housands Luther slew his ten thousands, for Voltaire
appealed only to the intellect, Luther appealed to the conscience.

[Sidenote: Decline of Protestantism]

The extraordinary thing about the Protestant conquests was their sudden
end. Within less than fifty years the Scandinavian North, most of
Germany including Austria, parts of Hungary, Poland, most of
Switzerland, and Great Britain had declared for the "gospel." France
was divided and apparently going the same road; even in Italy there
were serious symptoms of disaffection. That within a single generation
the tide should be not only stopped but rolled back is one of the most
dramatic changes of fortune in history. The only country which
Protestantism gained after 1560 was the Dutch Republic. Large parts of
Germany and Poland were won back to the church, and Catholicism made
safe in all the Latin countries.

{389} [Sidenote: Spanish revival]

The spirit that accomplished this work was the spirit of Spain. More
extraordinary than the rapid growth of her empire was the conquest of
Europe by her ideals. The character of the Counter-reformation was
determined by her genius. It was not, as it started to be in Italy, a
more or less inwardly Christianized Renaissance. It was a distinct and
powerful religious revival, and one that showed itself, as many others
have done, by a mighty reaction. Medievalism was restored, largely by
medieval methods, the general council, the emphasis on tradition and
dogma, coercion of mind and body, and the ministrations of a monastic
order, new only in its discipline and effectiveness, a reduplication of
the old mendicant orders in spirit and ideal.

[Sidenote: Preparation for calling a council]

The Oecumenical Council was so double-edged a weapon that it is not
remarkable that the popes hesitated to grasp it in their war with the
heretic. They had uncomfortable memories of Constance and Basle, of
the election and deposition of popes and of decrees limiting their
prerogatives. And, moreover, the council was the first authority
invoked by the heretic himself. Adrian might have been willing to risk
such a synod, but before he had time to call one, his place was taken
by the vacillating and pusillanimous Clement. Perpetually toying with
the idea he yet allowed the pressure of his courtiers and the
difficulties of the political situation--for France was opposed to the
council as an imperial scheme--indefinitely to postpone the