Farel had let him speak; nevertheless he did not think that he was thereby discharged from the injunction which had been given him. He was acquainted with certain traits of Caroli’s life which might give the lords of Berne the intelligence of which they were in need. He narrated the shameful licentiousness of the man, who had lived at Paris with women of the vilest reputation, and had actually been accused of keeping five or six at a time. He showed how two young men, carried away by their zeal against images, had taken it into their heads to hang some of them; and how that same Caroli, who at that time professed that the worship of images diverts men from the knowledge of the true God, had caused these youths to be kept in the prison into which they had been cast until two judges arrived, who had them delivered over to the executioners. Viret related the discussion which he had held with Caroli on the subject of prayers for the dead; and, at the request of the Bernese, reported various details of his conduct, among others his drunkenness, which had more than once exposed him to the derision of the public. [Sidenote: BERNE PROMOTES THE REFORMATION.] In consequence of these debates, Caroli was deprived of his functions by the synod. The great council of Berne confirmed this sentence; pronounced Farel, Calvin, and Viret innocent of the charges brought against them; condemned Caroli to banishment as guilty of slander and other excesses; and remitted the cause to the consistory to be formally terminated. As the presumptuous doctor was unwilling to submit to that authority, the parties were summoned before the civil magistrates (_avoyers_) and the councils. Calvin, Farel, and Viret accordingly presented themselves, June 6, but Caroli did not appear. An usher, sent by the lords of Berne to seek him, brought word that he had disappeared.[526] He had in fact fled early in the morning, and had taken the road to Soleure. From that place he withdrew into France, to the cardinal of Tournon, the great enemy of the Reformation. The latter obtained absolution for Caroli from the pope. The wretched man had hoped that, by returning into the Roman Church, he should get a good benefice; but he found that he was held in equal contempt by Catholics and Protestants. To close the affair, it was agreed to approve the terms Trinity, substance, and persons (Calvin himself had made use of them); but at the same time that if any pious man declined to employ them, ‘he should not be cast out of the Church, nor should be looked on as one who thought wrongly as to the faith.’[527] This episode in Calvin’s life shows us not only his firm attachment to the truth, which everyone acknowledges, but likewise a spirit of freedom which is ordinarily denied to him. It is clear that with him the Word of God stood before all, and that the faith, the life, and essence of Christianity had more value in his eyes than mere traditional terms, which are not to be found in the Scriptures.