Note 391 — C.—To Monsieur le Curé de Cernex.[391]

On the back: "Answer to a certain Curé, which he had written while the plague was at Geneva, wherein there are several remarkable instructions—without date."—From the Council Registers we see that the plague made its appearance at Geneva in 1542, and that during several years it made great ravages in the town and throughout the whole territory of Savoy. The number of sick was immense. It was almost certain death to visit them. Three ministers offered spontaneously to discharge that duty: Calvin, Sebastian Castalio, and Blanchet. Castalio, who was the first person designated by lot, appears to have declined that perilous honour. Blanchet generously made the sacrifice of his life; and the urgent solicitations of the Seigneury of Geneva, who were afraid to expose the valuable life of the Reformer, could alone determine Calvin to desist from undertaking the charge which he had himself solicited. See Roset, Chronique, iv. 60, and Savion, 60.