aggrieved at this blow to their faith,
published a Protest [Sidenote: Protest, April 19] taking the ground
that the Recess of 1526 had been in the nature of a treaty and could
not be abrogated without the consent of both parties to it. As the
government of Germany was a federal one, this was a question of
"states' rights," such as came up in our own Civil War, but in the
German case it was even harder to decide because there was no written
Constitution defining the powers of the national government and the
states. It might naturally be assumed that the Diet had the power to
repeal its own acts, but the Evangelical estates made a further point
in their appeal to the emperor, [Sidenote: April 25] by alleging that
the Recess of 1526 had been passed unanimously and could only be
repealed by a unanimous vote. The Protest and the appeal were signed
by the Elector of Saxony, the Landgrave of Hesse, a few smaller states,
and fourteen free cities. From the Protest they became immediately
known as "the Protesting Estates" and subsequently the name Protestant
was given to all those who left the Roman communion.

[1] Alexander Pope.

[2] Walther Koehler.

{116}

SECTION 4. THE GROWTH OF PROTESTANTISM UNTIL
THE DEATH OF LUTHER

Certain states having announced that they would not be bound by the
will of the majority, the question naturally came up as to how far they
would defend this position by arms. [Sidenote: March 6, 1530]
Luther's advice asked and given to the effect that all rebellion or
forcible resistance to the constituted authorities was wrong. Passive
resistance, the mere refusal to obey the command to persecute or to
act, otherwise contrary to God's law, he thought was right but he
discountenanced any other measures, even those taken in self-defence.
All Germans, said he, were the emperor's subjects, and the princes
should not shield Luther from him, but leave their lands open to his
officers to do what they pleased. This position Luther abandoned a
year later, when the jurists pointed out to him that the authority of
the emperor was not despotic but was limited by law.

The Protest and Appeal of 1529 at last aroused Charles, slow as he was,
to the great dangers to himself that lurked in the Protestant schism.
Having repulsed the Turk and having made peace with France and the pope
he was at last in a position to address himself seriously to the
religious problem. Fully intending to settle