tire, Boulogne had surrendered before the negociations at Crespy were brought to an issue. While elated with vanity on account of this conquest, and inflamed with indignation against the emperor, the ambassadors whom Francis sent to make overtures of peace found him too arrogant to grant what was moderate or equitable. His demands were indeed extravagant, and made in the tone of a conqueror; that Francis should renounce his alliance with Scotland, and not only pay up the arrears of former debts, but reimburse the money which Henry had expended in the present war. Francis, though sincerely desirous of peace, and willing to yield a great deal in order to obtain it, being now free from the pressure of the imperial arms, rejected these ignominious propositions with disdain; and Henry departing for England, hostilities continued between the two nations P. BOOK VI. 1544. satisfied The treaty of peace, how acceptable soever to the peo- The dau ple of France, whom it delivered from the dread of an phin disenemy who had penetrated into the heart of the kingdom, with the was loudly complained of by the dauphin. He consider- peace of Crespy. ed it as a manifest proof of the king his father's extraordinary partiality towards his younger brother, now duke of Orleans, and complained, that, from his eagerness to gain an establishment for a favourite son, he had sacrificed the honour of the kingdom, and renounced the most ancient as well as valuable rights of the crown. But as he durst not venture to offend the king, by refusing to ratify it, though extremely desirous, at the same time, of securing to himself the privilege of reclaiming what was now alienated, so much to his detriment, he secretly protested, in presence of some of his adherents, against the whole transaction; and declared whatever he should be obliged to do in order to confirm it, null in itself, and void of all obligation. The parliament of Thoulouse, probably by the instigation of his partisans, did the same1. But Francis, highly pleased, as well with having deliver Mem. de Ribier, t. i, p. 572. Herbert, 244. VII. BOOK ed his subjects from the miseries of an invasion, as with the prospect of acquiring an independent settlement for his son, at no greater price than that of renouncing conquests to which he had no just claim, titles which had brought so much expence and so many disasters upon the nation, and rights grown obsolete and of no value, ratified the treaty with great joy. Charles, within the time prescribed by the treaty, declared his intention of giving Ferdinand's daughter in marriage to the duke of Orleans, together with the duchy of Milan as her dowry". Every circumstance seemed to promise the continuance of peace. The emperor, cruelly afflicted with the gout, appeared to be in no condition to undertake any enterprise where great activity was requisite, or much fatigue to be endured. He himself felt this, or wished at least that it should be believed; and being so much disabled by this excruciating distemper, when a French ambassador followed him to Brussels, in order to be present at his ratification of the treaty of peace, that it was with the utmost difficulty that he signed his name, he observed, that there was no great danger of his violating these articles, as a hand that could hardly hold a pen, was little able to brandish a lance. 'The empe ror's schemes with re spect to The violence of his disease confined the emperor several months in Brussels, and was the apparent cause of putting off the execution of the great scheme which he Germany. had formed in order to humble the Protestant party in Germany. But there were other reasons for this delay. For, however prevalent the motives were which determined him to undertake this enterprise, the nature of that great body which he was about to attack, as well as the situation of his own affairs, made it necessary to deliberate long, to proceed with caution, and not too suddenly to throw aside the veil under which he had hitherto concealed his real sentiments and schemes. He was sensible that the Protestants, conscious of their own strength, but under continual apprehensions of his designs, had all the boldness of a powerful confederacy, joined to the jealousy Recueil des Traitez, t. ii, p. 238. VII 1544. of a feeble faction; and were no less quick-sighted to BOOK discern the first appearance of danger, than ready to take arms in order to repel it. At the same time, he still continued involved in a Turkish war; and though, in order to deliver himself from this encumbrance, he had determined to send an envoy to the Porte, with most advantageous and even submissive overtures of peace, the resolutions of that haughty court were so uncertain, that, before these were known, it would have been highly imprudent to have kindled the flames of civil war in his own dominions. summons a meet at Nov. 19. Upon this account, he appeared dissatisfied with a bull The pope issued by the pope immediately after the peace of Crespy, general summoning the council to assemble at Trent early next council to spring, and exhorting all Christian princes to embrace Trent, the opportunity that the present happy interval of tranquillity afforded them, of suppressing those heresies which threatened to subvert whatever was sacred or venerable, among Christians. But after such a slight expression of dislike as was necessary in order to cover his designs, he determined to countenance the council, which might become no inconsiderable instrument towards accomplishing his projects; and therefore, not only appointed ambassadors to appear there in his name, but ordered the ecclesiastics in his dominions to attend at the time prefixed". March 24. Such were the emperor's views, when the imperial diet, 1545. after several prorogations, was opened at Worms. The Diet at Protestants, who enjoyed the free exercise of their religion Worms, by a very precarious tenure, having no other security for it than the recess of the last diet, which was to continue in force only until the meeting of a council, wished earnestly to establish that important privilege upon some firmer basis, and to hold it by a perpetual, not a temporary title. But instead of offering them any additional security, Ferdinand opened the diet, with observing, that there were two points which chiefly required consideration, the prosecution of the war against the Turks, and F. Paul, 104. VII. 1545. BOOK the state of religion; that the former was the most urgent, as Solyman, after conquering the greatest part of Hungary, was now ready to fall upon the Austrian provinces; that the emperor, who, from the beginning of his reign, had neglected no opportunity of annoying this formidable enemy, and, with the hazard of his own person, had resisted his attacks, being animated still with the same zeal, had now consented to stop short in the career of his success against France, that, in conjunction with his ancient rival, he might turn his arms with greater vigour against the common adversary of the Christian faith; that it became all the members of the empire to second those pious endeavours of its head; that, therefore, they ought, without delay, to vote him such effectual aid, as not only their duty but their interest called upon them to furnish; that the controversies about religion were so intricate, and of such difficult discussion, as to give no hope of its being possible to bring them at preFerdinand sent to any final issue; that by perseverance and repeated solicitations, the emperor had at length prevailed on the pope to call a council, for which they had so often wished and petitioned; that the time appointed for its meeting was now come, and both parties ought to wait for its decrees, and submit to them as the decisions of the universal church. requires the Ger mans to acknowledge the содисі. The popish members of the diet received this declaration with great applause, and signified their entire acquiescence in every particular which it contained. The protestants expressed great surprise at propositions which were so manifestly repugnant to the recess of the former diet: they insisted, that the question with regard to religion, as first in dignity and importance, ought to come first under deliberation; that, alarming as the progress of the Turks was to all Germany, the securing the free exercise of their religion touched them still more nearly, nor could they prosecute a foreign war with spirit, while solicitous and uncertain about their domestic tranquillity; that if the latter were once rendered firm and permanent, VII. 1545. they would concur with their countrymen in pushing the BOOK former, and yield to none of them in activity or zeal. But if the danger from the Turkish arms was indeed so imminent as not to admit of such a delay as would be occasioned by an immediate examination of the controverted points in religion, they required that a diet should be instantly appointed, to which the final settlement of their religious disputes should be referred; and that, in the mean time, the decree of the former diet concerning religion should be explained in a point which they deemed essential. By the recess of Spires it was provided, that they should enjoy unmolested the public exercise of their religion, until the meeting of a legal council; but as the pope had now called a council, to which Ferdinand had required them to submit, they began to suspect that their adversaries might take advantage of an ambiguity in the terms of the recess, and, pretending that the event therein mentioned had now taken place, might pronounce them to be no longer entitled to the same indulgence. In order to guard against this interpretation, they renewed their former remonstrances against a council called to meet without the bounds of the empire, summoned by the pope's authority, and in which he assumed the right of presiding; and declared that, notwithstanding the convocation of any such illegal assembly, they still held the recess of the late diet to be in full force. Worms. At other junctures, when the emperor thought it of ad- Emperor vantage to sooth and gain the Protestants, he had devised arrives at expedients for giving them satisfaction with regard to demands seemingly more extravagant; but his views at present being very different, Ferdinand, by his command, adhered inflexibly to his first propositions, and would make no concessions which had the most remote tendency to throw discredit on the council, or to weaken its authority. The protestants, on their part, were no less inflexible; and after much time spent in fruitless endeavours to convince each other, they came to no agreement. Nor did the presence of the emperor, who, upon his recovery, |