The next day was the 10th of August, a memorable day which was to decide the destiny of Geneva. There was great agitation throughout the city. Some of the friends of Rome still hoped, trusting in the antiquity of their forms and traditions; but the reformed believed the cause of the Reformation gained, since there was on its side God, His Word, and the majority of the citizens and of the councils. The two hundred senators having taken their place, and many other persons of note sitting near them, Farel appeared, accompanied by Pierre Viret, Jacques Bernard, and several laymen. His slight appearance, his complexion tanned by the sun, and his red beard, so dreaded by the priests, had nothing imposing; but there was in that man a heart burning with love for Christ's Gospel, and from those thick lips flowed streams of masculine eloquence which carried away all hearers. He advanced firm and sure of the victory of the Reformation. It is written: _Whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world. Fear not._ There was much talking and agitation in the assembly: the men who composed it had a presentiment of great things; they felt the importance of the crisis, and, full of anxiety about what would happen, fixed their eyes on Farel. [Sidenote: FAREL BEFORE THE COUNCIL.] Silence having been proclaimed, the reformer, holding the minutes of the disputation in his hand, began to speak, and selected as the principal points of the debate the worship of images and the sacrifice of the mass. He reminded them 'that most of those who demanded their maintenance had abstained from appearing; that others had not been able to defend them, and that many had rejected them. 'Why,' he exclaimed, 'should not all embrace the Gospel? We are ready, my colleagues and I, not only to make a public confession, but (if necessary) to sprinkle it with our blood.' Then addressing the council directly, and raising his 'voice of thunder,' says a Roman-catholic author, he called upon the assembly to deliver a judgment that should give glory to God. 'What!' said he: 'the dominion of the papacy is falling, and would you lift your hands to support what God is overthrowing? Will you always halt between two opinions? If the pope really utters oracles, listen to him; but if the voice we hear in Scripture is God's voice, do what it ordains.'—Here Farel stopped: he felt the importance of the decision that was about to be taken, and a profound emotion came over him. Lifting his hands towards heaven, he exclaimed: 'O God! enlighten this council, make it understand that Thy glory and the salvation of all this people are concerned; humble the loud boasting of the priests,[582] and make Thy cause triumph.' This 'earnest prayer,' as a manuscript terms it, made a deep impression upon all who heard it.