Protestantism in France From Death of Francis I to Edict of Nantes - James Aitken Wylie

him, and Catherine de Medici had invited him by
letter; but the magistrates of Geneva, unable to
obtain hostages of high rank as pledges of his
safety, refused to let him come, and Theodore Beza
was sent in his room. No better substitute could
have been found for the illustrious chief of the
Reformation than his distinguished disciple and
fellow-laborer. Beza was a native of Burgnndy, of
noble birth; learned, eloquent, courtly, and of a
dignified presence. We possess a sketch of the
personal appearance of this remarkable man by the
traveler Fynes Moryson, who chanced to pass
through Geneva in the end of that century. "Here,"
says he, "I had great contentment to speak and
converse with the reverend Father Theodore Beza,
who was of stature something tall and corpulent, or
big-boned, and had a long thick beard as white as
snow. He had a grave senator's countenance, and
was broad-faced, but not fat, and in general, by his
comely person, sweet affability, and gravity, he
would have extorted reverence from those that least
loved him."[5]
The Reformed pastors entered, gravely and
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