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CHAPTER XI · Beza's flattering reception.

Despite Pope and prelates, Beza met with the most flattering reception. He was welcomed upon his arrival by the principal statesmen of the kingdom. L'Hospital showed his eagerness to obtain the credit of having introduced him. Coligny, the King of Navarre, and the Prince of Condé betrayed their joy at his coming. The Cardinals of Bourbon and Châtillon shook hands with him. Indeed, the contrast between Bourbon's present cordiality and his coldness a year before at Nérac, provoked Beza to make the playful remark that "he had not undergone any change since the cardinal had refused to speak to him through fear of being excommunicated." Afterward, attended by a numerous escort, the reformer was conducted to the quarters of the Prince of Condé, where the princess and Madame de Coligny showed themselves "marvellously well disposed." On the morrow, which was Sunday, Beza preached in the prince's apartments before a large and honorable audience. Condé himself, however, was absent, engaged in making that unfortunate St. Bartholomew's Day reconciliation with the Duke of Guise, of which mention has already been made. Certainly neither Beza nor the other reformers could complain of the greeting extended to them. "They received a more cordial welcome than would have awaited the Pope of Rome, had he come to the French court," remarks a contemporary curate with a spice of bitterness.