Chapter XII: Part 12

But this language availed nothing; for on the same day dreadful tidings arrived. Jacob Kaiser, surnamed the Locksmith of Utznach, the place of his birth, had a benefice and settlement given him at Neftenbach, in the canton of Zurich. Now he received a call as a preacher to Oberkirch, in Gaster. Before he resigned his former charge, he sometimes visited his new parish. Being much hated by the Schwyzers, because when pastor at the Ufnau he had declared himself strongly opposed to image-worship, the bailiff (_vogt_) in Utznach, which was under the dominion of Schwyz and Glarus, caused him to be apprehended, as he journeyed through, and brought to Schwyz.[2] This was done in pursuance of an order, which all the bailiffs of the Five Cantons had received, to keep an eye on innovating preachers in the Territories, and seize them, and hand them over to justice. Like an earlier victim in Schwyz, another in the Thurgau, and three preachers delivered to the Bishop at M[oe]rsburg, by Catholic bailiffs of that place, Kaiser was condemned to die at the stake. In vain did Zurich intercede for him; in vain did she write more earnest letters; in vain did she send the treasurer Edlebach to Schwyz. On the day of his execution the Schwyzers answered: "The territory of Utznach belongs not to you it is a property bought by us and our Confederates of Glarus. For what we do there you have no right to call us to account. And if the parson is so dear to you as you say in your letter, then you should have kept him at home, and not suffered him to come among our people. This would have been most agreeable to us, and certainly much better for him." Such scorn and the flames of the faggot were decisive. War was determined on.

FOOTNOTES TO CHAPTER SIXTH:

Footnote 1: It is printed at large in _Escher_ and _Hottinger_, fuer Schweizerische Geschichte und Landeskunde. Bd. II. S. 263 ff.

Footnote 2: So it is expressed in the verbal process of the Privy Council; that he was once pastor at Schwerzenbach in Greifensee, Bullinger informs us.

CHAPTER SEVENTH.

FIRST CAMPAIGN. ZWINGLI AND LUTHER.

Two primal forces live and move in man, the one more in this individual, the other more in that one; they both spring from above: Feeling and Understanding. Original, childlike Feeling _is_ the inner law; but it does not know itself. The awakening Understanding _seeks_ the law, but finds it not; for around them and between them settle the mist of earth, the smoke and vapors of passion. Power is needed to work their way up out of the mist; a celestial sun to scatter it. That sun is Love. In Love, as well as in Power, God has revealed himself. Only in the loving act, in revelation, are Feeling and Understanding able to find each other, to understand each other, and then also first to understand themselves. Now, and in this way alone, does growth in true knowledge begin. With it disunion, discord is no longer possible; all discord, even that which is internal, springs from want of knowledge. The error is most lamentable, when Feeling fears the Understanding, and the Understanding hates Feeling. This it is, which can lead to war for religion. No war for religion is permitted to end with the overthrow of one of these. God will not have it so; for he has created Feeling and Understanding as immortal, mutually completing sisters. Did Zwingli not know this? Was he perchance a man of a one-sided understanding, imprisoned in mist, who sought knowledge in his own strength, but for this very reason was never able to discover the truth? Did he desire to subject Feeling to the Understanding, to subdue faith to the yoke of the letter--of the letter, which men invented to express _their_ thoughts, whilst the Spirit, who proceeds from the Father, does not reveal himself in _words made of letters_, but in _the Word_ of Love, the loving act? They tried it, who came after him, who were not able to comprehend him; but they have been shamefully wrecked with their ever swelling formulas of confession. The church of Zurich under Zwingli, and then under the _antistes_ Klingler (1688-1713)--what a sad contrast! Yet here is not the place to speak of it.

Faith, that feeling of the Divine will, of the Divine revelation, transformed into knowledge, had struck its roots as deep into the nature of Zwingli as into that of Luther. Who can doubt it, when he reads thus in his Explanation of the Christian Faith, as preached by him, which in the year of his death was dedicated to the King of France: "Faith must be the source of our works. If it go before, then the work is acceptable to God. If it be wanting, then all that is done, is false, and hence not only displeasing to God, but an abomination. Therefore Paul says: 'Everything, which is not of faith is sin.' Now faith comes only from the Spirit of God; hence they, who have faith, look to the will of God as to a perfect rule. For this reason, not only those works, which are done contrary to the law of God, are blameable, but those also which are done without regard to it. Whatever is done thus without the law, _i.e._ with no regard to the Word and will of God, is also not done of faith; what is not done of faith is sin, and sin God abhors. Thus it comes, that even if any one performs a work which God has commanded, giving alms, for example, but without faith,[1] such a work is not pleasing to God; for when we go back to the source from whence the almsgiving springs, which is not done of faith, then we find that it has proceeded either from vain-glory, or a desire to receive more in return, or from some other bad motive. And who is not convinced that such a work is unacceptable to God?"[2]

After such expressions of the Reformer every one will be readily convinced, that Zwingli wished to create no controversy, to achieve no victory of the understanding, which only regulates and analyzes, at the expense of pious feeling.[3] That war, which can only be called religious, because the parties themselves very wrongly believed they served religion thereby, was not allowed by Christianity, as it came from the hands of its founder, not by the Church established by Him, not by the unity of this Church, unity in her Master and Exampler abiding yet in the Gospel and the hearts of all true believers. It was actually of a political more than of a religious nature; for a Church which exercises temporal authority, whose heads rule over land and people, set up compulsory dogmas of faith and deliver to judgment those, who do not submit to them, is also a political, a worldly power. Or ought we regard the nuncios, who drive along in carriages drawn by four horses, to be received by the thunder of cannon, as apostles, when Christ would send them forth, staff in hand, without money, without change of raiment?

Proceeding from this stand-point, Zwingli saw in the war, which he himself undoubtedly advised, only a political conflict. On the one side appeared to him, imbued as he was with the idea of a purely spiritual kingdom of God and Christ, a worldly power defending itself not by the lawful, yea, necessary weapons of science and sound judgment, but by anathemas and the flames of the faggot, and on the other, those who wished to attain and defend liberty, without which neither a religion of the heart nor of the head, nor a faith matured to conviction by the agreement of both, was possible. With this feeling he wrote to his friend in Bern: "The peace, about which many now talk so much, is war; the war, which I wish, peace. There can be no security either for the truth, or her worshippers, till the ground-pillars of tyranny be overthrown. Do not lose confidence in me, because I must say this. With God's help I will prove myself worthy of it." But, even if the question, according to the judgment of the Reformer, was fairly one of an external, political nature, when logically carried out, it would take the form of opinion in some, or of principle in others. Yet never will such questions be solved by weapons of iron. The blind iron usually wounds the principle for which it was drawn out, and its defender first. "Put up thy sword in its sheath," said Christ to Peter, "for they, who take the sword, shall perish by the sword;" and for Zwingli it was a prophetic word. Only for material interests, lying equally before the eyes of all the world; only when the duty of fighting against the violation of national treaties or human laws, or else for upholding them, does true policy take up the sword, and in this respect the statesmanship of Bern seems more prudent; yea, more in harmony with the Federal Compact, than that of Zurich. But there are moments in the lives of nations, when prudence will no longer avail, and energetic action, even passionate endeavor, becomes a necessity. In such cases each one has to appeal to his own conviction of duty, and his justification lies in his willingness to sacrifice himself therefor. Over the corpse of the noble victim, the censuring voice of posterity is silent.

He, who accompanies the Reformer with undiminished sympathy along his path, which from this time forth becomes more and more slippery, will find the truth of what has been said. The grand achievement, which he desired, perhaps rather anticipated--the formation of a strong league in the midst of Europe, controlling extremes; a league of concord, and yet of the free developement of individual members in their peculiar customs and forms of government; united by the spiritual bond of a common faith, of a common _submission to the Gospel_, embraced with a pure mind and _carried out in practice_; satisfying the understanding and contenting the heart; one in _its aim_ of worshipping God; diverse in _its mode_, according to the usage and wants of the country; tolerating philosophical as little as dogmatical dictators; repudiating alike the Propaganda and the Jesuits; a league whose members are not exclusive like Jews, but helpful like Christians--the nineteenth century can see it realized, if in its free presses a manly openness is able to triumph over wholesale robbery and keep down human devilishness, as well as the spirit of hypocrisy.

On the 1st of June, a secret council was held in Zurich, to consider the outrage of the Schwyzers. Some wished to prohibit the exportation of provisions, others to revoke the treaties, and a third party to declare war without delay. The last course was adopted by the Great Council on the 3d of June, and the tidings sent to Schwyz in the following language: "Our greeting first! Pious, circumspect, wise, should our good friends and faithful, dear Confederates be! Your haughty and defiant letter we have received and considered, and though you accuse us therein of not keeping covenant with you, we think we have done it as faithfully and better than you have heretofore; than you, who have persecuted, unjustly punished, given into other hands, violently and unrighteously dragged beyond the jurisdiction and laws, which belonged to us as well as you, miserably tortured and killed many an honest man merely for asserting his faith and maintaining the honor of God, by which we and our people, who are pious, honest Christians, if God will, have also been greatly and severely injured, reviled and shamefully abused, as to our honor and old, praiseworthy customs; ill-treated in a wanton manner without cause, surrounded, beaten, defied, and a pious priest under our protection, whom it became us to save, pounced upon beyond your jurisdiction, carried off in a scornful, unjust fashion, before God and to our great displeasure, burned to death for adhering to God's Word, since you had no other charge against him. Because now you have always suffered such outrages and injuries to pass by without punishment, because you have despised all our warnings and embassies, publicly transgressing in many instances the Articles of Confederation, and because we see that no justice can be hoped for from you, we are obliged, in order to rescue and maintain the Divine truth, its honor and ours, to chastise you for such wantonness, injustice and violence with our own hand, in the strength of God, and intend also, with as much strength and grace as God gives us, to take vengeance on you without mercy. But we have warned you of it and kept our honor. Thus you can understand the motives of our action; you yourselves desired nothing else, since you have provoked us to this course by your violence and gross injustice." In consequence of the threatened passage of the bailiff (_vogt_) of Unterwalden that way to Baden, Bern was written to: That the friendly exhortation to moderate measures had come too late. They had certain intelligence that Unterwalden intended to escort her _landvogt_ to Baden with an armed force. Bern must not permit this according to her own solemn declaration. And she is there strongly besought to join the Zurichers, now promptly rising in self-defence.

But Bern, for some time back, had been endeavoring, principally through Luzern, to bring Unterwalden into a more peaceful humor. She had not yet put any troops under arms, and had received information from the Five Cantons that they too would not be the first to do it. Hans Edlebach, who was sent to Lenzburg, to hasten the march of the expected contingent, had to suffer bitter reproaches from the _landvogt_ and the Bernese residing there: Was it prudent to begin war during such a famine? Was it like a Confederate, not to suffer the law first to take its course? Was it fair dealing toward Bern, to rise up against every warning, and without giving her notice beforehand? Zurich may now bring to an end alone what she has commenced alone. To this the Zurichers wrote in reply: "We would sooner have expected death, than that your aid should have failed us up to this time; what guilt will rest upon you, if calamity overtake us?" But Zurich was in no wise hindered by this delay, and the declaration of the Bernese immediately following, that though they would now march out, it was only for the support of their ally and not to encourage the war. One division of troops was sent to Bremgarten and Muri: another placed at the west end of the lake to hold Schwyz in check, whilst another marched under Jacob Werdmueller to the country lying around Rapperschweil, so that the Toggenburgers, the people of Gaster, and the evangelical portion of the Glarners might be encouraged to join them. To his countrymen of Toggenburg Zwingli was particularly favorable. "Dear comrade," he wrote to his friend Werdmueller, "I hope the Toggenburgers will not fail, yet hasten to communicate with the town-clerk of Lechstensteg; for a general assembly to consult about affairs was held on Wednesday, the 9th day of June. Take care and keep the advice secret. If you act against Toggenburg, you must not speak of taking possession of the country, for they will not suffer such a thing, having some time since made themselves free by their military power." Less consideration was shown toward the Thurgau. Lavater, the bailiff (_vogt_) of Kyburg received orders to occupy the territory for Zurich, with the reservation of the rights of Glarus, and notify the inhabitants that the Five Cantons would be allowed no share in the government without their own consent, which was an open violation of existing treaties, and founded on the right of conquest. The chief force, consisting of 4,000 picked men, well armed and provided with numerous guns, marched under George Berger to the borders of Zug. Berger had served in Italy with honor. He maintained severe discipline in the army. Idle women, who usually followed the Swiss expeditions in great crowds, were not suffered here. On the other hand, in spite of the scarcity just then prevailing, an abundant stock of provisions was furnished; a good spirit prevailed among the soldiery. It was a long time since Zurich had displayed such power. From the steps of the senate-house the burgomaster Walder exhorted the departing troops to discipline and a fearless defence. Commander Schmied was appointed army-chaplain. Without a summons from the government Zwingli rode along, a halberd on his shoulder. The report of the outbreak, Zurich's declaration of war, communicated to the Four Cantons by Schwyz, set them also in motion. Flying appeals went out at the same time from Zug. First, volunteers hastened thither; then came the militia of Schwyz, of Uri, of Unterwalden--the latter well armed and particularly eager for war. Messengers were despatched to Waldshut and Feldkirch for Austrian aid.

The Zurichers halted at Cappel. A declaration of war was also made against the Five Cantons. It resembled that against Schwyz, but with an additional reference to the doings of the Unterwaldners and to the Austrian alliance. On the morning of the 9th it was sent to Zug, and directly after the Zurichan force, strengthened by new accessions, took up the line of march. They had not yet crossed the boundaries of the canton, when the _landamman_ Æbli came up against them from Baar. He was a man of irreproachable character, a leader of the people in his canton, esteemed and beloved by the Confederates, trained in the school of life, keeping in view the wants of the present, but both by education and disposition unfitted for scientific and religious controversy. As related by Bullinger, who was an eye-witness, this man begged "the Lords of Zurich with tearful eyes; begged them as strongly as he could, for God's sake and that of the whole Confederacy, to stay quiet where they were without actual operations and approach, till he would return again in the course of a few hours; for he had good hopes, by the aid of other honorable, honest people, who also were in a fair way to separate, with the help of God's grace, to make an honorable peace, which would redound to the good of the Confederacy; besides, great bloodshed would be avoided and no poor widows and orphans made; for this, he trusted in the Holy Gospel, which teaches us peace, love and unity. Moreover, he had also found a moderate, friendly opinion in the Five Cantons, that it would be a great calamity, if one Confederate would wretchedly kill the other, when their forefathers so often and closely pledged together their persons, property and blood; and a like opinion existed here among those, who had suffered much pain and injury in war. We ought not, said he, grant such pleasure to the foes and enemies of our common country. He, therefore, most earnestly plead only for some hours to do his best to prevent the sad dismemberment of the Confederacy."

Discordant views prevailed amongst the Zurichers. Yet the majority were won over by this true-hearted, patriotic speech. After a short deliberation, the leaders declared themselves ready to halt, and a courier was dispatched to Zurich for instructions. But Zwingli approached the _landamman_, who had formerly been one of his most intimate friends in Glarus, with the words: "Dear _amman_, thou wilt be obliged to account to God for this peace. Now, whilst our enemies are in our power and unprepared you give them good words. Thou believest them, and holdest back. Hereafter, when they are prepared, they will not make peace with us; who then will separate us?" "Dear comrade," replied the _amman_, "I trust in God. He will make all right. Act always for the best."

The brief truce, which now followed, was diligently used by both parties. The Catholics brought together their chief force in the country of Baar. Auxiliaries from Wallis (_Valais_), Livinen and the valley of the Esch joined them. Their little army swelled to eight thousand. That of the Zurichers was strengthened from the Thurgau and St. Gall. A third just as important, that of the Bernese aided by Basel, Biel and Muehlhausen, under the _schultheiss_ Von Diesbach, had reached Bremgarten. Full thirty thousand men, unlike in view and disposition, stood under arms. The Confederate policy was in the camp of the Bernese. "We will attack the aggressor," said they, "wherever he comes from. We will suffer no war, till all lawful remedies are exhausted." They had written the same to Zurich, where hurrying envoys from Glarus, Appenzel, the Three Cantons, Solothurn and Freiburg arrived every hour with plans for a settlement of the difficulties. Bern had also convoked at Aarau, a Diet for the whole Confederacy. Even from Strasburg the Mayor Sturm had come as a mediator. A spirit of peace began to pervade the opposing camps. Besides, many were anxious to return home. They thought of their agricultural labor, which in the month of June was particularly needful. The necessity for shedding blood had not yet stirred the feelings of the multitude. Neighbors of the different confessions still held intercourse with each other. The out-posts had agreed not to injure each other; one party looked on the peaceful sports of the other at the ring and the hurling of stones. That beautiful feature of old Swiss cordiality was manifested, when milk was brought from one side, bread from the other, and the hostile warriors, with jokes over the limits to be guarded, ate the common food from _one_ vessel. It drew an exclamation of surprise from the Mayor of Strasburg, who witnessed it.

According to old usage, when the militia had marched out, the Council of Zurich gave over to the commons-at-war (_kriegsgemeine_) the instruction of the negotiators at the Diet in Aarau. There was one man particularly to whom this was little pleasing, who apprehended evil results--Ulric Zwingli. Should all the fruits of his earnest endeavor, all the hopes for evangelical freedom, involved in this breach, be lost? He feared a too ready compliance. "Gracious, loving Lords," he wrote, "our messengers come in again this moment. I observe indeed how the matter stands. They now give good words, and pray and beg. But do not be misled, and regard no wry faces, but command us, beforehand, to act with earnestness, not to surrender our advantage, but to accept only a solid peace; for no one can give better words than these people, and when we are out of the field, they will return in one month and attack us. For God's sake act boldly. By my life, I desire not to mislead you, nor give way myself. One cannot write everything. Stand fast in God. Yield nothing to wry faces, till the right is established. God be with you. In haste, in haste!"

After this he did his utmost in the camp at Cappel, so that the treasurer, Rudolph Thumeisen, the deputy to Aarau, was instructed to demand positively, liberty to preach the Gospel everywhere in the Territories, the abrogation of the Alliance with Austria, the abjuration of all pensions and the punishment of those, who would propogate and dispense them, the costs of the war and indemnification for the children of the martyred Jacob Kaiser. Meanwhile in Aarau the continuance of the armistice only was determined on, and the prosecution of the negotiations by arbitrators in the vicinity of the camps transferred to Steinhausen, in the canton of Zug.

It had been previously said, that the commons-at-war (_landsgemeinden_) should themselves hear the complaints and arguments of the opposing parties. The leaders and deputies of the army of the Five Cantons made the beginning in the camp of the Zurichers. An eye-witness, Kessler of St. Gall, has given the following graphic picture of the event. It is here told in his own words: "Now, at the request of the Five Cantons, it was appointed, that, on the next Monday, a committee should come over from their camp into ours, in order to interrogate each other as well as the friendly arbitrators. So a high scaffolding was raised upon barrels in the field before Cappel. On this was placed the banner of Zurich, with all the ensigns and officers then encamped at Cappel, and around the scaffolding stood the common soldiers. After the committee of the Five Cantons, thirty in number, had been conducted over by the Zurichan trumpeter, the umpires approached; one rose after the other on the scaffold, speaking to the array and exhorting them to hold fast the purpose to submit on both sides to a friendly and moderate treaty of peace, seeing not only the sorrow, the misery and the great damage and ruin, that must accrue to us from this present misunderstanding, if it should come to the shedding of blood; but on the other hand, also, the great joy that would arise among our foreign hereditary enemies; and that nothing else can at last result from it, but that we, weakened by our own discord, will be the more easily conquered and ruled by those enemies, for whom, when united, we were always strong enough. Besides, the great dislike of the people of Germany and other countries, during our campaigns there, must be considered; and if our poor widows and orphans are left, what scanty crusts of bread will be doled out to them. Therefore, we implore you, for God's sake, to make peace with each other like faithful, pious Confederates, who, in times past, have fought and suffered so much together. Hereupon, Captain Escher of Zurich stood forward, and disclosed in general and special to the deputies of the Five Cantons the cause and articles of the war now declared against them, reviewing with sharp words their unkind, shameful and scandalous doings so long persisted in, but which could henceforth be no longer endured or suffered, consistently with justice and honor. After this, the deputies, gentlemen and captains of the Five Cantons rose up; among the first _schultheiss_ Hug of Luzern; and each gave answer to the articles and the accusation touching his Lords. Nevertheless, something should be done. They desired that every effort should be made to bring about a lasting peace, lest, as was before said by the arbitrators, we might be compelled to murder and destroy each other. But so far as might be, they desired a just settlement, promising to abide thereby. Then it was proposed to retire a little out of the crowd to a particular spot; and the captains and the commons conferred among themselves, and decided that a committee of the same number as theirs should be sent into the camp of the Five Cantons, to disclose to the common soldiery, the business, which had not yet reached them. There were present also Master Ulric Zwingli, Master Conrad Schmied, the Commander, chosen preachers from the city and canton of Zurich, men wholly inclined to purge the Confederacy from all unfairness, unrighteousness and pride, and restore piety and honor. When his turn came, Master Ulric spake very plainly, that they who were there might understand, declaring that the cold apology of the Five Cantons and their appeals to the law, which before this had been little regarded by them, reminded him of condemned criminals, who when led to punishment cried out for justice, in order to prolong their lives. Then he spoke of the sin, the danger and the injury springing from the pensions, undeservedly taken from kings and princes, countries and people, and addressed the aforementioned _schultheiss_, Hug, by name: It is well known what he is and has been for years, and whence he has been enriched by so many thousand crowns; they are earnestly exhorted to put it away, else peace, quiet and unity would never be seen in the Confederacy."

With milder words Escher sought to allay the rising discontent of the deputies of the Five Cantons, who, after a notice that the leaders of the Zurichers should remember to appear also before their commons-at-war, withdrew and were honorably conducted out of the camp.

Rain in torrents, as it fell abundantly during this summer, poured down on the following day, the fifteenth of June. The overflowing of the Loretz prevented any meeting. On the sixteenth, with clearing skies and glad sunshine, fifteen of the most prominent Zurichers, to whom several people from the country were added, rode over into the camp of the Five Cantons.

Here also, as with the Zurichers, the reception took place amid warlike display and the thunder of cannon. The leaders affirmed that more than 12,000 men were under arms. They stood well drawn up; defiance in every face. The Unterwaldners were particularly well armed, partly with bows and partly in heavy coats of mail. Hans Escher opened the discussion, glad of the opportunity to represent in its true light the misapprehended cause of Zurich before so large an assembly of Confederates. First, he read aloud a detailed list of grievances, published by the government itself. "All this," he then continued, "we would have borne for the sake of the common peace, but when your rulers concluded an alliance with yon power, which your own forefathers have always considered their most dangerous enemy, and which is now, perhaps more than ever, ours, how could we keep quiet any longer? Still, we were not the first to march out. The Unterwaldners took up arms before, to place their _vogt_ in Baden. Our troops, when they came to Muri, found a meal prepared for them. Yet we do not wish to deal in mutual crimination to our own injury, but rather to favor the liberty, which we have inherited from our fathers, or what is the welfare of all, according to the Gospel to which we adhere, the restoration of the old Confederate pledges, which, as we ask them from you, we are also willing and ready to give to our Confederates." The country-people supported the speech of the citizen. Upon many of the hearers the impression was evidently good, for a general belief prevailed among the Catholics, that the country-people of Zurich had only submitted to the Reformation with reluctance. Others, on the contrary, thought the grievances in the paper of the Zurich Council exaggerated. "When have we refused you justice?" said they. "How often have you appealed to us in vain?"--"Yes," rejoined the treasurer Funk, an active young man, and one of Zwingli's warmest adherents--"we know your ways of doing justice. That unhappy pastor made an appeal and you referred him to the executioner." The rash word was spoken. "Funk! you had better been silent," one of his companions called out to him. A fearful tumult arose; the troops put themselves in motion. The more considerate warned the Zurichers to retire without delay, and secured them by a detailed escort.

The negotiation continued in Steinhausen and the Zurichan camp. The issue lay in the hands of the Bernese. Without them, Zurich was no longer able to carry on the war. The favorable moment had passed. Time had been given to the Five Cantons to gather and strengthen their army. The sight of their collective force raised the courage of individuals. In numbers they were not inferior to the Zurichers; surpassed them rather. And then, they beheld an abundance of provisions in the Zurichan camp, whilst in theirs, and at home in their vallies, want and famine prevailed, on account of the prohibition against importation. The assurance of this accessible and needful booty whetted their thirst for combat. To know that the power of deciding lay with the present leaders of the Bernese, made the prospect intolerable to Zwingli. He found in the _schultheiss_ Diesbach, their general, a lukewarm friend of the Reformation, and in him and most of the others advocates, rather than opposers, of pension-taking. The latter practice found such special favor among the Bernese Counsellors, that even Nicholas Manuel, otherwise one of the most powerful heads of the Evangelical party, declared before the assembly of the Zurichan leaders in the camp at Cappel, that Zwingli's demand on the Five Cantons for the abolition of pensions need expect no support from Bern. This drew angry words from the Reformer: "Well then! we can put the question to the whole commons-at-war; we can also send an embassy to Bern herself, to learn how the city and canton think. I know it and can prove it by writings, which I promise to produce, that that people, as well as ours, abhor pensions. Who maintain them? Some great families, who live by them."--"It will come to this," replied Hans Escher, "we must first put questions everywhere; the councils of leaders are no longer of any account; one has just as much to say as another; squire and knight, common man and captain; now, let all, for my sake, cry out at once; then at least we will be done with the matter; if we ourselves cannot strike because of discord, then let the others strike." Zwingli confessed that he had gone too far, and smothered his chagrin. He had hoped for a victory of principles, but now saw only the possibility of a temporary compromise, achieved by political arts. The men, from whom there was nothing to hope in support of the Reformation, in one canton, and everything to fear in regard to the others, stood at the helm and saw their power continually secured by foreign influence and foreign gold. He beheld the times coming, when the old Adam would again awaken in Zurich herself. Earlier or later, the seed sown, so he foreboded, must be again stifled and the tender fruit sunk under the rank growth of sprouting weeds.

Meanwhile the arbitrators in Steinhausen did all they could, and when Bern used just as decided language against the Five Cantons as against Zurich, then a treaty was formed, with which the statesmen of the latter canton said they would be satisfied. First of all, the Territories were to be left to their own free choice in matters of religion; to declare for one system or the other. The alliance with King Ferdinand was to be abolished and its documents annihilated. Doctor Murner was to be arraigned before the Confederates in Baden, to answer for defamation of Zurich and Bern. These were the chief articles. What the Five Cantons should pay as costs of the war, and indemnification to the surviving family of Jacob Kaiser, was left to the arbitrators to determine afterward. But Zurich and Bern were expressly empowered, if the conditions binding on the Five Cantons were not fulfilled, to continue the interdict against the exportation of provisions, until they would comply. It was simply uttered as a wish that the Five Cantons would also abolish pensions.

The leaders of the armies communicated the rough draft of the treaty to their several governments. In Bern it was received with universal joy. "We permit you," wrote the government to her members in the field, "to omit, in the affair of the Unterwaldners, whatever might waken strife anew, be it so far only as is consistent with our honor. It is hoped, being now again united, as was necessary, we will be able to bestow a glance on our foreign enemies. Henceforth no more strangers, be they Burgundians, Netherlanders, Austrians, Lorrainers or others should be allowed to threaten our borders with impunity. We should, after the manner of our fathers, defend ourselves. Sound the Five Cantons and tell us, if they would refuse to arm." Just this, meanwhile, was the most difficult point. Under various pretexts they tried to put off the delivery of the deeds of the Austrian alliance. Then Zurich ordered those of her militia, who were already prepared for a return home, to stay, and called back others, who had marched off. The arbitrators begged. The Bernese threatened; the Banneret, Peter im Haag, said: "If the document be not produced immediately, we will fetch it in procession." At last, on the 25th of June, about 2 o'clock in the night, it was brought to Cappel. What further happened, is related by Thomas Platter, an eye-witness, in these words: "As every one was now up, they came together into a room, and the _amman_ of Glarus took the document; for he had all along been the chief umpire. He gave it to a scribe to open; it was terribly broad and long; the like I have never seen, and I think it had nine seals on it; one large one, that was golden. Then the scribe began and read a long preface of titles, such as one reads on the square at Basel, on St. John's day; after that, the Five Cantons, also, under the titles by which they are known. They had made a league. Then the _amman_ struck his hand upon the document and said: 'It is enough.' Then one behind me, who was doubtless a Zuricher, cried out: 'Read the thing through, that we may hear how traitorously they would have dealt with us.' The _amman_ turned to him and spake: 'How read it through? You must hack me into little pieces first, before I will suffer it.' Therewith he laid the document together and said: 'You are alas! without this, too highly exasperated against each other; take a little knife, first cut off the seals, and then slit the parchment into long strips, give it to the scribe in a little cap, that he may throw it into the fire.' What became of the seals I do not know."

Joyfully the Zurichers marched to their homes; Zwingli with anxiety in his heart. He gave utterance to it in the following verses, which he also set to music:

Now mount the chariot, O Lord,
We know not where to go.
Thy hand must now uplift the sword
And smite the haughty foe.

God, for thy honor and our land
Blast Satan's progeny,
And teach thy faithful flock to stand
Ever more firm in Thee.

To bitter strife, O put an end!
And waken love anew;
Kind hearts to parted brethren send,
Old feelings warm and true.

The _Landfriede_ (General Peace) was concluded; quiet appeared to be restored in the Confederacy. Then a foreign country laid claim to the Swiss Reformer. In the spring of 1529, the majority of the princes and cities, assembled at the Imperial Diet in Spire, endeavored to check the progress of the Reformation in Germany, by stringent resolutions. Conflicting doctrines in regard to the Lord's Supper especially, should not be allowed. No more ecclesiastical innovations were to be permitted until approved at an ecumenical council. The states of the Empire, which were already inclined to the Gospel, entered protests against this compulsory act, and received thence the name of Protestants. The most active of these Protestants was the _landgrave_ Philip of Hesse. Resolved to carry through the rising opposition, even against the Emperor himself if necessary, he directed his chief attention to the maintenance and establishment of concord among the Protesters themselves. Although the Confederates, from the nature of their special compacts (_buende_) and their struggles after national independence, had actually more and more torn lose from connection with the German Empire, they were still always formally counted as belonging to it,--indeed, said so themselves, whenever it suited their advantage. But, just before the election of the then reigning Emperor, the Diet, in the name of the collective cantons, wrote a complimentary letter to the Electoral Princes, under cover of the privilege due to them as members of the Empire. Now also the resolutions of the Imperial Diet were communicated by the Emperor, and a demand made upon them for their execution. It is easy to imagine that the Protestant Princes would strive likewise to gain them over to their party. Philip of Hesse especially, looked toward Zurich and Zwingli. Early in April, he had addressed him from Spire. He desired a personal interview. At the same time it might serve to heal the dispute between the Saxon and Swiss Reformers, which had taken a disagreeable turn, and contributed more than anything else to make the cause of the Gospel suspicious in the eyes of the Catholics, yea, even hateful to them. The chief obstacle in the way of an understanding lay in the manner of seeking it--by a general formula, a declaration drawn up in words, though the Gospel itself did not contain such a thing. Few in that age had the sound judgment of the later _landgrave_ William of Hesse, who, in the year 1566, wrote to Bullinger: "What Christ, the Chief Schoolmaster, has not seen fit to explain, we men should not undertake to explain for ourselves." _That_ Christ, offering himself up in love, would continue to live in all the members of his church to the remotest ages, and so declared at the last breaking of bread and pouring out of wine in the circle of his disciples, must be clear to every reader of the Gospel. _Whether_ and _how_ he continues to live in them, deeds only can show: the confession of the heart, not that of the lips, which Christ himself does not require of us.

But when, in spite of this, such a thing was required, it was necessarily apprehended in a plainer sense by some of the Reformers, and in a more profound one by others, according to the individual peculiarities; at the same time it was regarded as more free or more binding according to the spirit of the nations and the governments, which they represented. This will best appear from the history viewed in its connection.

It has already been intimated in this work that the mass, in view of its significance and determining power, forms the ground-work of the _cultus_, or form of worship in the Catholic Church. Yet Catholic writers themselves have admitted and publicly expressed it, that, long before the Reformation, dangerous ideas concerning the mass prevailed among the people, which, fostered designedly by the clergy, and even by the Popes, led to great abuses, being employed, through the founding of masses for souls, to entice immense sums of money from pious superstition. We may suppose, that the Reformers turned their attention chiefly to these abuses, and first of all were obliged to attain for themselves a right view of the design of the Lord's Supper. According to the doctrine of the Catholic Church, the bread and wine were changed, by the consecration of the priest, into the real body and blood of Christ, so that thus, by the transaction of the mass, the personal Christ was once more sacrificed, as it were, and in this way the redemption of mankind by the sufferings and death of Christ dwelling in mass, was, in a certain measure, daily renewed, for the salvation of all the living, or even the departed, for whom mass was founded.

This mode of representation was unanimously rejected by the Reformers; but in order to prove it invalid, they had to resort to explaining the words of the Gospel, and here they began to diverge more and more from each other. We all know, that Christ simply expressed himself thus: "Take, eat; this is my body, broken for you; do this in remembrance of me;" that after supper he also took the cup, saying: "This cup is the New Testament in my blood; as oft as ye drink of it, do it in remembrance of me." Zwingli, with his searching glance, his methods of examination, strengthened by the study of the lively, vigorous authors of antiquity, his penetration into the spirit of language and his dislike to everything contrary to the course of nature, ordained by God himself, soon arrived at a mere allegorical exposition of these words, and understood by the expression, _This is_, simply, _This signifies_. But he did not entertain this view alone. Before he ventured to utter it publicly, a Dutch jurist, Cornelius Horn, had actually done it. Zwingli caused his work to be printed in Switzerland, and promoted its circulation. In the Conference at Zurich touching the mass, he for the first time came out openly as an advocate of this view; but he did not satisfy the bulk of his hearers. The not unlearned under-clerk, Joachim am Gruet, opposed him, even attacked him, in a second Conference before the Councils and scholars, with tolerable success, and availed himself of the objection, against the reference of the Reformer to a multitude of Scripture passages, where Christ in parables likewise made use of the word "_is_," plainly instead of "signifies," that they were only parables, whilst the Supper was a transaction so solemn, that such an arbitrary, audacious mode of interpretation could in no wise be admitted. How Zwingli was at first embarrassed by this objection, and how he afterward succeeded in refuting it, he may tell us in his own language.

"Undoubtedly," says he in one of his works,[4] "no easy task was before me, namely, to cite an example for my mode of interpretation, derived from no parable. I began to think over it, to look for it everywhere; in vain! I could find nothing. The 13th of April was at hand;[5] I tell the truth; (willingly would I keep silent, for I well know many will make a mock of it; but it is God's finger; my conscience constrains me to speak), early in the morning, before the break of day, I dreamed that I, yet full of chagrin, was once more attacked in battle with the under-clerk, and so beaten that I could discover no way of escape, and my tongue refused to do its office. This anguish tormented me in an incredible manner, as such things do in dreams, during the deceitful night. (I wish to tell it only as a dream, although it concerns me much; although that is important enough for me; which I have learned, thanks be to God! through whose power alone anything is possible). As by the stroke of an enchanter's wand, I saw a comforter stand before me, (whether he was white or black, I cannot say; I relate a dream). 'Wherefore, thou awkward one,' he asks, 'dost thou not oppose him with the passage in the twelfth chapter of the second book of Moses? It _is_ the Lord's passover.' I awoke, sprang out of bed, looked at the passage, thought over it and preached from it in the morning before the congregation, and, as I hope with sufficient power. The sermon swept the mists from the eyes of all those, who, on account of the above-mentioned difficulty, had not been able to obtain a clear view, and three days after, on the festival of the resurrection, such a passover of the Lord was celebrated, as I have never yet seen, and the number of those, who hankered after the flesh-pots of Egypt was less than any one would have ventured to hope."

In the beginning, Luther also had looked at this mode of interpretation, but discovered in the bias of his mind greater difficulties, to which others of an external nature were added. As early as the year 1524, he had written to the "Christians at Strassburg:" "This I confess--if any one had been able to assure me five years ago that there was nothing in the Sacrament but bread and wine, he would have done me the greatest service. I then endured such a severe temptation and so struggled and writhed, that I would willingly have been delivered, for I plainly saw that by it I could have dealt the heaviest blow against the Papacy; but I am fast and cannot get out. The text is too powerful here and will not suffer itself to be wrested of its meaning by words." The thing, which had especially awakened his dislike to the Zwinglian view, and which he does not here tell us, was the circumstance, that, before Zwingli had yet expressed himself publicly in regard to the Lord's Supper, Doctor Carlstadt had come out in Saxony with a still bolder interpretation, by which he attempted to break up the connection of Christ's own words of institution in such a way, that half of them lost all their meaning. In a violent work, that met with approval in many places, he then spread abroad this interpretation. This Carlstadt was to Luther a glowingly-hated stone of offence, which everywhere laid in his way. Whilst Luther was in the Wartburg, he had headed the furious image-stormers in Wittemberg. He now made his home in Orlamuend, where he supplanted the preacher, disregarded all the ordinances of the Elector, and excited the people to such a degree, that when Luther went into the country, at the command of the Prince, to restore order, he was pelted with dirt and stones, and pursued with the cry: "Drive off, in the name of a thousand devils, and break your neck!" Deprived of his situation, after such doings, Carlstadt went to Strassburg, and then to Switzerland. Meanwhile, his writings were forbidden by the Council at Strassburg. Zwingli, on the other hand, declared this to be unjust, because Carlstadt's writings contained neither godless nor fanatical errors. Henceforth Luther began to transfer his hatred against Carlstadt more and more to Zwingli, although the latter, in his work, "On true and false Religion," only excused Carlstadt's interpretation, but in no wise approved, rather assailed it; and when [OE]colampadius also issued his treatise on the Lord's Supper, Luther came out openly in the most passionate letters against the Swiss Reformers. "For myself," says he, in one of them, "I confess, that I do not think Zwingli a Christian with all his doctrines, for he holds and teaches no part of the Christian faith rightly, and has become seven times worse than when he was a Papist, according to Christ's judgment: 'The last state of that man shall be worse than the first.' I make such a confession, that I may be without blame before God and the world, because I have no share in Zwingli's doctrines, nor will have to all eternity!"[6]

To allay this strife was the task which the _landgrave_ Philip of Hesse, proposed to himself. This Prince, then in his twenty-fifth year, a man of scientific culture, an indefatigable ruler, beloved by his people and feared by his more powerful neighbors, on account of his decided and enterprising character, was the soul of the Protestant party. To the Elector of Saxony, who, possessed of more prudence and timidity, stood along with him at its head, he wrote: "Rather would I give up body and life, land and people, than abandon God and his Word." At his court lived Duke Ulric, of Wuertemberg, an exile, driven from his country by the Emperor, and the Swabian League, but undaunted, eager for war, and continually busied with plans for recovering his princely seat. At an earlier period he had spent some time in Switzerland and became personally acquainted with Zwingli, and through him the _landgrave_ was also brought into connection with the Reformer. Thinking clearly and feeling dearly; imbued also with the spirit of the Holy Scriptures, he thought, if stubbornness did not prevent it, a mutual understanding was yet possible, and resolved to spare no pains in order to attain it. Zwingli and [OE]colampadius willingly consented to his proposal of a Conference. They only wished it to be held in Strassburg, because Zwingli especially despaired of receiving permission from the Zurich Council for the dangerous journey to Marburg, the residence of the _landgrave_, and so long an absence. The consent of the Saxons was more difficult to obtain. Melancthon from timidity, and because he did not wish to break fully with the Catholics, reconciliation with whom he thought yet possible, and Luther from dislike avoided the Conference; the former even privately requested the Elector not to permit them to go. "It is not well," he said, "for the _landgrave_ to have much to do with the Zwinglians; he has taken, moreover, a greater liking to them, than is necessary; for the matter has come to such a point, that acute people, like the _landgrave_, regard it with the deepest interest, and the understanding seizes readily upon what it comprehends, especially if men of learning, who can give the matter from Holy Scripture, are inclined that way, and we know that many scholars now adhere to Zwingli."