Chapter XVIII: Book XV: Switzerland--Conquests. 1526-1530 (2)

The first act was to publish the regulations of the conference. "No proof shall be proposed that is not drawn from the Holy Scriptures, and no explanation shall be given of those scriptures, that does not come from Scripture itself, explaining obscure texts by such as are clear." After this, one of the secretaries, rising to call over the roll, shouted with a loud voice that re-echoed through the church,--The Bishop of Constance! No one replied. He did the same for the bishops of Zion, Basle, and Lausanne. Neither of these prelates was present at this meeting, either in person or by deputy. The Word of God being destined to reign alone, the Roman hierarchy did not appear. These two powers cannot walk together. There were present about three hundred and fifty Swiss and German ecclesiastics.

[Sidenote: CHRIST, THE SOLE HEAD.]

On Tuesday, 7th January, 1528, the burgomaster Vadianus, of St. Gall, one of the presidents, opened the disputation. After him the aged Kolb stood up, and said: "God is at this moment agitating the whole world, let us, therefore, humble ourselves before him," and he pronounced with fervour a confession of sins.

When this was done, the first thesis was read. It was thus drawn up. "The Holy Christian Church, of which Christ is the sole head, is born of the Word of God, abideth in it, and listeneth not to the voice of a stranger."

ALEXIS GRAT, a Dominican monk,--"The word _sole_ is not in Scripture. Christ has left a vicar here below."

HALLER.--"The vicar that Christ left is the Holy Ghost."

TREGER.--"See then to what a pass things have come these last ten years. This man calls himself a Lutheran, that a Zwinglian; a third, a Carlstadtian; a fourth an Œcolampadist; a fifth, an Anabaptist......"

BUCER.--"Whosoever preacheth Jesus as the only Saviour, we recognize as our brother. Neither Luther, nor Zwingle, nor Œcolampadius, desires the faithful to bear his name. Besides, you should not boast so much of a mere external unity. When antichrist gained the upperhand throughout the world, in the East by Mahomet, in the West by the Pope, he was able to keep the people in unity of error. God permits divisions, in order that those who belong to him may learn to look not to men, but to the testimony of the Word, and to the assurance of the Holy Ghost in their hearts. Thus then, dearly beloved brethren, to the Scriptures, the Scriptures![907] O Church of Berne, hold fast to the teaching of Him who said, _Come unto me_, and not, _Come unto my vicar_!"

[907] Darum fromme Christen! Zur Schrift, zur Schrift! (Acta Zw. ii.
p. 92.)

The disputation then turned successively on Tradition, the Merits of Christ, Transubstantiation, the Mass, Prayer to the Saints, Purgatory, Images, Celibacy, and the Disorders of the Clergy. Rome found numerous defenders, and among others, Murer, priest of Rapperswyl, who had said: "If they wish to burn the two ministers of Berne, I will undertake to carry them both to the stake."

[Sidenote: REMARKABLE CONVERSION.]

On Sunday, the 19th of January the day on which the doctrine of the Mass was attacked, Zwingle, desirous of acting on the people also, went into the pulpit, and reciting the Apostles' Creed, made a pause after these words: "He ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead." "These three articles," said he, "are in contradiction to the Mass." All his hearers redoubled their attention; and a priest, clothed in his sacerdotal vestments; who was preparing to celebrate the holy sacrifice in one of the chapels, stopped in astonishment at Zwingle's words. Erect before the consecrated altar on which lay the chalice and the body of the Saviour, with eyes fixed upon the reformer, whose words electrified the people, a prey to the most violent struggles, and beaten down by the weight of truth, the agitated priest resolved to sacrifice every thing for it. In the presence of the whole assembly, he stripped off his priestly ornaments, and throwing them on the altar, he exclaimed: "Unless the Mass reposes on a more solid foundation, I can celebrate it no longer!" The noise of this conversion, effected at the very foot of the altar, immediately spread through the city,[908] and it was regarded as an important omen. So long as the Mass remains, Rome has gained everything: as soon as the Mass falls, Rome has lost all. The Mass is the creative principle of the whole system of Popery.

[908] Das lachet menklich und ward durch die gantzen Stadt kundt.
(Bulling, i. p. 436.) In this and other quotations, we preserve the
orthography of the times.

[Sidenote: ST. VINCENT'S DAY.]

Three days later, on the 22d January, was the feast of St. Vincent, the patron of the city. The disputation that had been carried on during Sunday was suspended on that day. The canons asked the council what they were to do. "Such of you," replied the council, "as receive the doctrine of the theses ought not to say Mass; the others may perform divine worship as usual."[909] Every preparation was accordingly made for the solemnity. On St. Vincent's eve the bells from every steeple announced the festival to the inhabitants of Berne. On the morrow the sacristans lit up the tapers; incense filled the temple, but no one appeared. No priests to say Mass, no faithful to hear it! Already there was a vast chasm in the Roman sanctuary, a deep silence, as on the field of battle, where none but the dead are lying.

[909] Bullinger says, on the contrary, that the council positively
forbade the Mass. But Bullinger, who is a very animated writer, is not
always exact in diplomatic matters. The council would not have come to
such a resolution before the close of the discussion. Other
contemporary historians and official documents leave no room for doubt
on this point. Stettler, in his Chronicle, pars ii. p. 6, ad annum
1528, details these proceedings as in the text.

In the evening it was the custom for the canons to chaunt vespers with great pomp. The organist was at his post, but no one else appeared. The poor man left thus alone, beholding with sorrow the fall of that worship by which he gained his bread, gave utterance to his grief by playing a mourning-hymn instead of the majestic _Magnificat_: "Oh, wretched Judas, what hast thou done, that thou hast thus betrayed our Lord?" After this sad farewell, he rose and went out. Almost immediately, some men, excited by the passions of the moment, fell upon his beloved organ, an accomplice in their eyes of so many superstitious rites, and their violent hands broke it to pieces. No more Mass, no more organ, no more anthems! A new Supper and new hymns shall succeed the rites of Popery.

On the next day there was the same silence. Suddenly, however, a band of men with loud voices and hasty steps was heard. It was the Butchers' Company that, at this moment so fatal to Rome, desired to support it. They advanced, carrying small fir-trees and green branches, for the decoration of their chapel. In the midst of them was a foreign priest, behind whom walked a few poor scholars. The priest officiated; the sweet voices of the scholars supplied the place of the mute organ, and the butchers retired proud of their victory.

[Sidenote: PAPIST BITTERNESS.]

The discussion was drawing to a close: the combatants had dealt vigorous blows. Burgauer, pastor of St. Gall, had maintained the real presence in the Host; but on the 19th January he declared himself convinced by the reasonings of Zwingle, Œcolampadius, and Bucer; and Matthias, minister of Saengen, had done the same.

A conference in Latin afterwards took place between Farel and a Parisian doctor. The latter advanced a strange argument. "Christians," said he, "are enjoined to obey the devil;[910] for it is said, _Submit unto thine adversary_ (Matt. v. 25); now, our adversary is the devil. How much more, then, should we submit to the Church!" Loud bursts of laughter greeted this remarkable syllogism. A discussion with the Anabaptists terminated the conference.

[910] Nos tenemur obedire diabolo. (J. J. Hottinger, iii. p. 405.)

The two councils decreed that the Mass should be abolished, and that every one might remove from the churches the ornaments he had placed there.

Immediately twenty-five altars and a great number of images were destroyed in the cathedral, yet without disorder or bloodshed; and the children began to sing in the streets (as Luther informs us):[911]--

By the Word at length we're saved
From a God in a mortar brayed.

[911] Pueri in plateis cantant: se esse a Deo pisto liberatos. (L.
Epp. iii. p. 290.)

[Sidenote: NECESSITY OF REFORM.]

The hearts of the adherents of the Papacy were filled with bitterness as they heard the objects of their adoration fall one after another. "Should any man," said John Schneider, "take away the altar of the Butchers' Company, I will take away his life." Peter Thorman compared the cathedral stripped of its ornaments to a stable. "When the good folks of the Oberland come to market," added he, "they will be happy to put up their cattle in it." And John Zehender, member of the Great Council, to show the little value he set on such a place of worship, entered it riding on an ass, insulting and cursing the Reform. A Bernese, who chanced to be there, having said to him, "It is by God's will that these images have been pulled down,"--"Say rather by the devil's," replied Zehender; "when have you ever been with God so as to learn his will?" He was fined twenty livres, and expelled from the council.[912] "What times! what manners!" exclaimed many; "what culpable neglect! How easy would it have been to prevent so great a misfortune! Oh! if our bishops had only been willing to occupy themselves more with learning and a little less with their mistresses!"[913]

[912] History of Berne, by Tillier, iii. p. 257.

[913] Si studiorum quam scortorum nostri episcopi amantiores essent.
(Ruchat, i. p. 576. Letter of J. de Munster, priest at Soleure.)

This Reform was necessary. When Christianity in the fourth century had seen the favour of princes succeed to persecution, a crowd of heathens rushing into the church had brought with them the images, pomps, statues, and demigods of Paganism, and a likeness of the mysteries of Greece and Asia, and above all of Egypt, had banished the Word of Jesus Christ from the Christian oratories. This Word returning in the sixteenth century, a purification must necessarily take place; but it could not be done without grievous rents.

[Sidenote: ZWINGLE'S SERMON.]

The departure of the strangers was drawing near. On the 28th January, the day after that on which the images and altars had been thrown down, while their piled fragments still encumbered here and there the porches and the aisles of the cathedral, Zwingle crossing these eloquent ruins, once more ascended the pulpit in the midst of an immense crowd. In great emotion, directing his eyes by turns on these fragments and on the people, he said: "Victory has declared for the truth, but perseverance alone can complete the triumph. Christ persevered even until death. _Ferendo vincitur fortuna._ Cornelius Scipio, after the disaster at Cannæ, having learnt that the generals surviving the slaughter meditated quitting Italy, entered the senate-house, although not yet of senatorial age, drew his sword, and constrained the affrighted chiefs to swear that they would not abandon Rome. Citizens of Berne, to you I address the same demand: do not abandon Jesus Christ."

We may easily imagine the effect produced on the people by such words, pronounced with Zwingle's energetic eloquence.

Then, turning towards the fragments that lay near him: "Behold," said he, "behold these idols! Behold them conquered, mute, and shattered before us! These corpses must be dragged to the shambles, and the gold you have spent upon these foolish images must henceforward be devoted to comforting in their misery the living images of God. Feeble souls, ye shed tears over these sad idols; do ye not see that they break, do ye not hear that they crack like any other wood, or like any other stone? Look! here is one deprived of its head......(Zwingle pointed to the image, and all the people fixed their eyes upon it); here is another maimed of its arms.[914] If this ill usage had done any harm to the saints that are in heaven, and if they had the power ascribed to them, would you have been able, I pray, to cut off their arms and their heads?"

[914] Hie lüt einer, dem ist's houpt ab, dem andern ein arm, &c. (Zw.
Opp. ii. p. 228.)

"Now then," said the powerful orator in conclusion, "stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ has made you free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage (Gal. v. 1). Fear not! That God who has enlightened you, will enlighten your confederates also, and Switzerland, regenerated by the Holy Ghost, shall flourish in righteousness and peace."

[Sidenote: ZWINGLE TRIUMPHANT.]

The words of Zwingle were not lost. The mercy of God called forth that of man. Some persons condemned to die for sedition, were pardoned, and all the exiles were recalled. "Should we not have done so," said the council, "had a great prince visited us? Shall we not much more do so, now that the King of kings and the Redeemer of our souls has made his entry among us, bearing an everlasting amnesty?"[915]

[915] Da der König aller Könige......(Haller, by Kirchhofer, p. 439.)

The Romish cantons, exasperated at the result of the discussion, sought to harass the return of the doctors. On arriving before Bremgarten, they found the gates closed. The bailiff Schutz, who had accompanied them with two hundred men-at-arms, placed two halberdiers before Zwingle's horse, two behind him, and one on each side; then putting himself at the Reformer's left hand, while the burgomaster Roust stationed himself on the right, he ordered the escort to proceed, lance in rest.[916] The avoyers of the town being intimidated, came to a parley; the gates were opened; the escort traversed Bremgarten amidst an immense crowd, and on the 1st February reached Zurich without accident, which Zwingle re-entered, says Luther, like a conqueror.[917]

[916] Mit iren Spyessen für den hauffen. (Bull. chr. i. p. 439.)

[917] Zwingel triumphator et imperator gloriosus. (L. Epp. iii. p.
290.)

The Roman-catholic party did not dissemble the check they had received. "Our cause is falling," said the friends of Rome.[918] "Oh! that we had had men skilled in the Bible! The impetuosity of Zwingle supported our adversaries; his ardour was never relaxed. That brute has more knowledge than was imagined.[919] Alas! alas! the greater party has vanquished the better."[920]

[918] Ruunt res nostræ. (Letter of the priest J. de Muller, an
eye-witness of the discussion. Rachat. i. p. 575.)

[919] Doctior tamen hæc bellua est quam putabam. (Ibid.)

[920] Vicitque pars major meliorem. (Ibid.)

The Council of Berne, desirous of separating from the Pope, relied upon the people. On the 30th January, messengers going from house to house convoked the citizens; and on the 2d February, the burgesses and inhabitants, masters and servants, uniting in the cathedral, and forming but one family, with hands upraised to heaven, swore to defend the two councils in all they should undertake for the good of the State or of the Church.

[Sidenote: EDICT OF REFORM.]

On the 7th February 1528, the council published a general edict of Reform, and "threw for ever from the necks of the Bernese the yoke of the four bishops, who," said they, "know well how to shear their sheep, but not how to feed them."[921]

[921] Bull. Chron. i. p. 466.

At the same time the Reformed doctrines were spreading among the people. In every quarter might be heard earnest and keen dialogues, written in rhyme by Manuel, in which the pale and expiring Mass, stretched on her deathbed, was loudly calling for all her physicians, and finding their advice useless, at last dictating with a broken voice her last will and testament, which the people received with loud bursts of laughter.

The Reformation generally, and that of Berne in particular, has been reproached as being brought about by political motives. But, on the contrary, Berne, which of all the Helvetic states was the greatest favourite of the court of Rome--which had in its canton neither a bishop to dismiss nor a powerful clergy to humiliate--Berne, whose most influential families, the Weingartens, Manuels, Mays, were reluctant to sacrifice the pay and the service of the foreigner, and all whose traditions were conservative, ought to have opposed the movement. The Word of God was the power that overcame this political tendency.[922]

[922] Hundeshagen, conflicte der Bernerkirche, p. 22.

[Sidenote: THE REFORM ACCEPTED.]

At Berne, as elsewhere, it was neither a learned, nor a democratic, nor a sectarian spirit that gave birth to the Reformation. Undoubtedly the men of letters, the liberals, the sectarian enthusiasts, rushed into the great struggle of the sixteenth century; but the duration of the Reform would not have been long had it received its life from them. The primitive strength of Christianity, reviving after ages of long and complete prostration, was the creative principle of the Reformation; and it was erelong seen to separate distinctly from the false allies that had presented themselves, to reject an incredulous learning by elevating the study of the classics, to check all demagogic anarchy by upholding the principles of true liberty, and to repudiate the enthusiastic sects by consecrating the rights of the Word and of the christian people.

But while we maintain that the Reformation was at Berne, as elsewhere, a truly christian work, we are far from saying that it was not useful to the canton in a political sense. All the European states that have embraced the Reformation have been elevated, while those which have combated it have been lowered.

III. It now became a question of propagating throughout all the canton the reform accomplished in the city. On the 17th February, the council invited the rural parishes to assemble on the following Sunday to receive and deliberate upon a communication. The whole Church, according to the ancient usage of Christendom, was about to decide for itself on its dearest interests.

The assemblies were crowded; all conditions and ages were present. Beside the hoary and the trembling head of the aged man might be seen the sparkling eye of the youthful shepherd. The messengers of the council first read the edict of the Reformation. They next proclaimed that those who accepted it should remain, and that those who rejected it should withdraw.

Almost all the assembled parishioners remained in their places. An immense majority of the people chose the Bible. In some few parishes this decision was accompanied with energetic demonstrations. At Arberg, Zofingen, Brugg, Arau, and Buren, the images were burnt. "At Stauffberg," it was said, "idols were seen carrying idols, and throwing one another into the flames."[923]

[923] Da tregt ein Götz den andern in das fhüwr. (Bull. Chron. ii. p.
1.) A man whose business it was to shear the flocks, and who had been
nicknamed Götz-scherer (idol-shearer), had made himself very
distinguished among those who carried the images to the fire. Such was
the origin of this popular legend, and it is the key to many others.

[Sidenote: FAITH AND CHARITY.]

The images and the Mass had disappeared from this vast canton. "A great cry resounded far and wide," writes Bullinger.[924] In one day Rome had fallen throughout the country, without treachery, violence, or seduction, by the strength of truth alone. In some places, however, in the Hasli, at Frutigen, Unterseen, and Grindelwald, the malcontents were heard to say: "If they abolish the Mass, they should also abolish tithes." The Roman form of worship was preserved in the Upper Simmenthal, a proof that there was no compulsion on the part of the state.

[924] Das wyt und breit ein gross geschrey und wunder gepar. (Bull.
Chron. ii. p. 1.)

The wishes of the canton being thus manifested, Berne completed the Reformation. All excesses in gambling, drinking, and dancing, and all unbecoming dress, were forbidden by proclamation. The houses of ill-fame were destroyed, and their wretched inhabitants expelled from the city.[925] A consistory was appointed to watch over the public morals.

[925] J. J. Hottinger, iii. p. 414.

Seven days after the edict, the poor were received into the Dominican cloister, and a little later the convent of the Island was changed into an hospital; the princely monastery of Königsfield was also devoted to the same useful purpose. Charity followed everywhere in the steps of faith. "We will show," said the council, "that we do not use the property of the convents to our own advantage;" and they kept their word. The poor were clothed with the priests' garments; the orphans were decorated with the ornaments of the Church. So strict were they in these distributions, that the state was forced to borrow money to pay the annuities of the monks and nuns; and for eight days there was not a crown in the public treasury.[926] Thus it was that the State, as it has been continually repeated, grew rich with the spoils of the Church! At the same time they invited from Zurich the ministers Hoffmeister, Megander, and Rhellican, to spread throughout the canton the knowledge of the classics and of the Holy Scriptures.

[926] Hoc unum tibi dico secretissime. (Haller to Zwingle, 21st
January, 1530.)

[Sidenote: FIRST EVANGELICAL COMMUNION.]

At Easter the Lord's Supper was celebrated for the first time according to the Evangelical rites. The two councils and all the people, with few exceptions, partook of it. Strangers were struck with the solemnity of this first communion. The citizens of Berne and their wives, dressed in decent garments, which recalled the ancient Swiss simplicity, approached Christ's table with gravity and fervour;[927] the heads of the state showed the same holy devotion as the people, and piously received the bread from the hands of Berthold Haller. Each one felt that the Lord was among them. Thus Hoffmeister, charmed at this solemn service, exclaimed: "How can the adversaries of the Word refuse to embrace the truth at last, seeing that God himself renders it so striking a testimony!"[928]

[927] Relucet enim in illorum vestitu et habitu nescio quid veteris
illius Helvetiæ simplicitatis. (Hoffmeister to Zwingle. Zw. Epp. ii.
p. 167.)

[928] Ea res magnam spem mihi injecit de illis lucrandis qui hactenus
fuerunt male morigeri verbo. (Ibid.)

Yet everything was not changed. The friends of the Gospel witnessed with pain the sons of the chief families of the republic parading the streets in costly garments, inhabiting sumptuous houses in the city, dwelling in magnificent mansions in the country--true seignorial abodes, following the chase with hound and horn, sitting down to luxurious banquets, conversing in licentious language, or talking with enthusiasm of foreign wars and of the French party. "Ah!" said that pious people, "could we but see old Switzerland revive with its old virtues!"

[Sidenote: HEAD OF BEATUS.]

There was soon a powerful reaction. The annual renewal of the magistrature being about to take place, the councillor Butschelbach, a violent adversary of the Gospel, was ejected for adultery; four other senators and twenty members of the Great Council were also replaced by friends of the Reformation and of public morality. Emboldened by this victory, the Evangelical Bernese proposed in the diet that every Swiss should renounce foreign service. At these words the warriors of Lucerne started under their weighty armour, and replied with a haughty smile: "When you have returned to the ancient faith we will listen to your homilies." All the members of the government, assembled at Berne in sovereign council, resolved to set the example, and solemnly abjured the pay of foreign princes. Thus the Reformation showed its faith by its works.

Another struggle took place. Above the lake of Thunn rises a chain of steep rocks, in the midst of which is situated a deep cavern, where, if we may believe tradition, the pious Breton, Beatus, came in ancient times to devote himself to all the austerities of an ascetic life; but especially to the conversion of the surrounding district that was still heathen. It was affirmed that the head of this saint, who had died in Gaul, was preserved in this cavern; and hence it was visited by pilgrims from every quarter. The pious citizens of Zug, Schwytz, Uri, and Argovia, groaned, as they thought that the holy head of the apostle of Switzerland would hereafter remain in a land of heretics. The abbot of the celebrated convent of Muri in Argovia and some of his friends set out, as in ancient times the Argonauts went in quest of the Golden Fleece. They arrived in the humble guise of poor pilgrims, and entered the cavern; one skilfully took away the head, another placed it mysteriously in his hood, and they disappeared. The head of a dead man!--and this was all that Rome saved from the shipwreck. But even this conquest was more than doubtful. The Bernese, who had gained information of this procession, sent three deputies on the 18th May, who, according to their report, found this famous head, and caused it to be decently interred before their eyes in the cemetery belonging to the convent of Interlaken. This contest about a skull characterizes the Church that had just given way in Berne before the vivifying breath of the Gospel. _Let the dead bury their dead._

[Sidenote: THREATENING STORM.]

The Reformation had triumphed in Berne; but a storm was gathering unperceived in the mountains, which threatened to overthrow it. The State in union with the Church recalled its ancient renown. Seeing itself attacked by arms, it took up arms in its turn, and acted with that decision which had formerly saved Rome in similar dangers.

A secret discontent was fermenting among the people of the valleys and mountains. Some were still attached to the ancient faith; others had only quitted the Mass because they thought they would be exempted from tithes. Ancient ties of neighbourhood, a common origin, and similarity of manners had united the inhabitants of the Obwald (Unterwalden) to those of the Hasli and of the Bernese Oberland, which were separated only by Mount Brunig and the high pass of the Yoke. A rumour had been set afloat that the government of Berne had profaned the spot where the precious remains of Beatus, the apostle of these mountains, were preserved, and indignation immediately filled these pastoral people, who adhere firmer than others to the customs and superstitions of their forefathers.

But while some were excited by attachment to Rome, others were aroused by a desire for liberty. The subjects of the monastery of Interlaken, oppressed by the monkish rule, began to cry out, "We desire to become our own masters, and no longer pay rent or tithes." The provost of the convent in affright ceded all his rights to Berne for the sum of one hundred thousand florins;[929] and a bailiff, accompanied by several councillors, went and took possession of the monastery. A report was soon spread that they were about to transfer all the property of the convent to Berne; and on the 21st of April bands of men from Grindelwald, Lauterbrunnen, Ringelberg, Brienz, and other places, crossed the lake, or issued from their lofty valleys, and taking forcible possession of the cloister, swore to go even to Berne in quest of the goods which the citizens had dared to take from them.

[929] Totum regnum suum tradiderunt in manus magistrates nostri
(Haller to Zwingle, 31st March.)

[Sidenote: REVOLT.]

They were quieted for a time; but in the beginning of June, the people, at the instigation of Unterwalden, again arose in all the Hasli. The Landsgemeinde[930] having been convoked, it decided by a majority of forty voices for the re-establishment of the Mass. The pastor Jaëkli was immediately expelled; a few men crossed the Brunig, and brought back some priests from Unterwalden, to the sound of fifes and trumpets. They were seen from afar descending the mountain, and shouts, both loud and long, replied to them from the bottom of the valley. At last they arrived:--all embraced one another, and the people celebrated the Mass anew with great demonstrations of joy. At the same time, the people of Frutigen and of the fertile valley of Adelboden assailed the castellan Reuter, carried off his flocks, and established a Roman-catholic priest in the place of their pastor. At Aeschi even the women took up arms, drove out the pastor from the church, and brought back the images in triumph. The revolt spread from hamlet to hamlet and from valley to valley, and again took possession of Interlaken. All the malcontents assembled there on the 22d October, and swore, with hands upraised to heaven, boldly to defend their rights and liberty.

[930] The assembly of all the people.

[Sidenote: CHRIST IN DANGER.]

Never, perhaps, had the republic been in greater danger. All the kings of Europe, and almost all the cantons of Switzerland, were opposed to the Gospel. The report of an army from Austria, destined to interpose in favour of the Pope, spread through the Reformed cantons.[931] Seditious meetings took place every day,[932] and the people refused to pay their magistrates either quit-rent, service, tithes, or even obedience, unless they shut their eyes to the designs of the Roman-catholics. The council became confused. Amazed and confounded, exposed to the mistrust of some and to the insults of others, they had the cowardice to separate under the pretext of getting in the vintage, and folding their arms, in the presence of this great danger, waited until a Messiah should descend from heaven (says a reformer) to save the republic.[933] The ministers pointed out the danger, forewarned and conjured them; but each one turned a deaf ear. "Christ languishes in Berne," said Haller, "and appears nigh perishing."[934] The people were all in commotion; they assembled, made speeches, murmured, and shed tears! Everywhere--in all their tumultuous meetings--might be heard this complaint of Manuel on Papists and the Papacy:[935]

With rage our foes their hateful threats denounce,
Because, O Lord, we love Thee best of all;
Because at sight of Thee the idols fall;
And war and bloodshed, shuddering, we renounce.

[931] Audisti nimirum quam se apparent _Austriaci_ ad bellum, adversus
quos ignoratur. Suspicantur quidam in Helvetios. (Œcol. to Zw. Epp.
ii. p. 161.)

[932] Seditiosorum concursus sunt quotidiani. (Zw. Epp. ii p. 227.)

[933] Nunc, nunc suum Messiam advenisse sperantes. (Ibid.)

[934] Ita languet Christus apud nos. (Ibid.)

[935] Dass wir hand d'Gotzen geworfen hin. (Hymn and Prayer.)

Berne was like a troubled sea, and Haller, who listened to the roaring of the waves, wrote in the deepest anguish: "Wisdom has forsaken the wise, counsel has departed from the councillors, and energy from the chiefs and from the people! The number of the seditious augments every day. Alas! what can the Bear, oppressed with sleep, oppose to so many and to such sturdy hunters?[936] If Christ withdraw himself, we shall all perish."

[936] Quid hæc inter tot et tantos venatores robustos. (Zw. Epp. ii.
p. 223.)

[Sidenote: ENERGY OF BERNE.]

These fears were on the point of being realized. The smaller cantons claimed to have the power of interfering in matters of faith without infringing the federal compact. While six hundred men of Uri kept themselves ready to depart, eight hundred men of Unterwalden, bearing pine-branches in their hats, symbols of the old faith, with haughty heads and gloomy and angry looks, crossed the Brunig under the ancient banner of the country, which was borne by Gaspard de Flue, a very unworthy grandson of the great Nicholas.[937] This was the first violation of the national peace for many years. Uniting at Hasli with the men of Brienz, this little army crossed the lake, passed under the cascades of Geisbach, and arrived at Unterseen, thirteen hundred strong, and ready to march on Berne to re-establish the Pope, the Idols, and the Mass in that rebellious city. In Switzerland, as in Germany, the Reformation at its outset met with a peasant war. At the first success, new combatants would arrive and pour through the passes of the Brunig upon the unfaithful republic. The army was only six leagues from Berne, and already the sons of Unterwalden were proudly brandishing their swords on the banks of the lake of Thunn.

[937] A celebrated hermit who prevented a civil war in Switzerland in
1481.

Thus were the federal alliances trodden under foot by those very persons who aspired to the name of conservatives. Berne had a right to repel this criminal attack by force. Suddenly calling to mind her ancient virtues, the city roused herself, and vowed to perish rather than tolerate the intervention of Unterwalden, the restoration of the Mass, and the fiery violence of the peasants.[938] There was at that moment in the hearts of the Bernese one of those inspirations that come from above, and which save nations as well as individuals. "Let the strength of the city of Berne," exclaimed the Avoyer d'Erlach, "be in God alone, and in the loyalty of its people." All the council and the whole body of the citizens replied by noisy acclamations. The great banner was hastily brought forth, the townspeople ran to arms, the companies assembled, and the troops of the republic marched out with the valiant avoyer at their head.

[938] Quam missam reducem aut violentiam villanorum pati. (Haller to
Zwingle, 26th October.)

[Sidenote: VICTORY.]

Scarcely had the Bernese government acted thus energetically, before it saw the confidence of its friends increase, and the courage of its adversaries diminish. God never abandons a people who are true to themselves. Many of the Oberlanders became intimidated, and deserted the ranks of the revolt. At the same time deputies from Basle and Lucerne represented to Unterwalden that it was trampling the ancient alliances under foot. The rebels, disheartened by the firmness of the republic, abandoned Unterseen, and retired to the convent of Interlaken. And soon after, when they beheld the decision of their adversaries, distressed besides by the cold rains that fell incessantly, and fearing that the snow, by covering the mountains, would prevent their return to their homes, the men of Unterwalden evacuated Interlaken during the night. The Bernese, to the number of five thousand men, entered it immediately, and summoned the inhabitants of the Hasli and of the bailiwick of Interlaken to assemble on the 4th November in the plain that surrounds the convent.[939] The day being arrived, the Bernese army drew up in order of battle, and then formed a circle within which D'Erlach ordered the peasants to enter. Hardly had he placed the rebels on the left and the loyal citizens on the right, before the muskets and artillery fired a general discharge, whose report re-echoing among the mountains, filled the insurgents with terror, who thought it the signal of their death. But the avoyer only intended to show they were in the power of the republic. D'Erlach, who addressed them immediately after this strange exordium, had not finished his speech, before they all fell on their knees, and, confessing their crime, begged for pardon. The republic was satisfied: the rebellion was over. The banners of the district were carried to Berne, and the Eagle of Interlaken, in union with the Wild-goat of Hasli, hung for a time beneath the Bear, as a trophy of this victory. Four of the chiefs were put to death, and an amnesty was granted to the remainder of the rebels. "The Bernese," said Zwingle, "as Alexander of Macedon in times of old, have cut the Gordian knot with courage and with glory."[940] Thus thought the Reformer of Zurich; but experience was one day to teach him, that to cut such knots is required a different sword from that of Alexander and of D'Erlach. However that may be, peace was restored, and in the valleys of the Hasli no other noise was heard than the sublime tumult borne afar by the Reichenbach and all the surrounding torrents, as they pour from the mountain-tops their multitudinous and foaming waters.

[939] Tradition says that it was on the spot where the hotel of Interlaken now stands.

[940] Bernenses pro sua dignitate nodum hunc, quemadmodum Alexander Macedo, Gordium dissectari. (Zw. Epp. ii. p 243.)

[Sidenote: POLITICAL ADVANTAGES.]

While we repudiate on behalf of the Church the swords of the Helvetic bands, it would be unwise not to acknowledge the political advantages of this victory. The nobles had imagined that the Reformation of the Church would endanger the very existence of the State. They now had a proof to the contrary: they saw that when a nation receives the Gospel, its strength is doubled. The generous confidence with which, in the hour of danger, they had placed some of the adversaries of the Reformation at the head of affairs and of the army, produced the happiest results. All were now convinced that the Reformation would not trample old recollections under foot: prejudices were removed, hatred was appeased, the Gospel gradually rallied all hearts around it, and the ancient and remarkable saying was verified, which was so often repeated by the friends and enemies of that powerful republic--"God is become a citizen of Berne."

IV. The reformation of Berne was decisive for several cantons. The same wind that had blown from on high with so much power on the country of De Watteville and Haller, threw down "the idols" in a great part of Switzerland. In many places the people were indignant at seeing the Reformation checked by the timid prudence of diplomatists; but when diplomacy was put to flight at Berne, the torrent so long restrained poured violently onwards.

[Sidenote: ROMISH RELICS.]

Vadianus, burgomaster of St. Gall, who presided at the Bernese disputation, had scarcely returned home, when the citizens, with the authority of the magistrates, removed the images from the church of St. Magnus, carried to the mint a hand of the patron saint in silver, with other articles of plate, and distributed among the poor the money they received in exchange; thus, like Mary, pouring their precious ointment on the head of Christ.[941] The people of St. Gall, being curious to unveil the ancient mysteries, laid their hands on the abbey itself, on the shrines and crosses which had so long been presented to their adoration; but instead of saintly relics, they found, to their great surprise, nothing but some resin, a few pieces of money, several paltry wooden images, some old rags, a skull, a large tooth, and a snail's shell! Rome, instead of that noble fall which marks the ends of great characters, sunk in the midst of stupid superstitions, shameful frauds, and the ironical laughter of a whole nation.

[941] War gemünzet und den Armen ausgetheilt. (J. J. Hottinger, iii.
p. 415. St. Matthew xxvi. 7.)

Such discoveries unfortunately excited the passions of the multitude. One evening some evil disposed persons, wishing to alarm the poor nuns of St. Catherine, who had obstinately resisted the Reform, surrounded the convent with loud cries. In vain did the nuns barricade the doors; the walls were soon scaled, and the good wine, meat, confectionaries, and all the far from ascetic delicacies of the cloister became the prey of these rude jesters. Another persecution awaited them: Doctor Schappeler having been appointed their catechist, they were recommended to lay aside their monastic dress, and to attend his heretical sermons "clothed like all the world," said the sister Wiborath. Some of them embraced the Reform, but thirty others preferred exile.[942] On the 5th February 1528, a numerous synod framed the constitution of the church of St. Gall.

[942] Arx. Gesch. St. Gall, ii. p. 529. J. J. Hottinger, p. 416.
Müller; Hottinger, ii. p. 91.

[Sidenote: CONTESTS.]

The struggle was more violent at Glaris. The seeds of the Gospel truth, which Zwingle had scattered there, had prospered but little. The men in power anxiously rejected every innovation, and the people loved better "to leap and dance, and work miracles, _glass in hand_," as an old chronicle says, "than to busy themselves about the Gospel." The Landsgemeinde having pronounced, on the 15th May 1528, in favour of the Mass by a majority of thirty-three voices, the two parties were marked out with greater distinctness: the images were broken at Matt, at Elm, at Bettschwanden, and as each man remained aloof in his own house and village, there was no longer in the canton either council of state or tribunal of justice. At Schwanden, the minister Peter Rumelin, having invited the Roman-catholics to a disputation with him in the church, the latter, instead of discussing, marched in procession to the sound of drums round the place of worship in which the Reformed were assembled, and then rushing into the pastor's house, which was situated in the middle of the city, destroyed the stoves and the windows: the irritated Reformed took their revenge and broke the images. On the 15th April 1529, an agreement was concluded, by virtue of which every man was free to choose between the Mass and the Sermon.

[Sidenote: SPREAD OF REFORM.]

At Wesen, where Schwytz exercised sovereignty conjointly with Glaris, the deputies of the former canton threatened the people. Upon this the young men took the images out of the churches, carried them to an open place near the banks of the picturesque lake of Wallenstadt, above which soar the mountains of the Ammon and of the Seven Electors, and cried: "Look! this road (that by the lake) leads to Coire and to Rome; that (to the south) to Glaris; this other (to the west) to Schwytz; and the fourth (by the Ammon) to St. Gall. Take which you please! But if you do not move off, you shall be burnt!" After waiting a few moments, these young people flung the motionless images into the fire, and the Schwytz deputies, eye-witnesses of this execution, withdrew in consternation, and filled the whole canton with projects of vengeance that were but too soon realized.

In the canton of Appenzell, where a conference had been opened, there suddenly appeared a band of Roman-catholics, armed with whips and clubs, and crying out: "Where are these preachers? we are resolved to put them out of the village!" These strange doctors wounded the ministers and dispersed the assembly with their whips. Out of the eight parishes of the canton, six embraced the Reform, and Appenzell became finally divided into little sections, the one Romanist and the other Reformed.

In the Grisons religious liberty was proclaimed; the parishes had the election of their pastors, several castles were rased to the ground to render all return to arbitrary government impossible, and the affrighted bishop went and hid in the Tyrol his anger and his desire for vengeance. "The Grisons," said Zwingle, "advance daily. It is a nation that by its courage reminds us of the ancient Tuscans, and by its candour of the ancient Swiss."[943]

[943] Gens animo veteres Tuscos referens, candore veteres Helvetios.
(Zw. Epp.)

[Sidenote: OBSTACLES IN BASLE.]

Schaffhausen, after having long "halted between two opinions," at the summons of Zurich and of Berne removed the images from its churches without tumult or disorder. At the same time the Reformation invaded Thurgovia, the valley of the Rhine, and other bailiwicks subordinate to these cantons. In vain did the Roman-catholic cantons, that were in the majority, protest against it. "When temporal affairs are concerned," replied Zurich and Berne, "we will not oppose a plurality of votes; but the Word of God cannot be subjected to the suffrages of men." All the districts that lie along the banks of the Thur, of the Lake of Constance, and of the Upper Rhine, embraced the Gospel. The inhabitants of Mammeren, near the place where the Rhine issues from the lake, flung their images into the water. But the statue of St. Blaise, after remaining some time upright, and contemplating the ungrateful spot whence it was banished, swam across the lake to Catahorn, situated on the opposite shore, if we may believe the account of a monk named Lang.[944] Even while running away Popery worked its miracles.

[944] J. J. Hottinger, iii. p. 426.

Thus were the popular superstitions overthrown in Switzerland, and sometimes not without violence. Every great development in human affairs brings with it an energetic opposition to that which has existed. It necessarily contains an aggressive element, which ought to act freely, and by that means open the new path. In the times of the Reformation the doctors attacked the Pope, and the people the images. The movement almost always exceeded a just moderation. In order that human nature may take one step in advance, its pioneers must take many. Every superfluous step should be condemned, and yet we must acknowledge their necessity. Let us not forget this in the history of the Reformation, and especially in that of Switzerland.

Zurich was reformed; Berne had just become so: Basle still remained, before the great cities of the Confederation were gained over to the Evangelical faith. The reformation of this learned city was the most important consequence resulting from that of the warlike Berne.

[Sidenote: ZEAL OF THE CITIZENS.]

For six years the Gospel had been preached in Basle. The meek and pious Œcolampadius was always waiting for happier times. "The darkness," said he, "is about to retire before the rays of truth."[945] But his expectation was vain. A triple aristocracy--the superior clergy, the nobles, and the university--checked the free expansion of christian convictions. It was the middle classes who were destined to effect the triumph of the Reformation in Basle.[946] Unhappily the popular wave invades nothing without tossing up some foul scum.

[945] Sperabam enim tenebras veritatis radio cessuras tandem. (Zw.
Epp. ii. p. 136.)

[946] Major pars civitatis quæ toto corde dolet tantis nos dissidiis
laborare. (Ibid. p. 36.)

It is true that the Gospel had many friends in the councils: but being men of a middle party, they tacked backwards and forwards like Erasmus, instead of sailing straight to the port. They ordered "the pure preaching of the Word of God;" but stipulated at the same time that it should be "without Lutheranism." The aged and pious bishop Utenheim, who was living in retirement at Bruntrut, tottered daily into the church, supported by two domestics, to celebrate Mass with a broken voice. Gundelsheim, an enemy of the Reformation, succeeded him erelong; and on the 23d September, followed by many exiles and with a train of forty horses, he made his triumphal entry into Basle, proposing to restore everything to its ancient footing. This made Œcolampadius write in alarm to Zwingle: "Our cause hangs upon a thread."

But in the citizens the Reform found a compensation for the disdain of the great, and for the terrors inspired by the new bishop. They organized repasts for fifty and a hundred guests each; Œcolampadius and his colleagues took their seats at these tables with the people, where energetic acclamations and reiterated cheers greeted the work of the Reformation. In a short time even the council appeared to incline to the side of the Gospel. Twenty feast-days were retrenched, and the priests were permitted to refuse celebrating the Mass. "It is all over with Rome," was now the cry. But Œcolampadius, shaking his head, replied; "I am afraid that, by wishing to sit on the two stools, Basle will at last fall to the ground."[947]

[947] Vereorque ne dum semper utraque sella sedere velit, utraque
extrudatur aliquando. (Zw. Epp. ii. p. 157.)

[Sidenote: WITTICISM OF ERASMUS.]

This was at the period of his return from his discussion at Berne. He arrived in time to close the eyes of his pious mother; and then the reformer found himself alone, succumbing under the weight of public and domestic cares; for his house was like an inn for all fugitive Christians. "I shall marry a Monica,"[948] he had often said, "or else I shall remain a bachelor." He thought he had now discovered the "christian sister" he was in search of. This was Wilibrandis, daughter of one of the Emperor Maximilian's knights, and widow of a master of arts named Keller,--a woman already proved by many trials. He married her, saying: "I look to the ordinances of God, and not to the scowling faces of men." This did not prevent the sly Erasmus from exclaiming: "Luther's affair is called a tragedy, but I maintain it is a comedy, for each act of the drama ends in a wedding." This witticism has been often repeated. For a long time it was the fashion to account for the Reformation by the desire of the princes for the church-property, and of the priests for marriage. This vulgar method is now stigmatized by the best Roman controversialists as "a proof of a singularly narrow mind.--The Reformation originated," add they, "in a true and christian, although unenlightened zeal."[949]

[948] The name of St. Augustin's mother.

[949] See Möhler's _Symbolik_, both in the preface and in the body of
the work. This is one of the most important writings produced by Rome
since the time of Bossuet.

The return of Œcolampadius had still more important consequences for Basle than it had for himself. The discussion at Berne caused a great sensation there. "Berne, the powerful Berne, is reforming!" was passed from mouth to mouth. "How, then!" said the people one to another, "the fierce bear has come out of his den......he is groping about for the rays of the sun......and Basle, the city of learning--Basle, the adopted city of Erasmus and of Œcolampadius, remaining in darkness!"

[Sidenote: HALF-MEASURES.]

On Good Friday (10th April, 1528), without the knowledge of the council and Œcolampadius, five workmen of the Spinners' Company entered the church of St. Martin, which was that of the reformer, and where the Mass was already abolished, and carried away all the "idols." On Easter Monday, after the evening sermon, thirty-four citizens removed all the images from the church of the Augustines.

This was going too far. Were they desirous, then, of drawing Basle and its councils from that just medium in which they had till this moment so wisely halted? The council met hastily on Tuesday morning, and sent the five men to prison; but, on the intercession of the burghers, they were released, and the images suppressed in five other churches. These half-measures sufficed for a time.

On a sudden the flame burst out anew with greater violence. Sermons were preached at St. Martin's and St. Leonard's against the abominations of the cathedral; and at the cathedral the Reformers were called "heretics, knaves, and profligates."[950] The Papists celebrated mass upon mass. The burgomaster Meyer, a friend of the Reform, had with him the majority of the people; the burgomaster Meltinger, an intrepid leader of the partisans of Rome, prevailed in the councils: a collision became inevitable. "The fatal hour approaches," says Œcolampadius, "terrible for the enemies of God."[951]

[950] Ketzer, schelmen, und büben. (Bulling, ii. p. 36.)

[951] Maturatur fatalis hora et tremenda hostibus Dei. (Zw. Epp. ii.
p. 213.)

[Sidenote: COMMOTION IN BASLE.]

On Wednesday the 23d December, two days before Christmas, three hundred citizens from all the companies, pious and worthy men, assembled in the hall of the Gardeners' Company, and there drew up a petition to the senate. During this time the friends of Popery, who resided for the most part in Little Basle and the suburb of St. Paul, took up arms, brandishing their swords and lances against the Reformed citizens at the very moment that these were bearing their petition to the council, and endeavoured, although ineffectually, to bar their road. Meltinger haughtily refused to receive the petition, and charged the burghers, on the faith of their civic oath, to return to their homes. The burgomaster Meyer, however, took the address, and the senate ordered it to be read.

"Honoured, wise, and gracious Lords," it ran, "we, your dutiful fellow-citizens of the companies, address you as well-beloved fathers, whom we are ready to obey at the cost of our goods and of our lives. Take God's glory to heart; restore peace to the city; and oblige all the Pope's preachers to discuss freely with the ministers. If the Mass be true, we desire to have it in our churches; but if it is an abomination before God, why, through love for the priests, should we draw down His terrible anger upon ourselves and upon our children?"

Thus spoke the citizens of Basle. There was nothing revolutionary either in their language or in their proceedings. They desired what was right with decision, but also with calmness. All might still proceed with order and decorum. But here begins a new period: the vessel of Reform is about to enter the port, but not until it has passed through violent storms.

V. It was the bishop's partisans who first departed from the legal course. Filled with terror on learning that mediators were expected from Zurich and Berne, they ran into the city, crying that an Austrian army was coming to their aid, and collected stones in their houses. The Reformed did the same. The disturbance increased hourly, and in the night of the 25th December the Papists met under arms: priests with arquebuse in hand were numbered among their ranks.