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The early years of John Calvin, a fragment, 1509-1536, ed. by W. Ferguson
The early years of John Calvin a fragment 15091536 ed by W Ferguson Author:Thomas M'Crie Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III. SKETCH OF THE HISTORY OF GENEVA, A.D. 500-1536. Before proceeding further with the biography of Calvin, it will be necessary to give some... more » account of 50- a city in which he spent the remainder of his life, to advert to its external relations and internal government, and to put the reader in possession of the leading facts connected with the introduction of the Reformation into the city and its territories. Without this it would be impossible to understand many of the facts to be related, or to form a proper judgment of the difficulties which Calvin had to encounter, and the services which he performed. Though we had not known from the testimony of Csesar and from inscriptions, that Geneva was an ancient city, we might have inferred the fact from the obvious attractions of its site. Built upon the Rhone at the spot where that river escapes from the Leman Lake, and surrounded with fruitful plains, and with a range of mountains which leave open an extensive and varied prospect, it unites the three great recommendations of a place of residence: beautiful scenery, a healthful climate, and fertility of soil; while its position in regard to France, Germany, and Italy, points it out as an eligible place of strength in war, and of intercourse and EARLY HISTORY. 107 ti'ade in time of peace. Christianity was intro- Chap. duced into Vienne in the end of the second century, and it is probable that it soon spread through the 500. towns of that province, of which Geneva was one. But though a list of its bishops connecting these with the Apostles by means of Denis and Panodus has been given, we have no authentic account of a bishop of Geneva before the commencement of the sixth century.1 After the dismemberment of the Roman Empire, Geneva was subject successively ...« less