Calvin's prayers were answered from the very first by the success of the academy. 'There was a hall in the cloisters of St. Peter's church, in which classes were held, and the number of pupils attending them was so great, that the Council set apart the chapel of Notre Dame la Neuve, which was, after that, called the _auditorium_. A hundred and nine students received instruction from the new professors, and more than eight hundred theological students, consecrated to the propagation of the Gospel in France or Germany, gathered around Calvin.' [Footnote 136] [Footnote 136: Gaberel, i. 507.] This brilliant beginning was followed by permanent success; Calvin's system of public education has existed and prospered in Geneva for more than three centuries. He was not able at first to give it so large a development as he desired. He wished to establish schools of law and medicine in the University, and also of all the higher studies, but he could find neither the necessary professors nor the funds. At a later period, however, the University of Geneva was honoured by the presence of many men, illustrious in the world of science; Isaac Casaubon, Joseph Scaliger, and Hottoman were there, as professors of Greek, of philosophy, and of law. In our own day, Bonnet, De Saussure, Pictet, and De Candolle have shed upon Geneva the light and fame of their studies in natural science. {354} The educational establishments of Geneva were so vigorous, and so firmly rooted in their native soil, that they withstood the effect of revolutions which changed the face of the country. My mother, guided by her great intelligence and entire devotion to my education, took me to Geneva in 1799, in order that I might obtain a classical and complete education, for which there was not at that time any facility in France. Geneva had then become a French Department; but the college, the university, the lecture-halls for literature and philosophy, had survived the fall of its national existence. The republic of Geneva had disappeared, but the religious reformation and the system of public education established by Calvin, the theological and scientific professorships which he had founded, were still in existence, and doing good work. Internal revolutions have again changed the face of Geneva, but Calvin's work goes on; his anniversary is still celebrated, and a new building has been recently dedicated to the cause which he promoted, and to the honour of his name. {355} Chapter XXII. The End.