The Labours of Zuinglius--The Baths of Pfeffers--God's
time--The Great Death--Zuinglius seized with the Plague--His
Enemies--His Friends--Convalescence--General Joy--Effect of
the Plague--Myconius at Lucerne--Oswald encourages
Zuinglius--Zuinglius at Bâle--Capito called to Mentz--Hedio
at Bâle--An Unnatural Son--Preparation for Battle.
Zuinglius did not spare himself. His many labours called for some
relaxation, and he was ordered to the baths of Pfeffers. "Ah!" said
Herus, one of the pupils who lodged with him, and who thus expressed
the feeling of all who knew Zuinglius, "had I a hundred tongues, a
hundred mouths, a brazen throat, as Virgil expresses it; or rather had
I the eloquence of Cicero, how could I express all I owe you, and all
that I feel at this separation."[731] Zuinglius, however, set out and
reached Pfeffers through the astonishing gorge formed by the impetuous
torrent of the Jamina. He descended into that infernal abyss, as the
hermit David called it, and arrived at the baths, which are
perpetually agitated by the dashing of the torrent, and bedewed by the
spray of its foaming water. Where Zuinglius lodged it was so dark that
candles were burnt at mid-day. He was even assured by the inmates,
that frightful phantoms sometimes appeared in the darkness.
[731] Etiamsi mihi sint linguæ centum, sint oraque centum, ferrea vox,
ut Virgilius ait, aut potius Ciceroniana eloquentia. (Zw. Ep. p. 84.)
[Sidenote: GOD'S TIME].
Even here Zuinglius found opportunity to serve his Master. His
affability won the heart of several of the patients, among others a
celebrated poet, Philip Ingentinus, professor at Friburg, in
Brigau,[732] who thenceforward became a zealous supporter of the
Reformation.
[732] Illic tum comitatem tuam e sinu uberrimo profluentem, non
injucunde sum expertus. (Zw. Ep. p. 119.) Then I had the pleasure of
experiencing your affability, the offspring of an exhuberant heart.
God watched over his own work, and was pleased to hasten it.
Zuinglius' defect lay in his strength. Strong in body, strong in
character, strong in talents, he was to see all these varieties of
strength broken, that he might thereby become such an instrument as
God loves to employ. He stood in need of a baptism, that of adversity,
infirmity, feebleness, and pain. Such a baptism Luther had received at
that period of agony when the cell and long passages of the convent of
Erfurt resounded with his cries. Zuinglius was to receive it by being
brought into contact with sickness and death. The heroes of this
world--the Charles Twelfths and Napoleons--have a moment which is
decisive of their career and their glory, and it is when they all at
once become conscious of their strength. There is an analogous moment
in the life of God's heroes, but it is in a contrary direction; it is
when they recognise their impotence and nothingness; thenceforth they
receive strength from on high. Such a work as that of which Zuinglius
was to be the instrument is never accomplished by man's natural
strength; it would immediately wither away like a tree transplanted
after its full growth, and when in full leaf. A plant must be feeble
in order to take root, and a grain of corn must die in the ground
before it can yield a full return. God led Zuinglius, and with him the
work of which he was the stay, to the gates of the grave. It is from
among bones and darkness, and the dust of the dead, that God is
pleased to take the instruments, by means of which he illumines,
regenerates, and revives the earth.
[Sidenote: ZUINGLIUS ATTACKED BY THE PLAGUE.]
Zuinglius was hidden among the immense rocks which hem in the furious
torrent of the Jamina, when he unexpectedly learned that the plague,
or as it was termed "_the great death_,"[733] was at Zurich. This
dreadful scourge broke out in August, on St. Lawrence day, lasted till
Candlemas, and carried off two thousand five hundred persons. The
young people who lodged with Zuinglius had immediately left,
conformably to directions which he had given. His house was empty, but
it was to him the very moment to return. He hurriedly quitted
Pfeffers, and reappearing in the bosom of his flock, now decimated by
the plague, he immediately sent to Wildhaus for his young brother
Andrew, who wished to attend him. From that moment he devoted himself
entirely to the victims of this dreadful scourge. Every day he
preached Christ and his consolations to the sick.[734] His friends
delighted to see him safe and sound in the midst of so many fatal
darts,[735] still felt a secret alarm. Conrad Brunner, who himself
died of the plague a few months after, writing him from Bâle said; "Do
good, but at the same time remember to take care of your life." It was
too late: Zuinglius was seized with the plague. The great preacher of
Switzerland was stretched on a bed from which, perhaps, he was never
again to rise. He communed with himself, and turned his eye
heavenward. He knew that Christ had given him a sure inheritance, and
disclosing the feelings of his heart in a hymn remarkable for unction
and simplicity, of which, not being able to give the antique and
expressive phraseology, we have endeavoured to preserve the rhythm and
literal meaning, he exclaimed:--
My door has opened ...
Death appears.[736]
My God! my strength!
Dispel all fears!
Oh, Jesus! raise
Thy pierced arm,
And break the sword
That caused alarm.
But if my soul
In life's mid-day
Thy voice recalls,[737]
Then I obey.
Ah! let me die,
For I am thine;
Thy mansions wait
Such faith as mine.
[733] Der Grosse Tod. (Bullinger, MS.)
[734] Ut in majori periculo sis, quod in dies te novo exponas, dum
invisis ægrotos. (Ibid., MS. 87.) Chateaubriand had forgotten this
fact, and thousands similar to it, when he said, "the protestant
pastor abandons the poor man on his death-bed, and rushes not into the
midst of the plague." (Essai sur la Literature Anglaise.)
[735] Plurimum gaudeo te inter tot jactus telorum versantem, illæsum,
hactenus evassisse. (Ibid.)
[736] Ich mein der Tod,
Syg an der Thür. (Zw. Op. ii, 2nd part, p. 270.)
[737] Willit du dann glych
Tod haben mich
In mitts der Tagen min
So soll's willig sin. (Ibid.)
[Sidenote: ZUINGLIUS ATTACKED BY THE PLAGUE.]
Meanwhile the disease gains ground, and this man, the hope of the
Church and of Switzerland, is beheld by his despairing friends as
about to become the prey of the tomb. His senses and strength forsake
him. His heart becomes alarmed, but he is still able to turn towards
God, and exclaims:--
My ills increase;
Haste to console;
Terrors overwhelm
My heart and soul.
Death is at hand,
My senses fail,
My voice is choked,
Now, Christ! prevail.[738]
Lo! Satan strains
To snatch his prey;
I feel his hand,
Must I give way?
He harms me not,
I fear no loss,
For here I lie
Before thy cross.
[738] Nun ist est um Min
Zung ist stumm
........
Darum ist Zyt
Das du min stryt. (Zw. Op. ii, part ii, p. 271.)
Canon Hoffman, sincere in his own belief, could not bear the idea of
allowing Zuinglius to die in the errors which he had preached.
Accordingly he waited on the provost of the Chapter, and said to him,
"Think of the danger of his soul. Does he not give the name of
fantastical innovators to all the doctors who have appeared for the
last three hundred and eighty years and more--to Alexander Hales, St.
Bonaventura, Albert the Great, Thomas Aquinas, and all the canonists?
Does he not maintain that their doctrines are the dreams which they
dreamed in their cowls within the walls of their cloisters? Better had
it been for the town of Zurich that Zuinglius had, for a series of
years, destroyed our vintage and harvest! There he lies at the brink
of death! Do, I beseech you, save his poor soul!" It would seem that
the provost was more enlightened than the canon, and deemed it
unnecessary to convert Zuinglius to St. Bonaventura and Albert the
Great. He was left at peace.
The whole town was in mourning. All the faithful cried to God night
and day, beseeching him to restore their faithful pastor.[739] Terror
had passed from Zurich to the mountains of the Tockenburg, where also
the plague had appeared. Seven or eight persons had perished in the
village, among them a servant of Nicolas, a brother of Zuinglius.[740]
No letter was received from the Reformer, and his young brother Andrew
wrote, "Tell me, my dear brother, in what state you are. The abbot and
all our brothers desire to be remembered." As the parents of Zuinglius
are not mentioned it would seem that they were now dead.
[739] Alle glaubige rufften Gott treuwillich an, dass er Ihren
getreuwen Ihirten wieder ufrichte. (Bullinger, MS.)
[740] Nicolao verò Germano nostro, etiam obiit servus suus, attamen
non in ædibus suis. (Zw. Ep. 88.)
[Sidenote: RUMOUR OF HIS DEATH.]
The news of Zuinglius' illness, and even a rumour of his death,
spread in Switzerland and Germany. "Alas!" exclaimed Hedio in tears,
"the safety of the country, the gospel trumpet, the magnanimous herald
of truth is smitten with death in the flower of his life, and, so to
speak, in the spring tide of his days."[741] When the news reached
Bâle the whole town was filled with lamentation and mourning.[742]
[741] Quis non enim doleat, publicam patriæ salutem, tubam Evangelii,
magnanimum veritatis buccinatorem languere, intercidere ... (Zw. Ep.
p. 90.)
[742] Hen quantum luctus, fatis Zuinglium concecisse importunus ille
rumor, suo vehementi impetu divulgavit. (Ibid. p. 91.)
The spark of life which remained in Zuinglius was, however, rekindled.
Though his body was still feeble, his soul was impressed with the
unaltered conviction that God had called him to replace the torch of
his Word on the candlestick of the Church. The plague had abandoned
its victim, and Zuinglius exclaims with emotion:--
My God! my Father!
Healed by thee
On earth again
I bend my knee.
Now sin no more
Shall mark my days
My mouth, henceforth,
Shall sing thy praise.
The uncertain hour,
Come when it may,
Perchance may bring
Still worse dismay.[743]
But, let it come,
With joy I'll rise,
And bear my yoke
Straight to the skies.[744]
[743] Words which were strikingly fulfilled twelve years after on the
bloody plains of Cappel.
[744] So will Ich doch
Den trutz und poch,
In diser welt
Tragen frölich
Um widergelt.
Although these three poetical fragments are dated "the beginning,
middle, and end of the malady," and express the feelings which
Zuinglius truly experienced at these different moments, it is probable
that they were not put into their present form till afterwards. (See
Bullinger MS.)
[Sidenote: CONVALESCENCE. EFFECT ON ZUINGLIUS.]
Zuinglius was no sooner able to hold the pen (this was in the
beginning of November) than he wrote to his family. This gave
inexpressible delight to them all,[745] especially to his young
brother Andrew, who himself died of the plague the following year, and
at whose death Ulric, to use his own words, wept and cried like a
woman.[746] At Bâle Conrad Brunner, a friend of Zuinglius, and Bruno
Amerbach, a famous printer, both young men, were cut off after three
days' illness. The rumour having spread in this town that Zuinglius
also had fallen, the whole university was in mourning. "He whom God
loves is perfected in the flower of his life," said they.[747] How
great was their joy when Collinus, a student of Lucerne, and
afterwards a merchant in Zurich, brought word that Zuinglius had
escaped the jaws of death.[748] John Faber, vicar to the bishop of
Constance, long the friend and afterwards the most violent adversary
of Zuinglius, wrote to him. "O my dear Ulric, how delighted I am to
learn that you have escaped the jaws of cruel death. When you are in
danger, the Christian commonwealth is threatened. The design of the
Lord in these trials is to urge you forward in the pursuit of eternal
life."
[745] Inspectis tuis litteris incredibilis quidam æstus lætitiæ pectus
meum subiit. (Zw. Ep. p. 88.) On seeing your letter an incredible
burst of joy swelled my breast.
[746] Ejulatum et luctum plasquam fœmineum. (Zw. Ep. p. 155.)
[747] Ὅν τε Θεοὶ φιλέουσι, νεανίσκες
τελευτᾷ. (Ibid., p. 90.) He whom the gods love, dies young.
[748] E diris te mortis fancibus feliciter ereptum negotiator quidam
Tigurinus ... (Ibid., p. 91.) A trader from Zurich informed me that
you had been happily rescued from the dire jaws of death.
This was, indeed, the design, and it was accomplished, though in a
different way from what Faber anticipated. The plague of 1519, which
made such fearful ravages in the north of Switzerland, was, in the
hand of God, a powerful means of converting a great number of
persons.[749] But on none had it a greater influence than on
Zuinglius. Hitherto he had been too much disposed to regard the gospel
as mere doctrine; but now it became a great reality. He returned from
the gates of the grave with a new heart. His zeal was more active, his
life more holy, his word more free, Christian, and powerful. This was
the period of Zuinglius' complete emancipation. He from this time
devoted himself to God. The new life thus given to the Reformer was
communicated at the same time to the Swiss Reformation. The Divine
rod, _the great death_, in passing over all their mountains and
descending into all their valleys, added to the sacredness of the
movement which was then taking place. The Reformation being plunged,
like Zuinglius, into the waters of affliction and of grace, came forth
purer and more animated. In regard to the regeneration of Switzerland,
the gospel sun was now at its height.
[749] Als die Pestilenz in Jahre, 1519, in dieser Gegend grassirte,
viele neigten sich zu einem bessern Leben. (Georg. Vögelin. Ref. Hist.
Füsslin Beytr., iv, 174.)
[Sidenote: OSWALD MYCONIUS AT LUCERNE.]
Zuinglius, who still strongly felt the want of new strength, received
it in intercourse with his friends. His closest intimacy was with
Myconius. They walked hand in hand, like Luther and Melancthon. Oswald
was happy at Zurich. It is true, his position was cramped; but every
thing was softened by the virtues of his modest spouse. It was of her
that Glarean said, "Were I to meet a young girl resembling her, I
would prefer her to the daughter of a king." But a faithful voice was
often heard disturbing the sweet friendship of Zuinglius and Myconius.
It was that of canon Xylotect, who, calling to Oswald from Lucerne,
summoned him to return to his country. "Lucerne," said he to him, "not
Zurich, is your country. You say that the Zurichers are your friends:
granted; but do you know what the evening star will bring you? Serve
your country.[750] This I advise; I implore; and, if I am able,
command." Xylotect, not confining himself to words, procured the
appointment of Myconius to the college school of Lucerne. After this
Oswald no longer hesitated. He saw the finger of God in the
appointment, and determined to make the sacrifice, how great soever it
might be. Who could say whether he might not be an instrument in the
hand of the Lord to diffuse the doctrine of peace in warlike Lucerne?
But how painful the separation between Zuinglius and Myconius! They
parted in tears. Ulric shortly after wrote to Oswald, "Your departure
has been as serious a loss to the cause which I defend, as that which
is sustained by an army in battle array when one of its wings is
destroyed.[751] Ah! I now am aware of all that my Myconius was able to
do, and how often, without my knowing it, he maintained the cause of
Christ."
[750] Patriam cole, suadeo et obscero, et si hoc possum jubeo.
(Xylotect. Myconio.)
[751] Nam res meæ, te absente, non sunt minus accisæ quam si exercitui
in procincta stanti altera alarum abstergatur. (Zw. Ep. p. 98.)
Zuinglius felt the loss of his friend the more, because the plague had
left him in a state of great feebleness. Writing on the 30th November,
1519, he says, "It has weakened my memory and wasted my intellect."
When scarcely convalescent, he had resumed all his labours. "But,"
said he, "in preaching I often lose the thread of my discourse. I feel
languid in all my members, and somewhat as if I were dead." Moreover,
Zuinglius, by his opposition to indulgences, had excited the wrath of
their partisans. Oswald strengthened his friend by letters which he
wrote him from Lucerne. And did he not also receive pledges of
assistance from the Lord in the protection which He gave to the Saxon
champion who was gaining such important victories over Rome? "What
think you," said Myconius to Zuinglius, "of the cause of Luther? For
my part I have no fear either for the gospel or for him. If God does
not protect his truth, who will protect it? All that I ask of the Lord
is, not to withdraw his aid from those who hold nothing dearer than
his gospel. Continue as you have begun, and an abundant recompence
awaits you in heaven."
[Sidenote: ZUINGLIUS AT BALE.]
The visit of an old friend helped to console Zuinglius for the loss of
Myconius. Bunzli, who had been his teacher at Bâle, and had succeeded
the dean of Wesen, the Reformer's uncle, arrived at Zurich, in the
first week of the year 1520, and Zuinglius and he thereafter resolved
to set out together to Bâle to see their common friends.[752] This
visit of Zuinglius bore fruit. "Oh, my dear Zuinglius!" wrote John
Glother to him at a later period, "never will I forget you. The thing
which binds me to you is the goodness with which, during your stay at
Bâle, you came to see me, me, a petty schoolmaster, living in
obscurity without learning or merit, and of humble station! What wins
me is the elegance of your manners, and that indescribable meekness
with which you subdue all hearts, even stones, if I may so
speak."[753] But Zuinglius' visit was still more useful to his old
friends. Capito, Hedio, and others, were electrified by the power of
his eloquence. The former commencing in Bâle the work which Zuinglius
was doing at Zurich, began to expound the gospel of St. Matthew before
an auditory which continued to increase. The doctrine of Christ
penetrated and inflamed all hearts. The people received it joyfully,
and with acclamation hailed the revival of Christianity.[754] It was
the aurora of the Reformation. Accordingly a conspiracy of monks and
priests was soon formed against Capito. It was at this time that
Albert, the young cardinal-archbishop of Mentz, who felt desirous of
attaching a man of so much learning to his person, called him to his
court.[755] Capito, seeing the difficulties which were thrown in his
way, accepted the invitation. The people were moved, and, turning with
indignation against the priests, raised a tumult in the town.[756]
Hedio was proposed as his successor, but some objected to his youth,
while others said, "He is his pupil." "Truth bites," said Hedio: "it
is not advantageous to offend too delicate ears by telling it.[757] No
matter, nothing will turn me from the straight path." The monks
redoubled their efforts. "Believe not those," exclaimed they from the
pulpit, "who say that the sum of Christian doctrine is found in the
Gospel and in St. Paul. Scotus has done more for Christianity than St.
Paul himself. All the learning that has ever been spoken or printed
has been stolen from Scotus. All that has been done since by men eager
for fame has been to throw in some Greek and Hebrew terms, which have
only darkened the matter."[758]
[752] Zw. Ep. p. 103 and 111.
[753] Morum tuorum elegantia suavitasque incredibilis qua omnes tibi
devincis, etiam lapides, ut sic dixerim. (Ibid., p. 133.)
[754] Renascenti Christianismo mirum quam faveant. (Ibid., p. 120.)
[755] Cardinalis illic invitavit amplissimis conditionibus. (Ibid.)
The cardinal invited him thither on the most liberal terms.
[756] Tumultus exoritur et maxima indignatio vulgi erga ἱερεῖς.
(Ibid.)
[757] Auriculas teneras mordaci radere vero, non usque adeo tutum est.
(Ibid.)
[758] Scotum pius profuisse rei Christianæ quam ipsum
Paulum...quicquid eruditum, furatum ex Scoto. (Ibid.)
[Sidenote: HEDIO AT BALE. CONRAD GREBEL.]
The tumult increased; and there was reason to fear that, on Capito's
departure, it would become still more serious. "I will be almost
alone," thought Hedio, "poor I, to struggle with these formidable
monsters."[759] Accordingly, he invoked the assistance of God, and
wrote to Zuinglius. "Inflame my courage by writing often. Learning and
Christianity are now placed between the hammer and the anvil. Luther
has just been condemned by the universities of Louvain and Cologne. If
ever the Church was in imminent danger, it is at this hour."[760]
[759] Cum pestilentissimis monstris. (Zw. Ep. p. 121.)
[760] Si unquam imminebat periculum, jam imminet. (Ibid., 17th March,
1520.)
Capito left Bâle for Mentz, 28th April, and Hedio succeeded him. Not
content with the public assemblies in the church at which he continued
his exposition of St. Matthew, he proposed, in the month of June, as
he wrote Luther, to have private meetings in his own house, to give
more thorough evangelical instruction to those who might feel the want
of it. This powerful method of communicating the truth, and exciting
in the faithful an interest and zeal in divine things, could not fail
then, as it never does, to awaken opposition in the men of the world
and in domineering priests, both of whom, though from different
motives, are equally desirous that God should be worshipped only
within the precincts of a particular building. But Hedio was
invincible.
At the same period when he formed this good resolution at Bâle, there
arrived at Zurich one of those characters who often emerge, like
impure froth, from the vortex of revolutions.
[Sidenote: PREPARATIONS FOR BATTLE.]
Senator Grebel, a man of great influence in Zurich, had a son named
Conrad, a youth of remarkable talents, and a relentless enemy of
ignorance and superstition, which he attacked with cutting satire. He
was boisterous, violent, sarcastic, and bitter in his expression,
without natural affection, given to debauchery, always talking loudly
of his own innocence, while he could see nothing but what was wrong in
others. We speak of him here because he is afterwards to play a
melancholy part. At this period, Vadian married a sister of Conrad,
and Conrad, who was studying at Paris where his misconduct had
deprived him of the use of his limbs, desiring to be present at the
marriage, appeared suddenly about the beginning of June amidst his
family. The poor father received the prodigal son with a gentle smile,
his fond mother with tears. The tenderness of his parents made no
change on his unnatural heart. His kind and unhappy mother having some
time after been brought to the gates of death, Conrad wrote his
brother-in-law Vadian:--"My mother is recovered; she again rules the
house, sleeps, awakes, grumbles, breakfasts, scolds, dines, makes a
racket, sups, and is perpetually a burden to us. She runs, cooks,
re-cooks, sweeps the house, toils, kills herself with fatigue, and
will shortly bring on a relapse."[761]
[761] Sic regiert das Hans, schläft, steht auf, zaukt, fruhstucht,
keift ..... (Simml. Samml. iv, Wirz, i, 76.)
Such was the man who, at a later period, pretended to lord it over
Zuinglius, and who took the lead among fanatical anabaptists. Divine
Providence perhaps allowed such characters to appear at the period of
the Reformation that their disorders might the better bring out the
wise, Christian, and orderly spirit of the Reformers.
Everything announced that the battle between the gospel and the papacy
was about to commence. "Let us stir up the temporisers," wrote Hedio
to Zurich; "the peace is broken, let us arm our hearts: the enemies we
shall have to combat are most fierce."[762] Myconius wrote in the same
strain to Ulric, who, however, answered their warlike appeals with
admirable meekness. "I should like," said he, "to gain these obstinate
men by kindness and good offices, rather than overcome them by
violence and disputation.[763] That they call our doctrine, (which
however is not ours,) a doctrine of the devil, is nothing more than
natural. It proves to me that we are indeed the ambassadors of Christ.
The devils cannot be silent in his presence."
[762] Armemus pectora nostra! pugnandum erit contra teterrimos ostes.
(Zw. Ep. p. 10.)
[763] Benevolentia honestoque obsequio potius ullici quam animosa
oppugnatione trahi. (Ibid., p. 103.)