e. Altogether, forty or fifty
prelates, with numerous attendant theologians and members of the
superior clergy, regular and secular, had been marshalled to oppose the
little band of reformers.[1111]

It was an array of pomp and power, of ecclesiastical place and wealth
and ambition, of traditional and hereditary nobility, of all that an
ancient and powerful church could muster to meet the attack of fresh and
vigorous thought, the inroad of moral and religious reforms, the
irrepressible conflict of a faith based solely upon a written
revelation. The external promise of victory was all on the side of the
prelates. Yet, strange to say, the engagement that was about to take
place was none of their seeking. With the exception of the Cardinal of
Lorraine, they were well-nigh unanimous in reprobating a venture from
which they apprehended only disaster. Perhaps even Lorraine now repented
his presumption, and felt less assured of his dialectic skill since he
had tried the mettle of his Genevese antagonist. Rarely has battle been
forced upon an army after a greater number of fruitless attempts to
avoid it than those made by the French ecclesiastics, backed by the
alternate solicitations and menaces of Pius the Fourth, and Philip of
Spain. Such reluctance was ominous.

On the other side, the feeling of the reformers was, indeed, confidence
in the excellence of the cause they represented, but confidence not
unmingled with anxiety.

[Sidenote: Diffidence of Beza.]

A letter written by Beza only a few days before affords us a glimpse of
the secret apprehensions of the Protestants. "If Martyr come in time,"
he wrote Calvin, "that is, if he greatly hasten, his arrival will
refresh us exceedingly. We shall have to do with veteran sophists, and,
although we be confident that the simple truth of the Word will prove
victorious, yet it is not in the power of every man instantly to resolve
their artifices and allege the sayings of the Fathers. Moreover, it will
be necessary for us to make such answers that we shall not seem, to the
circle of princes and others that stand by, to be seeking to evade the
question. In short, when I contemplate these difficulties, I become
exceedingly anxious, and much do I deplore our fault in neglecting the
excellent instruments which God has given us, and thus in a manner
appearing to tempt His goodness. Meanwhile, however, we have resolved
not to retreat, and we trust in Him who has promised us a wisdom w