Herbert, _Life of Henry VIII._ p. 396. Burnet, _Hist. Ref._ i. p. 131. Footnote 380: ‘What could not be done in less than three consistories, was now despatched in one.’—_Herbert_, p. 397. Footnote 381: ‘Christi nomine invocato, in throno justitiæ pro tribunali sedentes.’—Foxe, _Acts_, v. p. 657. BOOK VII. MOVEMENTS OF THE REFORMATION IN ENGLAND, AT GENEVA, IN FRANCE, GERMANY, AND ITALY. CHAPTER I. THE BISHOP ESCAPES FROM GENEVA, NEVER TO RETURN. (JULY 1533.) [Sidenote: Spirit Of The Times.] We have seen the Reformation advancing in the bosom of a great nation; we shall now see it making progress in one of the smallest. The fall of Wolsey in England and the flight of the bishop-prince from Geneva are two historical dates which bear a certain resemblance. After the disappearance of these two prelates, there was a forward movement in men’s minds, and the Reformation advanced with more decided steps. Those two countries are now, as regards their importance, at the two extreme points in the line of nations; but in the sixteenth century the humble city of the Leman played a more important part in the Church of Christ than the mighty England. Calvin and his school did more than the Tudors, the Stuarts, and their divines, to check the reaction of the papacy and secure the triumph of true Christianity. The sixteenth and seventeenth centuries have proclaimed Geneva the antagonist of Rome; and, in truth, the petty band which marched under its banner, held their ground for nearly two centuries against the powerful and well-disciplined army of the Roman pontiffs. We have not forgotten Wittemberg, we shall not forget Geneva. The historian is not allowed to pass by the little ones who have had their share in the developments of the human mind. To those who repose beneath the healthful shade of the great Gospel oak, and under its green boughs, we must relate the story of the acorn from which it sprang. The man who despises humble things cannot understand great things. ‘The Lord,’ says Calvin, ‘purposely made his kingdom to have small and lowly beginnings, in order that his divine power should be better known, when we see a progress that had never been expected.’ * * * * *