If the council did not come to a decision on the question which Calvin had decided, it was because, as it declared, it had other business in hand; and the most important of all was the recall of that great teacher who had displayed so much fairness and moderation. The council felt more and more that the powerful mind and the high authority of Calvin were indispensable in Geneva; and therefore again and again they pressed for his return. On September 20 the Little Council gave Perrin the commission of which we have spoken. On October 13 the Two Hundred decreed that a letter should be written to the Reformer, ‘begging him to consent to assist us.’ Michel Dubois was to be the bearer of the letter, and ‘was to make earnest appeals to the friends of the Reformer to persuade him to come.’ On the 19th the same council decided ‘that, for the promotion of the honor and glory of God, every thing possible must be done to get Master Calvin back.’ The next day the people assembled in General Council decreed that, ‘for the advancement and extension of the word of God, a deputation should be sent to Strasburg to fetch Master Calvin, who is very learned, to be evangelical minister in this town.’ On October 22 Louis Dufour, a member of the Two Hundred, was instructed to take the message of the councils to Strasburg; and on the 27th, twenty golden _écus au soleil_ were voted to him for the purpose of fetching Master Calvin. They insisted upon it; they reiterated their determination; they decided the matter, and then decided it over again; they did not hesitate to repeat it again and again. The matter was of such importance that entreaties must be urgent. Dufour set out. Would he succeed? That was the question, and it was very doubtful.[14] When Calvin received the first message, previous to that of Dufour, he was so much excited and thrown into so great a perplexity that for two days he was hardly master of himself.[15] Remembering the distress of mind which he had suffered at Geneva, his whole soul shrank with horror from the thought of returning thither. Had not his conscience been put to the torture? Had not anxieties consumed him? ‘I dread that town,’ he exclaimed, ‘as a place fatal to me.[16] Who will blame me if I am unwilling to plunge again into that deadly gulf? Besides, can I believe that my ministry will be profitable there? The spirit which actuates most of the inhabitants is such as will be intolerable to me, and I shall be equally so to them.’ Then turning his thoughts in another direction he exclaimed—‘Nevertheless I desire so earnestly the good of the church of Geneva, that I would sooner risk my life a hundred times than betray it by desertion.[17] I am ready therefore to follow the advice of those whom I regard as sure and faithful guides.’ It was to Farel that Calvin thus poured out his heart. It was his advice that he sought, and there was no doubt what this advice would be. [Sidenote: Calvin At Worms.]