The History of Freedom Part 15

[Footnote 271: "Huic etiam colligere promptum est, quam stulta fuerit imaginatio eorum qui volebant usum gladii tollere e mundo, Evangelii praetextu. Scimus Anabaptistas fuisse tumultuatos, quasi totus ordo politicus repugnaret Christi regno, quia regnum Christi continetur sola doctrina; deinde nulla futura sit vis. Hoc quidem verum esset, si essemus in hoc mundo angeli: sed quemadmodum jam dixi, exiguus est piorum numerus: ideo necesse est reliquam turbam cohiberi violento freno: quia permixti sunt filii Dei vel saevis belluis, vel vulpibus et fraudulentis hominibus" (_Pr. in Michaeam_, v. 310). "In quo non suam modo inscitiam, sed diabolic.u.m fastum produnt, dum perfectionem sibi arrogant; cujus ne centesima quidem pars in illis conspicitur"

(_Inst.i.tutio_, ii. 478).]

[Footnote 272: "Tota igitur excellentia, tota dignitas, tota potentia Ecclesiae debet huc referri, ut omnia subjaceant Deo, et quicquid erit in gentibus hoc totum sit sacrum, ut scilicet cultus Dei tam apud victores quam apud victos vigeat" (_Pr. in Michaeam_, v. 317).]

[Footnote 273: "Ita tollitur offensio, quae multos imperitos fallit, dum metuunt ne hoc praetextu ad saeviendum armentur Papae carnifices."

Calvin was warned by experience of the imprudence of Luther's language.

"In Gallis proceres in excusanda saevitia immani allegant autoritatem Lutheri" (Melanchthon. _Opera_, v. 176).]

[Footnote 274: "Vous avez deux especes de mutins qui se sont eslevez entre le roy et l'estat du royaume: Les uns sont gens fantastiques, qui soubs couleur de l'evangile vouldroient mettre tout en confusion. Les aultres sont gens obstines aux superst.i.tions de l'Antechrist de Rome.

Tous ensemble meritent bien d'estre reprimes par le glayve qui vous est commis, veu qu'ils s'attaschent non seulement au roy, mais a Dieu qui l'a a.s.sis au siege royal" (Calvin to Somerset, Oct. 22, 1540: _Lettres de Calvin_, ed. Bonnet, i. 267. See also Henry, _Leben Calvins_, ii.

Append. 30).]

[Footnote 275: "Abdicant enim se potestate terreni principes dum insurgunt contra Deum: imo indigni sunt qui censeantur in hominum numero. Potius ergo conspuere oportet in ipsorum capita, quam illis parere, ubi ita proterviunt ut velint etiam spoliare Deum jure suo, et quasi occupare solium ejus, acsi possent eum a coelo detrahere" (_Pr. in Danielem_, v. 91).]

[Footnote 276: "Quant au serment qu'on vous a contraincte de faire, comme vous avez failli et offense Dieu en le faisant, aussi n'estes-vous tenue de le garder" (Calvin to the d.u.c.h.ess of Ferrara, _Bonnet_, ii.

338). She had taken an oath, at her husband's death, that she would not correspond with Calvin.]

[Footnote 277: "In aulis regum videmus primas teneri a bestiis. Nam hodie, ne repetamus veteres historias, ut reges fere omnes fatui sunt ac bruti, ita etiam sunt quasi equi et asini brutorum animalium.... Reges sunt hodie fere mancipia" (_Pr. in Danielem_, v. 82). "Videmus enim ut hodie quoque pro sua libidine commoveant totum orbem principes; quia produnt alii aliis innoxios populus, et exercent foedam nundinationem, dum quisque commodum suum venatur, et sine ullo pudore, tantum ut augeat suam potentiam, alios tradit in manum inimici" (_Pr. in Nahum_, v. 363).

"Hodie pudet reges aliquid prae se ferre humanum, sed omnes gestus accommodant ad tyrannidem" (_Pr. in Jeremiam_, v. 257).]

[Footnote 278: "Sur ce que je vous avais allegue, quo David nous instruict par son exemple de har les ennemis de Dieu, vous respondez que c'estoit pour ce temps-la duquel sous la loi de rigueur il estoit permis de har les ennemis. Or, madame, ceste glose seroit pour renverser toute l'Escriture, et partant il la fault fuir comme une peste mortelle.... Combien que j'aye tousjours prie Dieu de luy faire mercy, si est-ce que j'ay souvent desire que Dieu mist la main sur luy (Guise) pour en deslivrer son Eglise, s'il ne le vouloit convertir" (Calvin to the d.u.c.h.ess of Ferrara, _Bonnet_, ii. 551). Luther was in this respect equally unscrupulous: "This year we must pray Duke Maurice to death, we must kill him with our prayers; for he will be an evil man" (MS. quoted in Dollinger, _Reformation_, iii, 266).]

[Footnote 279: "Quod de praepostero nostrorum fervore scribis, verissimum est, neque tamen ulla occurrit moderandi ratio, quia sanis consiliis non obtemperant. Pa.s.sim denuntio, si judex essem me non minus severe in rabioso, istos impetus vindicaturum, quam rex suis edictis mandat. Pergendum nihilominus, quando nos Deus voluit stultis esse debitores" (Calvin to Beza; Henry, _Leben Calvins_, iii. Append. 164).]

[Footnote 280: "Il n'a tenu qu'a moi que, devant la guerre, gens de faict et d'execution ne se soyent efforcez de l'exterminer du monde (Guise) lesquels ont este retenus par ma seule exhortation."--_Bonnet_, ii. 553.]

[Footnote 281: "Hoc n.o.bis si a.s.sidue ob animos et oculos obversetur, eodem decreto const.i.tui etiam nequissimos reges, quo regum auctoritas statuitur; nunquam in animum n.o.bis seditiosae illae cogitationes venient, tractandum esse pro meritis regem nec aequum esse, ut subditos ei nos praestemus, qui vicissim regem n.o.bis se non praestet.... De privatis hominibus semper loquor. Nam si qui nunc sint populares magistratus ad moderandam regum libidinem const.i.tuti (quales olim erant ... ephori ... tribuni ... demarchi: et qua etiam forte potestate, ut nunc res habent, funguntur in singulis regnis tres ordines, quum primarios conventus peragunt) ... illos ferocienti regum licentiae pro officio intercedere non veto" (_Inst.i.tutio_, ii. 493, 495).]

[Footnote 282: "Quum ergo ita licentiose omnia sibi permittent (Donatistae), volebant tamen impune manere sua scelera: et in primis tenebant hoc principium: non esse poenas sumendas, si quis ab aliis dissideret in religionis doctrina: quemadmodum hodie videmus quosdam de hac re nimis cupide contendere. Certum est quid cupiant. Nam si quis ipsos respiciat, sunt impii Dei contemptores: saltem vellent nihil certum esse in religione; ideo labefactare, et quantum in se est etiam convellere nituntur omnia pietatis principia. Ut ergo liceat ipsis evomere virus suum, ideo tantopere litigant pro impunitate, et negant poenas de haereticis et blasphemis sumendas esse" (_Pr. in Danielem_, v.

51).]

[Footnote 283: "Defensio Orthodoxae Fidei ... ubi ostenditur Haereticos jure gladii coercendos esse," 1554.]

[Footnote 284: "Non modo liberum esse magistratibus poenas sumere de coelestis doctrinae corruptoribus, sed divinitus esse mandatum, ut pestiferis erroribus impunitatem dare nequeant, quin desciscant ab officii sui fide.... Nunc vero quisquis haereticis et blasphemis injuste paenam infligi contenderet, sciens et volens se obstringet blasphemiae reatu.... Ubi a suis fundamentis convellitur religio, detestandae in Deum blasphemiae proferuntur, impiis et pestiferis dogmatibus in exitium rapiuntur animae; denique ubi palam defectio ab unico Deo puraque doctrina tentatur, ad extremum illud remedium descendere necesse" (see Schenkel, iii. 389; Dyer, _Life of Calvin_, p. 354; Henry, iii. 234).]

[Footnote 285: _De Haereticis an sint persequendi_, Magdeburgi, 1554.

Chataillon, to whom it is generally attributed, was not the author (see Heppe, _Theodor Beza_, p. 37).]

[Footnote 286: Hallam, _Literature of Europe_, ii. 81; Schlosser, _Leben des Beza_, p. 55. This is proved by the following pa.s.sage from the dedication: "This I say not to favour the heretics, whom I abhor, but because there are here two dangerous rocks to be avoided. In the first place, that no man should be deemed a heretic when he is not ... and that the real rebel be distinguished from the Christian who, by following the teaching and example of his Master, necessarily causes separation from the wicked and unbelieving. The other danger is, lest the real heretics be not more severely punished than the discipline of the Church requires" (Baum, _Theodor Beza_, i. 215).]

[Footnote 287: "Multis piis hominibus in Gallia exustis grave pa.s.sim apud Germanos odium ignes illi excitaverant, sparsi sunt, ejus restinguendi causa, improbi ac mendaces libelli, non alios tam crudeliter tractari, quam Anabaptistas ac turbulentos homines, qui perversis deliriis non religionem modo sed totum ordinem politic.u.m convellerent.... Haec mihi edendae Inst.i.tutionis causa fuit, primum ut ab injusta contumelia vindicarem fratres meos, quorum mors pretiosa erat in conspectu Domini; deinde quum multis miseris eadem visitarent supplicia, pro illis dolor saltem aliquis et sollicitudo exteras gentes tangeret" (_Praefatio in Psalmos._ See "Historia Litteraria de Calvini Inst.i.tutione." in _Scrinium Antiquarium_, ii. 452).]

[Footnote 288: Baum, i. 206. "Telles gens," says Calvin, "seroient contents qu'il n'y eust ne loy, ne bride au monde. Voila pourquoy ils ont basti ce beau libvre _De non comburendis Haereticis_, ou ils out falsifie les noms tant des villes que des personnes, non pour aultre cause sinon pource que le dit livre est farcy de blasphemes insupportables" (Bonnet, ii. 18).]

[Footnote 289: _De Haereticis a civili Magistratu puniendis_, 1554.]

[Footnote 290: "Absit autem a n.o.bis, ut in eos, qui vel simplicitate peccant, sine aliorum pernicie et insigni blasphemia, vel in explicando quopiam Scripturae loco dissident a recepta opinione, magistratum armemus" (_Tractatus Theologici_, i. 95).]

[Footnote 291: This was sometimes the practice in Catholic countries, where heresy was equivalent to treason. Duke William of Bavaria ordered obstinate Anabaptists to be burnt; those who recanted to be beheaded.

"Welcher revocir, den soll man kopfen; welcher nicht revocir, den soll man brennen" (Jorg, p. 717).]

[Footnote 292: "Ex quibus omnibus una conjunctio efficitur, istos quibus haeretici videntur non esse puniendi, opinionem in Ecclesiam Dei conari longe omnium pestilentissimam invehere et ex diametro repugnantem doctrinae primum a Deo Patre proditae, deinde a Christo instauratae, ab universa denique Ecclesia orthodoxa perpetuo consensu usurpatae, ut mihi quidem magis absurde facere videantur quam si sacrilegas aut parricidas puniendos negarent, quum sint istis omnibus haeretici infinitis partibus deteriores" (_Tract. Theol._ i. 143).]

[Footnote 293: "Verum est quod correctione non exspectata Ananiam et Sapphiram occidit Petrus. Quia Spiritus Sanctus tunc maxime vigens, quem spreverant, docebat esse incorrigibiles, in malitia obstinatos. Hoc crimen est morte simpliciter dignum et apud Deum et apud homines. In aliis autem criminibus, ubi Spiritus Sanctus speciale quid non docet, ubi non est inveterata malitia, aut obstinatio certa non apparet aut atrocitas magna, correctionem per alias castigationes sperare potius debemus" (Servetus, _Rest.i.tutio Christianismi_, 656; Henry, iii. 235).]

[Footnote 294: "Nam si venerit, modo valeat mea authoritas, vivum exire nunquam patiar" (Calvin to Farel, in Henry, iii. Append. 65; Audin, _Vie de Calvin_, ii. 314; Dyer, 544).]

[Footnote 295: "Spero capitale saltem fore judicium; poenae vero atrocitatem remitti cupio" (Calvin to Farel, Henry, iii. 189). Dr. Henry makes no attempt to clear Calvin of the imputation of having caused the death of Servetus. Nevertheless he proposed, some years later, that the three-hundredth anniversary of the execution should be celebrated in the Church of Geneva by a demonstration. "It ought to declare itself in a body, in a manner worthy of our principles, admitting that in past times the authorities of Geneva were mistaken, loudly proclaiming toleration, which is truly the crown of our Church, and paying due honour to Calvin, because he had no hand in the business (parcequ'il n'a pas trempe dans cette affaire), of which he has unjustly borne the whole burden." The impudence of this declaration is surpa.s.sed by the editor of the French periodical from which we extract it. He appends to the words in our parenthesis the following note: "We underline in order to call attention to this opinion of Dr. Henry, who is so thoroughly acquainted with the whole question" (_Bulletin de la Societe de l'Histoire du Protestantisme Francais_, ii. 114).]

[Footnote 296: "Qui scripserunt de non plectendis haereticis, semper mihi visi sunt non parum errare" (Farel to Blaarer, Henry, iii. 202).

During the trial he wrote to Calvin: "If you desire to diminish the horrible punishment, you will act as a friend towards your most dangerous enemy. If I were to seduce anybody from the true faith, I should consider myself worthy of death; I cannot judge differently of another than of myself" (Schmidt, _Farel und Viret_, p. 33).

Before sentence was p.r.o.nounced Bullinger wrote to Beza: "Quid vero amplissimus Senatus Genevensis ageret c.u.m blasphemo illo nebulone Serveto. Si sapit et officium suum facit, caedit, ut totus...o...b..s videat Genevam Christi gloriam cupere servatam" (Baum, i. 204). With reference to Socinus he wrote: "Sentio ego spirituali gladio abscindendos esse homines haereticos" (Henry, iii. 225).

Peter Martyr Vermili also gave in his adhesion to Calvin's policy: "De Serveto Hispano, quid aliud dicam non habeo, nisi eum fuisse genuinum Diaboli filium, cujus pestifera et detestanda doctrina undique profliganda est, neque magistratus, qui de illo supplicium extremum sumpsit, accusandus est, c.u.m emendationis nulla indicia in eo possent deprehendi, illiusque blasphemiae omnino intolerabiles essent" (_Loci Communes_, 1114. See Schlosser, _Leben des Beza und des Peter Martyr Vermili_, 512).

Zanchi, who at the instigation of Bullinger also published a treatise, _De Haereticis Coercendis_, says of Beza's work: "Non poterit non probari summopere piis omnibus. Satis superque respondit quidem ille novis istis academicis, ita ut supervacanea et inutilis omnino videatur mea tractatio" (Baum, i. 232).]

[Footnote 297: "The trial of Servetus," says a very ardent Calvinist, "is illegal only in one point--the crime, if crime there be, had not been committed at Geneva; but long before the Councils had usurped the unjust privilege of judging strangers stopping at Geneva, although the crimes they were accused of had not been committed there" (Haag, _La France Protestante_, iii. 129).]

[Footnote 298: _Literature of Europe_, ii. 82.]

[Footnote 299: This is the ground taken by two Dutch divines in answer to the consultation of John of Na.s.sau in 1579: "Neque in imperio, neque in Galliis, neque in Belgio speranda esset unquam libertas in externo religionis exercitio nostris ... si non diversarum religionum exercitia in una eademque provincia toleranda.... Sic igitur gladio adversus nos armabimus Pontificios, si hanc hypothesin tuebimur, quod exercitium religionis alteri parti nullum prorsus relinqui debeat" (_Scrinium Antiquarium_, i. 335).]

VI

POLITICAL THOUGHTS ON THE CHURCH[300]

There is, perhaps, no stronger contrast between the revolutionary times in which we live and the Catholic ages, or even the period of the Reformation, than in this: that the influence which religious motives formerly possessed is now in a great measure exercised by political opinions. As the theory of the balance of power was adopted in Europe as a subst.i.tute for the influence of religious ideas, incorporated in the power of the Popes, so now political zeal occupies the place made vacant by the decline of religious fervour, and commands to an almost equal extent the enthusiasm of men. It has risen to power at the expense of religion, and by reason of its decline, and naturally regards the dethroned authority with the jealousy of a usurper. This revolution in the relative position of religious and political ideas was the inevitable consequence of the usurpation by the Protestant State of the functions of the Church, and of the supremacy which, in the modern system of government, it has a.s.sumed over her. It follows also that the false principles by which religious truth was a.s.sailed have been transferred to the political order, and that here, too, Catholics must be prepared to meet them; whilst the objections made to the Church on doctrinal grounds have lost much of their attractiveness and effect, the enmity she provokes on political grounds is more intense. It is the same old enemy with a new face. No reproach is more common, no argument better suited to the temper of these times, than those which are founded on the supposed inferiority or incapacity of the Church in political matters. As her dogma, for instance, is a.s.sailed from opposite sides,--as she has had to defend the divine nature of Christ against the Ebionites, and His humanity against Docetism, and was attacked both on the plea of excessive rigorism and excessive laxity (Clement Alex., _Stromata_, iii. 5),--so in politics she is arraigned on behalf of the political system of every phase of heresy. She was accused of favouring revolutionary principles in the time of Elizabeth and James I., and of absolutist tendencies under James II. and his successors. Since Protestant England has been divided into two great political parties, each of these reproaches has found a permanent voice in one of them.

Whilst Tory writers affirm that the Catholic religion is the enemy of all conservatism and stability, the Liberals consider it radically opposed to all true freedom.

"What are we to think," says the _Edinburgh Review_ (vol. ciii. p.

586), "of the penetration or the sincerity of a man who professes to study and admire the liberties of England and the character of her people, but who does not see that English freedom has been nurtured from the earliest times by resistance to Papal authority, and established by the blessing of a reformed religion? That is, under Heaven, the basis of all the rights we possess; and the weight we might otherwise be disposed to concede to M. de Montalembert's opinions on England is materially lessened by the discovery that, after all, he would, if he had the power, place this free country under that spiritual bondage which broods over the empires of Austria or of Spain."

On the other hand, let us hearken to the Protestant eloquence of the _Quarterly Review_ (vol. xcii. p. 41):--

Tyranny, fraud, base adulation, total insensibility, not only to the worth of human freedom, but to the majesty of law and the sacredness of public and private right; these are the malignant and deadly features which we see stamped upon the conduct of the Roman hierarchy.

Besides which, we have the valuable opinion of Lord Derby, which no Catholic, we should suppose, east of the Shannon has forgotten, that Catholicism is "religiously corrupt, and politically dangerous." Lord Macaulay tells us that it exclusively promoted the power of the Crown; Ranke, that it favours revolution and regicide. Whilst the Belgian and Sardinian Liberals accuse the Church of being the enemy of const.i.tutional freedom, the celebrated Protestant statesman, Stahl, taunts her with the reproach of being the sole support and pillar of the Belgian const.i.tution. Thus every error p.r.o.nounces judgment on itself when it attempts to apply its rules to the standard of truth.

Among Catholics the state of opinion on these questions, whether it be considered the result of unavoidable circ.u.mstances, or a sign of ingenious accommodation, or a thing to be deplored, affords at least a glaring refutation of the idea that we are united, for good or for evil, in one common political system. The Church is vindicated by her defenders, according to their individual inclinations, from the opposite faults imputed to her; she is lauded, according to circ.u.mstances, for the most contradictory merits, and her authority is invoked in exclusive support of very various systems. O'Connell, Count de Montalembert, Father Ventura, proclaim her liberal, const.i.tutional, not to say democratic, character; whilst such writers as Bonald and Father Taparelli a.s.sociate her with the cause of absolute government. Others there are, too, who deny that the Church has a political tendency or preference of any kind; who a.s.sert that she is altogether independent of, and indifferent to, particular political inst.i.tutions, and, while insensible to their influence, seeks to exercise no sort of influence over them. Each view may be plausibly defended, and the inexhaustible a.r.s.enal of history seems to provide impartially instances in corroboration of each. The last opinion can appeal to the example of the Apostles and the early Christians, for whom, in the heathen empire, the only part was unconditional obedience. This is dwelt upon by the early apologists: "Oramus etiam pro imperatoribus, pro ministris eorum et potestatibus, pro statu saeculi, pro rerum quiete, pro mora finis."[301]

It has the authority, too, of those who thought with St. Augustine that the State had a sinful origin and character: "Primus fuit terrenae civitatis conditor fratricida."[302] The Liberals, at the same time, are strong in the authority of many scholastic writers, and of many of the older Jesuit divines, of St. Thomas and Suarez, Bellarmine, and Mariana.

The absolutists, too, countenanced by Bossuet and the Gallican Church, and quoting amply from the Old Testament, can point triumphantly to the majority of Catholic countries in modern times. All these arguments are at the same time serviceable to our adversaries; and those by which one objection is answered help to fortify another.

The frequent recurrence of this sort of argument which appears to us as treacherous for defence as it is popular as a weapon of attack, shows that no very definite ideas prevail on the subject, and makes it doubtful whether history, which pa.s.ses sentence on so many theories, is altogether consistent with any of these. Nevertheless it is obviously an inquiry of the greatest importance, and one on which controversy can never entirely be set at rest; for the relation of the spiritual and the secular power is, like that of speculation and revelation, of religion and nature, one of those problems which remain perpetually open, to receive light from the meditations and experience of all ages, and the complete solution of which is among the objects, and would be the end, of all history.