 him as an impostor who ought to be hunted from the city, and invok 
 ing that civil arm which he had before deprecated, he appeared be 
 fore the Council as the accuser of his accuser ; demanded that Calvin 
 be put on trial as a prisoner with him, " until the cause be decided 
 for his death or mine," by the law of retaliation ; and concluded his 
 petition with a formal list of " articles on which M. Servetus wishes 
 J. Calvin to be interrogated." Nor was the poor deluded man alto 
 gether astray in some of his conjectures. It is quite certain that had 
 the Council in its present temper, as led by the chief Syndic, pro 
 ceeded to a decision, Servetus would have been released and Calvin 
 might have suffered death or exile in his place. This result was yet 
 to be prevented by the very stratagem which had been devised to 
 produce it. For the present, however, the parties have come to a 
 pause, and must await the decision of the tribunal to which they 
 have appealed. 
 
 NOTE 29 Page 60. 
 
 14 Even the Senate had arrived at that pitch of rage and madness 
 that were we to declare it is day at high noon they would immediately 
 begin to doubt it." Calvin to Bullinger. 
 
Ube IReformer 
 
 NOTE 30 Page 60. 
 
 On the 2 ist of August, the Senate passed the following order : 
 " Inasmuch as the case of the heresy of M. Servetus vitally affects 
 the welfare of Christendom, it is resolved to proceed with his trial ; 
 and also to write to Vienne to know why he was in prison, and how 
 he escaped ; and after that, when all is ascertained, to write to the 
 magistrates of Berne, of Basel, of Zurich, of Schaffhausen and of 
 other churches of the Swiss, to acquaint them with the whole." 
 
 " Ceasing to be a local trial, the cause of Servetus was about to be 
 come the affair of the Swiss Reformation." j 
 
 ACT IV. 
 
 NOTE i Page 64. 
 
 The great bell in the lofty tower of St. Peter, a gift of Bishop 
 De Lornay, was called " Clemence " after Clement VII., the anti- 
 pope, and on great occasions sent its deep tones far and wide over the 
 city and the neighboring valleys. 
 
 " A music-master who was paid by the State, gave three lessons a 
 week to several choirs of children. When they had learned the psalm 
 thoroughly, they sang it during the service." Guizot. 
 
 The Psalms, as translated by Clement Marot and edited by Calvin 
 and Beza, became the favorite songs of the Huguenots throughout 
 France, even at the court of Margaret of Navarre. The historian, 
 Douen, claims that the Reformer, by thus popularizing sacred music, 
 became one of the fathers of the opera or lyric drama. 
 
 NOTE 2 Page 68. 
 
 The state of parties had somewhat changed during the past month. 
 There was a reaction in public feeling. The prisoner had never had 
 any enthusiastic support. The two partisan senators had no further 
 use for him and he had lost the sympathy of the judges by his fits of 
 rage and insolence. He continued to petition them from his prison 
 for more humane treatment, which was granted him, but without 
 further discussion. He must have felt the doom which was impend 
 ing, and when at last the State Messenger returned with the adverse 
 decision, the illusion which for a time had brightened his prison was 
 gone. Weakened in body and broken in spirit, he sought refuge, 
 
 116 
 
of <Bene\>a. 
 
 says Rilliet, in the first asylum opened to the undeceived, namely, in 
 despair, striking his breast, like one demented, and with loud groans 
 that resounded through the prison exclaiming in Spanish, " Mercy ! " 
 " Mercy ! " By degrees he recovered his composure, but had lost 
 his passion and his pride. 
 
 NOTE 3 Page 69. 
 
 Servetus, among his medical researches, conjectured, if he did not 
 discover, the circulation of the blood, which nearly a hundred years 
 afterwards was verified and completed by Harvey, who probably had 
 no knowledge of the speculations of the Spanish physician. 
 
 NOTE 4 Page 69. 
 
 " He was left under the custody of Jehanton Gerod, the sheriff, 
 and Peter Costel, of the Council of Sixty ; probably to prevent the 
 attempts which the jailer, Claude de Geneve, who, we have said, was 
 in the confidence of Perrin, and an enemy of the Calvinists, might 
 have planned in his favor." Rilliet. 
 
 NOTE 5 Page 69. 
 
 After the sentence was found to be imminent and the judges in 
 exorable, the only hope of saving Servetus was by inducing him to 
 recant. The execution still hung upon that condition, and it was the 
 prevailing theory of such punishments that a true believer would re 
 nounce his errors while under discipline. In the hope of such a 
 result, by the desire of Calvin, Farel visited the prison early the next 
 morning. But the prisoner was more argumentative than penitent. 
 He insisted upon having Scriptural proof of the eternal Sonship of 
 Christ, whom he still acknowledged in some sense as his Saviour. 
 The passages cited did not convince him, or shake his constancy. 
 Farel persuaded him to request an interview with Calvin, and the 
 latter came, attended by the Syndics Corne and Bonna, as witnesses 
 to the recantation which they hoped to secure. Sixteen years ago, 
 when he first met Servetus at Paris, he had endeavored, at the risk 
 of his own life, as he said, " to cure him of his madness, and bring 
 him to such sentiments that all pious men might take him affection 
 ately by the hand." 
 
 NOTE 6 Page 71. 
 
 For a description of this whole scene see Rilliet and Guizot. It 
 has been well said that the last hours of Servetus were the best of 
 
 117 
 
IReformer 
 
 his life. Sobered in view of eternity, he lost his pride, conceit, and 
 passion, and the latent good in him gained control. Though not a 
 saint or martyr, in the usual sense of the terms, his acts and words 
 became Christian. " The dignity of the philosopher," says Guizot, 
 " triumphed over the weakness of the man, and Servetus died hero 
 ically and calmly at that stake, the very thought of which had at first 
 filled him with terror. " 
 
 NOTE 7 Page 73. 
 
 This incident is fully described by Beza, Rilliet, and Guizot. 
 Schaff characterizes it as a sublime triumph of reason over 
 passion." 
 
 NOTE 8 Page 66. 
 
 " A heretic," says John Knox, " if he suffers the death pronounced 
 by a lawful magistrate, is not persecuted for his conscience (as in the 
 name of Servetus ye furiously complain), but he suffereth punish 
 ment according to God s commandment pronounced in Deuteronomy, 
 the 1 3th chapter." 
 
 The learned jurist, Sir J. D. Michaelis, in his "Commentaries 
 on the Laws of Moses," defended the civil punishment of false 
 teaching and blasphemy, not merely as being sins against God but 
 crimes against the peace of society and the rights of individuals, and 
 only deprecated the capital penalty, on the ground that it might give 
 the offender too much prominence and excite public sympathy for 
 his fate. 
 
 NOTE 9 Page 73. 
 
 " The factions had ruined themselves by their own hands, a dread 
 ful conspiracy having been very opportunely discovered, through the 
 petulant audacity of certain of the conspirators when in a state of 
 drunkenness. " Beza. 
 
 NOTE 10 Page 74. 
 
 The Senate was not a unit, and for some time wavered, as if re 
 luctant to face the issue. The chief Syndic Perrin, day after day 
 feigned illness and stayed away from court. At length, the prisoner 
 having been duly informed and more strictly guarded, a final sitting 
 was ordered for the 26th of October, in joint session with the Coun 
 cil of Sixty, without whose concurrence they could not legally pass 
 sentence. It was a full meeting, and the debate was high and 
 stormy. The Captain-General, after some last ineffectual efforts to 
 
 118 
 
of 6ene\>a* 
 
 acquit the prisoner or transfer his case to the Great Council, left the 
 Senate chamber with his followers, defeated and disgusted. 
 
 NOTE ii Page 76. 
 
 The correspondence with Vienne was based upon the common in 
 terest of Catholics and Protestants in a heresy which, it was thought, 
 destroyed the very foundations of Christianity. It was begun on 
 the part of the Senate by sending a messenger of state into Dauphiny 
 with letters to the magnificent and noble lords, the judges of the 
 court of Vienne, requesting a copy of the evidence and information 
 against Servetus, to be used in bringing him to that just punishment 
 from which he had escaped. Nine days afterwards, August 3 1st, 
 came a reply to the most noble, wise, and illustrious lords, the Syndics 
 and Senate of Geneva, saying that it would be contrary to French 
 law to surrender the papers in a trial against a criminal already sen 
 tenced and burned in effigy, and begging that Servetus be returned 
 to them for punishment, and further charges against him be thus 
 avoided. The commandant of the royal palace brought this letter 
 with a copy of the sentence, and a jailer to take the prisoner 
 back with him to Vienne. Servetus was asked if he would 
 return with the jailer or remain in the hands of the Senate. 
 The wretched man could only see the fagots already piled 
 for him in Dauphiny, and falling upon his knees he begged the 
 judges to go on with his trial, promising to submit to their good 
 pleasure. As Genevese law did not allow the extradition of crim 
 inals, they ordered a gracious response to be written, that they could 
 not give him up, but would execute full justice upon him ; and the 
 papal officer withdrew, having first obtained a certificate from Serve 
 tus that he had escaped from prison through no favor or aid of his 
 keepers. The next day came a letter, written by M. de Maugiron, 
 lieutenant of the King of France, informing the Senate that the 
 goods of the prisoner, amounting to four thousand crowns, had been 
 confiscated, and requesting a statement of his debts and credits. He 
 was protected by his two patrons in refusing such a statement, and 
 the request was politely declined. M. de Maugiron, in closing his 
 letter, complimented the zeal of the Genevese judges, and thanked 
 God that the heretic was now in the hands of those who would not 
 let him again escape punishment. It was thus that Romanist and 
 Protestant authorities became strangely agreed in defence of their 
 common Christianity, as they understood it, and even vied with each 
 
 119 
 
IRetormer 
 
 other, according to Rilliet, for the dismal privilege of burning 
 Servetus. The records of the first trial of Servetus at Vienne and 
 the subsequent correspondence with the Genevese magistrates are 
 preserved in the archives of the Papal Inquisition at Vienne. 
 
 NOTE 12 Page 77. 
 
 When the Reformer found that the magistrates were bent upon the 
 extreme penalty, he could only plead for mercy in the execution of 
 the law. With his colleagues he besought them either to change the 
 sentence or effect it in a milder form, perhaps by means of the sword. 
 " We endeavored," he wrote Farel, " to alter the mode of his death, 
 but in vain. Why we did not succeed I defer for narration until 
 I see you." There is no record of that conversation, but it is easy 
 enough to see why they did not succeed. Even if the judges had 
 been disposed to listen to Calvin, they were in no mood for clemency 
 towards the prisoner. He had long since exhausted their patience, 
 not only by his personal traits, but as an irritating source of the pub 
 lic troubles. They could see no extenuation of his guilt ; and as he 
 was already under sentence and burned in effigy, they chose to stay 
 within the letter of the statute providing the same penalty which he 
 had a second time defied. 
 
 In a subsequent controversy, when accused of cruelty, the Re 
 former called the two most hostile judges to witness that he had 
 interceded in behalf of Servetus, and had at no time desired his death, 
 See Opera ix., 315. viii., 463. 
 
 NOTE 13 Page 78. 
 The scene of the sentence is rendered with historical accuracy. 
 
 NOTE 14 Page 80. 
 
 According to Farel, these were the last words of Servetus, uttered 
 at the stake. They expressed his Christian faith, as distinguished 
 from the theological error for which he had been condemned, which 
 was a denial of the eternal Sonship of Christ. 
 
 ACT V. 
 
 NOTE i Page 83. 
 
 The Registers show that a fine of three sous was imposed for non- 
 attendance at sermon, especially on Sunday. 
 
 120 
 
of Geneva. 
 
 NOTE 2 Page 84. 
 
 " A peasant was imprisoned because, on hearing an ass bray, he 
 said in jest : " What a fine psalm he chants ! 
 
 NOTE 3 Page 84. 
 
 " It does not appear that the connection of Servetus with the heads 
 of the opposition had acquired for him any great favor among the 
 masses who were unacquainted with him. The party of the Gene- 
 vese people who were hostile to Calvin continued unconcerned amid 
 the discussion, which was followed out and concluded in a higher 
 region than theirs. It would have excited their attention had Serve 
 tus attracted their sympathies ; it met with nothing but indifference, 
 because it was no business of theirs." Rilliet. 
 
 NOTE 4 Page 85. 
 
 Berthelier recites the somewhat mythical story of the burning of 
 Servetus as given at the time in an anonymous and hostile tract, 
 Historia de Morte Served. It is claimed that the green wood and 
 wreath of sulphur were not peculiar to this case, but customary and 
 mercifully designed to hasten death by suffocation. 
 
 NOTE 5 Page 86. 
 
 "Shortly after the execution of Servetus, the Libertines raised a 
 demonstration against Farel. Philibert Berthelier and his brother, 
 Franois Daniel, stirred up the laborers to throw Farel into the 
 Rhone. But his friends formed a guard around him." Schaff. 
 
 " A right-hearted young man among the citizens, after warning 
 Perrin to take care that Farel, who was regarded as the common 
 father of the citizens, should suffer no harm, gave information to 
 others who were known to be well affected." Beza, 
 
 Guizot tells us that the friends of Calvin vainly tried to keep him 
 away from the scene of tumult. Without their knowledge he went 
 out and walked alone to the Town-Hall, where he was received with 
 outcries and drawn swords. See Calvin s "Letter to Viret." 
 
 NOTE 6 Page 87. 
 
 It was a flagrant act of rebellion to seize the Syndic s baton, which 
 was viewed by the populace as the symbol of civil authority. Perrin 
 vociferated, " The staff is ours ! We hold it ! " 
 
 121 
 
IReformer 
 
 NOTE 7 Page 88. 
 
 All the incidents brought together in this scene actually happened. 
 In describing it the bitterest detractor of the Reformer cannot help 
 paying a tribute to him and to the truth of history. 
 
 " Never," says Audin, " had any session been more tumultuous ; 
 the parties, weary of speaking, began to appeal to arms. The peo 
 ple heard the appeal. Calvin appears, unattended ; he is received 
 with cries of death. He folds his arms and looks the agitators fix 
 edly in the face. Not one of them dares strike him. Then advan 
 cing through the midst of the groups, with his breast uncovered : If 
 you want blood, says he, there are still a few drops here. Strike, 
 then ! Not an arm is raised. Calvin then slowly ascends the stair 
 way to the Council of the Two Hundred. The hall was on the point 
 of being drenched with blood : swords were flashing. On beholding 
 the Reformer the weapons were lowered, and a few words sufficed to 
 calm the agitation. Calvin, taking the arm of one of the senators, 
 again descends the stairs, and cries out to the people that he wishes 
 to address them. He does speak, and with such energy and feeling 
 that tears flow from their eyes. They embrace each other and the 
 crowd retires in silence. The patriots had lost the day. From that 
 moment it was easy to foretell that victory would remain with the 
 Reformer. The Libertines, who had shown themselves so bold when 
 it was a question of destroying some front of a Catholic edifice, or en 
 tering some saint s niche, Or throwing down an old wooden cross 
 weakened by age, trembled like women before this man, who, in fact, 
 on this occasion exhibited something of the Homeric heroism." 
 
 Guizot, in reference to the same incident, says : " There is some 
 times one happy moment in which courage conquers anger. . . . 
 The reaction was as sudden as the explosion. Calvin continued : 
 I know that I am the chief cause of your quarrels, and if blood 
 must be shed to appease them, take my life, for I call God to witness 
 that I am come to expose myself to your swords. . . . There is 
 nothing except religion which can make you free and secure your 
 liberty ; but in order to obtain this you must be united, and if my 
 presence is an insuperable obstacle to the maintenance of peace, I 
 will leave the city, and will pray to God that those men who desire 
 to live without Christianity and law may save the republic and main 
 tain its prosperity. " 
 
 122 
 
of Geneva, 
 
 NOTE 8 Page 89. 
 
 Besides his metrical versions of some of the Psalms, Calvin com 
 posed at least one hymn, full of devotional fervor and tenderness, 
 " Salutation a Jesus Christ." The verse in the text is founded upon 
 the emblem of his seal, " I offer my heart as a burning sacrifice to 
 God." 
 
 NOTE 9 Page 90. 
 
 The sentences of Berthelier and Perrin are recorded in the pub 
 lic Registers. See also Bayles s "Philosophical Dictionary" article 
 Berthelier. 
 
 NOTE 10 Page 91. 
 
 " When a child he was seen joining the religious processions, 
 and carrying a sword with a cross-shaped hilt by way of a crucifix." 
 
 Contrary to popular impressions, the Reformer with all his moral 
 courage was physically timid and retiring and not without strong 
 affections. After the death of his wife he wrote his most intimate 
 friend, Viret : You know the tenderness not to say the weakness 
 of my heart. I should give way utterly if God had not stretched out 
 His hand to hold me up." The public Registers attest his forgiving 
 disposition as in the cases of Bolsec, Gentilis, and Castello, who 
 only returned his kindness with calumny. 
 
 NOTE n Page 93. 
 
 Calvin, who shared largely in the humanistic culture of his time, 
 and was a master of pure Latinity, wrote a Latin ode, Epinicion ad 
 Christum, or Song of Victory to Christ, celebrating the triumph of 
 the Reformation over its enemies, in classical diction and imagery. 
 It concluded with these lines : 
 
 " Magnifico celebrem Christi cantate triumphum 
 Carmine. lo Pczan caetera turba canat." 
 
 Let His head be crowned with the laurel of victory, let Him be 
 seated on a chariot drawn by four coursers abreast, that His glory 
 may shine forth before all. . . . And you, O sacred poets, cele 
 brate in magnificent song the triumph of Christ, and let the multi 
 tudes shout lo Paan." 
 
 123 
 
IReformer ot <5ene\>a 
 
 NOTE 12 Page 93. 
 
 The Reformer several times lamented the " excessive vehemence" 
 which had marked some of his controversies. He alluded to it twice, 
 in his patriarchial dying address to the Syndics and Senators, con 
 cluding with these words : 
 
 Finally, I again entreat you to pardon my infirmities, which I 
 acknowledge and confess before God and His angels, and also before 
 you, my much respected Lords." 
 
 Having thus spoken, and prayed for the safety of the whole Re 
 public, giving his right hand to each, he left them in sorrow and 
 tears, all feeling as if they were taking a last farewell of their com 
 mon parent. Beza s " Life of Calvin" 
 
 NOTE 13 Page 93. 
 
 In accordance with the maxim of his life, " Let my name be un 
 known or utterly buried if the truth prevail, "he explicitly enjoined 
 that no monument should be put over his grave. To this day the 
 place of his sepulture is not certainly known. 
 
 124 
 
TABLE OF SCENES. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 ACT I. THE PLOT OF THE LIBERTINES ... 3 
 
 SCENE I. THE CAPTAIN-GENERAL S PALACE . . 5 
 
 SCENE II. THE DOORWAY OF THE CATHEDRAL . n 
 
 SCENE III. THE SAME AT CURFEW .... 13 
 
 SCENE IV. INTERIOR OF THE CONSISTORY ... 15 
 
 ACT II. THE COUNTERPLOT OF THE REFORMERS . 23 
 
 SCENE I. THE GARDEN OF THE PALACE ... 25 
 
 SCENE II. THE SAME BY MOONLIGHT ... 26 
 
 SCENE III. ANTEROOM IN THE PALACE ... 30 
 
 SCENE IV. INTERIOR OF THE CONSISTORY ... 33 
 
 ACT III. THE TRIAL OF SERVETUS .... 39 
 
 SCENE I. A DUNGEON IN THE OLD BISHOP S PALACE 41 
 
 SCENE II. A HALL OF JUSTICE IN THE SAME . . 45 
 
 ACT IV. THE JUDGMENT OF CHRISTENDOM . . 61 
 SCENE I. A ROOM IN THE CAPTAIN-GENERAL S 
 
 PALACE 63 
 
 SCENE II. A DUNGEON IN THE OLD BISHOP S PALACE 68 
 SCENE III. THE SENATE CHAMBER IN THE TOWN 
 
 HALL ...... 72 
 
 ACT V. THE TRIUMPH OF THE REFORMATION . . 81 
 
 SCENE I. THE PUBLIC SQUARE AND TOWN HALL . 83 
 SCENE II. BEFORE THE CATHEDRAL . . .88 
 
 SCENE III. THE INTERIOR OF THE CATHEDRAL . . 92 
 
 125 
 
UNIYEESITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY, 
 BERKELEY 
 
 THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE 
 STAMPED BELOW 
 
 Books not returned on time are subject to a fine of 
 50c per volume after the third day overdue, increasing 
 to $1 00 per volume after the sixth day.. Books not m 
 demand may be renewed if application is made before 
 expiration of loan period. 
 
 DEC 
 
 
 
 15wi-4, 24 
 
 ; 
 
U. C. BERKELEY LIBRARIES YC I 020bU 
 
 II 
 
 00455^4316