ne, whom the Pope had appointed to
attend the Diet as his nuncio, completed their conviction, and left them
no room to doubt that some dangerous machination was forming against
the peace or safety of the Protestant Church. Julius, elated with the
unexpected return of the English nation from apostasy, began to flatter
himself that, the spirit of mutiny and revolt having now spent its
force, the happy period was come when the Church might resume its
ancient authority, and be obeyed by the people with the same tame
submission as formerly. Full of these hopes, he had sent Morone to
Augsburg with instructions to employ his eloquence to excite the Germans
to imitate the laudable example of the English, and his political
address in order to prevent any decree of the Diet to the detriment of
the Catholic faith. But Julius died, and as soon as Morone heard of this
he set out abruptly from Augsburg, where he had resided only a few days,
that he might be present at the election of the new pontiff.

One cause of their suspicions and fears being thus removed, the
Protestants soon became sensible that their conjectures concerning
Ferdinand's intentions, however specious, were ill-founded, and that he
had no thoughts of violating the articles favorable to them in the
Treaty of Passau. Charles, from the time that Maurice had defeated all
his schemes in the empire, and overturned the great system of religious
and civil despotism which he had almost established there, gave little
attention to the internal government of Germany, and permitted his
brother to pursue whatever measures he judged most salutary and
expedient. Ferdinand, less ambitious and enterprising than the Emperor,
instead of resuming a plan which he, with power and resources so far
superior, had failed of accomplishing, endeavored to attach the princes
of the empire to his family by an administration uniformly moderate and
equitable. To this he gave, at present, particular attention, because
his situation at this juncture rendered it necessary to court their
favor and support with more than usual assiduity.

Charles had again resumed his favorite project of acquiring the imperial
crown for his son Philip, the prosecution of which, the reception it had
met with when first proposed had obliged him to suspend, but had not
induced him to relinquish. This led him warmly to renew his request to
his brother, that he would accept of some compensation for his prior
right of succes