THE family of the TuRRETTINS, or TURRETTINT, as it is still written and pronounced in Geneva, is of Italian origin. It belonged to the ancient nobility of Lusca, and appears to have given a number of gonfalonieri and anziani to that republic. One of these gonfalonieri, or chief magistrates, was RecuLus TURRETTINI, who about the year 1547 became the father of I’raxcis, afterwards distinguished as the first Protestant member of the family. For his home and prospects, and became a volunthe sake of his new faith, Francis renounced tary exile. After being driven from place to place by adverse fortune, he finally settled in
2 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH Geneva, where, in 1627, he received ecitizenship, and in 1628 was made one of the Sixty. Soon after he died, leaving behind him a large sum for public charities, a blameless reputation, and a number of children, the oldest of whom was the father of our author.
Bexepict TURRETTINI was born at Zurich, November 9, 1588, and died in March, 1631. He was a celebrated pastor and professor of theology. In 1620 he assisted at the Synod of Ales, of which Peter du Moulin was moderator. He was noted for his piety, his love of union, his resolution, his learning, his gentleness, and his eloquence. Pictet speaks of him as the glory of his church and school. No man of his day was more honoured, but his career was cut short just as he was entering middle life. He had six children, of whom the third in order was
Fraxcis TurrerTini, the author of the present volume. He was born in 1623, the same year in which Mornay du Plessy, Father Paul, and Pope Gregory XV. died, and in which the great Synod of Charenton was held. From his earliest years young Turrettin gave tokens of will genius. When his father found himself dying, he caused Francis, then eight years old, to be brought to his bedside; and said, with faltering lips, “This child is marked with God’s seal:” Hic sigillo Dei obsignatus est. Francis greatly distinguished himself in his academic course, and seems to have been remarkable for the eagerness with which he attempted diversified branches of study. Upon devoting himself to the study of theology, he enjoyed the advantage of eminent instructors. The most noted of these was John Diodati, another Italian Protestant, who sat in the chair of Calvin and Beza. Diodati, whose biblical labours are well known, was prominent in the Synod of Dort and the Convention of Saumur; at the latter of which he so succeeded in pouring oil l on the waters of controversy, that the Queen of I’rance thanked him repeatedly. Another instructor of Turrettin was Theodore Tronchin, also a member of the Synod of Dort and a noble defender of the truth. He lived to a venerable age, and contributed much to the theological celebrity of Geneva. His family, originally from Provence, long continued to be prominent in the little republic, where to this day it has its representatives, one of whom, the excellent Colonel Tronchin, 1s known far and wide among evangelical Christians. Another celebrated instructor of Turrettin was Frederick Spanheim.
After finishing his curriculum at home, Turrettin went to Leyden, then, and long after, a centre of learning and theology, where he maintained theses in the schools with great éclat. In Holland he enjoyed the lectures of such men as Polyander; the saintly Rivet, equally known by his voluminous works and I by the record of his death; Salmasius, one of the most learned men of his age, although worsted in his unfortunate controversy with Milton; Heinsius, Trigland, Voet, Hoornbeek, and Golius, the linguist. At Utrecht he became acquainted with that prodigy of her age, Amna Maria Schureman. In 1645 he proceeded to Paris, where he resided under the roof of the immortal Daillé; met with Falcar, Drelincourt, Albertini, and Blondel; and pursued physical and astronomical studies under Gassendil. Next he visited Saumur, the little city on the Loire, famous for its Protestant university. There he heard Placeeus, Amyrauld, and Capellus; men whose learning, subtilty, and peculiar views in theology, are fully presented in the Theses Salmurienses. He even went as far south as to Montauban, then, as now, the seat of a Protestant university, where Carolus and Garissol were at that time flourishing.
Returning home in 1648, he became a pastor of the church of Geneva, and preacher to the Italian congregation, such a service being required by the great number of refugees from Italy who sought an asylum in Geneva. When he began to preach, such were the flow of his discourse, the solidity of his matter, and the majestic gracefulness of his eloquence, that immense popularity attended him. In 1650, the chair of Philosophy was several times offered to him by the government. After the death of Aaron Morus at Leyden, Turrettin was called to supply his place as pastor. He accepted the invitation, and remained at Ley-
Tronchin having outlived his capacity for public service, Turrettin was called to fill his place. He complied with the call, and as- “sumed the theological chair in 1653. As a public teacher he was faithful and undaunted, daily inflicting severe blows upon Popery, Socinianism, and Arminianism. From the pulpit he thundered against prevailing immoralities, while with many tears he besought sinners to be reconciled to Christ. is eloquence was of the most persuasive and irresistible character. Pictet celebrates his beniguity, his pity to the poor, his care of the widow and the orphan, his hospitality, and his edifying discourse.
In the year 1661 he was summoned to a new service. The people of Geneva were unable to bear the expense of fortifying their walls; they therefore appealed for aid to the States-General of Holland, and deputed Turrettin as their commissioner for this purpose. His father had been sent by them on a similar errand forty years before. Passing through Basle, he was received with honour by Wet- stein and others of the great men of the umiversity there. In Holland he obtained great distinction, being complimented by the author- ities with a gold chain and medal. Earnest but fruitless efforts were made to detain him, both at Leyden and the Hague. On his way home, he passed through Paris and Charenton. At the latter place he first met Claude, and preached before the vast Protestant assembly there, of which Pictet speaks with singular admiration.
MEMES 8 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH In 1687 he published on the necessity of secession from Rome, and on other important points.
In 1669 Turrettin was married to Isabella, daughter of John de Masse, lord of Sauvet, whose ancestors had held the Marquisate of Saluzzo. Four children were the fruit of this union, of whom only one survived, viz., JoEN ALFoxso TURRETTIN, who was born in 1671, and ordained to the ministry about the year 1694. He became a preacher of unusual power, held successively the chairs of Iicclesi-astical History and of Theology in Geneva, and was one of the greatest writers of the age upon natyral religion and the external defences of Christianity. Inferior to his father in vigour, he was his superior in elegance; and his copious and classical diction gave a charm to his writings, which secured perusal and applause beyond the pale of Calvinistic bodies.
Turrettin’s later years were embittered by the distresses of his Reformed brethren in Piedmont and France. In the latter country, in consequence of the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, in 1685, hundreds of churches were demolished, and Protestantism was driven from the kingdom. But for these distresses of a sympathetic soul, he may be said to have had a happy old age, being scarcely ever ill except from a few attacks of acute disease. On the 24th of September, 1687, he was suddenly seized with violent pains. To Professor Pictet he expressed his readiness to die; but said that the severity of his pain did not suffer him to pray as he would, yet he knew in whom he had believed. He repeated many passages of Scripture, among them the words from the 88th Psalm—“O Lord, rebuke me not in thine anger,” which he had a few days before expounded to the Italian congregation. Upon his only son he solemnly enjoined four things: the care of the Church, if he ever should be called to it; the love of truth; humility; and charity. To his relative, Dr. Michel Turrettin, Pastor and Professor, he declared his faith and hope, and committed the solemn care of the Church. His charges and exhortations were numerous. His countenance was expressive rather of triumph than of death. When, as his agony increased,
10 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH some of those who stood by reminded him of his last sermon, on the words, Let us come boldly to the throne of grace, he cried, as if im- patient, FEamus, eamus! Shortly after he slumbered, and so died without a struggle, at the age of sixty-four years.
It is not necessary to dwell upon the char- acter of Francis Turrettin as a theologian. His adherence to the received doctrine of the Reformed Church is so uniform and strict, that there is no writer who has higher claims as an authority as to what that doctrine is. His distinguishing excellence is perspicuity and discrimination. His intellect was admirably fitted and trained for perceiving and stating the real principles involved in theological questions; so that lie was a remarkable illustration of the maxim, que bene distinguit, bene docet. To this primary excellence he added an admirable judgment, which is evinced in the characteristic moderation of his opinions, and the general soundness of his arguments. His method is simple and logical. Under every head he begins with the Status Questions, y and, with discriminating accuracy, frees the
Ja ass —— OF FRANCIS TURRETTIN. 11 subject in hand from all adventitious matter, and brings out the precise point to be consid- i ered. Then follow his arguments in numeri- I cal order, each distinct and in logical succes- sion, in support of the position which he ad- vocates. To this series of arguments succeeds the Fontes Solutionum, or answers to objec- tions, which often furnish examples of as pithy and discriminating replies as are anywhere to be met with. There is scarcely a question which American divines have been discussing as discoveries, which the student will not find settled, or at least considered, in the perspicuous pages of Turrettin.
The writer in the Princeton Review, (for July, 1848.) from whom the present sketch has been extracted, concludes his article with these sentences, which are well worthy of re- production here:—‘ We were once told by Chief Justice Ewing [of New Jersey] that it was the uniform practice of Mr. Justice Washington to read through the whole of Blackstone’s Commentaries once a year; and that he did so to give consistency, method, and unity to all the otherwise scattered and heterogeneous acquisitions of the year. We entertain no doubt that a similar practice with regard to the equally logical and more commanding system of Turrettin, would do more for a masculine theology and an energetic pulpit, than cart-loads of religious journals, epitomes from the German, and occasional sermons.” eee ee