Page 35 - 12 The French Reformation

Here for a few months he remained, safe

under the protection of powerful friends, and

engaged as before in study. But his heart was

set upon the evangelization of France, and he

could not long remain inactive. As soon as the

storm had somewhat abated, he sought a new

field of labor in Poitiers, where was a

university, and where already the new

opinions had found favor. Persons of all

classes gladly listened to the gospel. There

was no public preaching, but in the home of

the chief magistrate, in his own lodgings, and

sometimes in a public garden, Calvin opened

the words of eternal life to those who desired

to listen. After a time, as the number of

hearers increased, it was thought safer to

assemble outside the city. A cave in the side

of a deep and narrow gorge, where trees and

overhanging rocks made the seclusion still

more complete, was chosen as the place of