Schaff - History of the Christian Church Vol. 8 - Media Sabda Org

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The second year after his return was very trying. The pestilence, which in
1541 had been raging in Strassburg and all along the Rhine, crept into
Switzerland, diminishing the population of Basel and Zürich, and reached
Geneva in the autumn, 1542. To the pestilence was added the scourge of
famine, as is often the case. The evil was aggravated by the great influx of
strangers who were attracted by Calvin’s fame and sought refuge from
persecution under his shelter. The pest-house outside of the city was
crowded. Calvin and Pierre Blanchet offered their services to the sick,
while the rest of the ministers shrank back. f636 The Council refused to let
Calvin go, because the Church could not spare him. f637 Blanchet risked his
life, and fell a victim to his philanthrophy in eight or nine months. Calvin, in
a letter dated October, 1542, gives the following account to Viret, who, in
July, had left for Lausanne: f638 —
“The pestilence also begins to rage here with greater violence, and
few who are at all affected by it escape its ravages. One of our
colleagues was to be set apart for attendance upon the sick.
Because Peter [Blanchet] offered himself all readily acquiesced. If
anything happens to him, I fear that I must take the risk upon
myself, for, as you observe, because we are debtors to one another,
we must not be wanting to those who, more than any others, stand
in need of our ministry. And yet it is not my opinion, that while we
wish to provide for one portion we are at liberty to neglect the
body of the Church itself. But so long as we are in this ministry, I
do not see that any pretext will avail us, if, through fear of
infection, we are found wanting in the discharge of our duty when
there is most need of our assistance.”
Farel, on a like occasion, visited the sick daily, rich and poor, friend and
foe, without distinction. f639 We must judge Calvin by his spirit and motive.
He had undoubtedly the spirit of a martyr, but felt it his duty to obey the
magistrates, and to spare his life till the hour of necessity. We may refer to
the example of Cyprian, who fled during the Decian persecution, but died
heroically as a martyr in the Valerian persecution.
In 1545 Geneva was again visited by a pestilence, which some Swiss
soldiers brought from France. The horrors were aggravated by a diabolical
conspiracy of wicked persons, including some women, connected with the
pest-house, for spreading the plague by artificial means, to gain spoils from
the dead. The conspirators used the infected linen of those who had died of