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The Catholics of course looked with apprehension to the accession of
Maximilian to the throne, while the Protestants anticipated the event
with great hope. There were, however, many considerations of vast moment
influencing Maximilian not to separate himself, in form, from the
Catholic church. Philip, his cousin, King of Spain, was childless, and
should he die without issue, Ferdinand would inherit that magnificent
throne, which he could not hope to ascend, as an avowed Protestant,
without a long and bloody war. It had been the most earnest dying
injunction of his father that he should not abjure the Catholic faith.
His wife was a very zealous Catholic, as was also each one of his
brothers. There were very many who remained in the Catholic church whose
sympathies were with the reformers--who hoped to promote reformation in
the Church without leaving it. Influenced by such considerations,
Maximilian made a public confession of the Catholic faith, received his
father's confessor, and maintained, in his court, the usages of the
papal church. He was, however, the kind friend of the Protestants, ever
seeking to shield them from persecution, claiming for them a liberal
toleration, and seeking, in all ways, to promote fraternal religious
feeling throughout his domains.
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