The negotiation continued in Steinhausen and the Zurichan camp. The issue lay in the hands of the Bernese. Without them, Zurich was no longer able to carry on the war. The favorable moment had passed. Time had been given to the Five Cantons to gather and strengthen their army. The sight of their collective force raised the courage of individuals. In numbers they were not inferior to the Zurichers; surpassed them rather. And then, they beheld an abundance of provisions in the Zurichan camp, whilst in theirs, and at home in their vallies, want and famine prevailed, on account of the prohibition against importation. The assurance of this accessible and needful booty whetted their thirst for combat. To know that the power of deciding lay with the present leaders of the Bernese, made the prospect intolerable to Zwingli. He found in the _schultheiss_ Diesbach, their general, a lukewarm friend of the Reformation, and in him and most of the others advocates, rather than opposers, of pension-taking. The latter practice found such special favor among the Bernese Counsellors, that even Nicholas Manuel, otherwise one of the most powerful heads of the Evangelical party, declared before the assembly of the Zurichan leaders in the camp at Cappel, that Zwingli's demand on the Five Cantons for the abolition of pensions need expect no support from Bern. This drew angry words from the Reformer: "Well then! we can put the question to the whole commons-at-war; we can also send an embassy to Bern herself, to learn how the city and canton think. I know it and can prove it by writings, which I promise to produce, that that people, as well as ours, abhor pensions. Who maintain them? Some great families, who live by them."--"It will come to this," replied Hans Escher, "we must first put questions everywhere; the councils of leaders are no longer of any account; one has just as much to say as another; squire and knight, common man and captain; now, let all, for my sake, cry out at once; then at least we will be done with the matter; if we ourselves cannot strike because of discord, then let the others strike." Zwingli confessed that he had gone too far, and smothered his chagrin. He had hoped for a victory of principles, but now saw only the possibility of a temporary compromise, achieved by political arts. The men, from whom there was nothing to hope in support of the Reformation, in one canton, and everything to fear in regard to the others, stood at the helm and saw their power continually secured by foreign influence and foreign gold. He beheld the times coming, when the old Adam would again awaken in Zurich herself. Earlier or later, the seed sown, so he foreboded, must be again stifled and the tender fruit sunk under the rank growth of sprouting weeds.