§ loT. CALVIX AND SERVETUS. 691
vengeance on his execrable blasphemies? Let Baudouin abuse me as long as he will, provided that, by the judgment of Melanchthon, posterity owes me a debt of gratitude for having purged the Church of so pernicious a monster." i
In one respect he was in advance of his times, by recommending to the Council of Geneva, though in vain, a mitigation of punishment and the substitution of the sword for the stake.
Let us give him credit for this comparative moderation in a semi-barbarous age when not only hosts of heretics, but even innocent women, as witches, were cruelly tortured and roasted to death. Let us remember also that it was not simpl}' a case of fundamental heresy, but of horrid blasphemy, with which he had to deal. If he was mistaken, if he misunderstood the real opinions of Servetus, that was an error of judgment, and an error which all the Catholics and Protestants of that age shared. Nor should it be overlooked that Servetus was convicted of falsehood, that he overwhelmed Calvin with abuse, ^ and that he made common cause with the Libertines, the bitter enemies of Calvin, who had a controlling influence in the Council of Geneva at that time, and hoped to overthrow him.
It is objected that there was no law in Geneva to justify the punishment of Servetus, since the canon law had been abolished by the Reformation in 1535 ; but the Mosaic law was not abolished, it was even more strictly enforced ; and it is
1 Responsio ad Balduinl Convicia, Opera, IX. 575: " Iitstas quidem itle poenas dedit : sed an meo arbitrio ? Certe arrogantia non minus quam impietas perdidit hominem. Sed quodnam meum crimen, si Senatus nosier meo hortatii, ex plurium tamen ecclesiarum sententia, exsecrabiles blaspliemias ultus est? Vituperet me sane hac in parte Franciscus Balduinus, modo Pliilippi M elanchthonis iudicio posteritas mihi (jratitudinem debeat, quia tarn exiliali monstro ecdesiam purgaverim. Senatum etiam nostrum, sub cuius ditione aliquandn rixif, perstringat ingratus hospes : modo idem Philippus scripto publice edito testetur dignum esse exemplum quod imilentur omnes christiani principes."
2 He called him at the trial Simo7i Afagus, impostor, sijcophanta, nebulo, per- Jidus, impudens, ridictdus mus, cacodannon, homicida, etc.
692 THE REFOKMATION IN FRENCH SWITZERLAND.
from the Mosaic law against blasphemy that Calvin drew his chief argument.
On the other hand, however, we must frankly admit that there were some aggravating circumstances which make it difficult to reconcile Calvin's conduct with the principles of justice and humanit}-. Seven years before the death of Servetus he had expressed his determination not to spare his life if he should come to G-eneva. He wrote to Farel (Feb. 13, 1546) : " Servetus lately wrote to me, and coupled with his letter a long volume of his delirious fancies, with the Thrasonic boast, that I should see something astonishing and unheard of. 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 my authority be of any avail, I shall never suffer him to depart alive." ^ It was not inconsistent with this design, if he aided, as it would seem, in bringing the book of Servetus to the notice of the Roman inquisition in Lyons. He procured his arrest on his arrival in Geneva. He showed personal bitterness towards him during the trial. Servetus was a stranger in Geneva, and had committed no offence in that city. Calvin should have permitted him quietly to depart, or simply caused his expulsion from the territory of Geneva, as in the case of Bolsec. This would have been sufficient punishment. If he had recommended expulsion instead of decapitation, he would have saved himself the reproaches of posterity, which will never forget and never forgive the burning of Servetus.
In the interest of impartial history we must condemn the intolerance of the victor as well as the error of the victim,
1 " Servetus nuper ad me scripsit ac litteris adjiinxit longum volumen suorum deliriorum, cum Thrasonica jactantia, me stupenda et hactemus inaudita visurum. Si mild placeat, hue se venturum recipit. Sed nolo Jidem meam interponere. Nam