At one time the Turks were crowding him very hard in Hungary. A special
effort was requisite to raise troops to repel them. Maximilian summoned
a diet, and appealed to the assembled nobles for supplies of men and
money. In Austria proper, Protestantism was now in the decided
ascendency. The nobles took advantage of the emperor's wants to reply--
"We are ready to march to the assistance of our sovereign, to repel the
Turks from Hungary, if the Jesuits are first expelled from our
territories."
The answer of the king was characteristic of his policy and of his
career. "I have convened you," he said, "to give me contributions, not
remonstrances. I wish you to help me expel the Turks, not the Jesuits."
From many a prince this reply would have excited exasperation. But
Maximilian had established such a character for impartiality and
probity, that the rebuke was received with applause rather than with
murmurs, and the Protestants, with affectionate zeal, rallied around his
standard. So great was the influence of the king, that toleration, as
one of the virtues of the court, became the fashion, and the Catholics
and Protestants vied with each other in the manifestation of mutual
forbearance and good will.
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