YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY Gift of Theological Seminary Lancaster, Pa. 1925 HISTORY (taait BffflrniftT CM). £MGimmn by jnn.y s,a,F.mm.-*^ the gi?!c:\:-i7 3yj-:j~hhdltz EVo^^MfTCtEUnUDh i^U tJvLcouA PUBLISHED BY LIPPINCOTT, GRAMBO & CO. STEREOTYPED BY L. JOHNSON AND CO. 1851. HISTORY flkriMit BcfortnflJ (KM), Rev. LEWIS MAYER, D.D. LATE PROFESSOR IN THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY OF THE GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES. TO WHICH IB PREFIXED A MEMOIR OF HIS LIFE, Rev. ELIAS HEINER, A.M. MINISTER OF THE FIRST REFORMED CONGREGATION IN BALTIMORE VOLUME I. PHILADELPHIA: PUBLISHED BY LIPPINCOTT, GRAMBO & CO. STEREOTYPED BY L. JOHNSON AND CO. 1851. Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1851, by JOHN L. MATER k ELIAS HEINER, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Primed by T. K. ,V 1'. G Collins. TABLE OF CONTENTS. PASE Life op Rev. Dr. Mater 1-15 INTRODUCTION. Origin of the title Reformed Church. — Huguenots. — Etymology of the name. — Reformed Churches on the continent of Europe not all Calvinistic. — Principal divisions of the Re formed Church. — Distinctive characteristics of the German Reformed Church, in contrast with the Episcopal, Presby terian, and Lutheran Churches. — Mistakes of Dr. Mosheim. — Catalogue of the principal histories of the Reformation. — State of the Church prior to the Reformation. — Corruptions among clergy and people. — Blasphemous assumptions of the Popes. — Luxury of the hierarchy and monastic orders. — Their superstitious and barbarous aversion to the arts and sciences. — Deplorable state of religious knowledge. — A re formation desired by the people and their rulers, but demanded in vain from the hierarchy. — The influence of the revival of learning in the fifteenth century. — The Inquisition. — The Index Expurgatorius. — Social and political influence of the Reformation. — Fundamental principle of the Reformation, 17-43 HISTORY OF THE REFORMED CHURCH IN SWITZERLAND. BOOK I. CHAPTER I. State of Switzerland. — Basel.— Thomas Wittenbach. — Birth of Zwingle. — Early education. — G-regorius Bingli. — Lupulus. — Zwingle becomes a teacher at the age of eighteen. — Leo Juda.— Capito 43-52 VI TABLE OF CONTENTS. CHAPTER II. PAGE Zwingle's ministry in Glarus from 1506-1516. — Ordained in 1506. — His estimate of the pastoral office. — His ardent zeal for Scriptural knowledge. — Freedom of his inquiry after truth. — His first campaign in Italy. — Warlike disposition of the Swiss. — Mercenary campaigns. — Cardinal Shinner. — Zwingle receives a pension from the pope. — A grand indul gence proclaimed by the pope in Zurich. — Calamity at Ra venna. — The Swiss aid the pope. — Defeat of the French. — Disasters in Italy. — Zwingle chaplain to the army. — Opposes the mercenary system. — Poetic allegories. — Intrigues of Francis I. — Zwingle in Einsiedeln. — His observations in Italy. — Wickedness in high places. — The only rule of faith and duty. — Valentine Tschudy 52-77 CHAPTER HI. Zwingle's ministry in Einsiedeln. — -Miraculous consecration of a church. — Shameless imposture. — Wealth of the convent at Einsiedeln. — Conrad von Rechberg. — Theobald von Gerold- seek. — Zwingle's studies. — The Scriptures in the original. — He attacks the corruptions of papal doctrine. — Indulgences. — The Engelioeihe. — Effects of Zwingle's preaching. — His first principle. — Zwingle and Luther. — Theological opinions of Luther in 1519. — Justification by faith. — Design of the pope in his flattering attentions to Zwingle. — Cardinal Pucci. — The two modes of reformation. — Promises of the dignitaries of the church. — Zwingle's early anonymous publications. — Hugo von Landenberg. — Sampson, the vendor of indulgences. — Origin of the traffic. — Its rise and progress. — Indignation of Zwingle. — Denounces indulgences 77-113 BOOK II. CHAPTER I.— 1519-1525. Zwingle removes to Zurich. — Oswald Myconius. — The Great- Minster in Zurich. — Conrad Hoffman. — Leo Juda in Einsie- TABLE OF CONTENTS. VU PASS deln. — Zwingle's course of expository preaching. — Appear ance of Luther's writings in Switzerland. — Sampson in Zurich. — Pope Leo sustains his emissary. — Image-worship. — Political troubles of the Swiss, growing out of the mercenary system. — Zwingle's position. — Intrigues of the bishop of Constance. — Zwingle chosen a canon of the chapter. — Studies Hebrew. — His first avowed tract on " the Choice and the Freeness of Meats." — Opposed by the mendicant monks. — Decree of the general diet of the confederacy. — Bold appeal to the bishop of Constance. — Franciseus Lambert. — The nuns of Oeten- bach. — The meeting at Rapperschweil. — Hans Urban Weiss. — Persecution. — Pope Adrian VI. — Public disputation. — Faber. — Visit of the pope's legate to Zurich. — Zwingle's sixty-seven theses. — Imprisonment of the pastor of Vislis- bach. — Disputation, January 29, 1523. — Zwingle sustained by the council. — Introduces changes in the ceremonies. — Celibacy falls into disrepute. — Institution of St. Felix and Regula reformed. — Education of youth. — Mandate of Charles V. — The cross of Stadelhofen. — Disputation on the mass and images. — Zwingle triumphant. — Opposition of the priests. — Embassy of the confederate cantons to Zurich. — Execution of Hottinger for throwing down a crucifix. — Zwingle's book on the pastoral office. — Embarrassment of the bishop of Con stance. — His reply to the council of Zurich. — Zwingle's rejoinder. — Prudent measures for the abolition of image-wor ship. — Rage of the Papist cantons. — Clement VII. — Embassy from ten cantons. — John Oechslein, or Taureolus. — Burning of the convent at Stammheim and the wooden images. — John Wirt and his son executed. — Embassy from Zurich to Luzern. — Disputation proposed by the popish cantons. — John Eckius. — The Romish champions invited to Zurich or Baden. — Pro posed reformation of the clergy accepted by Bern. — Convents disbanded 118-198 CHAPTER II. Insurrections of the peasantry. — The Anabaptists. — Thomas Munzer. — Extravagances of the new sect. — Defeat of the peasantry and death of Munzer. — Progress of the Anabaptists Vlll TABLE OF CONTENTS. PAOE in Switzerland. — Fanaticism. — Penal enactments. — Confer ences. — Felix Mantz put to death by drowning. — Cruel severities increased. — Zwingle's book on baptism. — Tragic event on the Miilegg. — BulUnger's account of the tenets of - the Anabaptists 198-228 CHAPTER HI. Progress of the Reformation in Zurich. — Cochlaeus. — Pope Clement VLT.'s address to the Zurichers. — Valentine Corn- par. — Apology of the Zurichers. — Establishment of a public almonry. — The Ehegericht. — Theological seminary in Zurich. Zwingle as a teacher of theology. — Translation of the Scrip tures. — Zwingle's work on true and false religion. — Original sin and the Lord's supper 228-246 CHAPTER IV. Controversy on the Lord's supper. — Various theories. — Tran substantiation. — Consubstantiation. — Andrew Bodenstein, or Carlstadt. — Excesses of Carlstadt and his coadjutors. — Luther and Carlstadt. — Capito and Bucer. — The Strasburg divines. — Luther's address to the Christians at Strasburg. — Zwingle's view assailed by John Bugenhagen, or Pomeranus ; defended by John Oecolampadius, or Hausschein. — The Syngramma.— " Anti-syngramma," by Oecolampadius. — Pirkheimer. — Sn eer's irenical efforts. — Brentz. — Zwingle's " Plain Instruction on the Lord's Supper." — Luther's vehemence 246-308 » CHAPTER V. Abolition of the mass in Zurich. — Am Griit. — Zwingle's dream. — Celebration of the Lord's supper. — Deacons. — Protest of six cantons. — Answer of the council. — Zurich forsaken. — In trigues of Charles V. and Clement VII. — Rome sacked by the imperialists. — Zurich demands payment from the pope. — The hostile cantons propose another disputation at Baden or Luzern. — John Eck. — Embassy from Bern to Zurich. — Reply of the Zurichers.— Festival-days 308-340 TABLE OF CONTENTS. IX BOOK III. CHAPTER I. PAGE Basel. — Erasmus. — Capito. — Wittenbach. — Caspar Hedio. — William Rbubli. — Oecolampadius. — Conrad Pellicanus. — Mandate of the council of Basel. — The Scriptures the final judge of controversy 340-351 CHAPTER II. Constance. — Jacob Windner and Bartholomew Meteler. — Anto- nius Pirata and Gbldin. — Ambrose Blarer. — Sebastian Hoff- meister. — Luther excommunicated. — Wanner's preaching. — Faber and the deputation to Zurich. — Conspiracy to abduct Wanner. — Hugo, bishop of Constance. — Address to the coun cil. — Answer of the council. — Spread of the Reformation. — Decay of episcopal authority. — Appeal to the pope. — Papal manifestos. — Attempt to enforce the episcopal jurisdiction. — Citation of Bartholomew Metzler. — Metzler sustained by the council. — Appeal to Ferdinand, archduke of Austria.' — Aus trian deputation. — Answer of the council; — Failure to obtain penal enactments against Wanner and Metzler 351-379 CHAPTER in. Reformation in Bern. — Berthold Haller. — Sebastian Meyer. — Bartholomew Mey and his sons, Wolfgang and Claudius. — The bishop of Lausanne. — George Brunner accused. — Sus tained by the council. — The bishop of Lausanne forbidden to hold an episcopal visitation. — Decree of the lesser council. — Reformers strengthened. — The convents. — Nunnery at Ko nigsfelden. — The nuns abandon their vows. — Marriage. — , Decree against married priests. — John Heim. — Marriage of Nicolas von Wattenweil 379-396 CHAPTER IV. Reformation in Strasburg. — Matthew Zell. — His citation. — Supported by influential citizens. — Martin Bucer. — Francis von Sickingen. — Marriage of Antonius Firnius. — Rage of the Papists. — Marriage of Zell. — Lewis Rabus. — Decay of celi- b X TABLE OF CONTENTS. PAGE bacy. — Married priests cited by the bishop, but protected by the council. — Demand of Campegius, the pope's nuncio. — Decree of the council. — Opening of public schools. — Monas tics permitted to leave their convents. — Conrad Trbger and Thomas Murner. — Madame Zellius 396^07 BOOK HI— Section II. CHAPTER I. The Reformation in Schaffhausen. — Hoffman and Hoffmeister. — Erasmus Bitter. — The festival of Christ's entry into Jerusa lem. — Degrading superstition. — The abbot Michael surren ders his convent. — Embassy from the confederates. — Meats on fast-days. — Demolition of images. — Bishop Hugo of Con stance and Pope Clement VH. — Refusal of an entire guild to take the oath of allegiance unless image-worship were abolished. — The Anabaptists 407^15 CHAPTER II. Reformationin Glarus. — Zwingle. — Valentine Tschudy, Fridolin Brunner and Jacob Vogel. — Persecution of Brunner. — Mar riage of Tschudy. — Decree of the landgemeine 415—418 CHAPTER ILL The reformation in Schweitz, Zug, Luzern, &e. — Balthasar Trachsel. — Jodocus Muller. — Steiner and Stocker. — Banish ment of Steiner. — Myconius in Luzern. — Kilchmeyer and Zimmerman. — Henry Loritt. — Conrad Schmid and the anni versary of the conflagration. — Elopement of a priest with the wife of a citizen. — Persecution of Kilchmeyer. — John Van- nius, John Kother, and Peter Fulk in Friburg. — Macrinus. — Indiscreet zeal of new converts 418-427 BOOK III.— Section III. CHAPTER I. The reformation in St. Gall. — Joachim vonWaat, or Vadianus. — Benedict Burgauer and Wolfgang Wetter. — John Kessler. TABLE OF CONTENTS. XI PA6E — Decree of the council in favor of the Reformation. — The Anabaptists. — The monk Ulman and Conrad Grebel. — Krusi burned at Luzern 427-432 CHAPTER H. The reformation inAppenzell. — Jacob .Sheuertanner. — Twenty- six priests espouse the doctrines of the Reformation. — Theo bald Hiiter. — John Hess and Ulric Urnesh. — Papist violence against Hess. — Embassy to remonstrate against the Reform ation fails. — Walter Klarer. — The Anabaptists 432—437 CHAPTER IH. The reformation in Thurgau, &c. — The convent of Danikon, or Tenikon. — The mass. — Ineffectual opposition to the P.eforma- tion. — The nuns of Munsterlingen. — The lord of Tokken- burg. — Decree of the landrath of Schweitz against Zwingle and Lnther. — .lacob Russinger 437-443 CHAPTER IV. The reformation in the Grisons. — .Jacob Biirkli. — Biveronius. — John Comander. — Philip Galitius. — Conspiracy against Co mander. — Triumph of Comander in public disputation. . . 443—451 BOOK III.— Section IV. CHAPTER I. The reformation in Muhlhausen. — Jacob Augsberger, Otho Binder, Bernard Roemer. — The Lord's supper. — Celi bacy 451-453 CHAPTER H. The reformation in Bienne, or Biel. — Wittenbach. — Celibacy. — Apology of Wittenbach. — Removed from the pastorship. — Memorial of the people to the government. — The diet at Luzern. — Appeal to Bern. — Violent religions disputes. — Death of Wittenbach 453^61 PREFACE. One of the greatest events which ever occurred among mankind, was the Keformation at the commencement of the sixteenth century. For a long time, the grossest abuses, both in Church and State, had everywhere prevailed. The pope had audaciously assumed the supremacy belonging to Deity himself, in spiritual matters; and now he assumed the supremacy in worldly matters also, giving the kingdoms of the earth, far and near, to whom he pleased. This com pleted in his person the character of "Antichrist, sitting in the temple of God, and showing himself as God." To such lengths in blasphemy and wickedness did he proceed, that he sold indulgences to sin. Making use of the power which his predecessors had usurped over all Christian churches, he sent abroad, into all kingdoms, his letters and bulls, with ample promises of the full pardon of sin and eternal salvation to such as would purchase the same with money. The cup of his iniquity was now full. God raised up Ulrick Zwingle and Martin Luther, to check the Man of Sin in his impious course, and to beat back the fearful tides of corruption which were now sweeping over the earth and deluging the church. Enlightened by the word and Spirit of God, they began to cleanse the XIV PREFACE. church from the pollutions and abuses of popery, and to spread abroad among the people the blessed knowledge of the word of God. As the truth spread far and wide, tens of thousands were subdued by its power, and whole churches, and whole communities, and, at length, whole nations, awoke from their long spiritual sleep, and were led to rejoice in the great salvation of the Scriptures. The event of the Reformation produced a new and glo rious era in the church and in the world, and its benefi cial results will be felt by mankind, to the latest age. Whoever, therefore, largely contributes to the better un derstanding of its origin and progress, may be regarded as a benefactor of his race. The volume which is herewith offered to the public is a com plete and an ably written history of the Reformation in Swit zerland, the birthplace of the church, as reformed by Zwingle and his able coadjutors. It is generally known that the reverend author was engaged in writing the history of the German Reformed Church, and that the first volume, embracing the origin and progress of this church, — and, incidentally, of the Lutheran, Dutch Reformed, and Presbyterian churches also, — was ready for the press. For some years, this important work has been anxiously expected. Except D'Aubigne and Ebrard, no church historian, it is believed, has done justice to the noble Swiss reformers, and to the people whom they converted, under God, from the abominations of popery, and orga nized into comparatively pure Christian churches. Neither their character nor work seems to have been properly un derstood. The want of a good history of the German Reformed Church, in the English language, has long been PREFACE. XV felt ; and it is, therefore, gratifying to know that the work before us is supposed to answer well the demand in ques tion. Among other things of interest and importance, it does ample justice to Zwingle, Bullinger, CEcolampa- dius, Bucer, and, indeed, to all the great and distin guished men who originated, and carried on with so much ability and success, the glorious reformation in Switzer land. At the same time, it does full justice to Luther, Melancthon, Calvin, and others, in its notices of the reformation in Germany, France, and other countries. All denominations of Christians, but especially the churches of the Reformation, will read this work, it is believed, with pleasure and profit. The high origin and deeply in teresting history of the German Reformed Church are here brought fully and clearly to the view and conscious ness of the reader. The second volume of the work, designed to embrace the history of the German Reformed Church in the United States, is not fully written out, and will have to be com pleted by another hand. Much time and great labor have been expended on it, and the history, making thus far perhaps three hundred pages, comes down to about the year 1770. A great portion of the material for the remainder is collected, and partly arranged. The Synod of the German Reformed Church, at its late meeting in Martinsburg, Virginia, recommended the completion of this volume, and also the publication of the one now offered to the public. The author was not permitted, in the order of Provi dence, to witness the publication of the work, upon which the last years of his useful life were expended, but his XVI PREFACE. own memory is embalmed in the annals of the German Reformed Church. Whilst he rests from his labors, the influence of his work will be perpetuated by this valuable contribution to the history of the church which he loved and served during a long life devoted with patient self- denial to its best interests, and to which, in death, he has bequeathed a legacy that will be appreciated by all candid Christians. S. R. Baltimore, April 8th, 1851. LIFE OF KEY. DR. MATER. Lewis Mater was born at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, on the 26th of March, 1783. His father was George L. Mater, of that place, a gentleman of liberal educa tion. He was one of several children by a second marriage. His brother, Colonel George Mater, is the only one still living, and is one of the oldest and most respectable merchants in Lancaster. Mr. Mater's early education was received at Lan caster, the place of his birth, partly under the direction of his father. He applied himself very closely to his studies in general, but gave particular attention to the study of the German language and some eminent German authors. After receiving a respectable German and Eng lish education at Lancaster, he determined to leave the place of his birth, and locate in Fredericktown, Maryland. In this place, he engaged for a short time in a secular calling ; but, having a taste much better suited to books than business, he did not succeed to any considerable extent. His mind was chiefly occupied with reading and study, and it was thus engaged when he was awakened under the preaching of the pious and excellent Wagner, then pastor of the Reformed Church at Frede- ' rick. His convictions of sin were unusually deep and pun gent. He clearly saw his lost and helpless condition as a sinner, and felt himself exposed to the awful wrath of God. He was completely overwhelmed with a sense of sin, and could find no peace, day nor night. The l 2 LIFE OF REV. DR. MATER. season through which he passed before he could exer cise faith and hope in the Redeemer as his Redeemer, was indeed one of fearful darkness. He stood, at times, on the very borders of despair, and almost gave himself up as lost. But, having been once brought out of darkness into the sweet light of the gospel, and having been led by the Spirit to hope and trust in Christ as Ms Saviour, he soon became a firmly esta blished Christian, and found his chief delight in looking to the Redeemer, and in being engaged in his service. He has often spoken to the writer and others, with great pleasure and interest, of the kind and valuable services rendered him by father Wagxer, in his deep spiritual conflicts, and in preparing him for the high and holy work of the Christian ministry. Not long after his conversion, Mr. Mater's mind was impressed with the idea that he was called of God to preach the Gospel, but some considerable time elapsed before he became fully satisfied that God had indeed called him to the ministry of reconciliation. And this assurance of a divine call to the Christian ministry was not obtained without another painful struggle. He had conflict after conflict, and it was only after great de liberation and much earnest prayer, that his mind rested in a calm and full persuasion that he was called of God to be an ambassador for Christ. Possessing a high order of native talent, and a mind already accustomed to deep thought and earnest inquiry, he made easy and rapid progress in all his classical and theological studies ; and, having completed the pre scribed course of study, he was licensed, in 1807, (being then in his twenty-fourth year,) by the Reformed Synod, which met that year at New Holland, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, to preach the gospel. His classical studies were mainly pursued under the direction of the LIFE OF REV. DR. MATER. 6 principal of Fredericktown College, and his preparation for the ministry was made under the tuition of the Rev. Mr. Wagner, Reformed pastor at Frederick ; and of this learned and excellent father, who has long since rested from his labors, he always spoke in terms of very high regard and sincere affection. How, or where, Mr. Mater spent the first year after his licen sure, is not exactly known ; but it is beheved that he was employed in preaching occasionally at Frederick, and some other places in the vicinity. In 1808, he accepted a call from the Shepherds- town charge, which at that time was composed of the Shepherdstown, Martinsburg, and Smithfield congre gations. In this wide and interesting field, he la bored, with great acceptance and success, for more than: twelve years. Deeply imbued with the spirit of his Master, he went about doing good. His pulpit ministrations, catechetical instructions, and pastoral visitations were all highly acceptable to the people of his charge, and were greatly blessed of God, to the conversion and edification of many souls. He was re spected and beloved by all who knew him, and it was mainly through his agency that a new life was brought into that part of the Reformed Church, and which to this day is diffusing itself, hke holy leaven, more and more. The few members of that charge still hving, and who enjoyed the privilege of sitting under his ministry, often speak of him with much affection, and delight in relating the wonderful things which God did through him in the midst of them. He received calls else where, and to prominent points, but he declined them all. When, in 1810, Mr. Wagner, in consequence of im paired and dechning health, resigned the Frederick charge and removed to York, that congregation, through its consistory, intimated their unanimous wish to Mr. 4 LIFE OF REV. DR. MATER. M., that he should become their pastor ; but, as he de clined accepting, a formal call was not presented. On Mr. Wagner's death, he was requested to preach a funeral sermon at Frederick, and complied with the request in January, 1811. The sermon was pubhshed by the congregation, and is, it is believed, the first pubhcation that emanated from his pen. It was de hvered before a very croAvded audience, and was spoken of as such an eulogium as Tijiotht might be supposed to have pronounced on the personal and ministerial character of St. Paul. The impression it made re vived the desire of the congregation to secure his services, but he would not permit himself to be put in nomination. It was during his ministry at Shepherdstown, that the First Reformed Church in Baltimore also made an effort to secure his services, but without success. He accepted an invitation, indeed, soon after the death of the Rev. Dr. Becker, which occurred in 1818, to preach to this congregation, and was the first minister that, preached a discourse in Enghsh in the Second-street Church. That first Enghsh sermon did not fail to make a very deep and powerful impression. The occasion was one of high excitement, and the question to be settled was, whether English preaching should be allowed. The preacher, though threatened with violence if he at tempted to preach in the Enghsh language, stood firm and unmoved, and dehvered a discourse of singular ability and appropriateness. In the course of a few weeks, the congregation unanimously called him to be come their pastor ; but, for reasons satisfactory to his own mind at least, he respectfully declined the call. Mr. Mater continued to labor in the Shepherds- town charge, until some time in the year 1821, when he was induced to accept a call from the Reformed LIFE OF REV. DR. MATER. O Church, in York, Pennsylvania. Among this people he labored with hke acceptance and success, until he was called by the Synod to preside over the Theo logical Seminary of the German Reformed Church. For years, the Church had felt the importance of esta blishing a school for the more thorough preparation of pious and gifted young men for the work of the ministry, and among the foremost and most active of her ministers in planting the much desired institution, was the subject of this notice. During his residence at Shepherdstown, he gave the subject his earnest at tention, and for a long time it occupied his mind, and elicited his prayers and efforts. Enjoying the respect and confidence of the Synod and of the Church, as a pious, learned, and able minister, he had it in his power to do much towards the estabhshment of the institu tion, and all the influence he possessed was cheerfully exerted in its behalf. By correspondence with the brethren, as well as by fervent appeals on the floor of Synod, he urged the importance of the estabhsh ment of a Theological Seminary, and at length he had the high gratification of seeing his efforts crowned with success. His prayers were answered — his wishes realized. The Synod, at their session in Hagerstown, September, 1820, resolved to estabhsh a Theological School, and the Rev. Dr. Milledoller, of the Dutch Reformed Church, was unanimously invited to the theological chair. He, however, dechned the invi tation, although strongly urged by Mr. Mater and other influential divines in the Church, to accept it. The Rev. Samuel Helfenstein, (now Doctor,) to whom it was then offered, also dechned it ; and it must be admitted that the inducements to accept the post were not very strong, as, in all new enterprises of the kind, whilst there was much to hope for, there a2 6 life of rev. dr. mater. were many difficulties to be encountered. Mr. Mater himself was finally induced, through the persuasion of leading ministers and members in the Church, to accept a call tendered him by Synod, although he was distrustful of his qualifications to discharge the high duties of the office to which he had been called, as they differed so widely from those to which he had been accustomed. By close application, however, to study, he soon qualified himself for the new duties he was called to perform. Having resigned the charge of the York congrega tion, Mr. Mater, in obedience to the call of Synod, moved his family to Carhsle, and in May, 1825, com menced operations in the Seminary. The number of students the first session was only five, but there was a gradual increase from year to year. The friends of the institution rejoiced in the prospect which was now opened to the church for something like an adequate supply of ministers to cultivate her waste places, and to promote her various interests. The professor was popular, and discharged his duties with great fidelity. But the infant institution was but poorly endowed; and this, in connection with other circumstances, which need not be mentioned here, often proved very embar rassing to the incumbent of the theological chair, and indeed to the Synod itself. At length it was deemed advisable to remove the Seminary from Carhsle ; and accordingly, at the meeting of Synod, in Lebanon, September, 1829, it was determined to take it to York, whither it was removed shortly after. During the same year, (1829,) the college of the Reformed Dutch Church, located at New Brunswick, New Jersey, con ferred on Mr. Mater the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity. The Seminary being now located in a more congenial LIFE OF REV. DR. MATER. / atmosphere, and less embarrassed than at Carlisle, the students increased very fast, and things assumed a much more promising aspect. A second professor in the Seminary, Rev. Mr. Young, was elected, and a classical school was established, under the direction of Dr. Rauch, which, in the course of a few years, was changed by a State charter into Marshall College. The first president of this institution was the lamented Rauch. He was also elected as second professor in the Theological Seminary, after the death of Mr. Young. During all these changes, Dr. Mater remained steadfast at his post, until the fall of 1835, when the Synod, at its meeting in Chambersburg that year, determined to re move her institutions to Mercersburg, and permanently locate them at that place. Not choosing to follow the Seminary to its place of final destination, chiefly on ac count of feeble health, he resigned his professorship and remained at York. But in the fall of 1838, at the meet ing of the Synod in Lancaster, he was again pressingly invited to take charge of the important situation made vacant by his own resignation. This invitation he ac cepted — with the understanding, however, that the appointment should be considered only temporary. And such it was. In October, of the following year, at the meeting of the General Synod in Philadelphia, Dr. Mater again tendered his resignation, which was ac cepted. From that time to the day of his death he continued to reside in York, and was engaged, as far as his feeble health would permit, in preparing several important works for the press. general estimate of his character and abilities. As a preacher, Dr. Mater was learned, able, and faithful. His sermons were well studied. He always 8 life of rev. dr. mater. considered it due to his congregration, as well as to himself, that his preparation for the pulpit should be the best he could make. In the early part of his ministry, it was his custom to write and commit his sermons to memory ; but in later years, his discourses were studied and preached without being first written. His preaching generally was plain and practical, solemn and impressive. In the delivery of his sermons he was measured, earnest, and always very serious. His style was clear, chaste, popular, — often argumentative, and sometimes powerful. Possessing a remarkably clear and correct mind, he was peculiarly happy in his explanations of the Bible, and in setting forth the true sense of Scripture. He had a taste for lecturing, and his expositions of the sacred text were generally very clear, forcible, and able. The writer remembers, that when he was a student at the Seminary in York, a noted Universalist preacher, Mr. T. F., from the eastward, visi ted the place, and preached several sermons in the court house, to large audiences. As some appeared to be carried away with the new and strange doctrine, which Mr. F. set forth in a most eloquent and attractive style, the students of the Seminary requested their professor to deliver a discourse in the Reformed Church, on the subject of universal salvation. He cheerfully com plied, and selected as his text the parable of the tares, and so ably and convincingly did he discuss the subject, that Mr. F. himself seemed half convinced of the truth. On leaving the Church, he remarked to a friend of the writer, that that was the most clear and forcible ex position of the parable he had ever heard, and pro nounced the discourse one of uncommon ability and power. The few who at first appeared somewhat taken with the novelties of Universalism were now re-esta blished in their faith, and Mr. F. did not fail to take life of rev. de. mater. a the first stage that left for Philadelphia. So high an opinion, also, had the Rev. Dr. Cathcart, of York, of the abilities of Dr. Mater, as an expounder of the sacred volume, — for many years himself one of the most able lecturers on the Bible in the Presbyterian Church, — that, after preaching, as he did occasionally on Sabbath afternoon, to a country congregation some fifteen miles distant, he would return home to attend Dr. M.'s lecture, in the Reformed Church at night, on the holy Scriptures. This venerable and learned divine once observed to a friend, that he considered Dr. Mater one of the ablest theologians in this country ; and this was the judgment of one who knew him long and in timately, and who was therefore well qualified to form a correct opinion of his learning and abilities. Dr. Mater was indeed " mighty in the Scriptures," and it might be expected, therefore, that his preaching would be of no ordinary character. But he was as faithful as he was able. He never shunned to "declare the whole counsel of God." Regarding himself as an ambassador for God, in Christ's stead, and feeling the tremendous responsibility of his high and holy office, " he lifted up his voice, cried aloud, and spared not." To saint and sinner, he preached as one who felt he must give account, and as one on whose faithfulness depended, in a very great measure, the salvation of those who heard him. The weight of precious souls was upon him, and he labored prayerfully and diligently, both in season and out of season, that they might be saved. As a pastor, Dr. Mater is said to have been unsur passed. There were none more tender, more affec tionate, — none who better understood how to direct the penitent; to encourage the believer; to reclaim the wanderer ; to impart comfort to the tempted, the be reaved, the afflicted, and to build up the Christian in 10 LIFE OF REV. DR. MATER. the faith and knowledge of the Gospel. His own soul had felt so much of the preciousness of Christ and his great salvation, that he well knew how to impart to others the blessed consolations of Christianity. One who had himself, in his early experience, drunk so deeply of the cup of sorrow, and who had, in the hour of anguish and day of trouble, found peace in believing, and comfort in reposing himself on the bosom of Jesus, might well be supposed to be acquainted with the sources of relief, and to understand how to open the broad and deep channels of spiritual consolation to the broken-hearted and distressed. " He was," — says one who knew him long and well, and who was once a lead ing elder in one of his congregations, but now a promi nent pastor in the Reformed Church, — " He was always greatly admired and much beloved as a pastor. In the discharge of the various duties of the pastoral office, none could surpass him. In the sick-chamber, and in the house of mourning, and in the afflicted family circle, there were none more welcome, none more useful." Feeble health and other causes often prevented him from giving such attention to pastoral visitation as he desired to give; yet still he performed a large amount of pastoral labor, in visiting the sick, in instructing the young, in comforting and edifying his flock, and in giving attention to the various and important interests of his charge. As a professor, Dr. Mater was eminently competent. For some thirteen years, he was professor of Theology in the Seminary of the Reformed Church ; and during a part of that time he also gave instruction in the Hebrew language and Church History. And it will be conceded on all sides, that he discharged the duties of that high and responsible office with great ability and fidelity. Dr; Mater, like many distinguished men LIFE OF REV. DR. MATER. 11 of our country, was chiefly indebted to his own un tiring industry for his ripe scholarship. He was an excellent linguist, and his acquaintance with various systems of philosophy and theology, both in this country and in Europe — in Germany especially — was very extensive. His mind was peculiarly adapted to the study of biblical antiquities, hermeneutics, exe gesis, and didatic, polemic, and pastoral theology. In these studies he excelled — particularly theology. Few, perhaps, could surpass him in sermonizing, and in preparing or dictating skeletons of sermons. Possessing a thoroughly disciphned and very accurate mind, and apparently at home in every department of the Holy Scriptures — conversant with the various scopes of the sacred authors, and the meaning to be attached to the words they used — it was comparatively an easy thing for him to dictate a good skeleton from the im pulse of the occasion. If a skeleton prepared and read by a student did not please him, he would remodel it at once; and if it were too far out of the way, he would lay it aside altogether, and dictate another for him at the time. It was the custom of the class to write down the skeletons thus dictated, and in this way many of them have been preserved. To his class he always seemed well prepared on the recitation, and per fectly at home on all the subjects claiming attention. He " studied to show himself approved unto God, a workman that needed not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." On subjects connected with personal piety he would frequently speak to the students, and embraced every fitting opportunity to give them counsel, and to urge upon them the import ance of a prayerful and holy life. Dr. Mater was known as a scholar, writer, and auihor. He was a close and earnest student; a deep 12 LIFE OF REV. DR. MATER. and correct thinker; a ripe and finished theological scholar, and a clear and extensive writer. For a long time, he edited, with great acceptance, the Magazine and Messenger of the German Reformed Church, and oc casionally furnished very ably written articles for some of the leading theological reviews at the North. Among his published works are those on the Sin against the Holy Ghost, and Lectures on Scriptural Subjects; and among his unpubhshed manuscripts there is an exten sive treatise on Theology, another on Hermeneutics and Exegesis, and his History of the German Reformed Church, — the first volume of which is now given to the public. But it is peculiarly pleasant to contemplate Dr. Mater in the hght of a Christian. In early life he sought and found the Saviour. He entered into a solemn covenant with the Lord, to obey his will and to be his faithful and willing servant for ever. He un alterably dedicated himself to his service, and through out life he was a most consistent and exemplary Christian. Free from all ostentation and pride, from all vanity and lightness of manner, he walked humbly and prayerfully before the Lord, and endeavored to perfect holiness in the fear of God. During an inti mate acquaintance with him of eighteen years, the writer never knew him to indulge in any hght-minded- ness, or in any trifling behaviour whatever. He was indeed remarkable for his correct Christian deportment, and for his holy walk and conversation. Rehgion with him was not merely a name ; it entered deeply into all his thoughts and feelings — subdued and controlled his will — swayed his judgment, and gave tone and character to all his words and actions. His piety was of a serious, modest, retiring character, — yet withal it was earnest and decided. He seemed to hve in God and God in LIFE OF REV. DR. MATER. 13 him. The doctrines of grace, of free grace, were always delightfully precious doctrines to him, and he loved to speak about them and to dwell upon them. The righteousness of Christ was his righteousness. He felt that Jesus had died for him, and could truly say— "Jesus, my Shepherd, Husband, Friend, My Prophet, Priest, and King, My Lord, my Life, my Way, my End, Accept the praise I bring.'' With St. Paul, he gloried in the cross of Christ, and in that only. In public life, Dr. Mater was prominent, and shared largely in the respect and confidence of all who knew him. He was honored again and again with important appointments and stations, and for many years was a leading member of the Synod of his Church. He had great influence in the Church, and he did not fail to exert it in behalf of her institutions, and in the promo tion of her best interests. To the cause of Christ, in general, he was strongly attached ; and the friends of rehgion everywhere found in him a ready and able advocate of all good things. With a mind deeply imbued with the spirit of his divine Lord, and a heart warmed and swayed by his love, he took an active part in promoting genuine revivals of rehgion, and in building up the interests of Christ's kingdom in the world. In all his private relations, also, he exhibited those virtues and graces which adorn the Christian character and life. As to his personal appearance, Dr. Mater was of medium size. He did not measure more than five feet eight inches in height, and his frame was slender and erect. His forehead was very high, and indicated great intellectual strength, as may be seen by an examina- 14 LIFE OF REV. DR. MATER. tion of the engraving prefixed to this memoir. His eye was very keen and penetrating, and his whole appear ance commanded reverence and respect. In his dress, he was plain- and very neat. His utterance was easy, but not rapid, and his gait rather slow. He was very regular in his habits, and remarkably systematic and precise in what he did. In all things he was a man of order, and observed great regularity and punctuahty in all his business transactions. In his intercourse with others, he was gentlemanly and kind. His manners were always pleasant and agreeable, though somewhat reserved in the company of strangers. Dr. Mater was twice married ; the first time, during his residence at Shepherdstown; the second time, during his residence at Carhsle. By his first marriage he had six children, three of whom are Hving, and one of them, a son, John L. Mater, Esq., is an eminent lawyer, in York. By his second marriage he had no children. His first wife was Catherine Line, the daughter of the late John Line, of Shepherdstown; and his second wife was Mart Smith, of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, who survives him. HIS ILLNESS AND DEATH. Dr. Mater did not enjoy good health for many years. He was always, indeed, more or less feeble in bodily vigor; and yet, as a preacher, pastor, professor, and author, he accomplished a great deal. Like Baxter and others, affliction did not prevent him from being abundant in labors. But, for the last several years of his life, he was not able to accomphsh much, on account of his fast-declining health. During the summer of 1849, the dysentery prevailed in York, in the form of an epidemic, and among1 others whom it attacked was LIFE OF REV. DR. MATER. 15 the subject of this notice. The disease, from the first, was violent, baffling the best medical skill, and leaving httle or no hope for his recovery. Kind friends tele graphed the writer of his illness, and he hastened to his bedside, to bid him a last adieu. He found him in fierce conflict with the last enemy, and rapidly sinking into his cold embrace. The power of sight, of hearing, and of utterance had failed him, and his physicians said he could not survive till morning. His pulse beat fainter and fainter, and, ere the sun arose, the great and good man had passed away. That which remained was cold and mortal. He died, surrounded by his family and friends, on the 25th of August, 1849, aged sixty-six years, four months, and twenty-nine days. On Monday afternoon, the 27th of August, his remains were followed to the grave by a large concourse of people, and were interred in the cemetery adjoining the Reformed Church in York, and near the grave of the lamented Cares. An address was delivered, on the mournful occasion, by the writer, and prayers offered by the Rev. Mr. Emerson, of the Presbyterian Church. The announcement of the death of one so well and so favorably known awakened feelings of deep sorrow and profound regret throughout the whole Church. All felt that a great, and good, and very useful man in Israel had fallen, and that, too, before some of his most important labors on earth were finished. The Master called him home much sooner than the Church had hoped. But even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight. THE HISTORY §txmu Htfiinttrir Cjjtttrtj, IN ITS ORIGIN AND PROGRESS. INTRODUCTION. The title Reformed Church, in its most comprehensive sense, designates all those professing Christians, who, em bracing the general system of doctrine which was taught by the Reformers, have rejected Luther's theory of a corporeal presence of Christ in the elements of the Lord's supper, and hold, in this particular, the belief of Zwingle, or that of Calvin. These Christians constitute several distinct com munities, each of which has its particular bond of union, and differs from every other in some peculiarities which are sometimes of no little importance. They agree in few things about which they differ from Luther and his followers, except in their view of the Lord's supper. These communities are therefore so many distinct churches, and, instead of calling them the Reformed Church, we must call them the Reformed Churches. ¦ The title Reformed was first assumed in France, by those who separated from the Romish communion, and was adopted from them by their brethren in Switzerland, Germany, Hol land, &c. In England, it is used to denote all the churches which have embraced the doctrines of the Reformation, and thus includes the Lutheran. On the continent, it is the b2 3 17 18 HISTORY OF THE distinctive title of those Protestant communities which are not Lutheran, exclusive of Socinians and Anabaptists. The French Protestants were, by their adversaries, called Huguenots. The derivation of this term is somewhat un certain. It is, however, very probable that it originated in a corrupt French pronunciation of the German word Eidgenoss, softened into Eidgenott, and then corrupted into Huguenot. The word Eidgenoss, in its plural Eidgenossen, signifying confederates, or rather partakers of the oath, was originally the designation of the thirty-three Swiss confede rates, who, in the night of the seventh of November, 1-307, bound themselves by a solemn oath to defend the liberties of their country agamst the Emperor Albert I. It became, subsequently, the distinctive title of the confederated can tons, which were parties to a perpetual league for the com mon defence and safety, and, in common parlance, was used to denote the people of those cantons individually. In Germany, the Reformed were denominated, by their opponents, Zwinglians and Cahinists, and, in derision, Sac- ramentarians. English writers speak of the two principal Protestant denominations on the continent as the Lutheran church and the Calvinistic church. This, however, is an erroneous distinction. The Reformed churches on the con tinent are not all Calvinistic. In some parts of Germany they never received Calvin's doctrine of unconditional elec tion and reprobation ; and the writer is not aware that it is, at this time, made a term of communion anywhere in the Reformed church of that country. This doctrine, which constitutes the principal feature of the system to which the name Calvinism is given, was taught in the Christian church long before Calvin, has always had adherents who were not in connection with the Reformed church, and was held by Luther, Melancthon, &c. themselves. The term Zwinglians, is equally inappropriate. Zwingle held some opinions, both in doctrine and church-government, which were at no time generally received in the Reformed church, and in some' of which he had few followers even in his own country. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 19 As members of the Reformed church we are not pledged to receive and defend the system either of Calvin or of Zwingle, or of any other man, except so far as it is in accord ance with the Holy Scriptures. We acknowledge no master on earth : one is our master, even Christ. To his authority we submit with humble and cheerful acquiescence : we sit at his feet in the character of learners, and receive his in structions as the teaching of God. He only is the Lord of conscience, and only his decision can limit the right of pri vate judgment, and the freedom of inquiry. The memory of those great men who were instrumental in restoring the light of truth and the blessings of religious liberty, is justly held in high veneration, and their faults are forgotten in the grate ful remembrance of the benefits which they have conferred ; but we do not forget that they were fallible men, and that God never could design to liberate us from the domination of one earthly master that we might be subjected to that of another. The principal divisions of the Reformed church are the Helvetic or Swiss Reformed, the German Reformed, the French Reformed, the Dutch Reformed, and the English Reformed. The Waldenses and the Bohemian brethren are of the Reformed persuasion ; and there are also many Re formed churches in Hungary, Poland, Transylvania, and other countries of Europe. The Reformed churches of Swit zerland and of Germany may be taken as one, and comprised under the general designation of German Reformed, inas much as they use the same language, and differ in nothing that is of importance. The English Reformed church is subdivided into the Epis copal, the Presbyterian, and the Congregational or Indepen dent, which have embraced different theories of church-govern ment. Dr. Mosheim, in his Ecclesiastical History, speaking of the state of the Reformed church in the eighteenth century, says, " The church of England is now the chief and leading branch of that great community that goes under the denomina tion of the Reformed church." He means the established 20 HISTORY OF THE church oi England, which is the Episcopal. This representation differs widely from the impressions which are common in this country. It is imagined here, that the two great English churches, the Episcopal and the Presbyterian, must corre spond to the two great German churches, the Lutheran and the Reformed ; and it is common to speak of the Episcopal church as the English Lutheran, and of the German Re formed as the German Presbyterian. This is an error which ought to be avoided. The Episcopal church, which disallows the ordination of all other churches that are not governed by bishops, and, so far as the rigid party in it are concerned, does not allow that they are Christian churches at all, differs more from the Lutheran church than the Lutheran differs from any other of the Reformed churches. Though the Presby terian church and the German Reformed are both members of the same family, they are not one and the same member, any more than is the Episcopal or the Congregational. The difference of language is not the only difference, nor the most important one, subsisting between them. The German Re formed church is governed by Elders and Deacons,* both of which are elected for limited periods ; the Presbyterian church is governed by Elders only, and these are chosen and or dained for life. The Reformed church observes the festivals of Christmas, Good-Friday, Easter, Ascension, and Whit suntide, in commemoration of the birth, the passion, the resurrection, and the ascension of Christ, and of the descent of the Holy Ghost upon the Apostles ; the Presbyterian re jects all holy-days, except the Lord's day, on the ground that all others are of human appointment, and thus disallows the principle, which other Christians hold, that the church itself may set apart sacred seasons for the purpose of particularly commemorating the great leading facts of the Christian his tory, and contemplating the manifestations which they give of the riches of divine grace in our redemption. The German Reformed church, like the Lutheran, considers the Lord's * In Switzerland it has neither lay-elders nor deacons. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 21 day a sacred season, set apart for the performance of the ordinary public worship of God, and deriving all its sacredness from the service to which it is appointed ; the Presbyterian regards the day as intrinsically holy. Presbyterians consider it the sabbath enjoined by the fourth commandment, but modified by our Lord as to the day and the penalty of its violation, and derive its sanctity from the fact that the seventh day is the day of God's resting from all his work. The Reformed church admits the use of a liturgy in the worship of God and the administration of the sacraments ; the Pres byterian rejects all set forms in its sacred ministrations, as inconsistent with the spirituality and the freedom of Christian worship. The Presbyterian church is strictly Calvinistfc in her creed, and pronounces Arminianism, and all approaches to it, heresy, which it refuses to tolerate in its communion ; the German Reformed church indulges greater liberty of con science to her members, and cherishes equally the Calvinist and the Arminian in her bosom. There is, therefore, as much difference, and of as much importance, between the German Reformed church and the Presbyterian church, as there is between any two other Protestant churches, except, in some respects, the Episcopalian ; and it is consequently a great mistake to imagine that the languages which they use consti tute all the difference between them. The terms Episcopal, or Episcopalian, Presbyterian, and Congregational, have respect to the form of church-govern ment in the several churches to which these designations are respectively given. Episcopal, from the Greek Episcopos, a bishop, denotes a government of the church by bishops, in the modern sense of this title. In this sense the bishop is the head of a diocess, and has under his jurisdiction two other orders of inferior clergy, namely, the order of priests, and, below this, the order of deacons. Each of these orders has its appropriate functions, and all are subject to the bishop's directions. Presbyterian, from the Greek Presbyteros, an elder, designates a government of the church by elders. (These are preaching elders or ministers of the word, and ruling 22 HISTORY OF THE elders.) They constitute the several judicatories by which the church is governed, which are essentially the Session and the Presbytery. The session consists of the minister and the elders of a particular congregation. It manages the internal concerns of the congregation ; but an appeal may be taken from its decision to the Presbytery. A Presbytery is com posed of the minister and an elder from each of the congre gations within certain bounds : it administers the external relations of the congregations within its bounds, and has an appellate jurisdiction in matters of internal interest. A Sy nod is an assemblage of several Presbyteries. The General Assembly is a delegated body composed of the representatives of all the Presbyteries, and deriving all its authority from them. An appeal can be taken from the Presbytery to the Synod, and from the Synod to the General Assembly, which is the court of final judicature : but neither the Synod nor the Assembly is essential to Presbyterianism. Congregational denotes a form of government which considers each particular congregation a perfect and independent community within itself. " Every Christian society formed upon the congrega tional plan is strictly independent of every other religious society." It transacts all its own affairs, decides every ques tion without appeal, and acknowledges no binding authority in the decisions of any number of congregations acting by delegates in an associated capacity. The German Reformed church differs from all these. She is essentially Presbyterian in her church-government, as she holds the principle of the parity of all ordained ministers ; but the form of her government is not in all respects the same as that of the Presbyterian church; neither do her judica tories possess the same coercive power. The Dutch Reformed church is, in this respect, more like the Presbyterian ; the German Reformed more like the Lutheran. " The nature and constitution of the Reformed church," says Dr. Mosheim, " which was formerly denominated by its adversaries after its founders Zwingle and Calvin, is entirely different from all other ecclesiastical communities. Every GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 23 other Christian church has some common centre of union, and its members are connected together by some common bond of doctrine and discipline. But this is far from being the case of the Reformed church, whose several branches are neither united by the same system of doctrine, nor by the same mode of worship, nor yet by the same form of government. It is farther to be observed, that this church does not require from its ministers either uniformity in their private sentiments, or in their public doctrine ; but permits them to explain in dif ferent ways -several doctrines of no small moment, provided that the great and fundamental principles of Christianity, and •the.-practical precepts of that divine religion, be maintained in their original purity. This great community, therefore, may be properly considered as an ecclesiastical body composed of several churches, that vary, more or less, from each other in their form and constitution ; but which are preserved, how ever, from anarchy and schisms, by a general spirit of equity and toleration, that runs through the whole system, and ren ders variety of opinion consistent with fraternal union." " This indeed," the same author continues, " was not the original state and constitution of the Reformed church, but was the result of a certain combination of events and circum stances, that threw it, by a sort of necessity, into this ambi guous form. The doctors of Switzerland, from whom it derived its origin, and Calvin, who was one of its principal founders, employed all their credit, and exerted their most vigo rous efforts, in order to reduce all the churches which em braced their sentiments, under one rule of faith, and the same form of ecclesiastical government. And, although they con sidered the Lutherans as their brethren, yet they showed no marks of indulgence to those who openly favored the opinions of Luther concerning the Eucharist, the Person of Christ, Predestination, and other matters that were connected with these doctrines ; nor would they permit the other Protestant churches, that embraced their communion, to deviate from their example in this respect. A new scene, however, which was exhibited in Britain, contributed much to enlarge this 24 HISTORY OF THE narrow and contracted system of church communion. For when the violent contest concerning the form of ecclesiastical government, and the nature and number of those rites and ceremonies that were proper to be admitted into the public worship, arose, between the abettors of Episcopacy and the Puritans, it was judged necessary to extend the borders of the Reformed church, and rank in the class of its true mem bers even those who departed, in some respects, from the ecclesiastical polity and doctrines established at Geneva. This spirit of toleration and indulgence grew still more for bearing and comprehensive after the famous Synod of Dort. For, though the sentiments and doctrines of the Arminians were condemned in that numerous assembly, yet they gained ground privately, and insinuated themselves into the minds of many. The church of England, under the reign of Charles I., publicly renounced the opinions of Calvin relating to the divine decrees, and made several attempts to model its doc trines and institutions after the laws, tenets, and customs that were observed by the primitive Christians. On the other hand, several Lutheran congregations in Germany en tertained a strong propensity to the doctrines and discipline of the church of Geneva; though they were restrained from declaring themselves fully and openly on this head, by their apprehensions of forfeiting the privileges they derived from their adherence to the Confession of Augsburg. The French refugees also, who had long been accustomed to a moderate way of thinking in religious matters, and whose national turn led them to a certain freedom of inquiry, being dispersed abroad in all parts of the Protestant world, rendered them selves so agreeable by their wit and eloquence, that then- exam ple excited a kind of emulation in favor of religious liberty. All these circumstances, accompanied with others whose influ ence was less palpable, though equally real, instilled, by de grees, such a spirit of lenity and forbearance into the minds of Protestants, that at this day, all Christians, if we except Roman Catholics, Socinians, Quakers, and Anabaptists, may claim a place among the members of the Reformed church. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 25 It is true, great reluctance was discovered by many against this comprehensive scheme of church-communion ; and, even in the times in which we live, the ancient and less charitable manner of proceeding hath several patrons, who would be glad to see the doctrines and institutions of Calvin universally adopted, and rigorously observed. The number, however, of these rigid doctors is not very great, nor is their influence considerable. And it may be affirmed with truth, that, both in point of number and authority, they are much inferior to the friends of moderation, who reduce within a narrow com pass the fundamental doctrines of Christianity on the belief of which salvation depends, exercise forbearance and fraternal charity towards those who explain certain doctrines in a man ner peculiar to themselves, and desire to see the enclosure (if I may use that expression) of the Reformed church rendered as large and comprehensive as possible." Wltat this learned writer says of the Reformed church col lectively is not equally applicable to all the several commu nities that are comprehended in it, nor of all the same com munities in every period of their existence. These different communities have but little connection with one another ; and their agreement on those points in which they differ from the Roman Catholics, or from the Lutherans, cannot prevent their disagreement about some other things which, in their estimation, are of equal or of greater moment : nei ther can it wholly prevent the indulgence of those feelings which controversy among themselves has a tendency to excite and to nourish. But, upon the whole, and as applied to the Reformed church in general, the author's remarks are just ; and as far as they are just, they do it great honor. It is only to be regretted that they are not applicable without modification, or without exception: for nothing, certainly, can be more in unison with the spirit of the Gospel, and with the mind of its divine author, than that, as we cannot all agree about every shade of doctrine and of worship, we should agree to differ without an interruption of fraternal harmony and of Christian love. V i 26 HISTORY OF THE The remark of Dr. Mosheim, that the Reformed showed no marks of indulgence to those who openly favored the sen timents of Luther concerning the eucharist, the person of Christ, or predestination, implies that Luther did not hold the doctrine of predestination, and that it was exclusively a doc trine of the Reformed church. This is incorrect. Luther held the doctrine of predestination as rigidly as Zwingle or Calvin. There was no controversy on this point between the reformers, nor between the two churches for some time after Luther's death. In departing from this doctrine, the Lu theran church became a follower, not of Luther, but of Melanc thon, who himself had been, for many years, a strenuous predestinarian. Another remark, that the church of England, under the reign of Charles I., publicly renounced the doctrine of Calvin concerning the divine decrees, is also inaccurate. " Though j, many members of that church, with Archbishop Laud at their head, taught the doctrines of Arminius, and propagated them in that reign, there was no public act of the church by which it renounced the sentiments of Calvin, and adopted those of Arminius."* A complete separate history of the Reformed church has not yet been published. It was undertaken by Abraham Schultet, of the Palatinate, and brought down as far as his own time, in his Annates Evangelii Renovati, the greater part of which is lost. Among the works which have appeared in this department of literature, are the following : Histoire de la Religion des Eglises Reformers depuis Jesus Christ jusq'a present, par Mons. J. Basnage. 2 vols. 4to, 1721. " This work is not a regular history of the Reformed church, but is designed only to show that the peculiar doc trines of this church were not new, but were taught and pro fessed in the earhest ages of Christianity." Histoire Ecclesiastique des Eglises Reformers au Royaume de France, depuis l'an 1521, jusq'en l'anne"e 1563. 3 vols. * Maclaine's Mosheim. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 27 8vo. By Theodore Beza, the successor of Calvin at Geneva, and N. Galassius. Histoire de l'Edit de Nantes. By L. Benoist, preacher of the Walloon church, in Delft, 5 vols. 4to. This work em braces the whole Reformed church from 1520 to 1586. J. H. Hottinger Historia Ecclesiastica, Part IX. — J. J. Hottinger 's Helvetische Kirchen-Geschichte, 3 vols. 4to. Theil IIL, which brings the history of the Swiss church to the year 1700. — Abraham Ruchat Histoire de la Reformation de la Swisse, 6 vols. 12mo. Neuere Helvetische Kirchen-Geschichte von der Reforma tion biss auf unsere Zeit, von Ludwig Wirz ; fortgesetzt von Melchior Kirchhofer, 2 vols. 8vo. 1816-19. This is the fourth and fifth volume of a larger work entitled Helvetische Kirchen-Geschichte, von Lud. Wirz, in 5 vols. The history is brought only to the year 1522. Ursprung, Gang, and Folgen der von Ulrich Zwingli in Zurich bewirkten Glaubens-Verbesserung und Reformation. Von Solomon Hess, Zurich, 1819, 4to. Schicksale der Protestanten in Frankreich, von Ram- bach, 2 vols. 8vo., Halle 1795. Historische Nachricht von dem ersten Anfang der Evan- gelish Reformirten Kirche in Brandenburg und Preussen, &c. Von D. H. Hering. Besides these, many other works containing portions of the history of the Reformed church in Great Britain, the Nether lands, and the several German states, have been published. A brief general account of the Reformed church is contained in the several works of general ecclesiastical history which have been written ; and many notices of it are interspersed in the civil history of the several countries in which it is pro fessed. THE STATE OF THE CHURCH i jMnrroafton. About the time of the Reformation the state of the church and of religion presented to the pious and thoughtful observer a melancholy and discouraging aspect ; not for any want of external pomp and splendor in the established worship, or in the form and condition of the hierarchy ; but for the almost total absence of Christian knowledge, piety, and virtue. Cor ruptions of the most repulsive character prevailed amongst all classes' of men, both of the clergy and the people, not ex cepting the high dignitaries of the church, nor its supreme head himself, who bore the title of " The Holy Father," and was esteemed the Vicegerent of God on earth. When Leo X. succeeded to the Papal see, the Roman church had attained to that lofty height of power and of glory to which Gregory VII. had labored so assiduously to elevate it, but which he had scarcely hoped to reach. Under the reign of his prede cessor, Julius IL, the council of Pisa, which had been called by the Emperor and the King of France, for the purpose of reforming the church, and of setting bounds to the arrogance of the lordly pontiffs, was given to the winds ; and another council assembled in the Lateran by Julius himself, and numerously attended from all parts oi Europe, was submissive at his feet, and ready to decree whatever he might choose to dictate. Leo saw the greater part of the Christian world bowed down under the Papal yoke ; and emboldened by the almost universal acquiescence in his high pretensions, and the awe which his mysterious power inspired, resolved to suffer no restrictions, and to govern the church agreeably 28 \ \ GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 29 to his own pleasure. Scarcely did any venture to declare themselves openly against him. The followers of Huss and of Jerome of Prague were subdued, and dared to speak their sentiments only in whispers among themselves. The Waldenses in the valleys of Piedmont were well-nigh exter minated : the few that remained lived in the greatest poverty, disheartened by their weakness, and hoped only to preserve to their posterity, in the obscure corner which remained to them, the precious truth which was their own consolation in their distress. If any lifted up their voice and cried against the disorders of the church and the corruptions that prevailed in high places, the pope could look down upon them from his high eminence in proud derision, and laugh to scorn their feeble and vain attempts to make an impression upon his throne, or to interfere with his purpose of ambition or of pleasure. In the western church the temporal power was chiefly in the hands of Austria and France, and the rulers of these formidable empires, in their fierce contests with one another, -vied with each other for the friendship of the pope, as often as they needed it, leaving neither flatteries nor favors untried to secure his alliance. He was, indeed, often the master-spirit who inveigled them into his plans. Three cen turies earlier, Gregory VII. beheld the German Emperor prostrate before him as an imploring penitent ; and that emperor's son and successor could only obtain upon his knees another pope's permission, after five years' delay, to bury the corpse of his father who had died under the haughty prelate's ban! The pope claimed authority from heaven to dispose of states and kingdoms at his pleasure, to dissolve the obligation of oaths and of solemn treaties, to lay whole countries under an interdict,— shutting up their churches, suspending all the ministrations of religion, and forbidding the burial of the dead, — to forgive sins or to retain them, to open the gate of heaven or to shut it, to deliver souls from the horrible pains of purgatory or to leave them there, and to bind the con sciences of all men by his decisions in matters of faith and o2 30 history of the practice. A numerous body of clergy, in every Christian country, were prepared to second these arrogant pretensions. Every part of Christendom abounded with priests and monks who, forbidden by the laws of the church to enter into the bonds of wedlock, could not legally become heads of families, and sustain the relations of husband and father. They had, therefore, no domestic duties to perform, no families to pro vide for, and no interest apart from that of their order, and were unconnected, as far as it was possible, with the com munity in which they lived. The personal interest of each was identified with that of the body to which he belonged, and of the pope, as the common head, whose will governed and whose power protected them. The holy father used them, not to instruct the people in the knowledge of God and to edify them unto eternal life by their ministry, but for another purpose which he valued more : for the purpose of putting the whole Christian world under his feet, and keeping it there. They were found in every court, in every public institution, and in every family ; they were there as the confessors and spiritual guides both of the people and of their rulers, and as the ministers and emissaries of the pope ; and by the con fessions which they exacted, and which they represented as essential to salvation, they possessed themselves of the secrets of every heart, and subjected every individual to their power. The clergy were possessed of immense wealth, which had accumulated in the lapse of ages, by the endowment of churches and monasteries, through the mistaken piety of the times. About one-half of the landed estates were in their hands : they rolled in wealth while the people were poor, and indulged in voluptuous living while their flocks were left to want. They were free from ordinary taxation, and exempted from the jurisdiction of the civil rulers. For violations of the laws of the state, as well as for transgressions of the laws of the church, they were amenable to none but the ecclesi astical courts : and by these they were usually treated with the utmost lenity for civil offences, however severely they might be punished for sins against the church. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 31 The manners of the sacred order, with here and there an honorable exception, were deplorably corrupt. Few of the popes themselves, notwithstanding their high-sounding title of Most Holy, could claim an exemption from this charge ; and many of them were examples of most abandoned vicious- ness. "Alexander VL, who occupied the chair of St. Peter at the beginning of the sixteenth century, was a wretch," says Mosheim, " whom humanity disowns, and who is rather to be considered as a monster than as a man ; whose deeds excite horror, and whose enormities place him among the most exe crable tyrants of ancient times. His successor, Julius II. , dishonored the pontificate with the most odious list of vices ; to which wc may add the most savage ferocity, the most auda cious arrogance, the most despotic vehemence of temper, and the most extravagant and frantic passion for war and blood shed." Leo X., who presided in the papal see at the com mencement of the Reformation, was, indeed, of a milder dis position than his predecessors, a man of learning, and a patron of learned men ; but he was equally indifferent to the interests of true piety, devoted himself to pleasure and the pursuits of ambition, and, like all that had preceded him, made the opu lence and grandeur of the Roman see the paramount object of his care. It had become essential, indeed, to the stability and glory of the pontificate, that a pope should be sagacious, firm, and bold, rather than honest and pure. Adrian VI., the successor of Leo, was rewarded with hatred, opposition, and an early death, for his sincere attempts at a reformation of the church, and his honest confession of its necessity in his letter to the German diet ; and with reference to him Pala- vicini, quoted by Gieseler, says, " It is found by experience that not only the Roman pontificate, but even the government of an ordinary religious order, however simple and rigid its rule may be, is better administered by one who is endowed with moderate honesty joined with superior sagacity, than by one possessing holiness united with moderate sagacity. For which reason, in order that sanctity itself may be maintained 32 HISTORY OF THE among the people, it is not so much holiness as sagacity that is important."* "The licentious example of the pontiffs," says Mosheim, "were imitated in the lives and manners of the subordinate rulers and ministers of the church. The greatest part of the bishops and canons passed their days in dissolute mirth and luxury, and squandered away, in the gratification of their lusts and passions, the wealth that had been set apart for religious and charitable purposes. Nor were they less tyrannical than voluptuous : for the most despotic princes never treated their vassals with more rigor and severity, than these ghostly rulers employed toward those who were under their jurisdiction." The monastic orders were in no respect better than the secular clergy. " They did not take the least pains," says the same author, " to preserve any remains of even the exter nal air of decency and religion that used to distinguish them in former times. The Benedictine and the other monkish fraternities, who were invested with the privilege of possessing certain lands and revenues, broke through all restraint, made the worst possible use of their opulence, and, forgetful of the gravity of their character and of the laws of their order, rushed headlong into the shameless practice of vice, in all its various kinds and degrees. On the other hand, the mendicant orders, and especially those who followed the rule of St. Domi nic and St. Francis, though they were not carried away with the torrent of licentiousness that was overwhelming the church, yet they lost their credit in a different way ; for their rustic impudence, their ridiculous superstitions, their ignorance, cruelty, and brutish manners, alienated from them the minds of the people, and diminished their reputation from day to day. They had the most barbarous aversion to the arts and sciences, and expressed a like abhorrence of certain eminent and learned men, who endeavored to open the paths of science to the studious youth, recommended the culture of the mind, and attacked the barbarism of the age in their writings and their discourse." * Gieseler's Lehrbuch der Kirch, Gesch. Bd. 3, Th. 1, s. 118 n. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 33 It was very natural that this decline of virtue in the clergy should be followed by the loss of public esteem, and that by such vices they should become infamous and contemptible, not only in the estimation of the wise and good, but in the judgment even of the multitude. The people, however, dis tinguished between the institutions of religion and their unwor thy incumbents ; and while they looked upon the latter with abhorrence, they still regarded the former with the utmost veneration. They were conscious still of their need of religion to give peace to their troubled minds ; but what that religion was which they needed, they knew not : ignorant of its nature, they mistook for it the external forms to which they had been accustomed, and expected from these a saving effect. But these forms were in the power of the clergy, and inseparable from their ministrations ; confessions could not be made, abso lutions could not be given, masses could not be said, nor could any of the ceremonies of religion be rightly performed without the priest ; the priest, therefore, held in his hands the keys of heaven and hell ; and without him there was no salvation. Hence these profligate ecclesiastics were still chosen as father confessors and spiritual guides, by people of all classes, who confessed their sins to them, received absolution from them, and paid them to say masses for their souls, and for the souls of their friends in purgatory ; and such was the superstitious veneration for the monastic institution, notwithstanding the scandalous lives of the monks, that persons even of the higher ranks, and those of princely dignity, hoped to secure their salvation by ending their days in a convent ; and others, tor tured by a guilty conscience, when they felt the approach of death, put on the habit of a monk, that they might die in it, and thus have a safe passage to heaven ! The state of religious knowledge among the clergy was as deplorable as their morals. The Bible was to them a strange book. When Luther arose in Germany, there was none among the theological doctors that could dispute with him on scriptural grounds; and when the magistrates oi Bern had invited the bishops of that country to participate in a religious 5 34 HISTORY OF THE discussion in their city, either in person or by their learned divines, these dignitaries declined the invitation, and the bishop of Lausanne assigned as a reason, that he had no ecclesiastics who were so conversant with the Scriptures as to be able to investigate religious questions.* The teachers of religion knew almost nothing of the doctrine of Christ and his apostles. It sometimes occurred even that a priest did not know the apostles' creed, and there was a necessity of enjoin ing upon bishops the duty of seeing that a priest should at least be familiar with that symbol. f "The public worship of God," says Mosheim, "was now no more than a pompous round of external ceremonies, the greatest part of which were insignificant and senseless, and much more adapted to dazzle the eyes than to touch the heart. The number of those who were at all qualified to administer in struction to the people was not very considerable ; and their discourses, which contained little else than fictitious reports, miracles and prodigies, insipid fables, wretched quibbles, and illiterate jargon, deceived the multitude instead of instructing them. Several of these discourses are yet extant, which it is impossible to read without the highest indignation and con tempt. Those who, on account of their gravity of manners, or their supposed superiority in point of wisdom and know ledge, held the most distinguished rank among these vain declaimers, had a commonplace set of subjects allotted to them, on which they were constantly exercising the force of their lungs and the power of their eloquence. These subjects were, the power of the holy mother church, and the obligation of obedience to her decision ; the virtues and merits of the saints, and their credit in the court of heaven ; the dignity, glory, and love of the blessed virgin ; the efficacy of relics ; the duty of adorning churches and endowing monasteries; the necessity of good works to salvation, as that phrase was understood ; the intolerable burnings of purgatory, and the utility of indulgences. Such were the subjects that employed * Schroeok's Kirch. Gesch. seit der Reformation, Bd. 2, s. 147. •(¦ Neudeoker's Lexioon der Kiroh. Gesch. Art. Geistliohkeit. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 35 the zeal and labors of the most eminent doctors of this cen tury : and they were, indeed, the only subjects that could tend to fill the coffers of good old mother church and advance her temporal interests." None, it seems, thought of preach ing Christ as the only ground of a sinner's hope; none taught the doctrines of atonement by his death, of faith in him, of the forgiveness of sins by the free grace of God, of regeneration by the Holy Spirit, and of the necessity of internal holiness, as the divine oracles contain them. Preachers who inculcated these doctrines would, indeed, have edified their hearers and promoted the cause of true piety and virtue among the people ; but they would have been very unprofitable servants to the church and the papacy, whose object was the stability of their power and the increase of their wealth. Such being the character of the ministry in the church, the state of religion and morals among the people could not be otherwise than extremely wretched. The grossest ignorance of religion, the vilest superstition, and the most disgusting immoralities prevailed among all classes and orders of men. True Christian piety had no existence, or was to be found only in obscure retirements, blended, wherever it appeared, with more or less of the superstition of the age. The clergy showed no disposition to effect a change of this lamentable state of things. Destitute of true piety themselves, ignorant of its nature and value, and intent only on their own aggran dizement, and the gratification of their passions, they saw their interest rather in countenancing the reign of ignorance, superstition, and vice, than in resisting it : " For the prudence of the church had easily foreseen," says Mosheim, " that the traffic in indulgences could not but suffer from a diminution of the vices and crimes of mankind ; and that, in proportion as virtue gained an ascendant upon the manners of the multi tude, the profits arising from expiations, satisfactions, and such like ecclesiastical contrivances, must necessarily cease." The character of a good Christian, drawn by St. Eligius, or Eloi, bishop of Noyon in France, in the seventh century, will show what was the idea of Christian piety which the people 36 HISTORY OF THE were taught to entertain, and the model after which they were exhorted to aspire, in his time : and there was no improve ment upon this conception at the period of the Reformation : "He is a good Christian," says Eligius, "who comes fre quently to church, and presents the oblation which is offered to God upon the altar ; who does not taste of his fruits until he has first offered a part to God ; who, as often as the sacred festivals approach, lives chastely for some days previously, even with his own wife, that he may come to the altar of the Lord with a safe conscience ; who, finally, can repeat the creed, or the Lord's prayer. Redeem your souls from punish ment while you have the means in your power ; offer to the church oblations and tythes ; light candles in holy places as you can afford ; — come more frequently to church ; humbly entreat the patronage of the saints ; — which being obseryed, you may come safely before the tribunal of the Eternal on the day of judgment, and say, Give, Lord, because we have given."* If such was the instruction of a bishop, and a saint, whom the church of Rome honors with religious veneration, that of the common order of the priesthood was surely no bet ter ; and the piety of the people would doubtless not exceed the standard which so holy a spiritual father proposed as the full measure of Christian virtue. The condition of the church was therefore as wretched as human depravity, uncheoked by the light of true Christianity, could make it. In this miserable state of things, however, the moral sensibilities of human nature, though seriously dimi nished, were not obliterated or destroyed. Enough was still left to apprize mankind that the manners of the times were not in accordance with the will of God ; that there was wrong and sin in the universal corruption of morals, and, especially, in the vices and tyranny of the clergy ; and the necessity of a change for the better was everywhere acknowledged, and a speedy reformation loudly demanded. But none seemed to know where to find the root of the evil. A reformation was * Mosheim's Eccles. History, cent. vii. ch. 3, note x. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 37 desired by the people and by their rulers, as they expressed themselves, in the head and in ihe members; by which they understood a reform in the lives and manners of the pope and his clergy ; but few thought of a reformation of the doctrine and worship of the church, and of the constitution and form of her ministry. The church was esteemed infallible ; the pope was acknowledged as her visible head and the vicegerent of Christ upon earth, and the title of the clergy to the authority and the prerogatives which they enjoyed was scarcely ques tioned. Those, therefore, who demanded a reformation, had no thought of disturbing the faith or the ceremonies which the church had sanctioned, nor of changing the established hie rarchy, but wished only to have the disgusting scandals of clerical iniquity purged away, the pride, insolence, avarice, ambition, and lewdness of the clergy restrained, the insup portable yoke of their tyranny broken, and a faithful per formance of their sacred functions secured. Neither did they think of undertaking this reformation themselves : they sought it from the pope and the superior clergy, or from a general council, to whom alone, it was conceded, the right belonged to sit in judgment upon the sacred order, and who alone would express the judgment of the infallible church. At a later period, when the light had begun to shine amidst the darkness, the1 true source of all the evil that oppressed the church was seen ; but even Luther did not see it, when he first arose to bear testimony against the abuse of indulgences. A reformation of the church was demanded in vain, as long as it was expected from her spiritual rulers, whose interest required that things should remain as they were, and who hated nothing so much as a change. Little was to be expected from the secular powers, whose mutual jealousies, inflamed still more by papal intrigues, would have prevented harmonious action in such a cause, if they had been, in other respects, qualified for the task. The prospect seemed even more hope less, if a reformation were attempted by an individual, who could lay no claim to authority and a power of coercion. Wickliffe had labored in vain ; Huss and Jerome, of Prague, D 38 HISTORY OF THE had perished at the stake ; the Waldenses were crushed ; and all who had dared to rise up against the papal throne, had been broken to pieces as with a rod of iron. "Entrenched, therefore, within their strong holds," says Mosheim, "the pontiffs looked upon their own authority, and the peace of the church, as beyond the reach of danger, and treated with in difference the threats and invectives of their enemies. Armed, moreover, with power to punish, and abundantly furnished with the means of rewarding in the most alluring manner, they were ready, on every commotion, to crush the obstinate, and to gain over the mercenary to their cause." But the papal hierarchy had now reached its maximum ; the days of its glory were numbered, and the time of its humilia tion was at hand. Its terrific power was in reality based upon nothing but public opinion, which itself was founded in. error : the opinion, namely, that the church is infallible ; that it is hers to interpret the Scripture and to determine articles of faith; that the pope is divinely constituted her visible head and the vicar of Christ ; and that the clergy are the church, and express, her judgment in a general council. If the public mind were enlightened, and these opinions were seen to be erroneous and false, the entire fabric would fall and crumble to pieces: and the time of the dawning of light upon the world was now come. The main causes that introduced the Reformation, acting upon minds that felt deeply the necessity of a change, were the revival of learning about the close of the fifteenth century, the discovery of the art of printing, the use of the vernacular tongue in books, and the rise, about the same time, in different countries of Europe, of men of genius, and of independent minds, who thought for themselves, and dared to utter aloud what they thought. Among these men we may reckon John Wesselius, Hieronimus Savanarola, John Picus, Prince of Mirandola, John Reuchlin, Desiderius Erasmus, Ulric von Hutten, Thomas Wittenbach, and the reformers themselves. When from these sources light began to arise, and to diffuse itself over every subject of human interest, it could not be GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 39 wholly excluded from religion. Great care and vigilance were employed by the hierarchy to guard that subject, where their interests were affected, against what they chose to represent as an unhallowed curiosity and impious boldness. The doctors of the Sorbonne, or theological faculty in the university of Paris, advised the French king, Francis I., to suppress the art of printing in his dominions ; and the monks of Germany declared that German books would pave the way for heresy and every species of error.* But the papacy had taken care, even before this late period, by the introduction of the inquisition, that tribunal which it called the holy office, to curb the freedom of thought, and to terrify men's minds into a silent acquiescence in the decisions of the. church. This infernal tribunal was established in every country whose rulers could be induced to subject their people to its horrible tyranny ; and it was now justly looked to as the most efficient means, wherever it could be employed, to protect the corruptions of the church from an exposure to the hated light. But the jealous hierarchy did not stop here : resolved to shut up every avenue through which the light might enter, they strictly forbade the people, under the dreaded penalty of heresy, to read those books which might have a tendency to open .their eyes upon the errors and abuses of the church. They had long since deprived them of the Holy Scriptures, having forbidden the laity, except by a special license from their bishop, which the bishop knew how to withhold, to read the Bible in the vernacular tongue, the only tongue which the people understood ; alleging, as a reason, that, if the sacred volume were accessible to all, it would cease to be regarded with proper reverence, and such as were unlearned and unstable would wrest its doctrines to their own destruction. And as there was equal danger from the reading of many other books, that militated more or less against the interests of the papacy, all these were equally prohibited, and their titles entered into a catalogue entitled Lndex Expurgatorius. This celebrated * Henke Kirch. Gesch. Bd. iii. p. 28. 40 HISTORY OF THE Index consists of two parts; viz., the Index librorum prohibi- iorum, containing a list of the books which were wholly pro hibited ; and the Index librorum expurg andorum, being a hst of such as were to be carefully examined, and purged of all offensive passages, before permission should be given to read them. The former includes all the writings of reputed here tics ; in the latter were contained the works of writers who were not denounced as heretics, but who had, unfortunately, sometimes written with more freedom than was now consistent with the church's safety. Father Paul Sarpi, who was him self a Catholic, says, in his history of the council of. Trent, " The inquisition went so far, that it made a catalogue of sixty- two printers, and prohibited all books printed by them, of whatever author, art, or idiom; with an addition of more weight, that is, and books printed by such printers as have printed books of heretics ; so that there scarcely remained a book to read."* This was, indeed, going to the root of the apprehended mischief; and so far as these measures could be carried into effect, they could not easily fail of being success ful in keeping the people in perfect ignorance of whatever it was not the interest of the church that they should know, and thus securing their complete subjection to their spiritual rulers. They could not, however, be employed everywhere, or every where carried into full effect : and where the hght was per mitted to enter, and men's minds were left free to examine for themselves, and to indulge their convictions, there the hierarchy fell. The Reformation is among the most important events which history has recorded. Its influence was not confined to religion, but extended to all the great interests of mankind, and produced a most beneficent change, both in the character and the condition of the people, in all the countries over which it was permitted to spread. It delivered them from a most odious, and debasing, and soul-destroying tyranny, restored the freedom of thought, that precious property of a rational * Hist, of the Council of Trent, b. vi. p. 463. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 41 nature, gave a new impulse to intellectual activity, and brought the energies of the mind to act, in their native vigor, in every field of discovery, and upon every subject of human knowledge. As the Reformation itself was the offspring of returning lite rature and science, so it became, in its turn, a most powerful auxiliary in their farther advancement. They can flourish only where freedom of investigation on all subjects is es tablished; and they languish and decay where thought is enslaved, and compelled to follow in the path where supersti tion, or bigotry, or other forms of selfishness lead the way. Hitherto the claims of the church, and the lordly domination of the priesthood, had held the minds of men in a cruel bond age, compared with which the condition of a slave is freedom : in his case the body is bound, while his thoughts and his con victions are free ; but here, an inexorable power had enslaved the soul, and drawn its chains and raised its barriers around every faculty of the mind. " The Reformation," says a popu lar author, "rent asunder these bonds, and cast down these barriers to the free circulation of thought: where she pre vailed, nothing was interdicted, but those productions which would be offensive to public morals and decency. Is , there need of any thing more than a remembrance of those chains, those barriers, that barbarism, which would still have continued long to confine and oppress the world, in order to show, in the full blaze of its light, the powerful co-operation of the Re formation in the furtherance and spread of mental culture and illumination ? When she had prepared the way, men could boldly discuss the most sacred interests, and speak as men of human things. ' Subject thyself to the decision of the church,' said the adherent oi Rome. 'Examine,' said the Protestant, 'and submit only to thy convictions.' The former demanded > implicit faith: the latter teaches, with the apostle, to prove all things, and to hold fast that which is good."* The proposition, That the Bible is the only rule of faith and practice in ihe church of God, is the fundamental principle of * Villars Darstellungen der Reformation, p. 161. i>2 6 42 HISTORY OF THE the Reformation. " That Christians are not bound by any doctrines which are not supported by the clear words of Jesus Christ, the apostles, and the prophets ; that no man, and no assembly of teachers have authority to prescribe new articles of faith, or have a claim to infallibility in matters of religion ; that liberty of conscience, and the right to investigate rehgious truth, are not the prerogatives of any particular order, but belong to every believer, whether of the clergy or the laity ; that all those who, setting aside the doctrines and command ments of men, receive the doctrine of Jesus Christ and his apostles in faith, cheerfully put their trust therein, and live conformably to it, of whatever party or name they may be, constitute the Catholic, Christian church ; that the true church of Christ subsists wherever the pure word of God- is preached, the sacraments are administered agreeably to Christ's institu tion, and Christian discipline is observed: — these were the principles in which all Protestants were agreed. Such an authority, so firm and independent of man, said they, there must be in the Christian church : otherwise the church would be without a foundation, or a connection of parts ; since hu man teachers often contradict one another, and philosophy changes her views and her principles with every age. What the popes, or councils, or single ecclesiastics have prescribed, as articles of faith, beside the teaching of the Holy Scripture, is human invention, and can afford neither safety nor tran quillity to the conscience. "* When it was argued, that private interpreters of the Scriptures are not agreed about their mean ing, and that a multitude of conflicting interpretations of the same passage are given, and the question was asked, Who shall determine the true sense of the Scriptures amidst this variety of opinions ? the reformers answered, " Not the pope ; not a council ; not the fathers ; but the Scripture itself, by collating one passage with another." In the pubhc disputation at Zu rich, in 1523, the vicar of the bishop of Constance, John Faber, appealed to the universities of Paris, Cologne, and * J. G. Muller's Reliquien, Th. iii. p. 62. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 43 Freyburg. Zwingle replied, "I admit no judge but the divine Scripture, as it has spoken and declared by the spirit of God : before you overturn one article of the Scripture, the earth must be dissolved; for it is God's word." The council of Zurich declared, in 1524, " That the free word of God, and the conscience of man, is not to be bound by any council, but is to rule over, judge, and rightly inform all men : it is the duty of all men to hearken to what the word of God says to them ; but the word of God is not to hearken to what men say to it."* Luther took the same ground, and maintained it in the face of every danger. His only reason for refusing to retract what he had written, when he stood before the diet of Worms, was this one : " It is the word of God, and my con science." The conscience is a sanctuary into which God alone has a right to enter. All human attempts to force it are as profane as they are tyrannical : and the authors of such vio lations prove nothing by their attempts but their ignorance of the religion about which they profess to be zealous, or their hypocrisy and wickedness. * J. G. Muller's Reliquien, Th. iii. pp, 66-70. THE HISTOEY 3ftrfnrmA CJrowjr in Imitjdatitt, FROM THE BIRTH OF ZWINGLE TO THE TRIUMPH 01? THE GOSPEL Df ZURICH IN 1525. BOOK I. CHAPTER I. STATE OF SWITZERLAND— BIRTH AND EDUCATION OF ZWINGLE. Switzerland, or the Confederacy, {Lie Eidgenossenschaf,/ as it was called by its patriotic citizens, was an estabUshed free state in the earliest times of the sixteenth century, although its independence had not yet been acknowledged by the Aus trian emperors. It was composed of thirteen cantons, namely, Zurich, Bern, Lucem, Uri, Schweitz, Unterwalden, Zug, Glarus, Freyburg, Soleure, Basel, Schaffhausen and Appen- zell. These were independent states, each of which not only managed its own internal affairs as it pleased, but might even form alliances with neighboring states, wage war, and make treaties of peace. But for the common defence and safety, they were united in a confederation, which was represented by a diet composed of the delegates of the several cantons. In the diet, every canton had one vote. The acts of this deliberative assembly were, however, only advisory, and did not obligate the several cantons without their own consent. Beside the thirteen cantons, there were also other free states that had been, at different times, admitted into the confederacy as allies, or, as they were called in German, zugewandte ; and 44 GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 45 others in alliance with one or more of the cantons. Of these were the county of Valais, the three leagues of the Grisons, the abbey of St. Gall, the free cities of St. Gall, Bienne or Biel, Munchausen in Alsace, Roihweil in Suabia, and the principality of Neuf-chatel. And there were, moreover, a number of territories and cities or towns that were subject to one or more of the cantons, but were provided with their own internal governments ; as, for example, the counties of Toggen- burg, Rheinthal, Thurgau, &c, the cities of Wesen, Utznach, Rapperschweil, &c. Of all the countries of Europe, there was none, probably, at the commencement of the sixteenth century, more sincerely devoted to the pope than Switzerland. In general, the Swiss were so zealously affected toward the holy see, and regarded with so much reverence whatever the pope decreed respecting religion, the clergy, or the ceremonies of the church, that a defection from him, or even an impressive contradiction to any of his commands, was hardly to be less expected among any other people. Conscientiously scrupulous about the smallest matters, the several cantons had, in the early part of the fifteenth century, purchased from the pope a license to use a milk diet during the fasts ; and in 1497, the canton of Bern petitioned the vicar of the bishop of Lausanne for a confirma tion of this favor to some of their parishes. The two cantons of Zurich and Bern were still more strongly attached to the holy see than any others of their fellow confederates. In Zurich the papal nuncio had his residence ; and his court spared neither flatteries, nor offices, nor presents to rivet the friendship of this canton. A citizen of Zurich was honored with the command of the pope's body-guard ; and the Zurich- ians continued to grant troops to Leo X. when all the other cantons refused a compliance with his request. Bern de meaned itself more humbly still. When Alexander VI., in 1502, proclaimed an after-jubilee, with the indulgences per taining to it, and cardinal Raymund had twice solicited the cantons to authorize the proclamation in their dominions, Bern was the only one that consented ; and when the emperor, 46 HISTORY OF THE Frederick III., refused to confirm their privileges, the Bernese turned from him to tbe pope, and alleged, as their reason, that the emperor himself derived his authority from the vicegerent of Christ. But, although the popes ruled in Switzerland with almost unbounded sway, there were not wanting discontents, and even loud complaints, which arose on account of the troubles of secular governments that were created by popish intrigues, and, more frequently, against the avarice and licentiousness of the clergy. In 1477, the canton of Bern complained to the bishop of Lausanne of the dissolute lives of his clergy, repre senting that they were most scandalously voluptuous and unchaste, and would the less endure the restraints of the civil ordinances because they were so leniently dealt with by the spiritual court. Similar complaints were preferred, in 1500, by the governments of Bern and Freyburg against the monks of Granson. Charges of this kind, with particular specifica tions of gross scandals, continued to be urged : and it seemed that the clergy of all ranks were encouraged, by the devout- ness of the people, to transgress all the bounds of decency in this country more impudently than elsewhere. But, while the people looked with abhorrence upon these disorders, they did not suspect that the religion, which so depraved a clergy taught, might itself be corrupt ; and they continued, therefore, to regard all its institutions with profound veneration.* The most luminous spot in Switzerland was the city oi Basel. It contained a university, the only one in the country, founded in 1460, and was the stated or occasional residence of a num ber of learned men, distinguished equally by their talents and their attainments in literature. Here Thomas Wittenbach, of Bienne, taught theology since 1505, and imparted to his pupils many of the views in religion which were afterwards exhibited by the reformers. Here Wolfgang Fabricius Capito was the cathedral preacher from 1512 to 1520, a man of the * Schroeck's Kirch. Gesch. seit der Reformation, vol. i. p. 23, vol. ii. p. 104, &o. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 47 same spirit as Wittenbach. Here Erasmus, of Rotterdam, published his editions of the Greek Testament, and other works. To these illustrious men we may add Beatus Rhenanus, Henricus Glareanus, Conrad Pellicanus, Oswald Myconius, and William Nesen of Glarus ; all of whom enjoyed a shining reputation in the world of letters, and honored this city more or less with their presence.* The Reformed church, as distinguished ^from the papal, is essentially the primitive Christian church, in her doctrines, sacraments, ministry and worship. After groaning for ages under a perpetually increasing mass of earthly and corrupting additions, she owes her deliverance, under God, to* that reform ation of which Ulric Zwingle and his fellow-laborers were the honored instruments. Zurich, in the canton of the same name, is commonly considered the birthplace of that event; and its date, the first day of January, 1519, the day on which Zwingle preached his celebrated introductory sermon in the cathedral of that city, and declared that he would expound the word of God, and make it alone the basis of his instruc tions, regardless of human inventions. The commencement of Zwingle's reforming efforts was, indeed, several years earlier, but his public announcement of his purpose to reform was made on that day. That introductory sermon was the com mencement of a series of expository discourses on the Holy Scriptures, and of a system of operations in the city and canton of Zurich, by which a ferment was produced that eventuated, after a struggle of six years, in the complete downfall of popery, by the abolition of the mass in that canton. It was a sermon of unusual power. The preacher's exhibitions of truth went to the heart. Both his doctrine and his manner were new. He urged what he said in a manner which showed how deeply he felt both the truth and the importance of his doctrine. The chief men of the state, whom the insipid legendary tales of the priests and monks had disgusted with the service of the church, now felt a new interest in the gospel, * Gieseler'a Lehrb. der Kirch. Gesch. vol. iii. th. 1, p. 130. 48 HISTORY OF THE and became his assiduous hearers. " God be thanked," said they, " this is an apostolic preacher. This man tells us how the truth is : instead of human fripperies, he preaches the pure gospel faithfully." BIRTH AND EDUCATION OF ZWINGLE. The chief of the Swiss reformers, and the founder of the Helvetic Reformed church, was Ulric Zwingle, — in German, Huldreich Zwingli. He was born in Wildhaus, one of the highest mountain villages, in the county of Tokenburg, now included in the canton of St. Gall, on the first of January, 1484. He was the sixth of eight sons.* His father, Hul dreich Zwingli, was the amman, or magistrate of the village, and bore the reputation of a scrupulously upright man. Both of his parents were descended from an honorable line of an cestors. A decision of the abbot of St. Gall, lord of Token burg, having disjoined Wildhaus from Gams, the mother- church, and constituted it a separate parish, the parishioners elected Zwingle's uncle, Bartholomew Zwingli, as their first pastor, who presided over this parish until 1487, when he was translated to Wesen, and appointed dean of the chapter. His maternal uncle, Johannes Meili, was abbot of the convent of Fishingen, in Thurgau, from 1510 to 1523. Beside his seven brothers, he had one sister, who became the wife of Leonhard Tremp, a zealous friend of the Reformation in Bern. From the first opening of his mind, Zwingle gave such indi cations of talent of a high order, that he was, in his early youth, destined by his parents to a learned profession. He was placed under the care of his uncle in Wesen, whose piety and affection constituted him a safe and useful guardian to the tender ward. Here Zwingle received tbe instructions of a schoolmaster, under whose direction he progressed with so much rapidity, that it soon became expedient to place him under a higher grade of discipline. This development of * According to Schuler ; but, according to S. Voegelin, the third. See Voegelin's Jahrtafel von Zwingli's Lebeu. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 49 extraordinary capacity determined both the father and uncle to make every possible exertion to furnish the promising child with all the requisite opportunities for his future education. In the tenth year of his age, he was sent to the Theodore school, in Basel, which was then under the care of Gregorius Bingli, a learned and amiable teacher, who was equally distin guished by his literary qualifications and his winning mildness in the treatment of his pupils. The speedy progress of the lad in the studies of this primary school secured to him, in a peculiar manner, the affection of his teacher, who, in a short time, sent him home to his father and uncle with the warmest commendations, and advised them to place him at an institu tion where he could be furnished with higher instructions than his own school could afford. He was now sent to the Latin school of Henry Lupulus, in Bern. Lupulus had acquired reputation as a poet, and was the first who opened a school for classical education in Switzerland. Under his direction, Zwingle formed an acquaintance with the great models of an cient Rome in history, eloquence and poetry, gathered from them the rich stores of antiquity, and formed his own taste, his judgment, and his style of composition. Lupulus was a bigoted papist, but ultimately became a zealous friend and promoter of the reformation. He outlived his pupil, and honored his memory with a fivefold epitaph in verse.* After spending two years in these studies in Bern, Zwingle removed to the university of Vienna, where he spent two other years in forming an acquaintance with the philosophy which then reigned in the schools. " It was happy for him," says Schuler, " that he did not apply himself to this study until he had been exercised six years under eminent teachers in acquiring a knowledge of languages, and had formed an ac quaintance with the masterpieces of Rome, by which he was secured against the loss of his common sense in those cobwebs of scholastic systems, which were then called philosophy." This philosophy was, however, a part of a learned education, * J. M. Schuler's Huldreich Zwingli, p. 1-12. 7 50 HISTORY OF THE and an acquaintance with its knotty questions, its captious distinctions, and its perplexing labyrinths, was esteemed a necessary qualification for a public disputer. But Zwingle did not confine his attention to these arid and withering studies, in which a mind like his could not have found much enjoyment. He attended, also, to astronomy and physics, and did not omit the prosecution of his favorite classics. About the year 1501, or 1502, he was called home by his father. But the desire of farther intellectual culture soon took him again to Basel, where, uniting the office of teaching with the labor of study, he procured by the latter the means of pursuing the former, and thus relieved his father from the burden of continued expense. Though but eighteen years of age, and a stranger, he was appointed teacher of the school of St. Martin in Basel, where he gave instruction in languages. At the same time he improved his knowledge of philosophy, and his acquaintance with the treasures of Roman literature ; but when Thomas Wittenbach came to Basel, near the close of 1505, as professor of theology in that university, Zwingle attended his theological instructions, and abandoned the bar ren waste of a false and profitless philosophy : and here he formed his cordial and lasting intimacy with Leo Judda, a kindred spirit, who was his fellow student.* Wittenbach was an original thinker, endowed with an acute and penetrating mind, and furnished with all the learning which was attainable in that age. He may be justly con sidered as having sown the first seed of evangelical truth in the minds of his pupils. Leo Judda says of him, in his intro duction to Zwingle's annotations on the New Testament, "He was singularly practiced in every species of knowledge, and, on account of his various learning, was regarded by the most learned men of this age as a wonder and an astonish ment, and as some phoenix rising from its ashes. Under his instructions, both Zwingle and I, pursuing our studies in Basel at one and the same time, about the year 1505, were formed, * Schuler's Huldreich Zwingli, p. 14, &c. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 51 not only in elegant hterature, in which he was excellently skilled, but also in the truth of the gospel. For as that man, beside a surpassing eloquence, possessed an acute genius, he foresaw and surmised many things which were afterwards first pubhshed by others ; for example, respecting popish indul gences, and other things, by which the Roman pontiff set a foolish world mad during so many ages. From this man we have drawn all that we possess of solid learning, and all this we owe to him."* Rudolph Guallther, Zwingle's son-in-law, speaks thus of him, in his preface to the first part of the homi lies on .Matthew : " He not only restored the study of useful learning and the hberal arts, but also condemned openly many points of the popish doctrines concerning sacraments, indul gences, and monastic vows, and used to tell the young men that the time was not far distant when the scholastic theology must be abolished, and the ancient doctrine of the church, taught by the orthodox fathers and the Holy Scriptures, restored, "f Zwingle himself says, in his explanation of his eighteenth thesis, that he had learned from Wittenbach that the doctrine of indulgences was a fraud and imposture ; and in his Arnica Exegesis ad Luiherum, the death of Christ was the only ground of the remission of sins : solam Christi mor tem pretium esse remissionis peccatorum.% Wittenbach came to Basel ivora the university of Tuebingen, where Reuchlin had kindled an enthusiasm for ancient htera ture, and Pellicanus was then explaining the Holy Scriptures, and the acute Gabriel Biel, the last of the scholastic divines, taught and vindicated his thorny system. In Basel be began to teach a purer theology, and to expose some of the corrup tions of rehgion. He does not appear, however, to have addressed his new doctrines to the people, but to have con fined them to the precincts of the university and the circle of his friends ; and much of what he said was spoken in confi dence to his pupils. Zwingle entertained for him the utmost * Gieseler's Lehrb. &c, vol. iii. part 1, p. 131. t n>id. J Ibid. 52 HISTORY OF THE affection and reverence to the end of his hfe, maintained a correspondence with him, and was often strengthened by his counsels in the times of his own conflicts. It was at this time also that Zwingle formed his acquaint ance and confidential friendship with Capito, who, in 1504, obtained here the honorary degree of doctor in theology : " a man," says Schuler, "who united the utmost freedom of thought with a mild toleration, and joined a forbearing pru dence with an ardent zeal for truth and a fearless profession and furtherance of it."* CHAPTER II. ZWINGLE'S MINISTRY IN GLARUS, FROM 1506 TO 1516. Zwingle spent four years in Basel, in the double capacity of teacher and student. Although he had obtained the hono rary degree of magister, he had not yet been ordained to the priesthood. Nevertheless, the congregation of Glarus, the capital of the canton of the same name, elected him to preside over their parish in the place of their recently deceased pastor, Johannes Stucki. It is probable that he was recommended to them by his uncle, the pastor of Wesen, which city was, of ancient times, the market of the Glareans. His election was a triumph of liberty over the usurpations of the pope, who had attempted to deprive the people of the right of choosing their own minister ; for, immediately after the death of the aged pastor, a certain Henry Goeldli, of a distinguished family in Zurich, who already possessed several livings, ap peared with a popish certificate of appointment to the parish, and claimed the office and emoluments of the pastorate. The congregation, however, insisted upon their rights, and, passing * Sohuler, &c, p. 23. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 53 bj the creature of the pope, chose Zwingle to the vacant living. He gladly accepted the appointment, and, having now received his ordination to the priesthood from the bishop of Constance, repaired to his new situation toward the close of the year 1506. His duties here were many and onerous ; for, beside the capital, his charge included three other parishes, and comprised nearly a third part of the canton. Goeldli, in the mean time, continued to urge his claims to the revenues of the benefice, on the ground of papal authority, and relin quished them only in consideration of an annual pension.* What idea Zwingle entertained of the pastoral office, ap pears from the course he marked out for himself, and steadily pursued. "He becomes a priest," says Myconius, "and now, contrary to the usual way of priests, he yields himself wholly to his studies, especially to that of theology. Now he first rightly apprehends how much he, who is intrusted with the instruction of the people in divine truth, ought himself to know ; how he ought himself, before all things, to be furnished with theological knowledge, and then to possess eloquence also, that he may be enabled to exhibit every thing both truly and profitably, agreeably to the capacities of his hearers.. To these studies he applied himself with a diligence of which there had been no previous example in many years ; as also none, even of the best speakers of our times, was so complete a master of oratory. He was, however, not in Cicero's manner : he would not express himself exactly in accordance with the rules of the ancients, but freely, in the manner best suited to his times, and to the people within his sphere of action : and thus he succeeded with us, as did Tully with those of his own times." " He wrought his learned acquisitions," says Schuler, " into lucid instructions, intelligible and useful to the people, and from his public discourses always returned to his studies. His principle, at this time already, was : Theology must be drawn from the Holy Scriptures : not from human systems that are, or profess to be, built upon them. The Holy Scrip- * Schuler, &c, p. 28. 54 HISTORY OF THE tures were therefore daily his unintermitted study. At an early period, his scriptural attainments were a subject of admiration, and procured for him the praise of a perfect inter preter. But this did not beguile him to entertain the same opinion himself: though he might satisfy others, to himself he never was satisfactory. He perceived that a perfect ac quaintance with the sense and the spirit of the sacred oracles could be obtained only by a perfect knowledge of their ori ginal languages. Wherefore, disregarding the difficulties that pressed him, he applied himself with ardor to the study of the Greek language. Without an instructor, with the translations and the defective lexicons only of that period, and, during a long time, even without a very manageable grammar, he nevertheless mastered it. Such was his devotion, that he wrote, in 1513, ' Nothing can again withdraw me from the study of Greek.' " His ardent zeal for scriptural knowledge appears from the fact that he wrote out a copy of all the epistles of Paul in the Greek text, and committed them to memory.* He copied also the other books of the New Testament, and finally those of the Old Testament, f With the reading of the Scriptures he united prayer for divine guidance and illumination, that he might be enabled to apprehend the true sense of the divine word, and to propound it profitably to the people in his ministry. But he was far from the vain conceit that prayer would supersede his other exertions, and a knowledge of the truth would be communicated by immediate inspiration without study. He investigated the sense of the inspired word, independently of human authority, explaining obscure passages by such as were clear, and used, with discriminating * This was completed in May, 1517, consequently, after his settlement in Einsiedeln. The manuscript was presented to the library of Zurich in 1563, by Anna Zwingle, the last of the Reformer's descendants. It consists of forty-three sheets, in pocket form, with large margins, which are filled with notes in a very small hand, and was designed as a pocket volume; the first printed editions being in folio. f Schuler, &c, p. 31. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 55 care, the labors of commentators. He read the Greek and Latin fathers, Origen, Chrysostom, Jerome, Ambrose, and especially, Augustin. The last he admired for the boldness of his genius., his fervid eloquence, and his knowledge of human nature, and loved still more, because in him he found his own favorite doctrines of faith and redemption, so directly opposite to the popish doctrine of indulgences, and so harmo nious with the instructions of his beloved teacher Wittenbach. The remarks of the fathers, and especially the annotations of Erasmus, he wrote upon the margin of his Greek text, or of the Vulgate. By this method of reading the fathers, he dis covered their variations from one another and from them selves, their frequent contradictions, and their mistakes in the interpretation of the Bible. His veneration for them sunk, and he felt that there could be but one master, even Christ, from whom there ought to be no appeal. This sentiment was strengthened when he read the scholastic divines, and when he compared the religion of his own times with the Christianity of the primitive ages, to which he was conducted by the study of ecclesiastical history. The light thus rose upon his mind, and opened to his vision new fields of thought and of spiritual activity, and showed to him both the necessity of a Reforma tion, and what it was that ought to be reformed. Neither was he afraid to read the works of reputed heretics. Among these were the writings of Ratramus, Gottschalk, Peter Waldo, John Wickliffe, John Huss, and Johannes Picus prince of Mirandola. "In orthodox writers," said he, " I mark the tares ; in heretics, the useful plants : and in all, I find both the one kind and the other." His maxim was : Truth, by whomsoever uttered, comes from God ; and he was therefore disposed to seek it in every accessible source, and to embrace it wherever found. With the study of the Bible, and of theological writers, he joined that of the Greek and Latin classics ; for, as he traced the origin of all moral and religious truth to God, he believed that in them also were to be found revelations of God to man. He used them for illustration, and to learn from them the 56 HISTORY OF THE richness of divine mercy, which was not confined, during so many ages, to a single nation, but manifested itself also, in some measure, to the Gentile world, and shined in its dark ness like the stars that twinkle through the night. These fine-wrought models of genius, moreover, not only furnished his mind with copious stores of materials for every useful pur pose, improved his judgment, and refined his taste, but pre served him also from vanity and self-gratulation on account of any productions of his own. He was an enthusiastic ad mirer of classic antiquity, perhaps too much so, and read with avidity whatever he could procure of its literature. Among his favorites were Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, and Seneca ; Vale rius Maximus he committed to memory, and Pindar he placed next to the sacred poets.* By such a freedom in the course of his reading and study, and by his silence on the topics which gave so much occupation to the common crowd of priests and preaching monks, Zwingle incurred the displeasure of many of his clerical brethren, who suspected his orthodoxy, and wished to make him suspected by others. During all this time, he did not openly attack the errors and abuses of popery, but contented himself with pre senting to the people the practical doctrines of the Bible, and communicating his sentiments on other points in private to his intimate friends. The dissatisfaction of zealous Papists was not based so much upon what he did say, as upon what he did not say. He said nothing about the saints, the efficacy of the holy relics, the merit of pilgrimages, the glory and intercession of the virgin, and things of that sort. Myconius says of his ministry : •" In the mean time, he so promulgated the grace of the gospel, that he made no mention, or very sparingly, of the abuses of the church of Rome. He wished the truth, when known, to do its own work in the hearts of the hearers ; for truth being perceived and understood, we easily discover what is false. The times, however, did not then permit him to act otherwise ; for, amidst such an untowardness and wickedness * Schuler, &c, p. 31, &c. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 57 of men, it was more likely that the truth would perish, than that the abuses of religion would be removed."* Indeed, during his ministry in Glarus, and especially in the earlier part of it, he still entertained a profound veneration for the church and the papacy, and regarded the military succors granted to the pope by the Swiss cantons as a dutiful protection of the holy see. This appears from his narrative of his first campaign in Italy, written in 1512, in which he styles the church ihe common mother of Ctiristian believers, and the pope the most blessed vicar of Christ, and imputes the design of Lewis XII. of France, to create an antipope, to the instigation of an evil demon. f Before the year 1516 he was not properly a reformer, but in a course of preparation for that office. There were errors and abuses which he did not yet see, and others which he saw but imperfectly ; and what he discerned with clearness he did not yet venture, on account of the infelicity of the times, to say openly. Hence, when he preached in Glarus, in 1522, he told his hearers that he had formerly taught them many human commandments, but now admonished them to adhere exclusively to the word of God. J Zwingle's first efforts were directed to a political and moral reformation of his country. He attacked, with great force and severity, the prevailing and pernicious vices of the times, and especially the practice of accepting pensions from foreign princes for political subserviency, and of serving in their armies as mercenaries, in wars in which their own country had no interest and no concern. He regarded this practice as the fountain of the vice and wretchedness which inundated the country, and as a bar, while it continued, to a reformation of religion : " For he saw," says Myconius, " that there would only then be room for the heavenly doctrine, when this foun tain of all evils should be stopped."§ We do not assent to this opinion ; and Zwingle himself learned by experience that * Myconius in Gieseler's Lehrb. vol. iii. p. 1, p. 136. f Gieseler, &c, p. 134. % Ibid, p. 136. \ Gieseler's Lehrb. &c, p. 134. 58 HISTORY OF THE he had begun at the wrong end. It was, however, extremely easy, in his situation, to be deceived in such a case. The Swiss were a warlike people, skilful in the use of arms, renowned for great achievements in the field, and fond of what the world esteems glory. When they had no enemy of their own to contend with, they entered eagerly into the military service of other nations, and fought the battles of foreign princes in foreign lands, where it often happened that bands of Swiss fought in contending armies on opposite sides. The cantons, either collectively or singly, furnished a given number of troops for a certain consideration in money, or some other equivalent ; and private men also, the pensioners of foreign rulers, either openly or secretly, enlisted bodies of men, and led them away to join the armies of their employers. Military enthusiasm, the promise of rich rewards, and the prospect of plunder, prepared multitudes, especially of the gay and thoughtless youth, to engage in these enterprises. Men were thus taken away from useful labor at home, and, if they returned, after one or more campaigns, brought with them vices unknown before, and habits that disqualified them for any peaceful occupation and any useful purpose. Their trade was fighting, the shedding of blood was their sport, and sensual indulgence their enjoyment. The fields, the flocks, the useful arts were neglected, and fell into decay, and the country was overrun by an idle and worthless population, who were fitted only to disturb and harass the virtuous citizen. The emperors of the house of Austria, the kings oi France, and the pope, the holy father, were the rulers in whose service the Swiss warriors were most frequently enlisted, and in whose battles their blood was most profusely shed. During a long period, upper Italy, particularly the duchy of Milan, was afflicted with wars, and in a state of the utmost disorder. The emperor, the king of France, and the native duke, Lewis Sforza, contended for the possession of this beau tiful country. The duke had perfidiously made himself master of the duchy, but the French king, Lewis XII., had taken him prisoner, and subjected the country to his own power. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 59 Subsequently the pope, the emperor, the king of France, and Ferdinand of Arragon united their armies in the league of Cambray against the republic of Venice, with the design of dissolving its constitution and partitioning its territories among themselves. The last days of this once powerful state seemed to have arrived ; but the mutual faithlessness of all the allied parties saved it from destruction. The pope, Julius II. , now resolved to expel the French from Italy, and to place Maximilian, the son of Lewis Sforza, upon the ducal throne. For this purpose he sought the aid of the Swiss, and, in 1510, effected a treaty of alliance for the term of five years. In his negotiations with them, he employed the agency of Matthew (or Matthias) Shinner, bishop of Sion.* Shinner was the son of poor parents, but rose by his talents and a concurrence of fortunate events to the episcopal dignity. He was ambitious, warlike, eloquent, polished, and crafty ; of libe ral sentiments, but of loose morals. His aspiring mind saw in each successive elevation only a stepping-place to higher dignities, and hoped one day to arrive at the highest. The king of France having refused to pay the large sum demanded by him as the price of his services, with the remark, That one man was surely too dear at such a price, Shinner took offence at this pleasantry, and espoused the party of the pope, with a determination to make his importance felt by the French king. Julius II. soon discovered his value, and by a profu sion of flatteries gained him entirely to his interests. Shinner performed the business assigned him, and was rewarded by the pope with a cardinal's hat, which new dignity prepared him to look with increased expectation to the papacy, as the con summation of his wishes ; and he now sought, by the offers of gold and splendid promises of preferment, to attach to the pope and to himself every man of weight and influence in the confederacy. Shinner formed an acquaintance with Zwingle, as one whose talents, learning and eloquence qualified him to exert a power- * Called ^,lso bishop of Vallais, or Wallis, and bishop of Sitten. 60 HISTORY OF THE ful influence upon the people of Glarus ; and it was, doubt less, through his recommendation that the pope granted to Zwingle a pension of fifty guilders, the same which he gave to many other distinguished and influential men. The reformer acknowledges the fact in his writings, and in a manner which, at the same time, is a proof of the uprightness of his character: " I confess my sin," said he, " before God and all men. Before the year 1516, I still held fast to the pope's supremacy, and thought it right to take money from him ; though I always told the Roman agents, in plain terms, when they exhorted me to preach nothing that would militate against the pope, that they must not entertain the shghtest hope that I would abate even a word of the truth for the sake of their money ; and they might, therefore, take it again, if it were their plea sure. I speak before God, the judge of all men, when I say that I received no other pension or reward from any prince or lord whatsoever, and never was, in any way, a hireling."* The pension was, nevertheless, continued. Zwingle's offer to resign it, in 1517, was not accepted ; but, in 1520, he refused absolutely to receive it any longer. The cardinal continued still to treat him with great kindness and respect, and, to the end of his hfe, remained his sincere and ardent friend. In 1511, the war broke out in all its fury between France and the pope, who was supported by Venice and Spain ; and, in April, 1512, the papal army was routed at Ravenna, with terrible slaughter, by the French, under Gaston de Foix. Lewis XII. had, previous to the battle, negociated with the confederates for an auxiliary force of several thousand men, and these had demanded prodigious sums for their services ; but after this signal victory, his ambassadors turned away contemptuously, and broke off the negotiation. Enraged by this affront, the Swiss repaired in crowds to the papal banners ; and the holy father, to inflame the enthusiasm of the faithful, proclaimed a grand indulgence in Zurich for sinners of all sorts. Every sin was expiated with money, and the sums * Schuler, &c, p. 79; Zwingli's Ausleg. der Schlussreden, art 37. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 61 which were thus raised were applied to the hire of mercenaries for the effusion of blood. After the dreadful disaster at Ravenna, which overspread all Italy with consternation and terror, cardinal Shinner was despatched into Switzerland, to represent , to the confederates the necessity of immediate succors to the suffering church, and to urge upon them the performance of their engagements by the treaty of alhance. Moved by his eloquence, fired by fanatical zeal for the see of St. Peter and the safety of the afflicted church, and filled with revenge against France, not less than twenty thousand men, of the choicest infantry, were under arms and prepared to march in the space of six days. At Verona, in Italy, cardinal Shinner received them with great pomp, and with much solemnity presented the presents of the holy father. These were a consecrated ducal hat, with an image of the Holy Ghost in the form of a dove, made of gold, and ornamented with pearls upon its crown, and a con secrated golden sword adorned with precious stones. These costly gifts from the father of the faithful, presented with imposing ceremonies, and joined with every hallowed recollec tion, kindled the enthusiasm of the Swiss warriors into a higher flame, and urged them to deeds of greater daring than their native valor would have inspired. Feeling themselves invincible, they sought the enemy, and pressed onward with an ardor and an impetuosity which nothing could resist : the French were everywhere beaten and compelled to abandon their conquests, and the victors returned in triumph, covered with renown, and laden with rewards and the spoils of war. The pope was delivered, and, in grateful acknowledgment of his indebtedness, he honored the confederates with the title of Protectors of the Liberty of the Church.* Two other expeditions were undertaken, in 1513 and 1515. In the former, they achieved the splendid victory of Novarra over a greatly superior French army ; but, defrauded by their * The canton of Bern continued in the interest of France, and took no part in this expedition. F 62 HISTORY OF THE leaders of their portion of the spoils, a mutiny arose, all discipline ceased, and the troops, dispersing themselves over the country, exacted a forced compensation for their services by levying contributions upon the people whom they had saved by their valor. The victory of Novarra was dearly bought, and its tarnished glory was no equivalent for the blood which it had cost. A general excitement now arose, throughout the greater part of Switzerland, against the corruption which pre vailed in high places, the treachery of mihtary chiefs, and the traffic in the blood of the citizens, by rulers who were bought with gold to the interests of foreign powers, and were callous to the miseries of their own people. The storm raged with a violence that threatened to overwhelm the guilty with merited ruin ; but the wily traitors bent before it, soothed the enraged citizens with promises, and — betrayed them again.* Pope Leo X., the successor of Julius, sought to gain the cantons by flattering missives. He lamented with parental tenderness over the slaughter of the recent battle, assured the people of his paternal love, showed, in the discomfiture of the French, how ill they must fare who do not fight on the side of the church, and exhorted them to be faithful in the observance of the subsisting treaty of alliance. The brief addressed to the canton of Glarus, was sent to Zwingle by the pope's legate, Ennius Philonardius, bishop of Veroli, to be by him presented to the council, with the expectation that such attention to him would move him to use his personal influence to procure for it a favorable reception. In the mean time, French emissaries, and pensioners of France, did not omit to further, in every practicable way, the interests of their master. Glarus, also, had its crown-eaters, as those were called who were in French pay and received their bribes from the crown of France. In 1515, Francis I., the successor of Louis XII., entered Italy, for the conquest of Milan, with an army more formidable than any that had preceded it. At the base of the mountains * Schuler, &c, p. 79-93. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 63 that separate France and Piedmont, a Swiss army, from all the cantons, awaited his coming ; but they were without union or concert, and commanded, in part, by treacherous leaders. The king, discovering these facts, fanned the flame of discord by his emissaries, and bought over the faithless chiefs with gold and alluring promises. The Swiss army was broken into fragments; the troops of most of the cantons concluded a separate peace at Galera, and withdrew, regardless of their brethren ; the rest resolved to maintain their fidelity to the duke, for whose protection they were solemnly pledged. Only those of Uri, Schweitz, Glarus, and Unterwalden remained; and these, enraged at the perfidy of the chiefs who had brought dishonor upon the national character by their base desertion, and urged by cardinal Shinner to redeem their ancient glory, determined, notwithstanding the fearful odds, to give battle to the crafty foe. They bore down upon the enemy, in the plain of Marignano, with daring impetuosity, and were met with dreadful effect by the superior force of the French, in a conflict of two days' continuance. When the troops of Zurich, led by the burgomaster, Marcus Roust, learned, contrary to their expectation, that their countrymen were engaged, they returned and joined in the sanguinary battle. But, though, on the first day, the confederates re tained possession of the field, the enemy, being reinforced, on the next day attacked in their turn, and routed them with terrible slaughter. Above five thousand Swiss warriors were left in their blood upon the field, and, among these, the noblest and bravest in the land.* The tidings of this bloody overthrow, and of the perfidy and treason of a part of the army, soon spread through all the cantons, and created in all a loud and deep lamentation for the slain, and an indignation as loud and as deep against the betrayers of their country's honor. The governments of Zu rich and of other cantons were threatened with vengeance by * Schuler, &c, p. 154. Other accounts say 10,000. See Encyc. Ameri cana, art. Francis I., and Edinburgh Encyc, art. France. 64 HISTORY OF THE the people, and some of the offenders fell as victims to their just indignation ; though, as Schuler says, not exactly the most guilty, inasmuch as these happened to be the most powerful. The heaviest odium fell upon the abbot of St. Gall, who not only sold his vassals to fight the battles of a foreign prince and received the price of their blood, but, when they were fallen in battle, entered upon their fiefs, and exacted from the afflicted widows and orphans the reliefs which were customary upon the death of the head of the family, by taking away the best articles of their property. But, as a spiritual lord, he was above the reach of popular vengeance ; for no one would dare to incur the papal ban, by doing violence to the sacred person of a prelate of the church. The practice of enlisting in foreign mihtary service, never theless continued ; and while, from some of the cantons, they repaired to the standard of France, from others they went to join themselves to that of the emperor. At Freyburg, in the canton of the same name, the French ambassador threw hand- fuls of crowns among the people, as a lure to enlistment, say ing, " Does not this silver sound better than the sweet words of the emperor ?" That such things were permitted by the goverment of a free state, is a proof of the deplorable state of morals in the community, and the base venality of its rulers. According to the ancient custom of the cantons, the pastor of the principal church was chaplain to the army when it took the field. Zwingle was therefore obliged by his office, as chief pastor in the canton, to accompany the troops of Glarus in their expeditions into Italy, when they marched under the orders of their own rulers. S. Voegelin and others, after BuUinger, represent him as being with the troops in all the three expeditions which took place during his ministry in Glarus ; according to Schuler and others, he was with them only in the first and third.* His second expedition is pre- * S. Voegelin's Jahrtafel zur Lebensgeschichte Zwingli's, anno 1513-1515. Sohuler's Huldreich Zwingli, p. 80, 95, and note 82. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 65 sumed, because the estabhshed custom required it ; the first and third are attested by direct evidence. He composed a narrative in Latin of the events of his first campaign in 1512, addressed to his friend Vadianus, of St. Gall, under the title, JDe gestis inter Gallos et Helvetios ad Ravennam, Paviam, aliisque locis, relatio H. Zwinglii; from which, as we observed before, he still appears warmly attached to the pope and the church of Rome. In his last campaign, in 1515, observing the dissensions and venality of the chiefs, and the licentious ness of the soldiers, he exerted all the power of his reason and eloquence to impress upon them the necessity of union, and the duty of preserving unsullied both their own reputa tion and the honor of their country ; and when he failed of success in these efforts, and saw the danger to which the rem nant of the army was exposed, he endeavored, in all the zeal of an ardent patriotism, to restrain the troops from the rash ness to which a reckless valor, inflamed by excited passions, impelled them. But all was in vain : their destiny was fixed ; and he was doomed to witness the heart-rending scene of the slaughter of his countrymen in the murderous battle which ensued.* It was during these campaigns that Zwingle learned to know the perfidious arts of princes, and of the pope himself, the vices with which the Swiss soldier became infected in Italy, the venality of his countrymen, the villany of party-leaders, the dissensions of the cantons, and the universal depravation of morals among all classes in the community : it was in these campaigns that he witnessed the corrupting effect of a military life, and saw the horrors of war in its savage ferocity : and it was here that he learned to see most clearly the necessity of a reformation, and that he could not but feel himself called to devote his own strength to that salutary end. On his return to his parish, he therefore raised his voice still more in impassioned warnings against the corruptions of the times, and * An account of this campaign was written by Werner Steiner, amman of Zug, who was an eye-witness. p2 9 00 HISTORY OF THE treated with particular severity the nefarious practice of those who accepted bribes in the form of pensions from foreign rulers, and lent their influence to corrupt the martial spirit ef the citizens, and to engage them, by the promise of rewards and the prospect of plunder, in wars with which their country had no concern; in which they fought without an object worthy of a noble mind, and too often either met an untimely death, or contracted vices that rendered them worthless and wretched. He set forth in a strong light the ruinous conse quences of this practice, exposed the wickedness of those who pursued or countenanced it, and showed how the obligations of religion, the love of country, and the common welfare demanded a reformation. His rebukes were severe, but united with dig nity and tenderness ; and they produced an impression which it was not easy either to avoid or to resist, where a spark of patriotic feeling or a sense of virtue remained that could be kindled into a flame. His acknowledged talents, learning and patriotism, his good conduct in his Italian campaigns, and the fulfilment of his warning predictions of the disasters that must result from the disorders in the army, procured for him the respect and love of every upright citizen. This encouraged him the more to utter salutary truth, and to press it home to the conscience and the heart : and his zeal was the more fixed, and his eloquence glowed the more, when he beheld the deep affliction that filled so many dwellings, and heard the tones of lamentation and grief for the dead, and the execrations that mingled with them against the authors of their bereavement, which arose from the hearts of widows and orphans made deso late, of parents mourning over their children, and of brethren weeping in distress for the fate of their brethren. Zwingle had, before this time, between the years 1510 and 1514, composed two poetic allegories, the one entitled, The Labyrinth, the other, Concerning an Ox and some other Ani mals, in which he depicted the abuses and consequent miseries of his country, and pointed out the means of her redemption : but the evil had now attained too great a magnitude and power for this delicate method of instruction, the necessity of a GERMAN- REFORMED CHURCH. 67 speedy reformation was too urgent, and his heart was too full of patriotic sympathy, to be confined to gentle admonition ; and he therefore now raised his voice like a trumpet, to pro claim to his people their sins, and to call them to repentance and amendment. No enemies at first ventured to contradict and resist him publicly; because this would have brought him out publicly in his defence, and would have turned a torrent of indignation upon them, while the feelings of the community were lively and strong in his favor. Enemies there were, who hated him the more because they were the men whose iniquity and base ness he had exposed, and whose sores he had pressed with such unsparing severity. But they knew that truth and jus tice were on his side ; and they dreaded nothing so much as to have that truth and justice brought to bear upon them per sonally, by one who was so able to treat them according to their merits, and were glad if responsibility for their guilt were left undefined in the common mass of sinners. They did not venture, therefore, to put themselves forward as marks for his rebuke, by a public opposition ; but they chose the safer way of plotting his destruction, by circulating private slander, and whispering it wherever they found listening ears and congenial hearts, until they had formed a party strong enough to give them courage and boldness for a public de nunciation. They found willing listeners in sufficient num bers ; men who loved corruption because they were corrupt. These were the dissolute, the idlers, discharged mercenaries, who had returned from their warfare, laden with plunder and vices, and delighting in licentiousness ; pensioners, whose bu siness was to serve their masters, men who were paid to fur nish recruits for alien armies ; traitors, who were ever ready to sell their country for gold ; political partisans, whose ruling passion was covetousness, who sought their own aggrandize ment, the possession of power and influence, and the acquisi tion of wealth, reckless of truth and of right, of religion and of God ; depraved citizens, who loved the dissoluteness of a camp-life, and hoped to enrich themselves by licensed plunder, 68 HISTORY OF THE or took pleasure in deeds of daring and the shedding of blood : in a word, all whose works were evil, and who, there fore, loved darkness rather than hght. Such were a large portion of the countrymen of Zwingle in those wretched times, when the name Confederate was beginning to be a reproach and a by-word in the mouths of virtuous strangers, and Switzerland began to be looked- upon as a nursery of avarice and ferociousness, where every thing was bought and sold, and instruments could always be obtained for every kind of war, and every kind of desolation. When these conspirators understood one another, and were united in a common plot to destroy a great and good man by sapping the foundation of his greatness, there was no shaft which they could not aim at him in secret, no slander to which they could not give cir culation, and no art which they could not employ to give an appearance of truth and of patriotic intention to their accusa tions. They avowed themselves the friends of the people. the advocates of their liberty, and the guardians of their in terests.. The people, said they, have a right to choose for themselves, to enjoy their pleasure, to engage in mihtary enterprises when and where they please; to restrict them, was an invasion of their liberty and of their martial spirit which was not to be borne. They lauded the valor of the Swiss soldier and the glory of his achievements, spoke of their ancient triumphs and their recent victories, and dwelt upon the honors and the spoils that still invited them. They affected a concern for religion, and insinuated suspicions of Zwingle's orthodoxy. He read the books of heretics ; he did not. praise the holy rehcs, nor the miracles of the saints, nor pilgrimages to holy places, and things of that sort. There is some heresy, they averred, where these signs appear; and Zwingle is, therefore, a dangerous guide in rehgion, as well as hostile to the interest and the fame of the people in tem poral things. By such arts these selfish demagogues unsettled the confidence of the people in their purest patriot, circum scribed his influence, frustrated his benevolent designs, and too often filled his cup with bitterness. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 69 But it was chiefly by a foreign influence that this noble- minded patriot's benevolent exertions in Glarus were defeated. No foreign prince was more desirous of gaining over the Swiss cantons to his interests, or made .greater exertions for that object, than the French king, Francis I. He spared neither flatteries nor money to secure his influerice among the people, and to attach them to his person ; and there was, consequently, not only a French party in all the cantons, but, iri most of them, a growing party, which, increasing daily in numbers and in boldness, soon governed their counsels and their policy. This party was, of course, opposed to the reforms which Zwingle was endeavoring to introduce ; and, as he remained firm, and remitted nothing of his zeal, or his testimony, he was himself subjected to their' hatred and persecution. The virtuous and patriotic part of the citizens continued to sustain him ; but his adversaries were able to carry every measure by a majority of votes in the landraih, or council. Scarcely had the lamentation over the disaster of Marig- nano ceased to fall upon the ear, when the king of France began to negotiate for a body of auxiliaries, on the basis of the treaty of Galera, the same by which he had engaged the greater part of the cantons, previous to that fatal "battle, to abandon the duke of Milan. The same cantons were easily gained, and, doubtless, by the same potent spell, the charm of gold. In several others, of which Glarus was one, opposing parties contended some time, but finally yielded their consent. The five cantons of Zurich, Schajfhausen, Basel, Uri, and Schweitz, preserved their fidelity and their honor. The am bassadors of the emperor Maximilian expostulated with the confederates with great earnestness, entreating them not to stain their reputation by lending their aid to a prince who had so recently brought upon them the calamity which had filled their country with mourning, and while the blood of their slaughtered fellow-citizens was still unavenged. Their argu ments were successful for the present ; an army of ten thou sand men marched into Italy, under the orders of the duke, for the recovery of Milan, but, without accomplishing the 70 HISTORY OF THE object of the expedition, they returned in a destitute and pitiable condition. On the other part, the French king did not slumber : he employed every means of persuasion to maintain his interests, and to bring over the divided cantons : and he did so with success. In vain did the cantons who remained faithful to the duke exclaim against such a connec tion : the soldiers who had served in the armies of France returned to their homes enriched with presents in arms, cloth ing, and money, and ridiculed the poverty and disappointment of those of the adverse party ; and Bern received a French subsidy of two hundred thousand crowns, which was brought into the city with the sound of trumpets and every circum stance of pomp and display. Such arguments weighed more in the judgment of the vulgar and of their depraved leaders, than all the considerations of virtue, patriotism, and honor. At length, the emperor having made peace with France, and the influence of foreign corruption having ceased for a time, the five faithful cantons persuaded the rest, in 1516, to unite with them in a simple treaty of perpetual peace with France, instead of the treaty of Galera, by which they were become allies of that power ; and thus the source of so many miseries to the con federates was stopped for the present.* But before these events, Zwingle had removed the scene of his labors to Einsiedeln, in the canton of Schweitz. His situation in Glarus had become extremely embarrassing when the pohtical state of that canton had assumed its new com plexion, and his enemies were become the ruling party. If he continued to preach as before, they might charge him with sedition, and arrest him by the civil arm. To recede would have been a dereliction of duty against which his moral feel ings revolted. The necessity of transferring his labor to some other place was therefore evident; and the invitation from Einsiedeln being given in this conjuncture, he might justly regard it as an indication that he should remove to that situation, agreeably to the Lord's direction : If they persecute * Schuler, &c, p. 218-221. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 71 you, in one city, flee ye to another. The peaceful retirement of this field of labor, the liberal sentiments of the abbot of the convent, the leisure it would afford for the prosecution of his studies, and the opportunities it would furnish, at certain seasons, to address his instructions to the multitudes of pil grims who resorted thither from all parts of Switzerland and the neighboring countries ; these were considerations which, added to the state of things in Glarus, could make the change as desirable as it was expedient.* During these times, and especially in his Italian campaigns, Zwingle had opportunities to learn the state of the church by actual observation, not only at home, but abroad, and near its fountain-head ; and to contrast it with what he read in his New Testament, and with what he had learned from the sacred volume, and from the writings of the fathers of the primitive church. It was in Rome, at the seat of the holy father, that Luther expected to see religion in all its vigor, and in all its loveliness ; and it was in Rome that his religious feelings received their most violent shock, when he saw what religion was there ; what it was both in the people and in the priesthood, from the highest dignitaries of the church down to the lowest ecclesiastic ; when he saw with what levity the holiest parts of divine worship were performed, and what ignorance, and profaneness, and beastly vice disgraced the sacred order; and when he heard himself ridiculed for his devoutness in the office of the mass and in prayer. If Luther, in his short visit to Italy, in 1510, saw enough to afflict him with the deepest mortification and pain for the corruption of the church, how must the mind of Zwingle have been affected, who witnessed the same things at a riper age, and in his long and repeated abode in those dissolute coun tries? ''Without doubt," says Schuler, "his cultivated mind, his truly pious disposition was more and more vexed and fretted by the prevalent disorder. For it showed itself every where ; in the general ignorance of the priests, who could * Schuler, &c, p. 221, &c. 72 HISTORY OF THE scarcely read, and to whom the Bible was an unknown book ; in the absurdity and ridiculousness of the estabhshed doctrines and usages ; in the sermons, that were filled with insane legen dary fables and scholastic whims ; in the utter listlessness of the people during their holiest exercises ; in the voluptuous ness of the rich monks, and the impudence of the mendicants, &c. What Italy itself exhibited of the state of religion and of the church, is told by two unsuspicious witnesses. Bellar mine, the zealous defender of the papacy, says, 'Several years before the rise of the Lutheran and Calvinistic heresies, according to the testimony of cotemporary authors, there remained almost no concern about ecclesiastical order, and moral discipline had well-nigh disappeared; there was no theological learning, no reverence for divine things, yea, almost no rehgion.' In accordance with this is the description of the state of the church by the honest historian Mezerai : ' The heads of the church,' says he, ' no longer gave them selves any concern about church-discipline ; the vices and excesses of the clergy reached the highest pinnacle; they were become so visible and notorious that they stirred up the hatred and contempt of all nations. We blush to make men tion of the usury and extortion,' the debauchery, and the universal immorality of the priests of these times ; the licen- - tiousness and profligacy of the monks, the pride and pomp of the prelates, and their scandalous indolence, ignorance, and superstition. I confess, this scandal was not new. The bar barism and stupidity of the earlier centuries had, in some measure, veiled their vices ; but now, in the dawn of science and learning, these stains appeared the more strikingly : and as uneducated sinners could not endure the dazzling light, the learned treated them with no forbearance, made them ridicu lous, and exposed their nakedness and shame to all the world. " Beside the brutish stupidity of the inferior priests, and of the people, Zwingle saw, indeed, in the great, especially in the higher clergy, and at the papal court, examples of a love of science and of the fine arts, a species of illumination before which blind superstition disappeared ; it gave light to the eye GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 73 for the perception of sensual beauty, and allured to a more refined voluptuousness : but it shed no light upon the mind to discern what is eternal and holy. With a specious culture was joined a cheerless infidelity, a flagitious mockery of every thing holy and divine, a self-destruction in unbelief and vice. It was a love of the fine arts and of science, a patronizing of erudition, that instantly turned into mortal hatred and furious persecution, as soon as an attempt was made to apply them to the reformation of faith and life, to the illumination and culture of the people, and thus to tread too near the hierarchy and its abuses."* When Zwingle compared this state of things in the church with the doctrine of Christ which he read in the New Testa ment, he saw that the church as well as the state needed a thorough reformation ; he saw that the religion of the Bible and the religion of the church were wholly different things ; that a prodigious mass of human fictions had be^n accumu lated upon the simplicity of the gospel ; that neither the doc trines which the people were commanded to believe on the authority of the priesthood, nor the multitudinous ceremonies which they were taught to regard with such devout reverence, nor the works they were required to do for the benefit of their souls, had any support in the word of God, and served only to deceive the multitude, and to afford to a proud and worthless hierarchy the means of self-indulgence : he saw that from such a religion the fruits of holiness were not to be expected, and that before the fruit could be good, the tree itself must be made good. He therefore felt the necessity of a reformation of the church in her doctrine and worship, as well as in the hfe of her members : and considering the church and the state as one, he conceived the design of a radical reform that would embrace both. This reformation, he perceived, must be effected by means of the gospel, as the principle that must give it life and deter mine its shape and character. It was clear to him that * Schuler, &c, p. 127-134, and note 95. G 10 74 HISTORY OF THE neither the popes, nor the church, nor general councils were infallible, inasmuch as their history abounded with but too evident proofs of their fallibility. It was clear also that the Bible did not derive its authority from the church, but, on the contrary, the church herself must be tried by the Bible. It was equally clear that the church had not an exclusive right to interpret the Holy Scriptures for all her members. There was no need of any other inspiration than is given to every sincere inquirer after God for the right understanding of its instructions; and if there were, the church gave no proof, beside her own assertion, that she possessed it. The so-called interpretation of the church, moreover, is but another name for the private interpretations of her several ministers, each of whom has succeeded more or less, or has failed altogether, in his attempts to give the sense of the Scripture, according to his own ability, the state of his mind, and the helps that have been at his command. As to the traditionary accounts of the unwritten teaching of Christ and his apostles, which the church of Rome pretends to have preserved, there is no rule by which their truth can be tested except the written word. If they do not agree with this rule, they are false, and must be rejected. We can prove historically that the written word has not been materially corrupted in its descent from the apostolic age to our own ; but it cannot be proved that unwritten traditions have not been materially corrupted : no body can tell what a certain tradition of this sort was a thou sand years ago : nobody can prove that it then had even an existence. .We cannot receive it on the authority of the Romish clergy, who assert it, and profess that they are pre served from error in so doing by the guidance of the Holy Ghost. Let them show the proof that they are so guided. That Spirit, we know, led the authors of the New Testament ; and if the same spirit led also the clergy of the church of Rome, why have they not spoken in harmony with the sacred writers? And if he guided them always infallibly in the knoivledge of the truth, so that they have preserved in its purity the unwritten teaching of Christ and his apostles, why GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 75 has he not guided them as infallibly in the practice of the truth, and made them as holy and exemplary in their lives, as we know, from the written word, that Christ and his apostles were ? Or is the Holy Spirit so careful to preserve the know ledge of what the apostles did not deem it expedient to record, and yet so indifferent about Christian virtue and holiness, on which they so much insisted, as to let them wander so egre- giously into every kind of excess ? Zwingle's clear and pene trating mind, therefore, discerned that the Bible alone could be the standard of Christian truth ; and that it is the right of every one, who desires to know the will of God, to read, and to interpret it for his own instruction and edification, without waiting for the priest, or any other interpreter, where its meaning is plain to every one's understanding. He stood forth, with the book of life in his hands, and said, "From this alone does reformation proceed ; in it alone is contained the remedy for the human race ; it is exalted above all church- fathers, and popes, and councils ; God speaks in it to every man, and human ordinances must be silent, before it. Where God speaks to the heart of man, no one must force his opinion upon another ; the truth carries its own evidence in itself, and witn itself."* Fully convinced that a radical renovation of both the church and the state was indispensable, and could not be longer delayed, believing that the preaching of the pure gospel was the true remedy for the evil, and full of trust in God, he rose in his congregation in Glarus, about the commencement of the year 1516, after his return from his last campaign, as a preacher of the word of God, and resolved to contribute his part toward a reformation, without asking or caring whether any other beside himself had yet arisen. It was not a single exciting occurrence that moved him to this determination ; but the aspect of the church. and the commonwealth had gradually matured the purpose in his mind, and now constrained him to attempt the execution. There was, therefore, nothing of haste * Schuler, &c, p. 143. 76 HISTORY OF THE and rashness in his manner of proceeding. He acted with wise deliberation and forbearance, as the nature of the times required. He did not begin with controverting doctrines that were contrary to his own convictions, and denouncing false and superstitious forms of worship ; but with luminous exhi bitions of evangehcal truth, drawn from the Scriptures, and presented to his hearers with clearness and force of evidence, as the teaching of the divine word, and then left to itself to do its own work. He always took for the basis of his ser mons the Scripture passage that was read in the canon of the mass for the day ; with this he connected other clear and im portant passages of similar import, and explained them in a simple and lucid manner. In this way, he proceeded from one evangelical truth to another, evolving one from the other, explaining and proving it; and thus prepared his way for still farther advances in the development of the truth of the gospel. He confesses, however, in the explanation of his theses, written in 1523, that, when he began this mode of preaching, he still- deferred too much to the opinions of the fathers, as the most ancient and best interpreters.* Although he made no direct attacks in his preaching upon the errors of the church, he dealt with the utmost plainness, and with an unsparing severity, with the corruptions and vices in the state, and in common life. These he regarded as the main obstacles to the reception of the doctrinal part of Christianity. His principal efforts were therefore directed, in the outset, to their removal : and for this object he urged the morality of the gospel, and made his appeals chiefly to the heart and the moral sensibility of his hearers. He met, however, with a counter-current, too strong to be overcome, and was, eventu ally, necessitated to retire from this field of action. It was on the 14th of April, 1516, that Zwingle accepted the call from Einsiedeln. His separation from his charge in Glarus was in the spirit of kindness. His enemies suffered him to depart in peace, while his friends manifested their * Sohuler, &c, pp. 148-151. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 77 regret in public expressions of sorrow. They consented to his removal only on the condition that, after some time, he would return to them again. They chose no successor while they entertained a hope of his return, and continued, during all this time, to pay to him the income of the living. Of this, indeed, he had need ; for his office in Einsiedeln was only a vicarate, with a salary of twenty guilders and a free table. The abbot had, indeed, given him the promise of the first vacant prebend in his gift ; but none was then at his disposal. Zwingle continued to bear the title of Pastor of Glarus; and when, in 1517, a call was presented to him from Winterthur, he declined it, on the ground that he could not accept it with out the consent of the church in Glarus. It was not until after his removal to Zurich, that the Glareans chose a suc cessor, when they elected Valentine Tschudy, one of his pupils.* These facts serve to show that the majority of the church of Glarus were not wholly insensible to the claims of virtue, nor incapable of appreciating real worth. Much as the enemies of Zwingle hated him while he was in their way, they were silent now, and put no hinderance in the way of any honors or favors which his friends wished to confer on him. Virtue itself is hated when it steps into a bad man's path ; but there is that in it, and there is that in his own nature, which compels him to respect it : and when his passions are not aroused, and his reason is suffered to rule, he bows spon taneously before men whom he once hated, or affected to despise.f -About the time of his settlement in Glarus, Zwingle opened an academy for the instruction of youth in science and classical literature, and, during his continuance, was intrusted with the education of many young men of the best families in the canton, who continued ever after his warm friends. f Schuler, &c, p. 223. o2 78 HISTORY OF THE CHAPTER III. MINISTRY OF ZWINGLE IN EINSIEDELN, INDULGENCES, io. _ The town of Einsiedeln, or Einsidlen, is situated near the Sill, in the canton of Schweitz, in a valley, between lofty mountains whose summits are covered with perpetual snow. It arose from a convent, and this from the hut of a hermit. Hence is its name, Einsiedeln, that is, the hermitage. About the middle of the ninth century, Meinhard, a monk of Reich enau, and son of a German nobleman, took up his abode in what was then the solitude of a gloomy forest, and there erected his solitary tent. The violent death of the first her mit furnished the occasion for tales of signs and wonders that were said to be wrought there, and which the easy faith of those times readily beheved, and treasured up among its holy things. About a hundred years later, Eberhard, a wealthy canon of Strasburg, caused a church and a convent to be erected on this consecrated spot, in honor of the holy virgin, for whose special service a chapel was constructed within the compass of the church. The bishop of Constance, so says the legend,, to whose diocese the place belonged, was called to dedicate the new edifice to the virgin-mother. He performed the ceremony for the church ; but when he came to do the same for the chapel, a voice from the unseen world called to him three times, Forbear ! God himself has dedicated it ! The people heard the miraculous voice, and believed, but wished to be informed how this holy thing was done. The bishop then revealed to them the particulars of the wonderful event. The Lord Christ, said he, performed the holy office, attended and assisted by the angels, apostles, and saints. The holy virgin was all the while standing upon the altar, in the brilhancy of lightning. At midnight, whilst I and my brethren were at prayer in the church, we heard the angelg most sweetly sing GERMxiN REFORMED CHURCH. 79 the hymns of dedication ! A bull of pope Leo VIII., pro mulgated in the year 964, authenticated this miracle to the faithful, and placed it above all doubt. The festival of the angelic dedication, Engelweihe, was instituted to commemorate the event, and the pope granted plenary indulgence to all who would perform a pilgrimage to the place, and worship at the shrine thus marked out by the finger of God as a place of peculiar favor. Hence, the inscription was placed above the entrance, Here is plenary absolution for the guilt and punishment of all sins. Princes and nobles now made liber al donations to the convent, and placed there such members of their famihes as they wished to remain childless, that they might be maintained during hfe by these endowments, and be rewarded with a higher place in heaven for the loss of this world's enjoyments. Pope Innocent TV. granted to the abbot the dignity of a bishop, and the emperor, RuDolph of Hapsburg, conferred on him the title and prerogatives of a prince. In the fourteenth century, when the endowments began to fail, a new source of wealth was invented, by a mi raculous image of' the virgin, which dispensed innumerable favors to the devout pilgrims who honored her there, and who in return filled the convent with immeasurable riches. Con flagrations and extravagance sometimes diminished these co pious stores of wealth; but the waste was soon repaired by the liberality of innumerable and devout votaries. It had become a rule to admit only monks of high nobility to the privileges of this convent. For some cause, the number of those who chose to avail themselves of this privilege had greatly decreased within the last half century which preceded the Reformation. From the year 1481, Conrad von Rechberg, of an ancient race of nobility, presided over the convent, in the quality of abbot. As a bishop, he was exempted from the jurisdiction of the bishop of Constance, and as a prince, he exercised an independent sovereignty over his httle domain. He had been consigned by his family to the monastic hfe, without his own consent, and was, therefore, discontented with his situation, notwithstanding the dignities attached to it. 80 history of the His preference was for the chivalrous life of the nobles, while on that of the monks he looked with aversion. For these reasons he intrusted the administration of the convent to his prior, Theobald von Geroldseck, and sought his enjoyment rather in the pleasures of the chase than in the cares of his office. His character was severe, and somewhat rude, but open, upright, fearless, and just. He possessed a clear understand ing, was friendly to learning, and superior to a blind, implicit faith. When he was admonished, on one occasion, that, by neglecting to say mass, and being too indulgent to such as transgressed the rules of the order, he subjected himself to the suspicion of heresy, he replied : " In my church, I am master — not; you. As to the mass, I say freely, if Christ be in the bread, I know not, indeed, how worthy you esteem yourselves, • but I, poor monk, am not worthy to behold the eternal God, much less to offer him. If Christ be not therein, wo to me, if, instead of God, I offer bread, and let the people worship it. Let me alone ; I shall govern my convent as I am able to answer for it." He took much interest in rehgious conversa tion, and was deeply persuaded that there were depths in religion which no investigation could reach. He died without receiving the rites of the church of Rome, and refused them when they were offered. Geroldseck, who was both the ad ministrator and the pastor of the convent, was a man of the same liberal way of thinking, but of gentler manners, and a zealous friend of science and literature. His favorite object was to make his convent a seat of learning ; and, with this view, to draw into it men of genius and eminent attainments. He had already obtained several learned associates, among whom were Francis Zink and, John Taureolus, whose German name was Oechslein. As soon as he had learned the situation of Zwingle in Glarus, he offered to him the vicarate in the convent, and had the satisfaction to secure him, and to add him to his enlightened friends."* Here, in the society of these men of congenial minds, Zwin- * Schuler, &c, p. 229-235. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 81 gle prosecuted his studies with the utmost industry. He was especially occupied with the Greek language, of the richness and beauty of which he was an enthusiastic admirer, and formed so intimate an acquaintance with it, as to be ranked with the profoundest Greek scholars of that age.* He read the ecclesiastical fathers diligently, and recommended the study of them to his friends, as preferable to the scholastic divines ; but, though his veneration of them was still great, they sunk gradually in his esteem, as his knowledge of them advanced and his attention was drawn to their inconsistencies and errors. In recommending the works of Jerome to his superior, Geroldseck, as a help in the investigation of the Scriptures, he remarked, " If God will, the time will soon be at hand, when neither Jerome, nor any other, but the Scrip ture only, will have much weight with Christians." Above all, ho read and studied the Bible, which was to him the book of all books. His eminent abilities and excellent character secured to him a personal influence, which he exerted for noble ends and with happy effect. The whole convent, as well as the circle of his learned friends, with a single exception, wero brought over to his religious sentiments, and embraced his reformation.! The light broke in upon their vision, and shone with increasing brightness from day to day. Implicit faith and reverence of human authority vanished, when the Bible was before them, and was no longer a sealed book. Thoy were not turned back in their path when they saw that, if the superstitions of the people were exploded, and the wor- * He was assisted in this study here by an able teacher recommended to him by Erasmus. f This ono exception was the priest whom Valentine Tschudy appointed his vioar in .Glares, that he himself might be at leisure to pursue his studies in Paris. This treaclrerous priest must have affeoted to agree with Zwingle, for he seems even to have been his assistant in Einsiedeln. But, having seoured the vioarate in Glarus, he threw off the mask, openly declared for the Frenoh party, abused oardinal Shinner, who had been his friend, but was odious to that party in the state, denounced Zwingle and his reforms, and strove with vehemenoe to destroy the effects of his ministry in that parish. Suoh was one of the exclusive "friends of the people." 11 82 HISTORY OF THE ship of God were brought back to its original simplicity, and the doctrine were established that Christ is the only mediator, and his death the only atonement for sin, and faith in him the only way of salvation, then the overgrown power of the priesthood would be broken into fragments, the sources of their wealth would be dried up, the clergy would be reduced to mere religious teachers, and their claims to reverence would rest, not upon their office, but upon their personal character. They valued the truth, which they now saw, and the power of which they felt, too highly to let it be weighed against any temporal interests of which its prevalence would deprive them. The change which was thus wrought within them soon became- apparent in their external acts. Convinced that monastic vows, and the rules to which they bound their subjects, were not in acordance with the gospel, the administrator of the convent sent Zwingle and Taureolus to the female convent of Fahr, to release the nuns from their matins, to recommend to them the reading of the German Bible, and to authorize those, who were so inclined, to leave the convent and to marry.* It is said, also, with much internal probabihty, that he caused the inscription above the entrance of the church, Here is ple nary absolution from ihe guilt and punishment of all sins, to be taken away, and the so-called bones of saints, which had been preserved as holy relics, to be buried, f From this time, Zwingle began to propound his scriptural sentiments more fully and boldly, and to make direct attacks upon the superstitions and abuses of the popular religion. What he did was done considerately, after carefully counting the cost. On the one hand were the allurements of wealth and preferment, which were at the disposal of the papal see ; on the other, he was admonished, by former examples, ,that the hierarchy were not to be offended with impunity, and that the vengeance which they were accustomed to inflict was terrible. Removal had saved him from the distress of a poli- * The convent of Fahr was near Zurich, in the same canton. f Schuler, &c, 239-241. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 83 tical persecution ; but where should he find protection from the fulminations of the Vatican, before which whole nations had hitherto trembled, and kings were prostrated in the dust ? He was not about to raise his voice against a solitary abuse of the church, but to testify against a whole system of abuses, that blended with all her doctrine and worship, and the removal of which could hardly be hoped for without a violent convul sion of all her frame. He was not about to engage in a con test with a single ecclesiastic, who might be suspected of abusing the pope's authority ; but what he meditated was to lay his hands upon the entire body of the hierarchy, to bring them down from their proud elevation, to cut off their right hands, to pluck out the offending eyes, and to reduce them to the humble condition of ministers of Christ for the salvation of souls. Nor was the pope himself to be spared in this pruning and levelling transformation ; and all the pre-eminency that was to be conceded to him was, that he should be the first and the best among the servants of his Lord. Such an enterprise could not be attempted without dangers which it was not easy to despise ; and when Zwingle cast his eyes upon it, and sur veyed it in its magnitude and in its consequences, he might well hesitate, and think himself sufficiently warned by the fate of Huss and Jerome of Prague, and of the many thousands whose pious efforts, even in the humblest way, had ended in tortures and in death. But his perception of scriptural truth and of the corruption of the church was now too clear, his conviction was too powerful, and his sense of duty to publish what he knew was too strong to be overcome by such con siderations. They taught him the necessity of caution and prudence ; they caused him to distrust himself, and to wish that others, more able than himself, or less exposed than he, might become the leaders in so arduous an undertaking ; but he did not dare to remain silent, when he looked upon the perishing multitudes, and to lock up in his own bosom the truth by which they might be saved; and he therefore deter mined that, whatever the consequence might be, he would put 84 HISTORY OF THE his trust in God, and his life in his hands, and proclaim to all the truth of the gospel of Christ. He continued to pursue the plan, which he had adopted in Glarus, of making the Scripture passage which was read in the service of the mass, the text of an expository and practical discourse, and exposed, though still with great caution, the deviations of the church from the standard of truth. He ex plained the Scriptures by the Scriptures, bringing parallel places to elucidate what was obscure, and to confirm what seemed doubtful, in his text. He taught the necessity of a new life, directed the hearers to Jesus Christ as the only Saviour, and rejected the notion of meriting the favor of God by confessions, by penances, or by offerings to the church. He called them away from trusting in saints, and especially in the Virgin Mary, for an advocacy in heaven, or protection on earth, and taught them to trust in the 6ne advocate, the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the almighty providence of the only God. He showed that their confidence in particular places of grace was illusive, and that God is everywhere the hearer of pious prayer. He denied. the efficacy of indulgences, or of absolutions that were granted for money, and exploded the merit of vows, pilgrimages, or other works that were designed to propitiate the Deity ; and he enjoined upon all to look i$> the state of their hearts, and to strive after internal purity, jf they would render to God an acceptable service.* His confidence grew as he advanced ; and, in 1518, he preached these doctrines even on the festival of the angelic dedication, (Engelweihe,) to the countless numbers who were assembled there from all parts, near and remote, to pay their devotions to the holy virgin and her miraculous image; to obtain her powerful intercession in heaven for dehverance from their maladies or their sins, and for prosperity in their earthly affairs ; and hoped to move her compassion by their humble devotion, and their liberal gifts. It was to these mul titudes of zealous worshippers of the new Diana, that Zwingle * Schuler, &c, p. 241-245. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 85 felt constrained to preach the pure gospel of Christ, to expose their superstitious errors, to show that the objects of their veneration were but creations, of njan, from which no help could be obtained, and by their confidence in which they could only be deceived and ruined, and to open to them the true way of salvation for the oppressed and bewildered soul.* " If any thing," says Schuler, "could equal the effect of Peter's first sermon in Jerusalem, or Paul's preaching in Asia, it was this sermon of the reformer." Universal astonishment filled the agitated multitude. Many of them felt most deeply pained that any man should presume to utter such things in that holy place,- and wondered that the preacher was not miracu lously smitten on the spot, as a proof of the virgin's abhor- * This festival was celebrated on Whitsuntide-Monday. According to Gieseler, who refers for his authority to Anselm'3 Chronicle of Bern, it occurred only once in seven years ; according to others, it was annual. It is certain that there was annually a great pilgrimage to Einsiedeln on Whit suntide-Monday. Hottinger says, at 'the year 1524, on page 174: "The great annual pilgrimage to Einsiedeln, which fell this year on the 7th of May, was abolished ;" and Bernhard Weiss, in his historical sketch, pre served in Fiislin's Beitrage, vol. iv., p. 57, observes: " It was resolved to discontinue the pilgrimage to Einsiedeln on Whitsuntide-Monday." Whether this pilgrimage and the festival of Engelweihe were the same, or not, we will not undertake to determine. Gieseler asserts, that this celebrated sermon was not preached until the year 1522, when Zwingle and Leo Juda visited- Einsiedeln from Zurich ; because the festival oi Engelweihe happening in that year, it could not have occurred at any time during the reformer's residence at Einsiedeln. We have followed M. Schuler in his Suldreich Zwingli, &c, and Solomon Vogeli, in his Jahr-Tafel zu Zwingli 's Leben. The latter refers the sermon to the festival of Engelweihe, in the year 1518. Schuler does not give its date, but speaks of Zwingle's preaching at the same festival a second time, in 1522, when he was on a visit from Zurich. See Schuler, &c, p. 249. J. J. Hottinger, in his Historie der Reformation in der Eidgenossenschaft, mentions Zwingle's preaching at this festival in 1522, and supposes that he then preached the sermon in which he vindicated himself from the charge of having dishonored the holy virgin ; consequently not the same sermon, but another. The difference is not very materia.1 ; for the great annual pilgrimage was also designed in honor of the virgin; and that great num bers were then in attendance, is evident from a remark of Weiss, in the place before referred to, "that, on that occasion, one person was obliged to go from every house." H 86 HISTORY OF THE rence and of his own damnation. Others, in a conflict with themselves, between reverence for the religion of their fathers and the impression of truth which their reason, approved and their conscience felt, were desirous of more light, and looked about, in anxious hesitation, for something upon which their hope might rest. But many, arrested by the power and enlightened by the rays pf truth, and feeling how the preacher, raised above all earthly considerations, and despising every danger, had spoken from the holy convictions of the heart, received his testimony, and applauded him as the apostle of truth. The fact that Zwingle was not molested by the crowd, in such a tumult of excited feeling, is remarkable, and seems to be a proof that much the greater number were favorably impressed ; and, if they were not well inclined to him, were overawed by some influence which they could neither explain nor resist. Many of the pilgrims took back with them the gifts and the memorials they had brought for the virgin and the saints. Crowds of them, both high and low, returned to their homes agitated with various feelings, and proclaimed to those whom they met on their way the new doctine they had heard at Einsiedeln. These caught the same spirit, whether of conviction, or of doubt, or of disgust, or of rage, ,and turned away to ponder on the strange occurrence, or to communicate their feelings and to spread the infection. The number of the pilgrims was diminished. The people oi Einsiedeln, cap tivated by the spirit of truth, disregarded their temporal loss, took no concern about the future discredit of then- far-famed place of favor, and rejoiced in their knowledge of the gospel of Christ. Long after Zwingle's departure, they retained their affection for him, and preserved the doctrine he had taught them. He preached to them once again, after his separation from them, during the festival of dedication, in 1522, when he came from Zurich, in company with Leo Juda and commander Schmid.* At a later period, by a violent * A oommander was a knight with an ecclesiastical benefioe and clerical privilege. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 87 change in the religious affairs of this region, when popish bigotry prevailed, the light that once shone upon it was extin guished,' and the darkness of former ages returned to cover the land."* "In this manner," says Schuler, "Zwingle reformed before Luther awoke, and while he was still combating with indul gences,, and willing to subject himself unconditionally to the judgment of the pope. Pallavicini judges rightly, that Luther's reformation began with indulgences ; but Zwingle's, which began earlier, arose from greater and weightier causes. For Zwingle proceeded in the commencement from the principle, That the authority of ihe gospel is above all human authority. Scripture must be explained by the Scripture ; the free preach ing of the gospel must be permitted, and thereby, under the superintendence of ihe pope and the hierarchy^ the church reformed. The examination of the doctrine of the church was the practical application of this principle. f It was about this time that Zwingle and Capito conferred with one another, by correspondence, about the way or means of subjecting the pope to the authority of the gospel, and leaving him nothing more than the first rank among the ministers of the church. Capito says, in a letter to BuUinger, dated in 1536, "Before Luther had risen into notice, {antequam in lucem emer ser at,) while Zwingle was yet in Einsiedeln, we communicated with one another about putting down the pope," [de pontifice dejiciendo.)X The date of the commencement of Zwingle's reformation is not definitely fixed. It began with the announcement in the church of Glarus of his fundamental principle, The authority of the gospel is above all human authority, which was followed by a course of preaching in which he made the Bible alone his standard of doctrine, and disregarded the so-called tradi tions of the church and the decretals of the popes. § He gives * Schuler, &c, p. 245-249. f Ibid- P- 252. % Ibid. p. 252 ; Gieseler's Lehrb., &c, p. 138, note 27. g Schuler, &c, p. 113. 88 HISTORY OF THE the year 1516, as the date of the commencement of this course of preaching, in his explanation of his twentieth thesis, published in 1523, but does not name the time of the year : it must, however, have been the early part of it ; for in the month of April, of the same year, he accepted the call from Einseideln. Professor Plank, in his Geschichte der Entstehung und Ausbildung des Protestantischen Lehrbegriffs, vol. ii., p. 252, is unwilling to admit that Zwingle preceded Luther as a reformer. After noticing a solemn remonstrance of a diet of the confederates, held at Luzern, in 1524, against the religious changes which had taken place in Zurich, and the answer of the Zurichian council, he observes, in a note : " Not only in Zurich, but already in Glarus, and in Einsiedeln, had Zwingle been zealous in bearing public testimony against the abuses of the church, and many errors in the received doctrinal system. His adherents assure us that he began to spread his doctrine in 1516 ; but it is too manifest that they adopt this date only to have him arise one year before Luther. It is cer tain that Zwingle did not derive his knowledge, from whatever source he may have obtained it, from the writings of Luther : and for this reason it is a matter of perfect indifference, so far as the honor of either is concerned, whether he began to promulgate it before Luther, or after him, or at the same time with him. On the other hand, it is worthy of notice, that even in Zurich, several years already before Zwingle came there, the preachers of the city had begun, in their public discourses, to deviate so sensibly from the old doctrine, that even the common people observed the difference. The council of Zurich, in their answer to the remonstrance of the con federates, say, 'Five years ago, already, our ministers preached the holy gospel and the word of God, and their doctrine seemed to us also, at first, strange and singular, as it differed from what we had heard from our forefathers. On that account there was then, both among priests and laymen, a diversity of opinions, from which divisions arose. In those times, and before we had heard of Luther's doctrine, we pro- GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 89 mul'gated a public mandate, requiring all- the preachers to teach the holy gospels and the epistles of the apostles, agree ably to the Spirit of God and the true divine Scriptui.es, and whatever they could prove by them ; but to be silent about other incidental innovations and ordinances.' Thus Zwingle found in Zurich the foundation already laid." It is surprising that this learned and candid historian should have fallen into so many errors in the compass of a few lines. We may here remark : 1. If Zwingle bore his testimony against the abuses and errors of the church, already, in Glarus and in Einsiedeln, his activity as a reformer began there ; and the year 1516, in which he closed his ministry in the former place and opened it in the latter, is not so manifestly assumed by his adherents for the unworthy purpose imputed to them. 2. It is by Zwingle himself, and not by his adherents only, that the year 1516 is given as the commencement of his reformation. 3. The remonstrance of the diet of Luzern and the answer of the council of Zurich are both dated in 1524. Five years before that date will bring us back to the year 1519, the same in which Zwingle began his ministry in Zurich; and the preachers, of whom the council speak, can therefore be no other than Zwingle and his assistants, whom he had previously prepared for the evangehcal ministry. His predecessor, Hoff man, opposed his reforming measures ; and Battman, who succeeded the former, was a bigoted papist. We do not mean that there were not men who saw the corruption of the church as early as Zwingle, such, for example, as Capito ; but none of them prepared Zwingle's way in Zurich. It is not to be supposed that Zwingle even now had a clear view of all the errors of the reigning religion, and understood fully the whole system of Christian truth. He still enter tained a profound veneration for the church of Rome, which he distinguished from her corruption, and had no thought of abolishing the papacy and the clerical hierarchy, whose insti tution he seems to have still regarded as divine. But he h2 12 90 HISTORY OF THE perceived clearly that their authority was not, as they pre tended, superior to the Holy Scriptures, but subordinate to them ; and his aim was to have them take their proper place and perform their appropriate functions in the church, as ministers of the gospel, and not its masters. Luther was still slower in divesting himself of his attach ment to the errors of popery. The commencement of his reformation is dated at the 31st day of October, 1517, the day on which he posted his ninety-five theses, on the subject of papal indulgences, at the principal door of the church in Wittenberg. The notorious John Tetzel, and his associate, Bartholomew, were preaching and selling indulgences for sins, which were to liberate the buyers from the punishments of purgatory, as well as from the penances imposed by the church, for all sins, past, present, and to come, without obliging them to repentance and amendment. While these impudent knaves had taken their stand at Jueterbock and Zerbst, near Wittenberg, many of the people came to Luther to receive absolution. In their confessions, which necessarily preceded absolution, they acknowledged most flagitious iniqui ties without manifesting any compunction, and refused to submit to the penances which he thought proper to impose, alleging that they could buy the pope's indulgence, which released them from that obligation. Luther's feelings revolted against so horrid a prostitution of indulgences ; he denied that they could be benefited by them, and refused to grant absolution until there should be signs of penitence. Tetael, on learning these facts, denounced him as a heretic, and made pompous demonstrations of a determination to visit upon him the punishment of that odious crime. Luther thereupon preached his sermon " On Absolution and Grace," in which he declared and vindicated his sentiments respecting indul gences and the forgiveness of sins, and, full of confidence in his opinions, subsequently posted his theses at the church- door, with a challenge to the learned to dispute with him, on the topics embraced therein, on the following day. The church in Wittenberg had, since the close of the four- GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 91 teenth century, enjoyed the privilege of a papal indulgence for all such as should visit it,, and present their liberal gifts, on the day of All Saints, being the first day of November ; and Leo X. had greatly enlarged this privilege in the year 1516. The first of November was, therefore, a grand festival in Wittenberg, at which prodigious numbers of pilgrims at tended ; and the cathedral church, a sanctuary dedicated to all the saints, was the great centre around which this multitude moved. Luther embraced the opportunity which was thus presented to give the utmost publicity to his sentiments on the subject of indulgences, and put up his theses on the 31st of October, in the place where they would be most conspicuous, and challenged the learned, who were in attendance, to dispute with him on the following day.* Schroeck, in his Christ. Kirchengesch, seit der Reformation, remarks upon Luther's theses : " Important as these scriptural doctrines were, these propositions by no means embrace a complete reformation of the doctrinal system or the ecclesi astical constitution of his times. He believes the supremacy of the pope, continues his subjection to him, and does not give the remotest hint of a design to separate from the communion of the Romish church. He does not, by any means, reject papal indulgences upon the whole, but wishes only that they be preached agreeably to the pope's intention. He believes the existence of a purgatory, although he denies that the remission granted by indulgences can be extended to the punishments of that state. He does not reject penances, but he refers them chiefly to the church, which has appointed them. Finally, he recommends good works, or the pious activity of the Christian, but does not believe that they are meritorious in the sight of God. His whole object went only to show that the prevailing misapplication of indulgences was as inconsistent with the doctrine of Christ as with true godli ness. Upon the whole, though in these propositions he pro pounded some unusual and peculiar opinions, they could not * Schroeck's Kirch. Gesch. seit der Ref., vol. i. p. 121. 92 HISTORY- OF THE subject him to the suspicion of heresy. They were set forth to invite discussion ; and as the supreme authority in the church was fully recognised in them, it was in itself evident that their author submitted every thing to its judgment."* The same author observes : " The letters also,- which, together with copies of his propositions, he addressed to the archbishop of Mentz, the bishops of Brandenburg, Meissen, Merseburg, and Zeitz, were, probably, all designed to represent respect fully to these prelates, that he desired only that the offensive abuse of indulgences should be abolished, and had no intention to make any change in the creed, or in the ecclesiastical con stitution. This is justly concluded from the only one of them which has been preserved. "f In a protestation of his innocence of the , guilt of heresy, published soon after his theses, he solemnly declares, " that in those propositions he meant to assert only what could be educed from the Scriptures, from the fathers whom the church has approved, from the ecclesiastical laws, and from the decre tals of the popes." All these, therefore, he received at this time as equally parts of the rule of faith. J In 1518, he pub lished his Resolutiones, or explanations of his theses, and sent a copy of the work to the pope, together with a letter, in which, after noticing the course pursued by the preachers of indul gences, he says : " I sought, at least, to oppose them with mildness, by calling their doctrine into question in a disputa tion, in which the learned only were to participate. This is the conflagration which they say is consuming the whole world. Perhaps it offends them that I alone, who, by your apostolical authority, am a professor of theology, have a right, agreeably to the custom of all universities, to dispute in this one, not only about indulgences, but concerning incomparably weightier matters, even the divine forgiveness of sins. It is a wonder to me how my solitary disputation could go forth, before all others, into all the world. It was written only for these * Schroeck's Kirch. Gesch. seit der Ref., vol. i. p. 129. f Ibid. p. 181. X Ioid- P- 13°- GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 93 regions, in the manner of controversial propositions somewhat obscure, not dogmatical, and it is to me incredible that all can understand it." * * * * " In order now to appease my ene mies, and to satisfy the desire pf many, I put forth these trifles ; and, for the greater safety, I publish them under your name. Every one will perceive in them how sincerely and uprightly I have endeavored to sustain the honor of the eccle siastical authority, and of the keys, and how unjustly my adversaries have defamed me. If I had not acted otherwise than they represent, and not only for the purpose of discus sion, the elector of Saxony, who so much loves the catholic and apostolic truth, would not have tolerated me in this uni versity." He closes by casting himself at the pope's feet, with the humble supplication, " Quicken me, kill me, call, recall, approve, condemn, as you will. In your voice I shall recognise the voice of Christ speaking in you. If I have deserved death, I do not refuse to die."* In the following year, the mild and insidious Miltitz engaged him to promise that he would in future maintain silence on the subject of indulgences, if the same thing were done also by his adversaries ; that he would write an humble and submissive letter to the pope, acknowledg ing that he had acted too hastily ; and that he would publish an apology to the world, and exhort every one to be obedient to the church. In his letter to the pope, he says : " Those only whom I opposed have done the church so much harm and scandal. I protest before God, that I never intended to im pugn her authority, or yours, to which none is superior except that of Christ."f His apology was published under the title, Unterricht auf eiliche Artikel so ihm von seinen Abgoennem aufgelegt und zugemessen worden, — (Information concerning several articles that have been ascribed and imputed to him.) In this publication he says : " That, inasmuch as the common people had been made suspicious of him respecting some doc trines, and many had begun to speak contemptuously of the * Schroeck's Kirch. Gesch. seit der Ref., vol. i. p. 146. f Ibid. p. 171. 94 HISTORY OF THE ' intercession of the blessed saints, of purgatory, and of others like them, he deemed it necessary to explain himself on these subjects. He maintained, with all Christendom, the venera tion and invocation of the saints ; for it could not be denied that God does still work miracles by their bodies, and at their graves ; but he pronounced it unchristian to invoke the saints rather for temporal than for spiritual gifts ; and some were so foolish as to imagine that the saints could perform such things themselves, whereas they procure them only by their interces sion with God. Further, he considers it a settled point, that the poor souls in purgatory suffer great torment there, and that it is our duty to help them with prayers, fastings, and alms. But of what kind that torment is, he does not know ; neither does he think it safe to rush into purgatory with indul gences, and thus to thrust oneself forcibly into the secret judgments of God. With regard to indulgences, he thinks the common man needs to know no more than that they are a release from satisfactions for sins or penances, and far inferior to good works, especially to alms. He contends against the prejudice that the transgression of the church-laws is among the greatest sins. On the contrary, profane swearing, cursing, slander, or a refusal to help one's neighbor, is a much greater sin than eating flesh on a Friday ; and, indeed, we might be pious by observing the laws of God, if there even were no laws of the church. Of good works, he thinks that they can be called good only when they are wrought in us by divine grace, and that we should not proudly trust in them. Finally, he thinks God has honored the church of Rome above all others, and that she is become venerable through many hundred thousand martyrs. Though the state of things in Rome might well be better than it is, there is, nevertheless, no cause of sufficient weight for a separation from her ; yea, the worse the state of things in the church is, the more ought we to cleave to her, because she can be reformed only by union and love. How far the authority of the Roman see extends, is a question which the learned may determine ; it is of no importance to the salvation of the soul ; for Christ has not GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 95 founded his church upon this question, but upon humility, love and union."* Such were Luther's theological opinions in the' early part of 15-19, when Zwingle was preaching in Zurich, unfettered by traditions, decretals, ecclesiastical canons, and church- fathers, declaring the doctrine of the New Testament, and sapping the foundations of popish superstition. Luther had discovered some important truth ; but his conceptions were yet obscure, and his convictions unsettled. There was one doctrine, however, upon which his mind was clear, and his faith firm: the doctrine of justification by grace, without merit, through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. This doctrine, which afterwards became the basis of his theological system, he first learned to know practically in the course of his expe rience of the work of divine grace in his own heart, when he was turned from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God ; and with it, he learned also those doctrines with which it is immediately connected ; viz., the utter desti tution of the sinner before God, his total inability to save himself, the absolute necessity of the Holy Spirit's agency in conversion, and the freeness of divine grace. f His religious * Schroeck, &c, pp., 172-174. f It is generally said, that Luther's reformation proceeded from indul gences. This assertion is both vague and inaccurate. His opposition to indulgences was but the first application of the principle from which his reformation proceeded, and by which it was governed and defined through out. Luther's first principle was the doctrine of gratuitous justification by faith in the promise of God; the proposition, That God forgives sins by an act of mere grace, without any merit on the sinner's part, on the sole condition of faith in his promise, and for the alone sake of the death of Christ. He had attained to the knowledge of this principle by his own experience, in the course of his conversion to God. His knowledge of it was, therefore, practi cal, and not theoretical ; and he might have retained with it, to the end of his life, the whole system of the papacy, without paying much attention to their inconsistency, perhaps even without observing it, if he had not been disturbed in the possession of it by the scandalous preaching of indulgences, and the pertinacious defence of that abuse by the hierarchy. It was because the doctrine of indulgences was in direct opposition to the doctrine of gra tuitous justification, in which alone he found comfort and rest for his soul, 96 HISTORY OF THE experience was the key that unlocked the Bible, and enabled him to understand fully its instructions upon these essential points ; and he found them so perfectly adapted to his spirit ual wants, and so tranquillizing to the soul, that he could not hesitate to give them his entire assent. Yet, such was his attachment to the doctrines and forms of the reigning religion, that he did not see their inconsistency with these scriptural principles, and he managed, somehow, to form them all into a common system, and to remain contented in the bosom of the church, a half-enlrghtened, pious Papist. When Luther rose to bear his testimony against the impious traffic in indulgences, he had not the remotest idea of attempt ing a reformation of the church. He was concerned only to that he rose up against indulgences ; and for the same reason he subse quently rose up against every other popish abuse. This principle determined the form of Luther's theological system, which was strictly Augustinian, and diametrically opposite to the system of salva tion by works. He admitted, both into his theology and his mode of worship, as much of the doctrine and the ceremonies of the church as his principle permitted, and excluded from both only what was utterly incompatible with it. The same principle gave shape to his idea of the rule of faith. He re jected the decretals and ecclesiastical canons, when he saw that they con flicted with it ; in his judgment of the several portions of the Bible, he valued one book higher than another, just as he found this doctrine more or less prominent in it; and he rejected the epistle of James because it seemed to teach the doctrine of justification by works, and not by faith alone. Zwingle's first principle was the proposition, The Bible alone is the rule of faith and practice. He had attained to the knowledge of this principle, not by experience, but by reflection ; and his knowledge of it was, therefore, not practical, but theoretical. This principle, thus known, led bim into an earlier, a freer, and a more extensive examination of the doctrines, laws, and usages of the church, and of the claims of the papacy, than Luther's was, and carried him farther in his reformation than the Saxon reformer felt himself obliged to go. While Luther retained whatever was not incom patible with the fundamental doctrine of justification by faith alone, Zwin gle rejected whatever was not plainly warranted by the Holy Scripture. The latter, therefore, swept away some of the rites and usages of the church which the former only modified, or left undisturbed. In substance, ' how ever, the two reformers, though setting out from different principles, came to the same result. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 97 repress that single abuse, and would not have done as much as he did for that end, if Tetzel's denunciations and threats had not provoked him ; and when expostulated with, in mild and winning terms, he promised to be silent in future, if silence were imposed upon his adversaries also. In his ex planations of his theses, published soon after he had risen, he says, " The church needs a reformation ; but this is not the business of an individual, nor of the pope, nor of many car dinals, but of the whole world ; yea, it is the work of God only. But the time of this reformation He only knows who created the times."* Zwingle, on the contrary, had con ceived the design of reforming the church before he arose. He considered a reformation indispensable, not only in the lives of the clergy and the people, but in the doctrine and the worship of the church. He thought a reformation could not be longer delayed ; that every thing was fast ripening for a change ; and, if it were not a change for the better, there would be a change for the worse, in a general crash and wreck of both church and state. He had found the means, and was maturing the plan, of a thorough reformation, and was prepared to act his part in it before he attempted, ex ternally, to reform any thing. Zwingle began where Luther ended, and ended where Luther began. His first act was to lay down his great principle, The authority of the gospel is above all human authority. From this principle he proceeded, in the exposition of the New Testament, to show what were the doctrines of Christ and his apostles, and left his hearers to judge how consistent with them were the doctrines of the priesthood. And he ended with attacks upon the edifice of popish errors and abuses, which were now seen to be the baseless fabric of a long delusion. Luther's first act, as a reformer, was an attack upon a popish abuse. It was fortu nate for him that the sale of indulgences was already become generally odious with those who were capable of reflection, or possessed a spark of virtue : the public mind was prepared, * Schroeck, &c, p. 144. 13 »0 HISTORY OF THE and the community needed but a leader, to rise up, almost as one man, against that detestable imposture. From this act, he proceeded to examine more narrowly the teaching of the Scriptures, and the foundations of popery, and to discover, as he progressed, that there were other errors and other abuses besides those which he had seen, until he saw that the whole sys tem of the papacy was amass of corruption, and its foundations were laid in falsehood : and he ended with Zwingle's proposi tion, The gospel is above all human authority, and is the only rule of faith, the only standard of Christian truth. Luther loved the Bible as much as Zwingle loved it. But he did not use it with the same freedom. What he had learned from it, in the beginning of his controversy, he submitted to the judg ment of the pope, as the authorized interpreter of the Holy Scriptures and the supreme judge of controversies ; from the pope ill-informed, he appealed to the pope when better in formed ; his next appeal was from the pope to a general coun cil ; and, last of all, he said, Nothing but the word of God can decide. This was what Zwingle said in the outset of his career : Not the pope, not the fathers, not the councils, no hu man authority, but the Bible alone ! Hence, he never appealed to the judgment of the pope, nor to the general council which the Christian world demanded, but to the Holy Scriptures alone. The treatment given to Zwingle by the rulers of the church differed remarkably from that which Luther received at their hands. None of his superiors cited him to appear before him, and to answer for his doctrine : still less was a recantation demandedfrom him ; both the bishop of the diocese, the pope's legate in Switzerland, and the pope himself, were silent on this subject. It is natural to ask, What were the causes of this forbearance toward Zwingle, while Luther was so harshly treated ? J. S. Vater, in his continuation of Henke's Kirchen Geschichte, vol. ix., p. 67, says : " Zwingle was not excom municated. The pope would have had to excommunicate the government of Zurich. For this there was still time enough. For if the authority of the pope were once re-established in GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 99 Germany, Zurich, which then stood as yet alone, would fall by an interdict and a crusade ; which latter the cardinals recommended yet to pope Adrian." All this may be true ; but it is unsatisfactory. Adrian became pope in January, 1522. At that time, Zwingle had aheady labored in Zurich three years; and nearly six years had elapsed since he had begun his reforming activity, and had fallen under the suspi cion of heresy. His "doctrines had now been extensively dis seminated, and large numbers had embraced them. This occurred under the eyes of the dignitaries of the church, and in the presence of the pope's legate, and was doubtless known at Rome from its beginning ; yet no one interposed his au thority to stop him ; and even the pope continued to show to him marks of his favor. On the contrary, Luther was cited to appear before the pope at Rome, in July, 1518, within less than one year after his -first public opposition to Tetzel, and when he had yet gone no farther than to oppose what he esteemed an abuse of the pope's authority, and, in every thing else, that had yet appeared, adhered to the church and the papacy. Vater insinuates that the Swiss reformer was too insignificant, in comparison with Luther, to create much apprehension to the hierarchy. It is, however, more probable, that Leo X., who excommunicated Luther, knew more, at that time, of Zwingle, than he knew of Luther, and entertained a respect for the former which he did not feel for the latter. He knew Zwingle through cardinal Shinner, since his Italian campaigns in the service of the pontiff; he knew him as a man of refined taste and elegant literature, as a Swiss patriot whose influence was extensively felt in his own country, and as a zealous opponent of the French party in Switzerland, which was then inimical to the interests and the projects of the court of Rome. For all these reasons, he might value him too highly to offend him, and be desirous of gaining him over by kindness, by pensions, and by the prospect of preferment, just as he kept Erasmus of Rotterdam within certain bounds. As a proof of the estimation in which he was held at Rome, the pope refused to accept the resignation of his pension when 100 HISTORY OF THE Zwingle offered it, in 1517 ; and, in the year following, the legate, cardinal Pucci, conferred on him the dignity of acolyte chaplain to the pope, an honorary distinction, which authorized the expectation of higher preferment. In the diploma by which the honor was conferred, the cardinal observes that, distinguished as Zwingle was by his virtues and merits, he Was commended to him both by his own experience and by Zwingle's honorable reputation ; that the pope esteemed him worthy, as a man of letters, to receive a mark of his paternal kindness ; that he, the legate, by virtue of the authority received from the pope, appoints him to the honorable dis tinction of an acolyte chaplain to his holiness, by which he might perceive the pope's good disposition toward him; and the legate finally expresses the wish that Zwingle may go on from good to better, and move both the pope and him to farther acts of favor and honor.* It was, therefore, not contempt of Zwingle and his reforma tion that prevented Leo from an attempt to crush him at once by an act of power. It was, on the contrary, rather the convic tion that such a measure would fail of its object, and that it was safer, and more useful, to make trial of kindness, and to aUure by flatteries and bribes. Of Luther, the pope knew at first almost nothing ; he learned that he was a professor in the university at Wittenberg, and belonged to a convent of monks in that city ; and he looked upon his quarrel with Tetzel as one of those Wrangles between two monks of different orders, which were of frequent occurrence, and led to no dangerous results. When' the disturbance assumed a more serious aspect, and Leo's attention was drawn to it, Luther's humble and submissive letters, and his ardent professions of reverence and submission to the church and her visible head, might well make the impression that he already quailed under the dread of papal wrath, and that nothing was wanting to crush him at once, and to strike a salutary terror into the minds of the devout Germans, but a fulmination of his spiritual thunder. * Schuler, &c, p. 262. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 101 That Leo discovered his mistake, there is no doubt ; but it was then too late : the claim of infallibility forbade him to recede ; and nothing, therefbre, remained, but to persist in the same course, and to hurl his ghostly anathemas at the heads of Lu ther and his followers, until his stores were exhausted. Though Zwingle felt very deeply the necessity of a reforma tion, and thought the time for its accomplishment at hand, he had no desire to appear in the character of a leader in such an undertaking, and to immortalize his name as the chief of a new order of things. Two modes of effecting the desired object were presented to his mind ; viz. : 1. A reformation of the church within herself, by the free preaching of the unadulterated Word of God, under the direction of the pope and the higher clergy ; and, 2. The reformation of the church, by separating from the communion of Rome, and calling out from thence all those in whom the word of God should be made effectual. He pre ferred the former of these modes, and adhered to it as long as a hope of its feasibility remained, and until, in 1523, the force of circumstances compelled him to abandon it. He looked upon the pope and the higher clergy as the persons to whom both the duty and the honor belonged of presiding over the reformation of the church ; and he addressed himself to such of them as were accessible to him, and urged them, by every consideration of duty and of interest, to engage seriously in the arduous work. At the same time, he stated to them distinctly, that, if they neglected to perform this imperative duty, he and his associates, who knew the errors of the church and the doctrine of the Holy Scriptures, would, nevertheless, proclaim the truth which God had revealed ; and if any dis orders should arise in consequence of so doing, the guilt thereof would not he upon them, but upon those who ought to have conducted the enterprise, and would not. He addressed himself for this object, personally or in writing, to his superior, the bishop of Constance ; to John Faber, the bishop's vicar and his own friend ; to cardinal Shinner ; and to the pope's legates in Switzerland, Ennius and Pucci: and from all these he received promises which they never performed. 102 HISTORY OF THE Cardinal Shinner was at the time an exile from his bishop ric, having been driven from it by the French party, to whom he was zealously opposed, and spent his time, in part, at Einsiedeln. The legates, Ennius and Pucci, had their resi dence by turns in Zurich and Einsiedeln. Here Zwingle had convenient access to them, and improved it to press upon them, with all the earnestness of deep conviction and of fer vent zeal, the object that was so near his heart. Shinner acknowledged the lamentable state of the church, and pro mised that, if he were reinstated in his bishopric, he would authorize the free preaching of the gospel, and exert all his strength to purge away the prevailing errors and abuses. Of Pucci, Zwingle says, in his answer to Valentine Compar, " Four times did the legate converse with me on this subject, and I received from him the most splendid promises. I ex plained to him freely what ought to be done, and added that, with God's help, I would proceed to the preaching of the gospel, and the papacy would be not a little shaken by it." The same Pucci, who made these splendid promises, was the cardinal Pucci who said to pope Leo X., in the Lateran council, " Of thee it is that the prophet has said, All kings shall fall down before, thee, and all people shall serve thee. Christian princes well know that to thee is given all power in heaven and on earth !"* How much Zwingle wished to have the desired reformation wrought within the church, appears from a Latin work, pub lished without his name, in 1520, entitled, Counsel of a man who is sincerely concerned for the dignity of the Roman See and the peace of Christendom. In this work he says, " It becomes a Christian to be well inclined toward the vicar of Christ. On the other hand, it behooves the papal paternity to value no private concern so highly, that he would not gladly prefer to it the honor of Christ and the peace of Christianity. If any one desire to promote the honor of the pope, let him do it wisely ; and this is done when he vindicates it with * Schuler, &c, p. 202. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 103 arguments that have the silent approbation of pious and upright men. No one injures the papal dignity more than the man who would guard and protect it by human rewards and punishments." "It is universally known that Christians have deviated much, by a gradual degeneration, from the doctrine of Christ, and every one must confess that a great and general renovation is demanded. As nothing is to be undertaken rashly, so those who administer well-intended admonition must not be inconsiderately opposed, though they may seem to do it somewhat rashly." ... - "For noble minds must be taught, not forced: only brutes can be forced. Those who use compulsion are tyrants ; but it behooves divines, above all men, to instruct with meekness, and to treat of no subject with revilings, or as a partisan."* The same desire appears still in another anonymous work, published in 1522, under the title, Aids to reflection on the declarations of Adrian after his election to the pontificate, for the riders of the German nation assembled at Nuremburg, by one who heartily wishes well to Christendom, and especially to Germany. "If Adrian," he remarks in this work, "this equally prudent and learned man, be favorable to the revival of Christianity, he will, above all things, have the pure gospel preached with fidelity and firmness, and will engage to reform every thing agreeably to the doctrine of Christ ; and all who have a Christian disposition will sustain the righteous under taking." But, if Adrian had been all that Zwingle hoped, "what," says Schuler, justly, "would have become of this reformation under such pontiffs as Clement VII. and Paul IIL?" The bishop of Constance, Hugo von Landenberg, gave some indication of a sincere desire to reform, at least, the manners of the clergy of his diocese, in a pastoral letter which he pub lished in 1517. In that document he drew a disgusting picture of many of the sacred order, exhorted them to a reformation of their lives, and threatened them with suspension, deposition, * Schuler, &c, p. 146. 104 HISTORY OF THE excommunication, and other punishments, according to the measure of their demerit, if they continued in their immoral and dissolute way of living. Encouraged by these indications, Zwingle entreated him to further the unrestricted preaching of the gospel, to apply himself to the reformation of the church in her doctrine and worship, and to remove the superstitions and abuses that prevailed without measure. He urged him by his pastoral obligation as a bishop, and, with a sort of prophetic anticipation, warned him of the disorders that would arise, if the rulers of the church did not apply the remedy which the evil demanded. "The light," said he, "is forcing its way into the darkness ; the corruption of the clergy has already embittered the people ; the danger is near at hand ; the dam will soon give Avay, and who will then force back the waters into their channel ?" But the bishop was a weak man, whom his courtiers led in leading-strings, who promised much and performed nothing. Both Leo and Hugo wished only to shine. Learning and liberty of thought they viewed as the property of rulers ; the common people they thought best to keep in ignorance and fear ; and they were inclined to con sider the man both impertinent and dangerous who insisted upon the duty of enlightening the multitude and maintained their right to a knowledge of the truth.* In this manner, Zwingle was slowly and reluctantly brought to the conviction that God was calling him, and not the rulers of the church, to the office of reformer ; and that, to accom plish any thing of real importance and value, he must go out of the communion of Rome, and call thence the people of God. And now an event took place, which exhibited the cor ruption of the church in its most disgusting colors, and exposed the fountain of the evil in the profligacy of the pope himself; this was the arrival of Sampson, a preacher of indulgences, in Switzerland. It was customary in the Christian church, at an early period, to impose certain expiations or satisfactions, which were called * Sohuler, &c, p. 263. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 105 penances, upon church-members who had committed gross offences, but were now penitent, or professed to be such. These penances were imposed and submitted to as satisfactions made to the church that had been offended, and not as satisfactions to God. They were, at first, exacted with much rigor ; but, as early as the fourth century, a right was conceded to the bishops to remit something of their severity, which was called dispensation, or to commute them for other satisfactions; and by degrees the custom was introduced of commuting them for fines in money. The right of dispensation, or commutation, was conceded to every bishop within his own diocese, and nobody thought that the bishop of Rome possessed authority to interfere with its exercise, still less that he could arrogate it exclusively to himself. Some of the bishops, indeed, some times sent penitents, who were guilty of very heinous sins, to the bishop of Rome for absolution, but this was done only to increase the severity of the penance by the expense and fatigue of a distant journey. It is only since the ninth cen tury that the change was introduced by which the ancient releases from penance "became the later abomination of indul gences. Since that time, it occurred to the holy father in Home, that all penances to which a sinner was become liable might be commuted for a participation in some holy enterprise, as a war against infidels, or against heretics, the building of a church or a convent, &c, or a contribution in money for such an object ; and that remission might even be granted for sins not yet committed, indulgentitv ante factum. Indulgences were of two kinds, temporary and plenary. The former re mitted the punishments of sin in this life, and the latter extended to the future world, and remitted the punishment of sin in purgatory, or lessened its duration. The popes had the sagacity to reserve to themselves the power of granting the latter kind of indulgences, as it was a copious source of revenue, and a means of making themselves the object of greater reverence and awe throughout the Christian world ; for nothing could be more awful than the man to whom God 14 106 HISTORY OF THE had intrusted tbe keys of heaven and hell, and from whose pleasure every man's eternal happiness or misery depended. Clothed with this authority, the pope sat in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God ; and the Deity himself, with all the host of heaven, stood in the background, waiting to receive and to execute his commands. As early as the ninth century, the pope John VIII. extended the efficacy of indulgences to the dead, by the promise of heaven to all such as should fall in the wars against the Saracens. The same indulgence was granted, in the eleventh and following cen turies, to all the living who engaged in the crusades for the recovery of the holy land from the infidels. Those who took part in the. war against Henry IV. of Germany, against the Arabs in Africa, or against the Albigenses in Italy and the south of France, were favored with the same grace. To give the appearance of reason and authority to these indulgences, the scholastic divines invented the doctrine of a treasure of merits in the possession of the church, thesaurus meritorum superabundantium. This treasure consisted of the superabundant merit of Christ over and above what was required for the world's redemption, and of the saints over and above what was needed for their own salvation. One drop of Christ's blood, as Cajetan maintained in his conference with Luther, was sufficient to atone for the sins of all man kind ; and all the rest that he shed was therefore left to the church as a legacy, from which indulgences might be drawn. As to the saints, they had exceeded the measure of good works which they were bound to perform, by voluntarily ob serving the evangelical counsels, that enjoin fasting, poverty, and celibacy, which the Holy Scriptures do not require ; and this excess is, in like manner, left to the disposition of the church. " The keys to this treasure were committed to the custody of St. Peter and his successors, the popes, who may open it at pleasure ; and, by transferring a portion of this superabundant merit to any particular person, for a sum of money, may convey to him either the pardon of his own sins, GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 107 or a release for any one in whom he is interested, from the pains of purgatory."* This doctrine was first propounded by Alexander of Hales, a Franciscan monk, about the year 1230, yet only as a conjecture ; but Albert the Great and Thomas Aquinas converted his conjecture into absolute cer tainty by their scholastic demonstrations. In the hands of the popes, who gave it their solemn sanction, it was a most excellent means of amassing treasures, and saving them from the embarrassments in which their luxury and extravagance would have involved them. At first, they made Rome alone the place where plenary indulgences were to, be obtained ; and all who wished to have their sins forgiven, and themselves preserved from the fires of purgatory, were obliged to repair to the holy city, at whatever cost of time, fatigue, andjnoney it might be. At Rome, the superabundant treasure of the church was divided among a number of particular churches, among which seven principal ones were endowed most largely with this precious gift. These churches were called Stationes Indulgentiarum, stations of indulgences. One of the richest was the church of the Lateran, on which were bestowed, at its renewed consecration, as many days of indulgence as the drops that fall in a rain of three days' and three nights' con tinuance ! The whole treasure of indulgences of the churches in Rome was, therefore, inexhaustible.f It was only when the popes wanted money, and the number of pilgrims who resorted to Rome, to obtain the forgiveness of their sins, began to decrease, that foreign archbishops and bishops were invested by the pope with authority to grant indulgences.! Churches, also, and monasteries were endowed with this gift, and thus became places of favor, to which pilgrims repaired in great numbers to purchase their peace with God by their offerings and devotions ; and happy, indeed, was the church or the con vent which could boast of possessing such an endowment in perpetuity. * Buck's Theol. Diet., Art. Indulgences. f Encyclopedia Americana, Art. Indulgences. J Ibid. 108 HISTORY OF THE It was a lucky thought of pope Boniface VIII. to proclaim the year thirteen hundred as a centenary jubilee, and to pro mise to all who should in that year visit the church of St. Peter, in Rome, with their gifts, during fifteen days if they were foreigners, and thirty days if they were citizens, the most complete and perfect remission of sins. More than two- hundred thousand strangers, from almost every part of Europe, hastened to Rome to secure this great boon for them selves and their deceased friends ; and only the small offerings of the pilgrims upon the altars amounted to fifty thousand gold guilders. How much more was the amount of the large gifts of the wealthy is not stated. This success moved Cle ment VL, in 1343, to reduce the centenary jubilee to one of fifty years, and to proclaim the year 1350 as the accepted season, with all the privileges of a centenary ; and, to make it the more imposing, he commanded the angels to be in readi ness to conduct the souls that should be provided iviih indul gences out of purgatory into heaven. The effect was prodigious. The number of pilgrims who crowded into Rome is estimated at from a million to twelve hundred tlwusand. These were not a mere rabble, but persons of every description and grade, from the beggar to the king ; and every one who had a mite to bestow brought his gift to the altar, in exchange for his soul and the souls of departed friends. The treasures that were gathered during this great festival must have been im mense ; and the more, because the people were taught, and religiously believed, that the indulgences which were granted during the jubilee possessed twofold the value which they would have at any other time. The years 1400 and 1450 were again so richly productive, that Paul IL, in 1470, resolved to have a jubilee once in every twenty-five years, and proclaimed the year 1475 as the great year of salvation, to which both the living and the dead should look for deliverance from sin, and from the torments of purgatory, when one pater noster should be worth as much as two, and one guilder offered upon the altar should possess twice its usual value ! But the sovereign pontiffs, into whose lap these copious GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 109 streams of wealth flowed only four times in a century, had need of more money than this expedient brought them. To reduce the jubilee to a shorter period still, would have destroyed its charm, and defeated their end ; and they were, therefore, compelled to contrive other ways and means to replenish their empty coffers. Their pressing wants were not supplied by their part of the profits derived from the sale of indulgences by foreign bishops and archbishops, nor by their portion of the offerings of pilgrims to endowed monasteries and churches, nor by the annates, and tithes, and peter-pence, and the hun dreds of other impositions upon the clergy or the people of Christendom. But, as those who resorted to Rome to purchase the pardon of their sins, even in the year of jubilee, vast as their number might be, were still but a very small part of the population of the Christian world, the great body of the people, who chose to remain at home, contributed nothing in that way to the papal treasury. To reach them also, and to bring them under the same kind of contribution, the holy father resolved to send his agents abroad, who should carry his indulgences to every man's door, and made them so cheap that few were too poor to buy them. Alexander VI. sent Cardinal Ray mond, in the year 1500, -on such a mission into Germany, Denmark, Sweden, and Prussia. Julius II. despatched his agents on the same errand in five successive years, from 1504 to 1508, inclusive. Leo X. followed the example of his pre decessors. Wherever this holy missionary came, he erected a red cross in one of the churches, as the sign of his office, which, he alleged, was equally efficacious with the cross upon which the Saviour suffered. He caused his arrival and his business, and the time of his stay, to be announced from the pulpits, and then applied himself to the sale of his ghostly wares. With the loquacity and the impudence of a mountebank, he proclaimed the all-powerful and certain effect of his indul gences for the living and the dead, however enormous their sins might be, and urged the hearers to come and secure the remission of sins for themselves and their deceased friends in purgatory, while they had the opportunity, and the holy 110 HISTORY OF THE father, in the plenitude of his goodness, was eondescendino- to open the treasure of the church for the benefit of poor souls. No repentance or amendment was required, if indulgences were bought. Every sin had its price, which was so moderate that a sinner might be a very demon in wickedness, and yet go to heaven for as much money as he might squander upon the pleasures of a single day.* To put amore decent appear ance upon this traffic, a pious object, or one which was so esteemed, was always pretended. This was a war against the Turks, who were then the terror of the Christian nations, or the building of churches, or some similar object, to which it was alleged that the money would be applied. Leo X., than whom a greater spendthrift never sat upon the papal throne, was incessantly pressed for ways and means to support his reckless extravagance. To supply his numerous wants, he was willing, like his merciful predecessors, to use the power of the keys, not only to remit to sinners the pen ances which the church imposed for their offences, but to open the gates of purgatory, and to let as many of the suffering souls escape from its torment as their friends on earth were willing to redeem, by paying a small sum of money for so great a favor. The people were taught, that the money, which they were required to pay for this indulgence, was to be applied to the completion of the church of St. Peter in Rome, which his predecessor had begun ; a most magnificent edifice, that was worthy of the prince of the apostles, and of the seat of his empire, and would secure his special favor to the pious contributors. These indulgences, the efficacy of which it would be impious to doubt, by which the living would be made sure of heaven, and so many souls would be delivered from the intolerable pains of purgatory, and on such easy terms withal, ought to be accepted by all, it was urged, with * A specimen of "the tax of the sacred Roman Chancery," in which are contained the exact sums to be levied for the pardon of each particular sin, may be seen in Buck's Theological Dictionary, Art. Indulgences. Repent ance was, indeed, nominally required by the papal authority, but was prac tically dispensed with by the agents and preachers of indulgences. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. HI devout gratitude, as a most wonderful instance of papal benignity. Such were the representations made by the authorized preachers of indulgences. On such a mission, and with such a message in his mouth, Tetzel was sent into Germany, and Sampson into Switzerland. Tetzel met with great success wherever he presented himself, and grew bolder and bolder still as he went onward, until Luther rose up, full of holy indignation, and put a stop to this impious mockery of religion, by striking a blow that broke the spell, and- eventuated in the Reformation, at the head of which it was the pleasure of God to place him. Sampson was not behind his fellow, either in impiety or in impudence. He crossed mount St. Gothard into Switzerland in August, 1518, and took up his abode in the canton of Uri, whence he soon moved into the canton of Schweitz and the neighborhood of Einsiedeln. Wherever he came, he first gained over, by flatteries and bribes, some men of credit and influence, and then, strengthened by their coun tenance and co-operation, proclaimed the object of his mission, and the power of his indulgences, with the utmost pomp and display. " I can forgive all sins," said he, "past and future. As soon as the money tinkles in my box, the sinner is pardoned. No crime is so shocking that it may not be forgiven. Heaven and hell are at my disposal, by virtue of the trust committed to me by the pope, and I can now deliver souls from purga tory. All the merits of Christ and of the saints are in my power, to be communicated to those who will buy an indul gence." Tetzel's associate in Germany declared that he saw the Saviour's blood streaming fresh from his cross, as it once flowed on Calvary, to blot out the sins of those who were buy ing indulgences ; and Sampson, in Switzerland, beheld the souls of the dead arise, and fly in crowds to heaven, when their release from purgatory had been purchased ! Here Zwingle saw, in the strongest hght, the difference between the doctrine of the church and of the pope, on the one hand, and the doctrine of Jesus Christ, on the other. The contrast was perfect : they differed as light and darkness, 112 HISTORY OF THE and it was impossible that both should subsist together. All his soul revolted against the daring violation of every prin ciple of religion and morality, which he saw committed, with shameless effrontery, in the awful name of God, by the agents of the chief whom he had been used to call the holy father, and to reverence as the vicegerent of the Lord Jesus Christ. His zeal burned within him for a reformation of religion, and he was now taught that nothing was to be expected from the pope, who thus prostituted his sacred office to the basest and most impious abuses. Things had arrived at such a pass, that, as Capito said to the bishop of Basil, "It seemed to be very much the same whether men denied God, or entertained such thoughts of him."* In Einsiedeln, Zwingle now raised his voice against indul gences, as an abuse that sapped the foundations of all rehgion and virtue, warned the people against the knave and impostor who was deceiving them, and directed them to the free grace of God in Christ, for the pardon of their sins and the peace of their souls. These warnings he uttered in all the warmth of his indignation, and in all the vehemence of an impassioned eloquence : yet no one resented his bold denunciations. Samp son himself, abandoned by his supporters, withdrew, and erected his cross in the city of Bern, where there was, at this time, less to be feared. These things occurred at the very time when the papal legate was opening to Zwingle the most alluring prospects of preferment, and pressed upon his con tinued acceptance the pension which the latter had offered to resign : and, indeed, it was after this that cardinal Pucci conferred on him the honorary title of chaplain to the pope. * Schuler, &c, p. 275. BOOK II. CHAPTER I. REFORMATION OS THE CITY AND CANTON OP ZURICH, FROM 1519 TO 1525, INCLUSIVE. From Einsiedeln, Zwingle's ministry was transferred to Zurich, the capital of the canton of the same name. Zurich, though much inferior to Bern in territorial extent, held the first rank among the thirteen cantons. Its capital, situated on the Limmat, where it issues from the lake of Zurich, con tains about fourteen thousand inhabitants. The whole popu lation of the canton is about 224,000. It was an aristo- democratic republic. Its government was administered by a greater and a lesser council, at the head of which were the two burgomasters. The citizens of each several profession or trade formed a corporation, or zunft; and in these bodies was vested the right of election. At the time when Zwingle was called to minister in the capi tal of this canton, a purer patriotism prevailed than had pre ceded it, and the government was administered by a wise and magnanimous council. The city possessed rich ecclesiastical endowments, that were originally designed as foundations for the improvement of learning, as well as the culture of piety. A taste for science had begun to appear, and wealthy families were sending their sons to universities abroad for a learned education. A respectable academy, under the direction of Oswald Myconius, was attached to the cathedral church, or great-minster ; the study of the ancient classics was reviving ; the writings of' Erasmus, and other distinguished men, were waking up a new spirit in the reading community ; and the fame of Zwingle, which was already spread over Switzerland k2 15 113 114 HISTORY OF THE and the neighboring countries, had exerted a happy influence here. All these circumstances were favorable to the design of the reformer, and were preparing the ground for the seed of the divine word.* The Great-Minster in Zurich was built upon the blood of martyrs. About the close of the third century, Felix and Regula, of the Theban legion; came into the regions of Glarus and Zurich, and suffered martyrdom, as the first publishers of Christianity among the fierce inhabitants. Tradition pre served the history of this event, and the church, which was built upon the spot that was consecrated by their blood, was dedicated to their memory, f About the close of the eighth century, Charlemagne founded in this church a chapter of canons, in honor of the martyrs, who now bore the title of Saint Felix and Regula, with a liberal endowment, which succeeding princes enlarged by new donations. His intention was, that the canons should constitute a society for the culture and diffusion of useful learning, and should, at the same time, successively perform the ordinary religious ministrations to the people who worshipped in the minster. But, after the founder's death, nobody cared about his object, or the right ful destination of the fund. The canons made their office a convenient sinecure, and were content to enjoy its rich reve nues without any other labor than that of management and collection. In the latter part of the twelfth century, the parishioners obtained from the duke of Zahringen, who then possessed the sovereignty of the country, a separate provision for a pastor. He was to be chosen out of the chapter, and, with the aid of two deacons, or assistants, whom he was au thorized to choose, was required to perform the labor of preaching and the care of souls. But, although he might devolve the principal burden upon his assistants, such was the idea then entertained of thef pastoral office by these canons, and such the love of a dignified idleness, that this ministry * Schuler, &c, p. 291. | J. F. Moeller im Reformations-Almanach fur 1819, p. 5. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 115 was considered too onerous to be borne by one of themselves. The chapter, therefore, elected a priest, who was not a mem ber of their body, to this laborious and irksome office ; and, either because they thought the labor too much to be always borne by any' ecclesiastic, or because they' imagined that their own dignity obliged them to release him from his burden •after a short period, it was their custom to' elect him a mem ber of the chapter at the end of some years, upon which he retired from all active employments, and spent the rest of his life in a dignified ease and affluence. Zwingle's predecessors in this office were Conrad Hoffman, who retired about the close of the year 1514, and Erhard Battman, who had recently been elected to the canonry. The former is described as an honest man, who inveighed with vehemence against the pre valent vices, and even censured -the abuses committed by the pope and the prelates of the church, but was, nevertheless, a zealous Papist. Of Battman, little is known beside an exces sive superstition.* Zwingle was elected to this office in December, 1518, and without hesitation accepted it, regarding Zurich as of all others the most favorable situation for his great design. By his influence, his friend Leo Juda was called to succeed him at Einsiedeln. Having thus provided for. the edification of his flock, he removed to his new field of labor on the 27th of December, and, on the first day of January, 1519, began his eventful ministry in this place. The terms that were exacted from the preacher of the great-minster, agreeably to established custom, by the provost of the chapter, will throw some further light upon the charac ter of the clergy, and the state of religion at that time. It was most strenuously enjoined that he should be attentive to the collection of the revenues of the institution, and remit nothing, even of the smallest amount ; that, both in the pulpit and in the confessional, he should inculcate the duty of pay ing tithes and other dues, and making presents to the church ; * Schuler, &c, p. 291, &c. 116 HISTORY OF THE and that he should charge himself with the care and improve ment of the revenues. Beside this, the statutes required, in deed, that he should preach and preside over public worship and the administration of the sacraments. But these parts of his office he was permitted to leave to his assistants, espe cially the duty of preaching, which was evidently viewed as that part to which the least importance belonged. With regard to the sacraments, he was required to administer them in person only to people of rank, and only when particularly requested to do so ; and he was forbidden to do the same for all. The office of the principal pastor of the first church in Zurich was thus converted into a mere agency for the love of earthly lucre and self-indulgence, while the wretched flocks over which these faithless shepherds ought to have watched with affectionate concern, were left to take care of themselves in the best way they could. Yet this institution was one of those which were in the best repute ! What, then, must have been the character of the rest ? And how awfully wretched must the state of religion have been throughout the whole church !* How Zwingle got over these statutes, at his induction into office, we are not informed ; but it is certain that, in his min istry, his first attention was given where the law of God required it ; and we may infer that he gave to other matters just as much as they deserved, and no more.f Before he entered upon the duties of his office, he communicated to the * Schuler, &c, p. 308, &c. \ It is hardly probable that these impious terms were even proposed to Zwingle at his induction. His character was not unknown in Zurich, and those who knew him would certainly not expect him to subscribe such a capitulation. The fact, indeed, that he was elected affords a presumption that a majority of the canons had already adopted more rational sentiments than had formerly characterized the chapter ; and this presumption is strengthened by the fact, that most of those who voted for Zwingle readily approved his new plan of preaching, and, what is still more, listened with pleasure to his instructions. If such a change had taken place, we must refer it to the overruling providence of God, which was everywhere waking up a slumbering world. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 117 chapter the plan which he purposed to pursue. He informed them that he would not confine himself in his preaching, as the long-established custom was, to the pericopes or sections of the sacred text which were appointed for each day, but would expound the word ' of God continuously, through an entire book ; and he would begin with the gospel of Matthew, where he would set forth the life and character of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the doctrine which he taught. This purpose was approved by the majority; but some of the members ob jected to it as an innovation, which might lead to others, and would unsettle the people's attachment to the ancient customs, in which they were unwilling that any thing should be changed. Zwingle, nevertheless, persisted in his determination, after showing that the pericopes were no older than the time of Charlemagne, while the plan which he designed to pursue was that of the ancient fathers of the church. This plan enabled him to present to his hearers many important truths, as they came in his way in the course of a continuous exposi tion, without appearing to be sought by the preacher, and without seeming like wilful attacks upon time-hallowed opinions and usages. It was the evangelist himself that led him, step by step, in exposing the deviations of the established religion from the Holy Scripture ; and at every step it was seen that he was sustained in what he said by 'an authority to which they were constrained to submit. From the gospel of Mat thew he proceeded to the Acts of the Apostles, in the exposi tion of which he could acquaint his hearers with the history of the early propagation of Christianity, the preaching of the apostles, the doctrine which they taught, the origin of particu lar churches, the constitution of the church and her ministry, and the lives of the primitive Christians. Next he conducted them through the first epistle of Paul to Timothy, where he could dwell upon the nature and design of the gospel, the character and duty of its ministers, the discipline and order of the church, the duty of Christians, the oneness of the medi ator between God and man, &c. From this epistle he went to the doctrines of faith and of Christian liberty, as they are 118 HISTORY OF THE taught in the epistle to the Galatians ; then to the description of an evangelical pastor in the second epistle to Timothy ; and after this, he took up the epistle to the Hebrews, in his exposition of which he refuted the popish notion of a sacrifice of Christ in the mass, and showed what was the true sacrifice for sins. In this manner he proceeded until he had completed the exposition of the books of the New Testament, and then took up parts of the Old Testament in the same way. His lucid exhibitions of truth, the novelty of his instructions, his fervid eloquence, the knowledge which he imparted, and the warmth which he kindled at the heart, drew to his ministry crowds of attentive hearers ; and such was the effect of his preaching, that, before the end of the year, more than two thousand converts to his doctrines were found in the city and its vicinity. But his success was not without opposition. The same preaching that melted one, hardened another, and the grateful kindness that met him on one side, was balanced by the bitter animosity which assailed him on the other : and to the end of his life there was a conflict with enemies, open or secret, who did not suffer him to be without embarrassing occupation, or to have the pleasure of success without alloy.* About this time, and while Zwingle was yet in Einsiedeln, the first of Luther's writings began to be known in Switzer land. They were republished and extensively circulated by Frobenius, a bookseller in Basel, and were read by multitudes with great avidity. Zwingle, acquainted by report with the nature of their contents, recommended them from the pulpit, both before and after his settlement in Zurich, but did not read them, lest it might seem that he had borrowed from Luther any thing which the Bible itself had taught him. In the mean time, they co-operated with his own exertions, especially in his attack upon the traffic in indulgences.! He never opened a correspondence with Luther ; and the reason which he gives for the omission was, that he wished to let all * Schuler, &c, p. 309-12, 325, &o. f Schroeck's Kirch. Gesch., &c, vol. ii. p. 111. Gieseler's Lehrb., &c, p. 140, and notes. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 119 men see how uniform the Spirit of God was in his teaching, since, notwithstanding their remoteness from one another, and the absence of all previous concert, they still taught one and the same doctrine.* Of Luther he entertained a very exalted opinion, and spoke in the highest terms of approbation. In the explanation of his theses, published in 1523, he says : " In my opinion, Luther is as excellent a soldier of God, and investigates the Scriptures with as much earnestness as any one on earth within a thousand years. Without disparagement to others, I may say, that, since the papacy exists, none has attacked the pope of Rome with the same manly and unshaken courage. He brings out richly what is contained in the eternal and immutable word of God, and shows the heavenly treasure to the poor Christian, and does not care what the enemies of God undertake against it, neither is he concerned about their anger or their threats. I have designedly read but little ; but what I have read, so far as it respects the doc trine, meaning, and sense of the 'Scriptures, is usually so con siderate, and so well-grounded, that it is impossible to refute it. In some things he gives way too much to the weak, in which I am not of his opinion. When Luther preaches Christ, he does it just as I do it ; though, God be praised, an innu merably greater multitude is led to God by him than by me ; God giving to each his measure, greater or less."f Soon after the commencement of Zwingle's ministry in Zurich, Sampson, who had, in the mean time, prosecuted his mission with great success in the- cantons of Zug, Luzern, Unterwalden, and Bern, came there also to offer his precious ware in that city and canton. He had succeeded so well in Bern, that, when all who could afford to buy indulgences had bought them, and none but the poor remained unpardoned and unprepared for heaven, he -resolved before his departure to give to the inhabitants a proof of his love, by helping those who could not help themselves. Accordingly, he first granted plenary indulgence to every one that fell upon his knees and * Schroeck's Kirch. Gesch., vol. i. p. 356-7. , f Ibid. p. 357. 120 HISTORY OF THE said a Pater-noster and an Ave Maria ! To make his benignity more Ulustrious, he next granted to every one who compassed the church three times, reciting his prayers, the privilege of liberating from purgatory any soul that he might name ! Finally, to overwhelm the good people of Bern with a profu sion of kindness, he promised that every Bernese soul, where- ever and whenever it had left the world, should be dehvered from purgatory, if the whole assembly would unitedly say five Pater-nosters and five Ave Marias ! When they had done so, he exclaimed, in a loud voice, " Now, this moment, all Bernese souls have flown together out of the helhsh pains of purgatory into the joys of the kingdom of heaven !"* This audacious knave did not find the same acceptance in Zurich. He had neglected to exhibit bis credentials to the bishop of the diocese, and to have them attested by his Vidi mus. The bishop resented this contemptuous neglect by for bidding the sale of indulgences within his jurisdiction, and the opening of the churches for the monk's accommodation ; and he even sent an ambassador to the diet, which was then assem bled in Zurich, to request them to interpose their influence, and prevent his being admitted into the city. For this there was, perhaps, no necessity. The council had heard of the scandalous proceedings of Sampson, and being urged by the representations of the reformer, they forbade his entrance into Zurich, but, out of respect to the pope, they entertained him without the walls, and dismissed him. At the same time, they addressed themselves to the pope with complaints of the gross abuse of indulgences by his reckless agent, and requested his recall and punishment. Leo rephed, about the close of the month of April, in a missive, addressed to all the cantons, in which he says, " They had applied to him for a decision, in order that they might obey his commands, concerning certain doubts that might be injurious to their souls, which had arisen between some monks, respecting the indulgences which he had * Anselm's Berner Chronik, vol. v. p. 335, in Gieseler's Lehrbuoh der Kirch. Gesoh. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 121 proclaimed. But he had already taken occasion, from a simi lar controversy in Germany, to write to his legate there, cardinal Cajetan, and to say to him, that, agreeably to the decision of the church, which must be obeyed, under the penalty of an excommunication which none but the pope can remove in the hour of death, the authority of the pope to grant such indulgences was unquestionable. They should, therefore, give no heed to such controversies, but adhere firmly to the prescriptions of the holy see, which could not err. He had, nevertheless, at their solicitation,, recalled the monk of whom they complained, and would punish him, if he were found guilty."* Zwingle was induced by these occurrences to renew his earnest appeals to the prelates of the church for the re moval of the abuses that equally oppressed and disgraced her; but he appealed in vain. The rulers of the church had no heart for such things, while they saw their interest in the continuance of the prevailing disorder, f In consequence of the reformer's increasing boldness in exposing the corruptions of the church, one of the monks went to Basel, for the purpose of there publishing four sermons against him, on the subject of image-worship, which, however, his friends in that city were able so to counteract, that the printing was interdicted by the bishop and the council. But in the following year, 1520, several of the canons drew up a complaint, in which they enumerated twenty-one articles, gathered from his sermons and conversations, for which they demanded that he should be publicly reproved ; and the provost of the chapter, also, Felix Frey, put into his hands a lengthy remonstrance of similar import. Zwingle replied verbally to the provost, and begged him to spare him in future the pains of attending to complaints that were sustained by such futile , grounds. The complaint of the canons, instead of arresting, accelerated the progress of his reformation. His preaching, * Schroeck's Kirch. Gesch., vol. ii. p. 113. J. J. Hottinger's Historie der Ref. in der Eidgenossenschaft, p. 41, &c. f Voegelin's Jahrtafel zu Zwinglis Leben, p. 20. L 16 122 HISTORY OF THE during the year, had made such an impression upon the coun cil, that they commanded, by a pubhc decree, " That all the clergy within their territories should preach the holy gospels and the epistles of the apostles, freely and without hinderance, in conformity with the Spirit of God and the Holy Scriptures ; that they should teach nothing which they could not prove by the Scriptures, and should abstain from later additions and commandments of men."* The authenticity of this decree rests chiefly upon the author ity of BuUinger, in his history of the Swiss reformation. It is questioned by Voegelin, in his Jahrtafel zu Zwingli's Leben, whose grounds are, that it is improbable that the coun cil, who were so tardy in other respects, should act so deci sively at so early a period in this case ; that there is no original record of the fact in the archives of Zurich ; and that, as such a decree was published in 1523, and was therefore still wanted at that time, it is improbable that a similar one had been published in 1520. c.These grounds, however, are not decisive. The decree in question is alluded to in the answer of the coun cil of Zurich to the complaint of the Papist cantons, in 1524, which is preserved by Fueslin, in his Beitrage zur Ref. Gesch. der Schweitzerlands ; and the fact is attested by BuUinger, a cotemporary historian, and Zwingle's successor in Zurich, who could hardly have fallen into so great an error in writing the history of his own times. The political troubles of the Swiss were renewed in 1520, and still more in 1521, by the intrigues of the pope, and by the efforts of Francis I., king of France, and the emperor, Charles V., to secure their aid in the wars which these rival princes waged against one another. Francis finally suc ceeded, in a diet of the confederates held at Luzern on the 3d of May, 1521, to conclude a treaty of alliance with all the cantons except Zurich. This canton resolved, in pursuance of the counsels and earnest admonitions of Zwingle, to main- * Schroeck, &c. p. 114. Fuosli's Beitrage zur Ref. Gesch. des Schweitz erlands, vol. ii. No. 4. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 123 tain a strict neutrality, and to adhere to the treaty of per petual peace which all the cantons had subscribed and sworn in 1516. The pope, nevertheless, had the address to obtain from Zurich a force of about three thousand men, ostensibly for the protection of the territories of the church, but in reality for the service of the emperor, with whom he had secretly entered into a treaty for the expulsion of the French from Italy. Zwingle, who was zealously opposed to all foreign alliances that would call away the Swiss soldier from his own soil, in veighed against this compliance with papal interests in strong terms ; but the council thought themselves obliged, by a for mer covenant, to aid in protecting the pontiff and the church, while they refused to participate at all in the strife between the emperor and the king of France. When the troops were well on their way to Italy, the secret of their destination transpired ; upon which an express was sent to recall them ; but they were permitted to continue their march after renewed assurances that they should not act against the French, and after exacting an oath to that effect from every soldier. The united forces of the pope and the emperor triumphed over those of Francis, and drove them out of the Milanese terri tories ; and the troops of the twelve cantons returned to their own country without either laurels or booty. Those cantons were previously incensed against Zurich for refusing to unite with them in a common cause, and, after the defeat of their expe dition, became still more embittered against her ; and more still because she had furnished troops to the opposing parties, erroneously believing that those troops had participated in the contest. The bitterest odium fell upon Zwingle, who was charged as the author of all their dissensions, and of the con sequences that arose from them : the very man who of all others labored most to put away the causes of their broils and of their debasement and distress, and who had raised his voice loud and long, on the late occasion, against the succors fur nished to the pope. Even in Zurich, Zwingle's political reforms raised up enemies against him. Among these were many who had at first favored his religious reformation ; and 124 HISTORY OF THE these were not always those of the lowest order, but the men of most influence in the state, and leaders among the people. They were those who were bribed with foreign pensions to serve the pope, or the king of France, whatever might be the consequence to their own country, and those who coveted similar favors ; all of whom saw their hope cut off by the new order of things which the reformer was laboring to establish. The council had, some years before, (July, 1513,) forbidden the acceptance of foreign pensions, and bound every citizen of the state, by an oath, to the faithful observance of their decree : and this oath was exacted anew in 1521, after their refusal to unite with the other cantons in their treaty of alliance with France. _ The practice, nevertheless, continued in secret ; but it was now attended with danger, and detection would expose the culprits to the vengeance of the law. It was, therefore, their interest to have the law abrogated, and the practice left free ; but to this, Zwingle and all his adhe rents were zealously opposed; and his voice was raised, in tones of indignation, against the baseness of men who would subject their country to all the miseries that resulted from their treachery, for the sake of gold. The whole tribe of pensioners, with all their dependants, therefore became the mortal enemies of Zwingle, and of all his reforms, both reli gious and political, and went over to the side of the Papists, with a deadly hatred of the Reformation. This party invented, and gave circulation to, the most injurious calumnies against the reformer and his measures, which were readily received and eagerly devoured by bigoted Papists, not only through out the canton, but beyond its limits, in every part of Swit zerland which they could be made to reach, especially where the" reformer could not be heard in his defence ; and of all the miscreants that are consigned to blackness of darkness, none appeared more hateful to devout Papists, whose information was obtained from this polluted source, than the unfortunate Zwingle.* * J. J. Hottinger, &c, p. 58, 65-70. Voegelin's Jahrtafel, p. 25. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 125 To these trials were added others, which arose from the machinations of the bishop of Constance, Hugo of Landenberg, and his vicar, John Faber. These dignitaries had until lately been Zwingle's friends, acknowledged the corruptions of the church, and promised to contribute their part to its reforma tion ; but seeing what that reformation would be, and how it would affect their interests, they opposed it, secretly at first, openly afterwards, and their friendship was gradually trans formed into fixed enmity and hatred. The reformer saw himself, not only forsaken in the conflict, but resisted by all the prelates of the church who possessed the power to aid him, and whom he had hoped to see as leaders in so righteous a cause. These perfidious ecclesiastics encouraged his enemies, counteracted all his measures, and endeavored to effect his entire overthrow. Amidst these difficulties, which rather increased than diminished from day to day, and of which no end could be seen, he often felt inexpressibly oppressed, and sometimes entertained thoughts of retiring from his ministry, and seeking some obscure retreat, where he might find a respite from his toil and grief: " Oh ! that I had wings like a dove ; then would I fly away and be at rest." This despond ing thought, which a holier man than he could not always forbear to entertain, may often have had possession of his mind in its deepest afflictions ; but, soon recovering his trust in God, he resumed his courage, rose above his difficulties, and despised every danger ; even when his situation was such that his life was sought, and there was scarcely a place remaining where he could lie down and .rest in safety.* In the early part of 1521, Zwingle was elected to a canon- ship by the chapter, and he might now, agreeably to the old custom, have retired from active life, and passed the remainder of his days in a dignified leisure ; but he retained his pastorship, and continued to perform all the same duties, with incessant application, to the end of his life. Neither was he content with the labors he was performing, ,or with the acquisitions he ^ * Voegelin's Jahrtafel, p. 27. l2 126 HISTORY OF THE had made, so long as any thing remained to be done, or any thing to-be acquired, by which he could be more useful to the cause of truth and of piety. In 1522, John Boeschenstein, a skilful Hebraist, and a pupil of the celebrated Reuchlin, came to Zurich, and the opportunity being thus presented, Zwingle gladly embraced it, to acquire a knowledge of the Hebrew language, that he might be enabled to read the Old Testament, as well as the New, in its original fountains.* Regarding the Holy Scriptures as the main source of religious , knowledge, and as the only standard of faith and practice, he justly thbught it all-important that, a minister of religion should be able to interpret them accurately and lucidly, and his experience had taught him the impossibility of ascertaining their true sense in many places, without a sufficient acquaint ance with their original languages. For this reason he applied himself with the utmost diligence to the study of the Greek language, after his settlement at Glarus, and "was /satisfied with no attainments in it until he had mastered it and was familiar with all its standard writers : and now, looking for ward to an exposition of the Old Testament, he saw nothing in his advanced years, nor in the multiplicity of his other engagements, to excuse him from the toil of learning a lan guage so new to the divines of that period, and so difficult, as the Hebrew. That his attempt was not an abortive one, and that his progress was not inconsiderable, is proved by his German translation of the Psalms, with marginal notes, and his Latin version of the book of Job.f He had loftier ideas of the gospel ministry, and of the requisite qualifications for it, than those which are common in our day : and while his example affords the best encouragement to the faithful minister of Christ, who is desirous of being well-furnished for his im portant work, it administers a severe, rebuke to those whose chief concern is to be admitted into the sacred office on the * According to Hottinger, he had received some instruction in Hebrew from Ceporinus, in 1520. See Hottinger, &c, p. 52. f Voegelin's Jahrtafel, p. 27. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 127 easiest terms, and, when they have compassed that end, lay aside the studies that were deemed necessary to qualify them for it, and soon forget the little they once knew. Hitherto the laws and customs of the church had continued to maintain their authority, but the people had begun to per ceive their unscriptural character, and to become impatient of the heavy yoke which they imposed ; and in this year, (1522,) some of the citizens of Zurich determined to assert their liberty by eating flesh on fast-days and during the season of Lent. These inroads upon the laws of the church provoked the bishop of Constance to address a remonstrance to the chapter against such innovations, which was transmitted by a special deputation.* Zwingle, whom this measure was par ticularly designed to affect, was now under the necessity of taking ground against his superior, and to risk the conse quences of an open rupture. He appeared accordingly before the chapter, and, on the next day, before the council, in the presence of the bishop's deputies, and both vindicated the liberty of Christians in things of that kind, and defended the doctrine which he had taught ; and this he did with such effect, that the council resolved, unanimously, that the bishop be requested to obtain without delay the judgment of the highest ecclesiastical authorities on the controverted subject, and to publish the same for general information, and that, in the mean time, the people should be admonished to abstain from all unauthorized innovations. The reformer saw that this question would now, probably, come to an early decision, and that the determination of it would have an important bearing upon the whole ritual of the church. He was, therefore, anxious that both the council and the public should be well prepared for the crisis, and that the expected answer from the highest authorities in the church, which he easily foresaw would be unfavorable to his doctrine, should not unsettle the * The deputies were John Faber, the bishop's suffragan, John Vanner, or Wanner, cathedral preacher, and N. Brenli. They came to Zurich on the 7th of April. 128 HISTORY OF THE minds of those who were well inclined. For this purpose, he wrote and published the first of his avowed writings, under the title, Vom Erkiesen und Freiheit der Speisen, — Of the choice and the freeness of meats. This treatise was eagerly read, and created a great sensation. To counteract its effect, the bishop addressed to all the clergy and people of his diocese a pastoral letter, teeming with complaints against what he called disturbing and dangerous innovations, and with warnings to abstain from them ; and in another letter, ad dressed to the provost and chapter, he admonished the cantons to beware of the poison of the new doctrines, and urged them to an earnest resistance against those who taught them, and thereby disparaged and degraded the ancient usages of the church. When this letter was read in the chapter, Zwingle requested that it be placed in his hands, that he might prepare his reply to it, saying, " With the help of God I will give it such an answer, that every one may see the truth, and discover the impostures of these men." His answer was entitled Ar- cheteles ; that is, The beginning and the end; intimating the hope that, as this was the beginning of his controversy on this subject, so it would also be the end of it. In this production, ' he frankly acknowledged that he rejected all arbitrary human prescriptions in religion ; that he taught the doctrine of the Holy Scriptues alone, and without regard to the systems of the schools ; and that he viewed all religious compulsion with abhorrence. In the chapter, Zwingle's most active opponent was Conrad Hoffman, formerly the pastor of the church. He had given his vote for him, but became dissatisfied when he heard the annunciation of his purpose to neglect the long-established pericopes, which alone had been read to the people, and to expound whole books of the New Testament without regard to any human authorities ; and still more was he discontented when he observed, what he had before apprehended, how such a mode of teaching unsettled the people's faith in the doc trines and usages of the church. With him the authority of the church, which professed to be under the constant guidance GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 129 of the Holy Ghost, was paramount ; the Bible was to be un derstood only as the church interpreted it through the fathers, the councils, the popes, and her approved divines ; her tradi tions were of equal weight with the written word ; in ordain ing articles of faith and ceremonies of worship, she was infal lible, and whatever she had sanctioned was, therefore, to be received as of divino authority. To reject these principles, to adhere to the written word alone, to interpret the Bible agreeably to his own judgment, and to subject thc church to the judgment of the Bible, as he understood it, — this was a daring and unheard-of presumption, which no good Catholic could approve, or endure. Soon after thc bishop's inter ference, Hoffman, therefore, preferred a complaint in writing against tho reformer, in thc assembled chapter. As an honest man, he had thc candor to acknowledge the merits of the preacher, the correctness of some of his views, and the utility of many of his instructions ; ho admitted that there were abuses in some monasteries and the lives of many monks that deserved to be chastised, but thought that rebuke should be administered with prudence, and existing corruptions should not be exposed to thc multitude. Erasmus, he thought, had already done much harm in this way ; since Luther's doctrine bad been condemned by the universities of Cologne and Lou vain, they ought not to be taught at all, either in public or in private, unless they were clearly contained in the Holy Scrip tures, or in other good books, until the rulers of the church shall have pronounced their judgment : he complained that Zwingle had handled the scholastic divines, whom the church approved, with severity, and had extracted from their writings opinions which appeared to the people senseless and frivolous, by which he had injured the community much more than if he had destroyed half the fruits of the earth : Zwingle should insist more on the reverence which is due to the holy virgin : he should show the consistency of the worship of the saints with the worship of Cod, and not forbid to say the holy Pater noster in honor of them also ; he should not prove his doc trine by Greek books not yet translated into Latin, and should 130 HISTORY OF THE affirm nothing which he could not support by the words of some eminent doctor ; and, finally, every one is to be held a heretic who presumes to interpret the Scripture in any other sense than that which the Holy Ghost has given it ; [that is, the church speaking by the Holy Ghost.] The reformer met these complaints by a reply that silenced his opponents and covered his accuser with shame.* His most virulent enemies in the city were the monks of the three mendicant orders, the Dominicans, the Franciscans, and the Augustinians ; especially the first-named, who were, all the world over, the chief instruments of the hierarchy for the discovery and the punishment of heresy. The pulpits of the monastic preachers sounded incessantly with strains of invective against the reformer, and their convents were the places of resort for the zealous adherents of the old supersti tion, who were plotting his overthrow. They were treated by him, in their turn, with as httle tenderness. He exposed their ignorance and' their vices, and the absurdity of their institu tions, with irresistible evidence, and held them up to public odium and scorn. They felt their inability to sustain them selves in the contest,, and were desirous of terminating it by the intervention of the civil authority. For this end, they pre ferred their complaint to the council, and found means to pro cure a decree which forbade in future all preaching against the monks. This order Zwingle disregarded, inasmuch as the monks continued to preach what he esteemed falsehoods. Their griev ance was, therefore, at their instance, referred to a special com mission, which, after much altercation, agreed by a majority to the proposition, That nothing which might cause dissension should thereafter be preached, but every thing of this kind should be submitted for a decision to the judgment of the chapter. This preposterous proposition Zwingle rejected instantly. He declared that he would preach the gospel, agreeably to the mandate already promulgated, and would be embarrassed by no conditions. In Zurich, he said, he was * Hottinger, &c, p. 101, &c. Voegelin, &c, p. 29. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 131 pastor, and was charged with the care of souls ; he, and not the monks, had sworn to the faithful performance of that office. He was sustained by the council, and the monks were com manded to put away their scholastics and other human au thorities, and to preach only what they could prove by clear testimonies' of the written word. The secular priests were at the same time authorized to officiate in the pulpits of the conventuals, from which they had formerly been excluded. Zwingle was particularly directed to preach in the female con vent of Oetenbach, to which none but the Dominicans had been permitted to have access. In that place he preached the sermon " On the perspicuity and certainty of the Divine Word," which he afterwards enlarged and published, with a dedication to the nuns, to encourage them to read and study the Holy Scriptures.* Not only the chapter and the monastic fraternities, but the general diet of the confederacy also were moved by the bishop to take a position against the reformer. A diet, assembled at Luzern in May, 1522, decreed, " That, inasmuch, as the priests everywhere in the confederacy were preaching contra dictory doctrines, whereby dissensions and discontents were caused among the people, and occasion was given to errors in the Christian faith, the authorities of the several cantons should converse with their priests, and cause them to desist from such preaching, "f This decree might be regarded as an incipient step toward an authorized persecution, and it was, therefore, not a little important to meet it at the outset with a counteracting influence. Zwingle and other evangelical preachers, there fore, met at Einsiedeln to deliberate upon the course they should pursue, and resolved to address both the bishop of the diocese and the authorities of the cantons, in the hope of soft ening their asperity, and procuring at least forbearance, if they could not obtain their approbation. They addressed an * Hottinger, &c, p. 82. Voegelin, &c, p. 31. f Hottinger, &c, p. 82. 132 HISTORY OF THE humble supplication to the bishop of Constance, in which they entreated him to turn away from the false accusations and injurious promptings of their enemies, and to yield to the counsel of Gamaliel ; seeing that, if their work were of men, it would fall of itself, but if it were of God, all resistance to it would be vain. They besought him to consider the excel lency of the gospel, and the great favor which God was vouchsafing to their times, in the spirit of inquiry that pre vailed, and in the preaching of the unadulterated gospel, and pressed upon his attention the divine judgment that might be justly apprehended if so great a mercy were contemned. They expressed a hope that the bishop would consider it his duty to protect the preaching of God's word, declared their unalterable purpose to persist in their ministration of it, and observed that, if the bishop, or any of the authorities, should resist them, they would see in that fact only a verification of the prediction, that Christ would be a sign to be spoken against. This supplication was subscribed by Balthazar Trachsel, pastor of Art, in the canton of Schweitz; George Stehelin, lately Zwingle's deacon, now pastor of Weiningen, in the canton of Zurich ; Werner Steiner, priest of Zug, in the canton of Zug ; Leo Juda, pastor of Einsiedeln ; Erasmus Schmid, canon of the Great-Minster in Zurich ; Hans Schmid, chaplain of the same place ; Simon Stumpf, pastor of Hoengg, in the canton of Zurich ; Ulric Pfister, pastor of Uster, in the same canton ; Jodocus Kilchmeyer, canon of Luzern, in the canton of Luzern; Caspar Grossman, or Megander, preacher at the hospital in Zurich; and Ulrick Zwingle. The act of subscribing such an address to the bishop was not without its danger, and, but for the circumstances of the times, and the bishop's weakness, would have cost the signers their livings, if not their liberty. In their address to the cantonal authorities, they respectfully and humbly prayed them to put no hinderance in the way of the gospel-ministry ; they repre sented that the gospel was the only means of salvation to sinful men, and the only fountain of spiritual consolation and strength ; that it was to be learned only from the Holy Scrip- GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 133 tures ; that no human power could stay its progress ; that the preaching of it was necessary to the well-being of their coun try ; and for that reason, they were fully resolved to proclaim it to the people. And as nothing was more injurious to the prevalence of truth than a vicious example in the lives of the clergy, and the law of celibacy, imposed upon the order without distinction, was a prolific cause of public scandal, they humbly prayed for the abrogation of that law, or, at least, a connivance at the transgression of it by those eccle siastics who might think it proper to enter into the bonds of matrimony. The same request was made also in their petition to the bishop, whom they besought to procure this act of justice from the supreme authority in the church. This address was forwarded without the signatures of its authors ; probably because those of them who lived under rigidly popish governments, might have been exposed to serious dangers if their names had appeared to such an instrument.* These transactions served to disseminate more extensively the principles of the Reformation, and to spread the reformer's fame over Switzerland and the neighboring countries. Letters came to him every day from persons at a distance, who apprized him of their concurrence in his opinions, and solicited his friendship ; the confidence of the people grew, and their approbation of the principles of religious liberty, which he inculcated, became daily more visible in their conversation and their manner of life. About this time, (June, 1522,) Franciscus Lambert, a learned monk of the order of St. Francis, who had been many years professor of theology at Avignon in France, came to Zurich, after visiting other cities of Switzerland, and preached repeatedly in the church of Notre Dame. In one of these discourses, he vindicated the intercession of the saints, and held, consequently, the propriety of invoking them in prayer. Being contradicted by Zwingle, he solicited a public conference * Hottinger, &c, p. 84-85. Voegelin's Jahrtafel, &c, p. 30-31. Gieseler's Lehrbuch, &c, p. 150, note 55. M 134 HISTORY OF THE with him ; but, after a discussion of some hours, he acknow ledged his error, and, with uplifted hands, gave thanks to God for his dehverance from it. He became afterwards an efficient co-worker in the Reformation. From Zurich he went to Wittenberg, where he was kindly received by Luther, who honored him with his friendship, and procured a situation for him. In 1524, he attempted to introduce the Reformation at Metz, in his native country, but was foiled by the violent opposition of the clergy. Soon afterwads he taught with much acceptance in Strasburg, where he published some com mentaries on the Old Testament. In 1526, he acted a con spicuous part in the reformation of the electorate of Hessia, and, in the succeeding year, was appointed theological pro fessor in the university at Marburg, where he taught with distinguished reputation. After the conference at Marburg, between the Swiss and the Saxon reformers, in 1529, he professed the doctrine of Zwingle on the Lord's supper. He died of the plague, in 1530.* In Zurich, the reformation continued to advance. Some thing was done toward the organization of a high-school, by the appointment of a professor of Greek and Hebrew, with particular reference to the study of the Holy Scriptures, and the education of a suitably qualified ministry for the churches of the canton; abandoned females were expelled from the city and canton ; and places of refuge, where the vicious found protection from merited vengeance, were shut up. The spirit of reform penetrated into the convent of Oetenbach. Some of the nuns, believing that the life of a convent was less favorable to genuine piety than the occupations of common life, were desirous of abandoning the order, while the majority wished to remain, and opposed the separation of the discon tented nuns. The council ordered that all the nuns should remain until Whitsuntide of the ensuing year, in the expecta tion of events which might indicate the course to be pursued. And as many of the clergy continued to receive pensions from * Schroeck, &c, vol. ii., p. 29. Voegelin, &c, p. 31. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 135 the pope, to attach them to his interests, the whole body were assembled in the great-minster, and obliged by an oath to relinquish them in future.* About the middle of August, 1522, the chapter of Zurich- see, containing thirty-eight parishes, and extending from the canton of Glarus, on the Lint, the lake of Zurich, and the Limmat, to the county of Baden, inclusive, in a meeting held at Rapperschweil, resolved, unanimously, to preach only what they could prove by the word of God. In pursuance of this resolution, Hans Urban Weiss, pastor of Visisbach, rejected the invocation of the virgin Mary and the saints, taught that it was sufficient to address ourselves in prayer to God alone, and formed a matrimonial engagement, anticipating the abro gation of the law of celibacy. For these offences, he was arrested and delivered over to the custody of the bishop of Constance, and orders were given by the diet to the governors of the common territories to inform them of every priest who taught any doctrine contrary to the established faith. Weiss was retained as a prisoner in Constance, and exertions were made to bring him back to the bosom of the church of Rome. Reports were circulated that he was vacillating in his faith, when Zwingle addressed to him a letter of exhortation to faith fulness and perseverance. After a long confinement, he was released, but was ordered to quit the bishop's jurisdiction. He settled, however, at Winterthur, in the canton of Zurich, where he was safe from farther process. After this first ex ample of persecution by the civil authorities in Switzerland, a German nobleman,. Hartman von Cronenberg, leaving his castle and estates, near Frankfort, came to Basel, and there published an exhortation to the confederates, beseeching them to consider the greatest of all favors which God was bestow ing upon them in the publication of his gospel, and to accept it with thankfulness.f On the other hand, the prelates moved the diet to persist in their persecuting measures. The depu ties of the cantons were admonished by the diet to urge their * Hottinger, &c, p. 99, 100. t Ibid- P- 10s &c. 136 HISTORY OF THE respective governments to suppress the new doctrines, and the rulers of Zurich and Basel were advised to put a stop to the printing of new books.* The spirit of opposition was still farther exasperated by a foreign influence, particularly from the see of Rome. Adrian VL, successor of Leo X., elected to the papacy on the 9th of January, 1522, addressed a brief to the diet of Nuremberg, in November of the same year, in which he complained of the remissness of the German princes to execute the decree of Worms against Luther, and indulged in a strain of bitter in vective against that reformer, to whom he imputed all the evils that afflicted the German empire ; he reproached the Ger mans for suffering themselves to be seduced by a single apos tate monk, endeavored to excite the apprehensions of the rulers that civil disobedience and rebellion would soon follow the religious apostacy, fulminated fearful threats, and held up to them for imitation the pious example of the council of Constance, who delivered the heretical John Huss to the flames. This writing created much alarm in the minds of many, while it inflated the insolence of the prelates, who gave utterance to their vindictive feelings in vehement outcries against Luther. f The flame which was kindled by this brief was not extinguished by the humiliating acknowledgment that accompanied it, of the gross and scandalous corruption which had prevailed in the chair of St. Peter, and from thence had diffused itself, as from the head, through all the members of the hierarchy : it burned, perhaps, the more fiercely, for the degrading oonfession of their chief, which gave to the great heresiarch so dangerous an advantage; and its effects wore not confined to Germany, but extended to Switzerland also, where it kindled the zeal and the anger of the bigoted Papists into more violent heat. J Notwithstanding the increasing violence of the opposition, * Hottinger, &c, p. 108, 104. f Seckendorf, Gesoh. des Luthorthums, ool. 552. % Hottinger, &c, p. 104. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 137 the progress of the Reformation continued onward. The con vent of Cappel, over which Wolfgang Jouor presided as abbot, was converted by its superior into a school for the study of the Latin classics and the Holy Scriptures, and Henry Bul- linger, junior, who had just returned from his studies abroad, was called, in January, 1523, to direct the exercises of the institution. This seminary afterwards rendered essential ser vice to the churches and the schools of this canton.* But as the warfare continued to rage, and to grow in fierce ness, and, amidst the noise and clamor against the reformer and the still louder cries of heresy, there was danger that the gentler voice of reason might be unheard, Zwingle appeared before the council, and requested them to appoint a public disputation on the points at issue between him and his adver saries, promising to give an account of his doctrine in the presence of the bishop, or of his representatives, and of any other persons, learned or unlearned, and to submit, if it were proved to be unscriptural, but asking support and protection if the charges of heresy could not be substantiated by the testimo ny of the Holy Scriptures. The council assented to his wishes, and appointed a disputation to be held in their presence on the 29th day of February, 1523. In their manifest, they com manded the clergy throughout the canton to appear on the appointed day, prepared with scriptural testimonies to confute the doctrines to which they objected, and to prove the charges of heresy, if they were well founded. They promised that, when it sliould appear that these doctrines were consistent, or not consistent with the word of God, they would command either to persist in them or to abstain from them ; to the end that every one should not in future propound in the pulpit whatever he chose, whether founded or not in the Holy Scrip- , ture. They requested the bishop of Constance to attend either in person or by his deputies, and invited also the representa tives of the cantons, who were assembled in a diet at Baden, * Yoegelin's Jahrtat'ol. &c, p. S4. m2 IS 138 history of the expressing the hope that Almighty God would enlighten with the knowledge of the truth those who earnestly sought it. All the cantons, except Basel, forbade the attendance of their divines. The bishop was not present, but was represented by others, the principal of whom was his suffragan or vicar, John Faber. Notwithstanding the opposition of the Papists, the number who assembled, of clerics and laymen, was about six hundred. The episcopal deputies were unwilling to participate in the discussion, alleging that the subjects proposed for debate should be reserved for a general council, or discussed before the learned of the universities, and stated that they were present on the part of their bishop, not to discuss doc trines of faith, but to inquire, as judges, into the rehgious commotions in Zurich, and to hear and reconcile the contend ing parties. Faber was, nevertheless, unwittingly drawn out by Zwingle into a dispute concerning the invocation of the saints, and, in this trial, exposed most pitiably bis ignorance of the Bible and the weakness of his cause.* Although this great religious movement was in manifest violation of the laws and customs of the church, which referred the decision of all matters of faith and worship to the sove reign pontiff, or to a council recognised by him, yet the pope took no public notice of it. His forbearance proceeded from political considerations. Zurich was the only one of the thir teen cantons that perseveringly rejected the French alliance, and had, so lately as the year 1521, granted a body of auxi liaries to his holiness ; and, standing as it did at the head of the confederacy, the pope felt no little anxiety to retain it in his interests. Adrian, therefore, overlooked what was hardly to be borne with, and, instead of uttering his anathemas, courted the friendship of the leaders of this religious sedition, and of Zwingle, the master-spirit in these hated measures.! The captain of his guard, Caspar Roeust, came to Zurich, under the pretence of visiting his father, and brought with * Hottinger, &c, p. 106. Voegelin, &c, p. 34. f Gieseler's Lehrbuoh, &c, p. 152. Hottinger, &c, p. 107, 110-112. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 139 him a letter from the pope, full of soothing blandishments, to the burgomaster of the same name, who was, probably, his relative. With him came the legate Ennius, who was instructed to assure the Zurichian magistrate of the pontiff's kind dis position toward him, and to propose to the confederacy an alliance with the holy see. The same Ennius was charged with a special mission to Zwingle, to whom he delivered a private letter from his master, in which, after some very com plimentary notices of Zwingle's eminent merits, the holy father intimated the great favor which he might expect from the court of Rome, wished him to pay attention to the propositions of his legate, and promised him a profusion of advantages if he would support the interests of the apostolic see. At the same time, Francis Zing, the intimate friend and associate of Zwingle at Einseideln, who was also honored with the title of acolyte chaplain to the pope, received an epistle from the pontiff, by which he was authorized to make proposals to his friend, and urged to bring him over to the interests oiHome. When Myconius asked him what the pope had promised to Zwingle, he replied, "Everything except the papal throne."* Zwingle himself says of these alluring offers : " Lately, still, I received letters from the pope, and great verbal promises : all * Voegelin, &c, p. 33. Schroeck, &c, vol. ii. p. 219. Sehuler's Huld- reich Zwingle, Notes, note 177, p. 59, 60. Gieseler's Lehrb., &c, p. 153. The pope's letter, as we have it in Sehuler's note, is as follows: "Adrian VL, Pope. Beloved son! Salutatioti and apostolic benediction ! We have sent the brother Ennius, bishop of Veroli, and nuncius of the apostolic see, a wise and creditable man, to the nr incible, and with us and this holy see most intimately united people, to treat with the same of matters of the utmost importance to us, to our see, and to all Christendom. Although we have given him in charge to treat thereof with all the states publicly, yet, inasmuch as we have knowledge of your eminent virtue, and cordially love your devotion, and repose especial confidence in you, we have commanded the bishop, our nuncius, to deliver our letter separately to you, and to as sure you of our best wishes toward you. We therefore exhort your devotion in the Lord, that you both give entire credit to him, and proceed in things relating to us and the said apostolic see, in the same mind which we have pursued for your honor and advantage ; by which you will obtain distin guished favor with us." [Hortamur itaque devotionem tuam in Domino, ut 140 HISTORY OF THE that a vain and avaricious man could desire did they offer ; to whom, God willing, I answered unmoved and in a Christian manner, well knowing that I might become as great as any one, if I had not preferred the poverty of Christ to all the magnificence of the papal courtiers."* These facts show that the forbearance of Adrian toward Zwingle, as well as that of Leo, proceeded from a cause very different from that which Vater seems to insinuate, and to which we have already adverted in another place. It was, doubtless, after this time that Adrian's cardinals gave him the advice mentioned by Vater ; and it was evidently designed as a consolation to the holy father, or as a last resort in a desperate cause, rather than as an expression of contempt for the Swiss reformation and its author. That the pope was now prevented by such advice from proceeding to extremities against Zwingle, is indeed possible ; but it is more probable that he considered such measures now too late, after the lono- forbearance of his predecessor, especially when he saw how they had aggravated the evil in Germany, where there had not been so much delay. A crusade might have accomplished his wishes in Germany as well as in Switzerland, if the popish princes had been willing to unite their arms for the extirpation of the new heresy. But these princes had other occupation than a holy war, and other interests than ecclesiastical ortho doxy: they were, moreover, too jealous of the court oi Rome and of one another, too much dissatisfied with the clerical order and the corruptions of the church, and too desirous to derive some political advantages from the difficulties of the et illi omnem fidem habeas, et quo nos animo ad honores tuos et commoda tendimus, eodem tu in nostris et dicta, sedis apostolicee rebus procedas. De quo gratiam apud nos invenies non mediocrem.] Dated at Rome, Ja nuary 23, 1523. * Schuler, &c, p. 344. The court of Rome resolved to try other methods to draw Zwingle from his purpose than those which it had employed- against Luther ; but both were equally ineffectual. Luther could not be terrified into silence and submission ; and Zwingle oould neither be allured in the first instance, nor frightened afterwards. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 141 papal see, to engage heartily in such an enterprise. When the popes, therefore, saw that their anathemas were hurled at Luther in vain, nothing else remained to them but temporizing expedients, and the trial of bribery and seduction. For the appointed disputation, the reformer drew up and pubhshed a summary of the doctrines he had taught, com prised in sixty-seven articles or theses, which he pledged himself to defend against the charge of heresy. They have been placed beside Luther's ninety-five theses, and viewed as sustaining the same relation 1fo the Swiss reformation which those have to the reformation in Germany. We translate them here, from J. F. Moeller's sketch of the history of the Reformed church, in the Reformations Almanach fiir 1819, and Gieseler's Lehrbuch der Kirchen Geschichte, vol. hi., pt. 1., p. 153. 1. All who say that the gospel is nothing without the approval of the church, do err, and reproach God. 2. The sum of the gospel is, That our Lord Jesus Christ, the true Son of God, has made known to us the will of his heavenly Father, and has, by his innocence, redeemed us from death, and reconciled us to God. 3. Hence the only way of salvation, for all who were, are, or shall be, is Christ. 4. Whoever seeks or shows another way, errs, and is a murderer of souls and a thief. 5. All who make other' doctrines equal or superior to the gospel, do err, and know not what the gospel is. 6. Christ Jesus is a leader and captain promised and given by God to the whole human race, 7. That he might be an everlasting salvation, and also the head of all believers, who are his body ; but which is lifeless and can do nothing without him. 8. From this it follows, first, that all those who live in the head are members of the body, and children of God ; and this is the church, or the community of saints, a bride of Christ, the cathohc church. 142 HISTORY OF THE 9. It follows, secondly, that as the members of the body can do nothing without the governing head, so in the body of Christ none is able to do the least thing without Christ his head. 10. As a man is insensible when the members act without their head, rend, wound, and injure themselves ; so also, when the members of Christ undertake any thing without their head, they are insensible, smite and oppress themselves by foolish laws. 11. Hence we see that the so-called spiritual laws con cerning their magnificence, rfches, ranks, titles, are a cause of all insanity, inasmuch as -they do not accord with the head. 12. Thus they still rage, not for the sake of the head, (for this is what we are endeavoring by divine grace to bring for ward,) but because we will not permit them to domineer any longer, but are resolved to hearken to the head only. 13. He that hearkens to him only learns to know the will of God purely and clearly, and is, by his spirit, drawn into him, and transformed into him. 14. Therefore all Christians should apply their utmost diligence, that the gospel of Christ alone be preached in all places. 15. For in the belief of it is our salvation, and in the dis belief of it our damnation : for in it all truth is clear. 16. In the gospel we learn that doctrines and statutes of men profit nothing to salvation. Of the pope. 17. Christ is an only eternal supreme pontiff: whence we conclude that those who profess to be supreme pontiffs impugn the honor and authority of Christ ; yea, reject them. Of the mass. 18. Christ offered himself once, and is for ever a perma nent compensative sacrifice for the sins of all believers: whence we conclude that the mass is not a sacrifice, but a commemoration of a sacrifice, and a seal of the redemption which he has procured for us. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 143 Of the intercession of the saints. 19. Christ is an only mediator between God and us. 20. God will give us all things in his name : whence it follows that we need no other mediator but him in the invisible world, (ausserhalb dieser Zeit.) 21. When we pray for one another on earth, we must do it so that we expect all things to be given to us only through Christ. Of good works. 22. Christ is our righteousness : whence we conclude that our works are good so far as they are Christ's; but as far as they are our own, are not right, not good. Of ihe property of clerics. 23. Christ rejects the wealth and magnificence of this world : whence we conclude that those who gather riches in his name grossly dishonor him, when they make him a cloak for their avarice and wantonness. Of the interdiction of meats. 24. Every Christian is free in relation to things which God has not commanded, and may at all times eat any kind of meats : whence we learn that cheese-briefs and butter-briefs are a Romish expedient. Of holy-days and pilgrimages. 25. Times and places are subjected to the Christian, and not the Christian to them: whence we learn that they who would bind them to time and place rob Christians of their liberty. Of cowls, vestments, badges. 26. Nothing is more displeasing to God than hypocrisy: whence we learn that whatever is done to make a fair show before men is offensive and wicked hypocrisy. Here cowls, badges, tonsures, &c, fall away. Of orders and sects. 27. All Christians are brethren of Christ, and of one 144 HISTORY OF THE another, and shall not puff any one on earth as a father. Here orders, sects, factions, &c, fall away. Of the marriage of clerics. 28. Whatever God has allowed, or has not forbidden, is right : whence we learn that marriage is proper for ah men. 29. ****** Of vows of chastity or celibacy. 30. They, who make vows of continency childishly or fool ishly, undertake too much : whence we learn that those who exact them act wickedly toward pious persons. Of the ban, or excommunication. 31. The ban cannot be imposed by an individual, but by the church, that is, the community in which the ban-worthy person resides, together with the watchman, that is, the pastor. 32. None but he that causes public scandal can be sub jected to the ban. Of property unjustly acquired. 33. Unrighteous property should not be given to temples, convents, monks, priests, or nuns, but to the needy, if it can not be restored to the right owner. Of government. 34. The so-called spiritual power has no support for its magnificence from the doctrine of Christ. 35. But the secular power has validity and confirmation from both the doctrine and the acts of Christ. 36. All the jurisdiction which the so-called spiritual power claims under the pretext of a guardianship of justice, belongs to the secular rulers, if they mean to be Christians. 37. To them all Christians, without exception, owe obedi ence. 38. Provided they do not command what is contrary to the will of God. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 145 39. Therefore all their laws should bo conformable to the divine will ; so that they protect the oppressed, though he does not complain. 40. They alone may rightly take away life, and they alone may punish those who give public scandal. 41. When they rightly minister counsel and help to those for whom they are accountable to God, these also are bound to contribute to their support. 42. But if they should proceed faithlessly, and regardless of the rule of Christ, they may, with the help of God, be deposed. 43. In a word, his dominion is the best and firmest of all who rules with God, and his the worst and most unstable who governs according to his caprice. Of prayer. 44. True worshippers invoke God in the spirit and in truth, without any brawling before men. 45. Hypocrites do their works that they may be seen of men, and take their reward also in the present life. 46. It must then follow that church-singing or noise, with out devotion, and for pay, seeks either the applause of men or lucre. Of scandal. 47. A man should rather submit to suffer death than scan dalize a Christian, or bring him to disgrace. 48. One that would be scandalized through ignorance or infirmity, we must not leave in his weakness and infancy : but strengthen him, that he may not take for sin what is not sin. 49. A greater scandal I do not know, than to forbid priests to have wives, and then for money to grant them dispensations to keep harlots. Of remission of sins. 50. God alone forgives sins, aud only through Christ Jesus our Lord. 51. He that concedes this to a creature, takes from the 146 HISTORY OF THE honor of God, and gives it to that which is not God — a real idolatry. 52. Therefore the confession which is made to a priest, or to a neighbor, is to be viewed as made not for the remission of sins, but for the purpose of obtaining counsel. 53. Penances are of human invention, (except the ban,) do not take away sin, and are imposed as a terror to others. 54. Christ has borne all our pain and labor. Whoever as cribes to penances that which is Christ's, errs and dishonors God. 55. Whoever would reserve any sin from being remitted to a penitent, would not be in the place of God, nor of Peter, but of the devil. 56. He that remits some sins only for money, is the com panion of Simon and of Balaam, and the devil's appropriate messenger. Of purgatory. 57. The true Holy Scripture knows of no purgatory after this life. 58. The sentence of the departed is known only to God. 59. And the less God has let us know of it, the less should we presume to know about it. 60. If a man, solicitous for the departed, calls upon God to show them favor, I do not reject it ; but to set the time [for their deliverance from purgatory,] (seven years for a mortal sin,) and to lie for the sake of lucre, is not human, but devilish. Of the priesthood. 61 . Of the character [impressed upon a priest at his ordi nation] which the priests of later times have discovered, the Scripture knows nothing ; 62. Neither does it recognise any as priests who do not preach the word of God. 63. These it commands us to honor, that is, to supply with bodily necessaries. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 147 Of abolishing abuses. 64. Those who come to the knowledge of their errors, we must not hold amenable for them, but let them end their days in peace, and thereupon order the pastoral living in a Christian manner, [und demnach die Widem Chrisilich verordnen.] 65. Those who will not come to the knowledge of them selves, God will duly take in hand ; wherefore no bodily vio lence must be done to them, unless they demean themselves so disorderly that it cannot be avoided. QQ. All spiritual superiors must quickly let themselves down, and set up only the cross of Christ, not their money- chests, or they will come to ruin. The axe is laid at the root of the tree. 67. If any one be desirous to have conversation with me about rents or tythes, about unbaptized infants, about con firmation, I shall be willing to answer. Let no one here undertake to contend by sophistry or human frivolities, but let him come and take the Scripture as the judge, to the end that the truth may be found, or, if it be already found, as I trust it is, that it may be held fast. Amen. May God grant it. These propositions do not exhibit the whole of Zwingle's theology, but embrace only those doctrines which were con troverted and made the basis of the charge of heresy. He held, besides, all the other doctrines of the theological system about which there was no dispute, and entertained, also, some private opinions which he had not yet divulged : for example, his thoughts on the Lord's supper, and on the nature of here ditary depravity. So far as these propositions go, with the single exception of the first part of the sixtieth, every Protest ant will go with the reformer ; and, considering the times in which he lived, none, we think, will withhold his admiration from his noble freedom of thought, the liberality of his senti ments, and the scriptural purity of his doctrine. The disputation continued only one day. The Papists, though repeatedly challenged to make good their charge of 148 HISTORY OF THE heretical pravity, declined the combat, and insisted upon the grounds of objection already noticed. Faber demanded that the disputation should be abandoned, because, in pursuance of a resolution of the diet of Nuremberg, a general council would be called in the course of a year, or the dispute might be determined by the universities. Zwingle, however, would not be baffled by such an artifice. He insisted that no gene ral council would be held ; that the prelates would never suffer- a free council to meet ; that there was no necessity of going to the universities, since the Scripture itself was before them ; that there were then in Zurich more learned men who could interpret the Scripture, than at any of the universities to which Faber wished the dispute to be referred ; that if such learned men were not there, he hoped that, among the people who were present, there were, at least, many pious persons, enlightened by the Holy Spirit, who could judge which party interpreted the Scriptures rightly, or perverted them. No reply being made to him, the burgomaster requested those to speak who had any thing to object. Zwingle entreated his adversaries repeatedly to produce their proofs of heresy, and threatened to expose them to the assembly if they refused to be heard. One of the priests from the country observed, that the bishop had recently published an order commanding the observance of the traditiones humanas, or human traditions ; yet, if Zwingle's propositions, which were contrary to those traditions, could not be refuted, it would be their duty to inculcate them, and thus to violate the bishop's order ; and in that case, the pastor of Vislisbach, who was imprisoned, in pursuance of that order, for denying the invocation of the saints, was suffering unjustly. Here Faber, forgetting his prudent reserve, observed, that he had lately conversed with the prisoner, and adduced such proof from the Scriptures for the invocation of the saints, that he had acknowledged his error and renounced it. Zwingle, instantly taking advantage of this commitment, requested him to point out the places in the Holy Scripture by which the priest was overcome ; and thus drew Faber into the dispute in which the latter suffered GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 149 so humiliating a discomfiture. He could, of course, produce no testimonies from the Holy Scriptures, but rested his defence upon the long-continued practice of the church, upon some passages in the fathers, the litany, and similar grounds ; and his entire argument was quickly demolished by the reply of his antagonist. Another of his party, Martin Blantsch, a divine of Tubingen, followed in a similar strain, and was as speedily overthrown. The obligation to bring all their proof from the Scripture, which formed the basis of the disputation, so narrowed the range of discussion, and so cut off the Papists from their resources, that they had little to say, and were, therefore, necessarily silent. In the afternoon of the same day, the council being reas sembled, the following decree was read to the assembly : " Whereas the bishop was requested a year ago, when his deputies were in Zurich, to assemble the clergy of his diocese, and to consult what every one ought to do for the peace of his conscience, amidst the existing strife about doctrines of faith, but has omitted to do so, the government of Zurich has therefore been necessitated, by the increasing dissension, to appoint this disputation ; and whereas those who had charged Zwingle with heresy have not attempted to prove their charge by the Holy Scripture, therefore Zwingle shall go on fear lessly to proclaim the word of God, and all the ministers of churches under their jurisdiction shall preach only What they can prove by the Scripture."* An account of this disputation was soon afterward pub lished, by Erhard Hegenwald, under the title, Handlung der Versammlung der loblichen Stadt Zurich, auf den 29 Tag Jenners, von wegen des heiligen Evangeliums, &c, — " Trans action of the meeting in the praiseworthy city of Zurich, on the 29th day of January, on account of the holy gospel, &c." The adversaries of the Reformation now took the utmost pains to prevent the effects of this triumphant issue, by misrepresent- * Hottinger, &c, p. 105, &c, p. 109, &c. Voegelin, &c, p. 34, &c. Gieseler, &c, p. 151, &c. n2 150 HISTORY OF THE ing the proceedings of the meeting, and endeavoring to dis credit the authority of Hegenwald. Faber published his account of the same meeting, on the 26th of March, in a letter to Theobald, abbot of Liizel, and was followed by Salat, secre tary to the city of Luzern, and these again by VariUas and Maimbourg, whose accounts, says Hottinger, were more like romances than histories. Faber was answered by some wits of Zurich, in a ludicrous writing, entitled, Las Geier rupfen, — " Pluck the hawk," the name of a customary sport of children, in which the vicar-general was stripped of his plumage and exposed to public derision and contempt. To vindicate his propositions against the injurious perversions that were circu lated among the Papists, and to meet the challenge of Faber, who professed a readiness to reply to them if they were pub lished with their Scriptural proofs, Zwingle published, in July following, his work, entitled, Uslegen und Grund der Schluss- reden oder Artikeln durch Huldreich Zivingli, Zurch uff den 29 Tag Jenners im Jahr 1523 ussgangen, — "Exposition and ground of the propositions or articles published by Ulric Zwingle at Zurich on the 29 day of January, in the year 1523." This work, in which the author explains and defends his sixty-seven theses more fully than could have been done in a public discussion, was translated into Latin by Leo Juda, because, as Zwingle himself says, it embraced all the great controversies which were then everywhere agitated.* Faber replied, in 1526, to six of Zwingle's propositions ; but of the character of his reply we find no notice in our authorities. Supported by the council, Zwingle could now pursue his ministry without hesitating a moment about proclaiming the truth which the Bible taught him ; and, supported by him, the council began to turn a watchful eye to the ministry of the gospel, to give orders to the clergy, and to examine into the correspondence of their teaching with the Holy Scripture, which was now acknowledged as the only standard of rehgious * Reformations-Almanach fur 1819. Hottinger, &c, p. 114. Voegelin, &c, p. 35. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 151 orthodoxy. They had acquired, they scarcely knew how, a kind of episcopal authority, exercising as they did the powers which had been possessed by the bishop of the diocese : and such vicars could scarcely be otherwise than acceptable to the reformer amidst the difficulties of those times, when the com motions in the religious world, the agitation of the public mind, and the cessation of former ecclesiastical authorities, made it necessary that a new controlling power should exist somewhere, to maintain order, to prevent excesses, and to punish transgressions in the church. The council entered step by step upon the ground from which the bishop receded, and performed those services in reforming the church which he neglected or refused, and thus effectually, as well as unde signedly, supplanted him.* It must not be supposed, however, that the protection of the civil authority placed the reformer beyond the reach of danger. There was still a numerous party of Papists throughout the canton who were deeply mortified by his recent triumph, and desperate men were not wanting among them, who were prepared for any measures by which they might rid their country of the hated innovator, if the opportunity should come in their way ; and out of Zurich, the authorities of the popish cantons had already resolved to arrest him, if he were found anywhere within their jurisdiction. f He was aided in bis ministry, at this time, by two assistants of his own selection, who were styled dea cons. His co-pastors in the city were Henry Engelhard, pastor of the church of Notre Dame, (Frau-Muenster,) and Leo Juda, pastor of the church of St. Peter. These three were all the pastorates in the city prior to the year 1524, when one of the convent-churches was converted into the fourth parish-church ; but a preacher was attached to the hospital, with the title of predicant ; and this office was now filled by Caspar Grossman, or Megander, Zwingle's devoted friend. * Reformations-Almanach, &c, p. 52. f Hottinger, &c, p. 131, &c. 152 HISTORY OF THE Leo Juda entered upon the duties of his ministry in Febru ary, 1523, though he was elected by the congregation in the early part of the preceding year. He was a native of Rapperschweir in Alsace, where his father was a respectable surgeon. He had been Zwingle's fellow-student, under the tuition of Wittenbach, in Basel. At a later period he was an assistant, or deacon, in one of the churches of that city, and subsequently held the situation of pastor of a church at Pitt, in his native country, whence he was called to become Zwin gle's successor in Einsiedeln. He was arnan of httle stature, but endowed with great intellectual quahties, and possessed a truly noble heart. To these, according to Hottinger, we must add Oswald Myconius, the learned and able instructor of youth, who had been among the most active in promoting the election of Zwingle to his present field of labor. He had left his situation of teacher in the school of the great-minster, and accepted a similar one in his native city, Luzern ; but his evangelical sentiments, the freedom of his conversation, and his active participation in the designs of the reformer, exposed him to so much opposition, that, finding his situation unsafe, he was induced to accept an invitation from the administrator of the convent to remove to Einsiedeln, where he was occupied with instructing the monks in theology, until, in 1523, he was called to preside over the school of Notre Dame in Zurich. But, according to Voegelin, he did not come to Zurich before the commencement of the year 1525.* Under the protection of the civil authority, and aided by his enlightened associates, the reformer began to introduce changes in the ceremonies of the church. After suitably pre paring the public mind by instruction, he laid aside the Latin form of baptism, together with the superstitious ceremonies with which the ordinance was burthened, such as exorcism, the use of salt and earth, the sign of the cross, and chrism, or anointing, restored the sacrament to its original simplicity, and used the German language in its administration. In this * Hottinger, &c, p. 99. Voegelin, &c, p. 53. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 153 form it was first administered on the 10th of August, 1523, in the church of Great-Minster, before a crowded audience, who witnessed the novel transaction with admiration and joy. He next directed his attention to the canon of the mass, and published an essay on the subject, and, a month afterwards, a defence of this essay, which was followed in the succeeding year by a reply to the exceptions of Hieronymus Emser : and by these he laid the foundation for the changes which he intro duced in the celebration of the Lord's supper, by the abolition of the mass in the early part of the year 1525. About this time, the priests began to set aside their vow of celibacy and to enter into the bonds of matrimony. The first who set the example, in the canton of Zurich, was William Roeubli, pastor of Wytikon ; and others, among whom was Leo Juda, followed in the latter part of 1523. Zwingle, also, now contracted an engagement, which he consummated on the 2d of April, 1524. His wife was Anna Reinhard, widow of a Swiss nobleman, John Meyer of Knonau. She was the mother of three children, two daughters and one son. The son was Gerald Meyer, a young man of excellent qualities, who was pursuing his studies at Basel, under the tuition of Zwingle's early friend, Henry Loretti of Glarus, better known by his surname Glareanus, which he assumed from the place of his nativity. To this very promising young man Zwingle addressed the treatise, written for his particular use, entitled, How youth should be educated in good morals and Christian discipline. He fell at Zwingle's side, sword in hand, at the fatal hattle of Cappel, in 1531. The law of celibacy now fell into neglect and was virtually abrogated. Some time elapsed, however, before this change ceased to attract notice by its novelty, and to raise the finger of scorn.* This departure from the laws of the church on the part of the priests was followed by another of equal importance in the monastic institution. We have already observed that the secular priests received permission from the council to officiate * Voegelin, &c, p. 35. 20 154 HISTORY OF THE in the chapels of the monasteries, which had been exclusively occupied by the monks, and that Zwingle was dhected to preach occasionally in the female convent of Oetenbach, into which the Dominicans alone had formerly been admitted. In the early part of 1523, this fraternity, who had still enjoyed free access to the convent as spiritual fathers, were, for some misconduct, prohibited, under severe penalties, from any farther attendance, and the religious instruction of the nuns was committed to Leo Juda ; and in the month of June, a part of the sisterhood, who had a year before asked permission to return to the occupations of common life, as more favorable to the exercise of Christian virtue, urged again the same request to the council. Their petition was now successful. The government granted them the desired permission to quit the convent with whatever effects they had brought into it. Such as preferred to remain were suffered to do so, but were required to lay aside the habit of their order, and to attend the ministry of their appointed pastor ; and the same order was, on the 26th of August, extended to ah the other convents of the canton.* The exit of the nuns from their convents was regarded by the bigoted Papists with horror, and the govern ments of the other cantons visited it, in cases occurring within their jurisdiction, with severe penalties. The prioress of the convent of Hermetschweil, near Bremgarten, in the free com munes, having left her convent and married a citizen of Brem garten, her own father, Caspar Gb'ldlin, a citizen of Zurich, complained to the- diet assembled at Baden, and by their order the unhappy pair were apprehended ; the woman was remanded to the convent, where she was held in duress, and her husband was imprisoned and finally banished from the country, f In the month of September, of the same year, another step of like importance was taken, in the reformation of the insti tution of St. Felix and Regula. It was so called, as we have already observed elsewhere, after two Christian martyrs, who, * Voegelin, &c, p. 35. Hottinger, &c, p. 117, 129. f Hottinger, &c, p. 130. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 155 as an ancient tradition stated, about the close of the third century came into the regions of Glarus and Zurich, where they first proclaimed the gospel, and were put to death by the inhabitants. Their pious self-devotion imparted a sacred ness to the spot where they labored and suffered, and the piety of succeeding ages sought to perpetuate their memory, by erecting monuments to their honor, or enriching the places consecrated to their names with liberal gifts. The Great- Minster, erected by Charlemagne, was dedicated to them, and the rich foundation attached to it bore their names. Succeed ing emperors and popes enlarged the privileges of the chapter and added to its revenues, and, long before the Reformation, the spirit of foregoing ages had raised it to an enviable dis tinction. It was invested with the power of self-government in all cases, was wholly independent of the civil authorities of the state, and possessed also the right of appointment to many of the churches. It collected tythes and ground-rents from considerable districts, received the rents of estates which had been granted by benevolent donors, obtained new legacies from dying sinners who were desirous of purchasing heaven by appropriating a portion of their earthly goods to religious uses, exacted fees from the people for every kind of clerical ministrations, and made every thing, to which they could give the requisite aspect, a source of revenue that increased the streams of wealth that flowed into their treasury. The chapter consisted of twenty-four canons, to whom were added thirty-six chaplains. All these lived upon the revenues of the foundation, but performed no other service than to sing in the choir during canonical hours. The whole labor of preaching and of the care of souls was left to the one pastor, called Leut-pri 'ester, i. c. people's priest, and his two assistants or deacons. The foundation was so distributed, and so managed, as to support the canons and then- chaplains, and was of no other use whatever. The incumbents, in general, spent their time in a voluptuous indolence, and were as ignorant as they were idle and useless. To this cause was owing the wretched condition of the churches and schools. The schools were 156 HISTORY OF THE under their immediate care, but, knowing nothing themselves, they neither had the concern nor possessed the ability to put them into the required organization. From the miserable condition of the schools, the commonwealth suffered the most serious injury. Parents were obhged to let their children grow up in ignorance, or to send them abroad for an education at an expense which few were able to bear. Myconius, who had presided over the school at the Great-Minster some time before Zwingle's settlement in Zurich, had done something, indeed, to create a better state of things, but he appears to have stood alone. When light began to dawn upon the com munity, these gross abuses attracted notice, and created mur murs which the canons soon perceived that they durst not despise, and the justice of which most of them were constrained to acknowledge. Zwingle did not omit to urge upon his col leagues the necessity of a change, and they were, at length, persuaded by his arguments, and the increasing discontent of the people, to come forward themselves with a proposition for a thorough reform. They appointed a commission, consisting of their provost and three canons, of whom Zwingle was one, to unite with a similar commission to be appointed by the council, in preparing such a plan of reformation as would, in the judgment of both, be most pleasing to God. The council gladly accepted their proposal, and the joint commission having drawn up articles of reformation, they were submitted to both bodies and by them approved. Some of the canons, indeed, were opposed to any changes, and urged, for the main tenance of the existing state of things, the plea of antiquity, and the rights of prescription ; but their more enlightened and more virtuous, or, at least, more prudent brethren, silenced them by a decisive vote. The plan of reformation'" embraced the following items : "That the parishioners, who paid tithes and ground-rents to the chapter, should not in future be burdened with charges for baptisms and other pastoral functions, for a grave in con secrated ground, for tolling bells at the minster, for a grave stone, and burning tapers for the dead, which the sexton fur- GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 157 nished at their expense, without asking their consent ; neither should legacies be required from the dying for the benefit of their souls. " That the pastor of the minster and his assistants should thereafter be supported by the funds of the institution ; and they should be elected by the chapter in the presence of a deputation from the council. " That, as a large number of unemployed clerics were liv ing upon the funds of the institution, the number should be reduced, by omitting to elect others in the place of those who died, until no more should remain than were necessary for the ministrations of the word of God and other Christian and use ful objects ; and the income of the vacant benefice should be applied to such other Christian and beneficial uses as might be then determined. " That men of sound learning, genius, and correct morals should be appointed to give instruction, without charge, in the Holy Scriptures, and in the Hebrew, Greek, and Latin lan guage, the knowledge of which was deemed necessary to the right understanding of the sacred oracles. " That the institution should provide a worthy, learned, and discreet priesthood;* so that it might always furnish worthy men, skilled in the divine writings and in the Christian life, who could be safely placed over the pious subjects of the city and country, as curators of souls, pastors, and preachers. " That a schoolmaster should be more liberally compensated than formerly, to the end that he might diligently prepare the youth for the before-mentioned higher studies. These they should teach without charge, so that the cheapness as well as the superiority of the school might present a motive to parents to have their sons educated at home, instead of sending them abroad. " That, as the chapter and the council had the appointment * This article was understood to vest the chapter with power to examine, license, and ordain candidates for the ministry, which formerly belonged to the bishop. 0 158 HISTORY OF THE of pastors to churches in the city and. the country, every one who enjoyed a benefice should be willing, if not disqualified by age and infirmity, to be placed in a pastoral care, during their pleasure, where the appointing party should provide for his support, and he should there preside, as a faithful shepherd, over the souls committed to his cafe. " That the affiliated churches of the minster should be sup plied with suitable priests, who should be sent to them from the chapter, without charge. " That when the number should be reached, which it might be determined to retain, the distinction of canons and chap lains should cease, and all be comprised under one designation. " That those who were appointed to a prebend, professorship, or other office, should hold their places only during good be haviour. " That, when the above benefices, professorships, and other offices shall have been suitably provided for, the residue of the tithes and rents should be given to the poor in the hospital, and to needy families ; and for the right management of this fund a commission or board should be appointed, to consist of two persons from each body. " That any one who should in future be appointed to a benefice, should be required to swear to the faithful obser vance of the foregoing rules."* This plan of reformation, it will be perceived, had for its object the culture and diffusion of useful learning, the supply of the churches of the canton with a well-qualified ministry, and the relief of the suffering poor. This noble design was a fruit of the unrestricted preaching of the gospel, and was itself a beautiful illustration of the benevolence of the doc trine of Christ, as well as of its power over the hearts of men. The reformers have done themselves the highest honor by their untiring exertions to promote education, and to improve the intellectual as well as the moral character of the commu- * Fueslin's Beitrage zur Kirch, und Reform. Gesch. des Schweitzerlands, vol. i. pp. 1-24. Reformations-Almanach fur 1819. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 159 nity. They were indebted for their own attainments, next to Divine grace, to the recent revival of learning in Europe : and if all their pains to effect a reformation of religion were not to be thrown away, it was necessary that they should endeavor to put the means, by which they themselves had arrived at such eminence, as far as possible, within every one's reach. Luther urged this great cause in Germany with as much zeal as did Zwingle in Switzerland. In 1524, he published his work, An die Rathsherren alter Stddte in Deutschland, dass sie Christliche Schulen aufrichten sollen, — " To the counsellors of all the cities in Germany, that they should erect Christian schools ;" and four years earher he had pressed upon the nobihty of Germany the indispensable necessity of reforming the universities of the country, in his work, An den Christ- lichen Adei Deutschlands, von des Christlichen Standes Bes- serung. Zwingle found no university in Zurich : there was nothing of this kind to pull down, but every thing to build up : nothing to be reformed, but something to be created. His concern was to apply the revenues of the abused foundation in the minster, agreeably to the design of its founder, to the sup port of men who were well qualified for the office of teachers in the schools and the churches. His view was especially directed to theology and to the ancient languages, which he justly considered of vital importance to the study of the sacred writings. He had read the classics with profit as well as with pleasure : they had formed his taste, improved his judgment, furnished his memory with the stores of ancient learning, and had thus prepared his mind for a more profitable study of the Holy Scriptures and of Christian theology ; and he therefore made them the basis of an education in the literary and theological institution which he contemplated. His design, however, could not be carried into effect until some years later, when the funds of the foundation came into the hands of the council. Before these occurrences, the bishop of Constance had sent to Zurich, as well as to the other confederates, a copy of the mandate of the emperor, Charles V., against the so-called 160 HISTORY OF THE Lutheran doctrine, together with an episcopal missive request ing its publication by the civil authorities. The government of this canton dechned a compliance with his request, and informed the bishop that the gospel was rightly preached in their territories ; but if he were of a different opinion, they requested him to point out the heretical doctrines. In the mean time, Zwingle and his associates exposed the superstitions of the mass, and the idolatrous use of images, which abounded in all the churches, and were met with in the streets and highways, where they received the adorations of the people, and had, in a great measure, usurped the place of the Deity in their affections. Their hearers were thus taught to see both the absurdity and the sinfulness of these abuses, and wished earnestly for their speedy removal, and the more zealous among them grew impatient of the tardiness of the council, which still suffered the annoyance to remain. Some of these, who thought the government too slow, or considered the case as one in which every friend of truth might act with out waiting for their license, began to lay violent hands upon the objects of superstition, by throwing down a large cross, that stood at a place called Stadelhofen, outside of the city, where it was honored with religious reverence by those who passed by. This imprudent forwardness created a great sen sation in the public mind. The zealous Papists demanded that the authors of the outrage should be capitally punished. The preachers of the city and their followers, on the contrary, while they admitted that the commission of the act without * authority was a misdemeanor, insisted that the act itself was right, and could not be justly punished with death. The government, regarding the act as illegal, and the authors of it as disturbers of the peace, ordered them to be imprisoned ; but, unwilling to punish them beyond their demerit on the one hand, and desirous to avoid unnecessary offence to the Papists on the other, they delayed farther proceedings, and, in the mean time, sought to bring the community, as well as them selves, to some certain conclusion respecting images and the lawfulness of putting them away. For this purpose, and to GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 161 settle the question also respecting the mass, which had been long and violently agitated between the parties, they appointed another public disputation, to be held in Zurich, on the 26th of October, of the same year. As their object was to have a fair discussion and a full development of the truth, they commanded the divines and learned men of both parties to be present, and to produce their evidence from the Holy Scrip tures, which were alone admitted to be the standard of religious truth. An invitation to this meeting was given also to foreign divines and men of learning, who might choose to be present, and to participate in the discussions ; the bishops of Con stance, Basel, and Coire, and the professors of the university of Basel, were especially invited; and the governments of the other twelve cantons were requested to send the most learned of their divines. The bishops paid no attention to the invitation ; and of the confederates, only the canton of Schaffhausen and the city of St. Gall were represented. The discussions were opened on the day appointed, in the presence of about nine hundred persons, of whom three hundred and fifty were priests, and continued three days. Three officers presided for the maintenance of order. At the close of each address the presiding officers invited a reply. If none rose to speak, they asked the opinion of those of the opposite party indivi dually, and the replies which were thus elicited were answered by one of the reformers. The objection being made in this, as in the former instance, that doctrines of faith could not be lawfully discussed in such an assembly, nor by any other than the church in a general council, Zwingle argued that, as the church was an assembly of believers, the present assembly was a church, whereas a council composed of none but eccle siastics was not a church. Conrad Hoffman, a canon of Zurich, appealed for his opinion to the university of Heidel berg, but was reminded that he must appeal to the Scriptures. Leo Juda opened the debates, by showing from the Old Testa ment the unlawfulness of making and worshipping images. On the other side, the defence maintained that the Scriptures forbade only the images of heathens, not those of Christians, o2 21 162 HISTORY OF THE and urged the examples of the brazen serpent, the cherubim, &c, and the utihty of images as helps to weak minds. To these arguments Leo rephed. No farther defence was made. The priests of the canton abandoned the images, and the prior of the Augustinians remarked that, if the decretals of the popes were not admitted as evidence, he had nothing to say.* On the next day, October 27, Zwingle spoke on the subject of the mass, and produced his proofs from the Holy Scriptures to show, first, that the mass is not a sacrifice for sin ; and, secondly, that it was not celebrated by the church oi Rome agreeably to Christ's institution. At the close of his speech, the prelates and other clergy, who were in attendance, were severally asked to give their .opinions. The provost of the Great-Minster attempted to sustain the doctrine of the church by an alleged epistle of Clement to James, the Lord's brother ; and a priest of Schaffhausen refe#ed for the same purpose to Genesis xiv. 18, and Malachi i. 11"; all which were easily answered. Of the rest, there was none who would undertake a defence on scriptural grounds. The reformers, therefore, demanded that both the mass and the images be abohshed, and the worship of God restored to its original simphcity and purity. But as such a measure would affect the estabhshed rehgion in a vital part, and might involve the peace of the confederacy, the council, who themselves were not unanimous, were slow to yield to their convictions, and preferred a farther delay ; and one of the zealous friends of reformation, Erasmus Schmid, commander of Kuesnacht, advised to proceed with great caution and forbearance, on account of the weakness and ignorance of many, especially with regard to images, since, as he thought, many would rather drop the mass, yea Jesus Christ himself, than the invocation of the saints and their venerated images; such, indeed, was their blindness, that they called the images of Christ and of Mary the Lord God and the holy virgin, f * Hottinger, &c, p. 136, &c. t Ibid- V- 138> &c- GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 163 The acts of this meeting were soon afterwards published by Ludwig Hezer, under the title, Acta oder Geschichte wie es auf dem Gesprach des 26, 27, 28ten Tages Weinmonats in der Christlichen Stadt Zurich ergangen, — " Acts or History of the Proceedings at the Conference of the 26th, 27th, 28th days of October, in the Christian city of Zurich." The immediate consequence of the disputation was, that the council, convinced of the lawfulness of putting away the offen sive images, liberated the prisoners, after a confinement of six weeks ; but, as an evidence of their disapprobation of all unauthorized violence, and of their determination to preserve the order and peace of the community, they inflicted upon the leader in the late disturbance, Nicolas Hottinger, a banish ment of two years from the city and canton of Zurich. Hot tinger, who was a pious and intelligent man, and whose only fault was an excess of well-meant zeal, bore this severe pu nishment without resentment or discontent. He went into the neighbouring county of Baden, where he pursued his business, being a shoemaker by trade. Here he suffered much annoy ance from bigoted Papists, to whom the cause of his exile was known. He continued, nevertheless, in a fearless profession of the evangelical doctrines, exposed the errors of popery, and generously vindicated, not the reformers only, but the rulers of his country, by whom he was so hardly dealt with. This freedom procured his arrest early in the following year. In the latter part of March, 1524, the governor of Baden deli vered him to a diet assembled at Luzern,* by whom he was condemned to lose his head. He received this sentence with out alarm, and suffered the execution with Christian fortitude. At the scaffold he reminded the confederates of the uniform fidelity of the canton of Zurich to all its engagements with them, entreated them not to adopt any rash measures against it, and protested his conviction of the sincerity of its rulers, * This was a diet of the seven cantons to which the sovereignty of the county of Baden belonged, and who exercised supreme civil and criminal jurisdiction in it. Of these, Zurich was one. All the rest were Papistic. 164 HISTORY OF THE and of their attachment to truth and rectitude in all their proceedings. His last words were, " Into thy hands I com mend my soul, 0 ! my Lord and Redeemer, Jesus Christ ! Have mercy on me, and receive me unto thyself." Thus died the first martyr of the Reformed church. The government of Zurich interceded in his behalf; but the diet was inexorable, and the injured canton was not in a condition to do more than intercede for the life of her exiled citizen.* At the late disputation the priests of the country betrayed such a lamentable ignorance of scriptural theology, that, by direction of the council, Zwingle wrote an elementary treatise on the subject for their use, which was distributed among.them, and rendered excellent service both to them and to the reforma tion of the canton. It was published under the title, Eine kurze und Christliche Einleitung, die ein ehrsamer Rath der Stadt Zurich ihren Seelsorgern, in ihren Stddten und Gebie- ten wohnhaft, zugesendet hat, damit sie die evangelische Lehr und Wahrheit einhellig filrohin verkiindigen, — "A brief and Christian introduction, which the honorable council of the city of Zurich has sent to her curators of souls, residing in her towns and territories, to the end that they may in future harmoniously preach the evangehcal doctrine and truth." In this treatise, the author makes repentance and faith the sum of the evangehcal doctrines. He explains what sin is, and how it is known ; the demands of the law ; the method of salvation without works, by the free grace of God, through faith in Christ ; how believers die unto the law ; the nature of Christian liberty, which does not release us from the obli gation to a holy life, nor from the duty of obedience to go vernment ; and, finally, the mass and image-worship. In this work he propounded his doctrine of what theological systems have termed original sin; which he considered an inherent depravity that disqualifies man, prior to his regeneration, for holy activity, and is the fountain of sin, but does not in itself constitute guilt and sin. * Hottinger, &c, p. 140, 153. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 165 In consequence of the issue of the recent disputation, the assistants and the chaplains of the Great-Minster refused any longer to read masses, while others of the priesthood con tinued to be zealous defenders of that superstitious service. The matter was brought by the provost and chapter before the council, who requested the opinion of the city pastors on the subject ; and, in pursuance of their advice, a decree was passed, directing that every priest should act in the case agreeably to his own convictions, either celebrating mass, or omitting it, and none should reproach another for a difference of opinion and practice, but all should live together in harmony and peace. It was further resolved to transmit a copy of this decree, together with a copy of the printed " Introduction," to each of the bishops of Constance, Basel, and Coire, to the university of Basel, and to each of the cantons, with a request that, if they could prove them erroneous by scriptural evidence, they should do so, and kindly send their answer to the coun cil of Zurich. And, finally, it was resolved to delay ulterior action until answers should be received from these authorities, and until Whitsuntide of the ensuing year.* Some of the canons and priests of Zurich having determined to sustain the old forms of worship, which, they alleged, had not been satisfactorily confuted, all the priests of the city were required to appear before the council, on the 28th of December, and to produce whatever scriptural evidence they possessed for their opinion. When the priests assembled, and the ques tion was asked, what they had to object to the argument of the reformers at the late disputation, Conrad Hoffman an swered, that he esteemed the mass, the images, and the invo cation of the saints right. If he were wrong, he would accept better information from learned men, but not from those who were infected with the Lutheran heresy. If the council would appoint a committee of their own body, together with their learned men, to hear him, he would exhibit himself in pubhc. But he would dispute only in the presence of the bishop of * Hottinger, &c, p. 149. 166 HISTORY OF THE Constance, Coire, or Basel, or before the university of Paris, Cologn, &c, not in Zurich, where a heretical faith prevailed. The council, who were disposed to treat him and his party with all tenderness, thereupon appointed a commission, con sisting of eight members of their body, the abbot of Cappel, the commander of Kiisnacht, the provosts of Great-Minster and Embrach, and two canons of the Minster, and directed that Zwingle and the two other pastors, Juda and Engelhard, should dispute in their presence with Hoffman and his four adherents, Battman, Koch, Graff, and Niischeler ; but, having little confidence either in the bishops or the universities in such a case, they resolved that the meeting should be held in Zurich. It took place on the 14th of January, 1524. Hoff man delivered to the commission a written argument, to which Zwingle replied. When he was asked for his answer, he de clined all debate, denied the competency of the arbitrators, and .refused to dispute at all with Zwingle, whom he repre sented as pertinacious and headstrong in his opinions. The rest of his party made a feeble defence, or none at all. The commission, consequently, reported favorably to the reformers, and the council decreed, That the five discontented priests, inasmuch as they had proved nothing against the doctrines of Zwingle, should appear before the council and be informed by them, that they must in future submit quietly to the man dates of government, and undertake nothing against them, either in public or in private, although for themselves they might believe what they pleased.* During this and the following year, the other confederates were much occupied with diets, embassies, and correspondence for the maintenance of the papal religion : all, as Hottinger says, from the instigation of the clergy, who spared no pains to render Zurich odious by their calumnies. A diet, assem bled at Luzern, on the 26th of January, 1524, published a manifest, by which they solemnly pledged themselves, and commanded others, to observe nineteen articles, designed, as * Hottinger, &c, p. 149. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 167 they said, " for the honor of God, the holy virgin, all the saints, and the common Christian faith." Among these articles are the following: "No one shall despise or hinder the word of God, as it is preached by our pastors, and has been preached more than fourteen hundred years. — No one shall abohsh the mass which is celebrated for the honor of God and the comfort of the living and the dead. — Every one shall confess twice during Lent, and receive the sacrament agreeably to the ancient custom.— All the ancient customs shall continue to be observed. — Every one who receives the sacrament shall, at the four great festivals, give to his pastor the four offerings ; also a soul-legacy, ban-money, &c. — On Fridays, Saturdays, and other interdicted days, no one shall eat flesh, nor any thing cooked of flesh ; and during Lent all shall abstain from flesh, eggs, cheese, &c. — None shall either speak or preach of Lutheran novelties, or against the ancient faith. — Images shall not be injured. — A pastor shall not be obliged to give an account of his doctrine to any but his superior. — The holy gospel and Christian doctrine shall be preached in accordance with the ancient custom. — None shall scoff at the fraternity of the Holy Ghost, our lady of Constance, St. Anthony, &c. — The mandates of the bishop of Constance shall be obeyed. — Men and women, old and young, shall be bound by an oath to inform against any whom they shall see contravening these articles." This pitiful summary serves as a specimen of the piety of the Papist church in Switzerland at that time. It is lamentable that these confederates, in their zeal for religion, could find nothing in Christianity more worthy of their regard. On the 21st of March, according to Hottinger, but, as Gieseler has it more correctly, in the month of February, the same confederates sent to Zurich a solemn embassy to re monstrate against the religious changes which had taken place in this canton. In a written instruction, with which the am bassadors were furnished, they complained, That the Christian faith, which so many holy and most learned fathers and doctors, by the grace of God and the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, had from time to time collected and formed into a system, 168 HISTORY OF THE and in which there had been so long a unanimity, was now ruptured by wicked men ; that daily experience taught them that the time had arrived when they must combine, at the risk of their property and their hves, to prevent such innova tions, and, above all, to preserve from reproach the honor of God, of his most holy mother, the Virgin Mary, of all the dear saints, and of the angels; that the authors of all these unheard of, ungodly, and unchristian acts, in the city and country of Zurich, were Zwingle and Leo Juda, together with other priests, and their adherents, who so preached the word of God, which ought to conduce to peace, quiet, and union, as to cause and propagate dissensions, envy, hatred, disruption of Christian tranquillity, love, and union, &c. ; that, as every body knew, the errors of the clergy led to such a levity, that priests became married, monks and nuns left their convents intending to lead a matrimonial hfe, and forgetting their vows and the oaths they had sworn to God and their superiors, all which tended to the distraction and decline of the venerated monasteries; that the confederates could not endure these things, but would exert themselves seriously, with all their might, to prevent them, because they and everybody saw and felt that, by this Lutheran sect, all praiseworthy, acceptable, upright worship was diminished, despised, and annihilated, the ornaments of the churches, the churches themselves, all good Christian works, and the priesthood itself were contemned, as, also, singing, reading, and praying agreeably to the order of the Christian church ; confession and penance were esteemed useless, all the convents were distracted, the benefices broken up, the holy mass reproached and destroyed, and the sacra ment given without confession and penance ; that the worthy mother of God and all the dear saints were reviled, their images cut and broken to pieces, the holy sacraments in part annihilated, and there wanted but little that the tender body of Jesus Christ in the hands of the priest were touched upon and doubted of in the faith of some ;* that the priests of the * From this it appears that the doctrine of the real presence was questioned in Switzerland before the controversy on that subject arose from the pub- GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 169 four forest-towns,* together with those of Zug, had entreated them to come to their aid, apprehending that, without the support of the civil arm, they would not be able any longer to sustain themselves in their sacred ministrations ; and, finally, they acknowledged the existence of grievous abuses in the church, of which they mention the encroachments of the popes, cardinals, bishops, and other prelates upon the rights of the secular powers, their numerous exactions, the preference given to papal courtiers in ecclesiastical appointments, the traffic and sale of benefices, and the imposture of indulgences. All these they professed to condemn, and to be ready to unite with Zurich in reforming, if this canton would limit itself to such measures of reform as they could approve.f Soon after this embassy, these confederates gave a most impressive evidence of the sincerity of their purpose to exter minate the so-called new faith, by the execution of the unfor tunate Hottinger, who suffered death at their hands, about the close of the month of March, for having thrown down a crucifix and vindicated the doctrine of the reformers. Zurich, which had pleaded for his life in vain, could learn, by this example, that their menaces were not idle words, and could learn too what itself might expect, if it were exposed, as weak and unprotected, to the same hands. Between threats and provocations, her situation was extremely delicate, and the utmost wisdom, uniting equal forbearance and firmness, was required for her safety and the success of the truth, as well as for the peace of the confederacy. The council were equal to the crisis. They heard the ambassadors with the most respectful attention, but demeaned lication of Carlstadt's work against Luther. Zwingle was not the author of ' his theory ; it was entertained substantially, though in diversified forms, by many others, and by some even before his time. See Fueslin's Beitrage zur Reform. Gesch. des Schweitzerlandes, vol. ii. p. 249 ; vol. v. Vorrede, p. xi. * The four forest-towns, as they were called in Switzerland, were the cantons of Luzern, Uri, Schweitz, and Unterwalden. ¦)• Hottinger, &o., p. 169, &o. Fueslin's Beitrage, &c, vol. ii. art. iv. {j iii. v. vi. vii. p. 231, &c. P 22 170 HISTORY OF THE themselves at the same time with a dignity that was adapted to inspire equal respect. After the departure of the am bassadors, to whom a verbal answer was given, Zwingle was directed to prepare a reply to the written remonstrance of the confederates, which, being approved by the council, was printed and sent to the several cantons, on the 21st of March, under the title, Antworten die ein Biirger-meister und Rath der Stadt Zurich ihren getreuen lieben Eidgenossen der elf Orte auf etliche ihnen vorgehaltene Artikel gegeben hat, — " Answers which a Burgo-master and Council of the city of Zurich have given to the several articles which their faithful beloved confederates of the eleven cantons have objected to them."* In this reply, they took up the complaints of their confederates one by one, and gave to eaph severally a calm, mild, and respectful answer. They took no notice of the covert menaces that were mingled with the complaints of their brethren, but noticed with expressions of high gratifica tion the proposition to unite with Zurich in the correction of abuses. On this subject, they say, " Faithful, beloved con federates, your offer to aid us in removing the above-mentioned grievances, affords us very great pleasure. We pray God to opeii to us the way in which this may be done. But it is our opinion that it can be accomphshed only by means of the word pf God, which we must appreciate, as it truly is, above their doctrines and statutes. For if we grant to them their human doctrines, we cannot disengage ourselves from their power. In their writings and their statutes they have ground enough for it ; but by the Divine word all the falsehood of their power and their abuses may be demolished, and no room be left them to complain of the secular authority. Now, if we would use the word in one place, we must suffer it to be used also in another, to the end that every thing which God disap proves may be abolished by its aid. We will cheerfully communicate with you about the manner of putting away such * Fueslin says that Bern had no representative in the embassy ; but this is inconsistent with Hottinger's account. See Fueslin's Beitrage, vol. ii. p.231. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 171 abuses ; for we have long since thought that the time had arrived."* The confederates flattered themselves that the concurrence of the other cantons in the object of the embassy would induce Zurich to retrace her steps; but they were wholly disap pointed. When the embassy arrived in Zurich, the repre sentative of Schaffhausen separated from the rest, probably in obedience to instructions from his government, and only those of the other eleven cantons appeared before the council : for which reason the answer of the council is addressed to eleven cantons only. To this was added that, when Zurich presented a written expostulation to the government of Bern, in refer ence to the threats contained in the complaints of the con federates, they promptly disavowed all intention of using force against her on account of her religion, and gave her the kindest assurances of pacific and friendly designs.f During this period of excitement and fermentation, when so much depended from the priesthood, and so few of them understood the nature and the duties of their office, or felt the force of their obligation to demean themselves as the servants of Christ, and not as lords of his flock, Zwingle published his work on the pastoral office, entitled, "The Shepherd." The basis of this treatise was a sermon which he preached, during the late disputation, to the clergy who were in attendance, and which he now enlarged and published for more general and permanent effect. In this work, the author first delineates the character of the true shepherd of Christ, and next describes the false prophet, and shows how Chris tians should act in reference to each of them. He is severe upon those whom the Saviour calls "wolves in sheep's clothing ;" but when the question is asked, How are they to be put away ? Shall we kill them ? he answers, " It is certain that, without a command of God, no man has a right to kill. Such a case must be left to God himself : he will doubtless kindle it [i. e. * Fueslin's Beitrage, &c, vol. ii. p. 259. f Hottinger, &c, p. 170, 171. 172 HISTORY OF THE the fire,] if he will have it so : but be thou in the mean time of good cheer, and remember of what manner of spirit thou art. If the shepherd be false — then do not hear him." At the same time appeared also another work of Zwingle, but without his name, under the title, Ein-e treue Ermahnung an die Eidgenossen, dass sie nicht, durch ihre falsche Prophe- ten verfiihret, sich der Lehre Christi widersetzen, — "A faithful admonition to the confederates, that they should not, misled by tlieir false prophets, resist the doctrine of Christ." The design of this work appears from its title : it was to procure toleration for the preaching of the gospel, and, for this pur pose, to subdue the prejudices of the popish cantons, and to counteract the mahgn influence of their clergy. The cantons were, however, far from being unanimous in their opposition to Zurich : those of Basel, Bern, Soleure, Schaffhausen, Appenzel, and Glarus were more or less favorably disposed ; while the rest, and especially Luzern, were violently opposed, and inclined to the harshest measures. Hugo of Landenberg, bishop of Constance, had fruitlessly endeavored, by several missives addressed to the council of Zurich, prior to the disputation of the 26th of October, 1523, as well as by bis representatives at that meeting, to dissuade the rulers of the canton from their purpose of suffering reh gious questions to be debated in that assembly, and was not a httle mortified by what he esteemed their obstinacy in error : and the task which they imposed upon him, when they trans mitted a copy of their resolution, and demanded from him, within a given time, a scriptural defence of image-worship and the mass, with reference to their ulterior action, was any thing but agreeable to him. He could not decently refuse a compliance, at least in appearance, with their demand, and accordingly wrote a defence at great length,* which was submitted to several universities, and printed with their approbation. But, vexed at the pertinacity of the council, embarrassed by their questions, and fretted by the continued * It was comprised in fifty printed sheets. Hottinger, &c, p. 173. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 173 progress of the new heresy, he endeavored to stir up the popish cantons to more efficient action, and persuaded the bishops of Basel and Lausanne to unite with him in making suitable representations to the diet, which was to assemble at Luzern, in the week succeeding the easter-festival of the year 1524. These prelates sent special messengers with letters and oral communications to the diet, urging them to adopt vigorous measures for the suppression of the new doctrines, and the maintenance of the ancient faith and customs of the church. They represented that, although now the spiritual rulers alone were attacked, there was no reason to doubt but that the secular authorities would be next treated in the same way ; that the result of these doctrines would be the over throw of all divine worship, and the contempt of God, of the holy virgin, &c. ; that the bishops would not be able to execute their office for the punishment of clerical and secular transgressors, and every one would do what he pleased with impunity, &c. The confederates, they said, were celebrated above all the German states for piety and love, and justly bore the title of "guardians of the church;" and for this reason they sohcited their aid in the present emergency : and as the expected general council was delayed, to the great injury of souls, there was a necessity, they said, to take some measures in the mean time to prevent individual churches from changing the institutions which had subsisted more than a thousand years, and were undoubtedly established with the concurrence of the Holy Ghost and the sacred Scriptures. They professed a readiness, if any abuses had crept into the clerical order, to co-operate with the diet in correcting them, and urged that, inasmuch as it was uncertain what the inten tions of some of the cantons were, every one should be required to give a definitive answer at the next diet.* What impression the diet received from these arguments we are not distinctly informed ; but the members of that body could not be ignorant of the wretched morals of the clergy, * Hottinger, &c, p. 172. f2 174 HISTORY OF THE which were a subject of general complaint ; they could not have forgotten the disgusting picture which Hugo himself had drawn of those of his own diocese a few years before, nor the inefficiency of his castigating pastoral to reform them ; they could not shut their eyes upon the connivance of the spiritual courts at the crimes of ecclesiastics, nor upon the loose and irregular lives of the bishops themselves; and they could therefore hardly,put much confidence in the promise of these' bishops to aid them in a reformation of the dissolute priest hood, nor be greatly alarmed by the apprehension that the spiritual courts were in danger of becoming powerless for the punishment of crimes. Together with these representations, the bishop of Constance sent to the diet, for distribution, copies of his defence of images and the mass. It was probably the joint production of several hands, and chiefly of the bishop's vicar-general, the learned Faber, though it bore Hugo's name. It was, never theless, a feeble defence, though doubtless the best that could have been made. The Scriptures, they said, forbid only the images of heathens, which are made to represent their idols, but those of Christians, which are representations of Christ and his saints, are useful, have been long in use, and were sanctioned by the second council of Nice. The mass they endeavored to sustain by . such texts as Genesis xiv. 18 : " Melchizedek brought forth bread and wine ; and he was a priest of the most high God." Malachi i. 11 : " My name shall be great among the Gentiles from the rising of the sun to the going down of the same : and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering." Acts xiii. 2 : "As they ministered unto the Lord," &c. Although this production professed to be an answer to the council of Zurich, it was first distributed at the diet oi Luzern, in the month of April, and a copy of it was not received in Zurich until about the first day of June. Longer than this it could not have been delayed, because the council were pledged to wait for it only until Whitsuntide. This reserve, so long after the work had been circulated among the Papists, GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 175 seems to have been designed to gain time for the bishop's argument to pre-occupy their minds, and to produce its effect, before it could be answered by the reformers. When a copy was received, Zwingle was instructed to reply to it, and this answer was published on the 18th of August, under the title, Christliche Antwort Burger-meister und Raths in Zurich, dem hochwiirdigen Bishoff zu Constanz uber den Unterricht bey der Artikel der Bilder und Mess ihnen zugeschickt, — " Christian Answer of the Burgomaster and Council of Zurich to the very reverend bishop at Constance, upon the ' Instruction' sent to them concerning the two articles of the Images and the Mass." In this reply, which the council adopted as their own, they exposed the futility of the bishop's reasoning, and vindicated themselves from the injurious aspersions which the reverend father had cast upon them, and particularly from the charge of arbitrarily interpreting the Scriptures, and of executing their purposes by force and violence ; and they professed to adhere closely to the clear and eternal word of God, which, they observed, no violence can undo. In this last remark, it is thought, they alluded to the compact of cardinal Campegius at Ratisbon (Regensburg) with three princes of the empire and ten bishops, including those of Basel and Constance, for the immediate execution of the edict of Worms against Luther and his followers, with whom the Reformed were confounded.* As the time of the periodical processions approached, it was resolved, in pursuance of the advice of the three city pastors, to tolerate some of them still for the present, but to modify them, by substituting a sermon and prayer for unintelligible pomp, while others were wholly abolished. The great annual pilgrimage to Einsiedeln- on Whitmonday was discontinued ; the procession with the consecrated host, or Corpus Cliristi day, with its octave or indulgence-week, was set aside, and, instead of it, a sermon was preached in the morning, after which the people returned to their secular occupations ; the relics in the Great-Minster and Lady-Minster, or Notre Dame, * Hottinger, &o., p. 173. 176 HISTORY OF THE were removed and buried, the organs were taken from the churches, the tolhng of bells at funerals and during a tempest, the four offerings for the dead, the consecration of palms, water, and tapers, and the ceremony of extreme unction, were abolished.* The time had now arrived to which the council had post poned their ulterior action on the subject of images and the mass, to afford time to their advocates to prove their con sistency with the Holy Scriptures ; and no one had yet come forward to sustain them by such proof; for the bishop's de fence was far from meriting that character. The three pas tors of the city, therefore, not only urged the abolition of these objects of superstition in their sermons, but appeared also before the council and solicited their decree for that purpose. The council, with characteristic caution, referred the subject to a commission, consisting of the abbot of Cappel, the commander oiKusnacht, the provosts of the two chapters at Zurich and Embrach, the pastors Zwingle, Leo Juda, and Engelhard, and some members of each of the councils, with instructions to report to them on the manner of effecting the object. In their report, the commission presented a condensed view of the grounds for the abolition, and concluded by recom mending that the mass be abohshed; that the images, both paintings and statues, be removed wherever they were wor shipped, and the decorations which were lavished upon them applied to the relief of the poor, who, as rational beings, were true images of God ; that good order be observed in the re moval, and no violence be used ; and that, where the people were not prepared for the change, the preachers should be required to teach them the word of God concerning these and * In the churches of the Papists, the organ was used only in the choir- service, which was performed by the canons, the hymns were in Latin, the service was addressed to the saints, and the music was theatrical. When this service ceased, the organs were useless. Bells were rung or tolled at funerals, for the benefit of the dead, and, during a tempest, to calm the ele ments and divert the thunderbolt. When these superstitions were exploded, the customs that were founded upon them fell also. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 177 other matters. The council, still cautious and wisely circum spect, were unwilling to hazard so great a shock to the feelings of the Papists as the abolition, at the same time, of two such important parts of their worship was adapted to give them, and resolved, therefore, to leave the mass untouched for the present ; and with regard to the images, which were objects of religious veneration, and were therefore idols in the strictest sense, they determined to test the feelings of the people, and to prepare the community for a general abolition, by first giving permission to individuals who had presented images to the churches or convents, or had erected them elsewhere, to remove them. In consequence of this permission, many were removed ; and this commencement furnished an occasion for the manifestation of public sentiment, which was decidedly against these objects of idolatrous veneration. In a few days after these transactions, the city was thrown into mourning by the death of her two burgomasters, Felix Schmid, who died on the 13th of June, and Marcus Roust, on the 15th. The Papists might regard this sad bereavement as a judgment of heaven for the dishonor done to their venerated saints, just as the Gentiles ascribed the calamities which afflicted them to the anger of their gods at the prevalence of Christianity and the neglect of their sacred rites. But the Reformed, taking a more rational view of the afflicting event, and knowing that their measures were in accordance with the divine oracles, were neither disheartened nor embarrassed. In the place of their departed chief-magistrates, two others, Henry Walder and Diethelm Roust, were chosen, both of whom were decided and warm friends to the Reformation, anil the progress of the work continued without interruption. On the 15th of June, the council ordered that all images that were contrary to the Holy Scriptures should be put away without farther delay, without, however, resorting to violence in any case ; and orders to this effect were sent to the magis^ trates throughout the canton. Congregations, also, which had procured them at their joint expense, were authorized to dis pose of them as a majority of their members might determine. 23 178 HISTORY OF THE This mandate was carried into effect in every part of the canton without the slightest disturbance ; from which it was evident that the public mind had been fully prepared for the change by the prudent measures which the government, sup ported by the reformers, had pursued. Even now, where images were removed by the magistrates, or by others acting under the direction of the council, they were not immediately devoted to destruction, but were carefully preserved, and the assurance was still given, that they should be restored to their honors as soon as any person should have shown, by the Holy Scriptures, a divine authority for so doing : but, as such authority was never proved, they were ultimately given to the flames. Many of the devout Papists were persuaded that the saints would baffle the councils of earthly men ; the holy images would resist the attempt to remove them, or, if they were taken away, would return to their places, as the divine Saviour did, after his crucifixion, on the third day. This time, how ever, they silently submitted to their fate ; and not a few of the pious devotees wondered that the objects which they had honored with so much reverence were now so insensible to injury and disgrace.* But all this caution, and this friendly attention to the pre judices of the weak, did not satisfy the other cantons. The zealous Papists were the more imbittered, and the most in jurious reports concerning the recent events in Zurich, and the state of her affairs, were circulated among them and listened to by willing ears. So gratuitous and so gross were the tales that were told, and easily believed, that Zwingle was induced to write and publish a defensive tract, under the title, " A diligent and brief instruction, showing how one ought to be guarded against lies." This bitter and vindictive spirit was nourished by the Papist clergy, especially by the dignitaries of the church ; and the pope himself contributed his full share of influence to increase its acerbity. Clement VII. addressed a letter to Hottinger, &o., p. 176-179. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 179 the popish cantons, in which he commended in strong terms their conduct in reference to the Reformation, saying that it did them more honor than all their former victories, and ex horted them not only to continue firm, but to exterminate those who dissented from their faith.* This letter was dated on the 18th of April, 1524. It synchronizes with the pro duction of the bishop of Constance and his transactions with the diet of Luzern, and with the efforts of Campegius, the pope's nuncio, at the imperial diet of Nuremberg, to procure the execution of the edict of Worms, and his subsequent trans actions at Ratisbon with some of the princes and bishops for the same end.f The hierarchy evidently spared no pains to unite the secular rulers in a common cause against the Re formation, and to try the efficacy of the sword and the terrors * Hottinger, &c, p. 181. f The diet of Nuremberg having promised only to comply with the edict of Worms as far as they were able, which qualification left them all the lati tude which their policy might require, the nuncio, by the pope's command, endeavored to separate the zealous adherents of the holy see from the other princes and states of the empire, and to unite them in a solemn obligation to execute that decree in their respective dominions for the extermination of the Lutheran heresy. At the same time, to amuse those who were clamor ous for a general council with a view to the reformation of the church, and to shield the pope from the demands which the concessions and promises of his predecessor, Adrian VI., had authorized, he drew up a plan of reforma tion which he proposed as the object that was sought after, but which affected only the inferior clergy, and left all the great abuses of the hierarchy untouched. He succeeded only to a very moderate extent. Of the princes of' the empire, only Ferdinand, brother to the emperor, and regent of the empire, and the dukes William and Lewis of Bavaria ; and of the bishops, those of Trent, Saltzburg, Ratisbon, Bamberg, Speyer, Strasburg, Augsburg, Constance, Basel, Freysingen, Passau and Brixen, in all twelve, entered into his design. These secular and spiritual lords published a decree on the 6th of July, in which they ordered, That the edict of Worms should be rigidly executed ; in the use of the sacraments and other ecclesiastical rites, nothing should be changed; married priests and monastics who left their convents should be punished with all the severity of the canon law ; the gospel should be preached agreeably to the interpretation of the fathers and of the divines whom the church approved ; students of their dominions at Wittenberg should be required to return to their homes within three months, at the hazard of losing their property and future promotion ; no Lutheran who was 180 HISTORY OF THE of death, where reason and the divine oracles failed them ; and nothing but the want of power prevented them from applying this remedy for the divisions of the church both in Germany and Switzerland. In the month of July, an embassy came to Zurich from ten cantons assembled in a diet at Zug, in the canton of the same name. These ambassadors represented to the council, as matters of public grievance, that Zurich had adopted errors which ecclesiastical councils had condemned, that the sacra ment was refused to the sick, confession and masses were dis credited, baptism was stripped of its ornature, the worship of God and his mother, together with the fear and love of God, were diminished, churches and chapels were divested of their images, the perpetual virginity of Mary was denied, &c. They exhorted that, as Zurich, and all the confederates, had been good Christians, and lived harmoniously in one faith, and had thereby obtained much favor and honor from God, she should continue in their covenant such as she had entered into it, and prefer the confederacy to two or three men who were the authors of so much error and discord. They repeated their promise of the removal of the grievances that proceeded from the hierarchy, and declared their conviction that, if Zurich persisted in her course, the dissolution of the confederacy was to be apprehended ; for the common people would refuse to pay rents and tythes, pretending that all things should be held in common, and would despise their governments. They de clared that their governments would neither suffer the offen- ' sive doctrines within their own dominions, nor tolerate them in the common territories, but would punish their adherents with confiscation of property, infamy, and death. The council answered, with great moderation, that they could not discover that they had thus far separated themselves from their con- outlawed by one of the parties should be protected by another ; and if one of the contracting parties were attacked, on account of his participation in this covenant, the rest should come to his assistance. See Seckendorf'a Gesch. des Lulherthums, col. 620, &o. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 181 federates in any thing which, agreeably to the word of God, pertained to their covenant, or to their duty as Christians. They were willing, nevertheless, to confer with their brethren on this matter, and to give an account of their measures, in the hope that, with the divine blessing, they might be able to come to some accommodation ; especially as they were not producing any thing new, and went no farther than they were warranted by the word of God. As to the punishment of their subjects in the common territories, on account of their faith, that was a purpose to which Zurich had not consented, and they hoped it would not be persisted in. They requested a written copy of the verbal communications of the ambassa dors, which was refused ; and these ambassadors now informed them, that in future the six cantons of Luzern, Uri, Schweitz, Unterwalden, Zug, and Friburg would not admit them to a seat in their diets ; and they hoped that the four cantons of Glarus, Bern, Basel, and Soleure, which had not yet come to this determination, would unite with them. To this declara tion the council calmly replied, They would not have thought that there would be so much heat against them.* An occasion soon arrived to show that the threats of these cantons were not to be despised. We have already had an example of their spirit in the case of the unfortunate Hottinger. Another, of a still more affecting character, was now exhibited in the fate of other victims. Johannes Oechslein, better known by his Latinized name, Taureolus, the early friend of Zwingle in Einsiedeln, pastor of a church at Burg, near the town of Stein, and in the terri tory of Thurgau, but situated near the border of the canton of Zurich, had incurred the hatred of the Papists by his zeal and activity in behalf of the Reformation. The same diet whose representatives had recently appeared in Zurich, being informed that Taureolus was unacceptable to his collator, the abbot of St. Gall, but could not be removed because the people sustained him, gave orders to their governor, Joseph * Hottinger, &c, p. 181, &c. 182 HISTORY OF THE Amberg, to expel him from his living. Under these orders, the governor caused him to be seized at night in his bed, and forcibly abducted. An attempt had been made some time before to kidnap several citizens of the neighboring villages of Stammheim and Nussbaum, within the jurisdiction of Zurich, who had been conspicuous at the burning of images, under the orders of their government ; but it failed in conse quence of an early discovery. Apprized of the common danger, the citizens had pledged themselves to hasten to one another's rescue if any similar violence were attempted. The prisoner uttered cries for help as he was forced away, and the sentinel in the castle at Stein, hearing the voice of distress, fired an alarm-gun, which was immediately answered from the neighboring villages by the tolhng of bells, and the whole country was quickly in a state of violent agitation. But the kidnappers eluded the pursuit, and arrived safely at Frauen field, the capital of the province, and the governor's residence, where Taureolus was confined in prison. The people demanded his release, which was refused, and the prisoner was removed for greater safety to Luzern. Disappointment inflamed their indignation, and, in this state of excitement, a party of the most reckless plundered and burnt the Carthusian convent of Ittingen. This inconsiderate act of violence created a great sensation in the Papist cantons, who seem to have lost sight entirely of the equally lawless act of their governor, and to have concentrated all their indignation upon the violation of the convent, the sacred seat, as they esteemed it, of piety and devotion. The crime was charged to citizens of the canton of Zurich, than whom none were esteemed fitter for so wicked an outrage. Diet after diet was held, severe reprisals were threatened, and a peremptory demand was made upon the council for the surrender of four individuals whom they de nounced as the authors of the deed. They were Burkhard Riitiman, John Wirt, senior, and his two sons, who were preach ers, John and Adrian Wirt, the same who had been active in the burning of images at Stammheim, and whom the governor had sought in vain to carry off by secret violence. The GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 183 government of Zurich arrested these citizens, and brought them to trial for the crime of burning the convent, but their innocence was so evident, that they were honorably acquitted. With this result the Papist cantons were dissatisfied. They demanded that the accused be surrendered to them, and tried by a diet of their representatives, to whom, they alleged, the criminal jurisdiction of Thurgau belonged.* The Zurichian deputies at the diet represented, that, as the city of Zurich had the inferior jurisdiction at the village of Stammheim, the primary inquisition, to ascertain if there were ground for a criminal process, belonged to her ; and if there were, her duty would be to deliver the prisoners, not to the diet, but to the criminal court at Frauenfield ; but, having found them innocent, she could not be required to surrender them at all. This plea, and every other argument, was disregarded by the confede rates, who declared their determination to take the prisoners by force, if they were not peaceably surrendered. To prevent the effusion of blood, the deputies proposed to deliver them, provided they were tried only for the plunder and burning of the convent, and not for their religious faith ; and this being solemnly promised, they submitted the proposition to the council of Zurich. In Zurich, there was much inquiry and hesitation on the subject. Every one saw that the unfortunate men would be the victims of an implacable vengeance ; and the citizens generally were, for that reason, opposed to surren dering them. Zwingle, especially, resisted it with great warmth ; but, after much debate, a majority of the council resolved to ratify the agreement of the deputies. The whole city was deeply affected by this decision, and lamented over the anticipated fate of the unhappy prisoners. The reformer denounced the act from the pulpit as a derelic- * The territory of Tliurgau, or Thurgovia, conquered from Austria in 1460, belonged to the ten cantons, Zurich, Bern, Luzern, Uri, Schweitz, Unterwalden, Zug, Glarus, Friburg, and Soleure. It had its appropriate internal govern ment, both legislative and judicial ; but the ten cantons appointed its landvogt, or governor, superintended its affairs, and, with the consent of its justiciary court, exercised its criminal jurisdiction. 184 HISTORY OF THE tion of duty, and a violation of long established usage. He declared that Zurich would be visited with the judgment of heaven, for delivering up to their enemies men whom she was bound to protect, and besought the people to pray earnestly in their behalf, that God might comfort them, and strengthen their faith in this time of their distress. In the mean time, the council appointed a deputation of four citizens to attend at their trial, and to see that the promise given by the confede rates, not to molest them on account of their rehgion, be kept in good faith. The prisoners were thereupon sent to Baden, where the court was to assemble. The trial began on the Lord's day ! It was about the close of the month of August. After some other questions, the interrogators came to the burning of images at Stammheim, and other religious matters. Here one of the Zurichian deputies objected, and put the court in mind of the promise which was the condition of the surrender of the prisoners. The representative of Luzern denied that a pro mise had been given to refrain from inquiries of that character, and gave to the pledge an explanation which rendered it a nulhty. To this the representatives of the other cantons assented ; upon which a vehement contention arose between the deputies of Zurich and the judges. The former finally withdrew, declaring that they could not sanction such pro ceedings by their presence. In the mean time, the trial went on, and the prisoners were questioned about the understanding among the people of Stein, Stammheim, &c, a supposed con spiracy against the convents, the doctrines of Zwingle, the abolition of images, &c. The governor of Thurgau alleged many things against them which he had industriously gathered in his province. Most of these they denied ; and to compel them to plead guilty, they were subjected to the torture. But, though severely tormented on the rack, and closely examined, nothing was extorted from them to criminate them selves, except the acknowledgment of their faith and their religious acts. John Wirt, junior, confessed that he had preached that there is no sin in eating flesh and egg on fast- days ; he had spoken with approbation of the burning of GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 185 images ; he had taken the sacrament to a sick man without lighted tapers, sound of bells, and other customary ceremonies ; he had given the sacrament without a previous confession ! The judges so far forgot the dignity of their office, as well as the claims of humanity and justice, as to insult the prisoners in the anguish of their torment. The elder Wirt, when over come by bis pain, cried out, Oh, merciful God ! come, I pray thee, to my comfort and support. Upon this, one of the representatives tauntingly demanded, Where is your Christ now, you epicure ? Let your Christ now help you. This judge was not an infidel ; but he saw nothing in Christ without Mary and the saints; just as he saw no religion in Christianity without the ceremonies of the Romish church. When the younger son, Adrian Wirt, who had recently married, was suspended on the rack, the representative of Bern, Sebastian vom Stein, uttered the indecent gibe, This, sirrah, is the wedding-gift we give with your lady. After this examination, the representatives returned to their cantons to report to their superiors, and in about four weeks came again with their instructions. By this time, the wife of the elder Wirt arrived, to entreat for the life of her husband and her two sons. She was accompanied by the procurator Ersch, whom the council of Zurich had sent with her to support her petition. They presented themselves before Hieronymus Stocker, the representative of Zug, who had twice been governor of Thurgau, and knew well the character and merits of the accused. They urged the father's public and private virtues, his large and dependent family, and his claims upon the justice and the compassion of his judges ; and the wife, upon her knees, supplicated for his safety. Stocker acknow ledged the truth of all that was said in his behalf, and added « more in commendation of his worth ; such, he said, was the estimation in which he held him, that, if he were guilty of theft, robbery, or murder, he would help to save him ; but as he had burnt the image of St. Anna, the mother of the mother of God, he must die, and nothing can be done for him. The procurator exclaimed, " Merciful God ! must a pious man, 0.2 24 186 HISTORY OF THE who has burnt only wooden images, find less favor than a thief and a murderer ? This will by-and-by beget no kind blood toward one another." On the 28th of September the representatives of the cantons sat in judgment upon the prisoners, and passed upon them the sentence of death. Adrian Wirt was pardoned, as a boon to his bereaved and broken-hearted mother. On the other three, the sentence was executed ; but, as an act of mere grace, they were put to death by decapitation, instead of burning them at the stake. Such was the justice, and such, too, the tenderness of this tribunal ! . The victims bore their hard destiny with truly Christian fortitude. When the judgment of the court was communi cated to them, the father admonished Adrian not to avenge their death. His elder brother, seeing that he wept, ad dressed him in these words: "You know that we have always faithfully preached the word of God ; yet always with a cross to bear. Therefore weep not. Be courageous and satisfied. I thank God that he has deemed me worthy to suffer and to die for his word. His name be for ever highly praised — His will be done." The ' prisoners were the more willing to die, because the severity of their confinement and a cruel torture had sadly disordered their bodies. On their way to the place of execution, they were annoyed, by a priest who attended them, with an exhortation, as they passed a chapel, to fall upon their knees and invoke the saints. At the fatal spot, the son bade adieu to his father, in these words : "My dear father, henceforth you are no more my father, nor I your son ; but we are brethren in Christ, for whose sake we now die. We shall this day come to him who is the Father of all believers, and in his presence enjoy an eternal life." All the three died as Christians ; and the scene drew tears from many of the spectators : but this deed of blood left an inex tinguishable bitterness in many minds. Its crying iniquity was still more aggravated by the courts adjudging the injured and disconsolate widow to pay the cost of the prosecution and GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 187 the fees of the executioner who put to death her husband and her son !* Taureolus was hberated from prison in Luzern, after a con finement of four weeks. He had also - been subjected to an examination by torture, and finally obtained his liberty on binding himself by an oath that he would not avenge his suf ferings, and giving seourity for the payment of the costs and of such fine as might yet be imposed upon him. He subse quently obtained a pastofete in the canton of Zurich, where he died in peace.f In this disturbed state of the confederacy, it was of the utmost importance to the government of Zurich to assure itself of the attachment and fidelity of its subjects throughout the canton. For this end, they prepared a circumstantial report of all their transactions for the last two years, both at home and with the confederates abroad, and sent copies of it to the magistrates, with instructions to read it to all the con gregations of the city and country on the 24th of June, the day of the annual declaration of fealty. The effect of this expose- was that the confidence of the people in their rulers was strengthened anew, and the government received assu rances from all the congregations, that they would be faithful, at the risk of their property and their lives, both to the word of God and to their rulers. J An embassy was sent also to Luzern, for the purpose of undeceiving the people of that city and canton, among whom the grossest misrepresentations and falsehoods were circulated respecting the doctrines preached in Zurich and the changes contemplated by her government. They asked permission to address the council and the citizens, and also the people of the country in their congregational assemblies. The former was * Hottinger, &c., pp. 185-190. Entschuldigungs-Schrift derer von Zurich an ihre Mit-Eidgenossen ihr Verfahren in dem Reformations- Werk betref- fend, § xi.-xiv. In Fueslin's Beitrage zur Gesch. der Ref. des Schweitzer- landes, bd. i. p. 301-323. f Hottinger, &c, p. 188. X Ibid. p. 185, Vogelin's Jahrtafel zu Zwingli's Leben, p. 44. 188 HISTORY OF THE granted and the latter refused. Nothing of importance seems to have resulted from this measure : the tongue of slander continued as busy as before; and if one calumny was put down, another rose up in its place.* Embassies were despatched also to the cantons of Bern, Glarus, Schaffhausen, and Appenzell, which had shown more forbearance toward Zurich than the other confederates, to solicit their kind offices against the hostile feelings of the other six cantons, to the end that the threatened dissolution of the confederacy might be prevented, and toleration obtained for religious diversities in their diets. They suggested that a meeting of these cantons, together with Basel and Soleure, be held for conference on these subjects, previous to the assembling of the other cantons, and wished Bern, particu larly, to use her influence for that object. Schaffhausen professed a disposition to come into the measure. Glarus gav.e assurances of her pacific intentions toward Zurich, but expressed her strong dislike to the dishonor done to the sacred images, and admonished her, as the first among the confede rated states, to consider what was due to her own honor. Bern hesitated about the propriety of the proposed meeting, but would not object to it if it were acceptable to others. Appenzell was wholly favorable to the proposition. From the answer of Bern, it may be inferred that the other cantons disapproved it. No such meeting appears to have taken place. f To the great surprise of the Reformed, the popish cantons now proposed a public disputation on the controverted doc trines. The bishops had constantly affirmed the unlawfulness of discussing religious doctrines without the pope's license, and insisted that such things belonged to an ecclesiastical council and the learned in the universities : yet, as Zurich had always invited discussion, and promised to yield if she were proved to be in error, it was not easy, especially after her recent triumphs, to satisfy the people that she was wholly * Hottinger, &c, p. 184, &c. f n>id- P- 191- GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 189 wrong*, unless she were vanquished in such a trial. The bishops, therefore, now set aside the principle for which they had so earnestly contended, and resolved to have a public religious disputation ; for which, however, it was necessary to secure a favorable issue. For this purpose, they engaged the service of the celebrated Johann Meyer von Eck, usually known as John Eck, or Eckius, chancellor and professor in the university of Ingoldstadt, in Bavaria. He was intimately conversant with the scholastic theology, the decrees of coun cils and of popes, and the writings of the fathers, but less acquainted with the Holy Scriptures. He was also eminently skilled in the arts of controversy, and had distinguished him self in a disputation of three weeks' continuance with Luther and Carlstadt, at Leipsic, in 1519, where, in the judgment of the Papists, he bore away the palm of victory. For the same purpose, they resolved that the disputation should be held before judges of their own appointment, and in a place like Luzern or Baden, both of which were zealously devoted to the cause of Romanism. In concert with these cantons, Eckius addressed a letter to a diet assembled at Baden, dated August 17, 1524, directed against Zwingle and his doctrine. This letter the diet for warded to the reformer, who replied to it through the same channel. In September following, a second letter was written by Eckius to a diet assembled at Frauenfield,* in which he proposed to dispute with Zwingle at Baden or Luzern, of which he spoke as impartial places, on the condition that the confederates appoint judges ; that a passport be given him for his protection ; that this passport should -be valid until the termination of the contest, when he would submit to the pleasure of the confederates, provided Zwingle would do the same. His intention, he said, was not to defend the abuses of the clergy, be they popes, bishops, priests, or regulars, but * This was a diet of the cantons who possessed the sovereignty of Thur gau, and were assembled to transact the business of that province. They were nine in number, exclusive of Zurich. 190 HISTORY OF THE to aid in removing them. He did not hope to reform Zwin gle, but sought only to preserve the confederates, for whom he entertained a great affection, from the seductions of an embellished deceptious heresy. The disputations held in Zurich furnished the reason, he said, why he could not let those of Zurich be his judges ; but he trusted in God and his- worthy mother, that the honest inhabitants of that city would, in a little time, demean themselves so Christian-hke, that they would rather be Turks than Lutherans. The confederates, he added, should not be dissuaded from the proposed disputa tion by the plea that they had no authority ; for, in the time of Constantius, Athanasius and Arius had disputed before Probus, governor of Syria, who was not of the Cathohc faith. This letter was transmitted to Zwingle by the diet. In compliance with the request of the council of Zurich, he replied to it, in a work addressed to them, under the title, Answer of Zwingle to the honorable council of Zurich, con cerning the writing of Eckius, and the proposal of the nine cantons at Frauenfield. In this reply, the reformer says: "Eckius is not moved to this disputation by a love to the word of God, about which he cares nothing, nor by any honest design ; he intends not to elucidate the truth, but to obscure it, and, like Simon, to bewitch the simple. If Zwingle be guilty of many heresies, why does not Eckius write to him, or publish books against him, to expose his heresies ? If he wishes to prove him a deceiver, why not do it in Zurich, in the church which he is said to have deceived ? Why does he not accuse him to his government, and endeavor to convict him there ? The way is open for him. Here Zwingle. will always be ready to answer him. This government has often invited every one, who thinks himself able, to undeceive it. Eckius is like the physician, who, to cure a headache, would apply his plaster to the knee. Neither is Eckius moved by love to the confederates, of whom he spoke reproachfully at Friburg and Rome. It is not meet that the confederates should be judges of the disputation ; for which reason, Zwingle refused, in those held in Zurich, to concede that authority GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 1-91 either to the bishop or the council. To sit as judge upon the word of God, is to subject the Deity to man. Let Eckius and the other confederates come to Zurich. Let him hear the Scriptures upon which Zwingle rests his doctrine, produce his counter testimonies from the Scriptures, and demonstrate their force. On these conditions, Zwingle can well endure that the first who shall say any thing without authority from the Scripture shall be severely punished. The ancient faith, for which Eckius contends, is the Roman faith. But no faith is older than that which is based upon God and Christ, and no pillar of faith more ancient than the writings of Moses and the prophets." "It is strange," he continues, "that the Papists them selves are now pressing for a disputation ; for all the world knows that the bishops of Constance and Basel did not attend those of Zurich ; and recently, when disputations were desired in Appenzell, Basel, and Coire, they resisted them. The confederates forbade their clergy to attend them under the penalty of expulsion from their benefices ; and the emperor denounced severe punishments upon all who should be found there. Now all these understand one another, and want Zwingle to dispute with a man whom he does not know, and with whom he has had no strife. The places that are selected for the contest are those in which Zwingle's doctrine has been condemned, and his writings are interdicted, and where the populace have burnt him in effigy ; and the six cantons, that have already bound themselves to abide in the faith of Rome, are to be his judges ! He had been repeatedly warned, if a safe conduct were offered him, to put little trust in it. They sought only Zwingle's death. If this were accomplished, the disputation would soon be at an end. Both Zwingle and Zurich had always invited an investigation of the existing religious dissensions, but the disputation proposed by Eckius was neither reasonable nor honest. He would, however, not object to meet Eckius in Schaffhausen or St. Gall." These and other reasons, moved the council to resolve that Zwingle should not go to Baden or Luzern, and to invite 192 HISTORY OF THE Eckius and his party to meet him in Zurich, where they pledged themselves for his safety, whether he were victorious or not in the contest. They sent Zwingle's answer to the confederates assembled in a diet at Luzern, who refused to receive it. At the same time, they despatched an express, with a letter of invitation and a passport to and from Zurich, to Eckius at Ingoldstadt ; to which Eckius gave no answer, except to say to the messenger, that he would await the de cision of the confederates as to the place of meeting. At another diet, held at Frauenfield, it was resolved that the disputation should be held at Baden. A safe conduct was to be granted to both the champions, with this proviso, that the victor should be protected by it until he returned to his own place ; but the vanquished should be held responsible for his errors, and be dealt with as reason and justice would demand. After the several cantons should have approved the choice of the place, Zurich should be required" to send Zwingle there, because a man was now found who undertook to convict him of error, which Zwingle had so often professed to desire. The deputies of Zurich protested against the selection of Baden as the place ; and here the matter rested for the present.* Another measure to which the confederates now resorted, with the design of arresting the progress of the evangehcal doctrines, was a proposition for a reformation of the church. They, as well as all the states of Europe, had frequently acknowledged its necessity, and demanded it from their spirit ual rulers. But they thought only of a reformation of the clerical body, whose encroachments, oppressions, and vices were the subjects of universal complaint, and did not contem plate any change in the doctrine or the ceremonies of the church. They expected this reformation from a general coun cil, which would represent the whole church, and pronounce her infallible judgment. They held that, in a case of neces sity, secular governments might reform the clergy ad interim, * Hottinger, &c, p. 196, &c. Voegelin's Jahrtafel, &c, p. 46. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 193 until the meeting of a general council ; but they did not imagine that they possessed authority to meddle with doctrines and rites which the church had sanctioned ; nor did they concede such an authority to any thing short of a council that would be, as they thought, under the infallible guidance of the Holy Ghost, or to the pope as the vicar of Christ. Hence they viewed the reformation of Luther and Zwingle, especially that of the latter, which swept away so much of the doctrines and ceremonies of the church, as a most audacious and intole rable impiety and presumption. But they believed that the occasion of all this mischief was furnished by the abuses of the clerical order, which, while they disgusted every one, and prepared the minds of many for a change, aroused the indigna tion and inflamed the zeal of self-constituted reformers ; and, seeing the tardiness of the rulers of the church, notwithstand ing the urgency of the case, they resolved to undertake a provisional reformation themselves, in the hope of satisfying the public mind, and arresting the desire of change. Accord ingly, a diet assembled at Luzern, in the month of November, 1524, in which nine cantons and the county of Valais, an ally of Bern, were represented, (the cantons of Zurich, Basel, Schaffhausen, and Appenzell being absent,) and a project of reformation was adopted. In their introduction to this pro ject they say : " Inasmuch as the holy sacraments, the most venerable virgin Mary, and the beloved saints are twitted, contemned, and scoffed at by the Zwingleans ; the ordinances, statutes, and punishments of the holy church are disregarded, so that man, who is prone to evil, may live according to his pleasure, and every one may have a faith of his own making ; and finally, as the supreme spiritual shepherd and the spirit ual rulers of the church are sleeping in the midst of these distresses, we have deemed it necessary to establish the follow ing articles until the discord be removed by a general council, or by another competent assembly, in which the confederates will be represented." In their project, they first guard the faith and worship of the church as it was then established. "No one," said they, R 25 194 HISTORY OF THE shall speak, dispute, or write against the twelve articles of the creed, nor against the seven sacraments appointed by Christ and the church, nor use or communicate the sacrifice of the mass otherwise than the church has ordained and observed, nor receive it, or desire it, in both kinds, contrary to the appointment of the church." They pledge themselves to abide in the statutes and usages, which, they say, have come down from the holy fathers, as fasting, prayer, confession, penance, singing and reading, holidays, pilgrimages, offerings, abstinence from flesh on fast-days, &c. They enjoin that all shall believe that we are benefited and obtain grace from God by the intercession of our beloved lady and the saints. Images, they say, shall not be removed from the churches ; no one shall be permitted to preach within their dominion who has not been examined and ordained by his spiritual ordinary; their preachers shall teach the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments in the right sense, as the old teachers have done, undoubtedly by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, which sense the church has received, and her doctrine allows ; in it alone shall every one seek salvation and edification of life, and against all doctrines which the church has not ad mitted he shall be on his guard. Here the church is raised above the written word. Her doctrine is made the only rule for the interpretation of the Bible. Whatever the words of the sacred oracles may be, no sense is allowed to be drawn from them that is at variance with what the church actually holds and sanctions. This is exactly the opposite of Zwingle's principle : The authority of the Scripture is above all authority. It is, however, not so much at variance with the rule of secta rian Protestants of later times. After thus declaring their continued allegiance to the church, they bring forward their articles of reformation, which are as follows : " Our preachers and curators of souls shall not addict themselves to covetousness, as they have frequently done. They shall, for example, communicate to us and our families the holy sacraments according to Christian order, and shall not withhold them for want of money. Nevertheless, the GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 195 rights of the pastorate in every place shall be respected, and what is due to the pastor and sexton by ancient custom shall be paid ; but if a preacher be too rigid therein, the secular government shall determine the case, in order that the common man be not overreached. Priests of every rank shall demean themselves honorably and piously, and conform to the terms of their benefices and the rules of their convents, and give a good example to us laymen ; for henceforth we will not suffer and endure what we have heretofore borne. Every pastor shall attend to his dying parishioners, to watch over and com fort them, &c. As a great abuse has prevailed in a priest's having two or more pastorates, which he has lent to others, and taking their income though absent from them, by which practice the parishioners have been ill provided for, we will no longer suffer it : no priest shall have more than one pastor ate ; every priest shall reside in his parish, and no payment of income shall be either made to or received hy an absentee. In like, manner, every priest who has a chaplaincy shall reside in his benefice. As to the compulsory process of the spiritual courts and the ban, we have considered and ordered, at this time, seeing that the state of things is so precarious, and no body cares any thing for them, that no cleric shall cite a layman, nor a layman a cleric, nor one layman another, before the spiritual court, whether it be for debt, or scandal, or evil speaking, or for interest, tythes, rents, or ground-rents, or any temporal and secular matters, except matrimonial affairs, the holy sacraments, convents, churches, and infidelity. These we leave to the spiritual judge, with the understanding that matrimonial affairs, and other matters for which we laymen might be cited before the spiritual courts, shall come in the first instance before the secular judge, and be by him adjudi- ' cated, or referred to the spiritual judge. In the spiritual court, every thing shall be spoken and written in German, so that laymen, also, may hear and understand the transactions. In future no indulgences shall be sold. While the popes and bishops reserve to themselves the power of absolving from certain sins, and refuse in such cases to grant absolution 196 HISTORY OF THE unless they are well paid for it ; and while they refuse dis pensations where they are necessary, in things that are honor able and becoming, unless the favor be balanced with money ; it is our opinion that what popes and bishops grant only for money, our pastors should grant without money, irrespective of papal or episcopal authority, until otherwise directed. The clergy shall not move the sick to devise legacies to them. The secular government has authority and right to proceed against its clerics who demean themselves very improperly and dishonorably, and also to subject them to all the burdens which are borne by other subjects of the city and country ; because this is in accordance with the word of God, any thing in the canon law to the contrary notwithstanding."* This project was accepted only by the single canton of Bern. The other cantons, trusting to the pope's promise of soon calling a general council, resolved to await its meeting, and contented themselves for the present with the nineteen articles which they had adopted at the commencement of the year. It pleased no party : the Reformed saw nothing in it that deserved their regard, and to the Papist it seemed too much to be attempted without . the previous sanction of a general council. The same diet, looking forward to an eventual rupture with Zurich, sought to unite the whole strength of the Papist interest against her. With this view, they attached to their cause the county of Valais, to which they represented " that Zurich had fallen into the Lutheran sect and bad misbelief. She had taken away from the churches the images and divine garnitures, and had annihilated all good ordinances and usages, which their forefathers had observed for centuries. This Lutheran or Zwinglian sect served to instigate the com mon people against all government: it rent asunder and scorned all obedience, order, and civil authority, and would undoubtedly lead to a dissolution of the confederacy." We can hardly suppose that Bern and Glarus, who were repre- * Hottinger, &c, p. 200, &c GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 197 sented in this diet, held these extravagant opinions: they were the opinions of the majority, which was composed of the rigidly popish cantons.* The convents of monks in Zurich, as we observed at page 130, were the places of resort and of secret cabals for the dis contented adherents of the old superstition. These internal enemies were encouraged by the menacing attitude of the other cantons, and their assemblies and intrigues assumed a more serious importance amidst the dangers that threatened the Reformation from without. The council, therefore, deter mined to prevent the mischief by dissolving them at once. On the third day of November, according to Voegehn, or the third of December, according to Hottinger, several of the council, attended by a body of police-officers, went to the convents of the Dominicans and the Augustinians, and con ducted all their inmates to the convent of the Franciscans. The younger monks were put out to learn handicrafts, the more promising were placed at school to be educated for the Christian ministry, and the aged were left to end their days in the monastery, where the three orders lived together without distinction. The vacated convents, as also those of several sisterhoods, were applied to useful public objects, and the church of the Dominicans was converted into the fourth parish church for the accommodation of the citizens. About the same time, (Nov. 30, or Dec. 5, 1524,) the abbess of Lady-Minster, or Notre Dame, (Frau>Munster,) Catherine von Zimbern, surrendered to the council her convent, with all its property and privileges, among which were the right of coin ing money, and of appointing to certain judicial offices. The conditions of the gift were that the funds of the institution should be applied to the advancement of the honor of God, the salvation of men, and the temporal relief of the poor. The abbess reserved to herself an annual pension during her hfe. The gift was gratefully accepted, and a committee was appointed to convey to the abbess the thanks of the council. * Hottinger, &c, p. 200, &c. e2 198 HISTORY OF THE She continued to reside in the convent until her marriage, several years afterward. Her husband was Eberhard von Rischbach, who, in 1531, fell a martyr to the cause of the Reformation, in the fatal battle of Cappel. A part of the edifice was occupied as a pubhc office, and another was appro priated to studious youth, who were supported at the pubhc expense.* The most injurious charge, which the confederates urged against the doctrine of the reformers, was that of which an example is given above, in their representation to the govern ment of Valais ; namely, that this doctrine tended to incite the people against their rulers,, to dissolve the bonds of civil society, and to plunge the state into anarchy and disorder. This serious charge, which was extensively circulated, created much alarm in the Papist cantons, and prepared the people for any measures which their governments might adopt, both to prevent the introduction of so pernicious a doctrine among themselves, and to suppress it where it had akeady found adherents. It was of vital importance that this malignant calumny should be met and disproved; but, as Zwingle's writings were prohibited in those cantons in which the refuta tion was most needed, it seemed a hopeless labor to undertake the required vindication. Yet, notwithstanding this dis couragement, the reformer wrote a defence of his doctrine in a: work entitled, "Who they are that cause insurrections, and who are the true insurgents." It was dedicated to the church in Miihlhausen, an ally of the confederates, but was not pub lished until the following year.f i * Hottinger, &c, p. 206. f Voegelin, &c, p. 47. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 199 CHAPTER II. msumEcnoNS or ihe peasantry in Germany, aiw kise or the ANABAPTISTS. The year 1525 opened upon Zurich inauspiciously to the cause of her reformation : dark clouds arose in her horizon, that thickened and spread as the year advanced, portending a desolating tempest, and creating perplexity and alarm in many an anxious mind. First among these new troubles was the insurrectionary movement of the peasantry and the wild 'and reckless fanaticism of the Anabaptists, that endangered all existing order and government, and threatened to involve the nascent truth in a common ruin with established error. Insurrections of the suffering peasantry against their op pressors were not a new occurrence. «As early as the year 1491, the peasants of the Netherlands and of Suabia rose in arms against their petty sovereigns ; those of the bishopric of Spire in 1503 ; those of Wirtemberg in 1514 ; and those of Carinthia in 1515. Such events were to be expected from this class of people, in the wretched condition of thraldom and oppression to which they had been reduced. The rigid slavery of former times had, indeed, in a measure ceased ; but the arbitrary imposition of gratuitous labor, joined with grinding taxation, were intolerable, and overwhelmed many with hope less ruin. The taxes, moreover, which, in those times, fell almost wholly upon the country and the small towns, rose continually as the growing profusion and extravagance of the nobles and princes demanded increased supplies. Although the spirit of these people might be borne down by such exhausting burdens, they still felt that they were men, and possessed rights that belonged. to their nature, and of which no human power could justly deprive them : they still had some idea of the sweets of that liberty which they 200 HISTORY OF THE were not permitted to enjoy, and of the wrongs which they suffered in the tyranny that bowed them down to the ground. There is a point of depression from which the humblest begin to rise when the faintest hope inspires them, and a measure of endurance beyond which despair itself creates a reaqtion, and exerts, in a convulsive effort, all that remains of bodily and of mental power. It was in the state of mind which their wrongs were adapted to produce that the Reformation found the peasants of Ger many and the neighboring countries. Its doctrine of Christian hberty, the liberty with which Christ had made them free, arrested their attention and fascinated their hearts. It addressed itself to men of all classes, and made itself every man's personal concern: it invited all men to examine for themselves, to inquire into the grounds of rehgious doctrines and rites that were hallowed by age and sanctioned by the highest earthly authority, to sit in judgment upon the priest, upon the dignitary of the church, and upon the pope himself, that god on earth, before whom the Christian world had trembled and bowed down with the profoundest reverence. It thus elevated the poor man, taught him to feel his dignity and importance, and showed him a common ground upon which the highest was not above him ; and it encouraged him to assert his rights, and to demand that he should be treated as a man, and not as a mere animal, or a chattel. But among the uncultivated multitude, very few were able to form a just idea of the proposed reformation, of its object, and of the means by which it ought to be effected ; or to con ceive a right notion of the liberty which the gospel proclaimed and the reformers taught. By a reformation, they understood an overthrow of institutions from which they suffered afflicting grievances ; and Christian liberty they mistook for a freedom from vexatious earthly constraint, not a dehverance from spiritual bondage : and as to the mode of effecting the object, they were easily persuaded that they might justly wrest from their oppressors by force what they refused voluntarily to yield. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 201 In these opinions they were strengthened, if they were not at first led to emhrace them, by a set of fanatics, whom Lu ther styles, in derision, "the heavenly prophets." One of these was the notorious Thomas Munzer, a native of Stollberg in Thuringia. His father had been unjustly executed as a criminal, and a deep sense of the wrong and the cruelty of this act rankled in the mind of the bereaved and disconsolate orphan, until it converted him into an implacable enemy of all princes and rulers. His disposition was gloomy and fa natical, but a hatred of princes and their institutions was his ruhng passion, that gave shape and color to all his opinions, and direction to all his conduct. He persuaded himself that he was endowed with the Holy Ghost, and commissioned to preach the gospel to all mankind ; that he was divinely called to exterminate sinners and their rulers from the earth, and to introduce a new and holy kingdom, into which none but saints should be admitted ; that all men should be equal, the institu tion of property should be abohshed, and every thing enjoyed in common. He denounced both Luther and the pope. The latter, he said, had overburdened men's consciences with ceremonies ; the former had, indeed, released them from these burdens, but had, nevertheless, left them in carnal security, and was not leading them in the spirit to God. He taught his followers to macerate their bodies by fasting and mortifi cation, to wear a plain garb, to be of a sad countenance, to speak little, and to let their beards grow. They might then, he said, expect a sign from God, and be admitted to familiar converse with him, as Abraham and Moses were. If this favor were withheld, they might expostulate with the Deity, and upbraid him with his promises. This expostulation and upbraiding would be pleasing to God, as a proof of their sin- , cerity, and would ultimately prevail with him to grant them their desire. These opinions he disseminated, both in his preaching and in writings which he pubhshed, from the year 1523 to the end of his career, in the month of May, 1525 ; and possessing acceptable pulpit-talents, he drew large audi ences and made many converts. The pious reader will per- 26 202 HISTORY OF THE ceive that he was ignorant of the true doctrine of the gospel, and possessed nothing of its spirit. At Zwickau, a town of Misnia, he joined himself to Nicholas Stork and others, who rejected infant-baptism, and, professing to be guided by inspirations from heaven, thought themselves called to urge forward the Reformation, which, they believed, Luther conducted too cautiously and confined within too narrow bounds. Near the close of the year 1521, Stork and several of his associates went to Wittenberg, while Luther was yet in the Wartburg, and there proclaimed their mission and their doctrine. Their high pretensions and appa rent sanctity made such an impression, that the multitude revered them as prophets. Carlstadt was carried away by the delusion, and both Melancthon and Amsdorf were brought to a stand. During some time, they carried every thing before them with headlong precipitation, and violent agitations dis turbed the community ; but the sudden reappearance of Lu ther in Wittenberg, in March, 1522, soon put an end to these troubles, and compelled their authors to retire from the city. It is uncertain whether Munzer was with them. We find him soon afterward at Altstad, a town of Thuringia, where he first announced his project of a new kingdom of saints, and pro claimed his commission to destroy the wicked and to overturn the thrones of princes. The elector, who had tolerated him in all his former extravagances, now expelled him from his dominions. He went to Nuremberg in Franeonia, and, being ordered away by the magistracy, repaired to Basel, and thence to Waldshut, on the Rhine. Here he met with Balthazar Hubmeyer and others, citizens of Zurich, whom he converted to his opinions. We find him next at Miihlhausen in Thurin gia, where, by the aid of some disciples who were residents of the city, he gained over the populace, and was elected their pastor. Assured of the support of the people, he deposed the magistrates and filled their places with his own creatures, took possession of the convents and expelled the monks, abolished the rights of property and established a community of goods, modelled every thing after his own fancy, acted the GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 203 sovereign, and called upon the peasantry of the country to rise in arms against their rulers. Multitudes flocked to him in Miihlhausen, allured by the expectation of hving in afflu ence, without labor, at the expense of the wealthy. When he heard of the extensive revolts in Suabia and Franconia, where more than three hundred thousand peasants were said to be under arms, he resolved to take the field and to propagate his doctrine by the sword, believing that the world was ripe for the change, and that God was about to deliver into his hands the wicked of the earth and their princes for destruction. All these he considered, like the Canaanites of old, divinely doomed to utter extermination ; and he endeavored to pre pare his followers for the work of unsparing slaughter, by representing as addressed to them the commands that were given to the Israelites concerning the wicked inhabitants of the land of promise. " Let not your compassions be moved," said he, "if Esau would give you good words. Regard not the misery of the wicked ; they will entreat you so tenderly, weep and supplicate like children ; let it not move your pity, as God commanded Moses in Deuteronomy, ch. vii., and has also revealed unto us At it — at it — at it, while the iron is hot. Let not your sword grow cold from blood. Strike upon the anvil of Nimrod, (the nobility.) Pink, pank ; cast down the tower to the earth, (the rulers.) It is not pos sible that you should be freed from the fear of men while they live," &c. So said he to his followers, in his published ad dresses to them, when he put himself at their head.* His last appearance was at Frankenhausen, near Miihl hausen, at the head of a body of peasants numbering about eight thousand men. They occupied an advantageous position near the town, where they had intrenched themselves, but were, for the most part, unprovided with arms ; an undis ciplined multitude, destitute of leaders that were acquainted with the art of war, and commanded in chief by an insane and desperate fanatic. Here they awaited the approach of * Luther's Werke, Leipzig, Ausg. theil xix. s. 289. 204 HISTORY OF THE disciphned forces, led by Phihp, landgrave of Hesse, John, the successor of Frederick, elector of Saxony^ George, duke of Saxony, and Henry, Phihp, and Otho, dukes of Brunswick. The poor peasants were alarmed when they saw the numbers and formidable array of the hostile army, and addressed to its leaders a letter, saying, " They beheved in Jesus Christ, and were assembled, not to harm any one, nor to shed blood, but to transact divine righteousness : if the princes were of the same mind, they would undertake nothing against them." They were answered, that they should have forgiveness if they would deliver up their leaders and return to their duty ; and a young nobleman was sent with a flag of truce, to effect an accommodation. But Munzer, anxious for his safety, per suaded them that God would appear in theh behalf, as he had done for his people in former ages ; and a rainbow just then appearing in the clouds, and being the emblem they bore upon their standard, he took advantage of this phenomenon, and persuaded them that God was giving them a sign from heaven, to assure them, in the moment of their greatest danger, of theh certain deliverance from their dreaded foe. They were wrought into a frenzy by his impassioned harangue and this imagined token of divine succor. The offer of mercy was now despised ; no answer was given to those from whom it came, and their messenger was perfidiously put to death, in pursu ance of a sentence solemnly pronounced by Munzer. This perfidy and ferocious defiance kindled the wrath of the princes, and, in a transport of rage, they immediately led on their troops to a fierce attack. Amidst a heavy cannonade, and the rapid advance of their enemy, the deluded fanatics stood, without resistance, looking toward heaven, for the expected interposition of God, and sung the hymn, Nun bitten wir den Heiligen Geist, &c, {Now we pray the Holy Ghost, &c.) They stood, and sang, and cherished their hope, until the assailants, having passed their defences, thrust their weapons through the first, and the next, while no hand of God appeared, and the streaming blood and the dying groans of those that fell, opened, at length, the eyes of the deluded multitude upon GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 205 their fatal error. Now they broke and fled in inexpressible terror and confusion. A dreadful slaughter ensued. No quarter was given. A small body, who fought in despair, having made a brief resistance, by which a few of the soldiers were killed, the rage of the victors rose into fury, and they pursued the affrighted fugitives into every hiding-place where they hoped for safety, and killed them while piteously implor ing theh compassion. About five thousand were left dead upon the field. After the battle, several hundred were taken from their concealment, and executed on the same and the succeeding day. It was a cruel vengeance, worthy only of a ferocious age. Munzer, who had boasted of his interest with the Deity, and promised to catch every bullet in his sleeve, was among those who fled. He was discovered in bed, at a public inn, feigning sickness, and affecting to be wholly igno rant of the transactions of the preceding day. He was ex amined by torture, agreeably to the barbarous custom of the times, and expiated his follies and his crimes on the scaffold, in the camp of the princes, before Miihlhausen. Before his execution, he returned to; the bosom of the church of Rome, but gave no evidence of genuine repentance.* His trepidation at the place of execution evinced a consciousness of guilt, and was a proof that there was imposture as well as fanaticism in his character. The death of Munzer, the dispersion of his adherents, the overthrow of all the bands of revolted peasants, and the terrible vengeance exacted by their rulers, put an end to insurrections for the present ; but there was left in people's minds a feeling of suppressed but bitter enmity against their lords, both spiritual and secular ; and the doctrines they had received were not eradicated by the blood that was shed.f From Germany, the spirit of fanaticism and misrule pene trated into Switzerland. There were not wanting in this country combustible materials that needed only a spark to * Seckendorf's Gesch. d. Lutherth., col. 691. t Hottinger, &c, p. 204, 218, &c. Seckendorf, &c, col. 451, 601, 632, &c, 677, &c. Luther's Werke, bd. 19, s. 293, &c, Leipz. Ausg. Fuhrman's Lex. d. Kiroh. Gesch., art. Munzer. S 206 HISTORY OF THE kindle them into a conflagration. The peasantry, who hved upon the lands which belonged to churches and monasteries had long groaned under the burden of tythes and rents, and of fees that were paid to these institutions for every spiritual function, and for every act to which a religious aspect could be given, besides other oppressive exactions, and in addition to the taxes for the support of the civil government ; and they felt their burdens more, and were more impatient under them, when they observed how theh hard earnings were consumed, by crowds of priests and monks, in a voluptuous and profligate idleness, and how they were treated by these insolent ecclesi astics with haughtiness and disdain. Like their brethren in Germany, they sighed for dehverance, and were ready to rise against their oppressors, as soon as a prospect of success should appear, or the sanctions of rehgion should give firmness and vigor to their desire. Intelligence of the German insur rections, and of the new prophets who denounced the judg ments of heaven upon the seats of power and iniquity, furnished the occasion, and gave the impulse for turbulent risings in the canton of Zurich and other portions of the confederacy, and for clamorous demands of redress. But the prudent measures of government, which instituted investigations of the grounds of these complaints, and brought the authority of religion to bear upon them,- the control which the government had already begun to exercise over the clergy and theh institutions, and their sincere determination to reform all existing abuses, calmed the violence- of the malcontents, and prevented farther outbreaks. But the zealots in rehgious innovation were more troublesome. A numerous class, which had subsisted under the papacy, and had conformed to the established worship while the dread of the ecclesiastical power kept them in check, began to manifest their character when the spell of that power was broken, and liberty of thought upon every subject was restored by the Reformation. They were restless spirits, men of san guine tempers, possessing more excitability than intellect, and governed more by their feelings than by reason. These GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 207 men were discontented with the tardy movements of the con stituted authorities in abolishing popish superstitions, and with the narrow hmits within which the Reformation was confined. Both the government and the preachers exerted themselves in vain to restrain them from excesses. In some instances, as at the village of Zollikon, they took the law and the power into their own hands, and abohshed the popish images before the government had come to a decision respect ing them. All these men were fit subjects for fanatical ex citement, and, when once put in motion by some external impulse, were not likely soon to stop. Munzer came into contact with men of this character at Waldshut, on the border of Switzerland, and kindled in their congenial minds something of his own enthusiasm for a pure church, a theocratic government, and divine inspirations; and from him they received theh notions on the subject of infant-baptism. Among these converts were Balthazar Hub- meyer, an evangehcal preacher and pastor of a church in Waldshut, Conrad Grebel, and Felix Mantz, citizens of Zu rich, who were men of education and of respectabihty. All these became distinguished leaders of the new sect. They did not at first act out the whole system of Munzer. Theh first attempt was to gain over the reformers to theh party. Por this purpose, Grebel, Mantz, and Simon Stump, pastor of the church at Hoeng, urged upon Zwingle and Leo Juda the expediency of forming a church of saints, into which no sinners should be admitted, where a perfect equality should reign, all things should be common to all, and tythes, rents, and other burdens should be abohshed. The reformers rephed by showing the inconsistency of such a scheme with the scrip tural idea of the church of Christ, and respectfully declined to entertain it ; in consequence of which the disaffected began to hold separate meetings, and now first denounced infant- baptism, which they represented as a popish corruption of the church, and an invention of the devil.* This was, at this * Zwingli's Aussage von den Wiedertaiifern, &c, in Fueslin's Beitrage zur Reform. GeBch. des Schweitzerlandes, vol. i. p. 228, and note 45. Ibid. 208 HISTORY OF THE time, the extent of their public dissent from the estabhshed order of the church. Zwingle sought to convince them of their error, and in his conferences with them, the question was only whether infant-baptism was consistent with the Scriptures; not whether it was valid where it had been administered to subjects in infancy ; but they soon went farther, and, carrying out their principle, maintained the necessity of rebaptizing those who had received infant- baptism. Hubmeyer still considered infants members of the church, agreeably to Matt. xix. 13, 14, and received them as such, when he refused to baptize them.* His own account of the matter is this : " Instead of baptizing them, I convene p. 197, note. Grebel and Mantz were previously ill-disposed toward Zwingle, because they suspected him of having thwarted them in their plan to procure appointments in the contemplated seminary in Zurich. The council and the chapter had agreed, as we have already noticed, that the income of some of the canonries should be applied to the support of learned professors, after the decease of the present incumbents. These two men possessed respectable acquirements, particularly in the Greek and the Hebrew languages, and thought themselves, as citizens of honorable standing, entitled to professor ships in these departments. But, as the funds would not become available for this purpose during the lifetime of the incumbents, it was impossible to meet their wishes immediately. On this account, a beginning was first made with public lectures in the summer of 1525, when Ceporinus, who had previously taught Hebrew without a salary, was appointed professor in that department ; and Rudolph Collin, who was soon afterward elected Greek professor,- taught several years without a compensation, and supported himself, in the mean time, by reading lectures upon Homer to a private class, and by working at the business of rope-making ! Grebel and Mantz could not wait for the convenient season, but would have several of the useless canons removed, and themselves put in their places, that they might enjoy both the dignity and the revenues of the canonships, and wished Zwingle to exert his influence in the council and in the chapter to have such an arrangement made. This he declined to do ; and, as they thought the proposed arrangement practi cable, and, probably, esteemed it right also, they hated Zwingle for refusing to second their ambitious project. This hostility to the reformer seems to have transferred itself to his Reformation, and to have the more predisposed their minds for the reception of Munzer's opinions on baptism, or any thing that was opposed to Zwingle's system. See Fueslin's Beitrage,Yo\. i. p. 191-194, note 36. * Gieseler's Lehrb. der Kiroh. Gesch., vol. iii. p. 210, note 60. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 209 the church, bringing in the infant, and, in the vernacular tongue, expound the gospel — ' Little children were brought to him,' &c. Thereupon, the name being given, the whole church kneel and pray for the little one But if the parents are yet infirm, and insist upon having their offspring baptized, I baptize it. In practice, I am weak with those who are yet weak, until they be better informed ; but in doctrine, I do not yield the smallest particle."* The practice of rebaptizing was introduced by Conrad Grebel at Zurich ; for, although the doctrine of rebaptism was taught by Munzer in Germany, the practice of it had its origin in Zurich, where Grebel was the first that baptized anew ; and the first subject of the repetition of the rite was George Blaurock of Coire, who styled himself " George of the house of Jacob of Coire." Afterwards many were baptized in Zollikon by Blaurock and Mantz, and the practice became general.f This practice now was the badge of the new sect ; and they were hence called Anabaptists, that is rebaptizers. The rite was at first performed by sprinkling or affusion ; which appears from the documents published by Fueslin in his " Beitrage." Immersion was also introduced by Grebel. Its first subject was Wolfgang Ulman of St. Gall, who insisted on being baptized in that mode, and was accordingly immersed by Grebel, in the Rhine at Schaffhausen.% The sect had no separate order of ministers : every one who chose might teach and administer baptism to those who desired it.§ Zwingle, anxious to reclaim them, appointed a weekly con ference for amicable discussion ; but, after the second meeting, they declined any farther attendance. At the outset, they were distinguished by a strictly moral and religious deport ment, avoiding vicious associations, and bearing a loud and impressive testimony against every form of sinful pleasure. * Gieseler's Lehrb. der Kirch. Gesch., vol. iii. p. 210, note 60. t Fueslin, &c, vol. ii., p. 338, &c. X Hottinger, &o., p. 265. \ Fueslin, &c, vol. i. p. 270, note 57. s2 27 210 HISTORY OF THE Their apparent rectitude and sanctity procured for them much favor with the people. Many were induced to receive their doctrines and their baptism; and among these were respectable citizens and ministers of the gospel in good stand ing. But their enthusiasm grew with their success, and quickly degenerated into a ridiculous and frantic fanaticism. They were particularly numerous in the parish of Zollikon, the pastor of which was a certain John Brb'dli, a ranting extravagant. From this place, a raving crowd rushed into the capital, being covered with sacks, in imitation of the ancient prophets, and girt about theh loins with cords or withes, professing to be urged by the divine spirit. They filled all the public places with their prophesying, denouncing Zwingle as the old dragon, and his associates as the dragon's heads ; preaching righteousness and innocence ; urging the community of goods, and holding forth the judgments of God to those who would not obey. They perambulated the streets of the city, crying, Wo — wo — wo to Zurich ! and some of them, imitating the prophet Jonah, declared that in forty days Zurich would be destroyed !* Great excitement and confusion arose in the city : the mul titude were alarmed, and the rulers perplexed, and none could tell where the disorder would end. The preachers of the Reformation were indefatigable; but, so far as the fanatics were concerned, their exertions were unavailing : their reason ings appeared to them as the errors of unenlightened minds, or the suggestions of the devil. The infatuated crowd were satisfied, as to themselves, that they were actuated by divine inspiration, imputed their wildest freaks to the spirit of God, and every thing that crossed them to the devil. Such men were not to be reasoned with : confinement and a rod seemed to their contemporaries better adapted to cure their madness than argument. They were, nevertheless, treated by the government, in the beginning, with tenderness * Gieseler, &c, vol. iii. p. 210, note. Fueslin, &c, vol. i. p. 198, note 87. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 211 and forbearance ; comparatively mild measures only being pursued to repress the disorder and to reclaim the wrong- headed errorists. A public discussion on the subject of bap tism, in the presence of the councils, was appointed, in order that the truth on the matter in question might be demon strated to every one's satisfaction. The seventeenth of January was appointed for that purpose. The meeting took place, and Grebel, Mantz, and William Rb'ubli, formerly pastor of the parish of Wytikon, defended the cause of the Anabaptists against the reformers. The result was a com plete discomfiture of the sectaries. Their doctrine was there upon declared to be erroneous,, and the leaders were admo nished to renounce their errors, and to submit to the authority of the word of God as already expounded. On the following day, the government published a mandate, ordering that all those who had withholden their children from baptism, by reason of the erroneous opinion which had recently arisen, should cause them to be baptized within eight days, and such as refused obedience should depart with their families and goods from the city and the canton.* These measures proved wholly ineffectual : the leaders of the sect said, '" We must obey God rather than men;" and, in despite of the govern ment, not only continued their previous course, but resolved to organize their followers into a separate church. Their determination was first carried into effect in the parish of Zollikon, where they sought to realize their visionary theories, and established in their community of saints a community of goods, and, if Hottinger be not mistaken, a community of wives.f Such an act of schism, so contrary to the spirit of the age, and characterized as it was by contumacy and bold defiance, was more than the age could tamely bear. But it gave unity and strength to the sect, while it nourished their zeal and fed their extravagance. As the evil grew continually, and the * See the document in Fueslin, &c, vol. i. p. 189-201. t Hottinger, &c, p. 223. 212 HISTORY OF THE sectaries alleged that they were sustained by the authority of God, the government appointed another public discussion, to take place on the 20th of March. It was held accordingly ; and as the champions of the schismatic party only repeated their former arguments, which, in the judgment of the council, the reformers had aheady refuted, they were now told that they must retrace their steps, and abandon their new organi zation, or suffer the penalty of disobedience. They refused to obey ; in consequence of which, some of them, and of their disciples, were arrested: foreigners were sent into banish ment, citizens who promised submission were set at hberty, but the obstinate were detained in prison; which we may suppose to have been a prudent precaution against further agitation in the excited state of. the pubhc mind. But a number of these prisoners broke from theh confinement and escaped,' and, going abroad, proclaimed, wherever they came, that God had sent an angel, who had dehvered them, as he once did St. Peter, from their imprisonment ! Their story, asserted with boldness, was believed by the ignorant, and drew numbers to their party ; and the -evil was thus rendered worse by the measure that was intended to be its remedy.* Brodli and . Roubli, being driven from Zollikon, went to Schaffhausen, and thence to Waldshut, where they rebaptized the converts. Hubmeyer, hitherto hesitating, and hngering in the ancient customs, was borne away by the current of theh enthusiasm, and received baptism at the hand of Roubli, and with him above a hundred other persons; and so rapid was now the progress of the sect, that, at the Easter festival, Hubmeyer administered baptism to about three hundred con- verts.f Many of those who were set at liberty upon a promise of submission resumed their former course on returning to their brethren. The disturbance increased, and, in -addition to the former mischief, the ringleaders were now charged with enter- * Hottinger, &c, p. 264. Fueslin, &c, vol. i. p. 249, note 52. t Fueslin, &c, vol. iii. p. 241. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 213 taining designs against the government and the existing order of things. . They tampered, it was said, with the discontented peasantry, who were encouraged to hope for a dehverance from their burdens, and a community of goods ; they talked of striking off the heads of priests, and of resisting the civil authorities by force of arms ; they said that Christians had no need of earthly rulers and courts of justice, and that no Chris tian could be a member of the secular government. These seditious principles, so well adapted to nourish insubordination, spread a general ferment among the peasantry, in some in stances produced actual risings, and in not a few caused assemblies of the people, and applications to the councils for a release from their burdens. The dissatisfaction was greatest with regard to the payment of tythes, which was represented as an arbitrary imposition, unauthorized by the Scripture, and unsupported by any principle of equity. This question was, therefore, argued by order of the couneil, in their presence, by the most learned among the preachers and the citizens, and the result of the argument .was, that the tything system ought not to be abolished. The ground taken by Zwingle, and approved by the council, was not the authority of the Levitical law, which, he maintained, was a part of the Mosaic dispensation, and expired with it by its own limitation, but the fact that the lands came into the possession of the present holders subject to the payment of tythes, and this condition, therefore, formed a part of the contract, which could not be changed or annulled without the consent of the receivers : or they were conveyed to trustees, by benevolent donors, for the benefit of religion and education, or the relief of the poor, and therefore could not be turned from that destination, nor freed from the tax which it imposed upon them : and, moreover, if the tything system were abolished, there would be a necessity of imposing the same burdens in another form for the same objects. On these grounds the council dismissed the petitions, and issued their mandate commanding the payment of tythes, and warning the disaffected of the consequences of dis obedience. 214 HISTORY OF THE The Anabaptists, nevertheless, continued theh offensive proceedings, fomenting discontent, and treating the orders of government with contemptuous neglect. Numbers of them were, therefore, imprisoned ; and many of these, having been formerly liberated on a promise of amendment, were now treated with greater severity. These arrests furnished new matter of complaint and of mutual encouragement to the sect, who looked upon this treatment as a persecution for righteous ness' sake, that entitled them to the kingdom of heaven. They raised the outcry that the government was bent upon exe cuting theh pleasure by force and violence, and condemned the innocent unheard ; they clamored for a hearing, and demanded that Zwingle should not be suffered to browbeat their speakers, as they alleged he had done.* These complaints awakened sympathy in their behalf, and gave new popularity to their cause. The authorities were, therefore, necessitated to yield, notwithstanding their reluctance, to what they esteemed an unreasonable demand after the previous conferences, and to grant a third disputation, which they appointed on the 6th of November, 1525. To remove every ground of complaint, and to place the malcontents fully in the wrong before the community, they extended the invitation to all Anabaptists, both of theh own and of other territories, and gave liberty to every one to plead his cause as he thought best, without inter ruption ; and, as the district of Griiningen was particularly favorable to the sect, they caused a deputation of twelve men to be sent from that district at the pubhc expense, that they might witness all the transactions of the meeting, and attest them to their fellow-citizens at home. The assembly was very large, and the discussions were continued throughout three days. Its result was hke that of the two preceding confer ences. The leaders of the sect were adjudged to have failed in sustaining theh cause on Scriptural grounds; Grebel, Mantz, Blaurock and others were admonished to desist from propagating doctrines which they were unable to prove ; and * Fueslin, &c, vol. i. p. 279-286, and notes. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 215 continuing obstinate, they were at first imprisoned, but were soon released, in the hope of theh amendment, and dismissed with an assurance of punishment if they continued their dis orderly proceedings.* The result of the conference was announced in a pubhc edict ; the authors of anabaptism were severely reprobated, rebaptism was forbidden, punishment threatened to the disobedient, and parents were commanded to have their children baptized.-f The government, at the same time, addressed a written communication to the people of Griiningen, in which, after commenting upon the history of the Anabaptists, and their recent discomfiture in the last dis putation, and declaring their determination to root out so pernicious a sect, they demanded a speedy answer to the question whether they would take part with the government or with the Anabaptists. The inhabitants of the district were thereupon convened, and, after hearing the statement of the twelve who had witnessed the transactions of the late con ference, determined to take part with theh legitimate sove reigns against the sectaries.! But the Anabaptists, who were numerous in the district, had influence enough afterwards to withdraw them again from their allegiance. § As, these mea sures also proved ineffectual, and the fanatical leaders persisted in their course, disregarding every mandate, and acting in defiance of the constituted authorities, the government pro ceeded ultimately to the last resort, and, in March, 1526, published an edict, which made the act of rebaptizing a capital offence, and subjected the guilty to the punishment of death by drowning. In November, of the same year, another edict followed, which was based upon information which the govern ment had received, " that some, in the lordship of Griiningen and elsewhere, were holding large conventions, and in the same were transacting, plotting, and contriving measures that were hostile to government, and to the common cause of Chris- * Fueslin, &c, vol. i. p. 284, note 58. Hottinger, &c, p. 271. t Hottinger, &c, p. 271. X Ioia- I Fueslin, &c, vol. i. p. 285, note 58. 216 HISTORY OF THE tianity;" and it extended the penalty of the preceding act " to all who thus combined, and by their preaching in con venticles, and their wrong proceedings, held such assembhes."* The first who suffered under these edicts was Felix Mantz, who was drowned at Zurich, January 5th, 1527. He bore his fate with the utmost fortitude. On his way to the place of exe cution, he thanked God that he was about to suffer death for his truth, and remarked that Christ had predicted that his disciples would suffer for his name's sake and for the truth. He continued to speak in the same strain, and when the preacher who accompanied him attempted to converse with him, his mother and his brother exhorted him to constancy and firmness. As he fell bound into the water, he exclaimed, " Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit." His brother wept, but his aged mother shed no.tear.f These harsh measures so far repressed the activity of the sect, that they withdrew from pubhc observation, and held their meetings and propagated theh doctines in secret. But they were not suppressed, and the heroic endurance of death by many of theh brethren shed a lustre upon theh cause, and furnished materials for a history of martyrs, often embellished with tales of miraculous attestations from heaven, that did them important service, and compensated in a good measure for the severities which they suffered. From Zurich and Waldshut this dangerous sect quickly overspread the neighboring countries of Switzerland and Germany, wherever they were not crushed at once by com mitting them to the sword or the flames. They were every where treated by the civil power with more or less severity, especially in popish countries, where great numbers were put to death, and many of them died at the stake, among whom were Blaurock and Hubmeyer. The cities of Basel, Bern, St. Gall, and Coire issued edicts similar to those of Zurich. The imperial chamber of Spire, in the German empire, pro- * Fueslin, &c, vol. i. p. 270, note 57. t Ibid. p. 274, note 57. Hottinger, p. 385. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 217 mulgated a decree by which they ordained, " That all and every rebaptizer and rebaptized person, whether male or female, of adult age, should be put to death by fire and sword, or by other means, according to the circumstances of the person, without a previous inquisition of the spiritual courts ; and those peace-breakers, ringleaders, vagrants, and seditious instigators of the vice of rebaptism, if they persist therein, or relapse into it, should by no means find favor, but should be proceeded against with rigor according to the statute. Such, however, as confessed their error and recalled it, and were willing to submit to penance for it, and supplicated for mercy, might be pardoned, in consideration of their condition, busi ness, youth, and all the circumstances. Every one, also, should have his children baptized agreeably to Christian order, cus tom, and usage. But whoever should contemptuously omit to do so, esteeming infant-baptism a nullity, shall be considered an Anabaptist, and subjected to the above ordinance."* This example was followed by the emperor Charles V. and the several princes of the empire, who expelled the miserable sect from theh dominions, not by argument, but by the sword. Their blood was freely shed : and when they were not put to death, they were otherwise punished with finesj imprisonment, stripes, or banishment, f It may be truly said that this was a cruel persecution, and particularly ill became Protestants who contended so earnestly for the rights of conscience. But it was not without its apology, both in the spirit of the age and in the principles and the conduct of the sufferers. It was not easy for men just emerging from the darkness of popery to open their eyes at once upon the hght in the fulness of its blaze, and to see the falsity and the wickedness of the principle so long held . and granted, That errors in religion, obstinately persisted in, were crimes which Christian rulers ought to punish. The Anabaptists themselves also furnished sufficient cause to identify them with Munzer and the revolted peasantry, whose * Fueslin, &c., vol. i. p. 272, note 57. t Ibid- P- 273- T 28 218 HISTORY OF THE enormities had kindled a feeling of extreme bitterness in the minds of the secular rulers. Their tenet,- That among Chris tians there should be no secular government, and that no Christian could hold such an office, was levelled against all existing governments : it implied that every secular ruler was an infidel, and, as such, unworthy to preside over a Christian people ; and the dissemination of such a doctrine among the multitude could not fail to be of injurious effect. The odium which this tenet everywhere brought upon them, and the ven geance which it armed against them, at length opened theh eyes, and taught them to purge it from theh creed. To the church they were not less offensive by theh fanatical excesses, and their scurrilous denunciation of institutions which all the world revered as holy and divine. They reviled, in the most indecent terms, the existing churches and theh ministry, and denounced infant-baptism as an invention of the devil, and a useless ceremony, comparing it with the washing of a dog or other beast. It was not in the spirit of the times to tolerate such profane railing ; and it is not to be wondered at, if those whom they thus angered sometimes treated them worse than they deserved. To the Reformed church, the rise of this sect was particu larly fraught with danger. The light of truth had but re cently been brought again from its long concealment, and was still in doubtful conflict with darkness. Some of the popish abuses had been abolished, and the way was cautiously pre paring for the removal of the rest. The Christian world was anxiously expecting the result. Enemies without assailed the nascent Reformation, at one time with alluring promises, and at another with threats ; whilst enemies within were looking out for coming events, eager to lay hold of any thing wherewith to crush it in its birth. The whole ground upon which the reformers stood was the principle, That the Bible is the suffi cient and only rule of faith and practice, and for the right understanding of it we need no other than its own light. In the midst of the conflict, the Anabaptists arose like a whirl wind; they pronounced the doctrine of the reformers false GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 219 and their church an abomination, and professed to teach the true gospel and to form the only true church. The Papists took advantage of this. schism to invalidate the fundamental principle of the Reformation, to prove the inutility of the Bible as the rule of faith, and to show the necessity of a supreme judge of controversies. The Reformed were thus placed between two hostile forces on opposite sides, and seemed devoted to perdition amid the assaults of both ; and to a power and a wisdom far above her own is it owing that the Reformed church came unhurt out of these dangers. The necessity was now imposed upon the reformers to show that, though the Bible was sufficiently clear, their adversaries gave' a false representation of its meaning, and that the doc trine which it teaches was that which they themselves had taught. Hence were the repeated public discussions of which the Bible was made the basis, and hence the writings of the reformers on this subject. The first of Zwingle's works in this controversy was pub lished May 27, 1525, under the title " Of Baptism, Rebap tism, and Infant-baptism." It was dedicated to the council and citizens of St. Gall, where the sect were become very nu merous. His second work, "On the Gospel Ministry," with an introductory address to his countrymen of the county of Tokkenburg, appeared on the 30th of June. In reply to Hubmeyer, who had put forth a slanderous attack upon his character, he published, in November of the same year, his vindication, entitled " On Doctor Balthazar's Tract on Bap tism : a true and solid Answer," which contained the argu ment he employed at the same time in the third public dispu tation. Another work, " Against the Craft and Artifices of the Anabaptists," appeared in 1527. Anabaptists have charged Zwingle with instigating the government to the harsh measures that were adopted against them. Hubmeyer was the first, or among the first, who urged this serious charge. In the dedication prefixed to his pub lished account of his conference at Nicolsburg, in 1526, which may serve as a specimen of his calumnies, he says : " They 220 HISTORY OF THE wished to convert me to another faith by the executioner, agreeably to Zwingle's sentence, pronounced publicly in the pulpit upon me and many other pious persons — men, women, and maidens ; that we, as Anabaptists, ought to have our heads cut off, conformably to the imperial laws. This is his gospel, word of consolation, and work of mercy, with which he comforted and visited the Christians in prison. Yea, he preached a very singular sermon and, finally, too, brought it to this, that above twenty persons, men, women, pregnant wives, and maidens, were miserably cast into gloomy towers, and doomed no more to see the light of the sun or moon, to end their days on bread and water, and thus to re main together in the dark towers, the living and the dead, to die, stink, and putrefy, till none survived. Oh God, what an unheard-of, grievous, and rigid sentence upon pious Christian people, against whom no ill could be truly said, save only that, in obedience to the strict command of Christ, they had received water-baptism. ' ' * That this is a grossly exaggerated and false account of the treatment of the Anabaptist prisoners in Zurich, is satisfac torily shown by Fueslin in his "Beitrage."f But our purpose here is only to vindicate the innocence of Zwingle of a charge so inconsistent with his avowed principles, and so discreditable to his character. " There is not a shadow of truth," says Fueslin, in the same place, " in the assertion that Zwingle in cited the government to such harsh proceedings. He manifests no little meekness and patience toward them in his first writ ings. In the dedication of his book ' On Baptism,' &c, he says : ' I will utter no hard and bitter speeches against them, although I know that they vilify and calumniate me above measure. They assert that I am the cause of theh banish ment from the city and the country by the council, and of their being in exile ; but I can appeal to themselves, that, in their presence, I entreated the council not to adopt rigorous measures against them. At the same time, I advised several * Fueslin, vol. i. p. 206. f Md. p. 207, &c. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 221 counsellors, in private, that a better course would be to tolerate them in the territory of Zurich, than to send them elsewhere ; inasmuch as it was well known here to every one, that they have been vanquished in argument on all occasions, and an enemy who is known to be conquered excites no fear. This is my offence ; this is the great injury they have received from me. I have always been grieved for their ill and hard ship. I have always kindly entreated them to desist from theh obstinacy. If they would acknowledge the truth, they would not deny this. From this every pious Christian may judge who has acted more honestly and Christian-like.' In another writing," continues the same author, "addressed to Conrad Som, preacher and reformer in Ulm, he states, that, as often as he appeared with the Anabaptists before the coun cil, he had entreated for them, and had thereby obtained that the council proceeded so slowly against them. On another occasion, he exercised the same kindness toward them. When one of the exiled ringleaders had published a scurrilous hbel on the government of Zurich, he took the utmost pains to suppress the defamatory production, lest it should come to the knowledge of the council, and that body should be provoked to resort to more rigorous measures. When, some time after ward, Faber reproached him, in one of his writings, with having caused the poor Anabaptists, as he called them, to be imprisoned and badly used, he complained with much feehng of the injustice of the accusation, and asked, ' What, I pray, do the calumniators think of the council of Zurich ? Do they consider them so witless, that they would, on all occasions, ask counsel of me ? Am I the council's master, that I can prescribe to them what they shall do ?' Finally," says Fueslin still, "what reason had Hubmeyer to complain of him? He had generously saved him from those who had sought his life, and persuaded the council to let him go in peace, when they might justly have punished him for his wickedness, and even obtained for bim a considerable sum of money to bear his travelling expenses. ' The council,' says Zwingle, in a letter to Gynoraus, 'did not force him to this recantation, if he t2 222 HISTORY OF THE were willing to leave the city ; for they did nothing more to those who would not repudiate Anabaptdsm, than to banish them. In the mean time, the imperial ambassadors arrived and demanded bim, that he might be brought to condign pun ishment. This was refused, in pursuance of a law which pro vides that a citizen should be tried only for the crime for which he was at first arrested. In this manner, the council sinned by him, viewing him as a citizen, and evading the em peror's demand He wrote a recantation, accordingly, with his own hand, which was not copied from any form pre scribed by the council, or by any other person ; and when he had read it in the church of Notre Dame, he retracted it after I had preached, and, thinking he now had an occasion to speak, said many things against infant-baptism and for re baptism Upon this, he was reconducted to prison, and kept more than a month in confinement. At length he wished to exculpate himself, saying, he had no recollection of doing any thing amiss; if he had spoken otherwise than he had promised, it was the evil sphit that had sported with him. He then wrote another recantation. I went everywhere to my friends, exhorting them to exercise mercy toward him, and to admit bim to a hearing by the council. This was done. When he now offered his recantation, of his own accord, they required that he should write it in German, and presently afterward leave the country. I now went immediately to my colleagues, Engelhard, Leo, and Grossman, and besought them to inter cede for him, because, if he were compelled to depart imme diately after his recantation, he would be exposed to great danger both from the confederates and from the emperor. The council yielded, and, after his recantation, which he uttered with apparent sincerity, though it was any thing else rather, permitted him to remain concealed in Zurich, until he might depart in safety. Sometime afterward, a citizen, who is sincerely attached to the gospel, conveyed him away so privately, that even the citizens knew nothing of it.' "* * Fueslin, vol. i. p. 212, note 40. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 223 Fueslin observes, in his note : " It does not appear from the records that no ill could be said of the sect, save only that they were rebaptized. Rebaptism would not have amounted to much, if it had not served to add strength to other errors. Their separation from the church, their disobedience and hostility to government, their suspicious intercourse with the discontented subjects, who wished to rid themselves of tythes, rents, and other obhgations, and were encouraged in this by theh teaching, their doctrine of matrimony, which obhged a believer, that is, an Anabaptist, to separate from his or her consort who was not of the same faith : these were the causes that chiefly armed the government against them."* It must be confessed, however, that the law made the fact of being rebaptized, or of conferring the rite on another person, the evidence of a participation in the crimes that were charged upon the sect ;f and it cannot be denied, as Fueslin himself observes, that their treatment proceeded ultimately pretty much upon popish principles of religious coercion. J Religious intolerance was the great vice of the age ; a vice which the church of Rome had nursed and cherished into maturity; which she had raised by her constant practice, and by her solemn decrees, to the honors of the holiest virtue : and it is not to be greatly wondered at, if those who had grown up within her pale continued to be fettered by it long after they had left her communion. Zwingle, nevertheless, had not so learned Christ. Both he and Luther were, in this respect, far in advance of the age in which they lived. The Anabaptists did not all adopt all the errors of their brethren, and it would be unjust to say that there were not among them many examples of sincere piety, though blended more or less with fanaticism. Neither did all their brethren, who fell into gross excesses, adopt the same errors and prac tice the same fooleries. Mantz taught, it is said, that baptism extinguished all sinful propensities, and the baptized were, * Fueslin, vol. i. p. 211. f M^ P- 210> &<>*« *¦ X Ibid. p. 196, note 37. 224 HISTORY OF THE therefore, without sin. Others held that those who transgress after baptism commit the sin against the Holy Ghost. Others, again, who indulged freely in sinful pleasures, thought that, as they were not , in the flesh, but in the spirit, such things could not affect them. Lewis Hezer and his followers re jected the atonement and the divinity of Christ. John Denk and his party taught the ultimate salvation of the damned. Some rejected the Old Testament as of no use to Christians. Some repudiated the whole of the written word as a dead letter that killeth, professing to be taught by the spirit, the internal word. In their meetings for worship, some of them fell suddenly upon the floor, or rubbed their backs against the wall, bent their hands and fingers as in convulsions, distorted their faces, and wrought themselves into profuse sweats. This they called " dying with Christ." When they recovered themselves, they spoke of sublime, heavenly things ; and this they called "testifying." Some, who, it was alleged, could neither read nor write, spoke occasionally from the Holy Scripture, and what they said was taken down in writing by others, and esteemed a word of God.* A tragic event, which occurred on the Miilegg, in the precincts of St. Gall, furnished a painful illustration of the nature of the sphit that actuated these enthusiasts, and of the pernicious tendency of a blind confidence in imagined supernatural illuminations, irrespective of reason and the written word of God. N. Shugger, a vene rable sire of eighty years, and his five sons, had embraced the doctrine of the Anabaptists. On a Shrove-Tuesday, being the seventh of February, 1526, a large number of the brethren were assembled at his house to celebrate the festival, and were entertained by a feast on a fatted calf by the aged father. The time was spent in various fanatical exercises, and two of the sons, Leonard and Thomas, fancying themselves under powerful divine influences, raved like madmen. In the midst of their frenzy, the former cried out to his brother : " Thomas, it is the will of the heavenly Father that you strike off my * Hottinger, &c, p. 268, &c. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 225 head!" After some frantic fooleries, Thomas exclaimed: " Father, thy will be done !" He directed his brother to kneel, and, in the presence of the whole assembly, took a sword and struck off his head as he knelt before them. After thanking God that he had overcome, he ran to the house of Vadianus, the burgomaster, in St. Gall, and said to him : " He will do it no more. I have given it to him." The burgomaster, thinking him deranged, commanded him to be led into the house, but learning very soon the facts of the dreadful tragedy, sent him to prison. In his confinement, the miserable man continued to ascribe the horrid deed to the agency of God, acknowledg ing that he had done it, but maintaining that God had wrought it by him. Three successive trials on the rack could elicit nothing else from him, and he died under the hand of the executioner, still affirming the same thing.* H. BuUinger, in his history of the Anabaptists, gives the following account of their doctrine : "They esteem themselves the only true and acceptable church and congregation of Christ, and teach that those who are received into their society by baptism must have no com munion whatever either with the evangelical or with any other churches ; for our churches are not truer churches of Christ than the Papists' or others. They urge in proof of this, that in their churches there is evident reformation of life, whereas, in the so-called evangelical churches nobody reforms ; all are impenitent, captivated in sins and vices, for which reason it is unbecoming to have fellowship with them. " There is also a defect in the ministers, as well as in the people, both as to their persons and as to their ministry. As to their persons, because they are not rightly called ; because they possess not the qualifications described by St. Paul, in 1 Tim. iii. ; because they do not themselves practise what they teach others ; and because they accept salaries and bene fices. * * * * " There is, farther, a great defect in their ministry, both * Hottinger, &c, p. 289. 29 226 HISTORY OF THE as to their teaching and as to their administration of sacra ments. As to their teaching, because all are bound to the preaching of one man, although Paul ordained that, if a reve lation come to one who sitteth, the first shall be silent that the other may speak. " The preachers do not abide by the word alone, but ex pound the Scripture, although the Scripture is not to be inter preted according to every one's exposition. " The sermons of the preachers are too insignificant, for they teach that Christ has made satisfaction for sin, and that man is justified by faith, and not by works ; although, in this wicked world, nothing should be more insisted -on than good works. " So, also, the preachers have taught that it is impossible that a man should keep the law, although the whole Scripture commands the keeping of the law. " The preachers do not teach aright concerning love, agree ably to which all things should be held in common ; for they pretend that a Christian may possess property and be rich, whereas love would rather have all things common among the brethren. " The preachers mingle together the Old Testament and the New, although the Old Testament is abrogated and of no validity with Christians ; and those of the Old Testament, moreover, have no kindred with those of the New. " What the preachers say of souls, that they pass directly to heaven after the death of the body, is not certain ; for they sleep until the day of judgment. " The preachers grant too much to government, of which Christians have no need, inasmuch as they are wholly passive. A Christian cannot be a secular magistrate. " Governments neither shall nor may take cognisance of religion and matters of faith. " Christians do not resist violence ; therefore they have no need of courts : neither does a Christian use a court. " Christians put no man to death. They do not punish with the prison and the sword, but with the ban only. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 227 "Nobody must be compelled to beheve by any force or constraint : neither must any one be put to death on account of his behef. " Christians make no resistance ; therefore they wage no war, and, in this, do not obey government. " The speech of Christians is yea, yea, nay, nay. They swear not at all ; wherefore, also, they swear no oath. Swear ing an oath would be sin and wrong. '• The ministry of the preachers is further defective in the administration of the sacraments, because they baptize infants ; for infant baptism is from the pope and out of the devil. •; Rebaptism, on the contrary, is the true Christian baptism, being given unto repentance to those who make a profession, and are instructed, and have understanding. '¦The preachers make no distinction, and do not drive sinners from the Lord's supper, and use no ban. '• For all these, and for other similar reasons, the Anabaptists must, as they say, separate themselves from us, and cannot remain with us, unless they would become partakers of our pollution and punishment. Wherefore, theh own salvation, and theh safety from divine wrath, and, consequently, the highest necessity, constrain them to form theh own separate church, and to endure, on that account, whatever God may give them to suffer."* There is in this form of doctrine a singular mixture of truth and error. Theh fine sentiments on rehgious hberty would possess more value, if the Anabaptists, instead of being the sufferers, had been in a condition to prescribe terms to the rest of the Christian world, and if they had not themselves talked of cutting off the heads of priests. Every sect has asserted the same just principles in its distress, and has for gotten them in its prosperity. It may be questioned whether the Anabaptists would have adopted theh odious opinions on the subject of civil govern ment, if they had been left to indulge theh rehgious opinions * Fueslin, vol. v. p. 131, Sc. 228 HISTORY OF THE and to form their separate organization unmolested. Some of them, at least, professed a willingness to obey, the civil authorities, if they did not interfere with theh religious con victions. But when the government stood in their way where they thought their duty called them, there was an easy step" to the thought that the government was wicked, an enemy of God, and ought to be abolished. Hostility to secular rulers was, however, a primary principle with Munzer. CHAPTER III. PKOGRESS OF THE REFORMATION IN ZURICH. These disorders of the peasantry and the fanatical Ana baptists were eagerly siezed upon by the Papists as so many proofs of the mischievous tendency of the Reformation, which they represented as' the prolific cause of disorders both in the state and in the church: it divested faith of all certainty, stripped governments of all authority, led to dissensions and excesses of every kind, and turned the world upside down. The occasion was too inviting to be neglected, and they did not fail to make the most of it. Cochlaus, a Papist writer, says : " There never has been a faction so seditious, pestilent, and nefarious, that so plotted the abohtion of all rehgion, the overthrow of all laws, the corruption of all good morals, and the destruction of every commonwealth, as this Lutheran fac tion ; which both profanes sacred things and pollutes the profane ; which so preaches Christ as to trample upon his sacraments ; so trumpets grace as to destroy the freedom of the will ; so extols faith as to disparage good works and to give a license to sin ; so elevates mercy as to depress righteous ness ; and which makes the cause of all evil, not some malig nant divinity at least, which the Manicheans feigned, but the one truly good Being. While it treats divine things in this GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 229 impious manner, hke the serpent, which, cast down from heaven, pours out his poison upon the earth, it moves dissen sion in the church, abrogates laws, paralyzes magistracies, stirs up the laity against the clergy and both agamst the pope, and incites the people against their princes : nor does it aim at anything else than (which may heaven avert) that, under the pretext of liberty, the German people should declare war against their rulers, and Christians should fight against Christians, for the religion and faith of Christ, while the enemies of Christ look on and mock."* Erasmus, who would have gone with the reformers, if they had confined them selves within the hmits he would have prescribed, but took offence both at the compass of their reformation and at the boldness and the violence, particularly of Luther's manner, says, in his reply to Luther : " Here we have the fruit of your spirit ; . affairs are come to a bloody catastrophe, and we fear still more atrocious things, if a propitious God does not avert them. You will not, I suppose, acknowledge these insurgents; but they acknowledge you : and it is now found that many who boasted of the gospel have been the instigators of the fiercest insurrections. If their attempt had succeeded, some, perhaps, would have come forward and commended it, who now, since it has failed, hold it in abhorrence. In your savage tract against the peasants, you have repelled suspicion from yourself; but you have not prevented men from believing that in your tracts, especiaUy in those written in German, against the monks, against the bishops, in behalf of evangelical liberty, and in condemnation of human tyranny, you have given occasion to these tumults. I do not'think so ill of you, Luther, as to believe that you designed these effects; but, nevertheless, when you began this tragedy, I conjectured long ago that it would come to this result."f So also Eckius, in his letter to the Swiss diet, poured out similar complaints in torrents of invective against Zwingle and other reformers. * Cochlaus ad annum 1523, fol. 64, b. in Gieseler's Lehrb., vol. iii. p. 216. t Erasmus Hyperaspistes, lib. i. in Gieseler, &c, p. 216. U 230 HISTORY OF THE These specimens serve to show how violent a prejudice these unhappy disturbances created against the doctrines of the reformers, and what labors and discouragements they pre pared for them. The Papists, seeing their advantage, left nothing untried to turn upon them an overwhelming flood of odium, to deprive them of public confidence, to confirm their adherents in their attachment to the old superstitions, and to bring back into the bosom of the church those who had broken- away from her embraces. The supreme pontiff himself, Clement VII., addressed a letter to the canton of Zurich, dated Feb. 10, 1525, which was presented to the council by his legate, Ennius, teeming with blandishments adapted to allure those who still retained a lurking affection for the see of St. Peter, and with invective against the Reformation and its promoters. It was evidently designed to confirm the partisans of Rome in their attachment to their rehgion, and to fan theh hostility to the changes that were taking place in the faith and practice of their fellow- citizens.* Valentine Compar, secretary of the canton of Uri, a man of talents and learning, published a work about the same time, in which he endeavored to refute four of the doctrinal points embraced in Zwingle's theses, viz. : 1. The exclusive authority of the Bible as the rule of faith ; 2. The use to be made of the fathers, whom the author considered as having written under divine inspiration ; 3. The use to be made of images ; and 4. The doctrine of a purgatory. On the first point, this writer took the ground which has since been taken by infidels, namely, that the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John were separated by the church from the spurious gospels as cribed to Peter, Thomas, Bartholomew, Nicodemus, &c, and, therefore, rest for their authority upon the judgment and sanction of the church. Zwingle acknowledged that the work was able and dignified, and the best defence of Romanism which he had seen ; and he would, therefore, he said, treat its * Hottinger, &c, p. 227. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 231 author with respect, and reply to him in the same spirit. His answer appeared in April, 1525, under the title, " Answer to Valentine Compar, Secretary of Urie, on the four Articles of the Theses," &c. Where Zwingle's answer was read, the work of his antagonist was rendered almost harmless ; but in the Papist cantons, where his writings could not be circulated, Compar reigned alone, and his production could not fail to produce its effect in confirming his readers both in their creed and in their hatred of the Reformation.* What the pope sought to effect by his briefs, and Compar by his attempted refutation of Zwingle, was undertaken, also, by the Papist clergy in the pulpit and in the confessional, and by the magistrates of the same party in the civil administra tion. Every thing was done to enhance the difficulties with which the reformers struggled, and to crush their effort before it could gather strength to sustain itself, and to rise up under the pressure ; and when to this is added the disturbed state of the peasantry, the wild misrule of the Anabaptists, and the hostile attitude soon afterward assumed by the disaffected cantons, it will be seen that the prospect around Zurich and her reformation was truly dark and lowering : and to all this must yet be added the lamentable breach between the Swiss and the Saxon reformers on the subject of the Lord's supper, of which we shall presently have occasion to speak. Zurich, nevertheless, continued in her onward course, not, indeed, without an apprehension of danger and a feeling of distress, but without permitting herself to be stopped in her way when she once knew that it was the way of truth and the path of duty. In the commencement of the year, the council published an address to the other cantons, under the title, Entschuldigungs- Schrift der en von Zurich an ihre Mit-Eidgenossen ihr Ver- fahren in dem Reformations- Werk betreffend,\ — "Apology * Hottinger, &c, p. 227. f Fueslin, vol. i. p. 293, &c. The document bears this title in Fueslin's Beitrage. 232 HISTORY OF THE of those of Zurich to their Confederates, respecting theh Proceeding in the Work of Reformation." In this apology, they state their object to be, first, to explain the causes of the hostile feelings of their fellow-confederates ; secondly, to reply to some articles that were interpreted otherwise than they in tended them ; and, thirdly, to open their hearts and exhibit the fidelity and love which they had always borne toward the confederacy, and, if God pleased, would for ever bear, at the expense of their life, honor, and property. They considered as the primary causes of all the hostility of their confede rates the refusal of Zurich to unite with them in the treaty of alliance with Francis I. of France, in 1521, by which the twelve cantons had united their fortune with his during his lifetime, and for some years- after his death; and the succors which Zurich had granted to the pope for the protection of the territories of the church, but on the express condition that they should not be employed against France, with which Zurich was at peace. . It so happened that, when the Zurichian auxiliaries had entered Italy, and all the means of bribery and corruption which the French employed to persuade them to join their countrymen in the army of France had failed, they were stopped at the river Ogho by a body of French, who were ordered to oppose their passage into the ecclesiastical states, and to force them back into their own country, inas much as the pope was in alhance with the emperor and at war with France, and they were compelled to open their way by force, after all amicable expostulation had been tried in vain ; and this occurrence furnished a plea to regard them, and the canton from which they came, as enemies of France and of her Swiss allies. The subsequent expulsion of the French from Milan, and the recovery of Parma and Placentia by the pope, added to the return of the troops of the twelve cantons discomfited and destitute, created in those cantons a mortal enmity against Zurich, and diffused itself from her political acts over her religious reformation. The council give, in this part of their apology, very consistent explanations of the reasons of their firm and persevering refusal to unite GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 233 with their brethren in that alliance, and of the support which they had furnished to his holiness and the states of the church, and delicately intimate that they had done only what all the cantons ought to have done. In the second part, they reply to the false accusations that were circulated against them, and state the manifold grievances they had borne. Among these the abduction of Taureolus, the burning of the convent of Ittingen by a mobj and the wrongs of Zurich in the treatment of Rutiman and the Wirts, occupy a prominent place, and are related with an affecting simplicity and tenderness. In the third, they recount the instances of the generous support which Zurich had always given to her confederates in the times of public danger, at the expense of much blood and treasure, and of the proofs which their history furnished of her fidelity to the common oath, and protest her sincere purpose to preserve inviolate the faith of the confederation in all future time. This apology, conceived in a calm and mild spirit, and expressed in the kindest and most respectful terms, ought, at least, to have softened the asperity of the offended cantons, if it did not wholly extinguish every unfriendly feeling. It produced this effect, however, only in part. Soon afterwards, an embassy arrived at Zurich from six of the cantons, who urged again the complaints which they had advanced before, irrespective of the answers they had received. The council now contented themselves with referring them to published writings of Zwin gle, with copies of which they supplied them. The same calumnies having reached the Grisons, where the seeds of the Reformation were beginning to germinate, the reformer ad dressed a circular to the three leagues, to guard them against the injurious impressions which they might receive from those slanders, before they had calmly examined the truth.* While the government were thus attentive to the vindication of their cause abroad, they were equally careful to correct abuses and to improve the condition of the people at home. Among their first measures, this year, was the establishment * Voegelin's Jahrtafel ad annum 1525, p. 48. u2 30 234 HISTORY OF THE of a public almonry for the relief of the poor, both foreign and native, and the abolition of street-begging. The funds for this object were obtained by the sale of five estates of vacant canonships, and of twenty-three chaplaincies, and from the proceeds of useless church ornaments, and property of surrendered convents. The management of the institu tion was committed to a board of seven members, two of whom were taken from the chapter, two from the lower, and two from the greater council ; the seventh, who presided as um pire, was probably chosen by these. Street-begging was prohibited. Those who indulged in acts of vice, or neglected the public duties of religion, and all who wore ornaments of gold or silver, were excluded from the benefits of the institution.* Another important measure was the estabhshment of what was called in German Ehegericht, that is, a court of matrimo nial affairs, a consistory, or a tribunal which had jurisdiction of marriages, and of all the cases and interests that arise from marriage, or have relation to it ; as incest, adultery, divorce, illegitimacy, dowers, wills, intestate estates, &c. These sub jects had belonged to the bishop's jurisdiction, and all cases of this kind arising in his diocese were brought to his court in Constance, usually at much expense of time and money, and always with the payment of heavy fees, which constituted a part of the episcopal revenues, and which the rapacious ecclesiastics exacted with rigor. The bishop had been gra dually divested of his authority over the churches and the clergy of this canton, and the power which he had exercised had passed insensibly into the hands of the civil government ; but he still continued to exercise jurisdiction in matrimonial cases, and to annoy the people with demands for his episcopal fees. To remove this annoyance, and to complete the inde pendence of the people from foreign control, the government now established this tribunal at home, for the adjudication of all such cases. It was composed of two members of each of * Hottinger, p. 221. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 235 the councils, and two of the pastors of the city. Its first session was held May 15, 1525.* As the light of truth increased, and the spirit of the gospel was more and more diffused, other changes succeeded. The provost and chapter of Embrach surrendered their endowments to government. The abbots of Stein and Riiti also gave up their convents; but these treacherous prelates first secured the treasures and the papers of their institutions, and, after the surrender, absconded, leaving to government the naked walls. The nuns of the convents of Selnau and Sammlung, who were unwilhng to relinquish the monastic life, were placed in the convent of Oetenbach with the remnant of its inmates, and their own monasteries were appropriated to other uses.f We have already taken notice of the reformation of the chap ter of St. Felix and Regula, and the prospective conversion of its funds to the purposes of education and of the relief of the poor. The chapter now went farther, surrendering to government their immunities and prerogatives, and becoming subject, like common citizens, to the laws of the state ; and, in the month of September, they transferred to government the possession of their property and funds, the interest of which became applicable, as the benefices became vacant, to the several objects which the government contemplated. The female convent of Toss also was secularized, and the nuns were provided for by pensions. J Zwingle could now give effect to his long-cherished desire of making Zurich a seat of solid learning, especially in classic and sacred literature and in scriptural theology. For this purpose, he sought first to furnish his seminary with able in structors in the Latin, Greek, and Hebrew languages, a knowledge of which he considered of the first importance to a biblical student. Through his agency, Jacob Ceporinus, or Wiesendanger, was appointed, as early as 1522, professor of Greek and Hebrew; but there being yet no funds for the support of professorships, and Ceporinus having an engage- * Hottinger, p. 233. f Ibid. p. 231, 232. J Ibid. 236 HISTORY OF THE ment in Basel, he soon returned to that city, and first began his public labors in Zurich in the summer of 1525.* His useful services were terminated by his death, at the close of the year. He was succeeded in the Hebrew professorship by Conrad Pellicanus, or Kirshner, a native of Alsace. Pelli- canus was originally a monk of the order of St. Francis. By diligent application, he acquired a knowledge of Hebrew with out an instructor, but subsequently perfected his acquaintance with it under the tuition of the celebrated Reuchlin. In 1523, his reputation as a theologian procured him the associate pro fessorship of theology in Basel. In the course of his reading and intercourse with men of genius, he obtained an insight into the religion of the Bible ; but much of his discoveries in this province was the result of his own investigation. During his official labors in Zurich, much of his attention being directed to the interpretation of the Holy Scriptures, he acquired eminent skill in biblical exegesis, and became a useful assistant in the Reformation, as well as an ornament to the institution to which his services were more directly given. His labors in the seminary began on the first of March, 1526. He still wore the habit of his order, which, however, he laid aside soon after he had assumed the duties of his new situa tion. The Latin professor was Jacob Ammianus, or Amman, who, besides teaching the language, read lectures on Quinc- tilian and Cicero. Rudolph Collinus, or Collin, was professor of Greek. Zwingle himself was the theological professor. This duty he performed, in addition to his arduous office of principal pastor, and the rectorship also of the school attached to the minster, which he had recently assumed upon the death of the Ludi-moderator, the canon Dr. Niessli. After his death, the professorship was separated from the pastorate; H. BuUinger succeeded him in the latter, and the former was given to Bibliander, or Buchman. The number of the professorships was at first four, namely, 1st, the theological ; 2d, the Latin ; 3d, the Greek ; 4th, the * Hottinger, p. 52, 99, 233. Fueslin, vol. i. p. 193, note 36. HERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 237 Hebrew. Some time afterward, two other professorships were added ; namely, the second theological professorship and the professorship of natural philosophy. Josiah Simlar was the first who filled the former of these, and the latter was given to Conrad Gesner. Agreeably to the compact between the chapter and the council, the number of the canons was reduced by omitting to fill vacancies, and, when appointments were made, they were given to men who performed the duties of professors in the seminary, or of ministers of thc gospel. The number to which the reduction was at first brought was eight ; viz. 1st, the pastor of the Minster ; 2d, the first assistant preacher ; 3d, the second assistant preacher ; 4th, the professor of theology ; 5th, the professor of the Latin language and literature ; 6th, the professor of the Greek language and literature ; 7th, the professor of Hebrew ; 8th, the pastor of the fourth parish church, formerly belonging to thc Dominicans. To these were afterward added the two additional professorships of theology and natural philosophy, being in all ten canonships. At a still later period, the two professorships of Latin and Hebrew were separated from the cauonship, and a new pro fessorship of logic, rhetoric, and metaphysics was united with it; the tenth cauonship was# then sometimes given to the Ludi-moderator. or principal of the school at the Minster. The income from the endowments was divided into eighteen portions ; of these ten were appropriated to the salaries of the professors and teachers above described, and eight were ap plied to other uses. The revenues of the chaplaincies, all of which were left to expire,* were generally devoted to the objects of the almonry. The endowments were thus restored to theh original destination after seven centuries of abuse and waste upon a body of proud, idle, and useless eccle siastics, f The form of Zwingle's theological instructions was peculiar. * When the number of canons and chaplains was reduced to eight, the dis tinction was abolished, and all were called canons. t Fueslin, vol. i. p. 14. note 4 : p. 21, note 7. 238 HISTORY OF THE The following account of them is given by Fueslin, from the old constitution of the church of Zurich: "They were called the Prophecy, that is, the exposition of the Scripture. The lections were held in the choir of the Great-Minster, at the hours formerly appropriated to the choir-service. The title in the church-constitution is, Form of holding the Prophecy. Then follows : ' Inasmuch as the Lord Jesus Christ has said by the prophets : This people draw near to me with theh lips, but their heart is far from me ; but in vain do they serve me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men ; and in another place : Wo unto you, scribes and pharisees, who devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayers ; for ye shall receive the greater damnation ;' inasmuch also as the apostle Paul has said, that he would rather speak five words with his understanding, than ten thousand words in an un known tongue ; we therefore have abolished the mercenary church-prayer and the choir-service, and have substituted the Prophecy, agreeably to Paul's teaching. This shall be per formed in the following manner : commencing with the begin ning of the Bible, the whole shall be read with great diligence in successive lessons to the end, in the course of several years. For this purpose, one hour or more every day shall be taken of the time which has heretofore been appropriated to the singing of prime, third, and sixth in the choir. A student shall read a chapter, or half a chapter, in course, from the Latin version of Jerome. The same shall then be read by the Hebrew reader, who shall explain the idioms of that lan guage. After this, the same shall be read in the Greek version of the seventy interpreters. Finally, the whole shall be expounded, with the utmost care, to the intelligent and learned in Latin. This the minister of the word shall explain also to the common people in German, from the pulpit, with the addition of a prayer.' — This manner," says Fueslin, " was pursued until the time of Peter Martyr. When he became professor, in 1556, his first act was to abolish these popish hours, and to introduce the arrangement by which each of the professors of theology lectured alternately one GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 239 week." According to Hottinger, this arrangement began as early as 1534, when each of the professors lectured alter nately -one week, the one expounding a book of the Old Testament, .and the other a book of the New Testament. But these lectures seem to have been at that time superadded to Zwingle's lections, which were, probably, superseded by them and discontinued from the time of Peter Martyr. Hottinger first states that the lections were attended by all the preachers, professors, canons, chaplains, and students, and then observes : " In 1534, the summer-auditory was built, and these, as well as other expositions of the Scriptures, were transferred thither ; where, in the presence of the students only, the alternating theologians again expounded, one a book of the Old Testa ment, and the other a book of the New.* Zwingle opened every exercise with the following prayer, which continued to be used many years after his time: "Almighty, eternal, and merciful God, whose word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path, open and enlighten our minds, that we may piously and devoutly understand thine oracles, and may be changed into the likeness of that which we understand, so that we may in no respect displease thy majesty ; through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen."f On the same days on which the lectiones were held in the morning on the, Old Testament, there was an exercise, also, on the New Testament, in the afternoon at three o'clock, under the direction of Myconius, in the church of Notre Dame. It was attended by many of the laity of both sexes, as well as by the clergy and students, and, for the common benefit, was conducted in the German language.^ By this mode of teaching theology, an extensive and accu rate knowledge of the Holy Scriptures was obtained by the clergy and diffused among the people. It was, therefore, admirably adapted to the exigency of the times, in which * Hottinger, p. 233. f Bibl. Repert. and Princeton Review for April, 1841, p. 219. X Hottinger, p. 233. 240 HISTORY OF THE nothing was so much wanted as a knowledge of the Bible ; and a good foundation was thus laid for the reformation of the church in her doctrine and worship, and in the life and character of her members. The prominence which Zwingle gave everywhere to biblical instruction, proceeded from his fundamental principle, The Bible is the word of God. — Its authority is above all authority. — From it must reformation proceed. — It must be brought to bear upon the understanding anfl the heart, and then left to do its own work. The same principle turned the attention of the Swiss re former and his co-workers to a popular translation of the Holy Scriptures in the vernacular tongue. Luther had already published his version of the New Testament, and some portions of the Old, which were extensively circulated and read ; but his Misnian dialect was not always intelligible to the Swiss readers and in the neighboring parts of Germany; and Zwin gle and his associates thought, also, that the sense of the original was not everywhere accurately conveyed by the ver sion. They, therefore, undertook a revision of Luther's, trans lation as far as it was published, collated it with the original text, and altered it in those places where, in their judgment, the sense of the sacred writer could be expressed with more exactness, and where words or phrases occurred that were not sufficiently understood in southern Germany and in Switzerland. But in the Psalms, Job, the three books of Solomon, and the Prophets, they translated entirely from the Hebrew text, Luther's version of those books being not yet published. The translation of the Apocrypha is the work of Leo Juda. The whole Swiss version is sometimes ascribed to the same author ; it was, however, the joint production of several hands, and a fruit of the so-called Prophecy or expository lections. Zwin gle, Engelhard, Hoffmeister, Leo Juda, Pellicanus, Megander or Grossman, Myconius, Bibliander or Buchman, &c, were, during this period, employed in Zurich, and constituted the learned college in which Leo presided ; and all these, doubt less, contributed to the work. It is ascribed to the ministers of the church in general, in the prefaces to the editions of GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 241 1531 and 1536. The reason of its being ascribed to Leo Juda as its author is, probably, to be found in the fact, that, as president of the college, he was principally occupied with it, and had a general superintendence of it in its progress. The first part appeared in 1525, and the second in 1529. The whole work was revised and published in 1531. In 1538, Michael Adam, a learned Jew, coming to Zurich, and staying at the house of Pellicanus, he was induced, in conjunction with Leo Juda, to revise the version and collate it anew with the Hebrew text ; and this revised edition was published in 1540.* Leo Juda labored, also, on a Latin translation of the Old Testament, which he did not live to finish. Several books being still wanting, he committed the work, before his death, to his friend Theodore Buchman, (Bibliander,) by whom it was completed, with the assistance of Pellicanus, Peter Choli, and Rudolph Gualter, and published in 1543.f [In 1667, a revised translation of the German version was published at Zurich. " The alterations and corrections in it," says Mr. Home, " are so numerous, that it is considered as a new translation, and is commonly called the New Zurich Bible, in contradistinction from the Old Zurich version of Leo Juda. It was undertaken by Hottinger, Muller, Zeller, Hoff- meister, and others, and conducted with great care and preci sion. As this plan seems to have had some resemblance to that pursued by our own admirable translators, and may, perhaps, have been copied from it, this version is more par ticularly worthy of notice. When these learned men met together, Hottinger and Muller had each of them the Hebrew text put into their hands, Zeller had the old Zurich version, Wasser took the Italian version of Giovanni Diodati and Pareus' edition of Luther's Bible, Hoffmeister had the Sep tuagint and the Junio-Tremellian version before him, and Preitz the Belgian Bible. When any difference arose, the * Hottinger, p. 224, &c. Schroeck's Kirch. Gesch., vol. ii. p. 137. f Ibid. V 31 242 HISTORY OF THE point was argued by them all. Each of them was called upon to give his opinion of the translation in his hands ; and that reading was adopted which, after mature consideration, seemed most agreeable to the Hebrew." — "As the Zurich version differed very materially from that of Luther, John Piscator undertook another from the Latin version of Junius and Tre- mellius, which he has followed very closely. It appeared in detached portions, between the years 1602 and 1604, and was repeatedly printed during the seventeenth century. Piscator's version, having become very scarce, has lately been revised by the biblical and divinity professors, and three pastors of the Helvetic church, who have corrected its orthography, and such words as have become obsolete, previously to an edition of eight thousand copies of the entire Bible and four thousand of the New Testament, which has been executed by the Bern Bible Society, aided by a pecuniary grant of the British and Foreign Bible Society."*] Hitherto Zwingle had not published a systematic exposition of the doctrine which he taught, and the Reformed Church of Zurich received and professed, as the system of Christianity. His sixty-seven theses, and the explanation and defence of them, did not form a system of Christian doctrine, and were not designed as such : they were polemic propositions, ex plained and defended, and embraced only the points of diver gence from the system of the church of Rome, upon which he was desirous of proving his own orthodoxy and confuting his adversaries. Although his followers were numerous, not only in the city and canton of Zurich, but in other parts of Switzer land, and beyond it, in Italy, France, and Germany, nothing was yet declared and acknowledged, as a bond of communion, besides the general principle, That the Bible is the standard and rule of faith and practice, according to which the ministers of religion are bound to teach, and the members of the church to believe and live. This was sufficient- as the test of ortho doxy and the rule of individual direction, but it furnished no * Home's Introduction to the Bible, vol. ii. p. 230, &c. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 243 answer to the question what doctrines the reformers had drawn from the Bible, and their followers in Zurich received ; neither was a sufficient answer found in the pubhshed writings of Zwingle. Many of his friends, particularly those in Italy and France, therefore requested him to put forth a work that would exhibit a complete view of his doctrines, both for the informa tion of the sincere inquirer and -for the confutation of those who misrepresented and reviled the Reformation ; and this was the more necessary now, after the rise of the Anabaptists, whom the malicious and the ignorant confounded with the Reformed, and whos^e errors and extravagances were charged to the Reformation. Moved by these considerations, he wrote his principal work, entitled, " Commentarius de Vera et Falsa Religione ;" that is, A Treatise on True and False Religion. This work was published in Latin, in March, 1525, and was translated into German by Leo Juda, and published in the following year. It was dedicated to Francis I., king of France, in whose dominions the Reformed were cruelly perse cuted, and whom he wished to conciliate to their injured cause. Shroeck says of it : " Without being strictly system atic, it is a mopument of original investigations, of a familiar acquaintance with biblical doctrines, which are unfolded with much Care, and of various learning, and is written in a fine style."* It is not a complete system, though fuller than Melancthon's Loci Communes, which appeared first . in 1521 ; several articles of the theological system are still wanting in it. This deficiency may have been owing to the haste with which the author was obliged to prepare it for the press ; but it answered, nevertheless, the main design of its publication. In this treatise, Zwingle propounded several doctrines in which he differed from the Saxon reformer. Among them were, -particularly, his theory of what the theological schools have termed "original sin," but in German systems, is called "erbsiinde," that is, hereditary sin; and his opinion on the Lord's supper. On the former of these doctrines, he agreed * Schroeck's Kirch. Gesch. s. d. Ref., vol. v. p. 98. 244 HISTORY OF THE with Luther and the earher divines in teaching that human nature is wholly depraved, that its depravity is propagated by natural generation, and that it is derived from Adam as a consequence of his transgression in Paradise. He called this depravity Pest, morbus ; that is, a disorder, disease, infirmity, or faultiness, and conceived it to be a selfishness or predomi nating self-love, that generates enmity against God and against his law, disqualifies for holy exercises, is the fountain of all sin, and excludes from heaven. But he denied that it is itself sin, apart from the wrong action which arises from it. Sin, in the proper sense, he defined to be actual transgression of the known law of God ; of which infants are incapable. Inherent depravity, he said, is called sin, indeed, but is so called in an improper sense : it is not a wrong action, but a disorder, disease, infirmity, or faulty condition of our nature, that is derived to us through our birth, and cleaves to us with out any agency or fault of our own. It was inflicted upon Adam as a punishment of his transgression, and was the death which he died on the very day in which he ate of the forbidden fruit ; and it cleaves to all his posterity, because, being him self now reduced to this faulty and diseased condition, it was impossible that bis descendants should be in any other. His posterity are born in this condition by a transgression and a fault, indeed ; but it is by the transgression and the fault of their common progenitor, and not by their own. This is illustrated by the case of a prisoner of war in ancient times : by his enmity and deceit, the hostile soldier deserved, when captured, to be reduced to slavery ; and he is, therefore, made a slave. If in this condition he becomes the father of children, his offspring are not freemen, but slaves. Their slavery is now a condition and a punishment, which they derive from their father, not through any fault of their own, but through his fault. This depravity of our nature is the cause of natu ral death, which affects infants, who have never properly sinned, as well as adults, who are actual sinners. This he illustrates by the case of a young beast of prey, which has never yet ravened. Its nature is to raven as soon as it GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 245 attains to a proper age, though it has not yet committed the act of taking prey. The hunter, therefore, knowing its na ture, does not spare it, though an inoffensive cub, any more than he spares the adult beast that prowls without ceasing ; and it dies for the fault of its nature, in creating which it had no agency, and for the acts of others which it never com mitted. Infants, however, having never properly sinned, are not subjected to eternal death. The death of Christ atones for the guilt, if it may be so called, of inherent depravity, and thus opens to them the gate of heaven ; and no one is con demned to eternal death except for his proper personal sin.* This doctrine Zwingle had taught before, in his work " On Baptism, Rebaptism, and Infant-baptism." He taught and defended it afterwards, in his letter to Urbanus Rhegius, in 1526, and in his Confession of Faith, transmitted to the em peror Charles V., at the diet of Augsburg, in 1530. In his doctrine on the Lord's supper, Zwingle rejected the prevailing notion of a bodily presence of Christ in the elements of the sacrament, admitted only a spiritual participation of him by faith, which he confined to the believing communicant, and held the elements of bread and wine to be signs, or symbols and pledges of that participation. This opinion was not wholly new : as to its substance, though variously modified in its form, it had subsisted in the church from the earliest times. During the middle ages, its adherents were few ; its most dis tinguished patrons were Johannes Scotus Erigena and Raba nus Maurus in the ninth century, Berengarius, of Tours, in the eleventh, and John Wickliffe in the fourteenth. About the time of the Reformation, before Zwingle had publicly avowed his theory, or Carlstadt had written on the subject, there were many who began to speak, though mostly in sup pressed tones, against the notion of a bodily presence of Christ in the sacrament. The Papist cantons, in their remon strance to the council oi Zurich, say: "It wants but little that the body of Christ in the hands of the priest be touched, * Zwingli's Werke, by L. Usteri and S. Voegelin, vol. i. p. 240, &c. v2 246 HISTORY OF THE and called into question in the creed of some men." Upon which Fueslin remarks: "It is clear that this doctrine was not the invention of one man, but the eyes of many were opened at the same time ; for which reason it was so soon and so readily received by the whole church of Zurich, and after wards by others also." Among these many, were Capito, Pellicanus, Carlstadt, Erasmus, and, particularly, Cornelius Hoen, or Honnius, a learned jurist of Holland, who published a Latin treatise, in which he stated and defended this opinion, in 1521. The publication of this doctrine, in his treatise on true and false religion, involved Zwingle and the Swiss divines in the controversy on the Lord's supper, which had already begun to rage in Germany, between Luther and Carlstadt, and of which some notice must now be taken. CHAPTER IV. THE ORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF THE CONTROVERSY ON THE LORD'S SUPPER. Besides the theory on the manner of Christ's presence in the elements of the Lord's supper which Zwingle defended, two others divided the Christian world at the time of the Reformation. The most common of these, by far, was that of the church of Rome, which was designated by the term, Transubstan tiation. In the opinion of that church, the bread and wine are changed, in the hands of the priest, by the act of consecration, into the real body and blood of Christ ; so that they are no longer bread and wine, but flesh and blood. It is admitted that the accidents, as the schoolmen say, that is, the proper ties, of bread and wine remain ; but the substances to which these properties belong, it is contended, are changed, and are GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 247 truly become the body and the blood of Christ ; so that Christ's body and blood are truly present under the forms of bread and wine : sub speciebus panis et vini. Several very important conclusions, that were deducible from these propositions, were actually drawn from them, and made a part of the doctrine. It was held that, where the body of Christ is, there is also his blood, and, inasmuch as the bread is changed into his body, the bread contains his blood also. The communicant, there fore, does not need to receive the sacrament in both kinds ; for, in receiving the bread, he receives both the body and the blood of Christ. It was further held, that where the body and blood of Christ are, there is also his soul; for since his resurrection from the dead, his body and soul are inseparably united. The bread, therefore, is not become an inanimate body, but the reanimated, living Christ. No difficulty is found in the fact, that the bread still appears what it was before ; that our senses can detect nothing in it but bread ; that it looks hke bread ; it feels hke bread ; it tastes like bread : in eating it, there is no perception of flesh or blood, and no sign of life, and sense, and power of motion : all this, it is said, is mere illusion, designed to veil the glorious truth in mystery, and to save the faithful from its overpowering effect, were it evident to their senses : and nothing is more certain than the fact, that, under the mean form of bread, they are really eating the living and glorified Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ ! It was still farther held, that, where Christ's human nature is, there is also his divine nature ; for the two natures con stitute one person, and are, therefore, inseparable : and, as the bread is converted into the Lord Jesus Christ, it is become the God-Man, the Son of God, who sits at the right hand of the Majesty on high, and is adored by the spirits of heaven ; and when the faithful receive and eat the host in the sacra ment, they receive and eat the Son of God, in his divine and human nature, while he administers the government of the universe, and receives the worship of angels ! 248 HISTORY OF THE There was yet another consequence that followed from the last, viz. : If the Lord Jesus Christ be present under the form of bread, he ought to be worshipped under that form by the faithful on earth, as he is worshipped upon his throne by the spirits in heaven: and, accordingly, the consecrated bread was elevated by the priest at the altar, to be devoutly looked upon and adored by the people ; and when the faithful beheld it, they fell down and worshipped ! Such was the edifice that had been raised upon the principle of transubstantiation ; and, conceding that principle, all this train of monstrous absurdities followed naturally and irre sistibly. It is strange that even the ignorant populace, prone as they are to superstition, and strong as is theh love of the marvellous, did not see the absurdity of these consequences, and were not led by them to detect the falsehood of the doc trine upon which they were built. But the people were for bidden to examine, or to inquire, where the church had spoken in her infallibility : the doctrine was a holy mystery, she said, about which the church could not err ; and the part of the laity was not to inquire, but to beheve and adore ! The im posture was carried so far that a festival was appointed in honor of the mystery,* on which the consecrated host was borne in solemn procession, with the most imposing rehgious pomp, and all who saw it were required to bow before it, as before the Son of God, while it passed ! The other opinion was that which was designated by the terms Impanation and Oonsubstantiation. The former of these denoted an inclusion of the body of Christ in the bread, from the Latin words in, in, and panis, bread. The latter signified a union of two substances in one body ; namely, of Christ's body and the bread; from con, together, and sub stantia, substance. According to this opinion, the bread and wine in the sacrament remain unchanged, both in their sub stance and in their properties ; but, by the divine energy of the words, This is my body, — Tliis is my blood, in the act * The festival of Corpus Christi, on Thursday after Trinity-Sunday. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 249 of consecration, the material body of Christ becomes really united with the bread, and the material blood of Christ becomes really united with the wine ; and both the body and the blood of Christ are really and literally received and eaten or drunk by every communicant, whether he be a believer or an unbeliever ; all the difference being that the one is bene fited by his eating, and the other is injured. This was the opinion which Luther adopted. He main tained that the words of institution, This is my body, &c, must be taken in the strictly hteral signification, and neither do nor can admit a tropical or figurative meaning ; and every argument to show that their signification is tropical, that their true meaning is, This signifies my body, or, This repre sents my body, he rejected, as an impious attempt to force the sacred text, to be wiser than Christ himself, and to sit in judgment upon his words. He would not admit that the words proved what the Papists taught, that the bread itself is the body of Christ, but maintained that they do prove that the bread contains, or is united with, the Lord's body. He thus conceded, perhaps unconsciously, that there is a trope, notwithstanding : for in their strictly hteral signification, they would prove the Papist doctrine of transubstantiation, and not the Lutheran, of consubstantiation : and if they be taken in Luther's sense, and not in that of the Papists, they are not taken literally, but as a metonymy, by which the name of the thing contained is put for that of the container. To maintain his position, therefore, cost him infinite pains. In defending it against the Papists, he fell unavoidably into the power of the Tropists ; and in resisting the Tropists he fell back as unavoidably into the power of the Papists. To guard his doctrine against the objections that were urged against it on , philosophical grounds, from the nature of bodies and the evidence of the senses, he rejected the idea of a local presence and a physical union, and called the presence definitive and the union sacramental. By a definitive presence, he meant a pre sence like that of the Deity, which we cannot comprehend ; and to prove the possibihty of the presence of Christ's body 32 250 HISTORY OF THE everywhere, without being locally anywhere, he adopted the position, that, by virtue of the personal union of the divine and the human nature of Christ, the attributes of his divinity were communicated to his humanity, and his body is therefore omnipresent in the same manner in which his divine nature is omnipresent. A sacramental union, he affirmed, differed from every other kind of union of two substances : it was inexpli cable and incomprehensible, and belonged to the mysteries which are purely objects of faith. The vagueness of this term sheltered him from all the assaults of his opponents ; for, if they proved that any specified union could not subsist, he might simply reply, that this was not a sacramental union. But he would not allow the validity of any reasoning on the subject, as long as he had the words of institution, This is my body, &c. : neither would he admit the force of any proof, nor the pertinency of any authorities, to show that these words were a trope, and not to be literally understood. That his theory was at variance with the dictates of reason, he freely admitted ; but he disallowed the authority of reason in the case, and insisted upon the duty of believing where the word of God was clear, as he thought it was in this instance, whatever reason might say to the contrary. In the heat of controversy, he sometimes went so near the Papist boundary, that it was doubtful on which side of it he stood. A single passage must suffice here : " Therefore the fanatics unjustly blame pope Nicholas for compelling Berengarius to make such a confession as this: That he compresses and grinds with his teeth the true body of Christ. Would to God that all popes had acted in every thing as Christianlike as this pope acted with Berengarius in that confession : for it was doubt less his meaning, that whoever eats and bites this bread, eats and bites that which is the right, true body of Christ, and not mere bread, as Wickliffe teaches ; for this bread is truly the body of Christ, even as the dove is the Holy Ghost," &c* * Bekenntniss vom Abendmahl, 1528. In Luther's Werke, Leipzig edit. vol. xix. p. 496. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 251 Before Zwingle published his treatise " On True and False Religion," Luther's theory was publicly attacked in Germany by his early friend and co-worker, Andrew Bodenstein, sur- named Carlstadt from the place of his nativity, Carlstadt in Franconia. He was born in 1483, studied at Rome, and became professor of philosophy and the liberal arts in the university of Wittenberg, in 1504, at the early age of twenty- one years. In 1510, he obtained the archdeaconship of the cathedral in that city, and the professorship of theology in the university ; and, two years afterwards, he conferred on Luther the title of doctor of divinity. An intimate friendship subsisted between him and Luther from that time. When Luther began his reformation, Carlstadt was one of the first who espoused his cause, and the pope's bull of excommunica tion against the reformer, in 1520, only served to kindle in him a higher enthusiasm in his behalf. Among all Luther's colleagues in the university, none was more prompt and open- hearted than Carlstadt ; but he, unfortunately, possessed an ardency of temper. that easily passed into fanaticism under strong excitement, and divested him of that calmness and self-possession which are essential to true greatness. In 1521, he was called by the king oi Denmark, Christian II. , to aid in effecting the reformation of his capital ; but the king being per suaded by his bishops to change his purpose, Carlstadt returned, after a short stay, to Wittenberg. While Luther was still in his retirement in the castle of Wartburg, Carlstadt's impatience impelled him to undertake the abolition of Popish abuses in the forms of worship, and to adapt the external part of reli gion to the purer creed which was now held. A movement had already begun with the Augustinian monks of the city, who, in the early part of October, 1521, discontinued their private masses ; and, near the close of the year, their brethren in Misnia and Thuringia, in a chapter held in Wittenberg, followed their example, and adopted also other reforms.* The monks, however, were not unanimous ; the prior, Conrad * Seckendorf, sec. cxv. p. 442. 252 HISTORY OF THE Held, and a few of the order, insisted on preserving the old order of things, and were supported by the cathedral chapter and a part of the citizens, while the convent preacher, Gabriel Dydimus, inveighed vehemently against the worship of the sacrament and the private masses, and was sustained by the students of the university and another part of the citizens. Amidst the confusion that arose, the elector referred the mat ter to a committee of the university, who, after conferring with the monks, reported favorably of them to the elector, and recommended the abolition of private masses throughout his dominions. Against this recommendation the chapter remonstrated in strong terms ; and, after some farther nego tiation with the professors, the government forbade any far ther innovations, but left the monks unmolested. By the advice of the elector's confessor, a Franciscan monk, and of George Spalatine, the learned were invited, at the same time, to publish expositions of the abuses of the mass, both in Ger man and in Latin, for general information. Carlstadt, who was one of the committee, and whose fiery zeal could ill brook delay, was dissatisfied with these cautious measures, and, believing that he ought to be governed only by his convictions of the truth, resolved to carry into imme diate effect what he held to be the requirement of the word of God. At the Christmas festival, therefore, he set aside the mass, with its Latin form and superstitious ceremonies, admi nistered the Lord's supper in both kinds, suffered the com municants to take the host into their own hands, admitted them to the altar, whether they came fasting or not, and received them without a previous confession. The images of the saints were thrown out of the churches, the altars were removed, and the mode of worship received a form, says Plank, as unlike to what it had been as it could be made.* These bold innovations, made, in part, in a tumultuous manner, by a fanatical body of students and citizens, under his direction, raised a terrible outcry from those who still regarded the * Plank, Gesch. der Entstehung, &c, vol. ii. p. 34. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 253 popish ceremonies with religious awe. "As it seemed," says Seckendorf, " as if every thing were going to disorder, and the elector was in doubt what to do, a compromise was effected, by the intervention of several counsellors, especially of the burgomaster and professor, Dr. Baiers, between the university and the council, in the beginning of the year 1522, of which Dr. Baiers gives the following account to the electoral coun sellor, Haubold Einsiedeln, on the 25th of January: "In the city church, public worship is ordained thus : in the commence ment, the Gloria is sung, which is followed by the epistle, the gospel, and the Sanctus, &c. A sermon is then preached, and afterwards the mass is celebrated in a loud voice, from the words of Christ's institution, and the people are exhorted that those who repent of their sins, and desire the grace of God, come to the holy supper. During the administration, the Agnus Dei and the Benedicamus are sung. The canon . is wholly omitted."* The compromise proposed, also, that the elevation of the host, which, in the papacy, was the act of offering up the Lord Jesus Christ as a sacrifice to God, should be omitted ; but this part was stricken out by Einsiedeln, and the ceremony was retained, on the plea that it served the pur pose of edification. The eating of flesh on fast-days was interdicted to avoid offences, and the images were reinstated. The elector disapproved the length to which his council had gone, and, though he did not forbid the adoption of the com promise, he withheld his sanction, and forbade his counsellors to impute their measure to him. He dreaded the emperor's displeasure, and was afraid of giving cause of offence to the bishops, who were then performing their episcopal visitations in his dominions. Melancthon, also, would have preferred, from prudential motives, that no changes had then been in troduced.! In this unsettled state of things, the new prophets came from Zwickau to Wittenberg. In the former place,, their ex cesses, and the tumults they had raised, had caused the arrest * Seckendorf, sec. cxvi. col. 448. + Ibid. W ' 254 ' HISTORY OF THE of some of the offending leaders, and three of theh number, Stork, Stiibner, and another, who is not named, came, in consequence, to Wittenberg, according to Plank, to obtain the sanction of the university and a redress of their grievance.* They presented themselves before the professors as messengers of God to men, inspired by the Holy Ghost, and called to the ministry by a miraculous voice from heaven. Their high pre tensions, their confident boldness, and their irrepressible ardor quickly spread the contagion of their fanaticism among a people already prepared for the infection. Carlstadt fell into their plans ; a new impulse was given to his turbulent zeal. The enthusiasm of the multitude was aroused anew, and rose to a higher state of excitement than before. All who would not unite with them were denounced as wicked and enemies of God ; those, and only those, were saints, and worthy of the kingdom of heaven, who demolished images, who ate flesh on fast-days, who communed in both kinds, and took the host into their hands, and omitted confession and fasting as a pre paration for the sacrament, and did things of that sort. Their opponents were enraged, disputes rose upon disputes, and the city was thrown into violent commotion. Melancthon wished for Luther, to whom the fanatics appealed, and had from the first proposed to the elector a conference between the prophets and the great reformer. The wise Frederick remained calm amidst all this turmoil. He would not expose Luther to the danger of discovering his retreat, and advised him to refrain from all public discussion with the pretenders, lest the evil might be rendered worse. But when the reformer was apprized of this state of things, and saw the danger to which the fruit of all his toils was exposed in the very birth place of his reformation, he determined at once to return to the field of his labors, regardless of the danger that threatened him from the pope's bull of excommunication, and from the emperor's decree of outlawry. On his way, he addressed a letter to his sovereign, who had forbidden his reappearance * Plank, vol. ii. p. 46. Seckendorf, sec. cxvii. col. 451. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 255 from a concern for his safety, which is a rare example of trust in God, and of fearless devotion to what he esteemed a right eous and holy cause. Never does Luther appear so truly great as in this instance, except when he stood before the diet of Worms, and faced alone,. yet undaunted, the assembled princes and mitred heads of the Papist world. In Wittenberg, he was received with the liveliest demonstrations of joy. He imme diately resumed his public ministry, and addressed the agitated multitude from the pulpit. During eight successive days he preached as many sermons, on the topics which had given so much disturbance to the public mind ; and such was the wise adaptation of his arguments to the exigencies of the case, and such the power with which the Spirit of God enabled him to speak, that every mind was convinced, and every heart sub dued : the storm was hushed, the waves subsided, the troubled sea grew calm. It was the Saviour's work ; and the noisy prophets, foiled by his presence, withdrew in anger from the city. In all these transactions, Luther treated Carlstadt with the utmost tenderness and forbearance, carefully abstaining from offensive personalities, and from allusions by which the feel ings of his early friend might be unnecessarily wounded. He had the more reason for this tenderness because, in his mea sures of reform, Carlstadt and his friends were fully persuaded of Luther's entire approbation, inasmuch as the reformer had himself inveighed with great force against the abuses which they were attempting to remove, and had written a letter to the monks of his order, thanking them for what they had done in abolishing private masses.* It was not the removal of the abuses that Luther condemned, but the time and the manner of doing it, and the principle upon which it was based, and by which it was made essential to Christian piety, contrary to his principle of Christian liberty in such things. Carlstadt's intentions were good, though his zeal was without knowledge, * Plank, Gesch. d. Entstehung, &c, vol. ii. p. 37. 256 HISTORY OF THE and the uprightness of his heart made him worthy of the forbearance which he received.* It was natural, however, that Carlstadt should feel deeply mortified and humbled by such a defeat, and by the ease with which his junior in office had triumphed over him. He returned to his labors in pain, and wrote a work against Lu ther, which the authorities suppressed ; and, being resolved to prevent a public controversy, the government forbade him either to preach or to publish any writing of his until a recon ciliation took place with Luther, f In 1524, he left Wittenberg, without the elector's knowledge, and retired to Orlamiinda, a town of Thuringia, situated on the Saal. Here he caused himself to be elected pastor by the people ; and feeling now free from restraint, he introduced the reforms he had unsuc cessfully attempted in Wittenberg. He renounced the title of doctor, clad himself as a common peasant, and assumed the name of " brother Andrew." Seckendorf, from whom these particulars are taken, adds, that he made pretensions also to divine inspiration ; but of this we are disposed to doubt. It is certain, however, that he impugned Luther's doctrine on the Lord's supper. Both the chapter and the university required him to return to his duties in Wittenberg, and the elector seconded their requisition by his positive commands ; he, nevertheless, declined obedience, and remained in his new situation. In Orlamiinda, the people went with him, it seems, unanimously, and their example moved those of the neighbor ing towns and parishes to adopt the same mode of reformation. The efforts of the court to repress the enthusiasm of the people were met with the plea, " We must obey God rather than men." The contagion spread daily, and, as a last resort, Luther was sent, in the hope that his personal presence and preaching would effect here, also, what they had so quickly wrought in Wittenberg. In pursuance of the elector's command, Luther preached at Jena, near to Orlamiinda, and directed his powerful invective * Seckendorf, sec. cxxi. col. 464, &c. f Ibid. seo. clii. col. 625. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 257 against the fanatics, whom he described as image-breakers, destroyers of the sacraments, movers of sedition, and mur derers ; he identified their spirit with that of Munzer, and charged it with the same disastrous tendencies. Carlstadt, who was present, was not named, but he was so delineated that his portrait was easily recognised. He accordingly appropriated Luther's remarks to himself, and, feeling himself injured, waited upon him at an inn to demand explanations. He was uncivilly received : a discussion arose, in the warmth of which, Luther challenged him to maintain his cause in writing, if he chose; and when Carlstadt complained that Luther had caused his writings to be suppressed and silence to be imposed on him, the former took a guilder from his pocket and gave it to Carlstadt, as a pledge of his permission to the latter to do his worst' in that way. Carlstadt took the pledge, showed it to the company, appealed to them as wit nesses of the fact that he had Luther's permission to write against, him, and warned the latter of his solemn determina tion to do so.* At Orlamiinda, Luther was treated so coarsely by the rude and simple inhabitants, whom he had summoned to a con ference, that he refused to preach to them, though pressingly importuned for. it by them, and left them abruptly, amidst their scornful reproaches. Both Carlstadt and his parishion ers preferred complaints against him, in writing, to the elector ; the latter, also, transmitted a vindication of their proceedings, and of the act of choosing their pastor contrary to the claims of the chapter, to whom the right of the patron age had belonged. Upon this, the elector, wearied with the refractoriness of the archdeacon and professor, irritated by the insubordination of the parishioners, and resolved to put down what he esteemed mere fanatical excitement, banished Carlstadt from his dominions. No intercessions nor entreaties * Martin Reinhard's Bericht der Handlung zwischen Luther und Carl stadt, &c, in Luther's Werke, vol. xix. p. 148, Leipzig. Ausg. Wider die Himmlischen Propheten, theil i. ibid. w2 33 258 HISTORY OF THE of his friends could obtain a mitigation of this hard sentence ; and the unhappy man now became a homeless and Restitute wanderer, struggling with want, and in deep distress. He charged Luther with having instigated the elector to banish him from his country and his living. Luther denied the charge, but acknowledged that he approved the act, and rejoiced in it, and maintained that, if even justice had been meted out to him, Carlstadt would have expiated his con temptuous treatment of his sovereign by the loss of his head.* The separation of these two eminent men, once so kindly affectionate toward one another, was thus characterized by the utmost exasperation and bitterness. To this cause must be imputed the acrimony and bitter contumely that were sub sequently infused into their controversial writings on the chief points of difference between them. Carlstadt was charged with participating in Munzer 's se ditious projects, and encouraging the revolt of the peasantry. We, however, find no satisfactory evidence of so heavy an accusation. Luther himself acknowledged his innocence of the crime, in the conference at Jena, being convinced, he said, by a letter of his to Munzer, that he condemned sedition and rebellion ; and in his work, "Against the Heavenly Pro phets," Luther only maintained that the tendency of Carl- stadt's spirit was to produce such results. Seckendorf reproaches this unfortunate man with vainly boasting, that, since the days of the apostles, no one had written or taught on the Lord's supper as he had done.f This, however, is a misapprehension (shall we say, perversion ?) of his words in the same conference. In stating the reason why he appropriated Luther's remarks to himself, he said, that, since the time of the apostles, no one had written or taught on the Lord's supper in the same manner and meaning, and with the same arguments, as he had taught. This was * Wider die Himmlischen Propheten, theil i. f Seckendorf, sec. cliii. col. 627. Plank Gesch. d. Entstehung, vol. ii. p. 209. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 259 the statement of a reason why he considered those remarks applicable to none but him ; but not an idle boast of his own superior knowledge and genius. In the course of his wanderings, the sad and afflicted exile came to Strasburg and to Basel, and, in the latter place, pub lished his work against Luther, entitled, Von dem Wider- christlichen Brauch des Herrn Brods und Kelchs, §c, — " Of the antichristian Use of the Lord's Bread and Cup." In this work, he endeavors to show that, as faith in Christ and his death is sufficient for the soul, there is no need to look for farther benefit from an oral participation of his material body, and to expect it is much more a disparagement of the fruit of his death than a commendation of it. His own interpreta tion of the words of institution is given in several of his pro ductions, but especially in his treatise entitled, Auslegung, &c, — "Exposition of the Words, This is my body." In this work he maintains that the pronoun this refers not to the bread which the Lord gave to his disciples, but to his body ; and in uttering the words, This is my body, he pointed to his body, and meant to be understood as saying, Take and eat this bread in remembrance of me : This body is my body, which is about to be broken for you, &c. Such a criticism on the text was easily. exploded, and satisfied no one; but the doctrine itself, that all our participation of Christ in the sa crament is a spiritual participation by faith, and that there is no real, corporeal presence of his body and blood in the elements, was so commended by its simplicity, fitness, and beauty, that it found many favorers, and men of high con sideration began to speak openly with indifference of a cor poreal presence. Among these, were Wolfgang Fabricius Capito and Martin Bucer, two divines of Strasburg, both eminent men, who had done much for the reformation of the church in their region. The former published, in 1524, his "Judgment concerning the Breach between Martin Luther and Andrew Carlstadt." In this work, he snys : " Between the two doctors, there is no difference respecting the essentials of Christianity. They 260 HISTORY OF THE differ only on the question, Whether the pronoun this should be referred to the bread or to the body of Christ?" It is, however, enough, if we exercise faith and love. The Christian is internal and invisible, and is not bound by any external thing or sign. Foolish questions should be avoided: we should only nourish our faith with the remembrance of Christ's body and blood, and let the rest go." Bucer ex plained himself more fully in a larger work, entitled, " Ground and Reason of the Changes in the Lord's Supper, called the Mass, which have been introduced in Strasburg." In this work, that from its title appears as an apology for innovations in the mode of celebrating the sacrament which had aheady been made in Strasburg, the author says : " Christ has said, It is the Sphit that quickeneth: the flesh profiteth nothing. Why, then, do we contend about the fleshly presence ? Let the words of institution be true, and let us reflect that the Lord will that we do this in remembrance of him. H this be done, and done in faith, all that we do of a bodily kind is that we eat the bread and drink the cup, and we pass immediately to that which is spiritual, the remembrance of Christ's death. The words, This cup is the New Testament, must be understood as meaning, This cup is a sign or figure of the New Testament, which, consequently, is spiritual. Why, then, when he says, This is my body, and, in Matthew and Mark, This is my blood, will we not also admit that this bread and this cup are a figure, memorial, or sign of the true body and blood of Christ ; which, therefore, are not intended to be with us in a corporeal manner?" This was good common sense : and it is much to be lamented that Luther, who was so much above these reformers in other respects, fell so much below them here. Carlstadt's doctrine was new to the great mass of the people. His work, therefore, as well as his breach with Lu ther, created a great sensation. Parties soon began to form among the friends of the Reformation, disputes arose, and passions were called into exercise that threatened to tear the church into pieces while it was yet in its tenderest infancy. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 261 The Papist party rejoiced in this division, and turned it as a deadly weapon against the reformers, who were thUs exposing their very citadel, the principle of the sufficiency and the exclusiveness of the Bible as the rule of faith, to the most dangerous assaults. The divines of Strasburg, anxious for the safety of the infant •church, procured from the magistrates an order to prevent the farther dissemination of Carlstadt's writings ; endeavored, both by their oral instructions and the publications already noticed, to quiet the -public mind ; sent' to Luther a copy of Carlstadt's production, together with an account of its effect in that region, and of their own measures in relation to it, and sought to persuade him to refrain, in his answer, from the harshness and vehemence in which he ordi narily indulged.* In their letter to Luther, the Strasburg divines say : " We adhere to the connection of the whole discourse, This is my body, &c, and believe with you, that the bread is the body of Christ, and the wine his blood ; although we chiefly exhort the people to the remembrance of Christ's death, and repre sent to them that the right use of the. Lord's supper consists in this alone, inasmuch as the rest contributes nothing to salva tion ; for the flesh would profit nothing, though the whole Christ were bodily present as he once hung upon the cross. This only we confess, that, though Carlstadt has not yet per suaded us to adopt his opinion, yet, as he has disjoined the connection, on which we wholly depended, he has somewhat perplexed us ; for, although he intermingles his conceits, he, nevertheless, produces many things which appear probable to others as well as to us, though not entirely credible." They then recite those of Carlstadt's arguments which had most impressed them, and entreat Luther to divest them of their doubts by his instructions. " Hitherto," they say, " we have answered those who have asked us for information, Bread and wine are external things, and, though the bread be the body of Christ, and the wine his blood, it will, nevertheless, do us * Plank, Gesch. d. Entstehung, &c, vol. ii. p. 225. 262 HISTORY OF THE no service, because the flesh profiteth nothing : a Christian, therefore, must consider rather to what purpose he eats and drinks, than what it is that he eats and drinks. Some, how ever, we cannot satisfy in this manner. They importune us to tell them what this bread and wine are ; and to these we are, indeed, unable to say any thing definite in reply with entire conviction. We have, therefore, resolved to write to you on the subject, sending along the writings of Carlstadt, and respectfully to request that you would not think light of this matter, for it is scarcely credible how much people's minds are disturbed by it. There is, also, no little exultation among the adversaries, on account of the manner in which Carlstadt, who was once your faithful helper in the gospel, now inveighs against you. We, therefore, beseech you for Christ's sake, who has given you richly of his Spirit, do reply finely to all that Carlstadt teaches, but reply without gall and wrath; which he, indeed, has not done, but he has thereby made all his scribbling hateful. Let it appear that you, and you, indeed, only, have hitherto sought the honor of Christ, and despised human interests."* We must not suppose that these divines entertained Luther's opinion of the bodily presence of Christ in the elements of the sacrament as he afterwards explained it. Before this con troversy arose, he had spoken so vaguely that he might easily be misunderstood ; and when ' the Strasburg preachers told him that they agreed with him, it was because they thought that he agreed with them. How they had understood him, appears from a letter, written by Bucer, in 1537, to Bonifacius Wolfhard and the people of Augsburg, in which the writer says : " This I candidly say, brethren, and in the Lord's pre sence I think so, that the pious ought to wish that nothing had ever been written against Luther concerning the eucharist. . . . He had already placed every thing in a spiritual eating — had of his own accord very much refined the corporal eating — had taken away reliance upon the external work. But when Carl- * Plank, Gesch. d. Eutstehung, vol. ii. p. 227. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 263 stadt provoked the man, as he had persuaded himself that Carlstadr wished to abolish entirely the external word and sacraments, so he was wholly intent on exalting them : just as there is nothing in bim that is not vehement : whence it was that we ourselves, and our Oecolampadius and Zwingle. thought that he again attributed a justifying power to externals, which, however, he neTer intended."* They seem now to have doubted whether they had rightly understood Luther, and whether, indeed, they ought to admit a bodily presence of Christ in any sense at all ; and for these reasons, they wished for Luther's answer, but wished to have it mild and calm, and consistent with the peace of the church and the safety of the principles upon which it rested : nor had they thus far any reason to believe that Luther would make his dogma an essen tial part of Christianity, and would denounce as unchristiaii and wicked all who dissented from it ; for he had spoken with great forbearance, even of transubstantiation.f Instead of answering this letter, Luther wrote a warning epistle, addressed to "all the Christians at Strasburg." This epistle was evidently designed to counteract the effect of Carl stadt s pubhcation, and to prepare the way for his reply ; and for this purpose it was well adapted. After an affectionate introduction, and a friendly exhortation to perseverance, growth in Christian knowledge, and unanimity of sentiment. the writer adverts to the pernicious effect of dissension and sectarian division among Christians, and urges the duty of watchfulness as a necessary precaution against theh destruc tive tendencies. He observes that, if the doctrine they had received was the true gospel, of which he entertained no doubt, it would be tried, both on the right hand and on the left ; by reproach and hatred on the one, and by divisions and heresies on the other. He now comes to Carlstadt. and classes him with the fanatical prophets whom the community beheved to * Gerdesii Scrinimn, toL v. p. 227, in Gieseler. voL iiL -p. 190, note 24. j "Doch an diesem Irrtfaum nicht gross gelegen ist, wenn nur Christi Leib und Blot da bisifaft." Vom Anbeten da Sacrament*, 1523. Gieseler, p. 190, n. 22. 264 HISTORY OF THE be under the influence of an evil spirit, and refers his doctrine on the Lord's supper to the same category with his intemperate zeal against images, and other excesses, that distinguished the fanatics of Zwickau and Altstdd; and by placing it in such company, he makes it a partaker of the same odium. He laments that all Carlstadt's zeal is expended upon externals, while the essentials of Christianity are overlooked, and ex presses his sorrow that this man should be still so deeply immersed in error. He urges his readers to let their only inquiry be, what it is that constitutes the Christian, and, if any thing be pressed upon them, to ask the single question, Pray, does this make me a Christian, or not ? and if it does not, to take heed that they do not view it and embrace it as though it were fundamental. He then comes to his tenet on the Lord's supper, and says : " If Carlstadt, or any other person, had been able, five years ago, to convince me that in the Lord's supper there is nothing more than bread and wine, he would have done me an important service. I had a hard conflict there, and strove and struggled to get out of it, because I saw plainly that I could thereby give the severest stroke to the papacy. I have, also, had two who wrote to me concerning it more skilfully than Carlstadt, and did not, like him, murder the words by their own conceits. But I am fast ; I cannot get out ; the text is too powerful here, and will not suffer itself to be torn away from the mind by words." He then adverts to Carlstadt's accusation of him, as though he were the author of his banishment, and answers him by giving a statement of his own treatment at Orlamiinda, among what he calls Carl stadt's Christians, where he was glad, he says, that he was not pelted with stones and dirt, and where he was dismissed with the parting benediction, "Begone, in the name of a thousand devils, that you may break your neck before you get beyond the town !" He exhorts the readers to be wiser than he and his adversary, and to look away from men, and beseeches their pastors to look away from Luther and Carlstadt, and to turn their attention to Christ alone; "for I perceive," he says, "that it is the devil's artifice to draw people's minds GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 265 away from Christ, and to occupy them with men, with their piety or. their wickedness, with their controversies and strifes, and thus to cause them to lose sight of the fundamentals of Christianity." This whole letter is written with mildness and humility ; and where the author assumes the character of a teacher, he draws over it a veil of modesty that gives it the greater effect, and wins the reader by softening and soothing him. It is plain that Luther does not here place his tenet on the Lord's supper among the fundamentals of Christianity, nor raise it higher than it was in the estimation of Capito and Bucer; but he intimates, nevertheless, that it possessed no little certainty, by the account which he gives of his own con flict about it, his desire to escape from it, and his inabihty to do so because the text was too strong for his wishes. After this example of gentleness, it is surprising that the author should soon afterwards reply to Carlstadt with so much coarseness, acrimony, and biting sarcasm, as he infused into his tract, Wider die Himmlischen Propheten, &c, — "Against the Heavenly Prophets," &c. It was the difficulty of account ing for this change that induced Plank and Schroeck to suppose that the letter addressed to the Strasburgers was written before that of their divines had been received, and that the information contained in the latter put Luther into a passion, under the influence of which he wrote this tract. But here they are evidently wrong :* Luther could be composed, and could write calmly and kindly to friends who loved and respected him, but always lost his temper when he sat down to reply to an enemy who reviled him and his doctrine, and especially when that enemy was Carlstadt. From this time, the tenet of the literally bodily presence was a favorite with him : it was placed among the fundamental doctrines of ) Christianity ; without it, he thought, there could be no salva- > * The letter of the Strasburg divines was written on the 23d of November, 1524, and could therefore easily reach Luther before the 15th of December, which is the date of his letter ; and Luther, in his letter, acknowledges having received a communication from several correspondents in Strasburg, before he wrote. X 34 266 HISTORY OF THE tion ; and those who rejected it were placed in the scale of religion even lower than Papists, Jews, or Turks. This tract, "Against the Heavenly Prophets," was pub lished in January, 1525. It consists of two parts. In the first, the author replies to Carlstadt's arguments against the use of images, or rather the toleration of them, in theh churches ; to his charges against Luther as the author of his banishment ; and to his tract on the mass. In the second, he is occupied with the refutation of Carlstadt's reasoning against the doctrine of Christ's bodily presence in the bread and wine. " The writer grows manifestly warmer," says professor Plank, " when he comes to the charges which his antagonist had advanced with shameless effrontery against his doctrine ; the charges that he represented the mass as a sacrifice, that he attributed the efficacy of the sacrament to the mere external participation, and that he pretended to give the pardon of sins to the troubled conscience by a piece of bread : and now — ^as if he had needed first to set himself on fire, he passes, in the second part, to Carlstadt's doctrine, in order to — execute up^n it the most unmerciful retribution."* ^Carlstadt had urged the contradictions that were involved in the notion of a real presence of the material body of Christ in the sacrament, and the impossibility of a union of it with the bread ; and the force of this reasoning he had brought to bear upon the words of institution, Take, eat, this is my body, &c, and had applied to show that they could not con tain the meaning which Luther ascribed to them. But now, instead of showing that the words, This is my body, &c, must have a tropical meaning, and that the bread and wine are only signs or emblems of Christ's body and blood, he left to them a literal signification, and contended that these latter words must be separated from those which immediately pre cede them and referred to a different subject; that in the former, Take and eat, Christ had reference to the bread which he broke and distributed among his disciples; and in the * Plank, vol. ii. p. 234. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 2G7 latter, Tlds is my body, ke., he had reference to his body, to which he pointed, as he spoke, while they were eating. Luther easily overturned this reasoning ; and as soon as he had shown that such a rupture in the connection was inadmissible, and that Christ spoke of the bread throughout, in both the parts of the discourse, Carlstadt's entire argument was demolished, and Luther's victory complete. He needed not now to solve any of the difficulties that burdened his interpretation ; he needed not to remove any contradictions, or to disprove the impossi bility of his theory ; he needed but to reply, " The Lord ha3 said it : he calls the bread his body ; his word must be true, whatever reason may say to the contrary ; and here, there fore, I take my stand." But his zeal impelled him, neverthe less, to reply to every thing his antagonist had said, like the victor who pursues the flying fugitives, and returns to wreak his vengeance still upon the wounded and the dead. He undertakes the solution of every difficulty, and argues upon every point with an ingenuity, a skill, and an adroitness, which, though they may not convince, cannot fail to excite admiration of his controversial ability : but, while he manifests himself far above his antagonist in every other respect, he is not unlike him in wrathful invective and coarse obloquy ; and Carlstadt's scurrility is fully repaid with interest. Luther, however, could not but be sensible that his solutions were not always happy, and that objections could be urged against his theory to which it was not easy, perhaps not pos sible, to find a satisfactory answer ; he felt that his safety was in holding firmly to the literal signification of the words, This is my body, &c. Within this citadel, he might laugh at reason, philosophy, and criticism, and at every weapon they could point against him : his opponent might prove that his theory was absurd ; that the presence of the same extended body in more than one place at the same time was impossible; that the eating of Christ's body, if it were possible, would be useless ; that, if it were real, it must be perceptible by the senses ; or whatever else they might prove : to all this he could give the same reply, "Christ has said it; here are his 268 HISTORY OF THE plain, dry, unsophisticated words, This is. my body. How it can be, I know not ; it is incomprehensible ; but I believe it, because the Lord has said so." If it was urged that the meaning of the text must be tropical, because , the literal sense would be absurd, he could reply, and did reply, " Prove to me by scriptural testimony, and not by philosophy, that its meaning is tropical; produce a text that plainly says so." If parallel places were adduced, in which the same form of speech occurred as an acknowledged trope, he might still de mand a, Scripture-text that said, in so many words, that the text in question must be so understood. Seeing the advan tage of this position at the outset, he resolved at once to occupy it, and to reduce the whole controversy, as far as pos sible, to this one point, namely, the sense of the words of institution, This is my body. This, therefore, he does aheady in his answer to Carlstadt ; he does it with the skill of a per fect tactician, and never suffers himself to be enticed from it any farther than he retains the power to return to it at pleasure, as often as he feels himself hard pressed by his antagonist. Professor Plank says of this work : " If it be considered in the true point of view in which alone it ought to be contem plated, if it be looked at only as a controversial writing di rected against Carlstadt and his peculiar opinion, we cannot but pronounce it one of his best works ; but neither can we forbear to believe that it would be still much better, if it were written with more moderation and less heat. We must, indeed, re member, that Luther had never, perhaps, in all his life been so much provoked to resign himself wholly to his impetuosity ; yet we cannot feel so much inclined, as we might otherwise be, to pardon him on account of that provocation, as soon as we give place to another very natural consideration. It is highly probable that moderation on Luther's part, if it had not wholly terminated the unhappy strife, would at least have prevented many of those offensive occurrences which now fol lowed in a long succession. If he had been content with con troverting Carlstadt's peculiar interpretation of the words of GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 269 institution ; if he had shown that it was forced, at variance with the connection, and, therefore, groundless; if he had shown, at the same time, that, agreeably to theh natural in terpretation, a bodily presence of Christ in the sacrament must be admitted, but had added that the benefit of the sa crament can be as little derived from this presence, as the presence itself can be a subject of investigation ; if he had said only this, — for, at bottom, after all, he said no more, — if he had, said only this, and had said it without bitterness and without reviling, Carlstadt would hardly have found such warm defenders, nor the bodily presence such zealous adver saries. The Capitos, the Bucers, and many other enlightened men, would have risen up with him against the innovating Carlstadt, and many of those who, in some measure, agreed with him respecting the bodily presence, would, doubtless, have deemed it unnecessary to contend about it. But now the contrary must ensue. Before Carlstadt had arisen, other men had already doubted of a bodily presence; and these must necessarily have felt themselves injured in Carlstadt. Provoked by the scorn, and by the reproach of weakness and of wickedness, which Luther poured upon the doubts of his antagonist, they — for they also were men — must have felt themselves bound now to submit theirs also to the world. They had, moreover, stronger doubts than Carlstadt's to pro pound ; they could produce more constraining reasons for their opinion ; they were, at the same time, conscious that, with their conviction, they were not less upright, they were not less zealous for the truth, they had not less reverence for the word of God, than Luther ever could have with his own. Nothing else was therefore to be expected than that they would now arise. This also now took place soon after the appearance of Luther's work. Men rose up against him, be side whom Carlstadt was scarcely observed, who pressed thc latter from the scene, and themselves took up the strife, which, in their hands, assumed quite another aspect."* * Plank, vol. ii. p. 247, . x2 270 HISTORY OF THE Long before this controversy began, Zwingle had enter tained doubts about the doctrine of transubstantiation. He could discover no ground for the belief of a doctrine that con tradicted both his reason and the evidence of his senses. His doubts on this point led him to the discovery that the benefit to be derived from the sacrament could not depend from the conversion of the bread into the body of Christ, nor, indeed, from any corporeal presence of Christ at all. He could not perceive either the utility or the possibility of eating the flesh of Christ "and drinking his blood; and he was satisfied that the mere act of oral participation, when no moral effect was produced, could not itself be saving to the soul. He was, therefore, easily moved to adopt the opinion which Berenga rius, Rabanus Maurus, Wickliffe, and others, whose writings he read, had held before him. The church, indeed, had branded this opinion with the mark of heresy, and declared those accursed that held it ; but this unrighteous sentence did not lessen its value in his estimation. Those distinguished men had long stood high in his esteem ; their theory solved all his difficulties ; it involved no dangerous consequence ; it harmonized with his other principles ; and all that was still required was, to show that the words of institution, when rightly interpreted, harmonized with it also. In Zwingle's view, the Lord's supper was a memorial of the Lord Jesus Christ, designed as a commemoration of him in his vicarious death. The bread and wine were signs or symbols of the body and blood of Christ : the whole transaction was symbolical, representing that the Lord Jesus Christ gave himself for us, for the remission of sins, and that, by faith in him, and in the efficacy of his death, as the propitiation for sin, we are fed and nourished to eternal life ; and the whole benefit derived from communion, in the ordinance, was the moral effect of this devout and grateful commemoration. This view he entertained some years in private before he promul gated it in his public discourses or his writings. His reserve did not arise from a fear of opposition, but from a desire to obtain for it a more easy reception by delay, and from an GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 271 impression that the community was unprepared for a truth which was yet so new, and which to many would appear so unhallowed and profane. In a letter to Wittenbach, dated June 25, 1523, he communicated it to his venerated preceptor as an opinion which he was not yet prepared to divulge. " From all this," says he, " I suppose, most learned preceptor, you will perceive our opinion, not that I already teach so ; for I fear lest the swine, turning upon us, should rend both the doctrine and the teacher ; not that I value this troubled life so highly, hut lest a doctrine, that may be justly and piously taught, might suffer, and give occasion for disturbance among Christians, if it were unseasonably promulged."* In pubhc, he went no farther at this time than to reject the doctrine of transubstantiation, which he does in the exposition of his eighteenth thesis. His plan was, to prepare the public mind for the promulgation of his doctrine by preliminary instruc tions, and to enlist in its favor the suffrage of enlightened men of his acquaintance, who might take it under their protection, and sustain it by their influence, at its first appearance. For the last-mentioned object, he corresponded with many eminent men in different countries. To some he communicated only his doubts ; to others he imparted his own opinion, and the grounds upon which it rested ; and to all he made the request to examine the subject, and to favor bim with the result of their investigations. In this way, he often learnt that his doubts had wrought well with some ; that others were not dis inclined to his opinion ; and, in some instances, that others again had even entertained the same before him : and being thus sustained by the judgment of men whom he respected, he was both confirmed in'his belief, and encouraged to publish it, as presenting the only correct view of the ordinance, f About this time, two learned and pious travellers, John Rho- dius and George Taganus, came to Zurich to converse with Zwingle on the same subject. When they had heard his opinion, having concealed their own, they gave thanks to God * Gieseler, vol. iii. p. 192, note 27. f Plank, vol. ii. p. 257. 272 HISTORY OF THE for their deliverance from the prevailing error, and then put into his hands the tract of Cornelius Honnius, containing his own exposition of the words of institution.* Among his confidential correspondents was Mattheus Alber, pastor of a church in Reutlingen. To this man he imparted his opinion, and the argument, at length, by which he main tained it. It was based chiefly upon the discourse of Christ, in the sixth chapter of John, where the Lord speaks of eating his flesh and drinking his blood. He granted that Christ had no reference in that place to the eucharistic supper, but observed that he there spoke of an eating of his flesh and a drinking of his blood, by which nothing of a material nature was intended. The Lord calls himself the bread of life, and declares that whoever eats of this bread shall never die ; and he presently explains in what sense it is that he calls himself a living food, and in what sense this living food may be eaten : " The bread which I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world;" and, "Whosoever believeth in me hath eternal life." His flesh is, therefore, become the food of the soul so far as it is given for the hfe of the world, that is, so far as it is delivered to death for the world's salvation ; and to eat his flesh, and to drink his blood, is to beheve in him ; to believe that he was offered to God, as an expiatory sacrifice for our sins, in his flesh, that is, in his human nature. Hence, when the Jews took offence at his words, because he insisted on the necessity of eating his flesh and drinking his blood if they would have life, he remarked, in explanation of his meaning, "It is the spirit that quickeneth : the flesh pro- fiteth nothing." " What," says Zwingle, here, " can be more forcible than these words to overthrow all the figments of an essential bodily flesh of Christ in the sacrament ? If the eat ing of his flesh in this sense would be useless, could Christ have designed to give us his flesh to eat in the sacrament ? Would he give what he declares to be useless ?"f From this idea of eating Christ's flesh and drinking his * Gieseler, vol. iii. p. 192, note 27. f Plank, vol. ii. p. 261. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 273 blood, which is the same as believing in him, trusting in him, feeding upon him, as it were, by faith, Zwingle inferred the necessity of finding another than the literal interpretation of the words of institution, This is my body — This is my blood. Such an interpretation he found in the tropical use of the verb to be, of which the Bible furnishes many examples : as, The seven fat kine are seven fruitful years — The seven lean kine are seven years of famine — The seed is the word — The field is the world — The good seed are the children of the kingdom — The tares are the children of the wicked one — The harvest is the end of the world — The reapers are the angels, &c. &c. In all these, and in innumerable similar instances, the verb to be has the signification of to signify, to represent. The connection determines it to this meaning, because it would make the literal signification absurd : and precisely similar is the text, This is my body ; for the bread is no more the body of Christ than seven kine are seven years, or tares growing in a field are an offspring of the devil. This sense, Zwingle observes, is in harmony, also, with the design of the Lord's .supper, which Christ himself indicates, saying: "Do this in remembrance of me." "Inasmuch as he says this so distinctly, what can be more natural," says Zwingle, " than this sense of his words : Take and eat this bread in remembrance of me ; for what I now direct you to do is designed to signify to you, or to call to your remem brance, the fact that my body is given for you. Luke, more over, uses the words in this sense, when he says : This cup is the New Testament in my blood. The new covenant is founded in the blood of Christ ; but the cup is not his blood, but the sign that signifies to us that Christ's blood was shed for us." There is nothing repugnant to this sense in the words of St. Paul : " The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?" The connection shows that the apostle uses the term body here in a wholly different sense. He means by it the spiritual body of Christ ; that is, the church, of which true Christians are members ; for he adds 35 274 HISTORY OF THE that all who partake of this bread are one body. This one body can be no other than that of which Christ is the head. We come into communion with' this body by partaking of the consecrated bread: the plain meaning is, that we become members of Christ, and have communion with all those who trust in him and are pledged to live agreeably to his precepts. Zwingle's exposition of this last text is ingenious, but not solid. The apostle had just before said : " The cup of blessing, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ ?" Now, though the'church be often called the body of Christ, it is never called Christ's blood. But we- are obliged by the connection to understand the communion with the body of Christ in the same sense in which we understand the communion with his blood. The terms, the body and the blood of Christ, are a peri phrasis for Christ himself considered as a man, and communion with his body and blood is communion with him. The apostle is here endeavoring to dissuade the Corinthian Christians from making approaches to idolatrous worship, by accepting invita tions from their heathen friends to partake with them of the sacrificial feasts, in the temples, which were celebrated in honor of their idols ; and it is manifest that he had in view such a communion with Christ in the eu'charistic supper as the Jews had with Jehovah in their feasts upon the sacrifices which they offered to him, and as the Gentiles thought they had with their gods in their sacrificial feasts in the idols' tem ples. "Behold," says the apostle, "Israel after the flesh; are not they which eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar?" — "But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice unto demons, and not to God : and I would not that ye should have fellowship with demons. Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons ; ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table and of the table of demons." When the Israelites brought theh peace-offerings to God, one part of the victim was consumed for him upon the altar, and another part was eaten by the worshippers in a feast which was celebrated in honor of him. They and he GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 275 thus partook of the same victim, and had fellowship therein with one another ; and the victim of which both partook was the means of that communion. The Gentiles had the same kind of feasts in honor of their idols, and the same idea of communion in them with their gods. The apostle, therefore, argues that Christians ought not to accept invitations to their sacrificial feasts, on the ground that theh communion must be with Christ, and not with demons. They could not have com munion with both ; and hence they could not drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons ; they could not be par takers (koinonoi, communicants,) of the Lord's table and of the table of demons. The Gentiles never thought of eating their gods in those feasts, but of having communion or fellow ship with them. So the apostle never thought of eating Christ, when we eat the consecrated bread; but of having communion with him in that holy act. Christ is conceived of as being present with us still, and partaking with us of the bread and wine in the eucharistic feast, as he was at the first institution : a sublime and delightful thought. Zwingle had strictly enjoined upon Alber not to communi cate this letter to any one whom he did not know to be sincere and worthy of confidence.* It had, nevertheless, come into the hands of more than five hundred persons, either through Zwingle himself, who communicated copies of it, or through those of his friends, who, like Alber, were authorized to show it to such as they deemed trustworthy. The secret was not well kept. Moeller, in the Rcformations-Almanach for 1819, says that Luther obtained a knowledge of it, and was induced thereby to write with more passion against Carlstadt, in his work, "Against the Heavenly Prophets." It was, therefore, a secret no longer : and by this time, indeed, the reason for secresy respecting it had passed away by the controversy between Luther and Carlstadt. Zwingle now inserted the argument of this letter, with some additions, in his treatise on true and false religion, which he published, as we have already * Plank, vol. ii. p. 264. 276 HISTORY OF THE remarked, in March, 1525; and the letter itself was also printed and given to the public at the same time. He would, probably, have delayed longer still, but circumstances now arose at home that compelled him to take his side in the dis pute and to avow his opinion openly. In Zurich and in Basel, as well as in Strasburg, the go vernment suppressed the writings of Carlstadt, and, in Basel, the printer who had printed them was even sent to prison.* In these circumstances, Zwingle could not remain silent with out betraying what he esteemed the cause of truth ; and of such treachery and baseness he was incapable. He first de clared from the pulpit that the doctrine of Carlstadt was neither wicked nor fanatical, nor unscriptural, and his writings ought, therefore, not to be suppressed. He next appeared before the council, and declared his readiness to defend the doctrine that repudiated the notion of a bodily presence of Christ in the sacrament ; but stated that he would do this in a different manner, and by other arguments than those which Carlstadt had used. These arguments he now stated and ex plained to the council, and published in his treatise on true and false religion, and in his letter previously written to Alber ; and to these he added the Latin tract of Honnius, which he published together with his own work. The reformer had been so hurried in his principal work, that he found it expedient, in this same year, to pubhsh a supplement to that part of it in which he treats of the Lord's supper. In this supplement, he either meets objections against his theory, or confirms it by additional proofs. Among the latter is the* text in Exodus xii. 11, which was suggested to him in a dream, and of which we shall presently have occasion to take some notice. In answering objections, he evidently alludes to Luther, whom, however, he does not name. Pro fessor Plank remarks, that, " On account of this allusion, it might be said, indeed, that Zwingle had first attacked Luther, or drawn him into a controversy. But this cannot be charged * Seckendorf, sec. cliv. col. 630. Plank, vol. ii. p. 259. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 277 to him as a fault. If he was to defend his own theory at all, he must, of necessity, refute the theories of his opponents. He might, indeed, have forborne to speak so contemptuously of the opinion which Luther and his party maintained, and to pronounce such as held the notion of a bodily presence void of common sense. But it must be remembered that Zwingle was as ardent as Luther, and that Luther had already pro nounced the rejection of this bodily presence an impious error. Neither, perhaps, intended to provoke the other ; but it hap pened to both, as it usually does to hasty men, that they give the greatest provocation where they least intend it."* We may add, that Luther's work was before the world ; and in that work he left no neutral ground : he that was not for him must be against him ; and the alternative was submission or war. Luther was at this time less concerned for the peace of the church than for the success of any doctrine which he held to be true. The wonderful success of his reformation, in so brief a period, had wrought in him such a conviction that the work was of God, and that God would complete what he had begun, that he seems to have become reckless of the conse quences of his mistakes, believing that God knew how to over rule all events, and to repair what Luther might spoil.f As soon as Zwingle appeared in the field, he became the object of attack, and Carlstadt sunk into insignificance and oblivion. The first that arose against him was John Bugen- hagen, surnamed, from his country, Pomeranus. This man published, both in Latin and German, an epistle addressed to a Doctor Hess, entitled, " Against the new Error concerning the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ." Both Plank and Schroeck speak of this work as an insignificant production.^ The author, nevertheless, far from being con scious of any incompetency for his undertaking, assumed toward Zwingle the tone of a master, and thought himself able both to refute and to instruct him. This self-complacency * Plank, vol. ii. p. 170. f Ibid. p. 243. X Ibid. p. 271. Schroeck, vol. i. p. 360. Y 278 HISTORY OF THE provoked the reformer, in his reply, not only to answer his adversary's objections, but to expose, in the most humiliating manner, the weakness of their author: "And, doubtless," says Plank, "Bugenhagen could not but be sensible that his attempt to do so was not everywhere a failure. It succeeded so well, indeed, that a wish began to be felt that Luther him self might arise to maintain his cause, lest it should be ruined in the hands of such defenders. This wish was the more natural, since a man now presented himself as Zwingle's co adjutor, whose mere assent gave to his opinion a greater weight than ten Bugenhagens could have given to the doctrine of Luther by their vindications."* This man was John Oecolampadius, or Hausschein, the re former of Basel, who, in the judgment of Reuchlin and of Erasmus, was one of the most learned men of that century, and, by the testimony even of his enemies, one of the most pious. After the most conscientious investigation of the con troverted question, he felt himself constrained to reject the notion of Christ's bodily presence in the bread and wine, and, with Zwingle, to consider these elements as mere signs or symbols of the Lord's body and blood. The truth was, at that time, far from being generally received in Basel ; and both the most numerous and the most active party were the adherents of the old system of Romanism. Oecolampadius thought that the propagation of the new opinion would most effectually accelerate the progress of the Reformation, and overthrow the Romish system of faith ; and he thought it, for this reason, the more his duty to publish his new convictions to the world. If he could succeed in an effort to convince others as he was himself convinced ; if he could bring others to see what he saw with clearness himself, that the ordinance which the Lord had appointed was simply a eucharistic feast, in commemoration of his death for the world's salvation ; that the bread and wine were only signs that represented him in the one great sacrifice of his body and blood ; that the whole * Plank, vol. ii. p. 271. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 279 ceremony was a symbolical. transaction, designed to impress the heart with a proper sense of its obligation to the Redeemer, by a grateful commemoration of his love in laying down his life for us ; if he could succeed in an effort to show that the Lord's supper was nothing more and nothing less thanth,is, the entire edifice of the mass would be at once exploded, and with it the whole system of Romish superstition would fall into ruins. But he knew that such'- a step on his part would create a great sensation, not only in Basel, but in all Germany, and would expose him to fierce assaults, and subject his doc trine to the severest scrutiny ; and he was, therefore, careful to place himself before the Christian world at once in the most unexceptionable and the most imposing attitude. This he did in a Latin work, entitled, De genuvna Verborum Domini: Hoc est Corpus meum, juxta vetustissimos Auctores, Expositibne, — " Of the genuine Exposition of the Lord's Words, This is my Body, according to the most ancient Authors." In Schroeck's opinion, this was the principal writing that appeared in this controversy. Erasmus said of it, that it fortified the new opinion with so many testimonies and so many arguments, that it seemed the very elect might be seduced by it.* Pro fessor Plank says: "Even his most partial adversaries have not denied that, in this work, Oecolampadius exhibited the most extensive learning and the most splendid and striking penetration ; but they might justly have acknowledged, also, that he manifested in it the most becoming modesty, the most dignified moderation, and certainly, also, the most sincere love of truth. One cannot but see that the truly pious man was solely concerned for the truth, and that nothing else than a pure zeal for it sometimes imparted to his language a warmth that might have been more temperate. Still less can one fail to see how sedulously he sought to avoid giving cause of irrita tion to the opponents whom he could foresee. For this cause, he so framed his work that it should appear to be directed against the ancient defenders of the bodily presence, par- * Schroeck, vol. i. p. 360. Gieseler, vol. iii. p. 193, note 28. 280 HISTORY OF THE ticularly against Peter Lombard, and other Romish writers, rather than against the modern; and where he was obhged to refute objections or arguments which Luther had urged, he was still more careful than Zwingle to avoid the appearance of controverting Luther. It was to be expected that in this work he would often coincide with Zwingle ; yet it is manifest that Oecolampadius could never be a mere follower of another. He impressed his own mark upon every thing which he pro duced, and often chose a quite peculiar way to reach the end to which Zwihgle had come by another." "He begins," says professor Plank, "with the objection, so often repeated, that was continually urged at the threshold, against the advocates of the new opinion, that they subjected the mysteries of faith to reason, and measured the power of God by their own. He grants that there are mysteries of faith that surpass our comprehension ; but does it thence follow, he asks, that the doctrine of the sacraments dare not be examined ? Who has yet shown that this doctrine belongs to these incomprehensible mysteries ? He pledges himself to prove that the sacraments, as to their nature and theh design, cannot be referred to this class, and shows, particularly, that, in the sacrament of the Lord's supper, nothing miraculous, nothing wonderful, nothing incomprehensible can be admitted. If the apostles had believed, he asks, that Christ really intended to give them his body to eat, by the words, This is my body, would they not, at least, have manifested theh surprise? Would they not, at least, have signified by some sign, or by some question, that he was saying something incomprehensible to them ? Is not their silence the strongest evidence, that, even at the first hearing of his words, they never thought of taking them in a literal sense ? How usual was it with them, on other occasions, to turn to him with questions, even about small matters that only seemed strange to them ! The apostles themselves, therefore, thought of nothing of that kind on this occasion ; and the teachers of the primitive church, the fathers of the earliest centuries, found nothing of it therein. They can, therefore, have taken the words of institution in no other GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 281 than a tropical sense, the. same which is now cried down as so erroneous, so offensive, and so dangerous. " Here Oecolampadius propounds an interpretation of these words that seems, indeed, to deviate in some measure from that of Zwingle, but is, nevertheless, substantially the same. He lets the word is retain its literal signification, and finds the trope in the word body, which he understands to mean a sign or figure of the body of Christ, but acknowledges that both interpretations yield the same sense. It is, therefore, immaterial, he says, which of the two be taken ; but he now accumulates proof upon proof to demonstrate most conclusively that one of the two must of necessity be adopted. " Having laid down several perfectly correct principle's of exegesis, by which every interpreter must be guided in deter mining the literal or tropical sense of a place, he shows, first, that, agreeably to these principles, the words of institution cannot admit a hteral signification at all ; and secondly, that no other tropical signification is admissible but that of Zwingle or his own, which had been received by the apostles and by the primitive church. No other, he says, is so agreeable to the scriptural usage ; no other is so fitted to remove difficulties that are otherwise unavoidable ; and no other flows so naturally from the intention of the act of Christ. The first he proves in part by the Scripture texts aheady adduced by Zwingle, and in part by others collected by himself; the last by a most ingenious presentation and connection of all the circumstances in the history of the institution. Upon the second he dwells most, because he designed this as his main argument, not only for the correctness,1 but for the necessity of his interpretation. " He endeavors here to expose the philosophical contradic tions that are utterly inseparable, by any criticism, from the , literal sense of the words. If we must say in a quite literal sense, that the bread is the body of Christ, he asks, ' How can this be explained without running into absurdity, or into blasphemy?' If we hold that it is converted into the body of Christ, or that it contains his body, how many incon gruities are involved in the one opinion, and how unnatural, t2 36 282 HISTORY OF THE how forced, is the expression for the other ! If Christ had intended this, would he not rather have said, in two words, This contains my body, than have used a phrase of which the Scripture furnishes no other example ; a mode of expression that is not used in any language ? The example of red-hot iron, (which Luther had used,) of which it may, in some respect, be said, This iron is fire, is either entirely inappropriate, for the body of Christ cannot be in the bread as fire is in the iron ; or, if its applicability must be granted, we then have just as many contradictions as before. Some of the most striking of these, which, however, the advocates of the bodily presence never admitted, he now sets forth, yet does it only incidentally, and meanwhile makes his approach, in his main attack, on the side which was least defensible, and was, for that reason, most obstinately contested. Like his predecessors, namely, he objects to the bodily presence, as the weightiest of its inconsistencies, its inutility to any assignable end, and from this position draws much more conclusive inferences than others had drawn before him. When they shall have replied to every thing, he observes, let them now tell us yet what this bodily presence is to profit us that the sacrament may not as well profit without it. Upon this he reviews the imaginary benefits which the scholastics derived from it, and Luther him self rejected, and with irresistible evidence proves their futility, and then asks again, what other conceivable good. the behef of a bodily presence can effect. Is it, as some say, that Christ is particularly honored by us, if, without an object, merely from reverence for his words, we believe that his body is united with the bread ? But, surely, we should first inquire whether this is what he intended to say. And would he, even then, consider himself so particularly honored by this behef? He that believes that He is the Son of God, that He is our Re deemer, that He laid down his life for us, doubtless honors him more ; for this is properly what He will have us believe. Or, as others say, shall Christ's flesh communicate itself to our souls ? Or shall it communicate itself to our bodies ? Shall it, as a proper body, be absorbed into this one, or into GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 283 that one ? But the one of these is quite as absurd and as impossible as the other. This, at least, he proves irresistibly, that, if the former were even possible, the soul could still derive no benefit from this flesh, which faith in general, or a sphitual participation, does not afford more certainly and quite as fully : and now, after proving this, he first makes use of Christ's own assurance, The flesh profiteth nothing ; makes use even of the very construction put upon these words by Luther himself. 'Be it so,' he says, 'that Christ declared, not his flesh, but the fleshy interpretation of his preceding words, profitless ; but what then was this fleshy interpretation ? It was, surely, just this, that the Jews thought of a bodily eating of his flesh ; and in this it was that he corrected them ; and this very interpretation, therefore, is what he rejects. Since, therefore, Christ himself assures us that the bodily eating of his flesh would be useless, in whatever sense his words be taken ; since inexplicable contradictions in sufficient number forbid us to admit a bodily presence ; since, moreover, it con flicts with other doctrines of the Bible, even with articles of faith ; and, finally, since it was never received in the primitive church, we certainly have reasons enough, and strong enough, to question and to reject it.' , " This work Oecolampadius sent to several Suabian divines, of whom John Brentz, preacher at Halle, and Ehrhard Snepf, preacher at Wimpfen, had already attained an honorable dis tinction. Having been a long time on terms of intimacy with these divines, he conceived it the more a duty to submit to them particularly the reasons that had moved him to adopt the new opinion, against which some of them had already declared themselves. He, therefore, dedicated the work to them, and requested them to give it a rigid examination, but entreated them also to conduct theh scrutiny in such a manner, that the harmony and love that had subsisted between them should not be disturbed. On his part, he assured them this kind feeling would continue, notwithstanding the difference of opinion ; for he was persuaded that an error of judgment would not be imputed as a sin, whereas the evils of discord could 284 HISTORY OF THE never be repaired. This entreaty and this assurance, how ever, came, alas ! too late ; for the difference of opinion had already too much alienated men's minds from one another. The pernicious acrimony in which the controversy had been commenced, infected all who, with or without cause, had taken any part in it. It had already extended from Saxony into Suabia, and now exhibited, in the divines of this country, an influence moderated, indeed, but, nevertheless, mournfully visible. These men, the majority of whom were truly both pious and learned ; of whom the major part, agreeably to their own acknowledgment, had hitherto revered Oecolampadius as a father, treated him now in their answer, sometimes, at least, with a very unfriendly harshness. Their answer, written by Brentz, was subscribed by him and thirteen others, on the 21st of October, 1525, and published about the same time, under the title of Syngramma. " This celebrated refutation has, by the force of circum stances, acquired an importance that ranks it as one of the principal writings in this controversy. After various turns in the strife, it came to pass that both of the contending parties professed, in all seriousness, to find their own theory main tained in this work ; and the adversaries of the bodily presence even alleged the authority of the Suabian divines against its advocates. They did them the honor to suppose that they had misapprehended Zwingle and Oecolampadius, and had, therefore, taken the opinion of these reformers under their own protection against them; they pledged themselves to prove, at least, that it was not the intention of these divines to advocate that kind of bodily presence which was afterwards received. The secondary strife which thence arose is so blended with the history of the main controversy, that the latter receives no little light from a closer elucidation of the former ; on which account, this writing, which occasioned it, deserves a more critical, but also a more impartial, examina tion than it has hitherto received. There is need only of such an examination to make it strikingly evident that Brentz and his associates perfectly apprehended the meaning of their GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 285 antagonist, and had no other design than to maintain against him the bodily presence of the true flesh of Christ in the Lord's supper: but there is need, also, of nothing else to make it equally evident, that they would not, and even the reason why they would not, go as far in their defence as it was afterwards deemed necessary to go. By this the Syn- gramma, viewed only as a didactic work, obtains a value which belongs to few of the countless number of others that soon followed ; but by this, also, viewed as a controversial work, it becomes more insignificant and unsatisfactory than any that preceded or followed it. This, cannot be demonstrated more conclusively than by placing it beside the answer which Oeco lampadius published in the following year."* After a flourish about their holy zeal for divine truth, the authors of the Syngramma urge how suspicious the opposers of the bodily presence rendered their cause, at the threshold, by the diversity of their several modes of interpreting the words of institution : " There are but three words, they say, about which we contend, and they have already given birth to three sects ;" having reference to the interpretations of Carlstadt, Zwingle, and Oecolampadius; and now, as if to fret their antagonist, at the outset, by an insult, they indulge in the coarse remark : " Take heed, Oecolampadius, lest some busy-body should sing out the apothegm: Lies do not hold together." To his observation that his interpretation and Zwingle's differ only in form, while they yield the same sense, they reply by the foolish comparison of misers who employ different modes of raking up and hoarding money; one by theft, another by deceit ; one by sordid parsimony, another by base compliances ; but all by bad means, and for a bad end. In such a spirit did they meet the bland, respectful, and dignified manner of their worthy opponent ! " What," says professor Plank, "could Oecolampadius expect from such ad versaries, who dipped even their pointless arrows, which surely could not wound him, not in poison, indeed, but yet in gall ? * Plank, vol. ii. p. 274-284. 286 HISTORY OF THE He did not, however, even permit himself to ridicule theh blunt missiles, but showed with calmness how childishly wrong their conclusion was."* Their own idea of the presence of Christ in the sacrament, expressed in theh own words, is thus given by professor Plank : " Oecolampadius had adduced a passage from Augustine, in which that father called the bread in the supper a figure or sign of the body of Christ, as he had previously called the brazen serpent. Now, say the authors of the Syngramma, although Augustine calls the bread a figure, he does not therein deny that it is the body of Christ ; for the serpent, also, which he calls by the same name, he still admits to be a serpent. On the contrary, this comparison of the brazen ser pent serves excellently to show what the bread in the Lord's supper is. For, what is this serpent ? Is it a mere serpent ? Or is it a mere sign ? By no means. It is both a serpent and a sign of salvation. But whence has it this property of being a sign of salvation ? Is it hence, because it is a serpent ? Or because it is brazen ? No ! but because it has the words : Whosoever shall look upon it shall live. By virtue of these words, the serpent becomes what the word is. It remains, in the mean time, a serpent, and brazen, and a sign, but heals also. So must we say, also, of the bread in the Lord's supper ; for, however hard it is baked in the oven, and however cer tainly it be appointed only for the sustenance of the body, it becomes, nevertheless, precisely what the word is that comes to it. That word is : This is my body which is given for you. Now, if the word imparts, or brings to the serpent a healing property, why should not the word in the Lord's supper bring with it the Lord's body into the bread ? For, as the healing property of the serpent was in the word that came to it, so is the Lord's body in the word of the supper. Therefore, although Augustine calls the bread a perishable sign, he yet does not thereby deny that it is the body of Christ ; just as he does not deny that the serpent possesses a healing property ; * Plank, vol. ii. p. 285, note 142. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 287 not, indeed, because it is a serpent, but because it has the word. " We will now explain to you what sort of miracle we admit in the Lord's supper. You, doubtless, believe that Christ is not only true, but truth itself ; for he says, ' I am the way, the truth, and the life.' Now, when he said to the palsied man, or to the woman that was a sinner, ' Thy sins be forgiven thee,' was not the forgiveness of sins included in this one brief word, and conveyed, as it were, to the sick of the palsy and to the sinner? Further, when he told his apostles to invoke peace upon the house into which they would enter, did not these words, 'Peace be upon this house,' really include that peace in them, and bring it to the inhabitants of that house? What reasonable man can deny this ? Again, when he says, ' I am the resurrection and the hfe,' is not real resurrection and life communicated to him who hears the words ? So, also, when God says, ' I am the Lord thy God,' does not God in that word communicate himself and all his gifts ? Now, in the same manner, when Christ says, ' My body is given for you and my blood is shed for you,' has he not, as it were, included in this word his body and blood, so that every one who appre hends and -believes this word, apprehends, and receives, and has, and holds the true body and the true blood of Christ ? that blood, namely, which was shed for us ? consequently not spiritual, but material blood ? for it was not spiritual, but material blood that was shed for us. Now, if the word is so efficacious as to bring the true material body and the true material blood of Christ to us, why should it not be so effica cious as to bring them also to the bread and wine ? " This passage, strange as it may sound, is one of the clearest in which the authors set forth theh notion of the bodily presence : the reader thinks, too, that he sees aheady what they properly, aim at : but, to be perfectly just toward them, we will connect with it another, from which theh idea will receive all the hght of which it is susceptible. "You beheve, surely, they say, and there is none so un godly as not to confess, that faith eats the body of Christ 288 HISTORY OF THE spiritually and drinks his blood spiritually in the act of believing, as Christ speaks, John vi. Now, if faith eats and drinks the body and blood of Christ, the body and blood of Christ must surely be present to faith ; and, if they were not present, we could not eat and drink them, nor believe in them. To believe in God, which is called a spiritual eating, is possible to none, except God be present to him. To the ungodly and unbelieving, he is not present ; wherefore, also, they do not eat him, that is, do not believe in him. In short, as faith, by believing in God, has God present to it, so must it also have the body and blood of Christ present, if it is to eat and drink his body and blood. But what makes God present to faith ? (We speak not of that presence by which he fills all things, but of that by which he is present to the pious.) The word does this ; for, as he is revealed by the word, so is he also exhibited as present by the word. As John says, 'No man hath ever seen God : the Son (the same is the word) hath. revealed him ;' and in another place, ' Whosoever seeth me, seeth the Father ;' that is, Whoever has, keeps, and believes the word, the same has, keeps, and believes in God : for God can be present to faith only by the word. But now, if the word makes God with all his gifts present to faith, why should the word not do exactly the same with the body and the blood of Christ ? John says, ' The blood of Christ cleanseth us from all sin.' If his blood cleanseth us from sin, it must be present ; for an absent thing could not cleanse us : but nothing except the word could make his blood present to us. " With this passage," continues the same historian, "con nect only one short one more, that will make their true mean ing, or the confusion of their ideas — of necessity one or the other — still more evident. We do not here trifle with Aristotle, say they, who asserts that words are only the signs of things that are in the soul ; but, that we may speak more truly, we say that a word presents, brings, and places before us the thing itself that is in the soul, and still retains its nature as a word. Hence, when we have apprehended the words of an author, it is usual to say, This is the author's meaning. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 289 Who could endure to hear it said, This is a sign of the author's meaning? If a man, now, be able to include his mind and his meaning in a word, why, then, should not Christ be able to include his body and blood in the word and dis tribute the same together with bread and wine ? " It is now very possible to be still uncertain about their real meaning, not, indeed, because no meaning at all has" been found, but because it is hard to believe that the meaning found is that which the authors of the Syngramma really intended. Clear as the light of day does it seem at first view, that their meaning scarcely differs a hair's breadth from that of their opponent — scarcely, even, in terms ; and with perfect justice do they seem to have been accused with not , understanding him. Oecolampadius said, The flesh of Christ is not bodily present, but is participated spiritually by faith ; and he thus admitted that it was present to. faith. They, on the contrary, maintained that it was bodily present, but, nevertheless, pre sent, also, only to faith. One mode of presence only could be admitted ; but the authors of the Syngramma seemed expressly to say that they meant to assert no other than the only one which their opponent could here conceive. Even as God himself, with all his gifts, said they, is presented to faith by the word, so, also, in the Lord's supper, are his body and blood caused to be present in the bread and wine by the word of institution : and such a bodily i presence Oecolampadius and Zwingle could grant, as they subsequently did : for the word bodily was of little import when it was qnce understood that no other presence could subsist than a presence to faith. The term bodily presence, now meant no more than the presence of a body ; but this body would now be in the bread as for giveness of sins was in the declaration, Thy sins be forgiven thee ; it would, therefore, be present only to the soul and to faith, and only in that manner in which a corporeal thing in general could be present to them. If this was the real opinion of the Suabian divines, they might, to be sure, have spared themselves the pains of writing the Syngramma ; for, in this case, they were contending about a mere word : but, Z 37 290 HISTORY OF THE in this case it must be granted, too, that they understood nei ther their opponent nor themselves ; for they would otherwise not have contradicted themselves in this work, times without number. This, however, cannot reasonably be even con jectured, inasmuch as they too often declare themselves defi nitely upon this point. But now there remains but one meaning that can be assigned to theh words. If they did not intend to maintain precisely what Oecolampadius main tained ; if, by that singular sequence, — The body of Christ is brought to us by the word, therefore it is also brought by it to the bread, — they intended to maintain the presence of the essential flesh of Christ in the bread of the sacrament, they must then necessarily admit, though they nowhere plainly declare it, that the body of Christ was essentially in the word, and they must then ascribe to the word a power which nobody had yet imagined. And is it even conceivable that this was really their opinion ? Be it conceivable or not, it is, never theless, certain, that they really intended to insinuate such an idea ; and in the end it becomes manifest that they had their reasons for so doing. It can now no longer be said that they contended about a word ; but now, also, it can be less denied that they could not have propounded theh opinion more confusedly, nor defended it in a more slovenly manner. For who does not perceive that all the examples by which they sought to illustrate or to prove their notion of a bodily presence, either prove nothing at all, or prove and illustrate only what their antagonist maintained."* " In noticing the most important of their replies to the ar guments of Oecolampadius, it is due that we should observe an instance of the honesty of the authors of the Syngramma, that must have cost them some self-denial. They granted to their antagonist not only a circumstance from which he had drawn the most plausible of his objections against the literal signification of the words of institution, but they granted even more than he seemed to desire. They conceded that, at the ' * Plank, vol. ii. p. 284-292. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 291 institution of the sacrament, the apostles had given no indi cation of unusual wonder ; but this, they say, ought not to surprise us, since it is probable that the apostles understood as httle what Christ meant by the words, This is my body which is given for you, as they had previously understood of his prediction of his approaching death. By this concession, they granted, that, in partaking of the bread, the apostles certainly had not the remotest thought of eating the Lord's body. And now their antagonist might have pressed them farther with the conclusions he had already drawn from that circumstance, if he had chosen to improve his advantage. But Oecolampadius was. magnanimous, and contented himself with assuring them that the silence of the apostles would be no slight evidence against their conception, were it necessary to shed more light upon its incorrectness. "But his antagonists were not so magnanimous when they came to the place where he sought to prove the scriptural use of the metaphor which he affirmed to be contained in the words of institution. They probably thought they had here found his weak side ; for they did not suffer themselves to be at all diverted from it again, until they had deprived him of all his examples : his rock, his pasha, his Elias, his keys of the king dom of heaven — all were, one after the other, rendered un serviceable, while the authors proved that the one contained no trope, and in the other the trope was inappropriate. It is undeniable that, with regard to some of the examples, they proved this with handsome skill in the art of demonstration ; but that they did the same with regard to all, this — who would not believe it in advance ? — this could prove itself only the undertaking of a thankless toil : and such it was in a twofold view ; for, granting that they had demolished all these out works, little or nothing was yet achieved, inasmuch as his main work continued still uninjured, and was as safe from in jury as before. " The advocates of a tropical sense of the words of institu tion had declared, at the beginning of the controversy, that they never thought of deriving their proper grounds of belief 292 HISTORY OF THE from examples of similar phrases in the Scriptures. 'We adopt a tropical interpretation,' said they, 'because, agreeably to the nature of the subject, the design of Christ, and the con nection of his discourse, a hteral interpretation is inadmissible, and not because the Scripture uses tropical phrases elsewhere. Our interpretation may appear the more natural, the more frequently examples of the same trope occur ; but its correct ness we do not base upon those examples ; for we would not grant that it is incorrect, though no other example should be found in the Scriptures.' This Zwingle had aheady said; this Oecolampadius said, still more impressively, in this work ; and, if they had not themselves declared it, this must have been evident to theh adversaries, from the point of view in which they had so intentionally placed the controverted question. Yet these adversaries constantly turned to this side, lingered longest here, and, as often as they had removed one of these pebbles, assumed, without reserve, an ah of tri umph, as if every thing had now been achieved. It was a hard trial of patience for the men with whom they had to do, to be compelled to witness this tedious game ; but to be compelled, for the most part, to witness how, notwithstanding ah theh declarations, they were still made to say what they had never thought, and to think what they had never dreamed, what patience could have borne this ? "Was it possible, for example, that Oecolampadius could remain quite composed, when the authors of the Syngramma told him, publicly, that he had attempted to prove the neces sity of admitting a trope in the words of institution because tropes occur in other passages of the Bible ? When they scornfully asked him, how he would like the conclusion, — The raven is black, therefore the swan is black also ? When they accused him of having reasoned in the same way, and then appealed to his conscience, demanding how he could presume thus to pervert the Scriptures? All the world, and they themselves knew, that Oecolampadius had never thought of reasoning thus. What other design, then, could they have, but to irritate him ? But the truly meek man scarcely suf- GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 293 fered his placid mind to be ruffled. ' Who argues thus ?' says he, in his reply. ' We reason very differently.' More he would not say on that subject ; but the presumption of these men, who boasted still of their 'unction,' he could not suffer to pass without some castigation : 'We do not teach any one,' he adds, 'to rend the Scriptures, good men, as we are unjustly charged-; but we desire to handle them in a worthy manner. Whatsoever kind of unction it is that instructs you otherwise, the anointing of the Holy Spirit is satisfied with trust in Christ, and does not so much covet the flesh.' "But his equanimity, though not his meekness, left him where they made use of the same conclusion, which they had invented for him, to make his opinion as odious as possible by the pernicious consequences that might ensue from such a mode of reasoning. It was still the same childish conclusion, when they said, 'If we understand by the word body the figure of a body, we may also understand by the word Son of God the figure of a Son of God ; therefore the former cannot be admitted.' Could not Oecolampadius a,sk them again in their own words, What sort of logic is this ? If the bread in the Lord's supper be a figure of the body of Christ, must, therefore, Christ also be only a figure of the Son of God ? Who has ever asked whether the swan must be black because the raven is so ? But his adversaries did not content them selves with only asserting the possibility that some might reason in this manner, and thereby representing to him the dangerous tendency of his opinion ; but they assured him, with all seriousness, that the devil was actually seeking to bring doubt and uncertainty upon all the other, articles of faith by the new interpretation of the words of institution. ' We are alarmed,' say they, ' when we think of the devil's malice. If he circumvents us with this error of making the body of Christ a figure of his body, we shall soon see what blasphemies he will dish up in the world. What he has insti gated in the revolt of the peasantry under the pretext of the gospel, he now, also, intends by the words of the Lord's supper. If his attempt should succeed to wrest from us the z2 294 HISTORY OF THE true body of Christ by the word, The bread is a figure of his body, he would not rest here ; he would go farther, and seek to make of the word peace a figure of peace, and of the word forgiveness of sins a sign of forgiveness.' " It was, to be sure, the custom of the theologians of this age to attribute every opinion that differed from theh own to the devil, and to consider it then sufficiently refuted ; and such an expression in the mouth of an antagonist was not considered particularly affronting ; but the honest, often scru pulously pious, Oecolampadius felt it the more, because it came from men of whose friendshp, as well as theh piety, he had hitherto never doubted."* To the argument of Oecolampadius, that, if the body of Christ were essentially in the bread, it would follow that the same body could be in different places at the same time, and that two bodies could at the same time occupy the same place, they answered : " We do not let this trouble us. Aristotle is of no authority with us here, whatever he may have taught of the properties of bodies ; but Christ is our teacher. If it is not incongruous that the body of Christ is borne in the word, why should it be incongruous that he is borne and com prehended in the bread ?" " If these words mean any thing," says professor Plank, "the authors must necessarily have admitted that the body of Christ is contained in the bread in no other sense than as it is contained in the word. But let us hear them farther. ' It is quite as incomprehensible that God, with all his gifts, should become present to the believer by the word, I am thy God ; and yet it is true. Here the sophists might object that we beheve in letters and syllables. as they say in the sacrament we beheve in bread. We let this pass by us, knowing very well that letters and syllables are dead ; but they, nevertheless, bring us life and the power of God : knowing very well that bread is bread, but it brings with it, nevertheless, the body of Christ.' 'Neither does it follow,' say they, in answer to another objection, ' when we * Plank, vol. ii. p. 297-302. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 295 confess that the bread is the' body of Christ, that Christ must, therefore, descend upon the earth again, either in his humble or in his glorified state. We are not so doltish, although in simplicity we believe his words. He has now performed his part, has suffered and taken possession of heaven and of his kingdom : there we leave him ; but his body we distribute in the bread, inasmuch as he has deposited it in the bread by the word, just as forgiveness of sins is distributed by the word, without necessitating himself to come from heaven again.' ' Still less is it to be apprehended that, if the bread be the body of Christ, the same things must happen to the body that happen to the bread ; that it must, like the bread, have shape, be consumed, be digested, &c. Far be it from us that we should believe this. But, as the word of God abides for ever, and is not confined by time, or space, or other limits, so does the body which is contained in the bread abide. We say that the bread is the body of Christ, not so far as it is bread, but so far as it has the word with it ; otherwise, to be sure, the same would happen to it that happens to the bread. We, therefore, beseech you to judge us only according to our explanation, when we say that we eat the body of Christ carnally : for we eat the body and drink the blood of Christ carnally, not that the body itself is broken or masticated by us ; we break, eat, and masticate the bread, so far as it is bread, but the body we receive, so far as we receive the word, This is my body. Therefore, what we eat enters into the belly, but what we beheve enters into the soul.' "* Such, then, was the notion of the bodily presence of Christ in the elements of the Lord's supper, which the authors of the Syngramma thought proper to defend in this labored produc tion. The body and blood of Christ are contained in the words, This is my body, This is my blood ; for words are not mere signs of thoughts, or of things, but actually contain and convey to us the things which they signify. The body and blood of Christ are conveyed by the words of institution to the * Plank, vol. ii. p. 303-305. 296 HISTORY OF THE bread and wine when they are spoken to these elements, and are, therefore, contained in them as they are in the words, and are eaten and drunk in them by the communicants. They are, however, present only to the faith of the recipients, when they believe the words, This is my body, This is my, blood; that is, when they believe that they are really present in the bread and wine by virtue of these words. It is, consequently, only the believing communicant that receives the body and blood of Christ ; the unbeliever receives mere bread and wine. The body and blood of Christ, that are received in the sacra ment, are, nevertheless, his material body and his material blood ; the same body that was crucified, and the same blood that was shed in his death, that revived, and rose, and is now at the right hand of God. They are not eaten spiritually only, but carnally ; not tropically, but literally ; yet so that they enter as a spiritual food into the soul, while the bread and wine pass, as a natural food, into the body. We literally eat a material body, and drink material blood ; yet not as material but as spiritual food. We eat and drink them car nally, but are not thereby carnally affected ; and this carnal eating is done by faith. The manifest object of these divines was, to place Luther's doctrine of the real bodily presence upon tenable ground, and there to fortify it against the dangerous assaults of its adver saries. For this object, they wanted a material body without the properties of matter ; a body that occupied no space, and, though not properly omnipresent, could be caused to be pre sent in any place where it was wanted, and in many places at the same time, by the uttering of a word ; a body, moreover, that could be eaten, and eaten entire, without affecting the senses, or being affected, like natural food, by mastication and digestion. Such a body they found, as they imagined, in their singular conceit about the nature of words, and the na ture, particularly, of the words, This is my body, &c. Pro ceeding from this position, they bewildered their readers, and themselves too, in a long labyrinth of ingenious jargon, through which nothing, surely, but the dire necessity of the GERMxiN REFORMED CHURCH. 297 case, could have moved them to urge theh tedious way. They never doubted the truth of the real bodily presence; and, as truth is always defensible, they took for granted that this dogma could be successfully defended. Upon what ground ? was the question. Let this be found, and the proper weapons will be found also. Ground there must be, they justly thought, upon which the truth is based. But they could discover none so safe as theh position about the nature of words. This position, therefore, seemed to them as true as the dogma itself was true. • Here, consequently, they took theh stand, and exercised theh utmost ingenuity to invent and point theh weapons. They could scarcely avoid some misgivings, at least, that theh arguments were unsound, and therefore labored to supply the defect, and to give them the utmost possible efficiency. If they still felt that something was wanting, they were confident, nevertheless, that what they were defending was truth ; and, unable to frame better arguments in its defence, they held these the more firmly, and valued them the more, and even persuaded themselves, ulti mately, that they were sound, because their position was true. Hence they assumed an ah of the boldest confidence; and, as Plank observes, "They hfted theh heads highest, and shouted loudest, exactly where theh arguments were the most futile, and theh defence weakest." They had now the body of Christ with the attributes of a sphit ; a material body with none of the properties of matter ; a body without parts, without extension and solidity, occupy ing no space, invisible, impalpable, that could be anywhere and everywhere, in every piece of bread, without ceasing to be material, and could be eaten without being consumed ! They had what theh opponents esteemed a mass of contradictions, ( but, in theh own estimation, a sacred truth, the essence of the sacrament, and a fundamental part of an orthodox faith. They did not, however, go so far as to maintain, what soon afterward became the established tenet on the subject, namely, that the body and blood of Christ were received and eaten orally, in the same manner as the bread and wine, and were 38 298 HISTORY OF THE so received by all communicants, whether believers or un believers. It is impossible to perceive what intelligible idea these writers could have had of eating a material, body by faith, other than that of Zwingle and Oecolampadius; and it is, therefore, not strange that many of the Reformed divines contended, that the authors of the Syngramma had misunder stood the Swiss reformers, and, instead of fighting against them, really fought against their own mistakes. Theh an tagonists themselves were often at a loss to perceive a differ ence, and asked them again and again, with impatient wonder, "If this be your meaning, are we not agreed? Why, then, are we disputing?" Firmly as they believed the dogma of the bodily presence, it is evident that their idea of it was ex tremely obscure and confused ; and we shall probably not be much out of the way in saying that, on theh part, the contro versy was pretty much a strife about words. Oecolampadius replied to these divines, in a work entitled, "Anti-syngramma," which was published in 1526, together with two sermons on the Lord's supper, and his answer to another antagonist, Theobald Billicanus. Before this time, the flames of contention had fearfully in creased both in extent and in fierceness. "As soon," says Plank, "as the Syngramma appeared, it was hailed, by the party whom it favored, as a work of surpassing excellency ; its authors were extolled as so many Athanasiuses, who were the first to set themselves against a heresy much more poison ous than that of Arius ; and their example aroused, in more places than one, a zealous emulation. Many defenders of the bodily presence arose at the same time, who envied their repu tation, or were sincerely convinced that, in the pressing dan ger in which they beheld the church, too many could not hasten to her rescue. All rushed almost exclusively against Oecolampadius, and rushed upon him with a violence that gave the Syngramma, comparatively, an aspect of meekness. Bilibald Pirkheimer, the refined, enlightened Pirkheimer, the friend of Luther and the friend of Erasmus, published an GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 299 answer to his Exposition, " the genuine theological bitterness of which could put to shame the oldest polemist of the trade." He identified Oecolampadius with the infamous Munzer, told him that many excellent men had seen in his undertakings nothing but outbreaks of Munzer's spirit, and had blamed him, Pirkheimer, with criminal delay, because he had not yet broken with such a man; he spoke of detestable errors on almost every page, called him the author of dissension, and even said, "It is indeed to be feared, that the sentence of the blessed Paul will be verified in you : It is impossible that they who were once enlightened, if they fall away, should be again re newed to repentance."* The astonished Oecolampadius could not conceive whence so much bitterness could arise in one so cultivated and other wise so amiable. He looked and read, and looked and read again, unwilling to believe that he saw and read aright. Yet it was even so. It was his friend ; it was Pirkheimer, whom he loved, that aimed these fiery darts, and hurled them, dipped in gall and poison. He replied quickly, in a Latin tract, enti tled, "Answer to Pirkheimer, concerning the Eucharist." It was a mild and dignified writing. " Of the spirit of this answer," says Plank, "nothing can give us a higher idea than the fact that even Loscher calls it modest. "f Pirkheimer improved upon the multipresentia of the Syn gramma, and asserted the proper ubiquity of Christ's body. "Christ," he says, "is one Christ, not many, although the commemoration of him is celebrated in many places. He is, however, present everywhere. Neither is this absurd, though it seems impossible to you. We know that to God all things are possible that seem impossible with men."J At the same time he, nevertheless, admitted that the Lord's body and blood were participated only in a spiritual manner. " I am com pelled," he said, " to repeat that, while we firmly believe that the body of Christ is really contained in the bread, and his * Plank, vol. ii. p. 311, &c. f Ibid- P- 312> note 165- X Ibid. p. 313. 300 HISTORY OF THE blood in the wine, we, nevertheless, do not eat and drink them otherwise than spiritually."* Another of the former friends of Oecolampadius, Theobald Bilhcanus, preacher at Nordlingen, declared himself against him, in a letter addressed to Urbanus Rhegius of Lindau; and Urbanus, in his answer, joined in the same denunciation. Such was the treatment of one of the most pious and most enlightened men of the age, for no other reason than that he exposed, though with mildness and dignity, an error which these otherwise worthy men held and loved. " Other divines, who would not trouble themselves with refutations, did what they could, at least, to render the new opinion as odious as possible to the multitude. The epithet Sacramentarians sounded already from the pulpits, and was often enough connected, if not interchanged, with the stigma tized name of Munzer. It was esteemed a duty, to which their conscience impelled them, to arouse the secular government against the writings, at least, of the Swiss reformers ; and in some places they prevailed so far as to cause the circulation of them to be prohibited. Only two or three men in all Germany were wise enough to deplore the mischief that must arise from a controversy conducted in such a spirit, and honest enough to give utterance to theh complaints, and zealous enough withal to exert themselves, by all practicable means, to effect an accommodation of the strife. But their efforts were fruitless, "f The divines of Strasburg alone continued their exertions to prevent a complete and irremediable separation of the two parties. Bucer and Capito were the declared friends of Oeco lampadius, and were known, also, as learned men and friends of truth, whose uprightness even their adversaries never sus pected. They made little account of the bodily presence, but were anxiously attentive to the importance of harmony among the people, and of Christian kindness among the ministers of the infant church, and would cheerfully have yielded their * Plank, vol. ii. p. 313. f Ibid. p. 314. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 301 own opinions on the subject of dispute, if they could thereby have procured the church's peace. All their movements were directed solely by their disinterested desire to heal the unhappy breach ; but this desire often rose to a passion, especially in Bucer, and presented their acts in an aspect that might be easily rendered suspicious. These good men soon perceived that a controversy was unavoidable, and did not take pains, whieh they knew would be fruitless, to prevent it. They seem, indeed, themselves to have desired a free discussion, to the end that the truth might be ascertained, and people's minds pUt at rest; but they- were anxiously desirous that it should be conducted with moderation and without acrimony. Immediately after the publication of Oecolampadius's " Ex position," Bucer wrote to Brentz at Halle, in Suabia, and conjured him, in the warmest terms, by their friendship, by the welfare of the church, and for God's sake, to create no enmity by his answer. He wrote in the same manner to the divines of Nuremberg, Augsburg, and Nordlingen, to dispose them to kindness and moderation. Finally, he and his col league sent a distinguished messenger to Luther at Wittenberg, with a letter, in which they exhausted all theh resources to soften him and to prevent the ebullition of his constitutional vehemence. But their benevolent exertions were utterly fruit less. Brentz answered morosely, that they had themselves kindled the fire, and might now see how they would extinguish it. This answer was immediately published, as if his purpose had been to aggravate the mischief. He averred, indeed, that this was done without his knowledge ; but he had, at least, furnished the occasion, by sending copies of it everywhere to his friends, even before it was transmitted to Bucer. Luther sent back their messenger, the professor of Hebrew, George Chaselius, with an answer in writing, in which he says, drily and bluntly, " One of the two parties must be of the devil ; and for this reason he would suffer neither mediation nor restraint."* His acts soon proved that he was in earnest. * Plank, vol. ii. p. 317. 2 A 302 HISTORY OF THE At the commencement of the year 1526, he wrote a letter to the people of Reutlingen, and an introduction to the Syn gramma, which Agricola had, in the mean time, translated into German, both of which writings, in the judgment of pro fessor Plank, were properly nothing else than the annunciation of a purpose, to wage the most implacable war against all the opposers of his favorite dogma. They contained, in the mean time, a prelude of the manner in which this war would be waged, which was adapted to awaken only mournful anticipa tions of the future. In both these productions, he protested that the doctrine of Carlstadt, Zwingle, and Oecolampadius must have proceeded from the devil, inasmuch as they adopted different interpretations of the words of institution, and the devil could nowhere be so easily detected as in lies and divi sions about matters of faith. He even made the discovery that this three-headed heresy was predicted in the thirteenth chapter of St. John's Revelations, where it was represented by the beast with many heads. This was sufficient to render the opinion of his opponents very hideous to the common people : but he sought, also, to make it despicable. For this purpose, he artfully represented their arguments in a light that gave them the appearance of a miserable imbecility. He reiterated the 'groundless charge, that they sought to prove that the word is, in the formula of institution, must be taken in a tropical sense there, for no other reason than because it occurs in a tropical elsewhere. He accused them of betaking themselves to circumlocutions and evasions, when an antago nist would grapple with them on the question at issue ; " for," says he, "when we demand that they shall prove their tropical interpretation of the words, This is my body, they presently sing a different song from John vi., or proudly ask us what is the use of the presence of Christ's body ; and thus they fill their pages and people's ears with idle words, so that one may see plainly how much the devil is afraid." " Such a treat ment," says professor Plank, "might have irritated meekness itself : but it also gave great advantage to the aggrieved party against an antagonist who could suffer himself to be so far GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 303 misled by his passions. Oecolampadius made a very proper use of it ; and Luther's anger burned more fiercely, because he was made to feel that he ought to have treated him otherwise."* Oecolampadius soon rephed to him, " not with vehemence, but with the earnestness of one pained by a sense of injury." He exposed the injustice of the consequence drawn from the alleged difference between him and Zwingle, and showed how easily the same charge might be urged against Luther and his party, who all differed in- their explications of the bodily pre sence. He rebuked the unfairness of his opponents in their mode of conducting the controversy, complained of the un righteous treatment he had suffered at theh hands, and rephed with equal modesty and fearlessness to the often repeated charge, that he and his associates had originated the strife, or had, at least, exasperated it, by theh railings. "And now, instead of recriminating on this ground, he cast some glances into Luther's interior, sought out there the true causes of his acrimony, and not only touched, but actually pressed somewhat unsoftly, the place from which so much of not quite wholesome matter had flown into his introduction, and his letter to the Beutlingers."t Zwingle. as well as Oecolampadius, was named in these writings, and was joined with him in the same condemnation. More ardent than his mild associate, it was still less to be expected that he would be silent when thus provoked ; bat his feelings were still more deeply wounded, and his keenest indignation was raised by the unworthy behaviour of some of his adversaries, who exerted themselves to prevent the dis semination of his writings by the intervention of the civil government. Although those writings were in Latin, and, consequently, designed only for the learned, these contracted partisans endeavored to have them suppressed, evidently fear ing that they might do harm even there, and their contents might thus come indirectly to the knowledge of the people. * Plank, voL iL p. 319. j Ibid. p. 321. 304 HISTORY OF THE There was, in this conduct, a tacit confession of the force of Zwingle's arguments, and of their inability to refute them : the best answer, they seem to have thought, was to suppress the adversary's argument : and while they sought thus to shut out his writings even from themselves, they denounced his doctrine as an odious heresy, in their addresses to the people from the pulpit. This undignified course was pursued, par ticularly, at Nuremberg, where Osiander stood at the head of the evangelical party. Zwingle complained, in a letter to this eminent divine, that the preachers of that city indulged in railing against his doctrine before the common people, instead of learnedly refuting it, and expressed the wish that the sub ject were discussed in writings among the learned, and not in such addresses to the multitude. A judgment may be formed of the spirit of the times and the state of men's minds on the subject, from the answer of Osiander : " You think we should bear that, omitting to preach, we should be occupied only in writing books and letters. But tell me, you most stupid beast ! (stolidissima belhia !) did Christ send us to preach or to write ? Dare you demand that we should omit what Christ has enjoined, and should do what would be most advantageous to your errors ? And as to writing something by all means, are those to be wholly silent who have not talent enough for such an undertaking, but are, nevertheless, pastors of Christ's flock, and ministers of the word?"* Such was the courtly language of a distinguished theologian, addressed to such a man as Zwingle ! It is unnecessary to add a word of comment on its character : we will only remark that nothing could be more acceptable to an enemy of the Reformation than a con troversy among its ministers carried on in such a spirit. Provoked by such injuries, and necessitated to counteract the measures of his ungenerous adversaries, Zwingle now pub lished his work, Klarer Unterricht vom Nachtmahl, &c, — "Plain Instruction on the Lord's Supper;" which was not only written in German, but was designedly adapted to the * Plank, vol. ii. p. 314, note 167. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 305 capacities of the common people, who, so far as it could reach them, were thus enabled to learn the doctrine of the Swiss reformer from an original source. In this work, Zwingle first names Luther as his antagonist, but names him with, becoming respect. He wrote, ahout the same time, a letter to the peo ple of Nuremberg, and, somewhat later, another to those of Eslingen. In these letters, and especially in the last, he complains, with warmth, of the conduct of those of his adver saries who endeavored to suppress his doctrine, which they were unable to disprove, and exposes, with keen satire, the arguments by which others thought they had refuted it. "They cry out," he says, "that we are heretics, who must not be listened to ; they forbid our writings ; they invoke the government to resist our doctrine with all its might ! Did the pope do otherwise, when the truth would hft up its head? Let them refute us : but must we think ourselves refuted by mere contradiction, or by reproaches, or by answers which they themselves cannot explain ? What else do they bring against us ? When we say, It is of no benefit to eat the body of Christ carnally, they answer, It is done spiritually; and you are an unbeliever, and a fanatic, and a hypocrite, and a rebel ! When we then ask whether Christ has two bodies, the one material and the other spiritual, they double their outcry against the fanatics, and say, We eat the material body of Christ spiritually ! When we ask again, whether the body of Christ can be eaten in a twofold manner, once by faith, and again by eating his flesh materio-spiritually, and demand the proof that the Scripture speaks of such a twofold eating, they are dumb, or break out into railing." " This sarcastic representation," says professor Plank, "was, to be sure, but too manifestly the representation of an adversary : but, when Zwingle wrote this, Luther had already pubhshed his ' Sermon on the Sacrament against the Fanatics.' "* This sermon of Luther's, the same writer says, " was de signedly and solely adapted to make the new doctrine appear * Plank, vol. ii. p. 324. 2a 2 39 306 HISTORY OF THE to the people as abominable, the arguments of its advocates as weak, and their objections to the old doctrine as con temptible as possible. This design, which nothing but the character of the times can excuse, must be admitted ; for it is not to be supposed that, in a controversial writing, Luther would have employed the mode of argumentation which pre vails throughout the whole discourse.* In this sermon, Luther adopts both the theory of the Syngramma on the mode of Christ's presence in the sacrament, and the notion of the proper ubiquity of the body of Christ, which Pirkheimer had asserted before him.f On this portion of the sermon, Plank remarks : " What could have seduced Luther to make use of the fog in which the authors of the Syngramma had enveloped the bodily presence ? to speak of the presence in the bread just as they spoke of the presence in the word ? to profess, hke them, to assert an essential presence, and yet perpetually to interchange it with another which nobody had ever called by that name ? what could have moved him to this, since he, at the same time, betakes himself to the doctrine of ubiquity ? This position, which the authors of the Syngramma wished to avoid, could save him from the perplexity in which they involved themselves, could, at least, afford him the occasion to remove, as far as he could ever desire, from the opinion of his oppo nents ; but now, too, we must be every moment in fear for him, as well as for them, that the whole controversy might turn out to be, at bottom, nothing but a needless strife about words. Exactly like them, he sets forth the notion that Christ is brought to us by the word, and is brought into our hearts by the preaching of the word, and hence concludes, ' Why should it be thought so strange that he brings himself into the bread and wine ?' Exactly as we asked them, might we now put the question to him, Can the body of Christ, then, be essentially in the word, and be brought essentially into our * Plank, vol. ii. p. 324. f The first who asserted the ubiquity of Christ, as to his human nature, was J. Le Fevre d'Etaples in France ; and from him, it seems, Pirkheimer borrowed it. See Schroeck, Kirch. Gesch. <,. d. ,: vol. ii. p. 496. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 307 hearts ? And, exactly like them, he would be compelled to affirm it, inconceivable as it is : for, if he did not, he and his opponents were of the same opinion. But to what purpose had he need to accept this position, which nobody can receive, since he had already determined to maintain the corporeal omnipresence of Christ, from which his presence in the sacra ment could be more naturally inferred? ' Christ,' says he, ' is everywhere, in all creatures, in the stone, in the fire, in the water, yea, even in the rope, although he is wilhng to be participated only in the bread.' "* Here we must suspend our notices of this lamentable con troversy, in which, from its very inception, most of the actors betrayed so much of the infirmities of a fallen nature, and furnished so large a mass of materials for a history which no sincere Christian can read without pain. The author whom we have closely followed, himself a member of the Lutheran church, closes this section of his history with the remark: "It is time that we should see the noble, magnanimous Luther, fired by no other passion than the love of truth, in another sphere of action ; for in this one, — the truth cannot be concealed, if even it durst be, — in this one he does not appear," — (zeiget er sich nicht.)^ That great man had faults which God per mitted to remain in his character, and to be visible even to the weakest in his church, that they might learn to honor him as a mere instrument, and to give all the glory of the good which he wrought to God alone. * Plank, vol. ii. p. 329, note 196. f Ibid- P- 331- 308 HISTORY OF THE CHAPTER V. CONTINUED PROGRESS OF THE REFORMATION IN ZURICH. During all the noise and heat of the controversy on the Lord's supper, and notwithstanding the new difficulties which it created, the Reformation continued to advance in the city and canton* of Zurich, as well as elsewhere. Hitherto, the mass had maintained a doubtful existence in this canton, but the time of its entire abolition had now arrived. By the de cree of December, 1523, a mortal wound was inflicted upon this pompous rite, when liberty was given to all to celebrate it or not, as they might choose ; and it languished, in conse quence, and fell more and more into neglect and disregard. But, as it still retained its hold upon the affections and prac tice of the remaining votaries of Rome, and its legal existence stood in the way of a return to the Lord's supper as insti tuted by the Saviour himself, Zwingle and his associates did not cease their exertions to effect its entire overthrow. The councils, however, were tardy in their movements, and while they yielded to the reformers on other points, could not yet be persuaded to lay their hands upon that institution which constituted the very soul of the Papist worship, and the sup pression of which would give greater offence, and be viewed by zealous Papists with more horror, than all the other religious changes which had taken place, or might yet be undertaken. In this condition things remained when, on the eleventh day of April, 1525, Zwingle and his fellow-laborers, Leo Juda, Engelhard, Myconius, and Megander, or Grossman, presented themselves before the councils, and petitioned that the mass, which they had proved to be full of idolatry, be abolished, and the Lord's supper reinstated agreeably to its primitive GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 309 institution. They found a zealous opponent in the secretary, Joachim Am Grut, who disallowed Zwingle's theory, and contended that, as the verb is is a substantive verb, it must signify essential being, and the words, This is my body must, therefore, mean that the bread is the essential body of Christ, and cannot, without sophistry, be represented to mean, This signifies my body. Zwingle argued, in reply, that the Scrip ture speaks of the body of Christ in a threefold sense, viz., first, of his natural body, as it subsisted during his earthly hfe ; secondly, of his glorified body, as it is since his resurrection ; and, thirdly, of his mystical body, the church; and, as the words of institution cannot be understood of his body in any of these three senses, they must, of necessity, be taken in a tropical sense. A commission, consisting of the five petition ers and four counsellors, who assembled in the afternoon to consult upon the proper mode of proceeding in the case, re solved that the subject should be again brought before the two councils on the following day. On the 12th of April, there fore, Zwingle, accompanied by his associates, supported his petition before the councils, and urged in behalf of his inter pretation the usage - of the Scriptures, as exhibited in such examples as, The seed is the word, — The field is the world; in which, he contended, the substantive verb is certainly does not mean essential being, and must be taken to mean signifies. Am Griit objected that these examples were not parallel, be cause they were taken from parables, the words of which are necessarily symbolical and figurative, but the words of institu tion are not a parable, but plain didactic words. Zwingle re plied that his examples were not taken from parables, but from the explanations of parables, and were, therefore, also plain didactic words. This answer silenced Am Griit and satisfied the councils, who thereupon decreed that the mass be wholly abolished, and the Lord's supper celebrated on the following day, agreeably to the institution of Christ. Although the audience were satisfied with Zwingle's defence of his doctrine, his antagonist's last objection left an unplea sant impression upon his own mind. He was desirous of find- 310 HISTORY OF THE ing a passage in which the verb is occurs in precisely the same connection in which it is used in the Lord's supper, that is, in the form of a sacrament ; where it is, nevertheless, con fessedly tropical. He continued, after retiring to his bed, to revolve in his mind all the texts which he was able to recol lect, but without success. While he was thus employed, he fell asleep ; but his anxious mind continued still to be exercised in the same way, and he dreamed that he was contending with his antagonist, and, though he knew the truth, was unable to find words to express it. This inability sorely distressed him ; and, in this worrying perplexity, some one said to him, "Sluggard ! why don't you give for answer what is written in Exodus xii. 11, It is the Lord's passover?" He instantly awoke ; the dream was still vividly before him ; and, springing from his bed, he opened his Bible and found the place. It was exactly what he wanted. The subject of it was a sacrament of the ancient church. The words were spoken of the lamb or kid which was eaten to commemorate the Lord's passing over the houses of the Israelites, when he destroyed all the first-born of Egypt. There could be no dispute here about the import of the word is, which all must confess to mean signifies; for the lamb could only signify the Lord's passover. Highly gratified by this discovery, that seemed so much like an inspiration from above, he' made this text the subject of his discourse on the following morning, and spoke from it with all the animation and power which the occasion was adapted to inspire. This dream, and especially a casual remark of Zwingle's respecting the author of the suggestion that relieved him from his perplexity, afforded matter for much illiberal criticism and groundless obloquy to his adversaries. He had used the expression, Ater an albus fuerit nihil memini; that is, Whether he was black or white, I do not remember. A phraseology like this was used by the ancient Romans, when they meant to express ignorance or indifference about the author of a transaction ; and Zwingle meant no more by it than to say that he could give no account of the person who made the suggestion. Some of his adversaries, nevertheless, with more GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 311 sectarian feeling than Christian knowledge, were persuaded that he was in doubt whether his prompter was black or white. For their part, they had reason enough, they thought, to believe that he was black. From his sable color, and from all the circumstances of the case, as they viewed them, they inferred that he could bl3 no other than the devil : and from these premises, they gravely concluded that, by Zwingle's own confession, he had derived his doctrine on the Lord's supper from the devil. A fine specimen this of reasoning, on so solemn a subject ! Such, too often, is the spirit of theological con troversy, under the veil of a holy zeal for truth and a pious devotion to the glory of God !* The Lord's supper was now administered, and the blessed Redeemer's vicarious death commemorated, with pious joy and thankfulness, by a larger number of communicants than had ever appeared at the altar to participate in the mass. The solemn service continued three days, namely, on the thirteenth, fourteenth, and sixteenth days of April, being Holy-Thursday, Good-Friday, and Easter-Sunday. The first of these days was appropriated to the youth, the second to the middle-aged, and the third to those who were advanced in life. Never before had Zurich seen such a day: never did her pious preachers minister with a hghter heart, nor the church rejoice with a joy so pure and so universal. It was at once the day on which she commemorated her deliverance from the bondage of sin and death by the kind mediation and the glorious triumph of the Son of God, and the day on which she first obtained the full consciousness of her freedom from the bond age of a debasing superstition and the grasp of a grinding ecclesiastical tyranny. She felt that the truth had made her free ; and the light that shone around her from the gospel revealed to her the beauty of religion in its original simplicity, as it came from the hand of God, and showed in the distance the delightful prospect of eternal life, as the free gift of God, through the alone merit of Jesus Christ, with no purgatory * Hottinger, p. 244. 312 HISTORY OF THE between, to arm death with new terrors, and to mingle bitter ness with the consolations, and disturbance with the peace which the richness of redeeming love and the hope of heaven inspire. In many places in Germany, the transition from the popish mass to the Lord's supper was made by a gradual change. A German form of celebration, in the whole, or in part, of the service, was substituted for the Latin, and more or less of the superstitious ceremonial of the church was omitted. This was not done in Zurich. Zwingle had, indeed, contemplated a similar mode of proceeding, and had, as early as the month of August, 1523, prepared a new formulary for the celebration of mass, as appears from a letter of that date, written to Geroldseck, the administrator of Einsiedeln ; but there is no trace of its having ever been brought into actual use. The reformers of Zurich preferred, it seems, upon maturer reflec tion, to await the time when the whole abuse could be at once put away. This may be inferred from the letter of Zwingle to Matthias Aber of Reutlingen, dated November 16, 1524, in which he says, that he is thankful to God that he has not introduced another mass, because he would thus only have driven out one nail by driving in another, and new difficulties would thus have been put in the way of a further change. He and his associates, therefore, deemed it safer to prepare the public mind for a complete abolition of the mass, and then to return at once to the primitive institution.* The mode of celebrating the Lord's supper, when the long- contemplated change was introduced, was in conformity with a design which Zwingle had previously matured, and which was now given to the public in a printed formulary or directory. Its title was, Action oder Branch des Nachtmahls, Gedachtniss oder Dahksagung Christi, wie sie auf Ostern zu Zurich ange- hebet wird, im Jahr 1525 ; that is, " Action or Use of the Supper, a Commemoration of Christ, or -Thanksgiving, as it is begun on Easter, at Zurich, in the Year 1525." The follow- * Fueslin's Beitrage, vol. i. p. 62, &c, u. 13, and p. 169, n. 28. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 313 ing extract, translated from the German, will interest the curious reader, as a specimen of the scrupulous attention of the Swiss reformer to primitive simplicity : " After the sermon, a table is placed in the church, covered with a clean cloth, upon which a httle basket, with unleavened bread, or flattened cakes, is set, with wooden dishes, and cups into which wine is poured. The pastor then takes his place, standing with his deacons or assistants at the table. The pastor exhorts the whole assembly earnestly to give dihgent attention to every thing. One of the deacons thereupon reads the words of the institution of the Lord's supper contained in Paul's epistle to the Corinthians. The other deacon then reads a considerable portion of the sixth chapter of the gospel of St. John, in order that every one may learn from the Lord's words in what manner we may truly eat the flesh and drink the blood of Christ. After this, the articles of the Christian faith are recited. The pastor then earnestly exhorts the people that every one examine himself, and take heed that he approach not unworthily, and so become guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. Upon this, all who are present shall kneel and repeat after the pastor the Lord's prayer. The' pastor then takes the unleavened bread into his hands, and, in the presence of the whole assembly of believers, recites the words of institution, in an audible voice and with great devout- ness. Thereupon he distributes the bread to the deacons, and presents to them the wine, also, and they immediately carry the bread in dishes, and the wine in cups, and present them to the whole congregation. Every one then takes into his hands what is presented to him, and offers a portion, also, to the one next to him, and the wine is distributed in the same manner. In the mean time, while the congregation are eating the bread of the Lord, and drinking of his cup, one of the ministers of the church reads in the pulpit from the holy gospel of St. John, beginning at the thirteenth chapter, the very consolatory and affectionate words which the Lord Jesus spoke to his disciples after he had washed their feet, and before he went out to the mount of Olives. After the deacons shall 2 B 40 314 HISTORY OF THE have returned to the table with the dishes and cups, the whole congregation kneel, and give thanks and praise to God for the great benefit of redemption by Christ. In the churches of the country, which have only one minister and pastor, he alone reads every part, and men and women go successively, in proper order, to the table." "This mode of celebration was afterwards adopted by many of the Swiss churches and those of Rhatia, or the Grisons." In this manner was the Lord's supper administered in the Reformed church of Zurich, when it first emerged from the superstitious community of Rome. This form was not adopted everywhere in Switzerland; neither was it designed for any other churehes than those of this canton ; and even here, it neither was, nor could be, observed in the smaller churches, where deacons were wanting to assist the presiding pastor in his sacred function. In these churches, the communicants, instead of receiving the elements in their places by the ministry of deacons, went successively to the table, and received them there from the hands of the pastor. It will be observed, that the communion was not preceded by a confession of sins to the ministers of the church, and absolution by them. Confession to the priest, followed by absolution, is an essential prerequisite in the church of Rome. The communicant is required to confess every particular sin, be it what it may, and is taught that the efficacy of his abso lution, and, consequently, the salvation of his soul, depends on having made a full confession of all his sins. Private con fession before communion was retained by Luther ; but he left communicants to determine for themselves what it would be proper or expedient to confess to any other than God, and viewed absolution as equally effectual, provided they were sincere. Zwingle dropped both confession and absolution altogether, as popish institutions, and, requiring only that every one should examine himself, left him to confess his sins to God only. No written or printed form was read as an introduction to the act of communion ; neither is any thing said in this directory GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 315 of sacred music or congregational singing. . The whole service connected with the communion consisted in reading and speak ing, and the lessons that were read were appropriate portions of the Holy Scripture. The organ still continued in the Great-Minster more than two years longer, but was silent. Congregational singing was not introduced into the worship of the churches of Zurich until the year 1598, although it was adopted in some of the churches of Basel as early as 1526, and German psalms were sung in the worship of the churches of the little state of Miihlhausen, by the boys who were taught to sing at school, as a substitute for the Latin chauntings of the canons, in 1523. Zwingle himself was one of the most skilful musicians of his times, and indulged very frequently both in vocal and instrumental music for his own amusement ; yet he did not think it expedient to give a place to this exer cise in pubhc worship. He_was, doubtless, induced to omit it by the superior value and importance which he assigned to the word of God in reading and preaching. The word was, in his view, paramount, and for reformation it was every thing. The deacons, who are mentioned in this directory, were not the same class of church-officers whom we are accustomed to call by the same name. They were ordained ministers of the gospel, who assisted the principal pastor in his ministry, and, though subordinate to him while they occupied such a station, performed all the ministerial functions, and might elsewhere obtain the situation of principals. There is no notice here of lay-elders or lay-deacons constituting a session, consistory, or church-council. Zwingle found no such officers in existence in the church, neither did he introduce them. This institution is derived from Calvin and the church of Geneva, and has been received in the United States through the church of Holland. Neither is there here any recognition of a synod, to whom, agreeably to our ecclesiastical organization, it would have belonged to prescribe a form of celebration of the Lord's supper. Synods were first assembled in Zurich, in April, 1528, when complaints against some of the clergy furnished the occasion for them. They were then authorized by an act 316 HISTORY OF THE of the councils. They met ordinarily twice a year, and con sisted of the clergy only, with a lay delegation appointed by the secular government, and representing their interests. The supreme authority in the church was vested in the council. Hottinger gives the following account of the progress of the Reformation in Zurich at this eventful period : " Thereupon followed the decree of government, directing that the mass should be abolished, and, on the next day, in stead of saying mass, the Lord's supper should be celebrated ; which, with a few exceptions, afforded a sincere joy to the church. Here it must be observed that, for some time past, the mass had been celebrated here and there in the German lan guage, but Zurich was ,the first place where it was wholly abolished. .From this time onward, tables were used instead of altars ; the wine was received, not by the priest alone, but by the whole people; the prayers were offered up, not in a strange language, but in the vernacular tongue ; not in a low muttering, but in a loud and audible voice, for the edification of the people ; no longer was the sacrament a sacrifice for sin, but a commemoration of the one eternal sacrifice which the one only priest of the New Testament once offered upon the cross ; not with a worshipping of the sacrament, but of him who by this sacrament seals to us his blessed communion. The holy symbols were not served up in golden, but in wooden vessels, and, in this holy act, as few ceremonies as possible were used. The altars were, consequently, this year removed from the churches The rites that were to be observed in future, in the celebration of the Lord's supper, were published in print, for general information ; with the admonition added, that all such as defile the body of Christ by acts of vice shall be excluded from the holy supper ; and, if it were acceptable to the church, this holy sacrament should be celebrated four times a year ; namely, at Easter, Whitsuntide, in the fall, and at Christmas: which last, if it was ever adopted, was after wards changed."* * Hottinger, p. 243. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 317 The zealous adherents of the papacy, who still remained, were deeply mortified by these changes, and some of them petitioned the government for permission to celebrate mass in a church called Die Wasser-Kirche, that is, the Water- Church which had been used as a depository of the trophies gained by the troops of Zurich in the Suabian war, but was now occupied occasionally by the ministers of the parish churches. This request was refused, but the discontented were permitted, for the present, to frequent the Papist worship in the adjoin ing cantons or the common provinces, particularly in Bern and Einsiedeln. The pleasure of the reformer's triumph in this decisive act was not without alloy. Occasions were not wanting to those who sought them to mortify and distress him. Some of the malcontents, maddened with rage by his successful exertions to abolish ceremonies and customs in which they placed the essence of religion, attacked his house with stones, and assailed him with volleys of imprecations and vulgar abuse. Order was, however, soon restored. One of the offenders being ar rested and sent to prison, the rest were intimidated, and the peace of the city was preserved. On the other part, the people of the country came in crowds to present themselves before the councils, and to assure them of their hearty con currence in the late measures of reformation, and their readi ness to support the government in them, at the hazard of their property and their blood. "Zwingle," said Thomas Plater, "was often in danger in Zurich; but God protected him: for he was not to die by the assassin, but in the field of battle, like the shepherd by his flock."* Events now showed how the abolition of the mass in Zurich was viewed abroad, throughout the other cantons, not only by the rigid Papists, but by those also who had hitherto been friendly to a reformation, and had borne in silence, or in no marked displeasure, with the course which Zurich had pur sued. * Hottinger, p. 248. 2b2 318 HISTORY OF THE On the thirteenth of September, the landamman, or chief magistrate of Glarus, in behalf of that canton, admonished the government and people of Zurich to abstain from their inno vations in religion. He was respectfully answered, that Zu rich had done only what the word of God commanded them to do : their measures, therefore, could not be changed, unless they were proved to be erroneous by the testimony of the Holy Scriptures. There were, however, not wanting in Glarus, at the same time, men who had received the light of the gospel, and approved the course of the reformers. Among these was C. Lucksinger, a correspondent of Zwingle's, who encouraged him to persevere in his labors, and invoked for him the presence and the help of God in his arduous en terprise. This preliminary admonition of the landamman of Glarus was in a few days succeeded by a more important movement. On the eighteenth of the same month, an embassy arrived in Zurich, from the six cantons of Bern, Glarus, Basel, Soleure, Schaffhausen, and Appenzell, all of which had hitherto, more or less, maintained friendly relations with Zurich. In a pub lic assembly of the councils and the citizens, these ambassadors stated, that the cantons whom they represented saw with dis pleasure the abolition of the mass in Zurich, and if Zurich would not reinstate this service in her churches, those cantons would repudiate her, as the other six had already done, and would refuse to sit with her in the national diets, in which they were accustomed to meet in the long-cherished unity of theh faith. The council,- after politely thanking them for their attention, returned the same answer to them which they had given to the landamman, and, on former occasions, to the other cantons, and added again the often-repeated request that the honored cantons should send their learned men, who were conversant with the Holy Scriptures, to confer on these matters with those of Zurich, and to ascertain, by a diligent examination, which of the parties was in the wrong, pro mising to yield if convinced of error, and assuring them, finally, that Zurich would always be ready to discharge GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 319 faithfully every duty which their covenants required of her.* These assurances of amity and faithfulness were, however, unsatisfactory. They had been often given, and, being still repeated, only served to irritate those who viewed the religious changes in this canton as a dereliction of duty that was incompatible with fidelity to other obligations. The pro posal, also, to examine these changes by the Holy Scriptures, and to inquire into the grounds of the old doctrines and ceremonies, seemed rather profane than reasonable to zealous Papists, in whose estimation the faith and worship of the church had long since been sufficiently proved, and was too sacred a subject for investigation. The firmness of Zurich in her religious position, therefore, appeared to her adversaries as heretical obstinacy and perverseness, and served only to exasperate their displeasure ; and the zealous votaries of Ro manism did not omit their efforts to fan this bad feeling into a flame. Zurich now stood alone, forsaken by all her confederates, and shunned as a profane thing, which it would be sinful to touch. In the mean time, the doctrine of the Reformation had penetrated into some of the adjoining cantons, and was spreading over the provinces which owed allegiance to the confederacy, or to one or more of its members. The rigid adherents of the old superstition, having succeeded in uniting all the cantons against Zurich, resolved not only to purge themselves of the new heresy, but to crush it, also, in the common provinces over which they possessed an acknowledged jurisdiction, intending, no doubt, to turn their united force next against Zurich, if she still continued to hold out against their demands. They declared their fixed purpose to preserve un impaired, at every hazard, the laws and customs of the church, and to punish every violation of them : the priests of all the parishes were commanded to celebrate the mass, to forbear preaching Lutheran doctrines, to abstain from marriage, and * Hottinger, p. 253, &c. 320 HISTORY OF THE to observe the ancient laws and usages of the church, under the penalty of expulsion from theh benefices, and other suit able punishments ; and orders were given to the governors of the provinces to apprehend and dehver over to the tribunals of their superiors all such, whether ecclesiastical or secular persons, as should be found acting contrary to this decree.* The situation of Zurich was now extremely precarious. While the hostile attitude of the other cantons threatened her peace from without, and the territories on her borders were overawed by fire and sword, the excesses of the Anabaptists were creating disturbance within and wasting the energies of the state. The prospect thus far was truly discouraging ; on every side, dark clouds arose, foreboding a tempest, the thunder of which was already heard muttering in the distance : every eye saw the danger, and every heart felt its impression ; and, while the heavens were thus lowering with the elements of destruction, there were few, probably, who were not sensible how httle strength there was within to resist the fearful explosion. But, conscious of her sincerity, and assured of the righteousness of her cause, Zurich trusted in God, who rules the elements and manages the storm. Undismayed, therefore, though alone, she maintained her elevated position, as the rock, upon which all its billows break, continues un moved in the midst of a troubled sea : and it was, indeed, the providence of God that protected her in that day of desertion and trial, when, though there might be many an eye to pity, there was not a hand to save her. The Most High prepared other occupation for the Roman see, and brought upon her supreme pontiff troubles at home, that cast Zurich into the shade, and caused her to be in a measure forgotten. The pope Clement VII., jealous of the power and the ambition of the emperor Charles V., had withdrawn from his interest, and entered into a secret treaty of neutrality with the king of France, who was then at the head of a powerful * Hottinger, p. 252-254. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 321 army in Italy, with the most flattering prospect of success, while the cause of Charles seemed almost hopeless, and had drawn with him the state oi Florence into the same defection. But, by the battle of Pavia, in February, 1525, the power of France was annihilated in Italy, her king, Francis I., was made a prisoner of war and sent into Spain, where he was detained in confinement until March of the following year. This decisive victory subjected all Italy to the will of the con queror ; and the holy father had little to hope for from his clemency; after the proof he had given of his own treachery. " The pope Clement," says Schmid, himself a Papist, "knew already that Charles had been fully informed of all that had taken place between him and Francis. He. now believed fully, that he would soon come to Rome to be crowned, and would then take possession both of the city and of the states of the church."* How to ward off this dreaded punishment, was now the pontiff's chief care. He sought anxiously to make his peace with the angry monarch, and signed a treaty with Lannoy, the viceroy of Naples, by which he bound him self to pay a large sum of money. The money was actually paid, and the crafty chief immediately used it to pay the arrears due to his discontented and clamorous troops ; but the emperor refused to ratify the treaty. The pope's fears were renewed by this refusal. He formed a league of the states of Italy against Charles, and wished to engage France in it also. But the French king was a prisoner in Madrid, and sought his enlargement in vain, the emperor insisting upon terms to which the king deemed it impossible to accede. The pope, informed of his situation, found means to make the communication to him that he should procure his liberty on any terms, and means would be found afterwards to save him from the necessity of keeping them.f Francis signed the detested treaty, and swore at the altar of the holy evangelists that he would faithfully observe it to the end of his days. * Schmid's Gesch. d. Deutschen, b. viii. kap. x. band. 5. f Ibid. vol. v. p. 179. 41 322 HISTORY OF THE All Italy rejoiced at the event, and the holy father, true to his promise and his policy, sent a special minister to con gratulate the king on the recovery of bis freedom, and to absolve him from the obligations he had contracted, and the oaths he had sworn to fulfil them, in the treaty of Madrid !* In the mean time, a conspiracy had been formed in Italy to divest the emperor of his power in that country by means of his own forces. The conspirators were Francis Sforza, duke of Milan, his chancellor Morone, and his holiness the pope. Sforza had been put in possession of his dutchy by the emperor, but Charles had clogged this gift with onerous conditions, and retained, moreover, several strong places, which he garrisoned, with his own troops. The duke and the chan cellor wished to rid the country of these encumbrances, and even to expel the imperialists, as Charles had expelled the French from Italy. Pescara, the imperial commander-in-chief, was known to be incensed against the emperor, who had not rewarded him, as he conceived, agreeably to his merits, for the important service he had rendered him by the victory of Pavia; and him, therefore, the conspirators hoped to gain over to their interest. Morone, who undertook the manage ment of the plot, proposed to him to unite with the states of Italy against the emperor, with such of his troops as he could bring over to their party, and to make such a disposition of the rest that they might be easily overpowered and destroyed by the people ; and for this service, the pope was to reward him with the kingdom of Naples. Pescara listened with deep attention, hesitating whether to accept a proposition so splen did and yet so dangerous ; but ultimately, his fidelity or his fear prevailing, he communicated the plot to his sovereign, arrested Morone, and besieged the duke in his citadel. The pope interceded for Sforza, but the emperor was most of all incensed against the pope ; and he hated him the more because, while the plot was in progress, his holiness, determined to be on the side of safety, whatever might be the issue of the plot, * Schmid's Gesch. d. Deutschen, &c, vol. v. p. 182. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 323 intimated to the emperor the expediency of keeping his gene rals in good humor ; intending, by this double perfidy, if the conspiracy were discovered, to have it in his power to say that he had no connection with it.* The emperor did not come to Rome, but his friends came, not by his command, but of their own will, not to avenge their sovereign, but to please themselves ; and inflicted on the sove reign pontiff the chastisement he deserved. At the instigation of the Imperial ambassador at Rome, Hugo de Moncada, the cardinal Colonna, the rival and enemy of Clement, seizing the opportunity while the papal troops were employed in Lombardy, made a sudden incursion into the capital, at the head of only three thousand men, and plundered the Vatican, the church of St. Peter, and the houses of the pope's ministers and servants. The pontiff fled into the castle of St. Angelo, where he was closely besieged, and compelled to subscribe an ignominious peace. In less than a year afterward, the impe rial army, under the command of Bourbon, determined to compensate themselves for unpaid arrears, marched to Rome, regarding the pope as the chief author of the war, and the wealth of his capital as a proper reward for their services and privations. The city was taken by assault, all that were met were put to thc sword, and every part of it was plundered with savage ferocity and licentiousness. The pope shut himself up, together with thirteen cardinals, the foreign ambassadors, and many persons of distinction, in the castle of St. Angelo, where, deprived of every resource, and reduced to the last extremity, he was compelled to surrender, on such terms as his enemy chose to dictate ; and, from the 6th of June, the day of his capitulation, to the 6th of December, he remained a prisoner of war in the power of the victors. His liberty was purchased on very hard terms, after Rome had suffered almost unheard of distresses. "It is impossible," says Robertson, "to describe, or even to imagine, the misery and horror of the scene which followed * Schmid, &c, p. 176. 324 HISTORY OF THE the capture of the city. Whatever a city taken by storm can dread from military rage, unrestrained by discipline ; whatever excesses the ferocity of the Germans, the avarice of the Spa niards, or the licentiousness of the Italians could commit, these the wretched inhabitants were obliged to suffer. Churches, palaces, and the houses of private persons were plundered without distinction. No age, dr character, or sex was exempt from injury. Cardinals, nobles, priests, matrons, virgins were all the prey of soldiers, and at the mercy of men deaf to the voice of humanity. Nor did these outrages cease, as is usual in towns carried by assault, when the first fury of the storm was over. The imperialists kept possession of Rome several months, and, during all that time, the insolence and brutality of the soldiers hardly abated. Their booty, in ready money alone, amounted to a million of ducats : what they raised by ransoms and exactions far exceeded that sum. Rome, though taken several different times by the northern nations who overran the empire in the fifth and sixth centuries, was never treated with so much cruelty by the barbarous and heathen Huns, Vandals, or Goths, as now by the bigoted subjects of a Catholic monarch."* All Europe was filled with consternation by these events, and devout Papists were everywhere chilled with pious horror. The pope thus found occupation enough, and his zealous ad herents an interest sufficiently absorbing, to call away their attention, during these times of affliction, from Zurich and her reformation. Was not this the hand of God ? Both the people of this canton and their rulers were now resolved to submit no longer to the debasing and unrighteous spiritual bondage which they had borne for ages ; no longer to bow their consciences to an earthly master, nor to let any thing but the ascertained word of God, which they found in the sacred volume, be the standard of their faith, and their rule of moral and religious duty. The bishop of the diocese saw that his authority was anni- * Robertson's Charles V., book iv. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 325 bilated as far as the people were concerned ; but, reluctant to part with all his power and emoluments, he made a last effort to hold the clergy to their spiritual allegiance, and, if they could not be kept in submission in other things, to retain them at least so far as his pecuniary interest was affected. For this purpose, he sent a deputation to request the council to cause the customary consolationes, and the first-fruits of their clergy, to be remitted to him, and referred them to a compact by which, as he alleged, he was entitled to these emoluments. His application was coldly but respectfully received, and was referred to a commission of learned men, who were instructed to inquire into the origin of the custom, and the meaning of the compact upon which the bishop relied. ' Toward the close of the year 1525, the council of Zurich despatched their secretary, Joachim Am Griit, to Rome, to solicit from the pope the payment of the arrears which were still due to the troops they had furnished for the protection of the ecclesiastical states, in the campaign of 1521. The pope answered, by a letter dated December 11, in which, after rebuking their defection from the church, he says: " If you mean to persist in these new and impious errors, how can we justly and piously pay you any money, however it may be due to you, since, to those who have departed from the true faith not even their own possessions ought of right to be left?" A tender conscience, truly ! As Zurich, however, had professed a willingness to be better informed, if she were in error, his holiness promised to send a learned man, for that purpose, to Geneva or Lausanne, and left to her the appointing of the time for that purpose. These cities are situated in the other extremity of Switzerland, and the roads to them pass through the cantons which had already resolved to apprehend Zwingle, if he were found within their territories. Clement knew that such a proposal was inadmissible ; but he wanted a pretext both for withholding payment and for declining a religious discussion, and he thought any thing preferable to a plain, honest refusal. In their reply, the council say : " With us, yea is yea, and nay is nay. When we have given a promise, 2C 326 HISTORY OF THE we perform it, without excuses ; which is the duty of every Christian, whether it be given to a Christian or a Turk." It could not be expected, they said, that their learned men should be sent to a distant place ; the pope, on the contrary, ought to send his doctors to Zurich, where, as his legates, who had recently been there, could inform him, they would be perfectly safe. In his answer, the pontiff upbraided them with the sin of disobeying the holy church, whose ordinances ought to be kept, whether they were sanctioned by the Scriptures or not; he rebuked them, particularly, for controverting the real bodily presence of Christ in the sacrament, and pronounced them apostates, who deserved no favor. This harshness and reproach, so manifestly designed to cover a pitiful evasion, provoked some indignation, and the council replied; with warmth : " Your holiness thinks it is not meet to show such kindness to apostates. The gospel which is now preached among us, was preached before we furnished these succors to the apostolic see, as the reverend cardinal of Sion and the bishops of Pisa and Veroli well know. Yea, it broke forth at that time with greater force than now, so far as the Roman see was concerned ; and a strenuous opposition was then made to the expedition of the troops, which we granted, notwith standing, because we were desirous to observe the faith of our treaty. Although we then had the same faith as now, we were not then, when our aid was wanted, stigmatized as an apostate and faithless people, but were honored with lofty titles. But now, when we ask for payment, things are brought forward that were not thought of in the time of your need. If payment be refused, your holiness may rightly sur mise that we may be provoked to undertake something against the cities of Parma and Placentia, which were pledged to us as security for our remuneration. The times are not always the same— ^changes are taking place every hour."* ^Such language, addressed to the sovereign pontiff, might, in former times, have brought upon Zurich, or upon her council * Hottinger, p. 281, &c. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 327 at least, a bull of excommunication, or an interdict ; but such a punishment would now have been a pretty harmless ven geance here. The pope, moreover, was at this time intent upon his purpose of expelling the imperialists from Italy, and in too much dread of the present power of the emperor to be willing to add Zurich to the side of this formidable enemy. The council, doubtless, knew that Clement relied much upon the league which he had formed, and to which he hoped soon to add the king of France ; and they could hardly doubt that he intended next to let Zurich feel his vengeance, if he suc ceeded in his present plans ; and they reminded him, there fore, of the uncertainty, of human counsels. They were fully aware that it /was not then in their power to attempt any thing against the cities of Parma and Placentia, and that the pope knew it as well as they ; but they thought proper to intimate that his plans would probably fail, and their own situation might soon be different from what it was. Such, they trusted in God, would be the result ; and this confidence in divine providence gave them boldness both to maintain their position and to speak with the utmost freedom, even to the pope him self, amidst all the present dangers. As Rome, in her present circumstances, could lend no physical aid to. the hostile cantons againt Zurich, and durst not even interfere directly at all, the cantons were necessarily left to the exertion, of their own strength. They were, indeed, abundantly able to crush the single state of Zurich, if they had been perfectly united in counsel and all equally zealous for the extermination of the Reformed doctrine : but here was the main difficulty. To bring all the cantons to one mind, and to inflame their zeal for the doctrine and rites of their holy mother, the church, was the primary object which the votaries of Rome, both at home and abroad, were laboring to accomplish. Much had already been effected: the twelve cantons had been brought so far as to separate themselves from Zurich in their national diets, and to insist on her re turn to the faith and worship of their fathers, so far, at least, as to restore the celebration of the mass ; but they were not 328 HISTORY OF THE prepared to go farther, and to strike a blow that would give effect to their demands : neither were they all even prepared to let a part of the confederacy kindle a civil war for that end. Zurich professed her willingness to be better informed, and to yield if she were proved to be in error. Should she be condemned, and punished, too, without being heard, and without an attempt to convince her? She protested, in the most solemn manner, her unaltered attachment to the con federacy, and her constant readiness to perform whatever their covenant enjoined. Should her difference on the subject of religion, and her rejection of rites and customs, many of which we ourselves acknowledge to be corrupt, be a sufficient cause to involve her in ruin, and to bring upon the confederacy the calamities of a religious war ? These and other questions might be asked, and, being asked, presented difficulties that were not easily removed : and, to some of these cantons, the difficulties might appear more serious, because some of theh own subjects, and, among these, some of the most worthy, were infected with the same doctrines, and would necessarily be involved in the same punishment. To overcome these difficul ties, and to bring the twelve cantons to the striking point of religious zeal, was, therefore, the great desideratum, and the object for which every exertion was to be made. As to the means, the principal actors had already settled down in the belief, that nothing would be so effectual as a solemn public disputation that would issue in the discomfiture of the re formers. If the leaders of the heresy were defeated in such a contest, and were thereupon punished as heretics, their fol lowers might be brought back from their wanderings, and the obstinate compelled to renounce their errors ; and, if Zurich should still hold out, all the cantons might then be united in a crusade against the convicted and incorrigible heretics. Such a disputation was, therefore, proposed by the Papists, in 1524, notwithstanding their former violent condemnation of such a measure ; and being then declined by Zwingle and the govern ment of Zurich, for the reasons already noticed elsewhere, it was now proposed again, and urged with great zeal and per- GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 329 tinacity. The Papist party Were the more urgent for such a disputation from the confidence they placed in the eminent champion who was already engaged to encounter Zwingle and his associates in the contest, the celebrated chancellor of Ingoldstadt, John Eckius : and this urgency was, doubtless, not a httle increased by the moral certainty that, if Zwingle should appear in Baden or Luzern, and acknowledge the representatives of the twelve cantons as judges of the dispute, he would not be suffered to return to Zurich, or to trouble the church any longer ; but, if he should decline the challenge, he might, at least, be exposed as one who shunned the light, and was afraid to meet an antagonist whose strength was equal to his own. Eckius, who was now the principal actor, gave no answer to the invitation given to him by the council of Zurich in the preceding year, but he maintained an active correspondence with the confederates since that time.* His principal coadjutors were the bishop of Constance, and his vicar, John Faber. The latter attended, in person, a diet of the confederates at Luzern, where a plan seems to have been digested, in pursuance of which Eckius addressed a public letter to the confederacy, teeming with invective against the Reformed doctrine and its ministers, invoking the cantons to exterminate this pestilential heresy, and, without taking notice of the letter and passport, transmitted to him by express from Zurich, or of Zwingle's reasons for dechning his former challenge, reiterating the pro posal to dispute with him, before judges to be appointed by the confederates, and to submit himself to their verdict. The following is a translation of his letter, dated October 28, 1525 : " Noble, strict, dignified, honorable, circumspect, and wise sirs, and good friends ! My prompt and cheerful service being first tendered, most gracious, commanding sirs, I exhorted your grace, strictness, firmness, and wisdom, most urgently, * Fueslin's Beitrage, vol. i. p. 164, note 24. 2o2 42 330 HISTORY OF THE in the past year, to abide in the true, ancient, undoubted Christian faith, and not to let yourselves be seduced by the erroneous, seductive, heretical doctrine of Ulric Zwingle ; as I then offered to prove it, by the Holy Scriptures, in a disputa-- tion with Zwingle, before your excellencies, or judges appointed by you, which, however, Zwingle, as one who shuns the hght and walks -in darkness, declined accepting, as I have shown at length on a former occasion. I have heard nothing in a long time, except (God be praised !) that most of your grace and favor still continue firm in the true faith ; those, on the con trary, who have separated themselves from Christian unity, and have adopted erroneous, heretical doctrine, fall continually into more and more grievous error and blasphemous heresy ; inasmuch as, not only the Anabaptists, that have risen in several places of the confederacy and its neighborhood, but also Zwingle and Hausschein, (who calls himself Oecolampa dius,) have fallen into the dreadful heresy of denying that the true body of our dear Lord Jesus Christ, and his precious holy blood, are contained in the most venerable sacrament of the altar ! Thus shall the blind heretics, who have lost the eye of faith, fall into the gloomy pit of all heresy. Your grace and favor niay easily infer, from the fact that they are so at variance with themselves and with one another, what a false, devilish faith the hardened men teach ; for while Zwingle and Hausschein formerly would not admit that the most venerable sacrament is a sacrifice in the office of the holy mass, they taught, nevertheless, that the sacrament of the body and blood of Christ ought to be highly reverenced ; so that Zwingle, in the exposition of the eighteenth article of his theses, upbraids the Papists with their knavish outcry, (as he calls it,) that he wished to make nothing of the body of our dear Lord Christ, and to rob mankind;- of the heavenly food. Now, whereas in the year 1523, in the month of July, he would not suffer such a thing to be said, yet, two years later, he falls into it with the utmost insanity, and takes away, not only the mass of the church, but even his own fictitious, heretical mass, and, as far as he can, robs mankind of the heavenly food. So loose, airy, GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 331 and fickle-minded are the heretics ; yet they cry, The rock of undoubted, eternal truth is with us ! Zwingle, moreover, does not consider how highly he then lauded Luther, saying, he is an able servant of God, and investigates the Scriptures with as much earnestness as any one on earth within a thousand years, and with a manful and unshaken courage : for if Zwin gle values Luther so highly, why does he not follow Luther, who, with clear Scriptural testimonies, overturns Carlstadt's heresy respecting the most venerable sacrament ? Yea, though Carlstadt abandoned this heresy again, and voluntarily revoked and denied it, yet do I hear that Zwingle, in Zurich, and Hausschein, in Basel, seduce many thousands into the horrible heresy of not believing that the true body and blood of Christ are contained in the venerable sacrament, just as the blind Jews have these many years assailed the most venerable sacrament. " Therefore, gracious, strict, firm, and circumspect sirs, I beseech your grace, firmness, and favor, for God's sake, that you suffer not yourselves, nor your allies and subjects, to be seduced by this heretical, blasphemous doctrine. You have seen, alas ! what miserable fruit this heresy has borne in Germany, namely, all manner of divisions, anger, disobedience, factions, insurrections, ruin of country and people, extinction of all divine worship and all probity, and also all wantonness, and every sin and vice. Behold the inconstancy and divisions of the heretics ! How many sects have, in so short a time, risen up among them, Image-breakers, Anabaptists, Faction- ists ; Despairers, who say that Christ doubted, and sinned upon the cross ; Hell-crucifiers, who say that Christ suffered a little on earth, but in hell the devil first crucified him aright ; and many other sects ! How many kinds of masses have they everywhere introduced ! and, finally, on the Rhine, they have made a banquet of it ! Now, indeed, these things continue only in some of the cities of upper Germany ; for, last summer. I travelled through the Low Countries to England, and passed through more than seventy towns, of which not more than three were Lutheran, and of the three, two had yet made no 332 HISTORY OF THE change in the offices of the church. Therefore, I beseech your grace and friendship, for God's sake, as courageous, honest men, to maintain manfully the true, ancient, undoubted Christian faith, and to root out and exterminate this false, seductive, blasphemous heresy. What service I, poor priest, can render therein, I will do cordially and with the utmost diligence. Especially shall I be entirely willing, if Zwingle or Hausschein should consent to dispute before an appointed judge, in your presence, my lords of the common confederacy, and should agree to abide by the decision of the same, as I offered twice in the past year, to appear, at your request, at any place you may appoint, and to conduct the disputation on Scriptural grounds, in the confident hope that God, in his mercy, will aid the truth and the holy faith. Your grace, firmness, and favor may look to me with entire confidence for any other service, also, that I may be able to render in these matters of the faith. May Almighty God have your grace, strictness, firmness, and wisdom in his keeping and protection ! Given at Ingoldstadt, in Bavaria, on the day of the apostles Simon and Jude, 1525. " Your grace and lordships' obedient, willing "John von Eck, Doctor, &c."* This inflammatory letter was, doubtless, designed for the end to which it was so manifestly adapted ; namely, to make the Reformed doctrine and its ministers and abettors in the high est degree hateful, and to kindle a conflagration, in the rage and violence of which both the one and the other might be consumed. What the cost might be, how much blood and treasure might be wasted, how much desolation and misery might be caused, was not a matter of calculation with this humane theological doctor, when the question was, what the hierarchy had at stake to be lost or gained by the fate of the Reformation. The yery worst feature in tho doctrine of tho Swiss reformers, the heresy that awakened so much pious * Fueslin, vol. i. p. 161, &c. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 333 horror in the writer, was Zwingle's explanation of the Lord's supper, which would not confess either, with the Papist, that the bread is changed into the body of Christ, or, with Luther, that it contains the Lord's body. This was, in the writer's view, the most prominent feature and the very climax of the false, seductive, blasphemous heresy, which he invoked the confederates, with such solemn earnestness, to root out and exterminate. A valuable testimony this to the freedom of the Reformers from all excesses, and the purity of the doctrine which they taught. In his reply to this letter, written some time afterward, and addressed to the twelve cantons, Zwingle remarked upon the design to appoint a judge of the con troversy, to whose decision the two parties in the proposed disputation should submit: "How shall we take it, that you desire to appoint a Swiss judge to sit in judgment upon the Scripture ? How dare you lend your counsel and aid to this ? Have you wholly forgotten the papal prerogatives, which allow none but the pope himself to explain, rule, and interpret the Scripture ?" Upon this, he produced various arguments to show that the word of God is subject to no human judge, but the word, on the contrary, judges every human being.* He declined the challenge, as he had done before, and for the same reasons : he would not trust himself in the power of his enemies, who had already sworn his destruction, in such a place as Baden or Luzern ; he would not dispute before a judge appointed by the confederates; he would not submit his cause to the fallible judgment of any human being, but would have the Bible alone to decide it ; he would meet Eckius in Zurich, where both would be equally safe. The chancellor's letter, therefore, failed to accomplish this end ; which, however, it is plain that nobody had expected from it. It was much more mortifying that it failed, also, in its main object ; for, though it nourished ah ignorant bigotry and fed its malignant passions, it did not arm the Papist cantons with * Zwingli in Epist. ad XII. Pagos de Disputatione Badensi. 334 HISTORY OF THE sufficient rage to overwhelm Zurich, and to root out her heresy by fire and sword. The union of the twelve cantons for the maintenance of the catholic faith against Zurich, though so imposing, at first, in appearance, was neither close nor durable. The six cantons of Luzern, Uri, Schweitz, Zug, Unterwalden, and Friburg, and especially the first five, were decidedly hostile, and dis posed to try the last resort ; the other six were not prepared for extremities. Of the latter, the largest and most powerful was Bern, whose territory constituted a third part of the whole confederation, and whose decision for Zurich, or against her, was, therefore, likely to determine the course of all the rest. The six most hostile cantons, therefore, endeavored to attach her firmly to their policy ; and for this object, they had solicited her, by special embassies, to unite with them in their meetings for the transaction of religious affairs. Both Bern and Soleure were, in this manner, prevailed on to send their representatives to these assemblies. But Bern, foreseeing the consequences, to which the bitterness that prevailed in these meetings was likely to impel them, and dreading the horrors of a civil war, resolved to make a last effort to prevail on Zurich to comply, at least, in some measure, with the demands of the six cantons, and thus to avert the impending calamity. With this in view, she sent an embassy to Zurich, on the 29th of November, 1525, with instructions to persuade this canton to reinstate the mass, or, at least, to permit one daily mass to be celebrated in the city, whether it were attended by any communicants or not. As to images and other ceremonies, they would not insist upon the restoration of them. They admonished Zurich, also, to remember how much the con federacy had prospered under the ancient faith, and how all the attempts of foreign princes against them had been de feated ; whereas now these princes rejoiced at their dissen sions, and would take occasion, from their divisions, to plot their overthrow. To these expostulations, Zurich replied by her own am bassadors, whom she sent to Bern on the 21st of December. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 335 They were the burgo-master Roust, and Rudolp Lavater. These ambassadors appeared, on that day, before the councils and the citizens of Bern, and there pleaded for their country and their religion. "Zurich," said they, "is conscious of no other design than that of faithfully observing the covenants, as it becomes upright confederates, and will always be willing and ready to do so. She has, therefore, given no just cause to her confederates to separate themselves from her. She has, moreover, long since, found that neither spiritual nor secular princes are faithful and well-disposed toward the con federacy any farther than it is their interest to be so. Their custom has been to lead away many of the confederates to be slaughtered in foreign wars, and to see them perish without compassion. Appearances indicate that certain princes are seeking to distract the confederates, that they may the more easily overpower them. If the confederates think that Zurich is acting contrary to the word of God, be it remembered that she has long since been ready to answer all inquirers, and to accept information from others. Our covenants have nowhere' said that, if any one of the cantons shall adhere to the word of God, and shall conform thereto, and do what God com mands, it shall, for that reason, be severed from the rest, and excluded as a violator of the Christian faith and of the covenants. If any of the cantons refuse to sit with Zurich in the diets, for the transaction of business in which she has a common interest with them, she must leave the matter with God. She entertains, however, a good hope that God, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, in whose name our covenants are made, will not forsake her, and will permit her in the end to sit and to abide with him. As to reinstating the mass, or permitting one daily mass to be said, on the ground that our forefathers sought and found their salvation therein, and that' we ought not to think they have perished, the thing is impossible. The judgment upon our forefathers must be left to God : what they did was done with a good intention ; they knew no better, and we may, therefore, hope that this error did not prevent their salvation. But the mass is opposed to 336 HISTORY OF THE the holy supper which Christ himself has instituted: it was introduced for the sake of gain, some centuries after the death of Christ; and God suffered such errors to prevail for the punishment of the sins of men. It was painful to Zurich to abolish the mass ; but, when it was found to be contrary to the Holy Scriptures, it would have been still more painful to retain it. If, for the sake of preserving peace with the con federates, Zurich should permit a daily mass to be said, discord would arise among her own citizens, who are now peaceable and harmonious. Finally, they entreated Bern not to separate herself from Zurich, in either her spiritual or her temporal interests, but to abide with Zurich as Zurich would abide with her."* The same embassy repaired to Soleure, where similar repre sentations were made. What the impression was in the last- named canton, is not stated. Bern felt the force of this appeal to her reason and her sense of justice. She heard the rational, calm, and respectful remonstrance of the ambassadors, with attention and kindness, and promised to use her influence with the other cantons to prevent the apprehended violence ; and this promise she redeemed in good faith. A few days after these transactions, when the representatives of the six cantons, in a diet assembled at Luzern, were discussing measures to compel the people of Thurgau to abjure the Reformed doctrines, and to return to the Papist ceremonies, the delegate of Bern interposed a communication, that the canton which he represented would, indeed, perform all its engagements to the confederates, agreeably to theh covenants, but was resolved to undertake nothing of an unfriendly nature against Zurich, and would neither separate itself from that canton, nor exclude its delegate from the diets : and as to the people of Thurgau, he exhorted the diet to use no violence against those who had adopted the exceptionable doctrine, and to leave such cases as they deemed worthy of punishment to the ordinary administration of the laws. This unexpected * Hottinger, p. 256, &c. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 337 turn disconcerted the counsels and broke up the plan of the hostile cantons for the present ; the horrors of a civil war were averted, and Zurich was spared from a trial which she was not yet able to sustain.* Here we may perceive the hand of God turning the hearts of princes, overruling theh counsels, and setting at nought the wisdom and the purposes of men, that his own counsel may stand, and his own purpose be accomplished. " He taketh the wise in their own craftiness," and demonstrates that with him their wisdom is but foolishness. Zurich improved the respite which was thus obtained to prosecute her reformation, and to complete what remained to be done in removing abuses which the long reign of supersti tion and ignorance had accumulated. The number of holidays had been so increased as to intrench very seriously upon the duty of industry and the interests of the commonwealth. Most of these were now abolished. For the present, the government retained, besides the Lord's day, and the days set apart to commemorate the birth, circumcision, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension of Christ, and the effusion of the Holy Ghost, which are still observed m the German churches, those of Candlemas, Annunciation and Ascension of Mary, Mary Magdalen, St. Stephen, St. John the Baptist, the Twelve Apostles, All Saints, and St. Felix and Regula. But, after other cantons had received the Reformed doctrine, they set the example, and were followed by Zurich, in abolishing all holidays that were consecrated to the memory of mere crea tures. The observance of the Lord's day was enforced by fines, and, when these were found insufficient, by heavier penalties ; and the amusements of play, dancing, and other frivolities, which had been usual on sacred days, were strictly forbidden. Labor was, however, permitted in cases of neces sity, particularly in the seasons of hay-making, harvest, and vintage. The days which are set apart to commemorate the great events in the history of the world's redemption are still ob- * Hottinger, p. 258. 2D 43 338 HISTORY OF THE served in the German Reformed and other Protestant churches. Objection has been made to this custom, on the ground that there is no divine warrant for it in the Holy Scripture, and that these days are grossly abused and prostituted to dissipa tion and idleness. As to the latter ground, the same objection will weigh as much against the observance of the Lord's day, which the community in general spend very unprofitably, and the greater part of them consume more sinfully than any other portion of the week : and with regard to the former, we shall only say, we do not see the necessity of a divine command : it is sufficient if it can be shown that the custom is in accordance with the design of the gospel, and militates against no ascer tained duty. The gospel designs to produce hohness, and, so far as the church is concerned, to edify her members in Chris tian knowledge and virtue ; and there is, undoubtedly, a fitness to promote this design in the custom which observes certain appointed seasons to commemorate the great events in the history of our redemption, as so many manifestations of the richness of divine mercy toward our fallen race. The Chris tian dispensation has not, like the Jewish, defined exactly the times and the ceremonies x>i every particular act of religious duty, and left nothing to the choice and the wisdom of the church. It considers the church as having attained to man hood, and being no longer a minor under tutelage, and grants to her, as such, a liberty of choice in every thing relating to the mere .form of worship ; provided it be in accordance with the design oi the gospel, and not repugnant to any ascertained institution or commandment. The setting apart of certain days to commemorate the birth, the sufferings and death, the resurrection, and the ascension of our Lord, and the effusion of the Holy Ghost, belongs to the manner in which the church is moved, by a sense of obligation, and by the promptings of love and thankfulness, to address her worship to the Deity, and is as much in her own power as any thing else respecting which God has left her free, and fully as much as the appoint ing of days of thanksgiving or of humiliation and prayer. We have, moreover, in the New Testament, the example of Jesus, GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 339 who honored by his presence in the temple the solemnities of the feast of dedication, a festival which was instituted by Judas Maccabeus, without a divine command, to commemorate the new dedication of the temple to the service of Jehovah, after it had been recovered from the Gentiles. He was there as he was at the feast of the passover, and as he was at the feast of Pentecost, or at the feast of tabernacles, at other times ; and he showed by his presence that an institution which is conso nant with the design of God's dispensation, and with the destination of his church as a nursery of holiness, is accept able to him, though there be no warrant for it in the Bible expressed in so many words. It will not be denied that any private Christian may appropriate certain days for pious meditation on particular subjects ; and if one person may do so, why may not many, and why not an entire church or reli gious denomination ? And if one person may be profited by such a practice, is not the union of many persons in the same crbject, at the same time, still more adapted to elevate the mind, and to fill the heart with pious and holy emotions ? We do not pretend that the observance of these, festivals is obli gatory upon churches that do not choose to have them ; nor do we mean that the keeping of them as holy seasons is so the duty of the members of any church, that they sin by omitting to do so, if they can be edified as well without them, and if their omission does no harm to their brethren. Least of all would we impose these festivals upon the unbelieving world. The world has no Christianity, and, consequently, no Christian festivals ; neither has it a Christian Sunday, Lord's day, or Sabbath. Christian holidays belong only to the Christian church, and the observance of them is not so much the duty as it is the privilege of Christians ; but what we mean is, that where the Lord's people choose to approach him in this way, and in this way to seek their edification, and to bring their offerings of gratitude and praise to him, no one who has chosen another way, or no way at all, has a right to rebuke them. " Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind." — Rom. xiv. BOOK III. THE SPREAD OE THE REFORMATION IN OTHER PARTS OF SWITZERLAND AND THE CONTIGUOUS COUNTRIES. SECTION I CHAPTER I. During these transactions in Zurich, the spirit of her reformation was extending itself into the other cantons of Switzerland and their dependencies, and spreading over the contiguous parts of Germany and France. Among the first which its influence reached, was the city and canton of Basel. This city, however, was not wholly indebted for its reforma tion to Zurich : it reflected both the rays of Wittenberg and of Zurich, and shone also in part by its own light, and was thus itself a luminary of no little brightness, that rose upon its appropriate region. Basel, which was formerly a free imperial city, became, in 1501, with its dependent territory, a member of the Helvetic confederation, and ranked as the capital of one of the cantons. Its population, which is now about sixteen thousand, was then more than twice that number. It was the city of books and learning for Switzerland, and the residence of a galaxy of eminent men, distinguished by learning and genius, who shed a lustre upon its name, and, doubtless, exerted a favorable influence upon the intellectual character of its population. It contained the only university in Switzerland, and was the residence of the bishop of Basel, whose territory, as a prince of the empire, adjoined to this canton. Here Erasmus pub lished his editions of the ecclesiastical fathers and of the Greek New Testament ; here the writings of Luther were 340 GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 341 reprinted in large editions, and disseminated with amazing rapidity over the neighboring countries. As early as 1519, says Hottinger, all the honorable in habitants of Basel were friendly to Zwingle. Luther was here in such estimation, that Capito, who was then preacher at the cathedral, wrote to him : Inasmuch as it seemed that he was unsafe in Saxony, and would be obliged to go into exile, the cardinal of Sion, the baron von Geroldseck, a very reve rend and learned bishop, and others in the confederacy, would both aid him with money and afford him an asylum, where he might either be concealed or continue his public in structions. He adds, that, by the advice of Rhenanus, his writings were published by J. Frobenius, a printer and book seller, and had been, in the space of six weeks, dispersed over France, Italy, Spain, and England, where they were bought with great avidity. " In this," says Capito, "we seek nothing else than to promote the common cause. It will certainly be prospered, if the truth be widely disseminated, seeing that it is natural to man to assent to the truth, wherever he finds it." Frobenius himself wrote to Luther, that the cardinal of Sion, having read his books, exclaimed, 0 Luther ! du bist wahrhaf- tig Lauter ; that is, "0 Luther ! you are indeed Pure;" the adjective lauter being a play upon the name Luther, which, in its original German form, is the same, and signifies pure. When Erasmus employed the press of Frobenius with his editions of the fathers, another printer, Adam Petrie, under took the printing of Luther's publications, and realized hand some profits from the sale of them, which continued undi minished.* ' These writings were- zealously recommended by Zwingle and Leo Juda at Zurich; and such was their correspondence with the doctrine of the Swiss reformer, that, when the expo sition of the Lord's prayer appeared, many thought that Zwingle had published it under Luther's name, because they had before heard the same things, in his exposition of the * Hottinger, p. 48. 2d2 342 HISTORY OF THE sixth chapter of Matthew.* Wherever these writings were read, they therefore co-operated with great power, as an inde pendent testimony, with the preaching of the reformer of Switzerland : and it was for this reason that Zwingle forbore to read them, and to open a correspondence with Luther, lest the independence of their testimony might, be obscured, and the effect weakened. How lovely was then the harmony of these men of God, and how truly unfortunate for the future success of the. common cause was it, that this harmony was ever disturbed by the root of bitterness that so soon afterward grew up between them ! The first impressions of the truth were, however, not received in Basel from the writings of Luther, but from the ministrations of evangelical pastors. Wittenbach had im parted some seeds of gospel truth to the studious youth, while he exercised the office of theological professor in this city, and, as Leo Juda somewhere said, communicated many things in private which were first spoken openly by others. But the first preachers who taught the doctrine of salvation in public, were Wolfgang Fabricius Capito, and Caspar Hedio. Capito, or Kb'pflein, became the pastor of the cathedral in 1512. He was born at Hagenau, in Alsace, in 1478, and was, conse quently, older than Zwingle by six years. He studied at Basel, and addicted himself to theology. His father, a coun sellor, disgusted with the lives of the clergy, persuaded him to relinquish that pursuit, and to apply himself to the study of medicine ; but, after his father's death, he returned again to his first choice. At the university of Freyburg, in Brisgau, he attended the lectures on jurisprudence of the eminent jurist Zasius, and took the degree of doctor both in medicine and theology. The degree of doctor of laws was conferred on him at Mentz, in 1521. His first pastoral care was at Bruch- sal, in the bishopric of Spire ; from which place he was called, in 1512, to the situation of cathedral-preacher in Basel. Here he was entrusted also with a professorship in the uni- * Hottinger, p. 49. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 843 versity. In his public ministry, he pursued a course similar to that which Zwingle afterward adopted in Zurich, of ex pounding an entire book of tho Holy Scripture. He chose for this purpose the epistle of Paul to the Romans, without intending, however, by this method, to prejudice thc faith of Nome .• but, in the course of his investigations, his eyes were gradually opened upon the corruptions of tho church, and, at the end of five years, about the close of the year 1517, he refused any longer to read the service of the mass. He now formed an acquaintance with Zwingle, who was laboring at Einsiedeln, and resolved with him to attack the dreaded papacy. Pope Leo, probably to secure the influence of his talents for the interests of the holy see, appointed him to a provostship, which Capito, however, declined. In 1520, he accepted the situation of court-preacher to the young elector and archbishop of Ments, whom he entertained the hope -of gaining over to the Reformation. His labors in Basel were now at an end; but their effects did not terminate here: in the judgment of Schroeck, it was by him that the foundation was laid for the Reformation in this city.* Capito was succeeded in the same office by Caspar Hedio, a native of Badcn-Durliudi, who rose to this high distinction from a very humble condition. He had been the servant of Erasmus Fabricius, when the latter was a student at the uni versity of Freyburg. Others of the reformers were, in like manner, taken from the lowest ranks in life : Zwingle rose from the condition of a shepherd-boy ; Luther's fathei- Was a miner : and the great reformer of Germany, when a student at the university, obtained his living by singing at the doors of the wealthy ! " Cod hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things that are mighty : and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and tilings which are not, to bring to nought the things that are : that no flesh should glory in his presenee.''t Capito had commenced a series of expository sermons on the gospel * Hottinger, p. 16, 65. Schroeck, vol. ii. p. 126. f 1 Cor. i. 27. 344 HISTORY OF THE of Matthew, and had proceeded as far as the sixth chapter, when he closed his ministry here. Hedio continued the same course, commencing at the place where his predecessor had ended. Here, unfortunately, our authorities leave us, respect ing the life and ministry of this man.* The example of these reformers was followed by John Liithard, a Franciscan friar, and preacher of the convent, who expounded the gospel of Matthew. He finished this book in the space of eighteen months, to the great edification of the pious, says Hottinger, and the equally great mortification of the Papists. f To these laborers must be added the priest of St. Albans, William Roubli, the same who afterwards acquired distinction as a leader of the Anabaptists. He declared for the Reforma tion in 1521 ; but his zeal outran his prudence : instead of laboring first to change the hearts of his hearers by enlight ening their understandings and pressing upon their con sciences the saving doctrines of the gospel, he sought to change their outward practice and mode of worship by in veighing against the sacrifice of the mass, purgatory, private masses, and invocation of saints. The consequence was a violent opposition, which eventuated in his expulsion from the city. The impression which the truth had aheady made may be perceived in the fact that many of the citizens, in a pubhc meeting held for the purpose, petitioned the government in his behalf, and fifty ladies of his parish went in a body to the council-house, to solicit for his continuance and protection.! Capito thought, at the time of his departure, that the impres sion which the truth had then made would be permanent. To Hedio, the prospect appeared less encouraging : " Christian knowledge," he thought, "might be said to lie between the anvil and the hammer, and if danger was ever imminent, it was now imminent."! * We find Hedio, in 1529, with Bucer at Strasburg, where he joined Zwin gle and Oecolampadius, on their way to the colloquy at Marburg. In 1522, he was preaoher with Capito at Mentz. f Hottinger, p. 55. J Ibid. p. 63. \ Ibid. p. 56. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 345 But, useful as the labors of these eminent men undoubtedly were, it is to a greater man that the honor of being the ohief instrument of the reformation of this city and canton is justly due. That man was John Oecolampadius, or Hausschein, the Melancthon of Switzerland, a man of great talents and pro found learning, and of a singularly calm, meek, and pacific temper. Oecolampadius was descended from Swiss ancestors, his grandfather being a citizen of Basel, but was himself a native of Weinsberg, in Francon ia, where he was born in 1482. His father had designed him for mercantile business, but his mother desiring that he should enter one of the learned professions, he was, in comphance with her wishes, placed at school in Heilbron, subsequently in Heidelberg, and later at Bologna, in Italy, where he studied law. Jurisprudence, however, afforded him so little pleasure, that he returned to Heidel berg, and made theology his principal study. Here Phihp, elector of the Palatinate, confided to him the education of his sons. His parents, who were in good circumstances, founded a pastorship in his native place, and he was appointed to the living; but, conscious of his deficiencies, and desirous of acquiring more knowledge, he soon relinquished this situ ation, and repahed to Stuttgard, where he devoted himself to the Greek and Hebrew languages, under the tuition of the great Reuchlin, and, in the latter, also, of a Spanish phy sician, Matthaeus Adrianus. After completing his studies, he resumed his ministry in Weinsberg, in 1514, and made himself highly acceptable by his seriousness, meekness, and modesty in the pulpit, that contrasted so advantageously with the pompous frivolity of the preachers of those times. Capito became acquainted with him at Heidelberg, and, after his own , settlement in Basel, prevailed on the bishop to give him the appointment of preacher at one of the churches in that city. He came to Basel in 1515. Erasmus, who was at this time engaged in preparing his edition of the Greek New Testament from manuscripts, employed him as an assistant in that arduous work. Capito conferred on him the degree of doctor 44 346 HISTORY OF THE of divinity in the following year; and, in the same year, according to Hottinger, but in 1518 according to Schroeck, he accepted a call to the pastorship of the cathedral in Augsburg, and, leaving Basel, repahed to that city. But in Augsburg, also, his stay was very short. A constitutional diffidence, and the weakness of his voice, disqualified him, as he thought, for that situation; and dissatisfied, moreover, with the bustle and tumult of the city, he sought relief, and determined to retire from the world for a season, that he might indulge his quiet, meditative disposition, and improve his mind by study and works of piety. For this purpose, he entered the Brigittine convent of Alten-Miinster, in the vicinity, hoping to find it a nursery of Christian knowledge and piety, and a retreat suited to his present feelings ; but he prudently reserved the liberty to return again to the world, as it was termed, if he felt it at any time his duty to do so. This unexpected step was extremely disagreeable to his friends, particularly to Erasmus, Capito, and Pirkheimer ; and he himself soon discovered that he had made a very improper choice in selecting a convent for his purpose. In the mean time, he became acquainted with the writings of Luther, and was so captivated with the doctrine of the great reformer, that, as he wrote to a friend, " he prized them so highly, that, though an angel from heaven should contradict, he could not refuse them his assent." But this attachment to the newly-discovered truth, and the courage which it gave him to speak openly and freely what he knew, exposed him to dangers from which nothing but a precipitate flight could save him. At the solicitation of certain friends, he communi cated his opinions on the religious questions which were then agitated, and expressed them also in writings that were pub lished. Among these publications was a treatise against auricular confession, which gave the greatest offence, and brought upon him the hatred of the monks and the charge of heresy. Glapio, the emperor's confessor, denounced him as a heretic to the diet of Worms; the conventuals uttered threats, which came to the knowledge of his friends, and the GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 347 danger becoming imminent, they furnished him with a horse, upon which he made his escape.* He now fled to Francis von Sickingen, a German knight, whose castle, Ebernburg, was an asylum for all men of genius and piety who sought a refuge from ecclesiastical tyranny and persecution. Here he met with Bucer, Schwebel, Agricola of Augsburg, and Ulrich von Hutten, all of whom had found a resting-place before him in this abode of hospitality and freedom. He was appointed chaplain of the castle, and in this office read, instead of the daily mass, a portion of the New Testament in German. The mass was restricted to Sundays and holidays, and divine wor ship was performed in the vernacular tongue. But the critical situation of Sickingen, in his war with the elector of Treves, which eventuated in his ruin and death, obliged him to dismiss the guests whom he could no longer protect. They dispersed and sought refuge wherever the providence of God might lead the way. Oecolampadius came, in company with Hutten, to Basel, in November, 1522, in a state of destitution, and obtained employment and support from the printer and book seller, Andrew Cratander, until he was, not long afterward, appointed third professor of theology in the university, and, somewhat later, vicar to the superannuated preacher of the church of St. Martins. Luther wrote to him, in June, 1524, to congratulate him on his escape from the convent, and exhorted him to continue in the faith to which, by divine grace, he had attained. In the mean time, he opened a correspond ence with Zwingle, and formed that acquaintance which soon ripened into a cordial and enduring friendship, and united them both as one heart in the prosecution of the great cause to which they were devoted. f Oecolampadius began his labors in the professorship by lecturing on the prophet Isaiah to crowded audiences. The clergy endeavored to prevent this attendance, but failed in * Hottinger, p. 95. y Reformations-Almanach fiir 1819. Hottinger, p. 16, 94. Schroeck, vol. ii. p. 126. 348 HISTORY OF THE the attempt. The council and the citizens, says Hottinger, were so well inclined to the gospel, that it seemed as though they would immediately embrace it.* That triumph was, however, not yet so near at hand. The reformer of Basel was assisted in his arduous work by the guardian of the Franciscans, Conrad Pelhcanus, who came to this city from Ruffach, in Alsace, in 1519. The freedom of the guardian's sentiments, and the countenance and aid he gave to the publication of Luther's writings, especially his translation of the New Testament, in the latter part of the year 1523, gave great offence to the votaries of Rome, parti cularly to the canons and the professors of the university. When the provincial of the order came to Basel, complaints were preferred agamst Pellicanus and two others, John Kreiss and John Liithard, the former an organist, and the latter convent preacher. Shatzger, such was the provincial's name, determined to transfer Pellicanus to Kaisersberg, in Alsace, and to replace him by the guardian of that convent. Pelli canus refused to submit, and appealed to the council. The council demanded that the charges against him should be laid before them. This demand the provincial refused to obey, in consequence of which the council ordered him to quit the city within three days. With Shatzger, the principal conspirators against Pellicanus were sent away, and among these were the two theological professors, Mauritius and Gebweiler. Pelh canus was appointed to one of the vacant professorships, and from this time he co-operated more fully with Oecolampadius. He was now superseded in the convent by the guardian of Kaisersberg, P. Roman, an ignorant friar of loose morals, who was sometime afterward detected in a disgraceful affair, and, in consequence of it, sent away in dishonor, f In his vicariate, Oecolampadius lectured on the first epistle of John, and his exposition of this epistle was published in the following year, with a dedication to the bishop, Christopher von Uttenheim, who seems, at first, to have regarded him, as * Hottinger, p. 96. y Ibid- P- 119- GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 349 he did his predecessors in the same cause, with favor and kind ness. In the warmth of his zeal, the reformer wrought so assiduously for the furtherance of the gospel, that even Zwingle admonished him to moderate his labors. His success was equal to his diligence. Even the bishop's suffragan, says Hottinger, went over to his party ; so that Erasmus wrote to Zwingle, Oecolampadius apud nos triumphal ; "Oecolampadius triumphs with us."* His co-workers in the ministry also grew in number. Beside those already noticed, he was aided by Wolfgang Weissenburg, preacher at the hospital and professor of theology ; Marcus Bersi, pastor of St. Leonards ; Thomas Geierfalk, preacher of the Augustinians ; and to these were soon added the deacon of St. Martin's, Bonifacius Wolfhard, Jacob Immerlin, pastor of St. Ulric, and Peter Froberger, pastor of St. Albans. Supported by these pious co-laborers, and sustained by the citizens, the reformer's heart was en couraged, and his hands were strengthened for his work. He exposed the Papist errors, and exhibited the completeness of the atonement, the doctrine of saving faith, and the nature and duty of the works of love, with such effect, that popery sank visibly in the esteem of the people who crowded to his ministry. An effort was demanded to save the sinking interests of the hierarchy and the departing glory of the church ; but to attempt to impose silence upon the preachers, or to punish them for heresy, while the council and the citizens sustained them, would have been worse than idle. Only one measure seemed practicable : it was to buy over the master-spirit to the side of the papacy ; and that measure it was resolved to try. John Dobneck, a native of Wendelstein, a village in the precincts of Nuremberg, a Papist writer, better known as Cochlaeus, wrote to Oecolampadius from Stuttgard, expressing his regret that so learned a man should become a leader of the Lutheran sect, and engaged, if he were desirous of a papal dispensation, to procure for him a pastorship or a canonicate. * Hottinger, p. 122. 2E 350 HISTORY OF THE Oecolampadius was still only vicar of St. Martins, and without a fixed compensation. The bait was, therefore, alluring enough, in the judgment of such men as Cochlaeus, but it had no attraction for the reformer, who, dependent as he now was, turned from it with silent disdain. A man hke him would have turned away, with the same contempt, from a cardinalship, or the papal throne.* The Papist clergy and their party were not passive specta tors of this success, which was shrouding theh prospect in darkness ; neither was the supreme pontiff inattentive to it. A papal brief stirred up the indignation of the votaries of Rome to what they esteemed, or what, at least, they would represent, as a holy zeal for the church, for the mother of God, for the blessed saints, and for all the host of heaven, who were dishonored and grieved by these successes, that deprived them of the adorations and the worship of a devout people. Had but the council and the citizens possessed the mind of the holy father, and cherished the tender mercies of holy mother church for her children, all this disturbance might have been easily quelled. Dungeons and racks would have been called into requisition, the sword would have been un sheathed, fires would have been kindled, the streets and the environs of Basel would have been graced with many an auto da fe ; and while the wretched sufferers writhed and groaned in their agonies, Rome might have sung Te Deums, and chaunted her joy for the destruction of heretics and the tri umph and glory of the holy church, instead of sitting in afflic tion and mourning over her disasters. But the council and ihe citizens were indifferent to her interests and callous to her appeals, and nothing remained but to struggle unaided, and to vent her wounded feelings in floods of angry invective. The Papist clergy fulminated loud denunciations in their pulpits, and sought to arouse the passions of the faithful, as well as to convince their judgments, and to pour an over whelming flood of indignation upon the men who thus assailed * Hottinger, p. 160. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 351 the honor and disturbed the peace of the holy church. Dis cussion grew warmer, and Basel became an arena of religious strife, in which the passions on both sides were likely to tri umph over reason and the fear of God. The council, justly esteeming it their duty to preserve the public peace, and to maintain order and decorum in the discussion of religious doc trines, interposed their authority as moderators between the parties. They would not forbid free discussion, but they were desirous of preventing disorderly excesses. For this purpose, they published a mandate, by which they ordained that all the preachers should declare the gospel and the doctrine of God freely, and that, if any one stigmatized another as a heretic, without being able to prove him such by the testimony of the Holy Scripture ; or if any one propounded as the teach ing of the Scripture what he could not sustain by its authority, he should be silenced in the ministry, and punished otherwise, also, as the case might demand.* This mandate, which was published in the early part of the year 1524, was a public and formal recognition of the supreme authority of the Bible as a rule of faith and practice ; and, as such, it was a decisive step, though, probably, not so intended, in the establishment of the reformation in Basel ; for, if the Bible alone is to be appealed to, nothing is more certain than that the entire fabric of Romish superstition must fall into ruins. This danger the Papist clergy were not slow to per ceive ; and hence they early betook themselves to the traditions of the church, the fathers, the councils, and the popish decre tals, which they made of equal authority with the written word of God, if not superior to it. * Hottinger, p. 161. 352 HISTORY OF THE CHAPTER II. THE CITY AND TERRITORY OF COXSTAXCE. Another radiating point, from which the light of the gospel was reflected upon neighboring places, was the imperial city of Constance, the bishop's residence, and the capital of the diocese in which the Zwinglian reformation began. Though belonging to Austria,* it is situated on the southern side of the Rhine, between the upper and the lower lakes of Constance, which here form the boundary of Switzerland. It is memo rable as the place of meeting of the celebrated council of Con stance, in 1414 to 1418, by whose order John Huss and Jerome of Prague were burnt alive for alleged heresy. After it fell into the hands of the Austrians, and lost its hberty, together with its independence, in 1548, its trade and population de chned. Its population now is about four thousand, and its trade insignificant. Constance, like Basel, received its light both from Witten berg and from Zurich. Luther's doctrine was brought to this city in 1519, when, amid the desolating ravages of the plague, many were disposed to amend their lives, and to seek the means of so doing in his writings. Among these were Jacob Windner, a native of Reutlingen, assistant preacher or deacon at the church of St. Stephen, wh6 was soon after promoted to the pastorship of St. John's ; and Bartholomew Metzler, his successor in the deaconship. Both of these were learned men. They were induced, by the writings of Luther, to examine the Holy Scrip tures ; and the truth which they learned they were faithful to hold forth in their official ministrations to the people. Their commencement was well received ; the citizens, many of the * Now to the grand-dutchy of Baden. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 353 clergy, and the bishop Hugo himself, were pleased with their doctrine. Other clerics were much dissatisfied with it, and inveighed against it in their pulpits and elsewhere as a damn able heresy. At the head of these was Antonius Pirata, preacher of the Dominican convent. The pope also interfered, by giving the pastorate of St. John's to a certain Goldin of Zurich, and authorizing him to thrust out Windner. But the council having declared for Windner, and informed Goldin that they would not pay to him the income of the living, the latter withdrew, and relinquished the pastorship to his com petitor. In 1521, the situation of pastor in the cathedral became vacant, by the death of Macarius, the late incumbent. This office was at the disposal of the cathedral chapter, who elected John Wanner of Kaufbiiren. Some of the capitulars, who accused him of Lutheranism, were warmly opposed to his election, but, by the influence of friends, particularly of the count of Lupfen, he was, nevertheless, sustained. After his induction into his new office, he took part with Windner and Metzler, and preached the gospel in its purity. About this time, Ambrose Blarer came to Constance, from the Benedictine convent of Albersbach, in the dutchy of Wir- temberg, which was then subject to Ferdinand, archduke of Austria, its sovereign, duke Ulric having been expelled and driven into exile. Ambrose was a son of Augustine Blarer, member of the council of Constance. In his youth, he gave such indications of talent, that the council took notice of him, and, learning that he designed to enter the convent of Albers bach, sent one of their body to his mother, to request her to dissuade him from his purpose, that he might be preserved to the state for the future service of the commonwealth. Such, however, was his inclination to the monastic life, that he per sisted in his original purpose, even contrary to the wishes of his parents. In the convent, he enjoyed a high reputation until, by the reading of Luther's writings, which, before their condemnation by the pope, might be freely read in the con vents as well as elsewhere, and by his own reflections, he obtained better ideas of Christian doctrine, and both avowed 2 e 2 45 354 HISTORY OF THE and defended them openly. He was, at the time, preacher of the convent, and officiated, also, as vicar of the parish ; and the truth which he had learned he taught in his stated preach ing, both to the conventuals and the parishioners. Hence arose an enmity and a persecution that eventuated in his separation from the convent. He left it in July, 1522. On his arrival in Constance, he neither laid aside his habit nor taught in public, but he aided the three evangelical preachers in private, and thus became an unobtrusive and silent leader in the reformation of his native city. The course he was pursuing was, however, not unknown to the zealous defenders of the papacy. They foresaw that he would become a formi dable antagonist, and were, therefore, anxious to rid them selves of his presence. They applied to the regency of Wirtemberg to have him called back into his convent, urging the obligation of his phghted faith. The regency sent a special messenger to the council, with a request that they Would interpose their authority and direct Blarer to return. The negotiation failed, as did, also, subsequent exertions on the part of the abbot, in the following year. The council promised to make proper representations to Blarer, and to communicate the result in writing. This they did, but they would do nothing more. Blarer vindicated his exit in a written apology, a copy of which the council transmitted to the regency. It was afterwards printed, and could not fail to aggravate the wound which the prelates wished to heal. It is written with much ability, in a truly Christian sphit. In the conclusion, the writer says : " Nevertheless, I shall serve the convent Albersbach, and its members, wherever I can and have opportunity, and shall demean myself piously, where- ever I may be ; inasmuch as the divine word has everywhere given me rest and quietness, and has enclosed me within the true convent walls. The most pious monk, surely, cannot be more than a good Christian, which I desire always to be, both in life and death. In Deo meo transgrediar murum."* * G. Voegelin's Ref. Histor. der Stadt Constance. In Fueslin's Beitrage, •vol. iv. p. 213. GERMAN REE0RMED CHURCH. 355 Before the arrival of Blarer, or the election of Wanner, as early as 1520, the Franciscan friar, Sebastian Hoffmeister, a native of Schaffhausen, afterwards distinguished as one of the reformers of his own country, dwelt in Constance. He had previously resided in Zurich, where he had been convent- reader, or preacher to his order. There he formed an ac quaintance with Zwingle, whom he highly esteemed and com mended, as a man who was above the corrupting influence of bribes. " If Zurich, the head of the fatherland, were healed," he thought, " there was hope that the whole body would recover from its malady." In Constance, he gained over many friends to Zwingle, who addressed the reformer by letters, and en couraged him to persevere in his great undertaking.* His continuance here seems to have been limited to a short period, and he does not appear to have taken any part publicly in the reformation of this city, nor to have been himself yet very far advanced in Christian knowledge. In the spring of 1521 appeared the pope's bull of excom munication against Luther and his adherents, which was dated on the 28th of March. It was followed by the emperor's de cree of outlawry, dated May 8th, but not published until the 26th of the same month. By this decree, Luther was declared an obstinate heretic; all men were forbidden to harbor or protect him ; every one was commanded to apprehend him, wherever found, and to deliver him over to the imperial authorities ; his books were prohibited, and such as possessed them were ordered to deliver them to the magistrates. In the mean time, Luther disappeared. He had been seized, on his return from the diet of Worms, by the elector's order, and placed for concealment in the castle of Wartburg. Strange stories went abroad concerning him. According to some devout Papists, the devil had carried him off, bodily, to hell, and unearthly noises were made by his ghost in certain places. But his doctrine remained in the minds of the people, and was unhurt by these events. The Papist leaders were zealous * Hottinger, p. 56. 356 HISTORY OF THE in pubhshing the imperial decree, wherever they were per mitted to do so. It was brought to Constance by the provost of the cathedral ; he presented it to the bishop, but was pre vented, by the dread of popular indignation, from communica ting it to the city council. Faber, the bishop's vicar, " made fists," says Hottinger, " but secretly." Angry as these fathers were at the multitude, they dared not openly provoke them.* In the mean time, Wanner preached with great zeal and ability in the cathedral, and attracted large auditories, the people taking pleasure in the doctrines of the gospel, and having an aversion to those of the Papist preachers. Though some of the capitulars and others of the clergy were dissatisfied with this kind of preaching, yet, as long as the external forms of religion were unaffected, and the perquisites and revenues of the clergy continued as before, no serious opposition was made to the reformers ; but, so soon as the people understood the doctrine of the gospel, and began to see the worthlessness of the popish ceremonies, they withheld the money they had been accustomed to pay for them ; and now, when they felt the effect, not only in the deficiency of their resources, but in the diminution also of their credit and influence, the bishop and his party began to resist them. It was the more neces sary to put an end to the new preaching in Constance, because other cities would be influenced by the example of the episco pal residence ; and if the bishop complained, they might reply that the same things were done in his capital. His grace was still more alarmed by recent occurrences in Zurich, where, as a fruit of the same kind of preaching, the laws of the church were openly infringed, and even his spiritual jurisdiction was tottering to its fall. Zurich, he feared, might infect the whole confederacy, and must, if possible, be brought back to its former position ; and, for this purpose, he left nothing un tried, by letters, messages, and deputations. Hugo himself would, perhaps, have pursued a different course ; but he was wholly governed by his vicar, John Faber ; and the vicar had * Hottinger, p. 60. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 357 recently returned from Rome, where papal favor had smiled upon him, and had filled him with a burning zeal for the in terests and the glory of the holy see. Faber was now sent to Zurich, at the head of a deputation, to remonstrate with its government against the violations of the church-laws, but. was so met by Zwingle, that his mission was fruitless.* He was despatched again, with another deputation, in the succeeding year, to watch over the interests of the church at the public disputation in that city, in January, 1523, but returned with dishonor ; and his mission became a reproach and a by-word with the disaffected wits of Zurich and Constance.^ Martin Blantsch, one of the episcopal deputation, attempted to effect in Constance what he could not accomplish in Zurich, where he did not choose to encounter Zwingle and his asso ciates. At the bishop's command, he undertook to defend the faith and worship of Rome in the cathedral. The plan was concocted in the absence of Wanner ; but the latter, having returned, and Blantsch making some delay, he ascended the pulpit and anticipated him, in a discourse that utterly, frus trated the Papist's design. J This new defeat, in a place where it was not expected, exasperated the bishop's party against the preacher. As the people sustained him, he could not be reached by the spiritual court ; a report went abroad of a design to carry him off secretly at night ; Wanner, ap prehending danger, sought the protection of the council ; they resolved to protect him, and communicated theh determination to the bishop and his chapter. The attempt was never made. Hugo now appeared before the council in person, attended by a large retinue of canons and courtiers, on the llth of February, 1523. "It is known to you," said he, "that, during some years, Martin Luther has caused many errors, insurrections, and disturbances i)y his doctrine ; for which reason, his doctrine has been condemned by his holiness, the * Hottinger, p. 77, &c. ¦j- Ibid. p. 108, &c. Voegelin, in Fueslin's Beit., vol. iv. p. 215. X Hottinger, p. 146. Voegelin's Hist, in Fueslin, vol. iv. p. 215. 358 HISTORY OF THE pope, and by his imperial majesty, our most gracious lord. Nevertheless, as his poison is already spued out into the world, some preachers here dare advocate it ; from which great evils will arise ; discord among the common people and disobedience toward superiors are generated ; and it will come to such a pass that every thing will be overturned, seeing that many of these preachers speak against the most holy councils that have been held in Christ, by his own authority, and that of their papal holinesses, the successors of St. Peter, in many years past, and by which most of Luther's errors have been judged and condemned ; and thus they detract seriously from the Christian faith, which the holy fathers and the councils have so well explained, confirmed, and defined. It is, further, a grievous thing, contrary to Christianity, and a real abomi nation, to say, before believing ears, that the elect in heaven, who, in part by the tortures they endured, and partly by their dihgent exploration of the Holy Scripture and the will of God, have merited and obtained this everlasting honor, especially the immaculate mother of God, the virgin Mary, should not be invoked for their intercession with God, agreeably to the custom derived from our forefathers. If this be permitted, it will soon come to pass that the mass, which has now been used many hundred years, and is an acceptable offering to the Most High for the living and the dead, will be impugned, and they will preach that it is no sacrifice : which is not at all to be endured. Now, as it especially pertains to us as a pastor, or as a kind father, to preserve the sheep entrusted to us from the' inroads of wolves, particularly in the place of our residence, and you also, we think, as well as we, are commanded to have a care of the honor of God and of the Christian faith, and to obey the papal holiness and his imperial majesty, we desire that you inform us what your opinion in this matter is: for our paternal mind and opinion is, that we should insist that the preachers everywhere propound nothing new in their pul pits, but teach agreeably to the ancient custom, and withdraw the people from the Lutheran doctrine to the ancient faith. It will be conducive to this end, if, agreeably to our request, GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 359 you command the congregations not to speak of things which they do not understand, to keep the faith of their forefathers, and to leave all action respecting it to their superiors; in order that peace, tranquillity, and union may be preserved, and every one may abide in his own, as of old times : which we will graciously expect from you."* To this address, the council replied, on the next day, that, as this matter Was then before the diet assembled at Nurem berg, they would await the issue of the deliberations of that body, and would thereupon do what they owed to God, to themselves, and to their people. This answer was evasive, and the bishop, dissatisfied with it, sent a delegation to request them " to command the people of the several congregations that they refrain from all improper discourse, and abandon the condemned Lutheran sect,"' Faber, the chief of the dele gation, observed to the council, that he could tell them, in three or four words, what ought to be done. He was, however, not asked to say what those three or four words were. The council considered his remark insolent, and passed over it in silence. They granted nothing ; rightly judging that no human devices could prevail against God, and that the light of divine grace in the hearts of the people could not be extinguished, and ought not, if it could, f The infection of the Reformed doctrine continued to spread. The people, instead of abandoning the Lutheran sect, aban doned the priests ; and among these apostates, as they were esteemed, were many of the clergy themselves, both regular and secular, and their example wrought with destructive power upon the interests of the papacy. To prevent these defections in future, the bishop, at the suggestion of Faber, composed a new form of an oath to be imposed upon candidates for the ministry at their ordination, which, it was thought, would effectually prevent the admission into the sacred office of any who might afterwards become Lutherans. The form of this * Voegelin's Hist, in Fueslin's Beitrage, vol. iv. p. 216, &c. f Ibid- P- 219- 360 HISTORY OF THE oath was as follows : " I profess the true, universal, apostohc faith, and swear, by the great God, and by these his holy gospels, that I have hitherto stood, with mouth and heart, in the unity of the holy, universal, Christian church, and the communion of the chief bishop at Rome, and will, in future, firmly abide therein ; that I will, also, in all things, conform to the ordinances of the holy canons, and the very salutary determinations and decrees of the God-fearing mother church : further, that I do not and will not assent to any of the doc trines condemned by the same christianly believing Roman church, nor to any new heresies and perverse doctrines, nor, above all, to the Lutheran arch-heresy and its adherents ; that to all of them, and to each particularly, I wish every hi, and will voluntarily, and with unfeigned sincerity, contradict them : neither will I, in any Way, shield those who hold, dis cuss, preach, or, under any pretext, show, color, or art, either secretly or openly, receive theh loveless doctrines."* These fathers sought new expedients, from day to day, to hide their reproach, and to sustain their falling greatness. The bishops had reserved to themselves the power of granting absolution in certain specified cases, and the guilty were there fore obhged, in those cases, to go to the episcopal residence for the pardon of their sins. On Maundy-Thursday, in pas sion-week, many hundreds, who came from all parts of the diocese, repaired, to Constance, to receive absolution from the bishop's vicar, either by paying a pecuniary fee, or, if they had no money, by passing around an erected cross, with a loud confession of their sins, and submitting to such penance as might be appointed for them. But, when the light of the gospel had exposed this imposture, few wanted the bishop's absolution. Maundy-Thursday came, but very few supplicants appeared. The paucity of the number was a proof of the wide-spread defection of her children from the holy mother. What was to be done ? Her shame must be covered by a pious fraud; and to this the devout fathers determined to resort. * Voegelin, in Fueslin, vol. iv. p. 220. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 361 They hired a number of supplicants to compass the penitential cross with feigned confessions in their mouths, and devoutly granted them the customary absolutions. The sons and daughters of the church enjoyed the scene. Hugo and Faber might feel some disturbance within them, but they, doubtless, affected a holy complacency in this evidence of the health and soundness of the church. Unfortunately, the secret was divulged, the enchantment was broken, and the mortified pre lates were made the subjects of jest and ridicule.* As the three evangelical preachers could not be reached by episcopal coercion, since the people protected them, it was determined to employ intrigue. John Sprater, the pastor of St, Stephens, was persuaded to dismiss Metzler from the deaconship, and to appoint in his place a certain John Medler. Sprater yielded, and Medler came to Constance and began to preach. When he ascended the pulpit, the people left the church, complaining that their shepherd, who had fed them with the word of life, was taken from them, and they were left in the charge of wolves. The excitement became so great as to endanger the peace of the city. The government interposed, Metzler was reinstated, Sprater himself was commanded to preach the pure gospel, and assured that the government would protect him if he taught only what he could sustain by the divine Scriptures. Tranquillity was thereby restored.f The bishop addressed himself to the pope, and Adrian was not slow in coming to the relief of the afflicted church. By his nuncio at the diet of Nuremberg, Cheregatus, he trans mitted to the council of Constance a lengthy and elaborate epistle, beginning in the usual style, "To my beloved sons: health and apostolic benediction !" This letter, dated Decem ber 1, 1522, and sealed with the fisherman's ring, was accom- , panied with another from the nuncio, dated January 12, 1523. The holy father indulges, in this paternal brief, in unmeasured condemnation of Luther and his writings, and in pathetic lamentation over the German people, who suffered themselves * Voegelin, in Fueslin, vol. iv. p. 221. f Ibid. p. 222. 2F 46 362 HISTORY OF THE to be seduced by his wicked heresies. " We are equally sur prised and pained," he says, "when we consider that Martin Luther, whom, although he had grossly erred, we have hitherto regarded as our little sheep, is fallen into such insanity, yea, rather into such devilish arrogance, that he despises the Chris tian doctrine, the decisions of the holy fathers, and the usages of the church, and is not ashamed, not so much to introduce new and adverse doctrines and heresies, as to reproduce old ones, to lay another foundation than is laid, and to teach another faith than our fathers have had ; as if he alone were led by the Holy Ghost, now, at the end of the world, to bring forth the evangelical truth, and as if your fathers, who had not this faith of Luther's, and were ready to contend, even unto death, for the contrary faith which he opposes, had been immersed in damnable error and ignorance. It is truly won derful that such an arrogance could arise in the heart of this man, as to conceit that he understands more than all the teachers of the church, the holy fathers, and the enthe body of believers. Yet we think it more wonderful that the same Martin, after he has been hurled, by the permission of God, on account of his sins and ours, into this hellish pit of pride, has found not a few only, but countless numbers, of both sexes, in our German nation, which, from the beginning of its con version to Christ, has been the most spiritual, the most stead fast in the Christian faith, and the purest votary of piety toward God and of love -and righteousness toward the neigh bor, who not only hsten with patience to his equally mad and pernicious doctrine, which, together with its inventors, the church has in every way condemned, but even receive it, and, what is the worst, are ready to defend it by force of arms ; and who, also, eagerly buy, and read, and complacently speak of, the very pernicious and poisonous books written by him and his1 followers, that teem with maledictions, filthiness, wrangling, and bitterness, although, in pursuance of the apos tolic sentence, and the imperial edict, they have been burned in many places," &c. &c. After applying to the reformers the description given of GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 363 false teachers, in 2 Peter ii., his holiness exhorts the council: " Therefore, most beloved, we exhort you, in our Lord Jesus Christ, and beseech you, for his mercy's sake, that ye suffer not yourselves to be seduced by the errors which the apostle has thus pointed out, as it were, with his finger, but, as elect sons, follow in the footsteps of your fathers, and of all the saints, who have trodden the known way of evangelical truth ; and that you shun, even as hell, these disgusting, inconstant, blasphemous, devilish, and, to say all in a word, destructive doctrines, together with their authors ; and not only do not yourselves read their poisonous books, but lend not your ears to those who read them, neither salute Lutherans who will not repent," &c. &c. In the conclusion of this tirade, the holy father entreats the council, by the judgment of God, to stop the farther printing of the books of the reformers in Constance, and to burn such as were already printed. He tells them that, if they did not punish the perverseness of their printers, who eagerly printed Lutheran books, but refused to print such as were written against him by Christians, they would not escape the ven geance of God, though they had even been the most beloved. They must not imagine, he said, that they satisfied God, though for themselves they preserved the faith whole and unimpaired, if they did not use theh best exertions to remove, without fear, whatever might be an offence to their brethren ; for he that is not with Christ is against him, and they who do not exterminate the mischief when in their power, will be charged before God as if they were the authors thereof. Now was the time when those who were approved should be mani fested ; and they should, therefore, place themselves as a wall before the house of God, that they might deserve the crown of righteousness that would be given to those who were faithful.* The writing of such a letter to the council, instead of fulmi nating an excommunication, was a tacit confession of weakness * Voegelin, Hist, in Fueslin, vol. iv. p. 222-230. 364 HISTORY OF THE which nothing but the necessity of the case could have induced a pope to make. Cheregatus had requested an early answer, that he might speedily transmit it to his holiness ; but the council did not even condescend to give an answer at all to either. A wonderful change had come over their religious feelings. The spell which had once bound their consciences to Rome was broken ; the authority of the holy see no longer filled them with the reverence and awe which it once inspired. They saw, in the light that shone upon them, that the boasted vicegerency of Christ on earth was but a human figment, and they now despised the molten and the graven image which they once had worshipped. The sovereign pontiff had addressed a similar brief to the diet of Nuremberg, dated November 25, 1522, which, says Seckendorf, was chiefly filled with vehement railing against Luther, to whom he imputed the prevailing corruption of morals, the invasion of ecclesiastical property, the internal wars, and all the mischiefs arising from the Turkish arms and other causes ! He rebuked the Germans for suffering them selves to be seduced by a single apostate monk, sought to alarm the secular rulers for the safety of their thrones, cast about him with terrible threatenings, and admonished the diet to imitate the pious example of the council of Constance, who committed John Huss to the flames.* Though this epistle alarmed many members of the diet, and raised in the prelates who represented the spiritual lord ships, such a zeal for the honor of the holy see, that "they vociferated the crucify, crucify," with great turbulence and noise, against the reformer, yet the majority were far from submitting quietly to the pontiff's dictation. They demanded a reformation of clerical abuses in the church, and the speedy assembling of a general council in some city of Germany, the members of which, both ecclesiastics and seculars, should be released from their oath, and free to speak and to deliberate on matters concerning the honor of God and the salvation of * Seckendorf, b. i. sec. exxxvi. c. 551, 552. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 365 the soul ; and, to quiet the religious commotions, they adopted, beside other regulations, a decree commanding that all preach ers should teach the gospel agreeably to the exposition of it in the writings which the church had approved.* This decree was differently interpreted by the contending parties in Con stance. The Papists maintained that the church intended by the diet was the Roman church, and the writings which she approved, and from which the gospel was to be learned, were the writings of the fathers and the Papist divines. The Re formed, on the contrary, contended that the church was the collective body of Christians throughout the world, and the writings which she approved, and received as the fountains of Christian knowledge, were those of the prophets and the apostles.f Luther approved the decree, but took it also in the sense of the Reformed in Constance : he admitted, indeed, that the fathers were meant by the writers whom the church approved, but presumed that the intention was to make them our guides so far only as they had taught conformably with the Holy Scriptures. J The decree found little favor with the council of Constance. They refused to authorize the publica tion of the imperial recess in their city. The bishop, there fore, resolved to have it posted for the information of the people ; but, the consent of the council being necessary, he sent a deputation to inform them of his purpose, and to ex press thc hope that they would not be displeased. "The right reverend prince, my gracious lord of Constance," said the chief of the deputies, " has received from his imperial majesty a mandate, the same that has also been sent to your honorable wisdom, concerning the Lutheran doctrine, which is conformable to the recess of the states of the empire in their last diet at Nuremberg. His princely grace is minded to have it posted here in the episcopal residence, and in all other places within the bishopric, and thereupon to take mea- * Seckendorf, b. i. see. exxxviii. <.-. 568. f Voegelin' s Hist, in Fueslin, vol. iv. p. 281 J Seckendorf, sec. cxl. p. 572. 2f2 366 HISTORY OF THE sures for the punishment of such as shall infringe it. He hopes your honorable wisdom will not be displeased there with." The council looked with suspicion upon this design of the bishop to usurp their prerogative; they deliberated long, and, eleven days after, on the first of July, sent a mes senger to inform him " that they deemed it unnecessary that any person should publish mandates in their city ; they had always performed, and would still perform, their duty as a member of the empire, and would never consent that another should invade their office ; but, if any one who owed them alle giance should commit an offence, they would do in the case what they trusted they could answer for, first of all, before God, and next, to his imperial majesty." The bishop took hold of the last sentence, which he interpreted as a promise that they would not protect those who should contravene the decree, though nothing was farther from their intention. He made the first trial to punish such offenders, out of Constance, where its council had no jurisdiction, by casting several evangelical divines into prison. Upon this, the council warned him that if he should attempt similar proceedings in the city, he must not expect to be protected by them from the indignation of the citizens.* Notwithstanding this warning, the bishop was resolved, at the instigation of his spirited vicar, to execute his episcopal jurisdiction, and to hold the secular authorities to what the prelates had long been accustomed to esteem their duty. He claimed a right to bring the doctrines and the ministers of the Reformation before his tribunal, to pronounce sentence upon them according to his judgment, and to demand the execution of it from the secular authorities. The bishops had long ex ercised such an authority, though it was based upon nothing better than usurpation. At first, emperors and kings took cognizance of religious affairs in their dominions ; for no other reason, that we know, except that Jewish and heathen rulers had done the same. They assembled councils, presided over * Voegelin's Hist, in Fueslin, vol. iv. p. 230-234. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 367 them, and executed their decrees. When any of the Christian community separated from the church, or deviated from its faith, the bishops became their accusers, and sought the aid of the civil government. By degrees, a distinction arose between spiritual and secular jurisdiction. The bishops then declared what was heresy, or a violation of the church laws, and the secular rulers punished the offenders. The connection of the bishops with the court of Rome, induced the latter to arrogate to itself a universal jurisdiction over the whole church. The pope instituted courts of inquisition for heresy, in divers places, which narrowed the jurisdiction both of bishops and of civil governments. The magistrates of cities and provinces were obliged to bind themselves to the inquisi tors, by an oath, to maintain, with all their power, the holy Roman faith ; to search out heretics ; to apprehend them ; and to deliver them to the judges. Where the inquisition was not established, the bishops prosecuted dissidents from the Roman faith ; the civil rulers often delivered these into their hands ; in some places, the governments connived at deviations from the creed and worship of the church; in others, they were themselves the prosecutors of heretics. At the time of the Reformation, jurisdiction in religious affairs took a new course. The pope excommunicated Luther; but Luther de spised the excommunication. His holiness called in the em peror, and the emperor came ; but the manner of transacting business in the empire afforded relief to the friends of reforma tion. The emperor could act in the empire only through its own diversified governments ; and these were not of one mind. Some of the princes and states were not willing to be so bound as not to have it in their power to grant a free course to the preaching of the word of God. Switzerland had for ages acknowledged no secular monarch ; and many of its states re fused also now to acknowledge any spiritual master beside God and his word. Many of the imperial cities, fond of liberty in other things, would no longer consent to fetter the mind and the conscience.* * Fueslin, vol. v. Vorrede, p. 4-9. 368 HISTORY OF THE " In this state of things it was that some of the priests in Constance began to preach the doctrines of the Reformation. The council believed that, if they were sustained by the word of God in the Holy Scriptures, they ought not to be molested, and demanded that, if theh doctrine were erroneous, it should be proved to be so by that standard. The bishop would not go behind the received doctrine of the church, which, he main tained, was the true exposition of the Holy Scriptures ; he would not inquire anew whether it were sustained by the Scriptures or not ; he would neither convince others nor be convinced himself, but would condemn:" and he was the more determined, because the council of Constance were bound, by a special compact, to aid bim in his judicial prosecutions.* As an incipient step for the extermination of the Reformed doctrine, and a trial of strength, Bartholomew Metzler, deacon or assistant at the church of St. Stephens, was cited to appear, on the 20th of October, 1523, before the dean of the chapter and the episcopal vicar, Fergenhans, to answer to thirty-four specifications of heresy. This citation created a great sensa tion in the city, which neither the exhortations of Metzler, who declared his readiness to appear, nor the assurance of the bishop that no violence was contemplated, could appease. The council assembled, on the morning of that day, to delibe rate on the course they ought to pursue. While they were engaged in deliberation, a delegation from the bishop appeared before them, who addressed them thus : "My gracious prince and lord is informed," said the speaker, "that Bartholomew Metzler, deacon at St. Stephens, preaches doctrines which the holy councils have already condemned, on which account he is moved to proceed judicially against him ; for to him does it pertain, as the true shepherd, who looks continually to the well-being of his sheep. But his princely grace has learned that some restless persons have banded together, intending to prevent the process, and to take Metzler under their protec tion. His princely grace hopes that your honorable wisdom * Fueslin, vol. v. Vorrede, p. 4-9. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 369 will neither take part therein yourselves, nor suffer others to do so, and he requests that you take measures to prevent an insurrection, to the end that he may quietly execute his juris diction."* The council replied, that they were assembled for the purpose of devising measures to meet the emergency, that the people may remain quiet and leave the management of the case to them : they would appoint delegates to be present at the trial, and, through them, would communicate their answer to the vicar. They appointed the burgomaster, Bartholomew Blarer, and three of their members, to repair to the court, with instructions to deny the vicar's jurisdiction in the case, to request a copy of the charges, and to inform the court that the council, as the rightful government of Constance, would examine them, and, if they thought proper, would afterwards confer with the bishop respecting the time and place when and where, and the proper authority by which the case should be adjudicated. They pledged their protection to Metzler, and, having assembled the citizens, informed them of their measures, and admonished them to remain quiet.. The court was organized at the time of vespers. Metzler appeared, attended by Wanner and Windner, and a great multitude of citizens and strangers. The procurator opened the case by a Latin address to the vicar. When he con cluded, the burgomaster rose, and said: "The council, as the rightful government, had, for pious reasons, some time ago ordered the accused to preach the word of God without fear or reserve, and had promised to protect him, so far as he preached only what he could sustain by the Holy Scriptures ; and they had, for the same reasons, pledged their protection in this instance." He, therefore, requested a copy of the charges, saying, the council would examine them, and would then consult, either alone or in concert with the bishop, what ought to be done. He protested, in the name of the council, against the competency of the court; and the process was thus arrested in its inception. * Fueslin, vol. v. p. 47 370 HISTORY OF THE This interference of the council, in a case in which the bishops had so long claimed and exercised jurisdiction, was a stroke at the vitals of church power. The contest which arose from it was a contest for life or death. Submission would have been fatal to the bishop's authority ; if he yielded in this case, he must yield in every other, and his power throughout his bishopric was broken and annihilated ; but, if he triumphed here, he must triumph always, and all the ministers of the Reformation, and all its interests, were at his mercy. The council, as well as the bishop, saw the importance of the issue. The contest was, therefore, carried on with the greatest perti nacity on both sides. The bishop brought all his resources into requisition, and the httle state, whose misfortune it now was to be the capital of the bishopric, seemed, more than once, as though it must be overwhelmed with defeat. The ground taken by the council was, that Metzler was arraigned for teaching doctrines which he drew from the Holy Scriptures, and professed his abihty and his readiness to sus tain by their testimony. The authority of the Scriptures could not be set aside. Before the accused could be con demned, it must be shown that his doctrine was erroneous ; and it must be shown by the evidence of the Scriptures to which he appealed. But the bishop's court charged as error what the Scriptures taught. It presumed to sit in judgment upon God and his word. Such an authority the council could not recognise ; and they would, therefore, not suffer Metzler to be tried at its tribunal. They proposed that the accused be heard in the presence of both parties ; that the bishop's divines should convince him of error. If he were vanquished, they would withdraw their protest and their protection, and would surrender him to the court to be tried and punished for heresy, if he did not retract his teaching ; but if he were victori ous, it was both their duty and their purpose to protect him. The bishop urged, in his behalf, the right of prescription, the obligation of his compact with the council, the authority of the church, the pope, the emperor, and the states of the empire ; he insisted that the deacon, as a spiritual person, and the GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 371 doctrines of faith, as a spiritual subject, belonged to the juris diction of the spiritual court. Metzler's doctrines needed no examination, because the church had already condemned them, and the only question to be asked was, whether he held them. It was not to be supposed that any decision, usage, or obser vance of the church was contrary to the Scripture, inasmuch as the church was established by God, and by Christ, his ambassador, through the Holy Ghost, and Christ had repeat edly promised that he would never forsake her, but would abide with her forever by his Sphit. It was incontrovertible, that we ought to live in obedience to the faith and the ordi nances of the holy church, and pay more deference to them than to our own conceits ; " and his princely grace, therefore, deemed it not only unnecessary, but unbecoming, highly offensive to the common people, and conducive to discord and irretrievable injury, if, contrary to the authority of the holy church, and her well-grounded traditions, he should grant any disputation or conference, and thereby permit old errors, which the holy church and the general councils had, by divine grace and the Holy Scriptures, with great difficulty, condemned and suppressed, to be revived, discussed, and subjected to ever lasting contention ; neither would his holiness, nor his impe rial majesty, nor the states of the empire, sanction such a proceeding," &c* , •*"* These negotiations were continued by deputations and letters, without arriving at any important result, until the close of the year, when the bishop called in the aid of Ferdi nand, archduke of Austria, and regent of the empire for his brother, Charles V. The city of Constance was a member of the empire. As such, it was bound by the decrees of the imperial diets, and owed allegiance to the emperor and to Ferdinand, his representative. The bishop hoped to reduce the city to a strait from which it could not escape, by placing it between the imperial authorities and their edicts, viz. the edicts of Worms and of Nuremberg. If they were compelled * Voegelin's Hist, in Fueslin, vol. v. p. 32-38. 372 HISTORY OF THE to execute these edicts in their obvious sense, the contest would be at an end ; and, if they refused to obey, their disobedience would expose them to the ban of the empire, and arm the whole imperial power against them. The scheme was cunningly contrived, but it failed, notwithstanding. On the 22d of January, 1524, an Austrian deputation ap peared before the executive council. They were the eques trians Hans Jacob von Landau and Wolff von Honburg, and at their head was Veit Suter, Austrian secretary, who had resided some time in Constance, in what capacity is not stated. After the flattering commendations which were customary in the diplomacy of those times, the deputies complained that " the Lutheran doctrine, though condemned and prohibited both by his papal holiness, his imperial majesty, and the states of the empire in the diet of Worms, was boldly preached in Con stance. Everybody was interpreting the holy gospel accord ing to his own pleasure ; the honor of the mother of God, and of all the saints, was suffering diminution contrary to the holy faith ; and great error would break in, that could not after ward, when they might wish to do so, be so easily prevented as at the present time." " It was the good wish of his princely excellency," they said, "that Constance should continue to maintain with him the good understanding which had sub sisted ; should, in a prudent way, root out the errors of which he complained ; should not permit the gospel to be preached in the Lutheran sense, but agreeably to the doctrine of the holy church ; should not suffer Lutheran books to be sold and circulated ; and should adopt measures to enforce the edict of Worms, and also the recess lately published by the states of the empire, assembled at Nuremberg ; and, finally, his princely excellency had commanded them to treat with the council for the adjustment of their difficulty with the bishop, in the case of Metzler." The council were particularly startled by the introduction of the case of Metzler, and saw, at once, both the origin of this embassy and its design. The greater coun cil was assembled, and the two bodies jointly replied to the Austrian communication. They thanked the prince for his GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 373 kind remembrance of Constance, but they could not forbear to indulge in a little petulancy at such an interference in their internal affairs. "Meanwhile," say they, "an honorable council may safely conclude that his princely excellency, as a young prince, who has never been in Constance, does not at all know whether there be a lesser or a greater council in Constance, nor how the churches there are called, nor if there be a pastor or a deacon preaching at St. Stephen's ; from which it is easy to apprehend who it is that originates these trans actions, and instigates his princely excellency."* In their answer, the great council complain of the bishop's misrepresentations ; they deny that their preachers are Lu therans, and allege that in their preaching they present the gospel purely and clearly, without other interpretation than is given by the gospel itself and the biblical Scriptures, all in accordance with the edict of Nuremberg ; they explain the recent transactions in the case of Metzler and the other preachers to whom they had pledged their protection, showing that their only object is to protect the preaching of the truth as it is taught in the Holy Scriptures, and is warranted by the mandate and the recess of Nuremberg ; they profess their ready submission to the emperor and the states of the empire, and are persuaded that the truth, as inculcated by their preachers, so far from having a tendency to disorder and insurrection, would secure greater obedience to his imperial majesty and Jiis princely excellency, would advance the in terests of the house of Austria, and promote the cause of virtue. The Austrian deputies took hold of their professed sub mission to the edict of Nuremberg, and resolved not to let them escape under the cover of general expressions. They gave their answer, in writing, on the third of February, in which they say : " Your statement, that your preachers pub lish the holy gospel purely and clearly, with no other inter pretation than that of the gospel itself, and the holy biblical * Voegelin, in Fueslin, vol. v. p. 79. 2G 374 HISTORY OF THE writings that are comprehended in the edict of Nuremberg, and other things comprised in your answer, and conducive hereto, afford us great pleasure. In order, now, that this answer of yours may be communicated, also, to your preachers, and that they may act conformably to it, and much discord and disturbance, which the preachers have hitherto caused, may be terminated, and prevented in future, we desire, in the name of his princely excellency, that, for the sake of peace and unanimity, you assemble all your preachers and command them, in our presence, that they all preach the holy gospel purely and clearly, and with no other interpretation than that of the gospel itself and the biblical writings, all in accordance with the Nuremberg mandate ; that, for this end, you cause this mandate to be read to them, and at the same time charge them that, if our gracious lord of Constance should at any time accuse one or more of them of preaching the gospel otherwise than the Nuremberg mandate provides, and his princely grace, as the ordinary in these matters, should send for and admonish them to desist, and, in case of theh dis obedience, should proceed against them judicially, by inquisi tion, or in other ways, his princely grace should not be hindered or restrained by you or your people in his jurisdic tion and process, but you would, on the contrary, in pursuance of your treaty with his princely grace, aid and protect him in his undertaking." Submission to this demand would have made the bishop absolute judge of heresy, and would have terminated the dispute and the reformation of Constance together. The council accepted the former part of the proposition, but sub stituted for the latter the following : " If any one should act contrary thereto, (the edict of Nuremberg,) he shall be kindly warned. If he should not desist therefrom, he shall be con vinced of his error, in a public discussion, by the Holy Scrip ture alone. If he be vanquished, he shall desist from his purpose and retract his error. If he refuse to do so, he shall be forbidden to preach, and also otherwise punished." To this proposal the representatives of Ferdinand could not GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 375 accede. They viewed it as in manifest contradiction to the profession of obedience to the edict of Nuremberg, as well as opposed to the established rights of the bishop and the laws of the church. After quoting that edict, they define their position in the following passage : " We are wholly unable to reconcile with it (the edict) what you mention in your answer, that your preachers are allowed to preach the gospel according to their own interpretation, and that, if they teach erroneously, they must be convinced, in a public discussion, by the Holy Scripture alone : for the mandate makes no mention of biblical Scriptures, nor of a public discussion, nor of a private inter pretation ; but it says in plain and express words, ' That the holy gospel shall be preached according to the writings which the Christian church has received and approved.' As you well know, the Christian faith is not founded upon the holy biblical writings alone, but also upon the writings of many other holy teachers, which the holy Christian church has no less approved and received than the Holy Scriptures, and which are indicated as such by the mandate. The holy gos pels, moreover, cannot be approved and expounded by the Holy Scripture alone ; but this must be done agreeably to the decision of many of the holy teachers whose writings have been approved and received by the church. Consequently, it becomes neither us nor you, and will never be meet, that we explain the oft-mentioned mandate, where it speaks of writings approved and received by the church, otherwise than according to the letter ; or that we refer it to a dis putation."* Both parties maintained their respective positions with in vincible pertinacity. A conference was proposed by the coun cil, and accepted by the deputies, but it resulted in nothing ; and the latter took their departure without having accom plished any thing for which they had come. In the mean time, the council had prepared a form of instruction to their preachers, a copy of which they transmitted to Ferdinand, * Voegelin's Hist, in Fueslin, vol. v. p. 90, &c, 376 HISTORY OF THE by his deputation, and, having called the preachers into their presence, on the 26th of February, caused it to be read to them, and exacted from them a solemn pledge to govern them selves by it in their future ministry. After a brief notice of the mischiefs that were wrought by erroneous doctrines that were promulgated, this instruction says : " To provide against these, especially to promote the honor of Almighty God, it is the opinion of the council that the preachers here in future preach nothing at all to the people but the clear, pure gospel, in a right Christian sense, without intermingling human additions which have no foundation in the Holy Scripture, according to the explanation of the gospel itself and other holy biblical writings. They shall, therefore, take heed not to mix with it any fables, or useless trifles, or disputable things, with which the Christian believer has no concern, and which he needs not know. They shall farther forbear to preach what would cause dissension among the common people, or might move them against the government : on the contrary, they shall preach what is conducive to the honor of God, and serves to tranquillize the conscience, and leads man to the love of God and of his neighbor."* No mention is here made of the edict of Nurembery. The council were, perhaps, now convinced that their interpretation of it was untenable. The reference to "other holy biblical writings" was ambiguous. The evangelical party would in clude in it the writings of the reformers, and theh opponents those of the Papist divines. The latter were, however, obhged by this instruction to reconcile their divines with the Bible, or to abandon them ; and the Holy Scripture was thus esta blished as the exclusive rule of faith and practice. When Ferdinand saw that nothing more could be obtained, he professed to be well pleased with what the council had done, or promised to do, for his person and the house of Austria, ex pecting still better things from them at a future day ; and the wily politician now remitted, through Suter, who remained in * Voegelin's Hist, in Fueslin, vol. v. p. 95. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 377 Constance, a sum of money which had been long due for pen sions to a number of influential citizens, by virtue of a treaty concluded with the emperor Maximilian, in 1510, and pro mised a farther sum, to liquidate the balance of arrears. The persons to whom this money was due were three members of the lesser council, twenty of the greater council, and one hun dred of the citizens. This unexpected payment, it might be supposed, would win over those, by whom the rest might be won ; but the regent was mistaken : the council thanked him for this act of kindness, and persisted in their measures as before.* During these transactions, the bishop and his chapter removed Wanner from the pastorship of the cathedral, and appointed in his place the Dominican, Antonius Pirata. The council made no opposition here; but, at the solicitation of the citizens, they authorized Wanner to preach in the church of St. Stephen's, where he now labored with the same assiduity and success as before. Suter complained to the council, that he preached every day ; and this the pious secretary deemed scandalous !f This bigoted Austrian had heard Metzler say, in one of his sermons: "An angel may come from heaven; councils may assemble, as many as you please ; diets may de cree what they will ; if it be contrary to the word of God, you must not attend to it, nor put faith in it, but obey the divine word." This sentiment he thought disloyal and seditious ; and he applied to the council for the punishment of the preacher. But, weary of his annoyances, the council gave him an indignant rebuke, and expressed their desire that, if he had no other employment in their city, he would take up his residence elsewhere.J All the attempts against Metzler and Wanner having failed, k the next object of persecution was Windner. The bishop's fiscal applied for a soldier to aid in arresting him, but was refused. The attack was feebly made, and soon abandoned, * Voegelin's Hist, in Fueslin, vol. v. p. 97. f Ibid. p. 103. J Hottinger, p. 156. 2a 2 48 378 HISTORY OF THE the prelates seeing that the cause which they sought to sup press was grown above their strength. On the eleventh day of June, 1524, Wanner and his two associates petitioned the council for permission to vindicate their doctrine, in a public discussion, before the two councils, from the aspersions of their adversaries, Phata and his party, in the hope of thus putting calumny to silence, preventing vexatious annoyance, and preparing the way for a reformation in the externals of religion, and the removal of the popish ceremonies in the forms of worship. The council yielded to their wishes, and appointed the 19th of August for a public disputation. The Reformed divines propounded thirteen theses for discussion, and Phata professed his readiness to meet them. But, before the appointed day arrived, an im perial inhibitorium came. Pirata and his party now refused to meet their antagonists, and the purpose of the reformers was thus frustrated.* There were in Constance, at this time, three foundations, viz., the Cathedral, St. Stephen's, and St. John's, whose provosts were appointed at Rome. The number of parish- preachers was nine. Of convents, there were thirteen, seven male and six female, belonging to five different orders.f In addition to these, were the bishop and his court. The three evangelical preachers had, therefore, a formidable host to contend with : and yet they prevailed, by the mere preaching of the gospel ; for, let it be remembered, that the civil authority did no more than protect them in the exercise of their ministry: it was the power of truth that achieved the victory. * Hottinger, p. 157. y Ibid. p. 158. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 379 CHAPTER III. ORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF THE REFORMATION IN BERN". A THIRD important point, from which the Reformation was diffused, was the city of Bern, the capital of the canton of the same name. This city was founded in 1191, by Berthold V., duke of Zahringen, for the purpose of restraining his refrac tory nobles. In 1218, it was made a free imperial city, by a charter from the emperor Frederick II. It was destroyed by fire in 1405, after which it was rebuilt in its present re gular form. Until the close of the last century, the government of the canton was vested in a council, called the council of two hun dred, but consisting of two hundred and ninety-nine members, who were chosen exclusively from among the citizens of Bern. A lesser council, chosen by the great council from its own members, exercised the executive power. A schultheiss was the chief magistrate. The commonwealth being in its origin limited to the town, all the citizens who possessed a house in it had a vote in the general assembly of the people, which elected the council and the magistrates. By degrees, the members of the council came to hold theh office during hfe. The vacancies which occurred were then filled by the council itself, which held an election for that purpose once in ten years. The selections were made chiefly from a few wealthy and noble families. As the city acquired territory, its go vernment was extended over it. Many of the neighboring nobility became citizens of Bern. Others, who fought against the city, were defeated, and were compelled to surrender or to sell to it the whole or a part of theh domains. This was the origin of the canton of Bern. 380 HISTORY OF THE In 1415, Bern conquered the greater part of Argau from the Austrians. The Pays de Vaud was wrested from the duke of Savoy in 1536, and subsequently confirmed by treaty, This city was the scene of an infamous fraud, perpetrated by the Dominican friars, near the commencement of the six teenth century, to sustain their cause by miraculous testimony, in their controversy with the Franciscans about the immacu late conception of the virgin Mary.* Here Sampson gained so rich a harvest by the sale of indulgences, and made the pardon of sins and the felicity of heaven so cheap, that a Bernese nobleman and field-officer obtained them, first for himself, then for his family and ancestors, then for his com mand of five hundred men, and, finally, for all the subjects of his seignory, at the cost of a dapple-gray steed !f Here, too, another solemn farce was acted, as late as the year 1518. Bern honored St. Anna, the mother of the holy virgin, with peculiar devotion. In honor of her, she had formed a holy brotherhood, erected altars, and consecrated images. To complete their work of piety, and to smooth the way to heaven, they needed yet some relic of the venerated saint. To procure this, they sent the chevalier Albert vom Stein with letters to the king of France, and the abbot of a monas tery in an island of the Saone, near Lyons. For a valuable consideration, the custor of the convent delivered to the am bassador a skull, carefully wrapped in silk, which, he said, was the head of St. Anna. The head of St. Anna ! This was more than could have been hoped for. The news of this happy success preceded the chevalier's return. Bern was filled with joy. The precious relic was received at one of the gates of the city, with great pomp, and was borne in solemn procession to the altar in the church of the Dominicans. Here it was enclosed with a costly lattice-work. It was encircled with wax-tapers and incense. The bishop's suffragan endowed it with indulgences for pious pilgrims. The chevalier pre- * See McClaine's translation of Mosheim, cent. xvi. ch. i. sec i. note k. f Hottinger, p. 29. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 381 » sented a splendid suite of furniture and priestly vestments for the celebration of masses. The fraternity were preparing an expensive shrine, to contain the sacred treasure. And in the midst of all this devotion, intelligence arrived from the abbot that the venerated relic was not the head of St. Anna, but a bone taken from the charnel-house, which a villain, whom he had suitably punished, had imposed on him ! At once, every thing was changed; the previous felicitation gave place to shame and reproach, and the fraternity was dissolved, amidst the scoffs and derision of the profane multitude.* This was truly a sottish superstition ; and awful was the darkness where such mummeries could pass for religion and the way of reconciliation with God. But the abuse had now reached its limit, and a reaction was destined to begin. Four years later, Nicholas Manuel was suffered with impunity to ridicule the popes and the clergy in successive farces, that were acted in the streets oi Bern, and the sale of indul gences was burlesqued in ballads, that were sung throughout the city.f Bern, like Basel and Constance, was indebted both -to Luther and Zwingle for its spiritual illumination. The first of Luther's writings were circulated here, as early as 1518, by a bookseller, who^brought them from the press of Frobenius, in Basel.% Zwingle published nothing under his proper name, or in the vernacular tongue, before the year 1522. Here it must be admitted that Luther's mode of action was better adapted than Zwingle's to general and extensive effect. His German writings, which were well adapted to the capacity of the common people, gave him a kind of omnipresence wher ever the German language was understood; while Zwingle, confining himself, in his public instructions, to preaching, could operate only in one place at the same time ; and, when his doctrine was carried abroad by others, it was generally under all the disadvantage of an imperfect, and often of a * Hottinger, p. 31. -j- Gieseler's Lehrb. vol. iii. p. 169, note 100. X Hottinger, p. 37, 38. 382 HISTORY OF THE distorted, representation. There was everywhere abundant room to misrepresent him; and the falsehoods which were circulated had time so to preoccupy men's minds, that when writings from his pen afterwards appeared, they were read, if read at all, through the medium of very injurious prejudices. If Zwingle had, from the commencement, like Luther, ad dressed himself to the common people, in short, plain, practical expositions of gospel truth, through the press, it is not im probable that the effect of his labors would have been much more extensive than it was : he might have preoccupied the minds of his hearers while they were free from an unfriendly bias ; and, having gained over the people, their rulers could not afterwards have shut out his doctrine from any of the cantons. But Zwingle was afraid of popular commotions, if the people were excited to act without the heads of the church and the secular rulers ; he chose, therefore, to address himself first to these, and to other men of influence, whose authority might control the multitude in its movements, and abstained from publishing any thing in the popular style and language, until he saw those who ought to have been the leaders of the Reformation take their stand against it. The chief instrument in the reformation of the city of Bern was Berthold Haller. He was a native of Aldingen, in the circle oi Suabia. At Pforzheim, where he studied, Melancthon was his fellow-student. At the university of Cologne, he obtained the degree of Baccalaureus in Theolog ia. In 1520, he held the situations of canon, cantor, and cathedral-preacher in Bern, and was honored with the attentions of the principal families of the city. From his first appearance in this ministry, he distinguished himself as a preacher of evangehcal doctrines, and an ardent friend of Zwingle. After a very active and laborious ministry, during which he bore his full share of painful trials, he died, in the midst of his flock, in 1536, at the early age of forty-four years, deeply lamented by all the friends of gospel- truth and piety.* * Hottinger, p. 54, 718. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 383 Haller's first helper in the ministry of the Reformation was Sebastian Meyer, a monk of the order of St. Francis, and reader, lecturer, or preacher of the convent. He was a learned theologian, deeply versed in the scholastic divines, bold, ardent, and enterprising. After his conversion, he lamented the time as lost which he had spent in the meagre study of the school men. He was delighted with the writings of the reformers, and devoted his labors to the exposition of the Holy Scrip tures and the propagation of the pure doctrine of the gospel. Besides these devoted men, there were not wanting in Bern others who loved the gospel, and hailed the dawn of reforma tion in the work of God, whose fame had reached them from Zurich and Wittemberg. Prominent among these were the banneret John von Weingarten, the counsellor Bartholomew Mey, his sons Wolfgang and Claudius, and his grandsons Jacob and Benedict, and, more eminent still, the family Von Wattenweil. The father, Jacob von AVattenweil, who presided as chief magistrate over the republic, had read the writings of Luther and Zwingle, and was, by them, won over to the Reformation. His son Nicolas was the provost of the cathe dral. He enjoyed the pope's favor, who spared no pains to attaeh him to his interests, and was distinguished by the noble qualities of his mind, as well as by the nobility of his rank and his eminent station and connections. Amidst all the opposition of the world, these men were enlightened by divine grace, and became the friends and protectors of the humble ministers of Jesus Christ amidst the discouragements that surrounded them. As the friend of Haller, Nicolas usually read the letters which the reformer received from Zwingle, for whom he entertained the highest regard. It was to be expected that the ability and zeal of the preach ers, and the countenance of these distinguished patrons, would secure no little success to the cause : and in this hope its friends were not disappointed ; but there was, at the same time, a formidable array of enemies, who were not less zealous in their opposition ; and complete success was, therefore, not to be obtained without a long and arduous conflict. 384 HISTORY OF THE The bishop of Lausanne, to whose diocese the city of Bern, as well as a part of the territory, belonged, sought to instigate the people against the reforming preachers, by a pastoral letter which he addressed to them ; but the stroke was averted by their speedy reply. The Papist clergy endeavored to divest the people of their books ; they sought to render the preachers odious by calumny ; they applied to the government for an order forbidding the reading of books and the preaching of doctrines that militated against the Romish faith ; but in all these attempts they failed. Haller was, at one time, so discouraged, that he had thoughts of retiring from the contest, and spending a season in the pursuit of learning at Basel; but the expostulations of Zwingle, who urged the danger of leaving his little flock shepherdless in his absence, confirmed him in the purpose of abiding the issue.* About this time, an event took place, which, if it did not manifest the hold which the new doctrines had taken in the soil of Bern, proved, at least, that the secular rulers stood less in awe of the priesthood than in former times, and were resolved to reclaim the authority which the lordly prelates had usurped. George Brunner, a deacon of the dean of Minsingen, in the territory of Bern, but within the diocese of Constance, had, in one of his sermons, described the pope as antichrist. He was subsequently called to the parish of Hohenstatten, where many came from the neighboring parishes to attend his ministry. The dean, supported by four of his capitulars, applied to the council for the removal of Brunner from their chapter. Brunner proposed to defend his doctrine by the Holy Scripture. The government determined to hear his defence, and appointed a commission, consisting of seven counsellors and as many clerics, to sit in judgment on the case. Some delay having occurred, the dean procured an order from the bishop to send the accused to Constance for trial. This order the council refused to execute or to sanction, and the dean was compelled to bring his charges before their commis- * Hottinger, p. 87. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 385 sion, or abandon them. He appeared, accordingly, with his four capitulars, with twelve specifications of heresy; and Brunner made his defence. The commission declared the defence satisfactory ; the council ratified theh verdict ; Brun ner remained in his benefice ; and the dean was adjudged to pay the cost.* This act was a palpable invasion of the bishop's prerogative, and of the jurisdiction of the spiritual courts ; and to this was added another, in the following year. The bishop of Lausanne had assembled his clergy, who resided within the Bernese domain, and charged them in relation to the so-called Lutheran errors; but, when he proposed to go farther, and gave notice of an episcopal visitation, the council sent him a message for bidding him to come for that purpose within their territory, f The government were evidently in ill humor with the hierarchy. For this they found sufficient reason in the encroachments, the arrogance, the tyranny, the grasping avarice, and the licentious manners of the clergy of all ranks, without, perhaps, entertaining any doubt about the doctrines and ceremonies of the church. But this ill humor disposed them to look with favor upon such as proposed a reformation, and to listen with patience to their defence when the priesthood attempted, for such a reason, to crush them. The feelings of many toward the reformers were, nevertheless, changed by the calumnies which were circulated, especially the reports that were spread of the ruinous effects which the new doctrine was said to have produced in Zurich. " The priests, the monks, and, especially, the prelates," says Anselm, in his Chronicles of Bern, "voci ferated, ' It is at us, now ; it will next be at the nobles : their free hving, theh rents and tythes, must be begged. Let us unite against these seditious heretics.' And by this outcry, going forth daily, many of the nobles, the powerful, and the wealthy were hardened against even hearing the word of God, much more against receiving it. They called devilish and hellish what was divine and evangelic. "J The delegate of * Hottinger, p. 88. t n>i<*. P- 128. X Gieseler, vol. iii. p. 161, n. 78. 2H 49 386 HISTORY OF THE Bern warned the diet held in that city, in July, 1523, of the disastrous tendency of the new doctrine. " Dear confederates," said he, " take measures in time, lest Lutheranism, and those who are engaged in it, get the ascendency ; for their preachers have brought things into such a state in their city, that, if the rulers wished to mend it, they could not. It is come so far, that a man is not safe in his own house. There is need that he should take to himself others to protect him by force of arms. The condition in the country is such, that the peasants refuse to pay either rents or tythes ; and in the city and the country, there is such a discord that the like of it has never been heard of."* These calumnies wrought particularly upon the nobles, who had rents and tythes to demand, and upon the wealthy and powerful, who had much at stake : and their effect verified the remark of Jesus : " How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God !"f Under such impressions, the government resolved upon a conservative course ; and, at the instance of the lesser council, which consisted of the nobility, they published a mandate, in June, 1523, in which they order, " That all those who under take to preach, shall publish freely, openly, and without con cealment, the holy gospel and the doctrine of God, and nothing else : in like manner, what they trust they can defend and prove by the holy Scripture ; namely, the four Evangelists, Paul, the Prophets, and Bible, in a word, by the Old and New Testament ; and that they wholly omit all other doctrines, disputations, and vanities not conformable to the holy gospels and Scriptures, whether they be written and published by Luther or by other doctors. "J This mandate was designed to arrest the farther progress of " Lutheranism," which its originators honestly believed to be an invention of Luther, and of others like him, and unsup ported by the Holy Scriptures, while the doctrine and worship of the church were those which the prophets and the apostles * Fueslin, vol. ii. p. 26. y Mark x. 23. X Gieseler, vol. iii. p. 169, note 102. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 387 had taught. They knew little of the contents of the Bible ; they had, probably, never seen a copy : how vague their notion of it was, appears in their confused description of it, as "the four Gospels, Paul, the Prophets and Bible, in a word, the Old and New Testaments :" but they had faith in the church, and did not doubt that, whatever the sacred volume was, she had given the true exposition of it in her doctrine and ceremonies. Hence they were astonished when they learned that the Reformers rejoiced at their mandate, and, instead of being stopped by it in their career, were encouraged to go onward with greater boldness. Zwingle, having preached a sermon on divine and human righteousness, as a refutation of the injurious charge that his doctrine was inimical to social order and personal security, now published it, in an enlarged form, with a dedication to his friend, Nicolas von Wattenweil, in which he expressed his great gratification that the council had not only refused to comply with the wishes of the bishop of Lausanne for the suppression of the new doctrine, but had also commanded their preachers to declare the gospel freely.* The lesser council, on discovering their mistake, would gladly have retraced their steps ; but, seeing that their man date was very popular, feeling themselves committed by it, and afraid of the people, they did not venture to revoke it ; but they endeavored^ by all manner of perversion and evasion, to render it inoperative and nugatory. The greater council, however, observed it in good faith.f The very measure which had been adopted to expel the Reformers from Bern, having served only to strengthen them in their position, other means were sought to effect the same object; the preachers were closely watched, and it was not long until an occasion presented itself. The island of St. Michael, in the Aar, at Bern, contained a convent of nuns, who were consecrated to the saint whose name the island bore. * Voegelin's Jahrt. zu Zwingli's Leben, p. 36. •j- Gieseler, p. 170, note 102. 388 HISTORY OF THE The nuns were accustomed to celebrate the 21st of September, which was sacred to their saint, by a solemn festival; and, on these occasions, many of the clergy were in attendance. Haller and Meyer being now present, the former entered into conversation with some of the nuns, and remarked to one of them, Clara, the daughter of his friend, Claudius Mey, that the merit of monachism was imaginary, whereas the matrimo nial state was a divine institution. This remark was construed as evidence of a design to violate a law which forbade to carry off a nun, under the penalty of death. The case was brought before the lesser council, whom the accusers petitioned to banish the offenders during life, instead of inflicting the punish ment of death. The council granted theh petition, and the enemies seemed, for a moment, to triumph ; but the matter being carried to the greater council, the judgment was there reversed ; the preachers were acquitted, and theh persecutors suffered a second defeat. This result was justly regardecLas a great triumph of the friends of reformation : it increased theh confidence and strengthened their cause, while it dis couraged their adversaries ; and its effects were visible in the continued progress of the truth. Notwithstanding the care and the vigilance of the opponents, the hght of the gospel penetrated into the darkness of the con vents. At Konigsfelden, on the river Aar, was a monastery of nuns of the Franciscan order, who were consecrated to St. Clara, their tutelary saint. To this institution many of the noble families of Switzerland and its vicinage sent theh daughters, to take the veil. The abbess, who presided over the monastery at the time of the Reformation, was Catherine Trucksess. Among the nuns were Beatrice, sister of the bishop of Constance; Agnes, daughter of Caspar von Miillenen, a member of the lesser council ; and Margaret, sister of the provost, Nicolas von Wattenweil. The nuns of this abbey read Zwingle's tract on Christian liberty, and some of the writings of Luther, and were moved by them to read and examine the Holy Scriptures. Their minds were opened to see the truth as it is in Christ ; they learned to understand the nature of true Christian piety ; GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 389 they saw that a monastic life was neither enjoined nor com mended by the word of God, and that the religion which the divine Saviour taught required them to act their part well as members of the social body, not in the gloomy seclusion of a convent, and its tedious round of lifeless forms, but, on the great theatre of common life, where their faith must manifest itself by its fruits, in the midst of activity and trials. Mar garet gave utterance to her feelings,, in thanksgiving to heaven, for the precious light which had risen upon her, and • upon the world around her, by the ministry of the reformers, and opened her grateful mind to Zwingle, in a letter, which she addressed to him from her cell. " Grace and peace, in the Lord Jesus Christ, be given and multiplied unto you always, by God our heavenly Father," said the nun of Kb'nigsfeld to Zwingle. " Very learned, reverend, and most dear sir, I pray you to take in good part this letter which I now address to you. The love of Christ constrains me ; — especially since I have learned that the doctrines of grace are spreading from day to day through your preaching of the word of God. For this cause I give thanks to the eternal God, for that he has enlightened us anew, and has sent us, by his Holy Spirit, so many heralds of his blessed word ; ahd, at the same time, I present before him my earnest prayers, that he will be pleased to clothe with his strength both you and all those who publish his glad tidings, — and that, arming you against all enemies of the truth, he will cause his divine word to grow in all men. Most learned sir, I take the liberty of sending to your reverence this little mark of my affection ;* I pray you, do not despise it, for it is an offering of Christian love. If this electuary should be useful to you, and you should wish to have more, pray let me know, for it would be a joy to my heart to do any thing that would be agreeable to you. I am writing, not my own feelings only, but those of all in our convent of Kbnigsfeld who love the gospel. They salute you in Jesus Christ, and we, together, cease not to commend * .An electuary which she was in the practice of making. 2h2 390 HISTORY OF THE you to his almighty protection. Saturday before Laetare, 1523."* These pious nuns, whose spirit pervaded the sisterhood, petitioned the government to grant them a dismission from the convent. The government were alarmed at this innova tion, and called the provincial of the order from Strasburg, to visit the monastery and reclaim the sisters from their errors. The provincial came,. but the sisters refused submission to bis authority. In conjunction with the abbess, he applied to the government for direction and support. A deputation was sent, • who released the nuns from some of the more burdensome duties of the convent; the sisters were required to return to their obedience, the convent was closed, and a guardian and a steward were appointed to watch over them. The abbess was content ; but the sisters regarded the concessions which were made as a relief of the flesh only, and not of the sphit j they asked for a dismission from their order ; this they con sidered as possible as the previous concessions ; they denied the right of the pope or the provincial to forbid it ; they were the subjects only, they said, of the city of Bern, whose poor, unoffending prisoners they were ; and they desired, for God's sake, and for the sake of their souls' salvation, to be released. A last effort was made, on the 20th of December, to dissuade them, by urging the obligation of their vow, the authority of immemorial usage, and the will of the founders of the institu tion : and, when this, also, proved ineffectual, permission was at length reluctantly given them to quit their convent and their order. The bishop of Constance, whose sister was among them, Caspar von Miillenen, the schultheiss Erlach, and even the schultheiss Von Wattenweil, resisted still ; but all opposi tion was borne down by an irresistible current of opinion and feeling : the abbess herself was carried along with the tide, and married an equestrian of Zurich, George Goldlin, the same who afterwards commanded the advanced guard of that city, in the fatal battle of Cappel ; and even the guardian of * D'AubigniTs Hist. Ref. vol. iii. p. 281. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 391 the convent, Sinner, took one of the sisters, Agnes von Mul- l(.nen, and made her his wife.*- In the mean time, the external forms of Romanism were giving way. Priests were entering into the bonds of wedlock, the legal fasts of the church began to be neglected, the. holy virgin and the saints were denied their customary honors, and other infractions of the laws and usages of the church, un known before, were committed. It was not perceived that these outward changes were but the indications of an internal change, which the free preaching of the gospel was producing in the heart, and that, to prevent them, it was necessary to put an end to that preaching. They were ascribed to other causes ; and, while the reformers were left to sap the founda tions of the edifice unmolested, the government hastened to prevent its fall by applying props to its sides, in a new man date, which they issued near the close of April, 1524. By this act, they confirmed the mandate of June 15th, 1523, and added, " that the priests who had taken wives, or should do so in future, should be deprived of their benefices. Those, also, who reviled the mother of God and the saints, and those who ate flesh, or other interdicted food,' during Lent, or who did other such unheard of things, should expect the vengeance of government, "f But it was impossible to reconcile such a decree with the moral sentiment of a community now somewhat enlightened by the publication of the gospel, while most of the priests lived openly in a state of concubinage, and were, notwithstanding, permitted to retain their livings, and to perform all the minis trations of their sacred office. The government evidently felt ashamed of having passed over this disgusting abomina tion in theh mandate, and, a month later, they issued another, dated " On Tuesday after Exaudi, 1524," by which they ordered all the priests, who were guilty of this abuse, to put away theh paramours, within a fortnight, from their houses and from their parishes, and neither to cohabit with them * Hottinger, p. 143. f Fueslin, vol. ii. p. 271. 392 HISTORY OF THE elsewhere, nor to receive others in their stead ; and the priests were told, oddly enough, that if they disobeyed this order, and continued in their illicit amours, they should be dealt with no better than married priests.* According to Campegius, the pope's nuncio in Germany, f and of the bishop's,! a priest sinned more by marrying a wife than by having loose women in keeping : and this seems, also, to have been the judgment of these priests, and of the authors of this decree. The care which the government had taken to preserve the existing forms of religion, amidst the religious excitement in their city, proved wholly inefficient. Their first mandate was very differently interpreted by the contending parties. The reformers took it as a warrant to preach the doctrines of the Bible as they understood them, agreeably to the obvious grammatical sense of the words ; while the Papists regarded it as a command to preach the doctrines of the Bible as the church understood them, agreeably to her traditions and her divines. A vehement contention arose, that grew in warmth by contradiction on both sides ; and, in addition to the former discontent, new voices were heard against other abuses, among which were the convents and the idolatrous images, that, in the estimation of the Papists, were holy things. The heat of controversy was still farther exasperated by a recantation of his former popish errors by Sebastian Meyer, which was pub lished at Strasburg, in September, and in which the convents and the monastic life were severely chastised. To strengthen the Papist party, John Heim, a Dominican, was called from Mentz and appointed preacher of the convent of his order. The ancient feud between the two orders of St. Francis and St. Dominic added new fuel to the flames when Meyer and Heim became antagonists in this strife, and the contention raged with greater violence than ever. The government, apprehending disturbances of the public peace- called the two preachers before them, in the latter part of October, and * Fueslin, vol. ii. p. 272. y Hottinger, p. 145. X Seckendorf, sec. cxxv. col. 494. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 393 banished them both from the city. Haller now stood alone, but his ministry prospered more and more. A plot was formed to carry him off by clandestine violence, but he received infor mation of it, and it failed.* On the 25th of November, a new mandate was issued, couched, like all the rest, in the form of a circular addressed to the magistrates of the districts. In this edict they say : " Although we have lately sent you a public mandate, and have therein explained how the holy gospel shall be preached, it appears to us, nevertheless, that it is not observed, nor understood by all in the same sense ; for we hear that the preachers contradict one another in the pulpits, and thence move the laity to adhere to them in opposite parties, and to use many unkind words and judgments. As it is to be feared that insurrections may arise, and as it behooves us to guard against them, and to preserve tranquillity and union among the people, we have revised the previous mandate, and have confirmed it with some amendments and additions, and are resolved to abide therein unalterably. We will, therefore, that henceforth the preachers and curators of souls, every where in our territory and jurisdiction, preach and publish the word of God and holy gospel, and the divine Holy Scrip tures, and explain and set forth the true ground and meaning thereof, without introducing unnecessary glosses and forced interpretations, by which the plain, pious Christian may be led into error and doubt : and as we have heretofore deprived married priests of theh benefices, we let that regulation con tinue still in force, and will, further, that they obtain no other benefice among us ; and in like manner shall other priests, who shall marry, be dealt with. It is, further, our decision; that no one shall reproach, alter, break down, or burn the , monasteries and theh decorations, or in any manner contemn them ; but all these shall be left, as of old times, in their ancient state and condition : so that if any one shall speak or act contrary hereto, the same shall be denounced to us, that * Hottinger, p. 192. 50 394 HISTORY OF THE he may be punished according to his demerit. If, also, any one shall eat flesh at unusual, interdicted times, and shall thereby contemn our former mandate, ordinance, and autho rity, we will that he be arrested and confined, and be not again set at liberty until he shall have paid a fine of ten pounds, or given security for the same, or bound himself by an oath to leave the country. Further, we will that no one shall call another heretic or infidel, or compel him to believe otherwise than he may choose. If any one think that another does or believes what is unchristian, such case shall first be brought before us, and no contention or wrangling shall be raised about it, but our decision shall be waited for, and shall be afterwards respected. Inasmuch, also, as much error and misunderstanding has arisen from printed books that are differently understood, it is our judgment that books which are contrary to the Holy Scriptures be suppressed, and if they be henceforth brought into our country and dominion, the dealer in them shall be amerced in a fine of ten pounds, and the books shall be burnt. As to books that are based upon the Old and New Testaments, the Gospels, the Bible, and the history and doctrine of the twelve apostles, we can well endure that the clergy and laity procure and use them for the salvation of the soul."* The rest of this decree relates to some popish abuses, which they declare their intention to reform, in conjunction with their confederates, and to disturbances upon their border, on account of the evangelical doctrine, respecting which they enjoin neutrality upon their people. The whole mandate is a singular mixture of light and darkness, and justifies the re mark that " Bern was neither turbid nor clear." In obedience to its authority, several married canons were ejected from their livings ; the abbot of Trub resigned his dignity and his revenues, married, and supported himself by manual labor, until, after the triumph of the gospel, he obtained a pastor- ship.f * Fueslin, vol. ii. p. 28S. y Hottinger, p. 193. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 395 But this unalterable mandate was, nevertheless, altered within so brief a period as less than five months. On the 6th of April, 1525, a new mandate appeared, by which the article against married priests was rescinded. It embraced the plan of a reformation agreed upon by a diet of nine cantons, assem bled at Luzern, in the preceding year, with, however, con siderable alterations, of which the article relating to married priests was one. It forbade all changes in the ceremonies of the church, but would not compel any person to fast twice during Lent, to make offerings, or to perform pilgrimages ; it corrected those abuses among the clergy which the love of lucre had introduced ; it gave to the councils a primary juris diction in all cases that were brought before the spiritual courts, required the use of the German language in those courts, and abolished the sale of indulgences; it provided against the admission of Roman courtiers into benefices, which were given them by popes or cardinals as rewards for their subserviency, and against abuses committed by the clergy in the confessional ; it subjected clerics who were guilty of crimes to trial and punishment by the civil courts, inasmuch as the spiritual courts usually suffered them to escape with impunity ; it gave permission to all persons to read the Bible and books that were in harmony with it, &c* Nothing is more evident than the sincere attachment of these rulers to the ceremonies and usages of the church, while they were deeply sensible of the corruptions that prevailed among the clergy, and the abuses they had introduced. Amidst all their errors, their intentions were upright, and there was one principle in their faith which, in honest minds, was an earnest of the ultimate triumph of the truth : the principle, that the Bible alone is the standard of faith and practice. Their ignorance of the sacred volume, the preju dices of education, and the important earthly interests they seemed to have at stake, held them in bondage, and prevented them from seeing the inconsistency of the reigning religion * Hottinger, p. 238. 396 HISTORY OF THE with the teaching of the Bible, until it was, in a manner, forced upon them by circumstances and events. The people were in advance of their rulers, and public sentiment bore down one hallowed error and one consecrated abuse after the other, and thus compelled the rulers to open theh eyes upon it, and to abandon it ; which they did with evident reluctance. Toward the close of the year 1525, Nicolas von Watten weil, the provost of the cathedral, resigned his high dignity, and married Clara, the daughter of Claudius Mey, the beau tiful nun of St. Michaels, and by this act relinquished all the expectations which the pope's distinguished favor and his exalted station had authorized him to entertain.* This act necessarily created a great sensation ; and the manifest self- denial and conscientiousness that characterized it, could not fail to add weight and dignity to the cause of the Reformation, while it gave a fatal wound to the claims of the papacy. It was itself an effect of the public sentiment which had already induced the council to rescind their penal enactment against the marriage of clerics ; but it served, in its turn, to confirm that sentiment, and to give it increased popularity. CHAPTER IV. ORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF THE REFORMATION IN STRASBURG. A FOURTH central point, from which the light of the Swiss reformation was diffused, was the imperial city of Strasburg ; which, like Basel, Constance, and Bern, received its own illu mination both from Wittenberg and from Zurich. This ancient city is situated at the junction of the Brusche and the Ille, about half a mile from the Rhine. It is now the capital of the department oi Lower-Rhine, which, with the * Hottinger, p. 260. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 397 department of Upper-Rhine, were formed out of the former province of Alsace, or Elsass. Alsace was anciently a German dutchy ; but the line of its dukes becoming extinct, it was parcelled out, in 1268, to several members of the Germanic body. By the peace of Munster, called also the peace of Westphalia, in 1648, the part of Alsace which belonged to Austria and to ten cities of the empire, was ceded to France. Lewis XIV., wishing to make the Rhine the boundary of his dominions, afterwards perfidiously took forcible possession of Strasburg, and other parts of Alsace ; and these were confirmed to the French by the treaty of Ryswick, in 1697. Several states of the empire still had important possessions in this territory, which, at the beginning of the French Revolution, the National Assembly declared to be a conquest pointed out by nature itself; because foreign powers could not be allowed to hold possessions within the territory of France, without danger. The inhabitants of Alsace still speak the German language. The light of the Reformation began to dawn upon Stras burg in 1521, by the ministry of Matthew Zell, or Zellius, pas tor and preacher of the cathedral or minster, by whose labors two other priests, Anthony Firnius, preacher at the church of St. Thomas, and the aged Symphorianus, preacher at the church of St. Martin, were brought over to the knowledge of the truth. In 1523, he was cited by the bishop's fiscal to give an account of his doctrine. The council did not at this time protect him, but, being supported by many of the citizens, who were favorably impressed by his instructions, he disengaged himself, happily, from this prosecution. Presently after this occurrence, he published a vindication, under the title, " Chris tian Apology of Matthew Zell, pastor and preacher of the Minster in Strasburg, concerning the Articles charged against him by the episcopal Fiscal. Herein you will find a solid exposition and copious information of evangelical doctrine by the Holy Scripture, very nearly of all matters that are now in dispute." Zellius was a learned, pious, and amiable man, indefatigable in the duties of his ministry, of unbounded hoB- 21 398 history of the pitality and kindness toward the followers of the Lord Jesus, of every name. Intent upon the great doctrines of salvation, he made no account of religious diversities on minor points, and embraced with equal affection the adherents of Luther, of Zwingle, of Schwenkfeld, and even the hated and perse cuted Anabaptists who gave evidence of sincere piety, while for himself he held the opinions of the Swiss reformer. In 1538, he visited Luther at Wittenberg, and many of the eminent Protestant divines of Germany and Switzerland, by all of whom he was kindly and honorably entertained. He died among his flock, in Strasburg, in 1548, after a ministry of thirty years, in the 71st year of his age, leaving behind him an odor of righteousness and of love, that endeared his name and his memory to all who knew how to appreciate ex alted worth. Melchior Adam, in his Vitce Theologorum, pronounces the following eulogy upon this excellent minister of Christ: "He was a man distinguished not only by his learning, but by his Christian virtues also, and especially by his modesty, temperance, and charity ; of a mild disposition, of an innocent life, in doctrine pure, and remote from all pride."* Martin Bucer came to Strasburg in 1523. His family name was Kuhhorn, that is, Cowhorn, which, agreeably to the custom of the times, he translated into Greek, and con tracted into Bucer. He was a native of Schletstad, in Alsace, where he was born in 1491. In his fifteenth year, he entered a Dominican convent. Having read the writings of Luther, and heard the great reformer himself, in his public disputation at the general convention of the Augustinians, in Heidelberg, on the 26th of April, 1518, he became a convert to his doc trine. In the same auditory were John Brentz, Ehrhard Schnepf, and Theobald Bilhcanus, all of whom afterward rose to eminence in the German reformation. After the discussions, these men sought, in private conferences with Luther, elucida- * Fueslin, vol. v., Vorrede, p. 25-37, and " Briefwechsel der Frau Catha- rina Zellin," &c. Ibid. p. 191, &c. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 399 tions of such things as they had not fully understood. Bucer, especially, put many questions to the reformer, and committed his answers to writing. What they had learned they discussed at first in private colloquies, but soon afterwards taught with out reserve in public* Hence arose a persecution, the com mon lot of all reformers, which rendered Bucer's situation in the convent not only irksome, but dangerous, and, in conse quence of which, he fled and abandoned his order. His talents and the recommendation of Francis von Sickingen, procured him the situation of court preacher to the elector of the Palatinate ; but, finding his doctrine unacceptable at this court, he withdrew, and betook himself to the friendly asylum afforded by Sickingen in his castle of Ebernburg. After the overthrow of his kind protector, he came to Strasburg, in 1523, and joined his labors and influence with those of the worthy Zellius, whose hospitality he enjoyed. Here, according to Hottinger, he expounded the New Testament to the citizens, and, when this was forbidden, explained to studious youth the epistles of Paul to Timothy. Being a married man, he was prevented by the bishop's vicar from exercising the office of a preacher. On this account, he sought a situation else where, and applied to Zwingle for direction. Oecolampadius made the same request in his behalf. He continued, how ever, in Strasburg, and found occupation that made this city his appropriate field during many years, f In 1549, when the emperor imposed upon Strasburg the celebrated Interim, Bucer left this city, and, in pursuance of an invitation from Cranmer, went, with his friend Paul Fagius, to England, where he was appointed professor of theology. He died, two years afterward, of a disease contracted from the climate and mode of hving, or, according to some, by poison. His prin cipal works were a commentary on the Psalms, and a treatise on the kingdom of Christ; the latter written, in 1549, for Edward VI. of England.% * Seckendorf, b. i. sec. xxiv. col. 88. f Hottinger, p. 144. X Fuhrman's Lexicon, &c, art. Bucer. 400 HISTORY OF THE Bucer was followed, in the same year, by W. F. Capito and C. Hedio from Mentz, where the former had been court preacher to the elector, and the latter, pastor of the cathedral. Disappointed in the hope of converting the elector, they relin quished their places, and came to Strasburg. Capito was appointed pastor of the church of St. Thomas, and provost of the Thomas foundation; Hedio became an assistant in the minster. All these held the opinion of Zwingle and Oecolam padius on the Lord's supper ; and all entertained the same enlarged view of Christianity as the excellent Zellius, with whom they appear to have been of " one heart and one soul."* Seckendorf makes mention of Capito, Hedio, Bucer, Zellius, and Pollio, as evangelical divines in this city, in 1524.f Who this Pollio was, we are not informed. The church laws began to give way, in 1523, by the mar riage of a priest, Antonius Firnius, one of the preachers of the church of St. Thomas. He married his mistress, a young woman who had lived with him ostensibly as a housekeeper, and announced his marriage to the people from his pulpit. A sermon was subsequently preached by Zellius in commendation of matrimony. The bride was introduced with solemn pomp by two of the most respectable matrons, and a multitude of all descriptions ran together to witness the novel and unheard- of spectacle in Strasburg, a wedded priest and his bride ! "The Papists raved," says Gerbelius, "Christians exulted. One cried from the midst of the crowd, He has done right ! God grant him a thousand happy years !"J Zellius himself, being then forty-six years of age, soon followed in the path of his proselyte. He married Catharine, the daughter of worthy parents, whose names are not men tioned. She was a woman of no ordinary character. Her pious parents had given her a virtuous and hberal education. She possessed handsome talents and a noble disposition of * Letters of Madame Zellius, in Fueslin, vol. v. p. 191, &c. f Seckendorf, b. i. sec. olxii. col. 659. X Fueslin, vol. v. Vorrede, p. 30. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 401 heart, conversed with many learned men, who honored her. with respectful attentions, was familiar with theh writings, read the fathers of the ancient church, abounded in hospitahty, and never grew weary of well-doing. To her husband, she was a most useful and important helpmate, aiding him in all the duties of- his ministry, except the proper office of the preacher. Both were of one mind. The necessities of the times required a large expenditure for the relief of the dis tressed. Many exiles, banished from their homes, many fugi tives from religious oppression, seeking safety abroad, came to Strasburg, and found a refuge in the house of Zellius. There they were kindly entertained, their wants were relieved, their sorrows mitigated, and their darkness removed ; and in all this labor of love, Catharine bore a conspicuous part. In a doleful night, of the year 1524, one hundred and fifty citizens of the town of Kenzingen, in Breisgau, were compelled to flee and abandon theh all. They came to Strasburg in a state of destitution. Catharine received them like an angel of mercy, conducted eighty of the number to the hospitable mansion of her husband, and provided for the rest elsewhere among the pious parishioners. She was the soul of a benevolent circle, who were assiduous in their attentions to the sufferers, show ing forth the tender sympathies of the Christian, and imitating the mercy of him who bindeth up the broken heart. During four weeks, this excellent lady and her heavenly-minded part ner never had less than fifty of these strangers at their table; and the cheerful cordiality of their entertainment, and their consolatory conversation, sweetened the relief they afforded, and caused their afflicted guests to forget their sorrows, and to look with strengthened confidence to heaven for a better and a more enduring substance.* Twenty-five years did this holy pair live in their matrimo nial union, and their united efforts of doing good ; but these were to them, also, years of affliction and trial : and when they were ended, and Zellius slept in peace, the good Catharine ' * Letters of Madame Zellius, in Fueslin, vol. v. p. 303. 2i2 51 402 HISTORY OF THE and her orphan boy were left in poverty and dependence. Though many contributions had been received to aid them in their generous charity, their own means, also, were consumed; and, at the close of a ministry of thirty years, as the pastor of the cathedral, Zellius died poor. His successor was Lewis Rabus, a rigid Lutheran, and an intolerant bigot, who pos sessed nothing of the sphit of his predecessor, and entered into none of his feelings. Catharine admonished him, and was insulted:, and his fierce denunciations of Zwingle, Oeco lampadius, and Schwenkfeld, who were dear to her heart, furnished the occasion for the letters to him, and to the city of Strasburg, which Fueslin has preserved. They were written in 1556 and 1557, when she had attained her sixtieth year. The time of her death is unknown. The bars were now broken,' the doors were open, and the path prepared. Other priests followed the example of their brethren, and, before the close of the year, as many as seven had set at nought the law of the church, and entered into the bonds of matrimonial life. Their former excesses had given the bishop no uneasiness, but the violation of the church-laws now waked up his indignation. He cited the married priests to appear before him, and to answer for theh conduct. The day appointed for the trial was the 20th of January, 1524. In the mean time, Capito, with the concurrence of his parish ioners, wrote and pubhshed a " Supplication of the Parish of St. Thomas to the Council of Strasburg, in behalf of holy Matrimony, and against the libidinous Priests," which was read before the council and the chapter of St. Thomas, on the 12th of December, 1523. The council took the priests under their protection, and thus arrested the prosecution. The bishop complained of this invasion of his authority to Campe gius, the pope's nuncio at Nuremberg, and solicited his inter position, and the council, also, sent a delegate to represent them and to vindicate their act. The nuncio requested that the married priests be surrendered to the bishop, to be dealt with according to their demerit. The delegate answered, that a compliance with his request was impracticable, and the GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 403 attempt would provoke an insurrection of the people, unless those priests who lived in open concubinage were first punished ; to which the representative of the holy father replied, that priests who married sinned much more grievously than those who kept many harlots ! It was customary with the bishops, for a consideration in money, to grant dispensations to their clergy to indulge in these loose and beastly amours ; and the bishop of Strasburg had granted the same license to his own ungodly clerics. Campegius disapproved this practice, indeed, but he was not ashamed to say, and to say as the representative of the so-called vicegerent of the Son of God, that keeping har lots was better than matrimonial life !* Such were the spiritual guides of the people in their inquiries after the way of life, in those wretched times ! And such they would be still, if light had not arisen, by the great Reformation, to refine public sentiment, and to overwhelm this profligacy with scorn and execration. The plain and warm-hearted preaching of the gospel won over the people to the cause of the pious preachers. It was with them, and not with the rulers, that the Reformation began ; and, as the people moved, they bore the rulers with them. The great principle, That no authority but that of God can bind the conscience, and that no other rule than his own word can be the standard of faith and of life, commended itself to the reason of every man who was open to conviction, and contained the secret power before which the hierarchy and its corruptions fell. It was felt to be in unison with the moral sense, with the sense of dependence from the Deity and of obligation to do his will ; and, taking hold of this religious principle in man, it moved him into his proper place ; and it would have moved, in the same manner, the whole religious world, had not the reformers obscured and weakened it by their divisions; had they not differed about unimportant matters, and, under the influence of their passions, mistaken them for fundamentals. In obedience to the will of the people, • * Seckendorf, sec. cl. col. 620. y Hottinger, p. 145. 404 HISTORY OF THE and the dictate of their own conscience, the council published a decree, on the first day of December, 1523, commanding that nothing but the word of God should be preached by the ministers of religion, and forbidding, at the same time, all railing accusations of one another on account of any difference of opinion. This was a decisive step in the reformation of Strasburg ; but the government did not stop here. They opened a school for the instruction of the youth in letters and useful knowledge. This dutjr the church had overlooked ; or, rather, had designedly omitted. She esteemed ignorance the mother of devotion : knowledge, she thought, would generate heresy, and she hated nothing so much as the hght that would expose her impostures and jeopard her power. But the reformers and their disciples thought otherwise, and placed everywhere the school beside the pulpit. Nor did the govern ment stop here. They gave permission to monastics to quit their convents and their orders ; they secularized the monas teries, and appropriated their revenues to other more useful and rational objects ; and they made provision during hfe for those of the monks whose infirmity or whose conscience dis qualified them for occupations by which they might earn their own bread.* These measures were attacked by the Papist leaders. The champions on this side, were Conrad Troger, the provincial of the Augustinian order, and Thomas Murner, a Franciscan monk, and a doctor of divinity, whom we afterwards find at Luzern, in Switzerland. The reformers vindicated the mea sures of the council, in a publication entitled, " Warning of the Ministers of the Word and the Brethren of Strasburg to the Brethren in the Towns and Countries of the common Confederacy." Its chief object was to refute the calumnies that were uttered by Troger, who had boasted that he had challenged the preachers of Strasburg to a disputation, which they had declined. Troger, they say, had published a hun dred theses, which he proposed to discuss with them in a * Hottinger, p. 145. Seckendorf, seo. clxii. col. 659. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 405 public meeting, but when they had communicated their ac ceptance of the invitation, he retreated behind the plea that he had not yet obtained his bishop's consent; and when he afterwards pretended a readiness to meet them, he would dispute only at Friburg, in Switzerland. Out of his hundred theses, they selected the one upon which the whole controversy turned ; the one, namely, that related to the rule of faith. The provincial denied, in this proposition, that the Bible was alone the rule of faith, and would have it subjected to the church. " The apostles," he said, " were men, and might err, as the case of Peter proved ; but the church could not err." Murner took the same ground. In a sermon preached by him, he had the audacity to say, "I should tell you something about the institution of the sacrament : you, however, believe the gospel ; but I do not believe it, but only what the church has received."* In their system, the church, that is, the hierarchy, was guided by the- Holy Ghost, and was, therefore, infallible. This was very convenient ground for her defence ; if this infallibility were once conceded, her battle would be already fought, and her victory won ; for nothing Avould then be requisite for the defence of any doctrine of the church, but the mere fact that she held it. The church was not infallible in her practice ; for the lives of the clergy were, for the most part, exceedingly reprehensible: she was infallible only, it seems, in her doctrine : about practice, it would seem, accord ing to them, the Holy Spirit did not care ! Seckendorf remarks, " It is not to be concealed that some of the preachers of Strasburg were not right in their doctrine of the Lord's supper, although there was yet no public con- troversy."f He means that they taught a spiritual participa tion of Christ's body and blood in the holy supper. This was the doctrine of Bucer, Capito, and Hedio. That Zellius taught the same, appears from the defence of his consort against Lewis Rabus : " My dear husband taught, in the Lord's supper, we must not seek Christ in the bread, (as the * Seckendorf, sec. clxii. col. 660. f Ibid. 406 GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. pope does and teaches,) but at the right hand of God the Father, and in the hearts of believers, in which, St. Paul says, God dwells."* The same opinion, as we have elsewhere observed, was entertained by many, especially in southern Germany, before the controversy between Luther and Carl stadt arose. The Christian charity of the church in Strasburg was called into full exercise by the troubles which arose, especially in the year 1525, from the revolts of the peasantry in this part of Germany; The followers of the evangelical doctrine were confounded with the rebellious peasants, and, after the defeat of the insurgents, were exposed, as well as the guilty, to the vengeance of the angry and vindictive rulers. Many of them fled for their lives, and sought refuge in Switzerland, or in the free cities, where the gospel had been received ; and of these not a few came to Strasburg. Their sufferings and wants made large demands upon the pious citizens and their pastors ; and, in all these charities, every one, doubtless, bore his part. The letters of Madame Zellius speak only of the hospitalities of her own house, because her object was only to vindicate herself from the aspersions of her calumniator ; and the part which was borne by her and her worthy consort may be regarded as a specimen of the nature of the demands that were made, and of the charities in which all the pious and their faithful pastors were called to participate. * Fueslin, vol. v. p. 321. BOOK III. SECTION II.— PROGRESS OP THE GOSPEL IN SWITZER LAND FROM ZURICH. CHAPTER I. THE REFORMATION IN THE CITY AND CANTON OF SCHAFFHAUSEN. From Zurich, the doctrine of Zwingle penetrated into Schaffhausen. This canton lies on the right bank of the Rhine, and is separated by that river from the rest of Switzer land. It is, next to Zug, the smallest of the old cantons in territorial extent. Its population is about 30,000. The capital, which bears the same name, is seated on the Rhine, and owes its origin to the interruption of the navigation of that river at the cataract of Lauffen : it contains about 6000 inhabitants. The government is aristocratic. The first laborers in the reformation of this canton were two monks of the order of St. Francis, Sebastian Hoffman and Sebastian Hoffmeister. Hoffmeister was a native of Schaff hausen. He was some time lecturer or preacher to the convent of his order in Zurich, where he heard Zwingle, and became his warm friend and admirer. In 1520, we find him in Con stance, whence he returned to the place of his nativity. Hoff man was born at Strasburg, where he was probably awakened under the ministry of the good and learned Zellius. In 1522, he preached at Luzern. Here his associates were the two canons, Jos. Kilchmeyer and John Zimmerman, (Xylotectus,) and the rector of the school, Oswald Myconius. In this city, he boldly attacked the invocation of the saints ; he was denounced to the bishop ; the bishop fulminated the episcopal ban, and 407 408 HISTORY OF THE Hoffman fled for his safety, but subsequently published a writ ten vindication.* Coming to Schaffhausen, he there met Hoff meister, who had already acquired some notoriety as a preacher of evangelical doctrine. Entertaining the same faith, and find ing here an open door, these two monks now labored zealously in the ministry of reconciliation. Hoffman was permitted to preach in the cathedral, and Hoffmeister in the church of St. John, and in the chapels of several convents. The latter in culcated the four following propositions, viz. : Christ, having ascended into heaven, is not corporeally present on earth ; Christ's body and blood cannot be received corporeally in the holy supper; Christ is not to be anywhere worshipped as corporeally present ; Christ's flesh and blood are received spiritually by a true faith. These propositions were aimed against the Papistic doctrine of the mass, against which the preacher's efforts were directed, as that article of the Romish faith with which the whole system of its superstition must stand or fall. They had no reference to the Lutheran con troversy, which then had no existence ; and they are another instance of the fact, that Zwingle's view of the Lord's supper was substantially entertained by others beside himself, before his own public avowal of it.f The reformers exposed, also, the other errors of the church : they drew large auditories, and brought over several of the city-preachers to theh party. Opposition was to be expected. Adolphus, a physician of the city, and a disciple of Luther, wrote, " The Scribes and Pha risees, Annas and Caiaphas, strive exceedingly, by mandates and apostolic letters, to hinder the work." — "He hoped, nevertheless, that, by the Almighty's aid, Christian truth would prevail."^ Of the prospect of success, in 1523, Hoff meister wrote to Zwingle, " Christ was received in Schaff hausen with great avidity. The government had promised * Hottinger, p. 90. f Zwingle himself declares this, in his treatise De Vera et Falsa Religione, p. 221, 249, 290. X Hottinger, p. 92. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 409 him protection, if he were careful to teach sound doctrine ; which he had hitherto done." The state of things was, nevertheless, far from being perfectly satisfactory ; for, when the government of Zurich sent a deputation to the council with a copy of Zwingle's sixty-seven theses, the deputies were uncivilly sent away ; and we are left to infer, that, when the council promised their protection to Hoffmeister, provided that he taught sound doctrine, he and they did not mean the same thing by that condition.* The heat of opposing parties, and the violence of their dis sensions, were much increased by calling in a new champion, Erasmus Ritter, a learned and eloquent preacher, who was called from Rothweil, in Germany, to defend the cause of Romanism. The government were divided, the lesser council took part with Ritter, the greater council and most of the citizens with the reformers, and the contention became lament able. To gain the multitude, Ritter read mass in German, and overwhelmed his antagonists with railing declamation and charges of heresy. Hoffmeister, who was charged with being the originator of these troubles, was induced, at length, to go to the university oi Basel for a confirmation of his doctrine ; but most of the professors of this institution being zealous Papists, he experienced, what he might have anticipated, a mortifying disappointment. He thought of going, for the same purpose, to Wittenberg ; but was dissuaded by his friends, who, doubt less, disallowed the old practice of referring religious doctrines to the universities for a decision, believing that the Scriptures alone should be consulted in such disputes. He then solicited permission to discuss the controverted doctrines in a public disputation ; but the permission was refused. As a last resort, he laid before the council a defence of his doctrine in writing : t upon which he was ordered to abstain from preaching. He obeyed this order, indeed, but improved every opportunity, at the same time, to promote the Reformation by such other means as he could still employ. The cause of this severity * Hottinger, p. 127. 2K 52 410 HISTORY OF THE toward Hoffmeister is not explained ; but it was, probably, not so much in his doctrine as in his manner: in a want of temper and discretion, and, perhaps, of due respect to the rulers.* It had been long customary in the church to celebrate by a festival the memory of the public entry of Christ into Jeru salem, when he rode upon an ass, while the people went before, and followed, crying, Hosanna to the son of David, strewing his way with green branches, and spreading their garments in his path. The festival was celebrated on the Sunday before Easter, which was thence called Palm-Sunday. A figure of an ass was made of wood, and placed upon a platform that moved upon four wheels, and a priest, or a wooden image of a priest, clad in a peculiar vestment, was seated on it, as a rider, to represent the Son of God. At an early hour, the people assembled, bearing branches of willows for palms, which the chief priest blessed, with long and pompous prayer, to make them effectual against storms and lightning. The priest then prostrated himself before the image, and another struck him with a long switch. When he rose, two others of the company prostrated themselves in like manner, clad in strange attire, and singing a silly ditty ; and, rising again, they pointed to the rider, singing, This is he who is to come to redeem Israel from ihe power of hell, whose way the multitude strewed with palm and olive branches. While this was chaunted, the crowd threw down their branches ; the car and images were then drawn or carried about by four priests wearing gowns, amidst the ringing of bells and the chaunting of the Rex glorise, from Ps. xxiv. 7-10 ; they were borne into the church, preceded by a company of priests, and followed by the multitude, amidst a scramble for the consecrated branches that were to guard them against the tempest and the thunderbolt, f Superstition could hardly sink lower than this wretched prostitution. If infidels should undertake to burlesque the history of our blessed Redeemer, they could scarcely invent a more fitting ceremony. * Hottinger, p. 127. y Neudecker's Lexioon, art. Falm-Esel. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 411 As extremes often meet, so a sottish superstition and a sottish infidelity will not seldom touch one another in the same point. This impious festival, together with the blessing of Easter- bunns, the procession with the sacrament on Whitsuntide, and other solemn mummeries, were still permitted, indeed, to be celebrated this year, but were now prohibited for the future. The film was falling from men's eyes ; the bands which , the hierarchy had drawn around their minds, and fastened upon their moral sensibility, were loosening ; a monk took off his habit, cast it down at the abbot's feet, left the convent, and married ; and the example was followed by others, both priests and monks.* Schaffhausen was the only canton that was represented in the public disputation in Zurich, on the subject of images and the mass, in October, 1523, though all the twelve cantons had been invited. Sebastian Hoffman was one of the three pre siding officers on that occasion ; the others being Joachim von Waat, of St. Gall, and Christopher Schappelar, of Memmingen, in Germany.^ The issue of that disputation made a good im pression at Schaffhausen. Ritter himself became a convert to the evangelical doctrine, and now labored to promote it, with as much assiduity as he had previously apphed in his efforts to crush it. From this time, the cause of the Reformation became more imposing. The abbot Michael surrendered his convent, with all its property, for the support of churches, of schools, and of the poor, reserving only certain annuities for himself and his conventuals ; a convent of nuns also was given up for the same objects ; some holidays and other superstitions were abolished; and two other. preachers were called as assistants to Ritter in his arduous ministry.J The confederates saw these events with great pain. The diet assembled at Zug, in July, 1524, sent an embassy to com plain of these innovations, and to communicate their determi nation to exclude them, by the severest penalties, and at the hazard of their dearest earthly interests, both from their own * Hottinger, p. 128. y Ibid. p. 136. J Ibid. p. 141-183. 412 HISTORY OF THE domains, and from the provinces over which they exercised a common sovereignty. The answer of the council shows how far Romanism still maintained its authority in this canton. "The holy supper, confession, the holy mother of God," say they, " are not dishonored with us ; the mass, canonical hours, extreme unction, are observed; no violence is done to images; but all are commanded, by a public mandate, to leave them undisturbed during the pleasure of government, and to let the government dispose of them ; nevertheless, whoever wishes to take away images consecrated by himself or his ancestors, may do so by license from the burgomaster. . . . Various other ceremonies, or fripperies," they add, "had, indeed, been abolished; divine worship, however, had not been in jured thereby, but, on the contrary, was improved; they put all their trust in the only Saviour, Mediator, and Re deemer, Jesus Christ ; and they left every one to adopt that faith by which he hoped to save his soul."* There was here a very serious departure from the practice of the church, and a still more serious one from her principles ; and the council do not conceal the fact that they might still introduce other changes. Schaffhausen, nevertheless, was yet in a state of transition, neither wholly enlightened nor wholly in darkness. Her government was conservative, will ing to retain most, or many, at least, of the rites and customs of the church. The people, however, were in advance of the rulers, and their impatience compelled the government to change their position, and either to become persecutors for conscience' sake, or to complete the Reformation. Toward the close of the year, some of the citizens began to eat flesh on fast-days, without waiting for government permis sion. Others, thinking the rulers too slow in abolishing image- worship, sallied forth at night and destroyed all the images to which they found access. These proceedings, but particu larly the latter, created a great sensation, and were reprobated as disorderly by all parties. The rioters were arrested and * Hottinger, p. 182. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 413 punished, some with imprisonment, others with fines, and the most guilty with banishment.* During all this time, the- bishop of Constance, to whose diocese this canton belonged, (though not within his secular bishopric,) was not an idle spectator. He urged strenuously the duty of abiding in the faith of the infallible church, and sought to give effect to his exhortations by protests, menaces, and promises. His exertions were, however, fruitless. The council answered, in substance, that all they wanted from him was, that he should permit the word of God to be preached in its unadulterated purity. The pope, also, Clement VII., addressed an epistle to this canton, dated February 5th, 1525, of similar import with another of the 14th of the same month, addressed to Zurich. In both of these briefs, his holiness poured out upon the Re formation, and its promoters, unmeasured vituperation and invective, designed to overwhelm them with a flood of public odium, while he employed the most soothing blandishments to gain and to attach firmly to the communion of the church those in whom a spark of reverence for her institutions con tinued still to glow.f Whatever influence these efforts might have upon members of the council, or upon a few of the citizens, on the mass of the people they seem to have exerted none. The government took possession, about the 16th of May, of the convent of All Saints, which had been surrendered to it ; and this event seems to have given a new impulse to the spirit of the people, who were impatient of the slow action of their rulers in reforming the worship of the church. It was customary, on Whitsuntide, to renew the oath of allegiance to government. When the day arrived, one entire guild, that of the vine-dressers, and other citizens, refused to swear until the government would promise to abolish the use of images. They repeated this demand, soon afterward, in a manner which the rulers deemed it prudent to respect. A commission was appointed to act * Hottinger, p. 183. y Ibid. p. 227. 414 HISTORY OF THE with these citizens in putting away these obnoxious images ; but, when the passions of the multitude had subsided, and the rulers felt themselves in sufficient strength, they retraced their steps, and sent the most violent of the discontented into banishment. An insurrection was the consequence. A small body rose in arms, and demanded liberty of conscience. They were subdued, however, without bloodshed, amerced in heavy fines, and compelled to swear unconditional fealty.* The two reformers, Hoffman and Hoffmeister, were charged with having provoked the insurrection by their preaching, and both were dismissed from their ministry. Hoffmeister went to Zurich, and was appointed preacher at the church of Notre Dame. In 1528, he was called to Bern, and later to Zofin- gen, in the same canton. He died of apoplexy, in 1533. Ritter and his two assistants continued their reforming labors, and ultimately reaped where their predecessors had sown. Schaffhausen was early infested by the Anabaptists who came from the canton of Zurich, and the same troubles that arose from this fanatical sect in other places were experienced also here. The disorder which they introduced became a very serious hinderance to her reformation, and was, doubtless, among the causes that produced the hesitation and the incon sistency which subsequently characterized the action of her rulers. * Hottinger, p. 249. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 415 CHAPTER II. THE REFORMATION IX THE CANTON OF GLAUCS. The canton of Glarus is situated between those of Schweitz and Uri on the west, the Grisons on the south and east, and the counties of Sargans, Werdenberg, and Gaster, now in cluded in the canton of St. Gall, on the east and north. It is enclosed on all sides, except the north, by lofty mountains, whose summits are covered with perpetual snow. It is a mountainous country : only about a fifth part of its surface is arable land, the rest being used as pasturage for cattle, sheep, and goats. The inhabitants are generally a nomadic people. They are estimated at from 24,000 to 30,000. The capital, Glarus, contains 4t)00, who are chiefly employed in manu factures. The name Glarus is a corruption of Hilarius, the name of a saint, in whose honor a shrine had been erected in these mountains. The female abbey of Seckingen was at one time the sovereign of this country, and all the inhabitants, with the exception of forty families, who constituted the nobility, were serfs to the saintly institution. The country passed after wards into the possession of Austria. In the fourteenth cen tury, (1352,) it joined the Swiss confederation : and the two battles of Ndfels, in 1352 and 13SS, in which the Glareans triumphed over superior numbers of their enemy, secured to them the enjoyment of theh independence. The government of this canton is a pure democracy. The sovereign power resides in the landsgemeine, or general assem bly of the people, consisting of all the male natives above the age of sixteen. It meets once a year, elects its magistrates, and decides upon the projects of laws that are submitted to it by the landrath, or general executive council. The landam man is the chief executive magistrate. The landbuch contains 416 HISTORY OF THE the laws of the canton. Among this nomadic people, there reigns as unlimited a freedom as is at all consistent with social order ; the written laws are few, respecting chiefly the safety of persons and property, and the use of commons ; the rest is unwritten usage and ancient custom. As the government of the whole country is dependent from the will of the people, so every particular parish is a community within itself, and is governed in its own affairs by the changeful popular will. Every man is, therefore, a politician from his youth, and occu pies himself, from his boyhood, with the interests of the state and the policy and acts of her rulers. Zwingle's ministry in Glarus terminated in 1516, the same year in which his religious reformation began. In his vicinity were Gregorius Binzli, pastor of Wesen, the instructor and friend of his youth ; Adam Binzli, in the town of Mollis; Var- schon, pastor of Kerenzen ; Fridolin Brunner, and Johannes Schindler. With these he conversed on the corruptions of Christian doctrine in the church ; and the last two he com mended to the church of Glarus, in the dedication of his Resolutiones, or exposition of his theses, in 1523, as faithful evangelical preachers.* Lange names Valentine Tschudy, Fridolin Brunner, and Jacob Fogel, as the first reformers of Glarus.^ Tschudy was the successor of Zwingle in the pastorship. He was a learned and amiable man, a friend of Zwingle, and, in his youth, a pupil of his academy in Glarus. He was a moderate Papist, friendly to the Reformation, but no reformer.^ He did not enter upon the duties of his parish until the year 1522 ; and the vicar whom he employed, though he had previously feigned an attachment to the evangelical doctrines, proved to be a furious enemy, and labored with might and main to destroy the fruit of Zwingle's labor.§ The principal reformer of this canton was Fridolin Brunner. In a letter written to My conius, in 1540, he says : " I was the. first evangelical preacher * Sehuler's Huldr. Zwingli, p. 169. f Hottinger, p. 13. X Hottinger, p. 648. \ Ibid. p. 62. Sehuler's Huldr. Zwingli, p. 225, 226. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 417 in Glarus. I suffered much on that account ; I was deprived of my effects, driven into exile ; in a word, plunged into peril hoth of life and of means of subsistence. But, in all this, God's help and consolation powerfully sustained me."* Being one of Zwingle's early and confidential friends, he was, doubt less, among the first-fruits of his ministry in Glarus: Beside him, we must place Johannes Schindler, whom Zwingle com mends to the Glareans as a faithful minister of Christ ; and others there were, engaged in the same work, whose names are untold. Many of the men of eminence in the republic were prevented, by earthly considerations, from embracing the doctrine of the Reformation, while they respected the person and character of the reformer.f A few of this class received the truth, and were sustained in it by divine grace, unhurt by the madness of the faithless vicar who now occu pied the unfortunate parish. Zwingle preached the sermon at the induction of his suc cessor, Valentine Tschudy, in October, 1522, and, on this occasion, said to the hearers, that he had formerly indulged them in much of human traditions, but would now exhort them to. adhere exclusively to the divine word.J Tschudy read his first mass. He married, some time afterwards, and was, for that reason, forbidden to say mass,, but was not expelled from the living. § The reason of this indulgence, probably, was, that the people themselves possessed the right to elect or to dismiss their pastors, and they were now sufficiently enlight ened to permit them to live in the matrimonial state, though the bishop might interdict the celebration of mass. He died in 1555, and was succeeded by Brunner. Throughout his ministry he remained neutral, neither opposing the gospel nor promoting it ; and when, after the defeat of the Reformed at Cappel, the Papist and the Reformed worship were both per formed in the same church in Glarus, he preached for both parties. Some of the Papists opposed him, desiring to have a * Hottinger, p. 132. f Sehuler's Huldreich Zwingli, p. 168. X Hottinger, p. 92. \ Ibid. p. 648. 53 418 HISTORY OF THE priest who could celebrate mass ; but the influence of his large and noble connections among the people sustained him.* The state of things in the following year may be inferred from a letter, written by one of the Tschudys, in July, 1523. The writer apprized Zwingle that a diet of the confederates, held at Bern, had resolved to apprehend him if he were found within any of their domains, and added, " If you are inclined to make an excursion to us, you may do so cheerfully and safely. It has been proposed in our council, that we should umte with the other confederates in abolishing and prohibiting the evangelical doctrine, agreeably to a resolution of the diet at Baden ; but we were not willing to burden ourselves there with. Our answer will be, We have curators of souls, and trust that they declare to us the truth. Although our kins man, the amman Tschudy, raves with vehement outcry, I trust, nevertheless, that things will soon become better with us."f Two years later, at the Easter festival, in 1525, the landgemeine decreed, that the people should no longer par ticipate in the great crucigerous pilgrimage to Einsiedeln in honor of the holy virgin. The ancient custom required, that one person out of every family should join in this holy expedi tion ;% and this rule had hitherto been scrupulously observed ; but the delusion had now passed away before the light that shone upon the land.§ This canton, nevertheless, proceeded no farther during this period : it did not yet adopt the great principle of the reformers, That the Bible alone is the rule of faith and the fountain of Christian doctrine ; and it was not until after many conflicts that the Reformation ultimately prevailed within its borders. * Hottinger, p. 648. f ^^ P- 181. X Bernhard Weiss, in Fueslin, vol. iv. p. 57. \ Hottinger, p. 239. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 419 CHAPTER III. THE REFORMATION IN THE CANTONS OF SCHWEITZ, ZUG, LUZERN, ETC. West of Glarus, in the Alpine regions, are the cantons of Schweitz, Uri, Unterwalden, and Zug, of which the first three are calkd Waldstadten, or Forest-towns. These four cantons have Luzern and Bern on the west ; the Italian bailiwicks, now the canton of Tessin, or Ticino, on the south ; the Gri sons and Glarus on the east ; and the modern St. Gall and Zurich on the north. The three Forest-towns achieved the victory of Morgarten, in 1315, over Leopold, grand-duke of Austria, and formed the perpetual league of Brunnen on the 9th of December of the same year. They constituted the original confederation of which Schweitz was the principal member. To these, the cantons of Luzern, Zurich, Glarus, Zug, and Bern, acceded prior to the year 1353 ; and these eight cantons were, at the time of the Reformation, called the old cantons. Friburg and Soleure entered the confederacy in 1481, Basel and Schaff hausen in 1501, and Appenzell in 1513. The last five were then the new cantons ; but, in contradistinction from the nine cantons of modern origin, all the thirteen are now called the old cantons. It was in Schweitz that the standard of liberty was first erected, and from this canton the whole country derives its name. Its government is a pure democracy. So, also, are those of Uri, Zug, and Unterwalden. But, strong as is the attachment of the people of these cantons to civil liberty, freedom from human domination in things sphitual has nowhere found less acceptance. They resisted the encroachments of the hierarchy upon their secular rights, or murmured aloud when the power of prevention failed. They even did not 420 HISTORY OF THE hesitate to enter into alliances with foreign princes against the court of Rome, when they could profit by so doing ; . but, wherever religion was concerned, or only seemed to intervene, they submitted with devout reverence to the dictates of the lordly pontiffs. They even asked, as a boon from the pope, permission to eat their own butter and cheese, and started with horror at the suggestion that, by such compliances with the holy father's will, they were serving men and not God. In the canton of Schweitz, where Zwingle himself labored two years and a half, from the end of June, 1516, to the close of December, 1518,* where his doctrine was so well received by the inhabitants of Einsiedeln, and the landrath expressed their regret at his removal, — in this eanton we would have expected an early prevalence of the doctrine of the Reforma tion, and a distinguished work of divine grace ; but here we are painfully disappointed. Schweitz saw in Zwingle a benefi cent luminary, and was willing, for a season, to rejoice in his light ; but, like Chorazin -and Bethsaida, where a greater hght shone, and like the still more favored Capernaum, they soon closed their eyes upon its beams, and returned to their dark ness. The increase is neither of Paul nor Apollos, but of God ; and if he pour out his spirit upon one place, and pass by another, it becomes us to say, with Jesus, " Yea, Father, even so it seemed good in thy sight." In 1522, we find some of the priests of Schweitz advocating the doctrine of the reformer. Among these was Balthazar Trachsel, pastor of the town of Art, and one of the eleven clerics who subscribed the "humble supplication" to bishop Hugo in behalf of the free preaching of the gospel and the marriage of the clergy. In the same year, Zwingle preached again to the pilgrims, who crowded Einsiedeln to pay their devotions to the image of the virgin, at the grand festival of the angelic dedication. f Stapfer, the secretary-general of * He accepted the call to Einsiedeln, April 14th, and took his leave of Glarus, June 30th, 1516. See Sehuler's Huld. Zwingli, p. 222 and note 132. Voegelin's Jahrtafel, anno 1516. y Hottinger, p. 85-86. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 421 the canton, embraced the truth ; and there were, doubtless, many others of less note that followed in the same path, whose names are unknown. But all traces of the evangelical doc trine were soon afterward obliterated by an exasperated bigotry and the terrors of persecution. In the canton of Zug, Jodocus Muller, pastor of Cham, on the Zuger-See, was devoted to the gospel, and suffered many things in its cause. In Zug, the capital, were Werner Steiner and Bartholomew Stocker. These pious men saw, indeed, that the prospect before them, as to the reformation of their country, was'dark and forbidding ; but, hoping for a change, they persevered in labor and affliction while hope sustained them. Steiner was the pastor of a little flock of believers. Zwingle wrote to him, in 1523, " Salute Bartholomew Stocker and your Christian church. Strengthen the church with pure doctrine, and exhort them not to fear, though they be a little flock." But, in the fall of the same year, the pastor was driven into exile, and the church was scattered by persecution. Many of Zug and Bar continued to seek edification by fre quenting the' neighboring church, in Cappel, within the terri tory of Zurich; but, in the following year, this practice was prohibited under a heavy penalty, and the converts were left to choose between a total destitution and a voluntary exile.* Steiner found an asylum in Zurich, where he seems to have spent the remainder of his days. In Uri and Unterwalden, which are situated south of Schweitz and Zug, and more remote from Zurich, the doc trine of the Reformation seems to have made no impression, though it reached beyond them into the Valais and into Italy. Farther west is the canton of Luzern. Its border, on the south and west, is the canton of Bern ; on the north and east it had the same canton and the free bailiwicks, but now the canton of Argau ; on its eastern border are Schweitz and Unterwalden. This canton is the fourth of the Waldstadten, * Hottinger, p. 91, 126. 2L 422 HISTORY OF THE or Forest-towns. Its capital is the city of Luzern. The form of its government is aristocratic. Myconius, the intimate friend of Zwingle, was called to the rectorship of the school of this city, in 1520, and presently began to advocate here the cause of the Reformation. He found both friends and opponents of his doctrine, but, of the former, few who had courage enough even to hope for success. They admitted that the doctrine was Christian, but thought Zwingle and Myconius, unarmed as they were by church power, too weak to sustain it. The opposers ascribed it to the devil, and found the proof of its infernal origin in its con trariety to the established forms. Among the friends of Myconius were the two canons, Jodocus Kilchmeyer and Johannes Zimmerman, or Xylotectus. The former was one of the eleven signers of the "humble supplication" to the bishop, in 1522 : the latter, appalled by the danger, wept when he withheld his subscription. Henry Loritt, the learned and accomplished Glareanus, being on a visit to Luzern, vindi cated Zwingle and Myconius there, ahd subsequently addressed to the latter a hortatory letter to support his courage. He requested Zwingle, at the same time, to do his utmost for him, " lest the madmen, who denounced as a heretic every sincere lover of Christ, should prevail." The reformer advised his oppressed friend to endeavor to win his adversaries by kind ness rather than by disputing. Myconius persisted in his efforts, but his enemies grew in their hostility : toil and care overcame him ; he fell sick. Hoffmeister, at Schaffhausen, learning his situation, comforted him by a letter full of spiritual unction.* It was customary in Luzern to commemorate a former con flagration by a solemn procession bearing crosses, and a Latin oration delivered by a stranger, on the eve of the annunciation of Mary. The duty of delivering the address, in 1522, was committed to Conrad Schmid, knight of the order of St. John of Jerusalem, and commander of Kdsnacht, in the canton of * Hottinger, p. 51, 54, 62, 86. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 423 Zurich. To this honor his merit commended him ; but he had embraced the reformed doctrine. Instead of addressing his auditory in Latin, he astonished them by speaking in the vernacular tongue, and, in place of the customary oration, preaching an evangelical sermon. He taught them "that God had promised forgiveness of sins in Christ, and had sealed his promise by the sacraments ; nevertheless, no one must presume, on account of this mercy, to indulge in sin ; this grace is obtained by faith only, and not by works ; as Christ is our head, is always with us, and is never separated from his body, the church, we need no representative of him, and the pope is, therefore, neither a vicar of Christ, nor head of the church." Though some heard this discourse with pleasure, others raised a vehement outcry against it. Schmid was induced to publish it for his own vindication, and a sharp controversy ensued between him and the pastor of Luzern.* About the same time, a priest having eloped with the wife of a citizen, the injured husband pursued the fugitives, and brought back his faithless partner ; but he received from the spiritual father a wound, of which he afterward died. Kilch meyer was moved, by this occurrence, to preach against the law of celibacy. But his honest appeals were fruitless. A priest, who had contracted a matrimonial engagement with a nun, was obliged to flee for his safety, and the intended bride was subjected to close confinement. Kilchmeyer was called to account for his preaching, while the murderous adulterer, so far as appears, went unpunished. The civil authority could not punish him, and, the ecclesiastical, it seems, would not. Not long afterwards, Kilchmeyer was prosecuted for his signa ture to the "humble supplication" of Einsiedeln, and the prosecution was marked by such bitterness, that he was neces sitated, after some delay, to seek a residence elsewhere.f Sebastian Hoffman oi Strasburg preached in Luzern against the invocation of saints, and was forced away by an episcopal ban. Myconius foresaw that he would not fare better, and * Hottinger, p. 80. y Ibid. p. 89. 424 HISTORY OF THE took his dismission. Zwingle wished him to continue longer, but this he found impossible ; and, being called to Einsiedeln by the administrator Geroldseck, he accepted the new situa tion, and left the place of his nativity, the home and the friends of his youth, for ever.* Kilchmeyer and Zimmerman protracted their stay until 1523 or 1524, when they, also, bade adieu to their country and people. Zimmerman went to Basel, where he died of the plague, in 1526. Kilchmeyer took up his abode in Zurich. Luzern was now left to the darkness which it loved. Severe measures were adopted against the so-called Lutheran doctrine ; internal disputation on the subject of religion ceased, and a calm ensued. It was the calm of death, from which the canton woke not again ; and Luzern was now the most embittered of the hostile con federates, f Between the canton oiBern, on the east and north, and the Pays de Vaud, now the canton of Vaud, on the south and west, is the canton of Friburg or Freiburg, i. e. Freeburg. Its population is differently estimated at from 67,000 to 84,000. After the fall of the western empire, this country and the neighboring parts of Bern, were so utterly desolated by the irruptions of the Allemani and other barbarous hordes, that they received the name of Uchtland, a .corruption of of Oedland, from the adjective oede, that is, desolate, and, in Latin writers, Desertum Helvetiorum, desert of the Helvetians. The capital, Friburg, contains about 6500 inhabitants. It was originally a free city, as its name imports, independent of the neighboring feudal lords, and possessing a small terri tory around it ; but, by degrees it enlarged its jurisdiction, until it acquired the whole country which now constitutes the canton. Its government at the time of the Reformation, and until the political changes which took place after the French invasion, in 1798, was aristocratic. North of Friburg, and separated from it by a part of the territory of Bern, is the canton of Soleure, or Solothurn. It * Hottinger, p. 90, 99. y Ibid- P- I28- GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 425 borders, in the north, on Alsace, now a part of France, and the canton of Band ; in the east, on Aryan, now the canton of that name ; in the south, on Bern ; and west, on the bishop ric of Basel, now included in the last-named canton. Its population is about 54,000. Soleure. or Solothitrn. situated on the Aar, and eontaining*»bout 4000 inhabitants, is the capital. The government is aristocratic. Both these cantons were, from the commencement of the struggle for religious liberty, more indulgent to the Reforma tion than the- five last named, and in Soleure, particularly. the prospect of success was at one time very flattering : but, during this period, little that is important presents itself to our notice. In Fribura. the cantor, John Vannius. the organist, John Kother, and Peter Falk. one of the rulers, were friends of the truth, and a priest, whose name is not given, preached the gospel with such power, that hope of a favorable issue was entertained. In Soleure. the eity-elerk. Maerinus, in a letter to Zwingle, expressing his attachment to the evangelical doctrine, stated that not a few in the city were of the same sentiment. He became involved in disputes with some of the priests about the mass, the priestly office, -so. The government interposed. and promised, if the parties could not agree, to call in Zwingle and other learned men. A year later, a certain Franciscan had influence enough with the rulers to persuade them, in a noiseless way, to set themselves against the propagation of the new opinions. To this determination, it is not improbable. they were the more easily brought by the indiscreet real of some converts, who, thinking they ought at onee to let their light shine before men, dishonored the church-laws by eating , flesh on the customary fast-days. A shock was given to Popish prejudices by this ill-thned assertion of Christian Uberty, and every thing was put in jeopardy. The offenders were banished: Maerinus. the preacher. Philip Gros, and four others, were sent away. Maerinus was afterward restored; but on the condition that he should not speak of Luther nor 3t2 5i 426 GERMxiN REFORMED CHURCH. of his doctrine, and should deliver up all heretical books. These measures arrested the work of reformation in this canton during the remainder of this period ; but a leaven was still left, that wrought unseen, and became apparent when time and circumstances favored its manifestation.* * Hottinger, p. 91, 126. BOOK III. SECTION III.— PROPAGATION OF THE GOSPEL FEOM ZURICH AND CONSTANCE IN THE EASTERN PART OF SWITZERLAND. From Zurich and Constance, the Reformation soon reached the free imperial city of St. Gall, the territories of the abbey of St. Gall, the counties of Thurgau, Rhinethal, Tokkenburg, &c, the canton of Appenzell, and the country of the Grisons. To these localities we shall now give attention, without, how ever, observing the order in which they are enumerated. CHAPTER I. THE REFORMATION IN THE FREE CITY OF ST. GAEL. Central to all but the last of these countries, is the city of St. Gall, now the capital of the canton of the same name, which was formed by the French, in 1803. It derives its name and its origin from the rich Benedictine abbey once situated within its walls, but suppressed in 1814. The number of its inhabitants is about nine thousand. It was formerly subject to the abbey, but, at the time of the Reformation, was a free state, in alhance with the old cantons, and represented by a delegate in theh diets. Its government was administered by a great and a lesser council, over which the burgomaster presided. Its trade and commerce enriched the citizens, and made it a centre of intelligence and refinement, and, at the same time, supplied facilities for the introduction of the Re formed doctrines. 427 428 HISTORY OF THE The chief mover in the reformation of this city was Joachim von Waat, or Vadianus, a nobleman, a man of letters, and a physician. He was a native of St. Gall, born December 30th, 1484. His name was held in honor, and his acquaintance was cherished by the learned and good of every country. In his youth, he was a fellow-student, at Vienna, oi Zwingle, Glareanus, Eckius, and Faber, and formed with the first that friendship which bound him in affection to the reformer of his country throughout life. He subsequently taught in a school at Villaeh, in Carinthia, whence he returned to Vienna. The fame of his talents, his writings, and his public disputations soon brought him eminence and honors. In consequence of some complimentary verses composed by him, in honor of the emperors Frederick III. and Maximilian I., the latter, in 1514, conferred on him the distinction of poet-laureate. He travelled through Hungary, Poland, and Italy, visited his paternal home in 1514 or 1515, and, on his return, was appointed professor of philosophy and rhetoric, and vice-chancellor of the univer sity. On account of the plague, which raged at Vienna, he resigned his office, and returned to his own country in 1518. Here he was elected a member of the lesser, or executive council, and burgomaster of the city, and closed an honorable and useful life by his death, on the 6th of April, 1551, in the sixty-seventh year of his age. His valuable library he be queathed to the city, where it is still preserved. It contains many precious manuscripts, among which is a chronicle com prehending thirteen folio volumes of letters of the most ce lebrated Swiss and German reformers.* Vadianus did not attempt to reform by obtruding himself as a public teacher of religion ; but he sustained and directed the movements of others, to whose office the duty of public in struction pertained. The first evangelical preachers of this city were Benedict Burgauer and his assistant, or deacon, Wolfgang Wetter, who, as early as 1521, had already laid a * Edinburgh Encyc, art. St. Gall. Hottinger, p. 38, 796. Sehuler's Huld- reich Zwingli, p. 184. GERMxiN REFORMED CHURCH. 429 good foundation for the Reformed faith.* They were joined, in 1523, by John Kessler, a theological graduate, who had studied, successively, at Basel and at Wittenberg. He was one of the two young Swiss of St. Gall- who met Luther at the inn at Jena, travelling in the habit of a knight, on his way to Wit- tcnberg, from his late concealment in the castle of Wartburg, whose story D'Aubigne" tells, f and who were so captivated by the manner and the conversation of the stranger, that they talked of him with admiration as they went. On his return to his native city, he was immediately called to preach the gospel, though not ordained. "In 1523," says he, in one of his letters, '"when I returned from Wittenberg, I was appointed to preach, and co-operated, from the beginning, with Benedict and Wolfgang, "t In the same year, Hubmeyer, of Walds hut. being on a visit to St. Gall, preached in the church of St. Manges ; and, on the occasion of the customary great pro cession to the church of St. Laurence, on the third of May, so great was the concourse of eager listeners, that he addressed them in the open air, and afterwards, in the market-place, spoke to them from the window of an adjoining house. At the request of the citizens, in 1524, Kessler spent an hour, on every Sunday and Friday morning, in expounding to them the word of God. Subsequently, Wolfgang Fhnan, a monk of St. Luke's, at Coire. and Dominicus Zilli, a schoolmaster, were successively called to perform the same office. The people hungered and thh-sted for the word of God, but there was none to feed them. The priests and the monks, who oucht to have ministered to them the bread and the water of life, were intent only on the enjoyment of theh ease, while they feasted themselves on the fat of the land, and left the famishing flocks to provide for themselves as they best could; and hence it was, that any who cared for theh souls, and possessed an acquaintance with the Holy Scriptures, were gladly accepted as religious teachers. J * Hottinger, p. 64. f Hist, of the Ref., vol. iii. p. 68. X Hottinger, p. 12S. | Ibid. p. 152. 430 HISTORY OF THE St. Gall was represented at the public disputation in Zurich, on the subject of images and the mass, in October, 1523, by Vadianus and Burgauer ; and the former was one of the three moderators who presided on that occasion.* The result of that meeting was propitious to the cause of the Reformation. The council of St. Gall published a mandate, on the 5th of April, 1524, commanding the pastors and preachers of the parish churches to preach the word of God, and nothing else, in their pulpits ; and they followed the example of Zurich, in the abolition of image-worship, so far as existing chcumstances would permit. They permitted the images to be privately removed from the ohurches, and, soon after, ordered their removal from the streets and highways, and from under shadowy trees, where they were honored by the people with religious veneration, like the idols of the apostate Jews of old, which they had set up on every high hill and under every green tree.f Kessler was authorized to have his morning service in the church of St. Laurence, from which arose the morning lectures, that are still continued, or were, at least, in Hottinger's time. The ancient custom, also, of taking up collections on every Lord's day for the relief of the poor, which the apostles had introduced, was restored. The Papist worship was retained in the cathedral and in the chapels of the monasteries. Their preachers were sometimes interrogated by over-zealous citizens, not only in the streets, but even in the pulpits, respecting the ground of their faith. This prac tice always created irritation. It was, therefore, prohibited ; and those who desired to be informed of the doctrine of reli gion were directed to apply to the counsellor Vadianus, to the preachers Burgauer and Wetter, and to the city-clerk, Fechter.J This city, as a place of confluence from all parts of Switzer land, was early infested by the fanatical Anabaptists. The monk Ulman became a convert, and was baptized by immersion, * Hottinger, p. 136. f ^^ P- 18°- 2 K^gs, xvii. 10. X Hottinger, p. 195. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 431 by Conrad Grebel, in the Rhine, at Schaffhausen. Returning to St. Gall, he there propagated his new opinions. He now forsook the churches, as the residence of an antichristian worship, and preached in the market-place, the fields, and the woods. Grebel soon followed. He was received by the new disciples with joy, and many of them were by him immersed in the Sitter. Some of the enthusiasts of Zollikon, near Zurich, came, also, and with them some of those who had escaped from prison, and were proclaiming their miraculous deliverance by an angel. The infection spread with amazing rapidity, and in a short time the new church numbered eight hundred members. Adult baptism was their passport to heaven. "The converts," says Hottinger, "inquired only for the baptizing-house, and returned from it as if they had been at a barber's shop."* St. Gall was their "Little Jeru salem." The leaders conceived that they ought, like the apostles, to go forth into all the parishes. They went forth, accordingly, every morning, toward the east and west, the north and south. One of them, John Kriisi, went southward to Teufien, in Appenzell, and there effected the expulsion of the aged, learned, and meritorious Sheurtanner, who, unpre pared for such a shock, sank under the weight of his grief, and died. Kriisi was seized at St. Georges, in the territories of the abbey, and sent to Luzern, where he was burnt alive for heresy. Two others of their preachers were burnt in the canton of Schweitz. They endured the flames with heroic fortitude, and with constant invocation of the name of Christ. To prevent disorders, the government forbade all preaching without the churches ; but no heed was given to their decree. The uneducated preachers sought to cover their ignorance and want of mental discipline by commencing their discourses with the words of Christ, " I thank thee, 0 Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hidden these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes."f At this time, (1525,) Zwingle published two works against * Hottinger, p. 266. t Und- 432 HISTORY OF THE the Anabaptists, one of which he- dedicated to the people of his native country, Tokkenburg, and the other to the council of St. Gall. When Dominicus Zilli attempted to read from this latter work, for the information of the Anabaptists, they left the church, exclaiming, that, in the church, the word of God, and not the word of Zwingle, should be read. " With the word of God, however," says Hottinger, " they dealt no better. The New Testament they tore and cast into the fire, saying, The Testament consists in the spirit : the letter kills, but the spirit quickens." The horrible tragedy, which was acted at the house of Shugger, on the Mhlegg, where one of the sons, in a fanatical frenzy, cut off the head of his brother, in a fancied obedience to the will of God, dispelled the strange illusion ; and the slaughtered brother's head and the wild hallucination of Anabaptism fell together in St. Gall. CHAPTER II. THE REFORMATION IN THE CANTON OF APPENZELL. South of St. Gall, and surrounded by the countries which now form the canton of the same name, is the canton of Appenzell. Appenzell is divided into the outer and the inner rhode. The former is much the most populous. The govern ment of this canton is democratic: it is composed of the landgemeine, or general assembly of the people, in which all the male natives above eighteen years of age are entitled to vote, and which meets once a year ; the landrath, or general council, which is elected by the people ; and the landamman, or chief executive, who is chosen in the same way. The council propose all laws to the people assembled in the landgemeine, from whose sanction th,ey receive their legal validity. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 433 Since the year 1597, the two rhodes, into which the canton is divided, constitute two distinct republics, each having its own internal government, and being independent of the other ; but in their external relations they are considered one canton, and are represented in the diet by one delegate, who is appointed alternately by the outer or the inner rhode. The capital of the outer rhode is Trogen; that of the inner is Appenzell. This country was little known before the seventh or the eighth century, when the Frankish kings, who ruled over Eastern Helvetia, bestowed the royal domains in this wilder ness to the abbey of St. Gall. By degrees, the abbey acquired the jurisdiction of the whole country, which was confirmed to it by the emperor Adolphus of Nassau, in 1292. The abbot built a monastery, dependent on that of St. Gall, in this remote solitude, which was called Abbatis Cella, i. e. the abbot's cell ; in German, Abten Zell, which, for easier pro nunciation, was changed into Appen-Zell. In process of time the monastery gave birth to a town that grew up around it and received its name ; and as the abbot's jurisdiction was gradually spread over the country around his cell, the name spread with it, and was given to all the land over which it extended. The inhabitants of this country enjoyed considerable privi leges under the dominion of the abbey ; but, under such a government, much depended on the personal character of the abbot for the time being. Some of the abbots encroached, or suffered their bailiffs to encroach, on the liberties of the people ; they levied new taxes on their butter and cheese that were already taxed, and committed other acts of oppression. The people complained ; but they complained in vain : despair ing of redress from their oppressors, they resolved to right themselves, and, taking up arms, threw off the abbot's yoke. A war ensued, in which both parties found allies, and fierce battles were fought ; but the people triumphed, and, after a hard conflict, Appenzell was acknowledged as an independent state. In 1513, it was received into the Swiss confederation, 2M 55 434 HISTORY OF THE and became the thirteenth and last of the old cantons. The Appenzellers have ever since retained their independence and their simple form of government, except during the French domination, after the invasion of 1798 ; a time when nations ran mad with false notions of liberty. The year in which this canton was reformed is not exactly known ; but it is certain that its reformation was early, and that it began in many places at the same time. Twenty-six of the priests had declared themselves on the side of the reformation as early as 1522. The writings of the reformers had brought them to a stand ; they examined the Holy Scrip tures, and were taught by them to see the errors of the reign ing superstition. Enlightened by the knowledge of the truth, the example of Zurich emboldened them to expose the cor ruptions of the church. The first who ventured upon this warfare was the venerable and exemplary pastor of Teufen, Jacob Sheuertanner, to whom Zwingle subsequently dedicated his book on the pastoral office, entitled, " The Shepherd." He died, as we have elsewhere said, of a broken heart, in consequence of his expulsion by the Anabaptist Kriisi, who destroyed his work, pretending to teach a purer gospel.* The chief antagonist of these preachers was Theobald Hii- ter, pastor in Appenzell, a shrewd, crafty priest, whom Zwin gle called "the papal fox." While a general awakening was spreading over the parishes of the outer rhode, Hiiter was vigilant in guarding the inner rhode against the infection of the new doctrines. He was disturbed, however, even in Ap penzell, by the two chaplains, John Hess and Ulric Urnesh, who preached the Reformed doctrines. Two other chaplains supported Hiiter. The council were favorable to free discus sion. Willing that the people should be informed of the claims of both forms of doctrine, they ordained that both should be preached alternately. " In pursuance of this order," says Lange, a Papist writer, " Hiiter had preached a sermon; but when Hess, in his turn, attempted to do the same, a com- * Hottinger, p. 92. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 435 mon peasant, moved by the excellently good old Roman Ca tholic zeal, laid hold upon him publicly, in the church, and would not suffer him to enter the pulpit ; and afterwards, the women having supplied themselves with stones, the preacher was compelled, in the tumult, to flee for his safety."* This seemed to Lange a very pleasant occurrence. Examples of this sort of Roman Catholic zeal were by no means rare, and men like this writer might often enjoy the same felicitation. In July, 1524, a deputation from the diet of the confede rates assembled at Zug, arrived, to remonstrate against the growing defection from the faith of the church, and to hold forth the same means of intimidation which they had employed in Zurich. The mission was, however, without effect, f In the same year, the landgemeine, at a full meeting, both elected officers of the Reformed religion .and adopted the distinctive principle of the Reformation, That the Bible is the only rule of faith and practice. A decree was passed, and subsequently read in all the parishes, commanding all the priests to preach only what they could sustain by the Holy Scriptures ; those who would still teach otherwise, were to be deprived of their livings and banished from the country ; every priest was re quired to give security, in a penalty of a hundred guilders, to make the Old and New Testament the standard of his preach ing ; no preacher was to be contradicted publicly in the pulpit ; and no other than the word of God was to be the judge of controversy-! Though this decree was adopted in the landgemeine by a large majority, it was far from being quietly submitted to by all, especially in those parishes where the majority were still Papists. The opposition was so serious, that the landrath, anxious for the public tranquillity, solicited Zurich and Schaff hausen to mediate between the parties, requesting them, also, to send with their deputations two of their learned men, who might meet the opponents in a public discussion. Deputations came, accordingly from those states, and with them came Leo * Hottinger, p. 93. -j- Ibid, p." 183. J Ibid. p. 193. 436 HISTORY OF THE Juda from Zurich, and Sebastian Hoffmeister from Schaff hausen ; but, before their arrival, an accommodation had been effected.* What this accommodation was, Hottinger does not inform us ; but we learn, from another source; that, after a violent contention, it was agreed to let every parish decide for itself upon the question at issue. This was, accordingly, done ; and six out of the eight parishes of the canton adopted the Reformation, and proceeded immediately, without regard to further consequences, to reform their worship. f The most prominent of the reformers of Appenzell was Walter Klarer. He returned, in 1521, from his studies in Paris, where he had spent four years as a royal stipendiary. In the following year, he became pastor of his native town, Hundwyl, where he spent the remainder of his days. He was still living, and actively engaged in the work of the ministry, in 1584. The time of his death is unknown. He is the author of a history of the reformation in Appenzell, written in 1565, which is preserved in Simler's collection of manuscripts, in the citizens' hbrary at Zurich. Appenzell shared largely in the disturbances created by the Anabaptists. They were lamentably united in theh efforts to expose to public odium the evangelical preachers who did not embrace their creed, and were thus, without intending it, efficient auxiliaries to the papacy. Theh number in this canton was estimated at twelve hundred, and their fanatical zeal multiplied their importance for evil tenfold. * Hottinger, p. 194. f Gieseler's Lehrb., vol. iii. p. 168. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 437 CHAPTER III. THE REFORMATION IN THE COUNTIES OF THTJROAU, RHINETHAL, THE TERRITORIES OF THE ABBEY, Ao. North of Appenzell, was the territory of the abbey of St. Gall, extending from lake Constance, on the east, to the canton of Zurich, in the west. Its sovereign was the abbot, who governed it by a captain-general, under the protection of the four cantons of Zurich, Glarus, Schweitz, and Luzern. The inhabitants were serfs, who were bowed down under a heavy yoke and oppressive burdens. East of Appenzell, between that canton and the Rhine, lay the Rhinethal, or valley of the Rhine, extending along that river from lake Constance, in the north, to the county of Werdenberg, in the south. It was subject to the eight ancient cantons of Zurich, Bern, Luzern, Zug, Schweitz, Glarus, Uri, and Unterwalden, who appointed its landvogt, or governor. West of Appenzell, and bordering upon Zurich, is the county of Tokkenburg, the native country of Zwingle. Its temporal lord was the abbot of St. Gall, under the supremacy of the canton of Schweitz. Its internal government was administered by a landrath, or general council, composed of citizens who were elected by the people in their landgemeine, or general meeting. A landvogt, or governor, who represented the abbot, presided in its sessions as umpire, but exercised no other pre rogative. The landrath reported its proceedings to the govern ment of Schweitz. This country had long since passed from the ancient counts of Tokkenburg to the abbey of St. Gall, which enjoyed its revenues. Under the administration of its new lords, the inhabitants had, about the time of Zwingle's birth, by long and arduous struggles, disenthralled themselves from feudal servitude. They now breathed the air of free dom, and enjoyed, in their delightful freshness, the first fruits of liberty. 2 m 2 438 HISTORY OF THE North of the territory of the abbey, bordering upon lake Constance and the river Rhine, in the east and north, and bounded by Zurich, in the west, lies the county of Thurgau, now the canton of that name. It was a dependency, in crimi nal jurisdiction, of the ten cantons of Zurich, Bern, Luzern, Zug, Schweitz, Glarus, Uri, Unterwalden, Friburg, and So leure; perhaps of the eight more ancient cantons only, in other matters. It was wrested from Austria in 1460. Frauenfield is the capital. Its internal administration was vested in a governor, appointed by the confederates, a judicial body of fifty-five justiciaries, and a landgemeine, composed of these justiciaries and the anivalte, or representatives of the several parishes. South of Werdenberg, between the Grisons, on the east and south, and Glarus, on the west, is the county of Sargans, a dependency of seven of the cantons ; and west of Werdenberg and Tokkenburg is the county of Gaster. All these, (except Thurgau,) with the cities of Rapperschioyl and Utznach, and the towns of Schanis and Wesen, are now comprehended in the new canton of St. Gall. The doctrine of the reformers appears to have penetrated into Thurgau at an early period of the Reformation. In 1523, it had already entered into one, at least, of the monastic institutions, the female convent of Danikon, or Tenikon, some of whose inmates had relinquished their order, and entered into the bonds of wedlock. But its progress was greatly accelerated by the persecution which arose in Germany after the insurrection of the peasants, in 1525. The adherents of the Reformation being confounded with the late insurgents, they were exposed, with the guilty, to the vengeance of the exasperated rulers, who adhered to the Romish faith. Their preachers were particularly the objects of persecution. Many of them sought a refuge from the storm in Switzerland, and some, coming into Thurgau, propagated their doctrine in this more hospitable region. The bishop, Hugo of Constance, requested the governor to arrest these fugitives. The ruling cantons, also, gave orders to the same functionary to appre- GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 439 hend the recreant nuns, but it was easier to give orders of this kind than to execute them. In the same year, inroads began to be made upon the ceremonies of the church, particularly in the mass and the form of baptism, and the law of celibacy was falling into neglect. A decree was, therefore, published, by a diet of the ruling cantons assembled at Frauenfield, forbid ding these departures from the laws and usages of the church, and threatening every priest, who should disobey, with expul sion from his benefice. The Reformation having extended into the territory of the abbey, the deputies of three of the guardian states, assembled at Rapperschwyl, on the Zurich- See, directed the captain-general to publish the same decree throughout his jurisdiction, and to arrest every one who should contravene it in any particular, declaring their settled pur pose to preserve the ancient customs unchanged, and to visit every offence with the rigors of punishment. These measures were, however, ineffectual. There was a voice that spoke to the heart, and spoke louder than the decrees of earthly rulers : it was the plague that spread its desolations over the land, and waked up men's consciences to a sense of their sins^ and a recognition of the judgment of God : they felt their need of support and consolation from religion, and they found it best, or found it alone, in the doc trine of the reformers and the word of God. They betook themselves to the Bible and to the ministry of the Reforma tion, and repaired to Constance, and to other places in their vicinity, to be edified by the preaching of the pure gospel, and carried thither, also, their infant children, to dedicate them to God. Among these anxious inquirers were the nuns of the monastery of Miinsterlingcn, whom the Lord's spirit had touched and had disquieted in their lonely habitation. They felt the want of something, which neither the convent nor the church of Rome supplied, for the peace of their souls ; and in their distress, they issued forth from their cloister, and heard the ministers of the word, to learn from their instruc tions the way of eternal life. The Papist rulers became more alarmed ; deputies from six 440 HISTORY OF THE of the cantons assembled at Tobel, in the vicinity of the in fected districts ; they summoned before them the representa tives of the disaffected parishes, to account for theh pro ceedings, and issued a mandate, by which they rebuked the adherents of the new doctrine, for their obstinacy in what they called the Lutheran heresy, and threatened them with the vengeance of the ruling states if they should still persist in the same errors. A special deputation was sent to M'dn- sterlingen to reclaim the nuns from their offences, and to keep them to their vows by the terrors of punishment. But all these efforts could not prevent the progress of the truth. Men's hearts might fear, indeed, the wrath of men, and shrink from pains and penalties ; but they feared the wrath of Heaven more, when his judgments were abroad : and those who had tasted the richness of redeeming grace were constrained by a nobler motive, a principle which nothing could overcome, the power of love.* In Tokkenburg, the preachers of the reformation found a soil prepared for the reception of the divine word, and a rich harvest soon rewarded their faithful labor. We find no ac count of the first introduction of the Reformed faith into this country, nor of the devoted men who laid the foundation of its reformation ; but it is manifest that it soon participated in the reforming activity which prevailed in Zurich and its vicinity. In the summer of 1524, the effect of the hidden leaven appeared on the surface ; the landrath, at the instance of the people, convened the clergy within their limits, and enjoined them to preach the word of God without human addi tions, and to teach only what they could prove by the Holy Scriptures. This was the decisive act that everywhere proved fatal to the doctrine oi Rome. Some of their priests con tinued, nevertheless, to maintain the superstitions of the church ; and, in order to silence their brethren, or to distress them at least, preferred complaints against them to the bishop at Constance. The bishop applied to the abbot of St. Gall, as * Hottinger, p. 143, 237, 252. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 441 the temporal lord of Tokkenburg, and the abbot, no longer possessing the power of coercion, submitted the case to the landrath. But the landrath were not now, as they once had been, obedient sons of the church : a fact which the prelate, perhaps, had not yet observed. The spiritual father at Con stance complained, particularly, that these preachers refused to pay the poenales and to submit to the authority of the chapter. Their reply was worthy of freemen and Christians. They appealed to the command given them by the landrath, to preach exclusively the doctrine of the Bible ; and declared their readiness to show that they had faithfully conformed to that divine rule. Their office, they said, did not permit them to publish in the church any thing but the word of God. The poenales they did not owe. They were willing to do any thing, not for the chapter only, but for the humblest indivi dual, if it were in accordance with the Holy Scripture, but whatever was contrary to that rule they would do for no one, however mighty and great he might be. The landrath ac cepted their plea, and reaffirmed their former injunction. Papal and episcopal briefs ceased to be published in the pul pits, and poenales were abolished.* The landamman and landrath of Schweitz now interposed, as the supreme authority in Tokkenburg, by a mandate, dated in-December of the same year. They spoke in strong terms of reprobation of the Lutheran and Zwinglian sect, and strenuously urged their utter extinction, lamenting over theh tendency to diminish the honors of the mother of God, and of the other saints, and the credit of the laudable customs which holy men had introduced and theh forefathers had reverenced. This missive, conceived in the spirit which had dictated the menacing message of the confederates to Zurich, and exem plified in the fate of the unfortunate Hottinger and other victims, created some alarm. It failed, nevertheless, to accom plish its design. In the following year, three of the parishes * Hottinger, p. 187, 210, 254. 56 442 HISTORY OF THE followed the example of Zurich in abolishing the mass. Schweitz and Glarus now addressed a joint missive of similar tenor to the landrath. Some members of the council became alarmed, and were inclined to make their submission, but others would consent to nothing that contravened the word of God. The matter was ultimately referred to the people, in their respective parishes, for a decision. All the parishes resolved to adhere to the gospel, and besought the landrath, who had a year before commanded their preachers to make the written word exclusively the rule of their teaching, to pro tect them in the enjoyment of this right, and for that object to hazard every other interest. The council assented, and confirmed anew their previous order. It Was a time of rebuke and affliction. The terrible scourge that swept over the land, and sent so many to the judgment-seat of God, awakened fears which nothing but the gospel could compose. Men stood in awe of the almighty and holy Being in whose power they felt themselves to be. They looked about them for support and comfort in their distress. They found it in the word of God and the hope which it inspired ; and, having tasted the preciousness of its consolations, they were prepared to suffer the loss of all things that they might secure this better and more enduring substance.* From Appenzell, the doctrine of the reformers spread into the adjacent Rheinthal, whose governor received orders from the sovereign confederates to apprehend and confine every evangelical preacher. But these were orders which it was impossible to execute. If one preacher was arrested, another rose in his place ; and where God poured out his spirit upon the people, the contradiction of men was a vain thing. It might increase the conflict of darkness with the light, but it could not ultimately prevail, f In the county of Sargans, two priests were prosecuted for heresy. The one had denounced the mass, and the other had married a wife. The former was dragged to prison, and the * Hottinger, p. 254. J Ibid. p. 194. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 443 latter driven into exile. But the gospel was not expelled by these severities. Jacob Russinger, abbot of the monastery of Pfeffers, writing to Zwingle, in March, 1523, said: "When we write to you, our beloved, it is not for our own sake only, but for those, also, who are related to us in the bonds of Christian love, and, with us, adhere to the evangehcal doc trine, of whom we have a goodly number."* This prelate, indeed, was allured back to the embraces of Rome by flatter ing attentions, and the hope of a cardinalship ; but neither did his defection wholly arrest the progress of the truth. CHAPTER IV. REFORM A nOX IX THE GRISOXS, OR GBAU-BUXDEX. The country of the Grisons is bounded on the north and the east by the Voralberg and the county of Tyrol, in Austria ; on the south by the Valteline, the dutchy of Milan, and the new canton of Ticino; on the west and north-west by the cantons of Uri and Glarus, and the county of Sargans, now included in the new canton of St. Gall. The inhabitants of this country are variously estimated at from 75,000 to 96,000. The languages spoken among them are the Swiss-German, the Romansh, or Ladin, being a mixture of Latin, Itahan, and German, and a dialect of the Itahans. At the time of the Reformation, this country was a con federation of three leagues, viz., the Gray-league, of which Ilantz is the chief town ; the league of the House of God, the capital of which, and of the whole country, is Coire, Coira, or Chur; and the league of Ten Jurisdictions, the chief town of which is Davos. " The origin of the confederacy of the Grisons dates from * Hottinger, p. 132. 444 HISTORY OF THE the beginning of the fifteenth century, when the chief inhabit ants of the various communes in the valleys of the Upper Rhine, weary of the cruelties and oppressions of their feudal lords, assembled in a forest near the village of Trons, and there entered into a solemn compact to defend each other's property and persons, and to oblige their lords to respect the same. The abbot of Disentis willingly agreed to the compact, the counts of Werdenberg, Sax, and Rhaezuns followed the example, and, in the month of May, 1424, they all repaired to the village of Trons, and there, under a large maple-tree, swore, in the name of the Holy Trinity, to observe the con ditions of the league, which was called the Gray-league, (Grau-bund,) from their being dressed in gray smock-frocks. The maple-tree at Trons still existed at the end of the last century, when it was felled during the French invasion. The valleys of Lower Rhaetia, near Coire, also formed themselves into another league, with the consent of the bishop of Coire, and this league was called Caddea, a corruption of Casa Dei, i. e. the House of God, because those communities were mostly subject to the bishop's see. A third league was formed, in 1436, after the extinction of the house of Tokkenburg, among the communes of Eastern Rhaetia, in the valleys of the Albula and the Lanquart, of which Davos was the chief place." " The confederacy is divided into twenty-five jurisdictions ; each jurisdiction appoints its own magistrates, and makes its own laws and local regulations, by the consent of three-fourths of its citizens, that is to say, of all above the age of seventeen years, and appoints two or more deputies to the great council, which is the legislative body for the whole, and which, again, sends deputies to the annual Swiss diet, to represent the can ton. But the laws enacted by the great council are subject to the approbation of the various jurisdictions. The little council, of three members, is entrusted with the execution of the laws, and with measures for the general security." At the time of the Reformation, the three leagues were an independent people, in alliance with the Swiss confederation. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 445 They became an integral part of it, by the act of mediation, under Bonaparte, in 1803. A Rhaetian history, in manuscript, quoted by Hottinger, places the commencement of the reformation of this country in 1524 or 1525, the year in which a considerable portion of its inhabitants withdrew from the communion of Rome. This movement began in the league of the Ten Jurisdictions, where the towns of Flesch, Malans, Mayenfield, &c. were the first that received the pure gospel ; and, from these, its doctrine quickly spread over the communities of the three leagues.* Jacob Biirkli, of Zurich, is named, by some authors, as the first evangelical preacher in these Alpine regions. He is placed by Hottinger in 1521.f Zwingle himself was well known among the Grisons, and had, in this country, both friends and enemies. Among the former were Jacob Salan- dronius and others, with whom he corresponded ; of the latter were, particularly, the pensioners of foreign princes, who bore him a deadly hatred, and sought to weaken his influence by calumny and detraction ; and their hostility to his person made them equally the enemies of his reformation. In 1522, Jacob Biveronius rendered important service to the cause of the Reformation, by his labors in its behalf in Upper Engadi, in the valley of the Inn, particularly by his translation of the gospels into the dialect of the inha bitants.! The principal reformer of this country was John Comander, or Dorfman, pastor of the church of St. Martin's, at Coire. Though not the first among his brethren, he was the ablest, and, like St. Paul among the apostles, wrought more abun dantly than they. He was the first who received his appoint ment to the pastoral care from the council of the city. The general council of the three leagues had decreed, that every pastor should, in his own person, perform the duties of his parish. The cathedral dean having hitherto been the titular pastor of St. Martin's, the city council requested him to per- * Hottinger, p. 209. f Ibid- P- 6i- t Ibidl P' 64- 2N 446 HISTORY OF THE form the duties of his pastorship, agreeably to the published ordinance of the general council. This incumbent, however, who had until then enjoyed the revenues of -the living, shel tered himself under the plea of inability to undertake the charge. The council, thereupon, invited the vicar of the cathedral-provost, the feudal lord, to a consultation with them respecting the mode of supplying the destitute parish ; but the vicar declined, on the ground that he had no instructions. The parish being thus abandoned by these ecclesiastics to neglect and destitution, the council assumed the power to make provision for it, and appointed Comander to preside over the famishing flock. He died among his people, in 1557, after a ministry of more than thirty years. Long before his death, incessant application to study, beside his pastoral labors, had impaired his sight, but did not diminish his diligence.* Two years later, in 1524, upwards of forty evangelical men were zealously engaged in preaching the gospel in these coun tries, and few places in the three leagues seem to have remained destitute of its benign illumination. Among the devoted men who laid the foundation of the Reformed faith in the Grisons, beside those already named, we may mention, as claiming particular notice, Phihp Galitius, or Salutius, a young man equally distinguished by his talents, his labors, and his sufferings, and endowed with a singular faculty for the communication of knowledge to his hearers ; Bartholomew Maturus, of Cremona, in Italy, formerly prior of a convent, the first Italian who fled his country for the Re formed faith, and sought an asylum among the Grisons : he settled at Vicosoprano, in the valley of the Maira, near the border of Chiavenna, and became the pastor of the village : the occasion of his flight and of his conversion was false miracles said to be wrought by an image of the holy virgin ; Peter Brunner, of Ilantz, and Christian Hartman, who might have enjoyed in the papacy the ease and delights of affluence, * Hottinger, p. 208, 209, 826. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 447 but chose, rather, to relinquish the pleasures of the world for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ; and, lastly, Samuel Frick, pastor of Mayenfield, who was at first a zealous Papist, and a warm adversary: he left his parish and repaired to Rome, to seek repose near the see of St. Peter, and to lay before the sovereign pontiff his impassioned complaint of the obstinate heresy that afflicted his people ; but, in Rome, and at the court of the holy father, he saw what he had not thought of in the rural simplicity of Mayenfield: he saw iniquity in all its forms, and in all its overflowings : he saw it with astonishment and pain ; his eyes were opened while his heart was grieved ; he returned to his country an altered man, espoused the cause of the Reformation, and proclaimed to all that Rome had made him evangelical.* The opponents of the gospel were not less active than its promoters. It happened as the Lord had predicted: he "came not to send peace on earth, but a sword." Fierce resistance was made ; tumults arose in divers places ; many who had run well for a season, turned back from the face of danger; the entire district of Prettigau fell from the true faith. To these events the sect of the Anabaptists contributed their full share, by their sweeping denunciations, their wild extravagances, and the reproach and doubt which were thus brought upon the fundamental principles of the Reformation, the right of private judgment and the sufficiency of the Scrip tures as the rule of faith. The Papists rejoiced at this dis order in the ranks of professed reformers, and knew how to improve it to the advantage of their cause. Toward the close of the year 1525, the vicar-general of the bishop of Coire, the abbot of St. Luke's, and the cathedral- chapter, conspired for the ruin of Comander. They preferred charges against him and the other evangelical preachers, to the council of the three leagues, accusing them of heresy, sedition, contempt of the sacraments, &c, and asked that, inasmuch as these men were rebels against the church, they * Hottinger, p. 209. 448 HISTORY OF THE should be dealt with in the' same manner as rebels against the state. Some of the deputies, knowing the character of Co mander, he was sent for, and a copy of the charges was put into his hands. He appealed to an order, which, it seems, the supreme council had already twice published, making it the duty of all the preachers to adhere to the Holy Scriptures as the rule of their teaching, and declared his readiness to prove the conformity of his doctrine to that standard, in a public discussion, in the presence of the deputies, assuring them, at the same time, of his willingness to submit if he were proved to be in error. He took occasion, also, to remark, that he and his fellow-laborers, aware that the gospel was not to be propagated by force of arms, were not the authors of the tumults which disturbed the public tranquillity, but these dis orders were to be attributed to their enemies, who sought by such means to prevent the publication of the truth. The deputies yielded to his wishes ; the seventh day of January, 1526, was appointed for the proposed discussion, and two lay delegates from each of the three leagues were designated to preside at the meeting. The Papist clergy were mortified by this decision, and the abbot thought it wholly superfluous that his party should give an account of their faith, which had subsisted, he said, without any change, during fifteen hundred years, and had been confirmed by the blood of many thousand martyrs. He could not, however, dissuade the deputies from their purpose, and the discussion took place at the appointed time. Ilantz was selected as the place of meeting for the con test. Comander had published eighteen propositions, embrac ing the chief points of his doctrine, which he pledged himself to defend. Every exertion was made by the Papist leaders to prevent a discussion of these propositions. The first day was consumed in evasive expedients, and the same arts were per sisted in with provoking pertinacity on the next. The bishop's vicar, seeing Hoffmeister and Amman of Zurich among the attendants, moved that, as the matter concerned natives only, all strangers should be excluded. Hoffmeister remarked, that Zurich was everywhere charged with heresy, yet no one would GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 449 accept her invitation to come and convict her of the charge. They were present, therefore, to receive information from the discussions of a meeting abroad; they were provided with copies of the Scriptures in the original Hebrew and Greek, in order that no violence might be done to the sacred text ; if permitted, they would participate in the discussions ; but if their presence were unacceptable, they would withdraw. The priest of Dinzen observed, If Hebrew and Greek had never been brought into the land, there would be more prosperity and quiet, and so many errors and heresies would not have sprung up. Bartlemi von Castelmur, a canon of Coire, and papal protonotarius, thought St. Jerome had given a sufficient translation of the Bible, and the books of Jews were not needed. The strangers were, nevertheless, allowed to remain as auditors, but could not obtain permission to take a part in the, debates. It was understood, it seems, that the deputies would not continue their sittings beyond the second day, and the object of the Papists was to wear out the time by all man ner of extraneous questions and irrelevant speeches. At length, Comander, raising his voice above the rest, amidst vehement opposition, read his first proposition, The Christian church is begotten of the word of God : in the same must she abide, and not hearken to the voice of a stranger, and pro ceeded, with imperturbable collectedness, to sustain it by a multitude of Scriptural testimonies. When he closed, he challenged a reply ; but no reply was made beside a few words on the text, Matthew xvi. 18, " Thou art Peter," &c. The article was admitted to be orthodox, and the course previously pursued was resumed. Ultimately, however, the abbot of St. Luke's took up the subject of the Lord's supper and the mass. He opened his speech with an expression of the sacred horror he felt in handling so holy a subject, and the vicar crossed himself, in token of his participation of the same feelings. The saintly prelate, nevertheless, dwelt so long upon this topic, as to leave no time for a reply. When he ended, the deputies arose, and the meeting was broken up. Comander entreated and protested ; but neither entreaties nor 2N2 57 450 GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. protestations could prevail to procure another sitting.* The consequences of this meeting were, nevertheless, favorable to the Reformation. Seven of the priests were added to the reformers, popery was abolished in several places, both forms of faith were authorized, the power of the bishops and abbots was restricted within narrower limits, and the burdens of the people were diminished. f * Acta des Gespriichs, &o., in Fueslin, vol. i. p. 337, &c. f Hottinger, p. 287. BOOK III. SECTION IV.— SPREAD OF THE REFORMATION FROM BASEL, BERN, AND STRASBURG. CHAPTER I. THE REFORMATION IN MtJHLHAUSEN. The city of Muhlhausen, or Mulhausen, is situated on the 111, a tributary of the Rhine, in what is now the department of Haut Rhin, in France, but was anciently Upper Alsace. " The town derived its name from a mill and a house, built upon the El by the friars, hermits of St. Augustine. In the eighth century, it is noticed as a village, and, from 1268, it ranked as a free imperial city. It was long harassed by the dukes of Alsace, whose attacks induced the inhabitants to ally themselves, in 1466, with the Swiss cantons of Bern and Soleure, in 1506, with Basel, and, in 1515, with the whole Helvetic confederacy. These alliances procured to the towns men peace and security; and Muhlhausen, with its small territory, though surrounded on every side by France, pre served its separate existence till 1798, when it was incorporated with the French republic." This little independent state contained about 8000 inhabitants ; little, indeed, in physical strength, but great in moral courage. The doctrine of the Reformation was received in Muhl hausen, probably, from Basel and Strasburg. We have no information of the commencement of evangelical labors in this city, but, in 1523, we find its government already prepared for a change in the form of public worship. In this year, Ulric von Hutten, coming from Basel to Muhlhausen was 451 452 HISTORY OF THE consulted by the government and the evangelical preachers in relation to the contemplated reformation. The preachers, Jacob Augsberger, Otho Binder, and the Augustinian, Ber nard Roemer, who were distinguished among their brethren for learning and piety, in obedience to the wishes of the rulers, submitted a plan of reformation, which was adopted on the 12th of March, 1523. In pursuance of this plan, the singing of German psalms superseded the Latin service in the choir, and the boys were taught at school and prepared to take the place of the canons in this part of worship ; baptism was administered in German; the Lord's supper was celebrated in both kinds ; and a sermon, with prayer, was substituted for the early mass. Some ecclesiastics having raised an outcry against these changes, and sought to create disturbances by seditious preaching, the government were induced to publish a mandate, in which they represented to theh people, " That every Christian is bound unconditionally to the word of God, therein to expect all his salvation, and to it to conform his whole hfe and being. Inasmuch as the light of this word had recently shone with more brightness than in former times, and evangehcal truth had been more lucidly expounded, they ought to be unceasingly thankful to their Saviour, Christ Jesus, through whom they had received this grace." " We esteem it our duty," said they, " to hold fast to the word of God, and, as far as possible, to promote evangehcal truth and union ; where fore it is our will that all our preachers preach freely and without reserve only what they can establish by the Old and New Testaments, and in such a manner that God may be honored, the people edified, and brotherly love promoted." "If any one think," they add, "that another preaches what is untrue, unscriptural, and unchristian, let him convince the other by the Holy Scriptures, that his error may be manifest." This was the extent of their reformation at this time ; but, in the following year, the compulsory celibacy of the clergy was abolished ; clerics were compelled to put away their para mours, or to elevate them to the dignity of wives by the rite of marriage ; licensed brothels were suppressed, and the pur- GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 453 pose was declared never to tolerate them again in all future time. The supernumerary and useless clerics betook them selves to other employments for a maintenance ; the mass fell into neglect, and, in most of the churches, was wholly disused. "Though they were a weak state," says the historian of Muhlhausen, "surrounded by powerful popish zealots, and separated from all their friends, they were the first in the confederacy, and in almost all Germany, who had dared to abolish the fearful idol whom all Christendom had worshipped, as well as all other errors which the papal power had imposed upon the churches."* The images of Christ and the saints, however, though the worship of them ceased, were still tolerated, as they were in all the churches of Germany, from a prudent regard to circumstances : and the abolition of the mass seems to have been effected rather by a general silent consent, than by any public act ; for the popish confederates seem not to have been apprized of the fact, so late as Decem ber, 1525, as appears from their letter of that date, addressed to the government and people of Bienne. In that letter, they complain of the abrogation of the mass in Bienne, and remark : "In no other place in our confederacy, one excepted, has such a change in the order and appointments of the Christian church taken place, "f That one place, to which they allude, was Zurich, where the mass had been abolished at the Easter- festival of the same year. The truth seems to be, that the plan of reformation adopted in 1523 introduced the celebra tion of the Lord's supper without formally abrogating the mass ; and the latter fell gradually into neglect, until it was wholly though silently superseded by the former, without being prohibited, in the course of another year. The confederates, however, were not ignorant that Muhlhausen was fallen into what they esteemed gross heretical pravity ; and they did not omit to communicate their displeasure, and to apply their expostulations here, as well as elsewhere ; and with the same result.J * Hottinger, p. 118, 160. f Fueslin, vol. ii. p. 299. X Hottinger, p. 195. 454 HISTORY OF THE CHAPTER II. THE CITY [AND TERRITORY OF BIENNE, OR BIEL. The city of Bienne, in German, Biel, is situated on the lake of the same name, in the ancient seigniory of the bishop of Basel, which, since 1815, is incorporated with the canton oi Bern, as a compensation for Aargau and the Pays de Vaud. In the sixteenth century, it was a free city, in alhance with the Swiss confederacy, but more intimately with the canton of Bern. It acknowledged the bishop of Basel as its feudal lord, but was governed by its mayor and council, and possessed important political rights, with which the bishop could not in terfere. In spiritual things, it was subject to the bishop of Lausanne. The abbot of the monastery of St. John, situated at the head of the lake, had formerly enjoyed the right of collation to the parish church, and from him the city had purchased the privilege of choosing its pastor.* Bienne has the honor of being the birthplace of Thomas Wittenbach, the venerated teacher of Zwingle and Leo Juda in theology. Wittenbach was familiar with all the learning of his times : and he was more : he was an original thinker : he struck out his own path in the investigation of truth, and saw and pointed out to his pupils many things which they after wards published to the world. But Wittenbach was not a re former : he wanted the moral courage to begin ; he might follow in the path of another, but was not qualified to lead the way : it was not until Zwingle's activity had aroused him, and kindled a holy fire at his heart, that he could resolve to step forward boldly, to declare the whole truth in the face of dan ger, and to renounce all things for the sake of Christ. He became kirchherr, pastor,* or rector, of the parish church of * Fueslin, vol. ii. p. 267. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 455 his native city, in 1515.* In 1523, he began his public op position to the corruptions of the church, by exposing the iniquity of private masses that were said by the priest for the absent and the dead, and denouncing the interdiction of mar riage to the clergy : and this testimony he followed by omit ting those masses and, with seven other priests, entering into the bonds of wedlock, f It is remarkable that a man like Wittenbach, who, as early as 1505, taught his pupils that Christ is the only propitiation for sin, and that popish indul gences are worthless ; who, moreover, anticipated the down fall of the scholastic theology, and a return to the doctrine of the Holy Scriptures, should begin his public opposition to the corruptions of the church at so late a period, and, during eighteen years, and, especially, during all the time of his pas torship, prior to the year 1523, should close his lips upon this subject. His conduct illustrates the difficulties and the dan gers which a thoughtful and prudent man saw before him, and which no ordinary zeal for truth was prepared to encounter. He was not, indeed, wholly silent : his convictions were im parted to his students ; and, on one occasion, he exposed the imposture of indulgences in a disputation which he had in the university. But he did not address such things to the people ; and, in the universities, many things were said by the learned which they would not have been suffered to say in the pulpit, or in their writings, to the common people. We have no good reason, however, to believe that he taught in his ministry what he knew to be false. He, doubtless, pursued a course similar to that of Zwingle, in Glarus, prior to the year 1516 ; he preached what he held to be the truth, so far as the hearers were able to bear it, and was silent on other topics, waiting for a more convenient season. Wittenbach was supported in his new measures by some of the citizens, but the most influential of the council, and, espe cially, the town-clerk, Lewis Sterner, were in zealous opposi tion. Sterner and his party reported him to a diet of the ten * Hottinger, p. 47. t Fueslin, vol. ii. p. 268. 456 HISTORY OF THE cantons assembled at Zug, in July, 1524, and solicited their interference ; and the diet, full of zeal against heresy, ad dressed to the government of Bienne a solemn remonstrance, in which they say, " We have this day learned of grievous things which you suffer to be done in your domain. Truly, wfe would not have expected this of you : for we hear that you suffer your priests to take wives, and cohabit with them, and still to retain their benefices ; which appears to us unchristian and wrong. Especially does it seem to us, beloved and good friends, that such things weaken and break down Christian faith and order. You should, therefore, not endure them, but consider that we, confederates of the ten cantons, have devoted much pains, labor, and expense, and still do the same, to sup press such Lutheran and Zwinglian faith, and will, to this end, devote our honor, hfe, property, and whatsoever God has given us. Therefore, upright, pious, and wise sirs, and particularly good friends, we beseech you, in kindness and good will, to refrain from, and not to allow such things to your priests, but to take their benefices from them, and to bestow the same on others, pious priests, whom you may, doubtless, still find."* Contradictory statements being made respecting the course which the government of Bern had pursued toward the married priests of their canton, a messenger was despatched to that city for information, and copies were obtained of their mandates of April and May, in the same year. These were now adopted and published in Bienne, and the offending priests were expelled from their livings. Wittenbach submitted to the council, in behalf of himself and his associates, a written defence of their conduct, and challenged an investigation of its character on the basis of the Holy Scriptures, which these mandates recognised as the standard of public instruction and the rule of faith and prac tice. His appeal was ineffectual. All that could be obtained was permission to continue his ministry in the pastorate a month longer. At the expiration of the month, his church * Fueslin, vol. ii. p. 273. Hottinger, p. 167. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 457 was closed, and he was left to provide as he best could for his daily wants. He persisted, nevertheless, in his labors. The convent-chapel being opened to him, he ministered there with as good effect as before in the parish church, and many of his adversaries were won over by his personal attentions and his affectionate expostulations with them in private.* After Wittenbach's removal from the pastorship, the coun cil applied to the government of Bern for a successor, and the party of Sterner made application for the same purpose to the bishop of Basel. Who his successor was is unknown ; but the doctrine of the Reformation made new advances daily, and its continued progress in Bern added much to its popu larity here. The government became alarmed, and, fearing a revolution in the state, exacted from the people a new oath of allegiance. The citizens hesitated, and the fears of government grew. A meeting of the people was thereupon held, and a committee appointed, who drew up a memorial expressing the sentiments of their constituents, which they presented to the council in the week before Whitsuntide in the following year, (1525.) In theh memorial, they deprecated the consequences of a dis sension between the rulers and the citizens, and, with strong professions of loyalty, stated the wishes of the latter, in six articles, to which they respectfully asked the consent of the council. In these articles, they solicit — First. That the word of God of the Old and New Testa ments be preserved and preached to them unadulterated and pure, and that no one should revile, blaspheme, or contradict it, but all should acknowledge it to be true, righteous, and suf ficient unto salvation. Secondly. That a pastor or rector be always chosen by a majority of votes, and removable, also, in the same way, if he should not demean himself in a Christian and worthy manner. Thirdly. That Dr. Thomas Wittenbach be permitted to preach to them in the upper church on the afternoon of Sun- * Hottinger, p. 167. Fueslin, vol. ii. p. 274. 2 0 58 458 . HISTORY OF THE days, or other holidays, and a suitable provision be made for him out of the revenues of the church. Fourth. That a suitable schoolmaster be appointed and provided for in like manner. Fifth. That drunkenness, gambling, and dancing on the Lord's day, be interdicted. Sixth. That the celebration of the anniversaries of saints be left to the free election of each individual, and all things be transacted in conformity with the divine word.* The memorial was well received. The government were convinced of the uprightness and loyalty of the adherents of the new doctrine, and, which probably made the deeper im pression, they saw that these already constituted the chief part of the community. They now took the Reformed faith and its preachers under their protection, vindicated them from the charge of heresy, and accused their secretary to the bishop of Basel, their feudal lord, as the author of the recent disturbances. The confederates, in a diet at Luzern, in November, ad dressed themselves by a pressing missive to the bishop, urging him to reclaim his subjects oi Bienne from their heresy. The bishop transmitted their letter to the council, together with a solemn admonition from himself. Much alarm was created at Bienne by the earnest ' tone of these letters. Sterner was charged as the instigator of these troubles. The secretary was terrified : he feigned extreme illness, and had a priest brought to administer the last consolations of his religion to him as a dying man ; but at night he arose and fled ; and after skulking several days in lonely places to avoid an apprehended capture, while no one sought him, he escaped at length to Porentrui, and implored the bishop's protection. He was sent back, and resumed his office unharmed. In their perplexity, the government sought counsel oiBern, and, in pursuance of advice from that canton, despatched an embassy to the same diet, to complain of the injustice done * Fueslin, p. 286, &o. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 459 them in denouncing them as heretics, than which nothing was more odious, and to purge them of that hateful imputation. They placed their justification in the consciousness of a sin cere desire to believe and to act only as all Christians ought to do, and in the conformity of the course they had pursued with the word of God, and with the mandates of Bern, which they considered as being in harmony with that rule.* Their intelligence of the sacred volume was sadly deficient if they thought the Bernese mandates in all respects conformable to it : it was, however, not more so than that of the authors of these acts, who had first adopted the Holy Scripture as their basis, and then built their mandates upon it : the correspond ence of the two was presumed, because the profoundest respect was entertained for the rulers of Bern. The answer of the diet sheds some light upon the progress which the Reformation had made in Bienne before the close of the year.f " Although we do not consider them all here tics," say they, "but believe there are yet many good old Christians, and many more of them than of Lutherans, yet their proceedings are unchristian. The holy sacraments and the holy mass are despised, and are no longer observed agree ably to the order of the Christian church : and, although they boast that they have lived conformably to the mandates of Bern, we cannot perceive that our confederates of Bern have done like those of Biel ; for at Bern the holy sacraments and the holy mass have not been abolished, and Christian order and appointment are there observed and practised as they have been from ancient times : but it is otherwise at Biel, where the holy mass is no longer observed, the Salve, also, of our beloved Lady is laid aside, and other unchristian things are done. What displeases us most, is that those of Biel have in these things run ahead of others, and have not considered the good done by our forefathers and their forefathers, and which we confederates are still doing, and may further do : for, in no other place of our confederacy, one excepted, has such a * Fueslin, vol. ii. p. 289-297. f Its date is December 8, 1525. 460 HISTORY OF THE change in the order and usage of the Christian church taken place as at Biel. — As it is now manifest that this evil emanates from the scandalous and infamous Lutheran or Zwinglian sect, and from the heretical priests and preachers who adhere to it ; who seduce the common people so scandalously and inju riously, and ruin them in body and soul ; it is our chief and earnest desire and request to those of Biel, that they repudiate such Lutheran, heretical priests, expel them, and no longer suffer them to preach ; that they again receive the holy sacraments and the holy mass, and all other Christian ordi nances and usages ; and that they demean themselves like their ancestors when they came to our ancestors, and be like the majority of the states of the confederacy. A greater pleasure they cannot give to our superiors and to us ; and we shall be ready to reciprocate it in the kindest manner : but, if they persist in their false belief and practice, neither our superiors nor we can endure it, but will consider what can be further done," &c* Such was the religious logic of the representatives of free republican states under the influence of Romanism. No inti mation is given that the changes which had been introduced at Bienne were at variance with the Holy Scripture. It was enough that they were departures from the existing ordinances and usages of the church ; and for this reason only they were not to be endured, if these republicans could find any means to suppress them. The statements of this document are, perhaps, to be received with some allowance, but they prove, at least, that very con siderable changes had already been made in the forms of wor ship in the churches of Bienne. The mass and other Papist sacraments, as well as the Salve of the virgin, had been abo lished, or, at least, neglected and disused ; and baptism was so divested of its previous form as to amount, in the estimation of zealous Papists, to an abolition. At the commencement of the year 1526, Bienne was dis- * Fueslin, vol. ii. p. 298, &o. ^"paS"??'] GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 461 turbed with violent religious disputes, which were, however, composed by the friendly interposition of Bern. From this time she was spared from further annoyance by the Papist confederates, who were sufficiently occupied with Zurich, and with plans and exertions to unite the other states of the con federacy in a combination against her ; for they rightly judged that, unless the fountain of the heresy were stopped, the remote streams would continue to flow, in defiance of all their efforts to restrain them.* In the mean time, Thomas Witten bach had been reinstated in the rectorship of the parish church. He died about the close of the year 1526. On his death-bed, he called the council to his side, and observing to them that he was soon to appear before God to give an account of his ministry, he affirmed once more that he had taught them the true doctrine of the gospel, exhorted them to abide therein at all hazards, and assured them that they would thus obtain eternal life.f * Fueslin, vol. ii. p. 301, 302. f H^ P- 3W- Hottinger, p. 338. END OF VOL. I. STEREOTYPED BY L. JOHNSON AND CO. PHILADELPHIA. YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 3 9002 08267 5803