is excommunication but a tyrannical domination?’ The first two charges were baseless and almost childish; and as to excommunication, Calvin remarks that the general council of Geneva had allowed it, July 29, 1537, as ‘a holy and salutary proceeding among the faithful;’ and now they were horrified at the very word. The question was constantly arising for discussion whether the Church is not, like any other society, a union of persons possessing certain common characteristics, aiming at a certain object and under certain conditions, _a communion of persons united by a like Christian faith_,[708] or whether it is a receptacle for everything (_un tout y va_); which of all definitions would be by far the most opposed to the word of its founder. [Sidenote: PIERRE VANDEL.] It had been arranged between Vandel and his friends that, when he read or commented on the articles, they should support him with their acclamations, in order to inflame the minds of those present.[709] This plan succeeded. Cries of displeasure, furious and redoubled, were soon heard; one might have thought that the harmless articles were a statement of the blackest conspiracy. The irritation displayed by these partisans infected the whole assembly. It is well known how easily the crowd passes from any mood to its opposite. The lungs of a few passionate men played the part of bellows in setting all hearts on fire.[710] A spark was enough to kindle a conflagration. The flames spread from place to place; nothing stood against them, at least in appearance; and presently the assembly was in a blaze. ‘Better die,’ they shouted, ‘than hear them give us an account of the motives which have actuated them!’[711]