Page 5 - 11 Protest of the Princes

notwithstanding the prohibition, thousands

flocked to the services held in the chapel of

the elector of Saxony.

This hastened the crisis. An imperial message

announced to the Diet that as the resolution

granting liberty of conscience had given rise

to great disorders, the emperor required that

it be annulled. This arbitrary act excited the

indignation and alarm of the evangelical

Christians. Said one: “Christ has again fallen

into the hands of Caiaphas and Pilate.” The

Romanists became more violent. A bigoted

papist declared: “The Turks are better than

the Lutherans; for the Turks observe fast

days, and the Lutherans violate them. If we

must choose between the Holy Scriptures of

God and the old errors of the church, we

should reject the former.” Said Melanchthon:

“Every day, in full assembly, Faber casts some