He did more. Berquin's death had struck all his friends with terror. 'If they have burnt this green wood,' said some, 'they will not spare the dry.' Calvin, not permitting himself to be checked by these alarms, began to explore that city which had become so dangerous. He joined the secret assemblies which met under the shadow of night in remote quarters,[147] where he explained the Scriptures with a clearness and energy of which none had ever heard the like. These meetings were held more particularly on the left bank of the Seine, in that part of the city which the catholics afterwards termed _Little Geneva_, and which, on the other hand, is now the seat of Parisian catholicism. One day the evangelicals would repair mysteriously to a house on the property of the abbey of St. Germain des Prés; another day they would meet in the precincts of the university, the _quartier latin_ of our times. In the room would be a few wooden benches, on which the poor people, a few students, and sometimes one or two men of learning, took their seats. They loved that simple-hearted young man, who so effectually introduced into their minds and hearts the truths he found in the Scriptures. 'The Word of Christ is always a fire,' they said; 'but when he explains it, this fire shines out with unusual brilliancy.' Young men formed themselves on his model; but there were many who rushed into controversy, instead of seeking edification as Calvin did. In the university quarter the pupils of Daniel and Vatable might be seen, with the Hebrew or Greek Testaments in their hands, disputing with everybody. 'It is thus in the Hebrew text,' they said; 'and the Greek text reads so and so.' Calvin did not, however, disdain polemics; following the natural bent of his mind, he attacked error and reprimanded the guilty. Some who were astonished at his language asked: 'Is not this the curé of Pont l'Evêque, the friend of Monseigneur de St. Eloy?' But, not allowing himself to be checked by these words, he confounded alike the superstitious papists and the incredulous innovators. 'He was wholly given up to divinity and to God, to the great delight of all believers.'[148] [Sidenote: HE CIRCULATES INFORMATION.]