In the meantime, Maurice had given information to the Saxon and Hessian Chambers, that it was intended to deliver the imprisoned princes; and soon his armies, and those of William of Hesse, and the Margrave Albert, departed from Culmbach, and united. While they were entering Augsburg, the King of France seized Metz, and called himself the defender of German liberty. The Emperor, who was at that time at Innsbruck, had not the remotest idea of treachery until he read the declaration of the confederate princes, circulated throughout Germany, in which, not without reason, too, they accused him of suppressing the freedom of the German Empire. As he was without troops and money, and was suffering from his old complaint, the gout, he attempted to escape to the Netherlands; but Maurice had already seized the narrow pass of Ehrenberg, so that the Emperor was compelled to return to Innsbruck. When Maurice saw that the Emperor was about to receive aid from various quarters, he resolved to storm the pass, and to seize the Emperor in Innsbruck. But during the night, Charles fled over the Tyrol to Villach, in Carinthia. The day before, he had announced liberty to his captive, John Frederick, under this condition, that he would voluntarily follow the Imperial Court for a short time longer. Full of joy, the liberated prince sang a spiritual song of thanksgiving, and followed the Emperor. But the Council of Trent had been scattered like chaff before the wind, for they thought that Maurice was coming to disperse them. King Ferdinand, who had always been a better friend of the Germans than his brother, acted the part of mediator. A meeting was held in Passau, where the well-known _Treaty of Passau_ was agreed upon, on the 2d of August, 1552. In this treaty, so important to the Protestants, perfect religious freedom is secured to them, and they are to receive equal civil rights at the next diet; those who were banished received pardon, and the Landgrave Philip was restored to liberty. At first the Emperor would not consent to the treaty, but finally yielded to the earnest representations of his brother Ferdinand. The oppressions hitherto experienced in Germany now ceased; the exiled ministers returned, and the Interim had reached its well-deserved end. John Frederick and the Landgrave Philip were at liberty again. When the latter, who had endured many afflictions, had returned to his dominions, he immediately entered a church in Cassel, and for a long time remained before the altar engaged in prayer. John Frederick, by his steadfast faithfulness and unwavering faith, had extorted the unwilling respect of the Emperor; while Maurice had lost it to a considerable degree. When some one from Saxony welcomed John Frederick in Nuremberg, he said: "Go and tell it in your home that I come without arms, and that I do not intend to cause a civil warfare, and shall rather lose the remaining portion of my dominions than bring desolation upon the Fatherland."