I should feel ashamed, my most worthy sir, and respected brother, for having made no reply to your two letters, had I not some excuse for my silence. The truth is, I was unwilling to write to you before matters were arranged, for fear that our bickerings should occasion you perplexity and anxiety of mind, knowing that these feelings would be shared with you by the best and most faithful of our brethren. And then we have been agitated by such a variety of incidents, that not one day has shone out on us without being overcast by the anticipated clouds of the morrow. At length affairs have come to this point, that all the parties are reconciled to one another. For the senate had been divided into factions, and so openly had the animosity of these factions manifested itself, that the wicked felt the vengeance of God impending over them. (From "Selected Works of John Calvin, Vol. 6 Letters. 1554-1558" by John Calvin)