Besides La Forge, Calvin had another intimate friend at Paris, whose personal character possessed a great attraction for him, although the tendency of his mind was quite different from that of his own. Louis du Tillet was one of those gentle moderate christians, who fear the cross and are paralysed by the opinion of the world. The _frondeur_ and he were two extremes: Calvin was a mean between them. Du Tillet wished to maintain the Catholic Church, even when reforming it, for he respected its unity. The reformer had been struck with his charity, his humility, and his love of truth; while Louis, on the other hand, admiring 'the great gifts and graces which the Lord had bestowed on his friend,' was never tired of listening to him. He belonged to a noble family of Angoulême; his father was vice-president of the Chamber of Accounts; his eldest brother was the king's valet-de-chambre; and his other brother was second chief-registrar to the parliament. He was continually fluctuating between Calvin and his own relatives, between Scripture and tradition, between God and the world. He would often leave Calvin to go and hear mass; but erelong, attracted by a charm for which he could not account, he returned to his friend, whose clear ideas threw some little light into his mind. Du Tillet exclaimed: 'Yes, I feel that there is much ignorance and darkness within me.' But the idea of forsaking the Church alarmed him, and he had hardly uttered such words as these when he hurried off again to confess. Calvin, thanks to the numerous friends who saw him closely, began to be appreciated even by those who calumniated his faith. 'This man at least leads an austere life,' they said: 'he is not a slave to his belly; from his youth he has abhorred the pleasures of the flesh;[237] he indulges neither in eating nor drinking.[238]... Look at him ... his mind is vigorous; his soul unites wisdom with daring.... But his body is thin and spare; one clearly sees that his days and nights are devoted to abstinence and study.'—'Do not suppose that I fast on account of your superstitions,' said Calvin. 'No! it is only because abstinence keeps away the pains that disturb me in my task.' [Sidenote: CALVIN AND COP.] Professor Nicholas Cop, son of that William Cop, the king's physician, the honour of whose birth (says Erasmus) both France and Germany disputed,[239] had recognised an inward life in Calvin, and a vigorous faith which captivated him, and he never met him in the neighbourhood of the university without speaking to him. They were often seen walking up and down absorbed in talk, while the priests looked on distrustfully. These conversations disturbed them: 'Cop will be spoilt,' they said, and they endeavoured to prejudice him against his friend; but their intimacy only became stricter.