Enzinas had met Alasco at Louvain in 1536, when the latter, after leaving Poland, had directed his steps to the Netherlands. He had been struck with the aspect, at once serious and gentle, of the Polish noble, and he had admired the air of stateliness and dignity which invested his whole person.[77] But he had not yet perceived 'the treasures which lay hidden in the depth of his soul.' Subsequently, Albert Hardenberg arrived at Louvain. They talked together about John Alasco, and Hardenberg expressed himself with all the warmth of a friend. 'How can I name to you,' he said, 'all the gifts which God has bestowed on him, his eminent piety, his pure religion, the sweetness and the benevolence of his disposition, his wonderful acquaintance with all the liberal sciences, his aptitude for languages?... In these respects he surpasses all other men.'[78] These words of Hardenberg kindled in the heart of Enzinas a warm love for Alasco; and ere long, he says, the little spark became a great flame.[79] He would fain have gone to him in all haste; but he was detained at Louvain by insuperable obstacles. He attempted to write to him; but when he read over his letter, abashed and anxious, he threw it away. At last he set out; but when he had reached Antwerp he found himself compelled to go back to Louvain. Not long after his return he heard that Alasco's wife was there. She was, as we have seen, a native of this town. Francis hastened to her dwelling. He saw the wife and the daughter of his friend; he almost fancied that he saw the friend himself. He availed himself of the opportunity to write to the man for whom he had conceived one of those great and intense affections which are sometimes found in healthy natures. He wrote to Alasco as a soldier who stands near his captain. It appears that his parents had destined him for a military career, and he knew the almost inflexible will of his father. He had had conflicts to go through. A Spanish noble, doubtless for the purpose of encouraging him to enter upon the career which his father had chosen, had presented him with a beautiful and antique sword. 'Although,' wrote the young soldier of Christ to Alasco, 'I should see the whole world taking up arms against me, because in spite of the advice of respected men I dedicate myself to study, I would not slight the gifts which God in his goodness, and without any deservings on my part, has given me. I will strive like a man to propagate the truth which God has revealed to us. But for this purpose I must fly far from this Babylonish captivity, and betake myself to some place where piety is not proscribed, and where a man may devote himself to noble studies. I have decided to go to Wittenberg, to the university which possesses so many learned professors, where knowledge of such various kinds is to be found, and which enjoys the approbation of all good men. I think so highly of the knowledge, the judgment, and the gift of teaching of