He returned to his inn, and two days after (the 25th of June) he wrote to Daniel an account of his visit to the convent. Having finished, he was beginning another letter to a canon of Orleans,[142] when one of his friends arrived, who had come to take him for a ride. We might suppress this incident as being of no importance; but it is perhaps also an unexpected feature in Calvin's habits. He is generally represented as absorbed in his books or reprimanding the disorderly. And yet he was no stranger to the decent relaxations of life: he could ride on horseback and took pleasure in the exercise. He accepted his friend Viermey's offer. 'I shall finish the letter on my return,' he said,[143] and the two students set off on their excursion in the neighbourhood of Paris. A few days later Calvin hired a room in the college of Fortret, where he was near the professors, and resumed his study of languages, law, and philosophy.[144] He desired to learn. Having received the knowledge of divine things, he wished to acquire a true understanding of the world. But erelong the summons from on high sounded louder than ever in his heart. When he was in his room, surrounded by his law books, the voice of his conscience cried to him that he ought to study the Bible. When he went out, all his friends who felt a love for pure religion begged of him to devote himself to the Gospel.[145] Calvin was one of those fortresses that are not to be taken at the first assault. As he looked upon the books scattered about his study, he could not make up his mind to forsake them. But whenever in the course of his life God spoke clearly to him, he repressed his fondest desires. Thus urged from within and from without, he yielded at last. 'I renounce all other sciences,' he said, 'and give myself up entirely to theology and to God.'[146] This news spread among the secret assemblies of the faithful, and all were filled with great satisfaction. A mighty movement had taken place in Calvin's soul; but it must be understood that there was no plan laid down in his mind. He had no ambition, no art, no _rôle_; but he did with a strong will whatever God set before him. The time he now spent in Paris was his apprenticeship. Having given himself to God, he set to work with the decision of an energetic character and the firmness of a persevering mind. He studied theology with enthusiasm. 'The science of God is the mistress-science,' he said; 'the others are only her servants.' He gave consistency to that little chosen band who, in the midst of the crowd of scholars, turned lovingly towards the Holy Scriptures. He excited young and noble minds; he studied with them and endeavoured to explain their difficulties. [Sidenote: SPEAKS AT SECRET MEETINGS.]