margrave
as well as for himself, and the archbishop, without any formal
engagement, accepted the Austrian over-bid. "I am ashamed at his
shamelessness," wrote Armerstorff to Charles. Alternate and antagonistic
bargaining went on thus for more than two months. The Archbishop of
Cologne, Hermann von Wied, kept wavering between the two claimants; but
he was careful to tell John d'Albret, Francis I.'s agent, that "he
sincerely hoped that his Majesty would follow the doctrine of God, who
gave as much to those who went to work in His vineyard towards the middle
of the day as to those who had been at it all the morning." Duke
Frederick of Saxony was the only one of the seven electors who absolutely
refused to make any promise, as well as to accept any offer, and
preserved his independence, as well as his dignity. The rumor of all
these traffickings and these uncertainties rekindled in Henry VIII., King
of England, a fancy for placing himself once more in the ranks; but his
agent, Richard Pace, found the negotiations too far advanced and the
prices too high for him to back up this vain whim of his master's; and
Henry VIII. abandoned it. The diet had been convoked for the 17th of
June at Frankfort. The day was drawing near; and which of the two
parties had the majority was still regarded as, uncertain. Franz von
Sickingen appeared in the outskirts of Frankfort with more than twenty
thousand men of the German army, "whereat marvellously astonished," says
Fleuranges, "were they who wished well to the King of France and very
mightily rejoiced they who wished well to the Catholic king."
The gentleman-adventurer had not been less accessible than the
prince-electors to bribery. The diet opened on the 18th of June. The
Archbishop of Mayence made a great speech in favor of Charles of Austria;
and the Archbishop of Troves spoke in favor of Francis I., to whom he had
remained faithful. Rival intrigues were kept up; Sickingen and his
troops were a clog upon deliberation; the electors were embarrassed and
weary of their dissensions; and the Archbishop of Troves proposed by way
of compromise the election of the Duke of Saxony, Frederick the Wise,
who, at this crisis so shameful for his peers, had just given fresh
proofs of his sound judgment, his honesty, and his patriotic
independence. But Frederick declined the honor it was intended to do
him, and which he considered beyond his powers to support; and he voted
for Archduke Charl