Calvin and the other ministers of Geneva and its neighborhood watched with interest the changes which were taking place in the Pays de Vaud. But they did not conceal from themselves how much there still remained to do. On October 13, Calvin, before he started for Berne, whither he was summoned, wrote from Lausanne to one of his friends--‘Already in many places the idols and the altars of the papacy have begun to totter, and I hope that ere long all the superstitions that still prevail will be abolished. The Lord grant that idolatry may be altogether uprooted in all hearts.’[436] These words characterize the condition of the Pays de Vaud at that epoch. On November 21, 1536, a conference was held at Geneva, at which the pastors of the surrounding districts appear to have been present. Those of the Pays de Gex and of the Chablais undoubtedly attended.[437] A letter addressed by the conference to their brethren of Lausanne and of Vaud sufficiently refutes the calumnies cast upon the Reformation, and shows to what extent the reformers took heed of the purity of the Church. ‘The pontifical tyranny has been overthrown,’ they said; ‘silence has been imposed upon the monks, because of their doctrines and their unchaste lives. Brethren, take heed lest another tyranny erect itself in place of the former. See that order and discipline be maintained among you, and everything that becomes a holy assembly. To that end seek your directions, not from any pontiff, nor in the rites of the pope, but from Jesus Christ and in his Word.... Examine with the utmost care the brethren whom you accept as pastors; see that their doctrine be pure and their lives spotless. Inform yourselves even of their family and the family of their wives, as St. Paul enjoins. Without such care you will prepare your own ruin and that of your people. As for ceremonies, let them be wholesome. Exercise your Christian liberty, but in such a way as to cause offence to no one.’ The pastors of Geneva, they said, had received two letters in which they found no Christian charity or moderation at all, but which savored of pontifical authority. This passage doubtless refers to Caroli. CHAPTER IV. THE REFORM AT GENEVA.--FORMULARY OF FAITH AND OF DISCIPLINE. (END OF 1536-1537.) [Sidenote: LIBERTY AND AUTHORITY.]