One thing, however, checked him: in his opinion the Strasburg reformers observed too strict a middle path, and sometimes sacrificed truth to prudence. Calvin was troubled at this; by not breaking completely with Rome, were they not preparing the way to return to it? He was all the more alarmed, as the young canon of Angoulême had a great inclination for this middle way. Calvin, who would have desired to put Du Tillet in connection with decided reformers, saw the three doctors of Strasburg, and especially Bucer, holding out their hands to Melanchthon to reunite popery and the Reformation. Could he have led him into a snare?... 'I find learning and piety in Bucer and Capito,' he said one day, 'but they force me to desire in them firmness and constancy. We must be _liberal_, no doubt, but not so as to spend the wealth of another. And what precautions ought we not to take, when it is a question of spending God's truth?... He did not give it us that we should contract it in any way.'[302] True, these words are found in a document of later date; but already the wavering Du Tillet was approaching the gulf into which he was to fall. Calvin made up for his disappointments by devoting himself lovingly to the French refugees at Strasburg. He consoled them, succoured them, and gave them very trusty counsel.[303] To strengthen his exiled fellow-countrymen was the work of his whole life. 'We must be _strangers_ in this world,' he said, 'even if we do not quit the _nest_. But blessed are those who, rather than fall away from the faith, freely forsake their homes, and leave their earthly comforts to dwell with Christ.[304] Calvin did not remain long at Strasburg. Did he fear the influence of that city upon his friend? or did he find too many occupations and disturbances which prevented his giving all his time to the work to which he wished to dedicate himself? I think so, but there was something else. He understood that instead of receiving knowledge from the hand of others, he must personally work the mine of Scripture and dig up the precious gems that it contained. He wished, like the bee, to extract a store of the purest honey from the abundance of the flowers of the divine Word. He had had enough of travelling, of disagreements, of struggles, and of persecution ... his soul longed for solitude and quiet study. 'O God,' said he, 'hide me in some obscure corner, where I may at last enjoy the repose so long denied me.'[305] Calvin departed for Basle. [Sidenote: ERASMUS.]