Great was the commotion in the city at hearing such words addressed by the pastor of Geneva to his flock; for if the bishop made use of such threats, it was with the intention of establishing the authority of a foreign prince among them. The true huguenots, who wanted neither duke nor bishop, were silent under these circumstances, and allowed the episcopal party, of which Hugues was the chief, to act. Two ambassadors from the bishop having been introduced before the general council on the 14th of June, 1528, the premier syndic said to them: 'If the bishop desires to appoint a vidame to administer justice among us, we will accept him; but the dukes of Savoy have never had other than an unlawful authority in Geneva. We have no prince but the bishop. Has he forgotten the great misfortunes that have befallen the city in consequence of these Savoyard vidames?... Citizens perpetually threatened, many of them imprisoned and tortured, their heads cut off, their bodies quartered.... But God has helped us, and we will no longer live in such misery.... No!' continued the speaker with some emotion, 'we will not renounce the independence which our charters secure to us.... Rather than lose it, we will sacrifice our lives and goods, our wives, and our children.... We will give up everything, to our last breath, to the last drop of our blood.'... Such words, uttered with warmth, always excite the masses; and, accordingly, as soon as the people heard them, they cried as with one voice: 'Yes! yes! that is the answer we will make.' This declaration was immediately sent into Switzerland; and, strange to say, such patriotic enthusiasm was received with ridicule by some persons in that noble country. Geneva was so small and so weak, that her determination to resist a prince so powerful as the duke seemed mere folly: the Swiss had forgotten that their ancestors, although few in number, had vanquished Austria and Burgundy. 'These Genevans _are all mad_,' said they. When they heard of this insult, the council of Geneva was content to enter in its registers the following simple and spirited declaration: 'Considering our ambassadors' report of what the Swiss say of us, it is ordered that they be written to and told that we _are all in our right minds_.'[782]