The history of the popes, from the close of the middle ages : drawn ...

354 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
when passing through Venice, to induce the French envoys
who were staying there, to return to Trent, proved vain.^
The tribute which, in the General Congregation of November
8th, he paid to the zeal of Pius IV. for reform, corresponded
to the favourable account of the state of affairs in Rome
which the austere Archbishop of Braga, who had also just
returned from the Eternal City, had given before his arrival.
The demand made by a majority of the fathers that a special
chapter should undertake the reform of the College of Cardinals,
caused great difficulty at the discussions on general reform.
Those fathers who opposed this were of opinion that the
matter must be left to the decision of the Pope. It is easy
to understand that such a demand naturally caused great
excitement in the Curia ; both the Farnese Cardinals wrote
in the sense of the whole Sacred College to Morone blaming
him strongly for having allowed the Curia and the College of
Cardinals to be burdened with the very strictest of reforms
while the princes escaped altogether. Morone, whose own
elevation had been due to the Farnese Pope, answered frankly,
justifying his conduct on the ground of necessity, but de-
precating exaggerated alarm. ^ The opposition of the in-
fluential Farnese, however, increased the dissensions at
Trent as to how this matter was to be decided, for it was
extremely difficult to hit upon the true mean between the
two extremes. Eventually Morone found a solution ; he
associated the reform of the Cardinals with that of the bishops,
and it might easily be taken for granted that the latter would
avoid anything like exaggerated severity in their own affairs.
Besides this a still graver danger would be avoided by Morone 's
conciliatory proposal, namely that of fresh discussions on
the mutual relations of the Pope and the Council."*
^ See Baguenault de Puchesse 370.
2 See Theiner, II., 440, 457; Pallavicini, 23, 7, 7 and 9;
§USTA IV. 367.
seq.
^ See Pallavicini, 23, 7 ; Sagmuller, Papstwahlbullen 171
1 Sea the Relatione sommaria in the Zeitschr. fiir Kirchengesch.
III., 657
; Sagmuller, loc. cit., 174.
^