The Reformation of Geneva numbered in its ranks the friends, not only of evangelical truth, but of political liberty. There was both good and evil in this. The vigorous hand of the huguenots may possibly have been necessary to restrain the intrepid mamelukes; but it was to be regretted that the arms of the flesh shone beside those of the spirit. If reasoning by syllogism is bad in religious subjects, reasoning by the pike is worse still. Some partisans of the Reform gave a new version of the _Compel them to come in_ of the Romish Church, by practising a little of the _Compel them to go out_. Both of them need a little indulgence. The human mind having been kept in darkness for ten centuries, required a lengthened education before it could understand that it is unholy to employ in religion any other weapons than those of free conviction. [Sidenote: WAR OF THE TONGUE.] There was another kind of hostility, pretty frequent in those times, and more conformable to the manner of our days than swords and guns—the use of ridicule. The Genevans of both schools usually began with legitimate discussions, the catholics alleging the infallibility of the pope, and the reformed opposing them with that of the Word of God. They debated on this subject in the streets and in the convents, around the fire and even in the council. But they often passed from discussion to ridicule. One day, when the priests were walking in procession and singing aloud the prayers for the conversion of heretics, some huguenots, standing at the corner of a street, fancying a resemblance between their harsh chants and the voice of a certain thick-skinned animal, said laughingly to one another: 'Give some thistles to those noisy braying donkeys.' 'Alas!' exclaimed the nuns in their cloister, 'they make so many jests that you could not write them down in a year!' It is Sister Jeanne who records this fact, but her narrative is so full of fables that we cannot guarantee its authenticity.[708] Most of the priests were stronger in arm than in mind, and preferred a fight with swords to one with words. That devout canon and valiant knight Messire Pierre Wernli was bursting with rage. He harangued in the convents, in private houses, and even in the streets; he wished to fight and prove, halberd in hand, that supreme respect was due to the papacy. He held frequent conferences with the heads of the party, both lay and ecclesiastic, at Percival de Pesmes', at M. de Thorens', or at the vicar-episcopal's. All kept their eyes and ears open, determined to take advantage of the first opportunity to secure the triumph of their cause. They thought the time for action had come at last.