Note 183 — XLII.—To Farel.

The preface of this Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans is dedicated to Simon Grynée, and contains an eulogium of Melanchthon, of Bucer, and of Bullinger, accompanied with the following reflections:—"God never designed in such a way to exercise liberality towards his servants, as that each should be endowed with a full and perfect understanding on every point; and doubtless, in this respect, he intended, in the first place, to keep us humble, and next of all to keep up and maintain the desire and the exercise of brotherly love and communion. On this account, since such is the case, we have no reason to expect, in this present life, to see what would otherwise be so desirable, that in the understanding and the exposition of certain passages of Scripture, there ever can be among us an out-and-out entire agreement, (in allusion to the sacraments,) yet we ought to be particularly careful, when we do depart from the opinion of those who have written before us, that we do so without being carried away by the silly appetite for saying something new," &c.—Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans, Geneva, in 4to, 1562.