His stay at Noyon was very short. It was not possible for him to go direct to Basle or Strasburg, because of the war between Charles V. and Francis I., which prevented his crossing Champagne and Lorraine; but he learnt that he could, without encountering any difficulty, pass through Bresse, then ascend the Rhone, traverse Geneva, and so reach Basle by way of Lausanne and Berne. He took this road. 'In all this,' says Beza, 'God was his guide.'[839]
Thus drew near to Geneva the great theologian who discerned more clearly than any other man of that day what, in doctrine and in life, was in conformity with or opposed to God's truth and will. Whereas his predecessors had left some few traditions existing by the side of Scripture, he laid bare the rock of the Word. Truth had become the sole passion of that ardent and inflexible soul, and he was resolved to dedicate his whole life to it. At that time, however, he had no idea of performing a work like Luther's; and if he had been shown the career that was opening before him, he would have shrunk from it with terror. 'I will try to earn my living in a private station,' he said.[840] The ambition of Francis I. changed everything. That prince, unwittingly, accomplished the designs of God, who desired to place the reformer in the centre of Europe, between Italy, Germany, and France.
[809] Défense de Calvin, par Drelincourt, p. 337.
[810] Œuvres de Cl. Marot, ii. p. 337.
[811] 'Vengo assicurato da chi ha veduto gli atti dell' Inquisizion di Ferrara.'—Muratori, Annali d'Italia, xiv. p. 305.
[812] 'Che si pestifero mobile fu fatto prigione.'—Ibid.
[813] Calvin on Acts xii. 6.
[814] 'Mentre che era condotto da Ferrara a Bologna.'—Muratori, Annali d'Italia, xix. p. 305.
[815] 'Gente armata.'—Ibid.
[816] 'Fu messo in libertà.'—Ibid.