Meanwhile the Emperor Charles had arrived in Germany and opened the Imperial Diet at Augsburg in person, in the summer of 1530. Here they, who were supposed to favor Zwingli's views, were in very ill repute. "On all sides," Jacob Sturm wrote to him, "we are suspected, as though we were hatching with foreign nations some marvellously dangerous plot for the overthrow of the Emperor and the Empire; yea, we are regarded as open rebels. Thou knowest how thoroughly false this is; yet there are some who, therefore, wish also to hear nothing about our articles of faith, because, they say, the report goes;[7] that some of us have boasted, that we have provisions, arms and soldiers enough, not only to repel force with force, but also to invade the territory of our neighbors. There are those who affirm that we have already portioned out among ourselves the ecclesiastical principalities, before the victory, and I know not what other follies. In short, the Papists, and even those who otherwise have declared themselves for the Gospel, act against us here, openly and secretly, so that our destruction would be decided on, if it only depended on them. If the Lord himself does not pity us, does not stand by innocence and truth, then will our mighty and raging foes yet devour us alive. No one defends us more than the _Landgrave_, and even he does not venture to do it publicly, but only to advocate our cause in narrower circles. To us, ears and access are completely closed; we are crippled in all our members. From an appeal in person, or from thy servants here, whom thou couldst entrust with the Gospel, there is nothing to hope; should circumstances meanwhile take a more favorable turn, I will send you word." And yet the _Landgrave_ of Hesse, in a special conference with the Emperor, had fearlessly defended himself and his friends, without however giving among them the name of Zwingli, a confession of faith from whose hand had just then reached Augsburg, and was viewed with the greatest displeasure. The ingenious Switzer had woven into it some passages of a political nature, which, though cautiously done, in his opinion, could not but produce an unfavorable impression in the Imperial Court, as it then stood. It contains among other things: "I well know that the ruler, chosen or appointed in a lawful manner, occupies the place of God, no less than the priest; but as the priest should be a minister of heavenly wisdom and goodness, to defend the faith and bring errors to light, so also should the ruler be a minister of divine goodness and justice; goodness, in that he listens to and cares for his subjects with fidelity and self-sacrifice, like God; justice, in that he holds in check the impious and wicked and protects the innocent. If he does this, then he preserves a quiet conscience, and has indeed nothing to fear; if he does it not, and thus surrounds himself with fear and terror, I cannot think that his conscience will be idle, only because