The disciples of the Gospel did not confine themselves to words. Matters were in good train, and it was desirable to persevere until the end was reached. While the Sorbonne bent its head, the Reformation was looking up. The Queen of Navarre and her husband, with many politicians and men of rank, encouraged Roussel, Courault, and others to preach the Gospel fearlessly; even these evangelists were astonished at their sudden favour. Roussel in particular advanced timidly, asking whether the Church would not interpose its _veto_? But no; Bishop du Bellay, the diplomatist's brother, did not interfere. During the whole period of the king's absence, Paris was almost like a country in the act of reforming itself. Men thought themselves already secure of that religious liberty which, alas! was to cost three centuries of struggle and the purest blood, and whose lamentable defeats were to scatter the confessors of Jesus Christ into every part of the world. When a great good is to be bestowed on the human race, the deliverance is only accomplished by successive efforts. But at this time men thought they had attained the end at a single bound. From the pulpits that were opened to them in every quarter of Paris, the evangelists proclaimed that the truth had been revealed in Jesus Christ; that the Word of God, contained in the writings of the prophets and apostles, did not require to be sanctioned or interpreted by an infallible authority; and that whoever listened to it or read it with a sincere heart, would be enlightened and saved by it. The tutelage of the priests was abolished, and emancipated souls were brought into immediate contact with God and his revelation. The great salvation purchased by the death of Christ upon the cross was announced with power, and the friends of the Gospel, transported with joy, exclaimed: 'At last Christ is preached publicly in the pulpits of the capital, and all speak of it freely.[331] May the Lord increase among us day by day the glory of his Gospel!'[332] [Sidenote: SATIRES OF THE STUDENTS.]