Note 223 — CCXXXVI.—To Bucer.[223]

This undated fragment should, we think, be referred to the month of February 1549; that is, to the period at which Bucer, compelled to leave Strasbourg, by the establishment of the Interim in that town, was making preparations for his departure for England. In one of his letters to Calvin we discover the following passage:—"We are only hindered by the tears and sighs of the pious—of whom there are still a great many here—from leaving this place before we get orders. For, if the Lord will, we wish rather to seal than to break up our ministry. You see how our affairs stand, and how much we need the assistance of your prayers, both in our own behalf and on that of this very unfortunate Church."—Calv. Opera, b. ix. p. 233.

Sadly disappointed in the dream of his whole life—the union of the Reformed Churches of Germany and Switzerland—forgotten by parties who could not forgive his moderation in an age of hatred and intolerance, Bucer carried with him into exile the respect and affection of Calvin, who in a letter, of which we have here only a mere fragment, addressed to him the highest consolations of Christian philosophy.