But Calvin's hesitation was overcome by the urgent entreaties of the Genevese, and the advice of his most intimate friends. M. Bernard, one of the pastors who had remained in Geneva after his departure, wrote to tell him that on a day in February 1541, when he was in the pulpit, he saw that his hearers were deeply grieved at the destitution of the Church, and that he exhorted them to pray to the pastor of pastors, Jesus Christ, and implore him to put an end to this state of things; and, when he had spoken thus, every one thought of Calvin, and his name was on every tongue: 'As for me,' he continued, 'I blessed God that the stone which the builders had rejected had become the chief stone of the corner. {256} Come to us, then, revered brother in Christ; you belong to us, for the Lord has given you to us. Come! for the Lord would require our blood at your hands, because it is you whom he has established as a shepherd over the house of Israel, which is among us.' On the 1st of May, 1541, the General Council formally revoked the decree of exile which had been pronounced in 1538, stated that 'Calvin and Farel were good men and men of God, and approved of all that the Council had done or might do to induce Calvin to return.' They had ceased to urge Farel's return, because Neufchatel had explicitly refused to part with him. Calvin yielded: 'I thought the matter over conscientiously and with reverence, and when I saw that it was my duty I gave way, and consented to return to the flock from which I had been, as it were, torn away. But, as the Lord is my witness, I submitted with sorrow, tears, great solicitude, and anxiety. Not my will, O God, but thy will be done! I offer my heart as a sacrifice to the Lord.' Calvin arrived at Geneva on the 12th of September, 1541, [Footnote 84] after having spent a few days with Farel at Neufchatel. A house, with a garden, had been provided for him; and in the Registers of the Council for the month after his arrival, we find the following details:-- [Footnote 84: The 10th of September, according to a careful memoir by M. Amédée Roget, entitled _L'Église et l'État à Genève du Vivant de Calvin._ (Geneva, 1867.)] {257} 'Resolved to send for Maître Calvin's wife and household, and to provide him with all that is necessary for this purpose in men and money.' 'Resolved to buy Maître Calvin some broadcloth to make him a coat.' 'Cheque for eight crowns for Maître Calvin's coat.' 'Resolved that as Maître Calvin is a man of great learning, and well fitted to build up the Christian Church, and as he is put to great expense in entertaining strangers who pass through the city, that he shall receive a salary of 500 florins, [Footnote 85] twelve measures of wheat, and two tubs of wine, and shall take the oaths here.' [Footnote 86] [Footnote 85: Worth about 3,600 francs, or 150_l_. at the present time.] [Footnote 86: Gaberel, vol. i. Appendix, p. 116.]