The grand idea of the counsellors of Francis I., and of the king himself, was, at this time, to substitute for the old policy of France a new and more independent policy, which would protect it against the encroachments of the papacy. Melanchthon was charmed at the king's letter. 'The Frenchman answered us in the most amiable manner,' he said.[195] A council guided by the Spirit of God was precisely what the German protestants demanded: they thought themselves on the point of coming to an understanding with the King of France. This hope took possession of Margaret also, and of the powerful party in the royal council who thought, like her, that the union of France, Germany, and England would lead to an internal and universal reform of christendom. The king, urged to form an alliance with the German princes, resolved to send an ambassador on his part, and selected for this mission one Gervais Waim. The choice was an unlucky one: Waim, a German by birth, but long resident in Paris,[196] desired that everything in Germany should remain as he had left it. A blind partisan of the ancient state of things, he regarded any change as an outrage towards the German nation, and was full of prejudices against the Reformation. Accordingly, he had hardly arrived at Wittemberg (this was in the spring of 1531), when he sought every opportunity of gratifying his blind hatred. He met with a grand reception; banquets and entertainments were given in his honour. One day there was a large party, at which Luther was present with his friends and many evangelical christians, who were desirous of meeting the envoy of the King of France. The latter, instead of conciliating their minds, grew warm, and exclaimed: 'You have neither church nor magistrate nor marriage; every man does what he pleases, and all is confusion as among the brutes. The king my master knows it very well.'[197] On hearing this extravagant assertion, the company opened their eyes. Some got angry, others laughed, many despaired of ever coming to an understanding with Francis I. Melanchthon changed his opinion entirely. 'This man,' he said, 'is a great enemy of our cause.... The kings of the earth think of nothing but their own interest; and if Christ does not provide for the safety of the Church, all is lost.'[198] He never said a truer thing. Waim soon found that he had not been a good diplomatist, and that he ought not to have shocked the protestant sentiment; he therefore confined himself to his duty, and his official communications were of more value than his private conversations.[199] We shall see presently the important steps taken by France towards an alliance with evangelical Germany. [Sidenote: IMPRUDENCE OF THE FRENCH DEPUTY.]