CHAP. His liberation. 1552. Sept. 1. regret the loss of me and my family." And he then returned to the devotional reading in which he chiefly passed his time.' After he had been dragged about, in the manner we have seen, during more than five years, such changes took place as no longer left the emperor any motive for detaining him. He accordingly obtained his liberty, and took possession of the small territory which had been reserved to his family, the districts of Jena and Weimar having been added to that of Gotha, in lieu of the pension originally stipulated. His return occasioned great joy to many, who had honoured him in his prosperity, and now still more revered him for his conduct under adversity. Melancthon thus celebrates the event, with affectionate delight, in a letter to a friend. Though public congratulations will outstrip my letters, I must announce to you, that through the goodness of God the duke of Saxony, John Frederic, is with his wife and children in Thuringia. His peaceful return is more glorious than a blood-stained triumph. Posterity will recount this among the proofs that God hears the sighs of the righteous, and relieves their troubles even in this life."3 Of his conduct, and the esteem in which he was held, after his return, Robertson says, "As in his new situa1 Thuan. i. 176. 66 2 Coxe's House of Austria, i. 511. Compare Sleid. 597. 3 Mel. Epist. ii. 540. See also his preface to the IVth vol. of Luther's Works, Wittemb.-Amsdorf, who had been deprived of the bishopric of Naumburg soon after the commencement of the war, received the elector in his way home at Isenach, and composed a hymn of thanksgiving on the occasion, which was sung responsively by young persons of either sex, selected for the purpose. The elector was affected even to tears, and exclaimed, "Who am I, that God should confer such honour upon me?"-Seckend. iii. 395. (k.) tion he continued to display the same virtuous magnanimity for which he had been conspicuous in a more prosperous and splendid state, and which he had retained amidst all his sufferings, he maintained during the remainder of his life that high reputation to which he had so just a title."1 A. D. 1547. He survived his return only eighteen months, His death. dying at Weimar, March 3, 1554, at the age of fifty-one years, just after he had concluded with Augustus, the brother and successor of Maurice, an arrangement by which the electorate was to revert to his family in case that prince should leave no children. His wife (Sibylla of Cleves) died eleven days before him, having obtained the desire of her heart; for frequently she had been heard to say, that she could die with entire resignation if she might but see her beloved husband once more return home in possession of his liberty. When her tomb was preparing, he gave orders that a place should be reserved for him by her side, saying that he should soon follow her." They both," says Sleidan, "died in the true knowledge of God:" and of the elector, in particular, he observes, "Having heard a sermon as he lay on his bed, he implored the divine mercy, and commended his spirit into the hands of God; and thus departed out of this miserable life, to enter into the heavenly state." 2' 1 Robertson, iv. 100. Sleid. 596-7. Thuan. i. 455-6.-Melancthon addressed a letter on this solemn occasion to the elector's nephew and namesake, the duke of Pomerania, in which he presses on the young prince the imitation of his deceased uncle's virtues. "He knew," he observes, "that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Hence he applied himself to the investigation of divine truth, and manifested the piety of his mind by devout prayer, by constancy in the profession of the CHAP. the Land grave. Of the sons of John Frederic nothing very memorable is recorded, except that, at their father's suggestion, they became the founders of the university of Jena, intended to supply the loss of that of Wittemberg.1 The eldest passed nearly thirty years in captivity, and ended his days in that state, in consequence of an ill-advised attempt to retrieve the affairs of his family.2 Account of It would have been highly gratifying to present any accounts of the landgrave of Hesse similar to those which we have been reading of his old friend and ally: but, alas! his conduct in captivity in most points furnished a contrast to that of the elector. The treachery indeed (for it deserves no better name,) by which he had been deprived of his liberty, and the unfeeling cruelty with which his galling captivity was continued, when no conceivable end remained to be answered by it, rouse our indignation even at this distance of time: yet his unabated impatience under his calamity, and the unworthy surrender even of his religious principles, which he appears to have voluntarily offered in order to obtain his liberty, while they excite our deepest regret, cannot escape our marked condemnation. He recovered his liberty about the same time with the elector of Saxony, and was reinstated in his dominions: but his sufferings appear to have broken the vigour and extinguished faith, and by a watchful care over the churches. In his government, he was just and merciful. His private life was continent, and distinguished by the exercises of pietyreading, prayer, writing, and consultation with wise and eminent men. His judgment was sound, and his memory retentive; and he had made himself acquainted with all extant history."-Epist. iii. 24. 1552. 1 Chytræi Saxonia, fol. 1599. p. 499. Seckend. iii. 578. Seck. iii. 466. (4.) (15.) the activity of his mind. "From being the boldest, as well as the most enterprizing prince in the empire, he became the most timid and cautious, and passed the remainder of his days in a pacific indolence." On the whole we cannot but fear, (and we express the sentiment in this connexion with great pain,) that in him, as compared with the good elector of Saxony, we see illustrated the wide difference between the case of religion merely carrying conviction to the understanding, and calling forth the exertions of a mind naturally stirring and active, and one in which it thoroughly takes possession of the heart. In the former the time of trial will discover the essential deficiency and then very probably even those useful qualities, which seemed most natural and inherent, not being supported by real Christian principle and divine grace, may fail; while the other character, perhaps originally less vigorous," by waiting on the Lord renews his strength," yea "waxes stronger and stronger."—"The lamp" of the elector we see burning brightly to the last, while that of the landgrave apparently goes out. 66 A. D. 1547. But we return to the more public transactions Proceedings of the 1 Robertson. Sleid. 463. Thuan. i. 174. Sleidan, and Emperor. after him Thuanus, is willing to doubt the authenticity of the letters in which the landgrave is said to have offered to receive the Interim. Robertson, however, (iii. 452.) relates the fact as undoubted: and in a letter of Bucer's to Calvin, 7 Feb. 1549, mention is made of the landgrave's deep penitence for his "defection from Christ," and "denial of the true doctrine," into which the hope of obtaining his liberty had betrayed him. Calv. Op. ix. Epist. p. 233. A letter of Bishop Hooper's to Bullinger (Burnet iii. app. iv. 4,) gives a painful account of him. The landgrave lived till 1567. His wife had died in 1549, "heart-broken with sorrow and care." Sleid. 485-where the translator says, "with sorrow and care for her husband's imprisonment," &c. but the latter words are not in the original. CHAP. X. of the times. The emperor shewed no moderation in his use of the victory which he had obtained. Even before the battle of Muhlberg he had assumed the style of a conqueror, and dictated his own terms to the princes and cities which sought to make peace with him. Immediately after the battle, Bohemia, which had shewn a disposition to assert the liberty that by the constitution of its government belonged to it, and even to assist the elector of Saxony, was reduced under the almost absolute despotism of Ferdinand. In receiving the submission of the various states which were now compelled to bow to the emperor's yoke, no mention, as we have seen, was permitted to be made of religion. That whole subject was reserved for the diet Augsburg. which met at Ulm on the fifteenth of June, and, by adjournment, at Augsburg, on the first of September, 1547.2 In both places the assembly was surrounded by the emperor's victorious troops, prepared to mould its sentiments to conformity with their master's wishes. Immediately on entering Augsburg, Charles took possession of the cathedral and some other churches, and, after they had been duly purified, restored the popish worship in them, so much in opposition to the wishes of the inhabitants, that it is said the poorer classes were bribed to attend the service, lest the absence of a congregation should testify the feeling that prevailed. Diet at The demand which the emperor first made was, that all should submit to the decisions of the council of Trent. The Roman-catholic states were, of course, sufficiently ready to make this engagement; and several of the protestant princes-Maurice, the elector Palatine, and the * Thuan. i. 154-5. ? Sleid. 428, 431, 437. |