From the Diet of Worms to the Augsburg Confession - James Aitken Wylie

whole, employed their influence to check the
sanguinary zeal of others. "I cannot advise his
majesty to employ force," said Albert of Mainz, but
the reason he assigned for his temperate counsels
somewhat detracts from their generosity, "lest
when the emperor retires the Lutherans retaliate
upon the priests, and the Turk come in, in the end
of the day, and reap with his scimitar what the
Lutheran sword may have left." The Bishop of
Augsburg drew upon himself the suspicion of a
heretic in disguise by the lengths he was willing to
go in conciliating the Protestants. The Sacraments
in both kinds, and the marriage of the priests, he
was prepared to concede; even more, were it
necessary– pointing evidently to private masses.
"Masses!" exclaimed some; "abolish masses! why
not say at once the kitchens of the cardinals?" All
the ecclesiastics, however, were not so
conciliatory. The Archbishop of Salzburg said
tartly, "The Lutherans have laid before us a
Confession written with black ink on white paper.
Well, if I were emperor, I would answer them with
red ink."
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