recognizing in it this truth, of which God had kept alive a spark in his heart,[491] he was not a little alarmed, for he saw that it was the very doctrine of Luther. 'I see,' he said to himself, 'that the fathers very much praised the Holy Scriptures, considered them the foundation, and would have no other.' And now the doctors of the church refuse to test their teaching by Scripture! He therefore put to some of them the question on what basis the doctrines of the church were made to rest; and they could not tell him. He observed at the same time, in many of those who defended abuses, spiteful passions, injustice, and calumny; and honest George was at a loss what to think about it. He fell into a deep melancholy, a state of restlessness and distress of mind which nothing could relieve.[492] 'On the one hand,' said he, 'I see the building threatening to fall; on the other I see troubles, disagreements, and the revolt of the peasants.' Luther had indeed opposed this revolt; but, for all that, the prince was terrified and in great distress. 'What shall I do? Which side must I take? God grant that I may determine to do only that which is right, and resolve not to act against my own conscience.' He was haunted by these thoughts day and night. At a later time he said: 'How many a night have I been agitated and depressed, suffering unutterable heaviness of heart. Something dreadful appeared before me; He knows, from whom nothing is concealed. My whole being shuddered. How often this passage came into my mind,--"The sword without, and terrors within." I could do nothing else but cry unto God, as a poor sinner who supplicates his grace.' In 1530 he received a copy of the Confession of Augsburg, which Wolfgang had signed. He had up to this time read very little the writings of the reformers; and he found that the evangelical doctrine, as set forth in this document, was entirely different from what had been told him. The fundamental doctrines of the apostolical churches were clearly asserted in it, and the ancient heresies were convincingly refuted. The refutation of the Protestant Confession drawn up by the Roman doctors disgusted him. He now began to read the works of Luther, and was struck by the fact that the author exhorted men to good works, although he would have no one place confidence in them. He found, indeed, that Luther was sometimes rather fiery; 'but,' said he, 'so are Jeremiah, Isaiah, Ezekiel and other prophets.' He found that the Gospel of Christ was again in the pulpits. He recollected that his mother had one day said to him with sorrow,--'How is it that our preachers, when they have to speak of the Gospel of Christ, do so with less warmth than the new ministers?' And he thought within himself,--'While the poor people to whom the cowl of St. Francis, satisfaction, and their own merits are recommended, die wretchedly, those who are now directed to Jesus Christ leave this world with joyful hearts.' [Sidenote: HIS ZEAL FOR THE TRUTH.]