This last point, by which the Court of Rome reserved to itself the control of all proceedings in the Council, was carried by a clever ruse.

Until too late the Spanish prelates do not seem to have been aware of the immense power they had conferred on Rome by passing the words _Legatis proponentibus_.[43] The principle involved in this phrase continued to be hotly disputed all through the sessions of the Council.
But Pius knew that so long as he stuck fast to it he always held the ace of trumps, and nothing would induce him to relinquish it.
[Footnote 43: See Sarpi, vol.ii.p.

87.] Fortified in this position of superiority, Pius now proceeded to organize his forces and display his tactics.

All through the sessions of the Council they remained the same; and as the method resulted in his final victory, it deserves to be briefly described.

At any cost he determined to secure a numerical majority in the Synod.