He had a very numerous household. Many boys of good family from Basel, Berne, Zurich, Bienne, and other towns, lived in his house; and he had a young daughter, in delicate health, whom he would be obliged to take with him in the depth of winter. The next day, December 27, he appeared before the Council of the Two Hundred, stated the circumstances which we have just related, reminded them that he was a citizen of the town, and showed them that the resolution which they had adopted might be the ruin of the college, which was indispensable to the youth of Geneva. In fine, he could not possibly make the necessary arrangements in so short a time. This last point was the only one to which the Great Council took any heed. It confirmed the resolution of the Little Council, but granted to the regents fifteen days to act upon it. He must therefore depart. Saunier and his colleagues took the same road as Calvin and Farel had taken. Mathurin Cordier, who had received the knowledge of the Gospel from the celebrated Robert Etienne, had devoted his life to the task ‘of training youth in piety and in good morals, cultivating in them a pure and elegant style, and the love of literature;’ had composed some important works;[766] and was one of those antique souls, it has been said, who always prefer the public good to their own interest. The loss of such a man was irreparable, but it was not final. The council sought for substitutes for these men; but they were forced to acknowledge that to find them was no easy matter. The first candidate who offered himself was rejected because he was a German. The second, Claude Viguier, beat one of his pupils so severely as to draw blood. The republican magistrates of 1538 placed submission to their arbitrary orders before the real interests of the schools and the people.[767] Calvin seemed to regret the course taken by Saunier. He entreated Farel to do everything in his power to prevent division and confusion from extending, and to induce the brethren no longer to refuse the rites adopted by the council. [Sidenote: PERSECUTION OF CALVIN’S FRIENDS.]