4  See  Rommel,  Ind.,  p.  22.  From  Duke  George's  answer,  it  appears  that  he
had  only  said  that  the  councillors  could  be  electors  of  Saxony  if  they  willed  it,
i.e.,  they  could  administer  the  affairs  of  the  electorate.  It  appears  as  if  he  merely
sought  to  explain  away  what  he  had  said.
Chap.  II.]  TREATY  OF  GOTH  A  419

Here,  in  pursuance  of  the  arrangement  made  by  their  several  envoys
at  Augsburg,  the  Elector  of  Saxony  and  the  Landgrave  of  Hessen  met,
and  agreed  to  stand  by  each  other  with  all  their  might,  in  case  they  were
attacked  on  account  of  the  word  of  God,  or  the  removal  of  abuses.  Accord-
ing to  the  first  draft,  the  union  was  to  subsist  only  "  until  a  Christian  and
equitable  adjustment  should  be  effected  at  the  next  diet  of  the  empire."
It  seems,  however,  that  this  clause  was  afterwards  thought  too  restrictive,
and  it  was  omitted.  It  was  also  specified  that  they  would  afford  each
other  the  needful  help  "  at  their  own  cost  and  damage."  As  the  reigning
princes  treated  in  person,  no  protocol  was  taken  of  their  conferences  ;  but
thus  much  is  clear, — that  in  the  course  of  their  deliberations  the  ties  between
them  were  gradually  drawn  closer.1

But  the  alliance  of  two  princes,  although  among  the  most  powerful  in
the  empire,  could  effect  little  :  they  immediately  determined,  according
to  their  former  intentions,  to  try  to  induce  other  states  of  the  empire  to
join  them.  Each  of  them  accordingly  began  with  his  near  friends  and
old  allies  ;  Philip,  with  those  of  the  Oberland,  Elector  John,  with  the
Low  Germans.
