Enough has been said to show how the influence of the Reformed Swiss Churches was brought to bear on English Protestantism; on the Anglican Church in respect of doctrine; and on the dissenting Church, that is, Puritanism, in respect of both doctrine and form of worship. The Reformed Church is the result of an amalgamation between the two mother Churches of Geneva and Zurich, the union being brought about by the desire of the leaders Calvin, Farel, Beza, Bullinger, who, anxious for peace and concord, made mutual concessions.[65] Thus in Switzerland the narrowness of Calvinism has been tempered by an admixture of the broader and more enlightened teachings of Zwinglius, or rather the basis of the teaching is Zwingli's, and Calvin has confirmed, intensified, and completed it. Over France, England, Scotland, Holland, and North America the reformed faith spread its roots "to grow up to trees of the same family, but of different shape and size according to the soil from which they started up." That Switzerland, with the exception of Geneva, inclined strongly to Zwinglianism we have already shown. To deal adequately with the question of the religious influence of Switzerland on other European countries would be impossible within the limits of this work. But that its influence was very great needs no saying. And not in Europe alone, for the Puritan spirit was carried beyond the ocean, and the reformers of Switzerland had their disciples in far-away New England. Even modern Unitarianism is, in a sense, the direct descendant of the reformation of Zurich, and its apostles--Williams, Channing, Parker--are so far the successors of Zwingli and Bullinger. The revival of learning witnessed by the sixteenth century had its full effect in Switzerland. The thirst for knowledge was so great that men would undergo almost any privations in their pursuit of it. Thomas Platter--to cite but one instance out of many--rose from the humble position of goatherd to be a prominent master of Hebrew and the classics at Basel. In early life he laboured at rope-making, or turned serving-man, or even begged in the streets. His son Felix was a notable physician. The great reformers have already been spoken of. Besides the above,[66] we may just mention among the Catholics, Glarean, the foremost classical scholar of his country, crowned poet-laureate by the Emperor Max. I.; and Tschudi, of Glarus, the brilliant narrator, author of the national epic, Tell, and for centuries the first authority on Swiss history; Paracelsus of Einsiedeln: of Protestants, Manuel (Bern), the satirical poet, and painter of the _Todten Tänze à la Holbein_; and, above all, Gessner, of Zurich, scholar, philosopher, naturalist, the "Pliny of Germany."