The religious affairs of the empire remained in great confusion for twenty-five 'years after the disso lution of the diet of Augsburg, in 1530. Ferdinand of Austria, brother of Charles V., and to whom the emperor had procured the dignity of king of the Romans, sincerely wishing an accommodation with the Protestants, called together a new diet at Augs burg in 1555, and contrived to establish something like a religious peace in Germany. A recess was framed on the 25th of September 1555, approved of, and published with the usual formalities. It con tained, among other articles, the following, which we give as a specimen of the ne plus ultra of the reli gious toleration of the age. " Such princes and eities as have declared their approbation of the con fession of Augsburg, in 1530, shall be permitted to profess the doctrine, and exercise the worship, which it authorises, without interruption or molestation from the emperor, the king of the Romans, or any power or person whatsoever.. The on their part, shall give no disquiet to the princes and states who adhere to the tenets and rites of the church of Rome. For the future, no attempts shall be made towards terminating religious differences, but by the gentle and pacific methods of persuasion and conference. The popish ecclesiastics shall claim no spiritual jurisdiction in such states as receive the confession of Augsburg. Such as seized the reve nues or benefices of the church, previous to the trea ty of Passau, shall retain possession of them, and be liable to no prosecution in the imperial chamber on that account. The supreme civil power in every state shall have right to establish what form of doc trine and worship it shall deem proper ; and if any of its subjects refuse to conform to these, shall permit them to remove with all their effects whithersoever they shall please. If any prelate or ecclesiastic shall hereafter abandon the Roinish religion, he shall in stantly relinquiali his diocese, or benefice, and it shall be lawful for those in whom the right of nomination is vested, to proceed immediately to an election, as if the office were vacant by death or translation, and to appoint a successor of undoubted attachment to the ancient system." Such are the capital articles in the famous recess of Augsburg in 1555, which was the basis of reli gious peace in Germany, and the bond of union among its various states, the sentiments of which are so extremely different with respect to points the most interesting and important. In our age and nation, to which the idea of toleration is familiar, and its bene ficial effects well known, it may seem strange, that a method of terminating their dissensions, so suitable to the mild and charitable spirit of the Christian re ligion, did not sooner occur to the contending par ties. But this expedient, however salutary, was so repugnant to the sentiments and practice of Chris tians during many ages, that it did not lie obvious to discovery. It was towards the close of the seven teenth century, before toleration, under its pre sent form, was admitted into the republic of the United Provinces, and from thence introduced into England. Long experience of the calamities flowing from mutual persecution, the influence of free go vernment, the light and humanity acquired by the progress of science, together with the prudence and authority of the civil magistrate, were all requisite in order to establish a regulation so opposite to the ideas which all the different sects had adopted, from mis taken conceptions concerning the nature of religion, and the rights of truth, or which all of them had de rived from the maxims of the church of Rome.
The recess of Augsburg, it is evident, was found ed on no such liberal and enlarged sentiments con cerning freedom of religious inquiry, or the nature of toleration. It was nothing more than a scheme of pacification, which political considerations alone had suggested to the contending, parties, and regard for their mutual tranquillity and safety had rendered ne cessary. Of this there can be no stronger proof than an article in the recess itself, by which the be nefits of the pacification arc declared. to extend only to the Catholics on the one side, and to such as ad hered to the confession of Augsburg, in 1530, on the other. The followers of Zuinglius and Calvin re
mained, in consequence of that exclusion, without any protection from the rigour of the laws denounced against heretics. Nor did they obtain any legal se -curity until the treaty of Westphalia in 1648, near a century after this period, provided, that they should be admitted to enjoy, in as ample a manner as the Lutherans, all the advantages and protection which the recess of Augsburg affords.
The philanthropist cannot help regretting the mi serable figure which human reason and human pas sions have made in every age, in a field where the first ought to have displayed its noblest engines, and the list to have been either absolutely subdued, or at least kept under decent controul, namely, the field of Christian controversy. In it, the bilis theologicus. has tainted every feature of the countenance, and poisoned every feeling of the heart. Although not always armed with the scymitar of the Arabian pastor, or in a condition to propagate, by force of ' arms, opinions which reason rejects on any other conditions, yet Christian theologians have raged with equal fury against their antagonists in secret, and be trayed as fierce a spirit as if they had inhaled the fiery blast wafted by the lion and the tiger around the standard of Mahomet ; alas, they always forgot, that the heretic that makes thefire, not he that burns in it I"—SHAKESPEAttE• Augsburg has declined in importance ever since the trade of Germany forsook the direction which Venice, in her better days, had given it. The rise of the Dutch commonwealth, and the corresponding influence of cities like Hamburgh, Bremen, Embden, Frankfurt, &c. better situated for carrying on the commerce, which now took a westerly direction, in stead of continuing in the ancient tract, have proved highly injurious to this place. Yet it is still, in spite of every disadvantage, a place of some consideration, and manages a great part of the transit and banking business of Bavaria, Swabia, and the adjoining dis tricts. There arc indeed no Fuggers or IVelsers now to be found in it, to lend their emperor millions of dollars on demand ; nor is Augsburg the great re sort of the literati of southern Germany. I'he bu siness of the last mentioned order of men has dwin dled into the manufacture of paltry devotional tracts for peasants and children, and the construction of coarse maps, picture-books, and toys for the lower Classes of their countrymen.
As Augsburg now constitutes a part of Bavaria, and is in every respect as dependent upon that crown as if it had never enjoyed the privileges of a free im perial city, it is needless to describe a constitution and police which were much talked of in Germany, but are now no more. The Rath-haus, or town-hall, .110 feet long, 48 broad, and 52 high ; the large square, of which it forms a Part ; the cathedral, with its two tall spires ; the public fountains, some of them said to have been built by Caesar Augustus ; the intricate gate towards the Lech ; and the aque duct which carries the water of that river into the city, in sufficient quantities to supply mills and consi derable manufactories with that necessary,—are often mentioned with admiration, both by statistical wri ters and by travellers, as well as by the natives. But to a Briton they appear diminutive and insignificant : One of the locks of our canals, and the smallest man of war in our navy, yields a much finer display of human ingenuity and address. The manufactures are still considerable, though greatly inferior to what they were before the incorporation of the city with 'Bavaria. They consist of cotton-goods, tobacco or snuff, mirrors, leather, palaer, carpets, gold and silver laces, sealing-wax, cordials, jewellery, clocks and watches, stone-wai'e, dyeing, bleaching, and printing, besides other branches connected with these manufac tures. It is probable, that, in consequence of the late acquisitions of Bavaria, and of the favourable si tuation of this city for the Italian trade, it may yet recover, in some degree, its former rank among the German mercantile stations. The prices of the ne cessaries of life are as low as in any of the larger corn mercial towns of the continent ; and the country round about it is beautiful and fertile. The 4cacle..