[121] Is this John Le Comte, minister of Grauson, or Beat Comte, a minister of Lausanne, who at a later period devoted himself to medicine, and distinguished himself by his devotedness to the care of those who were affected with the plague in that town? (See Ruchat, tom. v. p. 277.) We incline rather to this last conjecture.
As I promised to you, my letter shall be brief. The state of affairs at Frankfort we found to be as follows: There were present of the family of Saxony, the Elector,[123] his brother, and nephew by his brother Henry, whom they call Maurice.[124] These three had along with them four hundred horsemen; the Landgrave[125] had brought with him as many lanzknechts; the Duke of Lunebourg[126] came with less pomp. There were present, also, the younger brother of the Duke of Brandenbourg, the younger Prince of Brunswick, and three others, whose names I don't remember. All these were Leaguers:[127] the remainder who are included in the League had sent deputies; as, for instance, the King of Denmark,[128] the Duke of Prussia,[129] and some others. As for these, it was not strange that they stayed at home, because in such an uncertain and perilous state of affairs, it would not have been safe for them to have remained so far from home. There were few, however, who did not feel indignant that the Duke of Wurtemberg[130] preferred rather to enjoy his field sports in hunting, and I know not what other sportive recreations, than to be present at the Conference, in which both his native country and perhaps his life are concerned, when he was only two days' journey distant. Those who wished to excuse him, said they had no doubt that he had laid the care of attending to these matters on others, who he knew had the matter at heart. Men of the first rank were sent by the free cities. At the first deliberations, war was declared by the unanimous vote of them all, until two of the Electors arrived--the Count Palatine and Joachim of Brandenbourg[131]--with the Emperor's letter, and a Spanish Bishop, his ambassador, whom they call the Bishop of Lunden.[132] At first they set forth the commission of the Emperor, authorizing them to treat with our friends either for peace or for a truce, upon whatsoever grounds and conditions might seem best to them. Then, in a lengthy oration, and by strong arguments, they endeavoured to induce them to come to a treaty of peace: they urged especially this point, that the Turk would not remain quiet if he saw Germany involved in civil strife. And already he has the way open to him, since he holds possession of Wallachia, Upper and Lower, and is entitled, by treaty with the Pole, to the free right of passage through his territory: thus, therefore, he already hovers over Germany. They desired that our friends would propound the conditions of peace. If peace could not be agreed on, they asked that a truce might be granted. The good faith and sincerity of both parties have been well sifted by our friends: for Joachim is entirely favourable, and well disposed to the cause of the Gospel; the Count Palatine is not hostile. But because the Spanish Commissions are not to be relied on, they choose rather that the business should be settled and agreed on by the whole of the Electors, to whom the principal authority in the Empire of right belongs. That was hindered, because the Bishop of Mentz[133] has on many accounts been rejected by the Elector of Saxony. Joachim did not venture to give his consent in the Diet from which his uncle was excluded. Therefore our friends presented articles of peace, in which they set forth, that they unwillingly resorted to the thought of war, inasmuch as they laid bare the injuries on account of which they were of necessity driven to that determination. They proposed, as conditions of the peace, that they might be free to administer their own churches, and under this administration they wished the dispensation of ecclesiastical property to be regulated. Then they reserved entirely to themselves the right of admission into the League of those who might wish to become members of it. When the articles had been presented, we then took our departure. Bucer afterwards intimated that the two Electors granted somewhat more than the ambassador of the Emperor. The reason is, that the Emperor, since he stands in need of the assistance of our opponents against the Turk, as well as of our own, desires to gratify both parties without offending either.