s are wont to be solicited among the papists.
Those who are in quest of them besiege my doors, as if I must be
entreated after the fashion of the court; and vie with each other, as if
the possession of Christ's kingdom were a quiet one. And, on our part,
we desire to fulfil their earnest prayers to the extent of our ability;
but we are thoroughly exhausted; nay, we have for some time been
compelled to drag from the book-stores every workman that could be found
possessed even of a slight tincture of literature and religious
knowledge."[1037]

The letters that reached Calvin and his colleagues by every messenger
from Southern France--many of which have recently come to light in the
libraries of Paris and Geneva--present a vivid picture of the condition
of whole districts and provinces. From Milhau comes the intelligence
that the mass has for some time been banished from the place, but that a
single pastor is by no means sufficient; he must have a colleague, that
one minister may take exclusive care of the neighboring country, "where
there is an infinite number of churches," while the other remains in the
city. Everywhere there is an abundance of hot-headed persons who, by
their breaking of crosses and images, and even plundering of churches,
give the adversary an opportunity for calumniating. "May the Lord, of
His goodness, be pleased to purge His church of them!"[1038]

[Sidenote: Moderation of the Huguenot ministers.]

In these most difficult circumstances--while, on the one hand, the
demand for ministers was largely in excess of the supply, and, on the
other, the folly of certain inconsiderate enthusiasts seemed likely to
draw upon the great body of Protestants the unwarranted charge of
disorder and insubordination to law--the Huguenot ministers fearlessly
took a position that strikingly exhibits their excellent judgment, as
well as their high moral principle. They declined to countenance a
policy which offered, to say the least, bright temporary advantages.
They refused to trust the vessel freighted with their best hopes for the
future of France, to be carried into port on the treacherous waves of
popular excitement. They preferred to abate somewhat of the proper
demands which they might have exacted with success, that they might
deprive their enemies of the slightest ground for maligning their
loyalty to their native land and its legitimate king. When the
Protestants of Montauban--a town then beginning to assume a