Rise and Establishment of Protestantism at Geneva - James Aitken Wylie

for admittance, the cry was raised, "To the
Molard!" To the Molard the crowd marched,
carrying with them the preacher. It was New Year's
Day, 1533. The Molard was the market-square, and
here, mounted on a fish-stall – the first public
pulpit in Geneva – Froment preached to the
multitude. It was his "New Year's gift," as it has
been called. Having prayed, he began his sermon
[14] by announcing that "free pardon"–the ray from
the open heavens which leads the eye upward to
the throne of a Savior – which all the Reformers,
treading in the steps of the apostles, placed in the
foreground of their teaching. From this he went on
to present to his hearers the lineaments of the "false
prophets" and "idolatrous priests" as painted in the
Old and New Testaments, pointing out the exact
verification of these features in the Romish
hierarchy of their own day. Froment's delineations
were so minute, so graphic and fearless, that his
hearers saw the prophets of Baal, and the Pharisees
of a corrupt Judaism, living over again in the
priests of their own city. The preacher had become
warm with his theme, and the audience were
kindling in sympathy, when a sound of hurrying
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