‘If there be now a universal council which pretends to infallibility, let it then show us that it assembles _in the name of Jesus_! A holy company indeed is that of the pope and his cardinals! Fair pillars of the church are bishops and prelates! Great zealots for the faith are the monks! It is greatly to be doubted whether, if all that multitude were thoroughly sifted, one man among them would be found deserving to be called a true member of the Church of Christ! It is of men who are all trying to get the benefices and the dignities of the Church that a general council consists, and this calls itself the Church universal. Ah! to secure their wealth, their honor, and their gain, they would be ready not only to trample in the dust the word of Jesus Christ, but they would go further and put himself to death, if he were present in his own person. Such is the fine band with whom, if we take their word, the Holy Spirit dwells! If any man offer to contend with them on reasonable grounds, proceedings will be taken against him to punish him for his audacity, and, as was the case at the council of Constance, he will be condemned and burnt.’[398] Thus spake Farel. We may perhaps think some of his remarks severe, but if we take into account the time, the form of his speech is certainly not amiss, and the substance of it is unanswerable. After that discourse, the Dominican Monbouson and the reformer Viret argued on the same subject till eleven o’clock. Then the call was heard, ‘Retire for dinner,’ and the meeting broke up. In the afternoon the old priests and monks of Thonon, who had bragged that they would put the ministers to confusion, were in the assembly. Fabry, who was well acquainted with Thonon and its clergy, invited them to speak. Not one of them did so. Two of them declared that they believed the theses to be true, and most of the others contented themselves with giving their adhesion to the protest of the canons.