Charles the Good was then Duke of
Savoy. Why he was called the Good it is
difficult to tell, but it is certain that Charles
was not by any means good to the
Genevese.He got a sort of relation of his
appointed bishop, and then the pair of them
set about trying which could entrap the
largest number of "patriots." Two of
these, whom the duke inveigled into Savoy,
he tortured, and then, for fear they should
retract their confession, he had their throats
cut " incontinently," and their bodies neatly
packed in two barrels, which were sealed
with his arms, and despatched, the one
to Turin, the other to Geneva, " to
encourage the rest;" their heads he kept
for his own satisfaction, stuck on walnut-
trees outside his palace. Such a duke
naturally forced Geneva into the Swiss
confederacy. Men like Berthelier, Levrier,
and Bezansan Hugues, headed a band of
noisy young scamps, who broke the laws
and a great many windows to boot, but
who saved Geneva. Bonnivard joined
heart and soul with these men; he was
a hard liver, like most of them; their
lively ways, their jolly life, suited the
young prior; he was recognised as one
of the " Children of the City," and Berthelier
said to him one day, " Shake hands,
Mr. Prior; I see how it 'll be—for the love
of Geneva you will lose your priory, and I
shall lose my life." Many a good turn did
Bonnivard do the patriots. One of his
uncles, wishing to die good friends with the
Church, left three cannon, which he had
got to defend his castle, to be cast into
bells for St. Victor's priory. " Let us have
the guns," said Berthelier; "we can find
you some bells about the town, I'm sure."
So Bonnivard consulted a professor of
theology, who ruled that the defunct
uncle's intention would be fully carried
out, provided St. Victor got bells, no
matter whence, as big as could have been
made out of the three culverins. Another
uncle, a rabid Tory, came into town with a
plan for getting the patriot, Levrier, into
an ambush, and wanted François to join.
"No," said he, " but if you mean to try
that kind of thing, uncle, here are thirty
florins, which I'll put by to have masses
sung for your soul to-morrow." Thereupon
he went straight to Levrier's son, his
old school-fellow, and gave him a hint of
his father's danger. In an hour's time the
drums were beating, the train-bands were
called out, and the uncle was very thankful
to be able to ride out of Geneva by a back
lane. In fact, Bonnivard became a person
of consideration; he had weight with both
parties. As prior of " St. Victor at the
Gate," he held the precedence of all the
city clergy, taking rank next to the bishop;
as canon of St. Peter's, he might have had
a vote in the chapter, if he would have
consented to take holy orders. He was a
great man in Geneva; and, on the other
hand, the duke's party did not like to
touch him, both because he was a churchman
and because of his Savoyard connexions.
In 1519, however, the duke got
into Geneva during one of those moments
of weakness which occur in popular
governments; the patriots were crushed for
the time; Berthelier was beheaded, and
the bishop hung and imprisoned whom he
pleased. Nearly half the Genevese had at
this time become eidgnots (eidgenossen,
Huguenots), confederates banded together
for freedom, and received as citizens
of Friburg. Thither Bonnivard directed
his steps, determined to use his " freedom
of the city of Friburg," and to keep
out of the way during the troubles;
but, with over-caution, he entrusted
himself to an abbot of Montheron and to a
nobleman of the Pays de Vaud, who
promised to carry him safely to Friburg.
Instead of fulfilling their pledge, they took
him to Montheron, and threatened him with
instant death if he did not vacate his priory
in favour of his captors. Bonnivard
consented, but to no purpose; for the
treacherous pair handed him over to the duke,
who transferred him to the Bishop of
Belley, by whom he was kept in prison
nearly a year. Meanwhile, the bad bishop
died; the eidgnot party obtained the upper
hand in Geneva, and a definite treaty was
signed with Berne and Friburg. Then
Rome was captured by the Constable
Bourbon, and a great cry went abroad that
not a priest was left alive in the Eternal
City. Bonnivard, like many others,
improved the opportunity by seizing his old
priory of St. Victor, which had got into an
Italian's hands, assuming that the said
Italian had perished during the sack of Rome.
The bishop could say nothing, for he had
set the example by seizing the priory of
St. John, which had belonged to some
cardinal. " I didn't think very much of
disobeying the Pope," writes Bonnivard, " so
I determined to get well settled in St.
Victor, though I was sure that there really
had been no such good luck as the death
of my Italian." Unfortunately, nearly all
the lands from which he drew his income
were in Savoyard territory; so he wrote in