The secretary of the Sorbonne began to read the articles: the doctors listened and soon began to look at each other and ask if they had heard correctly. The venerable committee was agitated like the surface of the sea by a sudden squall. They knew Francis; they knew he did not think there existed in his kingdom any society daring enough to set limits to his power. He expected that a word from his mouth would be considered as a decree from God. The doctors came to the conclusion, therefore, that if the king desired such a reform, nothing in the world could prevent him from establishing it. They saw the Church laid waste, and Rome in ruins.... It was the beginning of the end. Their terror and alarm increased every minute. All the sacred faculty, all the Church must rise and exclaim: 'Stop, Sire, or we perish!' The French autocrat, however, took his precautions, and even while meditating how he could strip the pope of his power, he put on a pleasant face, and ascribed to others the blows aimed by his orders against Rome. 'They are _Melanchthonian_ articles,' said his ministers.[664] True, but behind Melanchthon was Du Bellay, and behind him was the king. The tactics employed at this moment by Francis I. are of all times; and if the multitude is sometimes deceived, intelligent minds have always recognised the thoughts of the supreme mover under the pen of the humble secretary. The movement of Francis towards independence is in no respect surprising: the outburst is quite French if it is not christian. There has always existed in France a spirit of liberty so far as concerns the Church; and the most pious kings, even St. Louis, have defended the rights of their people against the holy see. The Gallican liberties, although they are nothing more than a dilapidated machine, are still a memorial of something; and what is dilapidated to-day may be restored to-morrow. It was therefore a truly French feeling,—it was that hidden chord which vibrates at the bottom of every generous heart, from the Channel to the Mediterranean Sea, whose harmonious sound was heard at this important period of the reign of Francis I.