From October 1540 to April 1541, four successive messengers carried the entreaties of the Genevese to Strasburg, or wherever else Calvin was to be found. The people of Strasburg seemed inclined, although with regret, to consent to his leaving them. They had just sent him again to the Diet of Ratisbon, but they were struck by the importance of Geneva as the home and centre of the Reformation in France and Italy, and were willing to give up their own advantage to the general interest of the common cause. But Calvin himself was greatly perplexed: 'I knew well,' he wrote to Farel, 'that you would urge me to comply with the request; but if you had seen my anguish when this message reached me, you would have had pity on me. {255} I was scarcely in possession of my senses. When I recall the life that I led in that place, I tremble to the very depths of my soul at the thought of returning. At that time I had often the greatest difficulty in stifling the desire of flight which would rise within me; but I felt that my hands and feet were bound to that city by the will of God. And now that his grace has set me free, shall I of my own will return thither and plunge again into an abyss of which I know the horror and the danger so well? ... Nevertheless the more I am inclined to recoil with terror from this task, the more I distrust myself. I therefore leave the thing to take its own way, and entreat my friends not to urge me in either direction. In any case I will never forsake the church of Geneva, which is dearer to me than my life. I am not seeking my own advantage, nor do I wish to make vain excuses; but I must see the will of God clearly in this matter, in order that I may walk in safety, and with his blessing.' This is a remarkable instance of the manner in which a noble nature may be attracted and yet alarmed by a great and difficult undertaking, and of the mingled eagerness and apprehension with which it may be approached.