Farel was not at Basel at that moment, and was not to return thither. The tidings of the persecutions which had fallen upon him, of his exile and his sufferings, had grieved the people of Neuchâtel, and revived in their hearts their old love for the man from whom they had learned the elements of the faith. The Council of the Sixty, representatives of the city, after calling upon the Lord, communicated to the class of ministers the desire which they felt of inviting Farel to become their pastor.[729] The post was, as we shall see, actually vacant. Two councillors and two members of the class went to Basel. ‘Come,’ they said to him, ‘and complete the building of which you laid the foundation.’ Farel, like Calvin, could not make up his mind to accept a pastoral charge, but preferred to devote himself to study.[730] At length, encouraged by his friends, entreated in the name of the Lord, and ‘persuaded to it with great earnestness by the German Churches,’ he consented; but it was on condition that he should introduce in the Church the order prescribed in the Holy Scriptures. Having once decided, he set out suddenly for Neuchâtel, about the end of July, ‘with his customary promptitude,’ says Calvin.[731] Thenceforth Farel and Calvin were separated; but this removal from each other did not in any degree impair the union of their hearts nor the firmness of their characters, whatever the moderates of Strasburg might think. [Sidenote: FAREL CALLED TO NEUCHATEL.] The latter once more renewed their call. Would not the ministerial office conferred on Calvin by a Church of such high standing as that of Strasburg be a brilliant justification which would silence evil tongues? What good service might he not render there! The empire had need of able theologians, and perhaps the Strasburgers desired to have him settled among them by way of counterpoise to the powerful personality and authority of Luther. Be that as it may, his friends on the banks of the Rhine could not bear the thought that so powerful a servant of God ‘should be satisfied to live in retirement without undertaking any public office;’[732] and as he still refused, they took steps towards inducing the Genevese to recall the reformer. If he will not come to Strasburg, let him go to Geneva. This proceeding appears to have had some effect on Calvin. He would go anywhere rather than return to the city of his sorrows. The Strasburgers, finding that he was somewhat giving way, made a fresh advance. ‘That excellent servant of Christ, Martin Bucer,’ says Calvin, ‘addressing to me a remonstrance and protest similar to that which Farel had previously made, called me to another place. Alarmed by the case of Jonah, which he set before me, I persevered still in the office of teacher.’[733] Calvin therefore went to Strasburg in September, and began to preach in the choir of the church of the Dominicans to the French refugees in the town, with whom