The Austrian commissioners, finding their position rather embarrassing, began to temporise, and proposed that Christopher should accept as compensation some town of small importance. He refused, saying: 'I will never cease to claim simply and firmly the country of my fathers.'[530] But Austria, fearing the preponderance of protestantism in Germany, closed her ears to his just request. At this point France intervened strongly in favour of the two protestant princes. Du Bellay, after reminding the diet that Ulrich had confessed his faults, and that he was much altered by age, long exile, and great trials, continued thus: 'Must the duke see his only son, a young and innocent prince, who ought to be the support of his declining years, for ever bearing the weight of his misfortunes? Will you take into consideration neither the calamitous old age of the one, nor the unhappy youth of the other? Will you avenge the sins of the father upon the child who was then in the cradle? The dukes of Wurtemberg are of high descent. Their punishment has been permitted, but not their destruction. Help this innocent youth (Christopher), receive this penitent (Ulrich), and reestablish them both in their former dignity.'[531]
The Austrians, who were annoyed at seeing the ambassador of the King of France intermeddling in their affairs, held firm. The deputies of Saxony, Hesse, Prussia, Mecklenburg, and the other states, now made up their minds to oppose Austria; they told the young duke that they were ready to cast their swords in the balance, and Christopher himself requested Du Bellay 'to change his congratulatory oration into a comminatory one.'[532]
=DU BELLAY PLEADS AND MENACES.=
When the French envoy was admitted again before the diet, he assumed a higher tone: 'My lords,' he said, 'will you lend your hands to the ruin of an innocent person?... If you do so ... I tell you that you will bring a stain upon your reputation that all the water in the sea will not be able to wash out. This prince, in heart so proud, in origin so illustrious, will not endure to live miserably in the country whose sovereign he is by birth; he will go into a foreign land. And in what part soever of the world he may be, what will he carry with him?... The shame of the emperor, the shame of King Ferdinand, the shame of all of you. Every man, pointing to him, will say: That is he who formerly.... That is he who now.... That is he who through no fault of his own.... That is he who, being compelled to leave Germany.... You understand, my lords, what is omitted in these sentences; I willingly excuse myself from completing them ... you will do it yourselves. No! you will not be insensible to such great misery.... I see your hearts are touched already.... I see by your gestures and your looks that you feel the truth of my words.'
Then, making a direct attack upon the emperor and his brother, he said: 'There are people who, very erroneously in my opinion, consult only their wicked ambition and unbridled covetousness, and who think that, by oppressing now one and now another, they will subdue all Germany.'
Turning next to the young Prince of Wurtemberg, the representative of Francis I. continued: 'Duke Christopher, rely upon it the Most Christian King will do all that he can in your behalf, without injury to his faith, his honour, and the duties of blood. The court of France has always been the most liberal of all—ever open to receive exiled and suffering princes. With greater reason, then, it will not be closed against you who are its ally ... you who, by the justice of your cause and by your innocence, appear even to your enemies worthy of pity and compassion.'[533]
The members of the diet had listened attentively to this speech, and their countenances showed that they were convinced.[534] The cause was won: the Swabian league, the creature of Austria and the enemy of the Reformation, was not to be renewed. Du Bellay left Augsburg, continued his journey through Germany, and endeavoured to form a new confederation there[535] against Austria, which Francis I. and Henry VIII. could join. 'If any one should think of invading England,' the latter was told, 'we would send you soldiers by the Baltic sea.'[536] It is to be feared that this succour by way of the Baltic would have arrived rather late in the waters of the Thames. But the main thing in Du Bellay's eyes was action, not diplomatic negotiations. His idea was to unite Francis I. and the protestants of Germany in a common movement which would lead France to throw off the ultramontane yoke; but there were only two men of sufficient energy to undertake it. The first was the king his master, to whom we now return.
Francis, after leaving Avignon, had gone into Dauphiny, thence to Lyons and other cities in the east of France. In January 1534, he reached Bar-le-Duc, thus gradually drawing nearer to the German frontier. The winter this year was exceedingly severe, but for that the king did not care: he thought only of uniting France and the protestants by means of Wurtemberg, as the marriage of Catherine had just united France and the pope.
=THE LANDGRAVE'S PROJECT.=