Did you ever read what Mr. Bancroft says
about Calvin in his article on Jonathan Edwards?--and mighty well said it
is too, in my judgment. Let me remind you of it, whether you have read
it or not. "Setting himself up over against the privileged classes, he,
with a loftier pride than theirs, revealed the power of a yet higher
order of nobility, not of a registered ancestry of fifteen generations,
but one absolutely spotless in its escutcheon, preordained in the council
chamber of eternity." I think you'll find I have got that sentence
right, word for word, and there 's a great deal more in it than many good
folks who call themselves after the reformer seem to be aware of. The
Pope put his foot on the neck of kings, but Calvin and his cohort crushed
the whole human race under their heels in the name of the Lord of Hosts.
Now, you see, the point that people don't understand is the absolute and
utter humility of science, in opposition to this doctrinal
self-sufficiency. I don't doubt this may sound a little paradoxical at
first, but I think you will find it is all right. You remember the
courtier and the monarch,--Louis the Fourteenth, wasn't it?--never mind,
give the poor fellows that live by setting you right a chance. "What
o'clock is it?" says the king. "Just whatever o'clock your Majesty
pleases," says the courtier.
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