elf had predicted that after his death they would not remain so. He
knew his faithful adherents accurately; their weaknesses, and their
eagerness to carry out their own views. Melancthon, who though firm in
his theology and in the every-day troubles of life, was embarrassed and
uncertain in matters of great import, could not command the fiery
spirits of more determined characters. At that Imperial Diet which was
held at Augsburg in 1547, the victorious Emperor had endeavoured, in
his way, to compose the disputes of the Churches, and had pressed upon
the vanquished Protestants a preliminary formula of faith, called the
Interim. From the point of view of the Roman Catholics, it was
considered as extreme toleration, which was only bearable because it
gradually led back to the Old Church; from the point of view of zealous
Protestants, it was held to be insupportable tyranny, which ought to be
withstood. The ecclesiastical leaders of the opposition rose everywhere
against this tyranny; hundreds of preachers were driven from their
benefices and went about with their staffs as miserable pilgrims, and
many fell victims to the furious reaction. It was the heroic time of
the Protestant faith; simple preachers, fathers with wives and
children, manfully suffered for their convictions, and were soon
followed by thousands of laity.

But this enthusiasm was fraught with danger. The Interim was the
beginning of vehement theological disputes, even among Luther's
followers. The struggle of individuals became also the struggle of the
Universities. The successors of Frederick the Wise lost the University
of Wittenberg as well as the Electoral dignity; Melancthon and the
Wittenbergers were under the influence of Maurice and his brothers;
while the most zealous Lutherans were assembled at the new University
of Jena.

This race of vehement men was followed by another generation of
_Epigonen_. At the end of the century German Protestantism appeared in
most of the provinces to be secure from outward dangers. Then the
ecclesiastics became too self-sufficient and fond of power--the
failings of a privileged order. Influential counsellors of weak
princes, and rulers of public opinion, they themselves persecuted other
believers with the weapons of the old Church. They sometimes called
down the civil power upon heretics; and the populace stormed the houses
of the Reformers in Leipzig; at Dresden a courtly ecclesiastic was
executed on account of her