Never had this sacred cause appeared to be in such great danger, and never in reality had it gained so noble a triumph. The _coup de main_ attempted on those hills, where six years later Calvin was to take his station, and plant the standard of Augsburg and of Nazareth, having failed, all fears were dispelled, and the victory of the confessors of Christ, for an instant obscured, shone forth anew in all its splendour. While the Emperor Charles, surrounded by a numerous train of princes, was approaching the banks of the Rhine sad and dispirited, the Evangelical Christians were returning in triumph to their homes. Luther was the herald of the victory gained at Augsburg by Faith. "Though our enemies should have around them, beside them, with them, not only that puissant Roman Emperor, Charles, but still more the Emperor of the Turks and his Mahomet," said he, "they could not intimidate, they could not frighten me. It is I who in the strength of God am resolved to frighten and overthrow them. They shall yield to me--they shall fall! and I shall remain upright and firm. My life shall be their headsman, and my death their hell![845]......God blinds them and hardens their hearts; he is driving them towards the Red Sea: all the horses of Pharaoh, his chariots and his horsemen, cannot escape their inevitable destiny. Let them go then, let them perish, since they will it so![846] As for us, the Lord is with us." [845] Mein leben soll ihr Henker seyn. (L. Opp. xx. p. 304.) [846] Vadant igitur et pereant, quomodo sic volunt. (L. Epp. iv. p. 167.) [Sidenote: ESTABLISHMENT OF PROTESTANTISM.] Thus the Diet of Augsburg, destined to crush the Reformation, was what strengthened it for ever. It has been usual to consider the peace of Augsburg (1555) as the period when the Reform was definitively established. That is the date of legal Protestantism; Evangelical Christianity has another--the autumn of 1530. In 1555 was the victory of the sword and of diplomacy; in 1530 was that of the Word of God and of Faith; and this latter victory is in our eyes the truest and the firmest. The evangelical history of the Reformation in Germany is nearly finished at the epoch we have reached, and the diplomatic history of legal Protestantism begins. Whatever may be done now, whatever may be said, the Church of the first ages has reappeared; and it has reappeared strong enough to show that it will live. There will still be conferences and discussions; there will still be leagues and combats; there will even be deplorable defeats; but all that is a secondary movement. The great movement is accomplished: the cause of Faith is won by Faith. The effort has been made: the Evangelical doctrine has taken root in the world, and neither the storms of men, nor the powers of hell, will ever be able to tear it up. BOOK XV. SWITZERLAND--CONQUESTS. 1526-1530.