Town  Hall  of  Regensberg  towards  the  end  of  June.  Ferdinand
was  present,  with  the  Dukes  of  Bavaria,  the  Archbishop  of
Salzburg,  and  the  Bishop  of  Trent :  many  other  bishops  had
sent  their  deputies :  and  the  nuncio,  summoning  all  his  elo-
quence, drew  a  picture  of  the  perils  with  which  religious  dis-
turbances threatened  the  civil  power,  and  exhorted  the  princes
and  delegates  before  him  to  dismiss  all  minor  differences,  and
unite  in  a  league  for  the  extirpation  of  heresy.  The  confer-
ence lasted  for  sixteen  days ;  and  the  results  of  the  discussion
are  generally  known  as  the  Ratisbon  Reformation.  Jerome,
Augustine,  and  Gregory  were  constituted  the  standard  divines
by  whom  Scripture  must  be  interpreted  :  a  commission,  com-
posed of  lay  members  as  well  as  clerical,  was  appointed  to
exercise  a  supervision  over  the  clergy;  the  preachers  were
warned  not  to  teach  fables ;  the  priests  were  admonished  to
lead  a  chaste  life;  the  number  of  holy  days  was  diminished;
and  several  petty  exactions  of  the  Church  were  restrained.
But  these  concessions  to  popular  feeling  and  well-grounded
complaints  were  only  a  set-off  against  the  rigorous  articles
which  proscribed  the  least  leaning  to  heresy;  throughout
the  dominions  of  the  Archduke,  the  fourth  penny,  and,  in  the
territories  of  the  Duke  of  Bavaria,  the  fifth  penny,  were  granted
those  princes  by  their  respective  clergy,  on  the  condition  that
they  would,  "with  a  strong  hand,"  exterminate  the  Lutheran
opinions.  And  on  the  6th  July  a  mandate  in  conformity
with  the  resolutions  passed  at  this  meeting  was  published.
