CHAPTER VI. CALVIN AT THE SYNOD OF BERNE. (SEPTEMBER, 1537.) This was not the only triumph which Calvin achieved, nor the only synod of Berne in which he took part. Keen debates were at that time going on in the evangelical Churches of Switzerland. They had gradually arisen after the disaster of Cappel in 1531. In the canton of Soleure the Reformation had indeed been crushed by the intervention of the Catholics, although the majority in the country and a minority in the town were Protestants. But other cantons had remained faithful to the Reform. In Bullinger, Zurich had found a worthy successor to Zwingli; and Oswald Myconius happily filled the place of the amiable Œcolampadius at Basel. Berne, not satisfied with having adopted the Reformation herself, eagerly promoted its establishment everywhere. The great question which was then under discussion was this--Should the Swiss Churches unite themselves with the Lutheran Churches or not? Bucer, at Strasburg, warmly advocated the union; and the magistrates, above all those of Berne, were not at all opposed to it. They had political skill enough to perceive that the Church of the Reformation, then so formidably threatened, had need to combine its whole forces. The pastors of Berne, Haller, Megander, and Kolb, were desirous of extending a friendly hand to Luther; but those free Swiss, disciples and friends of Zwingli, disliked the equivocal formulæ of Bucer. The Zuricher Megander, in particular, a learned professor and an eloquent preacher, but of rash character, violent and somewhat domineering, designated by his opponents the _ape of Zwingli_,[528] had set himself the task of maintaining at Berne the theology of the Zurich reformer. As Haller and Kolb were then enfeebled by age and ill-health, Megander exercised a powerful influence over the country pastors; and the magistrates themselves, aware of his abilities, committed to his hands the most important affairs. The Zurichers had drawn up a confession on the Lord’s supper in conformity with Bucer’s wishes. Basel, St. Gall, and Schaffhausen had approved it; but Megander induced his colleagues to reject it. The French diplomatists also, who were anxious to obtain the assistance of the Swiss and German Protestants against Charles V., said--‘All the Swiss towns agree with Luther except these Bernese blockheads, who walk backwards like crabs, and stick obstinately to an opinion which they cannot possibly defend.’[529] [Sidenote: THE ZWINGLIANS AT BERNE.]