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292 POLITICAL CONSEQUENCESthe great war, (1556 1618,) we shall see, at^ once, howfeebly order was maintained. Amongthe articles of thethe reservatum eccksiasticum? which the Propeace itself,testants did not acknowledge,had laid a train to light upfuture wars. But, besides this, there were ample opportunities for mutual complaintthe old;party could, with diffiitself toculty, bring consider the new as possessed of equalrights with its own ; and, without tracing the proofs of itwe historically, may feel morally convinced that the Protestants were usually wrong. Hence religious grievances formeda standing article of discussion in the diets of the time ; and,had not the Turkish war occasionally compelled a temporaryunion, and directed publicattention to other matters, peacecould hardly have been so long maintained. The personalqualities of Ferdinand I.,and still more of his worthy successor, Maximilian IL, were of greateffect in preservingquiet for a time but under the;protracted and sluggish reignof Rudolph IL, the materials of discontent accumulated sorapidly that the two parties stood, even then, in arms againsteach other. In 1608 the Protestant union was formed,which caused, in turn, the organizationof the Catholicleague.In the mean time,however, the Protestant party was sounfortunate as to be divided againstitself. The religiousseparation of the Lutherans from the Calvinists had had itspolitical influence in Germany as elsewhere and the; jealousy, which existed between the electoral houses of Saxonyand the Palatinate, especiallyafter the latter had putitselfat the head of the union, estranged the former from the common cause. If any balance of power, therefore, had beforeexisted between the two parties,it was now at an end. Butthe greatest evil by which the Protestants were oppressed,was the want of a leader of sufficient power and abilityto give firmness to their confederation ;for without thisthe first active measures of a party lead to its own dissolution.After the death of Maurice of Saxony, the Protestantswere not fortunate enough to reckon among their princes1The reservation ecclesiasticom respected the question, Whether the futurefreedom of religion should he extended only to the secular orders, or also tothe ecclesiastical. v. Heeren's Manual, p. 47.