Archduke  Ferdinand,  it  is  true,  still  refused  his  assent  to  the  decision  ;
he  even  used  his  personal  influence  to  win  over  the  cities  to  the  side  of
the  Council  of  Regency  ;  but  in  the  course  of  a  short  time,  observes  the
Saxon  ambassador,  his  councillors  were  no  longer  of  the  same  opinion  :  it
seemed  as  if  Hannart,  instead  of  destroying  Salamanca's  power,  had
gained  him  over  ;  at  all  events,  he  never  delivered  the  letter  in  which
the  emperor  desired  the  Elector  of  Saxony  to  assist  in  getting  rid  of  Sala-
manca. These  causes  at  length  produced  their  effect  on  Ferdinand  :
"  after  holding  out  resolutely  for  nine  weeks,"  writes  the  Saxon  am-
bassador, on  the  1st  of  March,  "  he  has  suddenly  fallen  away."  He  con-
sented that  not  a  single  member  of  the  old  Council  of  Regency  should  be
admitted  into  the  new.2

The  Imperial  Chamber  underwent  the  same  sort  of  purification.  No
inquiry  was  made  as  to  whether  the  members  had  been  attentive  or  negli-
gent, capable  or  incapable  ;  but  merely  whether  they  had  supported  the
nobles  against  the  princes,  or  aided  the  fiscal  in  the  prosecution  of  mono-
polists. Their  conduct  as  to  religious  matters  was  also  taken  into  con-
sideration. Dr.  Kreutner,  the  assessor3  for  the  circle  of  Franconia,  was
dismissed  for  having  eaten  meat  on  a  fast-day,  without  considering  that
he  had  a  claim  for  upwards  of  1000  gulden,  arrears.
