charge, caused a
little note to be drawn up on the religious point, which he forwarded, in
the hope that the Prince would copy and sign it. He added a promise that
the memorandum should never be made public to the signer's disadvantage.

At the same time he observed to Count Louis, verbally, "that he had been
satisfied with the declarations made by the Prince when in Dresden, upon
all points, except that concerning religion. He therefore felt obliged to
beg for a little agreement in writing."--"By no means! by no means!"
interrupted Louis promptly, at the very first word, "the Prince can give
your electoral highness no such assurance. 'T would be risking life,
honor, and fortune to do so, as your grace is well aware." The Elector
protested that the declaration, if signed, should never come into the
Spanish monarch's hands, and insisted upon sending it to the Prince.
Louis, in a letter to his brother, characterized the document as
"singular, prolix and artful," and strongly advised the Prince to have
nothing to do with it.

This note, which the Prince was thus requested to sign, and which his
brother Louis thus strenuously advised him not to sign, the Prince never
did sign. Its tenor was to the following effect:--The Princess, after
marriage, was, neither by menace nor persuasion; to be turned from the
true and pure Word of God, or the use of the sacrament according to the
doctrines of the Augsburg Confession. The Prince was to allow her to read
books written in accordance with the Augsburg Confession. The prince was
to permit her, as often, annually, as she required it, to go out of the
Netherlands to some place where she could receive the sacrament according
to the Augsburg Confession. In case she were in sickness or perils of
childbirth, the Prince, if necessary, would call to her an evangelical
preacher, who might administer to her the holy sacrament in her chamber.
The children who might spring from the marriage were to be instructed as
to the doctrines of the Augsburg Confession.

Even if executed, this celebrated memorandum would hardly have been at
variance with the declarations made by the Prince to the Spanish
government. He had never pretended that his bride was to become a
Catholic, but only to live as a Catholic. All that he had promised, or
was expected to promise, was that his wife should conform to the law in
the Netherlands. The paper, in a general way, recognized that law. In
case of absolute necessi