chatted and laughed as they came down the mountain, and, as Racine says: Ils suivaient du plaisir la pente trop aisée. Now, in the midst of this gaiety and these pretty trifling speeches, there was, said Pernot to the consistory, some talk about marriage. Moreover, he added, when they arrived at Collonges-sous-Salève, Claudine had drunk with him ‘to their marriage, in the presence of credible witnesses.’ But Claudine denied it altogether. She drank, she owned, but agreed to nothing else, because she had not the permission of her parents. Thus, then, a dispute about a promise made on the mountain and at the inn was one of the subjects to which the grave Calvin had to give his attention. There were other questions of more importance. Domestic disagreements, altercations, duels, games of chance, above all licentious conduct, were frequently brought before the consistory; but such cases gradually diminished in number.[185] [Sidenote: Subjects Before The Consistory.] The consistory had besides much to do with Roman Catholicism, which was of too long standing in the episcopal city to be expelled from it at a single stroke. Now, hostility to Rome was at this time general. It prevailed in the ministers and their friends by reason of their attachment to the Holy Scriptures, which condemned the system of the papacy. It prevailed in the other citizens by reason of the conviction which possessed them that Protestantism alone could maintain their independence. It influenced the French refugees who, having escaped from prison, and from the death to which their brethren were still exposed, felt their hearts stirred with indignation at the sight of Roman Catholicism, the source of these hateful persecutions. Further, many persons were cited before the consistory on suspicion of being Romanists. These people were not very courageous; in their own church they were placed under a _régime_ of fear; and a soul that is led by fear is always the weaker. [Sidenote: Examination Of Jeanne Peterman.] On March 30, 1542, Dame Jeanne Peterman appeared before the consistory. She was unwilling to abjure her faith, but she endeavored to confess it as faintly as possible, and even had recourse to strategem to avoid making an avowal of what she believed. She made a well-tangled skein, and endeavored thereby to entangle the members of the consistory. They wanted to clear up the matter, and she tried to darken it. ‘You have not received the holy supper,’ they said to her, ‘and you go to mass; what is your faith?’ ‘I believe in God,’ she said, ‘and wish to live in God and holy church. I say my _Pater Noster_ in the Roman tongue, and I believe just as the church believes.’ ‘What do you mean by that?’ ‘That I do not believe except just as the church believes.’ ‘Is there no church in this town?’ ‘I do not know.’ ‘Are not the sacraments of our Lord administered here?’ ‘I believe in the holy supper, as God said, _This is my body._’ ‘Why are you not content with the supper