Chapter XIV: Part 14

He continued to cultivate music "with moderation," says Bullinger: nevertheless the enemies of the gospel took advantage of it, and called him "The evangelical flute and lute player."[716] Faber having one day reproached him with his fondness for music, Zuinglius, with noble candour, replied, "My dear Faber, you know not what music is. I have, it is true, learned to play on the lute, the violin, and other instruments, and am able by these means to pacify little children;[717] but you of course are too holy for music. Do you not know that David was a skilful player on the harp, and in this way drove the evil spirit out of Saul? ... Ah! if you knew the sound of the heavenly lute, the evil spirit of ambition and avarice by which you are possessed would come out of you also." Perhaps this was Zuinglius' foible, though it was in a spirit of cheerfulness and Christian liberty that he cultivated this art, which religion has always associated with her sublimest flights. He set some of his Christian poems to music, and did not scruple sometimes to amuse the youngest of his flock with his lute. He showed the same good nature to the poor. "He ate and drank," says one of his contemporaries, "with all who invited him,--he despised no one; he was most compassionate to the poor; always firm and always joyful in bad as in good fortune. No evil made him afraid; his words were at all times full of energy, and his heart full of consolation."[718] Thus Zuinglius increased in popularity--after the example of his Master, seated alternately at the table of the common people and the banquet of the great, but still constantly intent on the work to which God had called him.

[716] Der Lautherschlager und Evangelischer pfyffer. (Bullinger, MS.)

[717] Dass kombt mir Ja wol, die kind zu geschweigen. (Bullinger MS.)

[718] War allwegen trostlichen Gemüths und tapferer Red. (B. Weisse
Füssl. Beytr. iv, p. 36.)

At the same time he was an indefatigable student. In the morning, till ten, he read, wrote, and translated: Hebrew in particular engaged his attention. After dinner he attended to those who had any thing to tell him, or any advice to ask of him: took a walk with his friends and visited his hearers. At two he resumed his studies. He took a short walk after supper, and afterwards wrote letters which often occupied him till midnight. He always stood when he studied, and did not allow himself to be interrupted unless on important business.[719]

[719] Certas studiis vindicans horas, quas etiam non omisit, nisi
seriis coactus. (Osw. Myc. Vit. Zw.)

[Sidenote: INDULGENCES.]

But the labours of a single individual were not sufficient. A person, named Lucian, one day came to him with the writings of the German Reformer. He had been sent by Rhenan, a learned man, then resident at Bâle, and indefatigable in circulating the Reformer's writings throughout Switzerland. Rhenan had become aware that the hawking of books was an important means of diffusing evangelical doctrine. Lucian had travelled almost over the whole of Switzerland, and knew everybody. "See," said Rhenan to Zuinglius, "whether this Lucian has the necessary prudence and ability; if he has, let him go from town to town, burgh to burgh, village to village, and even from house to house, among the Swiss, with Luther's writings, especially his exposition on the Lord's Prayer, written for the laity.[720] The more he is known the more purchasers will he find. But care must be taken not to let him hawk other books. If he has none but Luther's, his sale of them will be the greater." Thus the humble roof of many a Swiss family was penetrated with some rays of light. There was one other book, however, which Zuinglius should have caused to be hawked with those of Luther--the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

[720] ... Oppidatim, municipatim, vicatim, imo domesticatim per
Helvetios circumferat.... (Zw. Ep. p. 81)

CHAP. VII

Indulgences--Samson at Berne--Samson at Baden--The Dean of
Bremgarten--Young Henry Bullinger--Samson and the
Dean--Internal struggles of Zuinglius--Zuinglius against
Indulgences--Samson dismissed.

[Sidenote: SAMSON AT BERNE AND BADEN.]

Zuinglius had not long to wait for an opportunity of displaying his zeal in a new vocation. Samson, the famous indulgence merchant, was slowly approaching Zurich. This miserable trafficker had come from Schwitz to Zug, 20th September, 1518, and had remained there three days. An immense crowd had gathered round him. The poorest were the most eager, so that they prevented the rich from coming forward. This did not suit the monk; accordingly, one of his attendants began to bawl out to the populace, "Good people, do not throng so! Let those come who have money. We will afterwards try to content those who have none." From Zug Samson and his band repaired to Lucerne; from Lucerne to Underwald; then crossing the fertile Alps with their rich valleys, passing beneath the eternal ice of Oberland, and in these spots, the grandest in Switzerland, exposing their Roman merchandise, they arrived near Berne. The monk was at first prohibited to enter the town, but succeeded at last in obtaining an introduction by means of persons whom he had in his pay. Exhibiting his wares in the church of St. Vincent he began to cry louder than ever. "Here," said he to the rich, "are indulgences on parchment for a crown." "There," said he to the poor, "are indulgences on ordinary paper for two farthings!" One day, a celebrated knight, James de Stein, came up prancing on a dapple grey horse; the monk greatly admired the horse. "Give me," says the knight, "an indulgence for myself, for my troop of five hundred strong, for all my vassals of Belp, and all my ancestors; I will give you my dapple grey horse in exchange." It was a high price for the horse, but the courser pleased the Franciscan, and the bargain was struck. The horse went to the monk's stable, and all these souls were declared for ever exempted from hell.[721] Another day, he give a burgher, for thirteen florins, an indulgence, in virtue of which his confessor was authorised to absolve him from any species of perjury.[722] So much was Samson in repute, that Counsellor May, an enlightened old man, having said something against him, was obliged to go down on his knees, and ask pardon of the arrogant monk.

[721] Um einen Kuttgrowen Hengst. (Anshelm, v, 335, J. J. Hotting.
Helv. K. Gesch. i, 29.)

[722] A quovis parjurio. (Muller's Relig. iv, 403.)

This was the monk's last day, and a loud ringing of bells announced his immediate departure from Berne. Samson was in the church standing on the steps of the high altar. Canon Henry Lupulus, formerly Zuinglius's master, was acting as his interpreter. "When the wolf and the fox rendezvous together in the field," said canon Anselm, turning to the Schulthess of Walleville, "the best thing for you, worthy Sir, is to put your sheep and geese in safety." But the monk cared little for these sarcasms, which, besides, did not reach his ear. "Kneel," said he to the superstitious crowd, "repeat three _Paters_, three _Ave Marias_, and your souls will forthwith be as pure as at the moment of baptism." Then all the people fell upon their knees. Samson wishing even to outdo himself, exclaimed, "I deliver from the torments of purgatory and hell all the spirits of the departed Bernese, whatever may have been the manner and place of their death." These jugglers, like those at fairs, kept their finest feat for the last.

Samson set out with a heavy purse towards Zurich, crossing Argovia and Baden. The farther on he got, the monk, whose appearance on passing the Alps was so shabby, proceeded with more pride and splendour. The Bishop of Constance, irritated that Samson had not employed him to legalise his bulls, had forbidden all the curates of his diocese to open their churches to him. At Baden, nevertheless, the curate durst not long oppose his traffic. This redoubled the monk's effrontery. Making the round of the burying ground at the head of a procession, he seemed to fix his eyes on some object in the air, while his acolytes sung the hymn for the dead, and pretending to see souls flying from the burying ground to heaven, he exclaimed--"_Ecce volant!_ See how they fly." One day, an inhabitant of the place getting up into the church steeple, a great number of feathers were soon seen in the air falling down on the astonished procession; "See how they fly," exclaimed the wag of Baden, shaking a feather cushion from the steeple. Many began to laugh.[723] Samson fell into a rage, and could not be appeased till he learned that the individual was subject to fits of derangement: he left Baden in a huff.

[723] Dessen viel Luth gnug lachten. (Bullinger MS.)

[Sidenote: THE DEAN OF BREMGARTEN. HENRY BULLINGER.]

Continuing his journey, he arrived, towards the end of February, 1519, at Bremgarten, at the solicitation of the Schulthess and second curate, who had seen him at Baden. No individual in that district had a higher reputation than dean Bullinger of Bremgarten. Though far from enlightened as to the errors of the Church and the Word of God, being open, zealous, eloquent, kind to the poor, and ready to do a service to the humblest, he was loved by every body. He had in his youth formed a connection with the daughter of a counsellor of the place. This was the usual expedient of such of the priests as were unwilling to live in general licentiousness. Anna had borne him five sons, but this had in no way lessened the respect which the dean enjoyed. There was not in Switzerland a more hospitable house than his. A great lover of the chace, he was seen surrounded with ten or twelve dogs, and accompanied by the barons of Hallwyll, the abbot Mury, and the gentry of Zurich, scouring the fields and forests around. He kept open table, and none of his guests was more jovial than himself. When the deputies to the Diet were on their way to Baden, on passing through Bremgarten they failed not to take their seats at the dean's table. "Bullinger," said they, "keeps court like the most powerful baron."

[Sidenote: SAMSON AND THE DEAN.]

In this house strangers remarked a child of an intelligent countenance. Henry, one of the dean's sons, from his earliest years, had many narrow escapes. Having been seized with the plague, preparations were making for his funeral when he showed some signs of life, and was restored to his delighted parents. On another occasion, a wandering beggar, having won him by caresses, was carrying him off from his family, when some persons in passing recognised and rescued him. At three years of age he could repeat the Lord's prayer and the apostles' creed. One day having slipt into the church, he got into his father's pulpit, stood up gravely, and at the full stretch of his voice, cried out, "I believe in God the Father," and so on. At twelve, he was sent to the Latin school of Emmeric, his heart overwhelmed with fear; for those times were dangerous for a young boy without experience. When the students of an university thought its discipline too severe, they not unfrequently left it in troops, carrying the children with them, and encamped in the woods, from which they sent the youngest of their number to beg, or sometimes with arms in their hands they rushed forth on the passing traveller, robbed him, and then consumed their booty in debauchery. Henry was happily kept from evil in this distant abode. Like Luther, he gained his livelihood by singing before the houses, for his father wished to teach him to live by his own shifts. He was sixteen when he opened a New Testament. "I found in it," says he, "every thing necessary for man's salvation, and thenceforth I laid it down as a principle to follow the Holy Scriptures alone, and reject all human additions. I believe neither the fathers nor myself, but explain Scripture by Scripture, without adding any thing or taking any thing away."[724] God was thus preparing this young man who was one day to succeed Zuinglius. He is the author of the manuscript journal which we often quote.

[724] Bulling. Ep. Franz's Merkw. Zuge, p. 19.

About this time Samson arrived at Bremgarten with all his train. The bold dean undismayed by this petty Italian army, prohibited the monk from vending his wares in his neighbourhood. The Schulthess, town clerk, and second pastor, Samson's friends, had met in a room of the inn at which he had alighted, and were standing quite disconcerted around the impatient monk. The dean arrived--"Here are the papal bulls," said the monk to him, "open your church."

_The Dean._--"I will not allow the purses of my parishioners
to be emptied by means of letters not authenticated, for the
bishop has not legalised them."

_The Monk_ (in a solemn tone).--"The pope is above the
bishop. I enjoin you not to deprive your flock of this
distinguished grace."

_The Dean._--"Should it cost me my life, I won't open my
church."

_The Monk_ (with indignation).--"Rebellious priest! in the
name of our most holy lord the pope, I pronounce against you
the greater excommunication, and will not absolve you till
you ransom your unheard-of audacity at the price of three
hundred ducats."...

_The Dean_ (turning on his heel and retiring).--"I will know
how to answer before my lawful judges: as for you and your
excommunication I have nothing to do with them."

_The Monk_ (transported with rage).--"Impudent brute! I am
on my way to Zurich, and will there lay my complaint before
the deputies of the Confederation."[725]

[725] Du freche Bestie ... etc. (Bullinger MS.)

_The Dean._--"I can appear there as well as you, and this
instant I set out."

[Sidenote: INTERNAL WRESTLINGS OF ZUINGLIUS.]

While these things were taking place at Bremgarten, Zuinglius, who saw the enemy gradually approaching, kept preaching vigorously against indulgences.[726] Vicar Faber of Constance encouraged him, promising him the bishop's support.[727] "I know," said Samson, while proceeding towards Zurich, "that Zuinglius will attack me, but I will stop his mouth." Zuinglius was in truth too much alive to the value of pardon by Christ not to attack the paper indulgences of these men. Often, like Luther, he trembled because of sin; but in the Saviour found deliverance from his fears. This modest but brave man was advancing in the knowledge of God. "When Satan frightens me," said he, "by crying to me: You do not this, and you do not that, and yet God commands them!--immediately the soft voice of the gospel consoles me, saying: What thou canst not do (and assuredly thou canst do nothing,) Christ does for thee." "Yes," continues the pious evangelist, "when my heart is agonised because of my powerlessness, and the feebleness of my flesh, my spirit revives at the sound of this glad news: Christ is thy innocence! Christ is thy righteousness! Christ is thy salvation! Thou art nothing, thou canst do nothing! Christ is the Alpha and the Omega! Christ is all, and can do all.[728] All created things will forsake and deceive thee, but Christ, the Holy and Righteous One, will receive and justify thee...." "Yes," exclaims Zuinglius, "He is our righteousness, and the righteousness of all who shall ever appear as righteous before the judgment seat of God!..."

[726] Ich prengete streng wider des Pabsts Ablass ... (Zw. Op. ii, 1st
part, p. 7.)

[727] Und hat mich darm gestarkt: er welle mir mit aller traw byston.
(Ibid.)

[728] Christus est innocentia tua; Christus est justitia et puritas
tua; Christus est salus tua; tu nihil es, tu nihil potes; Christus est
Α et Ω; Christus est prora et puppis; Christus est
omnia.... (Zw. Op. i, p. 207.)

Indulgences could not stand a moment when confronted with such truths; and hence Zuinglius never hesitated to attack them. "No man," said he, "is able to forgive sins. Christ alone, very God and very man, is able to do it.[729] Go, buy indulgences ... but rest assured you are not at all forgiven. Those who vend forgiveness of sins for money are the companions of Simon Magus, the friends of Balaam and the ambassadors of Satan."

[729] Nisi Christus Jesus, verus Deus et verus homo. . . . (Ibid. p.
412.)

Dean Bullinger, still warm from his conference with the monk, arrived at Zurich before him. He came to complain to the Diet against this shameless dealer and his traffic. Envoys from the bishop had arrived for the same purpose. They made common cause, and promised to support each other. The spirit which animated Zuinglius breathed upon this town, and the council of State resolved to oppose the monk's entry into Zurich.

[Sidenote: SAMSON DISMISSED.]

Samson had arrived in the suburbs, and alighted at an inn. One foot was already on the stirrup preparatory to his entry, when deputies from the council arrived, and while making the customary offer of wine to him as a papal envoy, intimated to him that he might dispense with appearing in Zurich. "I have something to communicate to the Diet in the name of his holiness," replied the monk. It was a trick. However, it was resolved to admit him; but as he spoke only of his bulls he was dismissed, after being compelled to retract the excommunication which he had pronounced against the dean of Bremgarton. He went off in a rage, and the pope shortly after recalled him to Italy. A car drawn by three horses, and loaded with the money of which his lies had robbed the poor, preceded him on the steep tracts of St. Gothard, which eight months before he had crossed in poverty, without style, merely the bearer of a few papers.[730]

[730] Und führt mit Ihm ein threspendiger Schatz an gelt, den er armen
lüthen abgelogen hat. (Bullinger, MS.)

On this occasion the Helvetic showed more firmness than the Germanic Diet. The reason was, because no cardinals and bishops sat in it. Hence the pope deprived of these supports dealt more gently with Switzerland than Germany. In other respects, the affair of indulgences, which played so important a part in the Reformation of Germany, is only an episode in that of Switzerland.

CHAP. VIII.

The Labours of Zuinglius--The Baths of Pfeffers--God's
time--The Great Death--Zuinglius seized with the Plague--His
Enemies--His Friends--Convalescence--General Joy--Effect of
the Plague--Myconius at Lucerne--Oswald encourages
Zuinglius--Zuinglius at Bâle--Capito called to Mentz--Hedio
at Bâle--An Unnatural Son--Preparation for Battle.

Zuinglius did not spare himself. His many labours called for some relaxation, and he was ordered to the baths of Pfeffers. "Ah!" said Herus, one of the pupils who lodged with him, and who thus expressed the feeling of all who knew Zuinglius, "had I a hundred tongues, a hundred mouths, a brazen throat, as Virgil expresses it; or rather had I the eloquence of Cicero, how could I express all I owe you, and all that I feel at this separation."[731] Zuinglius, however, set out and reached Pfeffers through the astonishing gorge formed by the impetuous torrent of the Jamina. He descended into that infernal abyss, as the hermit David called it, and arrived at the baths, which are perpetually agitated by the dashing of the torrent, and bedewed by the spray of its foaming water. Where Zuinglius lodged it was so dark that candles were burnt at mid-day. He was even assured by the inmates, that frightful phantoms sometimes appeared in the darkness.

[731] Etiamsi mihi sint linguæ centum, sint oraque centum, ferrea vox,
ut Virgilius ait, aut potius Ciceroniana eloquentia. (Zw. Ep. p. 84.)

[Sidenote: GOD'S TIME].

Even here Zuinglius found opportunity to serve his Master. His affability won the heart of several of the patients, among others a celebrated poet, Philip Ingentinus, professor at Friburg, in Brigau,[732] who thenceforward became a zealous supporter of the Reformation.

[732] Illic tum comitatem tuam e sinu uberrimo profluentem, non
injucunde sum expertus. (Zw. Ep. p. 119.) Then I had the pleasure of
experiencing your affability, the offspring of an exhuberant heart.

God watched over his own work, and was pleased to hasten it. Zuinglius' defect lay in his strength. Strong in body, strong in character, strong in talents, he was to see all these varieties of strength broken, that he might thereby become such an instrument as God loves to employ. He stood in need of a baptism, that of adversity, infirmity, feebleness, and pain. Such a baptism Luther had received at that period of agony when the cell and long passages of the convent of Erfurt resounded with his cries. Zuinglius was to receive it by being brought into contact with sickness and death. The heroes of this world--the Charles Twelfths and Napoleons--have a moment which is decisive of their career and their glory, and it is when they all at once become conscious of their strength. There is an analogous moment in the life of God's heroes, but it is in a contrary direction; it is when they recognise their impotence and nothingness; thenceforth they receive strength from on high. Such a work as that of which Zuinglius was to be the instrument is never accomplished by man's natural strength; it would immediately wither away like a tree transplanted after its full growth, and when in full leaf. A plant must be feeble in order to take root, and a grain of corn must die in the ground before it can yield a full return. God led Zuinglius, and with him the work of which he was the stay, to the gates of the grave. It is from among bones and darkness, and the dust of the dead, that God is pleased to take the instruments, by means of which he illumines, regenerates, and revives the earth.

[Sidenote: ZUINGLIUS ATTACKED BY THE PLAGUE.]

Zuinglius was hidden among the immense rocks which hem in the furious torrent of the Jamina, when he unexpectedly learned that the plague, or as it was termed "_the great death_,"[733] was at Zurich. This dreadful scourge broke out in August, on St. Lawrence day, lasted till Candlemas, and carried off two thousand five hundred persons. The young people who lodged with Zuinglius had immediately left, conformably to directions which he had given. His house was empty, but it was to him the very moment to return. He hurriedly quitted Pfeffers, and reappearing in the bosom of his flock, now decimated by the plague, he immediately sent to Wildhaus for his young brother Andrew, who wished to attend him. From that moment he devoted himself entirely to the victims of this dreadful scourge. Every day he preached Christ and his consolations to the sick.[734] His friends delighted to see him safe and sound in the midst of so many fatal darts,[735] still felt a secret alarm. Conrad Brunner, who himself died of the plague a few months after, writing him from Bâle said; "Do good, but at the same time remember to take care of your life." It was too late: Zuinglius was seized with the plague. The great preacher of Switzerland was stretched on a bed from which, perhaps, he was never again to rise. He communed with himself, and turned his eye heavenward. He knew that Christ had given him a sure inheritance, and disclosing the feelings of his heart in a hymn remarkable for unction and simplicity, of which, not being able to give the antique and expressive phraseology, we have endeavoured to preserve the rhythm and literal meaning, he exclaimed:--

My door has opened ...
Death appears.[736]
My God! my strength!
Dispel all fears!

Oh, Jesus! raise
Thy pierced arm,
And break the sword
That caused alarm.

But if my soul
In life's mid-day
Thy voice recalls,[737]
Then I obey.

Ah! let me die,
For I am thine;
Thy mansions wait
Such faith as mine.

[733] Der Grosse Tod. (Bullinger, MS.)

[734] Ut in majori periculo sis, quod in dies te novo exponas, dum
invisis ægrotos. (Ibid., MS. 87.) Chateaubriand had forgotten this
fact, and thousands similar to it, when he said, "the protestant
pastor abandons the poor man on his death-bed, and rushes not into the
midst of the plague." (Essai sur la Literature Anglaise.)

[735] Plurimum gaudeo te inter tot jactus telorum versantem, illæsum,
hactenus evassisse. (Ibid.)

[736] Ich mein der Tod,
Syg an der Thür. (Zw. Op. ii, 2nd part, p. 270.)

[737] Willit du dann glych
Tod haben mich
In mitts der Tagen min
So soll's willig sin. (Ibid.)

[Sidenote: ZUINGLIUS ATTACKED BY THE PLAGUE.]

Meanwhile the disease gains ground, and this man, the hope of the Church and of Switzerland, is beheld by his despairing friends as about to become the prey of the tomb. His senses and strength forsake him. His heart becomes alarmed, but he is still able to turn towards God, and exclaims:--

My ills increase;
Haste to console;
Terrors overwhelm
My heart and soul.

Death is at hand,
My senses fail,
My voice is choked,
Now, Christ! prevail.[738]

Lo! Satan strains
To snatch his prey;
I feel his hand,
Must I give way?

He harms me not,
I fear no loss,
For here I lie
Before thy cross.

[738] Nun ist est um Min
Zung ist stumm
........
Darum ist Zyt
Das du min stryt. (Zw. Op. ii, part ii, p. 271.)

Canon Hoffman, sincere in his own belief, could not bear the idea of allowing Zuinglius to die in the errors which he had preached. Accordingly he waited on the provost of the Chapter, and said to him, "Think of the danger of his soul. Does he not give the name of fantastical innovators to all the doctors who have appeared for the last three hundred and eighty years and more--to Alexander Hales, St. Bonaventura, Albert the Great, Thomas Aquinas, and all the canonists? Does he not maintain that their doctrines are the dreams which they dreamed in their cowls within the walls of their cloisters? Better had it been for the town of Zurich that Zuinglius had, for a series of years, destroyed our vintage and harvest! There he lies at the brink of death! Do, I beseech you, save his poor soul!" It would seem that the provost was more enlightened than the canon, and deemed it unnecessary to convert Zuinglius to St. Bonaventura and Albert the Great. He was left at peace.

The whole town was in mourning. All the faithful cried to God night and day, beseeching him to restore their faithful pastor.[739] Terror had passed from Zurich to the mountains of the Tockenburg, where also the plague had appeared. Seven or eight persons had perished in the village, among them a servant of Nicolas, a brother of Zuinglius.[740] No letter was received from the Reformer, and his young brother Andrew wrote, "Tell me, my dear brother, in what state you are. The abbot and all our brothers desire to be remembered." As the parents of Zuinglius are not mentioned it would seem that they were now dead.

[739] Alle glaubige rufften Gott treuwillich an, dass er Ihren
getreuwen Ihirten wieder ufrichte. (Bullinger, MS.)

[740] Nicolao verò Germano nostro, etiam obiit servus suus, attamen
non in ædibus suis. (Zw. Ep. 88.)

[Sidenote: RUMOUR OF HIS DEATH.]

The news of Zuinglius' illness, and even a rumour of his death, spread in Switzerland and Germany. "Alas!" exclaimed Hedio in tears, "the safety of the country, the gospel trumpet, the magnanimous herald of truth is smitten with death in the flower of his life, and, so to speak, in the spring tide of his days."[741] When the news reached Bâle the whole town was filled with lamentation and mourning.[742]

[741] Quis non enim doleat, publicam patriæ salutem, tubam Evangelii,
magnanimum veritatis buccinatorem languere, intercidere ... (Zw. Ep.
p. 90.)

[742] Hen quantum luctus, fatis Zuinglium concecisse importunus ille
rumor, suo vehementi impetu divulgavit. (Ibid. p. 91.)

The spark of life which remained in Zuinglius was, however, rekindled. Though his body was still feeble, his soul was impressed with the unaltered conviction that God had called him to replace the torch of his Word on the candlestick of the Church. The plague had abandoned its victim, and Zuinglius exclaims with emotion:--

My God! my Father!
Healed by thee
On earth again
I bend my knee.

Now sin no more
Shall mark my days
My mouth, henceforth,
Shall sing thy praise.

The uncertain hour,
Come when it may,
Perchance may bring
Still worse dismay.[743]

But, let it come,
With joy I'll rise,
And bear my yoke
Straight to the skies.[744]

[743] Words which were strikingly fulfilled twelve years after on the
bloody plains of Cappel.

[744] So will Ich doch
Den trutz und poch,
In diser welt
Tragen frölich
Um widergelt.

Although these three poetical fragments are dated "the beginning, middle, and end of the malady," and express the feelings which Zuinglius truly experienced at these different moments, it is probable that they were not put into their present form till afterwards. (See Bullinger MS.)

[Sidenote: CONVALESCENCE. EFFECT ON ZUINGLIUS.]

Zuinglius was no sooner able to hold the pen (this was in the beginning of November) than he wrote to his family. This gave inexpressible delight to them all,[745] especially to his young brother Andrew, who himself died of the plague the following year, and at whose death Ulric, to use his own words, wept and cried like a woman.[746] At Bâle Conrad Brunner, a friend of Zuinglius, and Bruno Amerbach, a famous printer, both young men, were cut off after three days' illness. The rumour having spread in this town that Zuinglius also had fallen, the whole university was in mourning. "He whom God loves is perfected in the flower of his life," said they.[747] How great was their joy when Collinus, a student of Lucerne, and afterwards a merchant in Zurich, brought word that Zuinglius had escaped the jaws of death.[748] John Faber, vicar to the bishop of Constance, long the friend and afterwards the most violent adversary of Zuinglius, wrote to him. "O my dear Ulric, how delighted I am to learn that you have escaped the jaws of cruel death. When you are in danger, the Christian commonwealth is threatened. The design of the Lord in these trials is to urge you forward in the pursuit of eternal life."

[745] Inspectis tuis litteris incredibilis quidam æstus lætitiæ pectus
meum subiit. (Zw. Ep. p. 88.) On seeing your letter an incredible
burst of joy swelled my breast.

[746] Ejulatum et luctum plasquam fœmineum. (Zw. Ep. p. 155.)

[747] Ὅν τε Θεοὶ φιλέουσι, νεανίσκες
τελευτᾷ. (Ibid., p. 90.) He whom the gods love, dies young.

[748] E diris te mortis fancibus feliciter ereptum negotiator quidam
Tigurinus ... (Ibid., p. 91.) A trader from Zurich informed me that
you had been happily rescued from the dire jaws of death.

This was, indeed, the design, and it was accomplished, though in a different way from what Faber anticipated. The plague of 1519, which made such fearful ravages in the north of Switzerland, was, in the hand of God, a powerful means of converting a great number of persons.[749] But on none had it a greater influence than on Zuinglius. Hitherto he had been too much disposed to regard the gospel as mere doctrine; but now it became a great reality. He returned from the gates of the grave with a new heart. His zeal was more active, his life more holy, his word more free, Christian, and powerful. This was the period of Zuinglius' complete emancipation. He from this time devoted himself to God. The new life thus given to the Reformer was communicated at the same time to the Swiss Reformation. The Divine rod, _the great death_, in passing over all their mountains and descending into all their valleys, added to the sacredness of the movement which was then taking place. The Reformation being plunged, like Zuinglius, into the waters of affliction and of grace, came forth purer and more animated. In regard to the regeneration of Switzerland, the gospel sun was now at its height.

[749] Als die Pestilenz in Jahre, 1519, in dieser Gegend grassirte,
viele neigten sich zu einem bessern Leben. (Georg. Vögelin. Ref. Hist.
Füsslin Beytr., iv, 174.)

[Sidenote: OSWALD MYCONIUS AT LUCERNE.]

Zuinglius, who still strongly felt the want of new strength, received it in intercourse with his friends. His closest intimacy was with Myconius. They walked hand in hand, like Luther and Melancthon. Oswald was happy at Zurich. It is true, his position was cramped; but every thing was softened by the virtues of his modest spouse. It was of her that Glarean said, "Were I to meet a young girl resembling her, I would prefer her to the daughter of a king." But a faithful voice was often heard disturbing the sweet friendship of Zuinglius and Myconius. It was that of canon Xylotect, who, calling to Oswald from Lucerne, summoned him to return to his country. "Lucerne," said he to him, "not Zurich, is your country. You say that the Zurichers are your friends: granted; but do you know what the evening star will bring you? Serve your country.[750] This I advise; I implore; and, if I am able, command." Xylotect, not confining himself to words, procured the appointment of Myconius to the college school of Lucerne. After this Oswald no longer hesitated. He saw the finger of God in the appointment, and determined to make the sacrifice, how great soever it might be. Who could say whether he might not be an instrument in the hand of the Lord to diffuse the doctrine of peace in warlike Lucerne? But how painful the separation between Zuinglius and Myconius! They parted in tears. Ulric shortly after wrote to Oswald, "Your departure has been as serious a loss to the cause which I defend, as that which is sustained by an army in battle array when one of its wings is destroyed.[751] Ah! I now am aware of all that my Myconius was able to do, and how often, without my knowing it, he maintained the cause of Christ."

[750] Patriam cole, suadeo et obscero, et si hoc possum jubeo.
(Xylotect. Myconio.)

[751] Nam res meæ, te absente, non sunt minus accisæ quam si exercitui
in procincta stanti altera alarum abstergatur. (Zw. Ep. p. 98.)

Zuinglius felt the loss of his friend the more, because the plague had left him in a state of great feebleness. Writing on the 30th November, 1519, he says, "It has weakened my memory and wasted my intellect." When scarcely convalescent, he had resumed all his labours. "But," said he, "in preaching I often lose the thread of my discourse. I feel languid in all my members, and somewhat as if I were dead." Moreover, Zuinglius, by his opposition to indulgences, had excited the wrath of their partisans. Oswald strengthened his friend by letters which he wrote him from Lucerne. And did he not also receive pledges of assistance from the Lord in the protection which He gave to the Saxon champion who was gaining such important victories over Rome? "What think you," said Myconius to Zuinglius, "of the cause of Luther? For my part I have no fear either for the gospel or for him. If God does not protect his truth, who will protect it? All that I ask of the Lord is, not to withdraw his aid from those who hold nothing dearer than his gospel. Continue as you have begun, and an abundant recompence awaits you in heaven."

[Sidenote: ZUINGLIUS AT BALE.]

The visit of an old friend helped to console Zuinglius for the loss of Myconius. Bunzli, who had been his teacher at Bâle, and had succeeded the dean of Wesen, the Reformer's uncle, arrived at Zurich, in the first week of the year 1520, and Zuinglius and he thereafter resolved to set out together to Bâle to see their common friends.[752] This visit of Zuinglius bore fruit. "Oh, my dear Zuinglius!" wrote John Glother to him at a later period, "never will I forget you. The thing which binds me to you is the goodness with which, during your stay at Bâle, you came to see me, me, a petty schoolmaster, living in obscurity without learning or merit, and of humble station! What wins me is the elegance of your manners, and that indescribable meekness with which you subdue all hearts, even stones, if I may so speak."[753] But Zuinglius' visit was still more useful to his old friends. Capito, Hedio, and others, were electrified by the power of his eloquence. The former commencing in Bâle the work which Zuinglius was doing at Zurich, began to expound the gospel of St. Matthew before an auditory which continued to increase. The doctrine of Christ penetrated and inflamed all hearts. The people received it joyfully, and with acclamation hailed the revival of Christianity.[754] It was the aurora of the Reformation. Accordingly a conspiracy of monks and priests was soon formed against Capito. It was at this time that Albert, the young cardinal-archbishop of Mentz, who felt desirous of attaching a man of so much learning to his person, called him to his court.[755] Capito, seeing the difficulties which were thrown in his way, accepted the invitation. The people were moved, and, turning with indignation against the priests, raised a tumult in the town.[756] Hedio was proposed as his successor, but some objected to his youth, while others said, "He is his pupil." "Truth bites," said Hedio: "it is not advantageous to offend too delicate ears by telling it.[757] No matter, nothing will turn me from the straight path." The monks redoubled their efforts. "Believe not those," exclaimed they from the pulpit, "who say that the sum of Christian doctrine is found in the Gospel and in St. Paul. Scotus has done more for Christianity than St. Paul himself. All the learning that has ever been spoken or printed has been stolen from Scotus. All that has been done since by men eager for fame has been to throw in some Greek and Hebrew terms, which have only darkened the matter."[758]

[752] Zw. Ep. p. 103 and 111.

[753] Morum tuorum elegantia suavitasque incredibilis qua omnes tibi
devincis, etiam lapides, ut sic dixerim. (Ibid., p. 133.)

[754] Renascenti Christianismo mirum quam faveant. (Ibid., p. 120.)

[755] Cardinalis illic invitavit amplissimis conditionibus. (Ibid.)
The cardinal invited him thither on the most liberal terms.

[756] Tumultus exoritur et maxima indignatio vulgi erga ἱερεῖς.
(Ibid.)

[757] Auriculas teneras mordaci radere vero, non usque adeo tutum est.
(Ibid.)

[758] Scotum pius profuisse rei Christianæ quam ipsum
Paulum...quicquid eruditum, furatum ex Scoto. (Ibid.)

[Sidenote: HEDIO AT BALE. CONRAD GREBEL.]

The tumult increased; and there was reason to fear that, on Capito's departure, it would become still more serious. "I will be almost alone," thought Hedio, "poor I, to struggle with these formidable monsters."[759] Accordingly, he invoked the assistance of God, and wrote to Zuinglius. "Inflame my courage by writing often. Learning and Christianity are now placed between the hammer and the anvil. Luther has just been condemned by the universities of Louvain and Cologne. If ever the Church was in imminent danger, it is at this hour."[760]

[759] Cum pestilentissimis monstris. (Zw. Ep. p. 121.)

[760] Si unquam imminebat periculum, jam imminet. (Ibid., 17th March,
1520.)

Capito left Bâle for Mentz, 28th April, and Hedio succeeded him. Not content with the public assemblies in the church at which he continued his exposition of St. Matthew, he proposed, in the month of June, as he wrote Luther, to have private meetings in his own house, to give more thorough evangelical instruction to those who might feel the want of it. This powerful method of communicating the truth, and exciting in the faithful an interest and zeal in divine things, could not fail then, as it never does, to awaken opposition in the men of the world and in domineering priests, both of whom, though from different motives, are equally desirous that God should be worshipped only within the precincts of a particular building. But Hedio was invincible.

At the same period when he formed this good resolution at Bâle, there arrived at Zurich one of those characters who often emerge, like impure froth, from the vortex of revolutions.

[Sidenote: PREPARATIONS FOR BATTLE.]

Senator Grebel, a man of great influence in Zurich, had a son named Conrad, a youth of remarkable talents, and a relentless enemy of ignorance and superstition, which he attacked with cutting satire. He was boisterous, violent, sarcastic, and bitter in his expression, without natural affection, given to debauchery, always talking loudly of his own innocence, while he could see nothing but what was wrong in others. We speak of him here because he is afterwards to play a melancholy part. At this period, Vadian married a sister of Conrad, and Conrad, who was studying at Paris where his misconduct had deprived him of the use of his limbs, desiring to be present at the marriage, appeared suddenly about the beginning of June amidst his family. The poor father received the prodigal son with a gentle smile, his fond mother with tears. The tenderness of his parents made no change on his unnatural heart. His kind and unhappy mother having some time after been brought to the gates of death, Conrad wrote his brother-in-law Vadian:--"My mother is recovered; she again rules the house, sleeps, awakes, grumbles, breakfasts, scolds, dines, makes a racket, sups, and is perpetually a burden to us. She runs, cooks, re-cooks, sweeps the house, toils, kills herself with fatigue, and will shortly bring on a relapse."[761]

[761] Sic regiert das Hans, schläft, steht auf, zaukt, fruhstucht,
keift ..... (Simml. Samml. iv, Wirz, i, 76.)

Such was the man who, at a later period, pretended to lord it over Zuinglius, and who took the lead among fanatical anabaptists. Divine Providence perhaps allowed such characters to appear at the period of the Reformation that their disorders might the better bring out the wise, Christian, and orderly spirit of the Reformers.

Everything announced that the battle between the gospel and the papacy was about to commence. "Let us stir up the temporisers," wrote Hedio to Zurich; "the peace is broken, let us arm our hearts: the enemies we shall have to combat are most fierce."[762] Myconius wrote in the same strain to Ulric, who, however, answered their warlike appeals with admirable meekness. "I should like," said he, "to gain these obstinate men by kindness and good offices, rather than overcome them by violence and disputation.[763] That they call our doctrine, (which however is not ours,) a doctrine of the devil, is nothing more than natural. It proves to me that we are indeed the ambassadors of Christ. The devils cannot be silent in his presence."

[762] Armemus pectora nostra! pugnandum erit contra teterrimos ostes.
(Zw. Ep. p. 10.)

[763] Benevolentia honestoque obsequio potius ullici quam animosa
oppugnatione trahi. (Ibid., p. 103.)

CHAP. IX.

The Two Reformers--The Fall of Man--Expiation of the
God-Man--No merit in Works--Objections refuted--Power of
Love to Christ--Election--Christ alone Master--Effects of
this Preaching--Despondency and Courage--First Act of the
Magistrate--Church and State--Attacks--Galster.

Though desirous to follow the path of meekness, Zuinglius was not idle. Since his illness his preaching had become more profound and enlivening. More than two thousand persons in Zurich had received the word of God into their heart, made profession of the evangelical doctrine, and were themselves able to announce it.[764]

[764] Non enim soli sumus Tiguri plus duobus millibus permultorum est
rationalium qui lac jam Spirituali sugentes.... (Ibid., p. 104.) For
we are not alone: at Zurich are more than two thousand of very
rational beings, who now seek spiritual food.

[Sidenote: THE DOCTRINE TAUGHT BY ZUINGLIUS.]

Zuinglius' faith was the same as Luther's, but more the result of reasoning. Luther advances with a bound. Zuinglius owes more to clearness of perception. Luther's writings are pervaded with a thorough personal conviction of the benefits which the cross of Christ confers upon himself, and this conviction, glowing with heat and life, is the soul of all he says. The same thing doubtless exists in Zuinglius, but in an inferior degree. He had looked more to the Christian system as a whole, and admired it particularly for its beauty, for the light which it sheds into the human mind, and the eternal life which it brings to the world. The one is more the man of heart, the other more the man of intellect; and hence it is that those who do not experimentally know the faith which animated these two great disciples of the Lord, fall into the grossest error, making the one a mystic and the other a rationalist. The one is more pathetic, perhaps, in the exposition of his faith, and the other more philosophical, but both believe the same truths. They do not, however, look at all secondary questions from the same point of view, but that faith which is one, that faith which quickens and justifies its possessor, that faith which no confession, no article of doctrine can express, is in the one as in the other. The doctrine of Zuinglius has often been so much misrepresented, that it seems proper here to give an account of what he preached at this time to the increasing crowds who flocked to the cathedral of Zurich.

The fall of Adam, Zuinglius regarded as the key to man's history. "Before the fall," said he one day, "man had been created with a free will, so that he was able, if he chose, to keep the law, his nature was pure, being as yet untainted by the malady of sin; his life was in his own hand. But wishing to be equal to God, he died ... and not he only, but every one of his descendants. All men being dead in Adam none can be recalled to life until the Spirit, who is God himself, raise them from death."[765]

[765] Quum ergo omnes homines in Adamo mortui sunt.....donec per
Spiritum et gratiam Dei ad vitam quæ Deus est excitentur. (Zw. Op. i,
p. 203.) Seeing, then, that all men are dead in Adam ... until they
are awakened by the Spirit and grace of God to the life of God. These
words, and others which we have quoted, or will quote, are taken from
a work which Zuinglius published in 1523, and in which he gave a
summary of the doctrine which he had preached for several years. "Hic
recensere cœpi quæ ex verbo Dei prædicavi." (Ibid., p. 228.) These
are his own words.

[Sidenote: ZUINGLIUS ON THE MERIT OF WORKS.]

The people of Zurich who listened eagerly to this powerful orator were saddened when he set before them the sinful state into which human nature has fallen, but soon after heard words of joy, and learned to know the remedy which is able to recall man to life. "Christ very man and very God,"[766] said the eloquent voice of this shepherd--son of the Tockenburg, "has purchased for us a redemption which will never terminate. The eternal God died for us: His passion then is eternal: it brings salvation for ever and ever:[767] it appeases divine justice for ever in favour of all those who lean upon this sacrifice with firm and immovable faith." "Wherever sin exists," exclaimed the Reformer, "death must necessarily supervene. Christ had no sin, there was no guile in his mouth, and yet he died! Ah! it was because he died in our stead. He was pleased to die in order to restore us to life, and as he had no sins of his own, the Father, who is full of mercy, laid the burden of our sins upon him.[768]" The Christian orator continued, "Since the will of man rebelled against the supreme God, it was necessary, if eternal order was to be re-established and man saved, that the human will should be made subject in Christ to the divine will."[769] He often repeated that it was for the faithful people of God, that the expiatory death of Jesus Christ had been endured.[770]

[766] Christus verus homo et verus Deus.... (Zw. Op. i, p. 204.)

[767] Deus enim æternus quum sit qui pro nobis moritur, passionem ejus
æternam et perpetuò salutarum esse oportet. (Zw. Op. i, p. 206.) Since
he who dies for us is the eternal God, his passion must be eternal and
for ever saving.

[768] Mori voluit ut nos vitæ restitueret ... (Ibid., p. 204.)

[769] Necesse fuit ut voluntas humana in Christo se divinæ
submitteret. (Ibid.)

[770] Hostia est et victima satisfaciens in æternum pro peccatis
omnium fidelium. (Ibid., p. 253.) Expurgata peccata multitudinis, hoc
est, fidelis populi. (Ibid., p. 264.)

Those in the city of Zurich who were eager for salvation, found rest on hearing these good news. But old errors still remained, and these it was necessary to destroy. Setting out from this great truth of a salvation which is the gift of God, Zuinglius forcibly discoursed against the pretended merit of human works. "Since eternal salvation," said he, "proceeds solely from the merits and death of Jesus Christ, the merit of our works is nothing better than folly, not to say rash impiety.[771] Could we have been saved by our works it had not been necessary for Jesus Christ to die. All who have ever come to God came to him by the death of Jesus Christ."[772]

[771] Sequitur meritum nostrorum operum nihil esse quam vanitatem et
stultitiam, ne dicam impietatem et ignorantem impudentiam. (Ibid., p.
290.) It follows that the merit of our works is nothing but vanity and
folly, not to say impiety and ignorant impudence.

[772] Quotquot ad Deum venerunt unquam, per mortem Christi ad Deum
venisse. (Ibid.)

[Sidenote: FAITH AND LOVE PRODUCTIVE OF GOOD WORKS.]

Zuinglius perceived the objections which some of his hearers felt against these doctrines. Some of them called upon him and stated them. He mounted the pulpit and said--"People, more curious perhaps than pious, object that this doctrine makes men giddy and dissolute. But of what consequence are the objections or fears which human curiosity may suggest? Whosoever believes in Jesus Christ is certain that every thing which comes from God is necessarily good. If, then, the gospel is of God it is good.[773] And what other power would be capable of implanting among men innocence, truth, and love? O God! most compassionate, most just, Father of mercies," exclaimed he in the overflowing of his piety, "with what love hast thou embraced us, us thy enemies![774] With what great and certain hopes hast thou inspired us, us who should have known nothing but despair: and to what glory hast thou in thy Son called our littleness and nothingness! Thy purpose in this ineffable love is to constrain us to yield thee love for love!..."

[773] Certus est quod quidquid ex Deo est bonum sit. Si ergo
Evangelium ex Deo bonum est. (Ibid., p. 208.)

[774] Quanta caritate nos fures et perduelles. (Zw. Op. i, p. 207.)

Then dwelling on this idea, he showed that love to the Redeemer is a more powerful law than the commandments. "The Christian," said he, "delivered from the law depends entirely on Christ. Christ is his reason, his counsel, his righteousness, and whole salvation. Christ lives in him and acts in him. Christ alone guides him, and he needs no other guide."[775] And making use of a comparison adapted to his hearers, he added, "If a government prohibits its citizens, under pain of death, from receiving pensions and presents at the hands of princes, how gentle and easy this law is to those who, from love to their country and to liberty, would, of their own accord, refrain from so culpable a proceeding; but on the contrary, how tormenting and oppressive it feels to those who think only of their own interest. Thus the righteous man lives joyful in the love of righteousness, whereas the unrighteous walks groaning under the heavy weight of the law which oppresses him."[776]

[775] Tum enim totus a Christo pendet. Christus est ei ratio,
consilium, justitia, innocentia et tota salus. Christus in eo vivit,
in eo agit. (Ibid., p. 233.)

[776] Bonus vir in amore justitiæ liber et lætus vivit. (Ibid., p.
234.)

In the cathedral of Zurich was a considerable number of veteran soldiers who felt the truth of these words. Is not love the mightiest of legislators? Is not every thing that it commands instantly accomplished? Does not he whom we love dwell in our heart, and does it not of itself perform what he enjoins? Accordingly, Zuinglius, waxing bold, declared to the people of Zurich that love to the Redeemer was alone capable of making man do things agreeable to God. "Works done out of Jesus Christ are not useful," said the Christian orator; "since every thing is done of him, in him, and by him, what do we pretend to arrogate to ourselves? Wherever faith in God is, there God is, and wherever God is, there is a zeal which presses and urges men to good works.[777] Only take care that Christ be in thee and thou in Christ, and then doubt not but he will work. The life of the Christian is just one continued work by which God begins, continues, and perfects in man every thing that is good."[778]

[777] Ubi Deus, illic cura est et studium ad opera bona urgens et
impellens.... (Ibid., p. 213.)

[778] Vita ergo pii hominis nihil aliud est nisi perpetua quædam et
indefessa boni operatio, quam Deus incipit, ducit et absolvit ...
(Ibid., p. 295.)

[Sidenote: PROGRESS OF THE REFORMATION.]