The papal fleet, all fluttering with banners, had a smooth passage.[466] Clement could without interruption meditate on a thousand different projects. Marry Catherine to the son of the King of France; free himself, thanks to the support of this prince, from the patronage of the emperor whom he detested; put off indefinitely the council which Charles had been so bold as to promise to the protestants; and finally crush the Reformation, both in France and elsewhere.... Such were Clement's projects during the voyage. Before leaving Rome, he had drawn up (1st of September) a bull against the heretics; he had it on board the ship, and he purposed demanding its immediate execution from Francis, as a wedding present. The winds blew softly in the direction of Marseilles; all congratulated themselves on the beauty of the passage; but this fleet, in appearance so inoffensive, which glided so smoothly over the waters of the Mediterranean, carried, like the bark of Ulysses, stores of future tempests. Opinions were much divided in France about the pope's voyage. If Clement satisfied Francis, the Reform was ruined; if he thwarted the king, France would follow the example of England. Everybody admitted the hypothesis that pleased him best. 'Francis and Clement,' said the reformed, 'follow such opposite courses, that it is impossible for them to coincide.'—'The king and the pope,' said the ultramontanists, 'are about to be united by indissoluble bonds, and popery will be restored in France in all its exclusive supremacy.'[467] There were however some of the school of Erasmus who remained in doubt. 'As for me,' wrote Professor Sturm to Bucer, 'I desire much that popery should be overthrown, but ... I fear greatly that it will be restored.'[468] Sturm did not compromise himself. To which side will Marseilles make Francis I. incline? Historians have decided that he was won over to Rome; but after hearing the historians, we must listen to history. [Sidenote: THE POPE AT MARSEILLES.]