History of the Reformation in Europe in the Time of Calvin. Vol. 1 (of 8)Merle d'Aubigné, J. H. (Jean Henri)
History
History of the Reformation in Europe in the Time of Calvin. Vol. 1 (of 8)
Merle d'Aubigné, J. H. (Jean Henri)
Reformation
On the 14th, 15th,and 21st of May, Navis and Blanchet were brought into
the great hall of the castle before the magnificent John of Lucerne,
collateral of the council, and Messire d’Ancina. ‘Speak as we desire
you,’ said the collateral, ‘and then you will be in his Highness’s
good graces.’ As they did not utter a word, they were at first
threatened with two turns of the cord, and that not being sufficient,
they were put to the rack; they were fastened to the rope, and raised
an arm’s length from the floor. Navis was in agony; but instead of
inculpating Berthelier, he accused himself. The commandment which says:
‘Honour thy father and thy mother,’ was continually in his mind, and he
felt that it was in consequence of breaking it, that he had fallen into
dissipation and disgrace. ‘Alas!’ said he, when put to the question, ‘I
have been a vagabond, disobedient to my father, roaming here and there,
squandering my own and my father’s money in taverns.... Alas! I have
not been dutiful to my parents.... If I had been obedient, I should not
have suffered as I do to-day.’ On the 10th of June, says the report, he
was again put to the torture and pulled up the height of an ell. After
remaining there a moment, Navis begged to be let down, promising to
tell everything. Then sitting on a bench, he accused himself bitterly
of the crime of which he felt himself guilty; he confessed ... to
having _disobeyed his parents_.[152] Peter Navis was a passionate judge
in the opinion of many; Andrew saw only the father in him; and contempt
of paternal authority was the great sin that agonised the wretched
young man. Looking into himself, foreseeing the fatal issue of the
trial, he did not give way, like Blanchet, to the fear of death, but
bewailed his faults. Family recollections were aroused in his heart,
the most sacred of bonds recovered their strength, and the image of his
father followed him night and day.
The bishop had got thus far in his prosecutions when he learnt that
Bonivard had just passed through Turin on his way to Rome. Delighted
at seeing the prior of St. Victor fall into his net, the prelate gave
orders to seize him on his return. Was it not Bonivard who had caused
him such alarm in the palace on the occasion of the metropolitan
summons? Was it not this man who had robbed him of Pécolat, and who
even aspired to sit some day on his episcopal throne?... It is the
nature of certain animals to carry their prey into their dens to devour
it. The bastard of Savoy had already dragged Navis and Blanchet into
his dungeons, and was preparing to mutilate their limbs; but it would
be much better still if he could catch and rend the hated Bonivard with
his claws.[153]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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