_The Pope._ ‘Since piety, alas, has grown cold, men are naturally prompted to pass over from a faith too severe to one more lax, from a more continent religion to one more voluptuous, and from submission to independence.’ _Calvin._ ‘Who could endure such a piece of impudence? Whence, then, has come the ruin of religion which all pious men mourn? Whence comes the contempt of God and of sacred things? Whence, but from the apathy, the ignorance, and the malice with which Rome has buried Christ’s truth, or rather has banished it from the world! Every one knows what these pontiffs have been for four or five hundred years past. _It is easy_, says the pope, _to get men to pass from a continent life to a voluptuous one._ Who can hear such things without laughing? Every one knows in what sort of continence and austerity the Roman court lives, and all who are trained in it. Men who have corrupted the whole world by their waywardness, and defiled the earth with every kind of debauchery, have the impudence to reproach others with effeminacy and self-indulgence. Is it not known that the dissoluteness of Rome has been shameless, that luxury, incontinence, and a fabulous licentiousness which has burst all bonds, prevail in the midst of its creatures? And such men dare to exhibit themselves as guardians of obedience, of continence, and of severity!‘[65] [Sidenote: Who Profanes Religion?] _The Pope._ ‘Not only do they lead men astray, but they pillage the churches, drive away the bishops, profane religion, and all this with impunity.’ _Calvin._ ‘Those do not lead men astray who bring them back from deadly errors to Jesus Christ. Those do not pillage churches who snatch them from the hands of plunderers in order to put true pastors in them. Those do not drive away bishops who establish the religion of the Gospel. Those are not guilty of profanation whose work is to restore. What is the doctrine of these men, but that we should trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and live for him; while those of the pope’s party would have us trust in the saints, their bones and their images, in ceremonies and in human works? Where is the parish, where is the abbey, the bishopric, or the rich benefice, which is not held by men whose only accomplishments are hunting, seduction, and other follies and iniquities? Men who, when they become bishops, to be consistent with their profession as now understood, show themselves to be hunters, epicures, haunters of wine-shops, libertines, soldiers, and gladiators? This, verily, is sacrilege and pillage of churches! Has it been possible for Protestants to drive away a bishop, seeing it is so rare a thing to find a man that can fairly pass for one?’