to the absolute destruction of all religion.” “Were these professors theologians,” he asked, “that they should pretend to explain the Bible? Were not indeed the very Bibles of which they made use in large printed in Germany, the region of heresy? Or at least were they not indebted for them to the Jews?” The new professors made their rejoinder through Marillac, whose arguments covered, it will be noted, the points raised by Estienne in defence of his annotated editions of the Scriptures. “We make no pretensions,” said the professors, “to the name or the function of theologians. It is as philologists or grammarians only that we undertake to explain the Greek and Hebrew Scriptures. If you, who are criticising our teachings, possess any knowledge of Greek and Hebrew, you are at liberty to attend our lectures and, if you find any heresy in our instruction, to denounce us. If, however, you are yet ignorant of both Greek and Hebrew, on what grounds can you base your fitness as censors or your claims to forbid us to teach in these tongues? In teaching Greek, it is for us to decide what literature is best suited for our purpose. In teaching Hebrew, if, for various reasons, we find the Hebrew Scriptures best adapted for our classes, what right have you to complain? What other Hebrew book, indeed, would you select for us?” It is to be borne in mind that for the texts used for these lectures, the professors of the _Collége Royal_ were largely dependent upon the presses of Estienne, and that in defending their right to teach Greek and Hebrew, they were also contending for his right to print and to sell the books required. Impressed by these reasonings, and influenced also, of course, by the authority of the King, who had accepted for himself the responsibility for the scheme of instruction in his new college, the Parliament studiously avoided any decision in the controversy. This was, under the circumstances, a substantial victory for the defendants, and the _Collége Royal_ not only maintained its ground, but continued to increase in importance and in influence.[14] Maittaire quotes, in this connection, the testimony of Conrad Heresbach, a learned jurisconsult, who says that (in 1540) he heard a monk speaking thus from the pulpit: “A new language has been discovered which they call Greek. Against this you must be carefully on your guard, for it is the infant tongue of all heresies. There is a book written in that language called the New Testament. It is _un livre plein de ronces et de vipères_. As to the Hebrew tongue, it is well known that all who learn it presently become Jews.”