A new Combatant--The Reformer of Berne--Zuinglius encourages
Haller--The Gospel at Lucerne--Oswald Persecuted--Preaching
of Zuinglius--Henry Bullinger and Gerold of Knonan--Rubli at
Bâle--The Chaplain of the Hospital--War in Italy--Zuinglius
against Foreign Service.
[Sidenote: THE GOSPEL AT LUCERNE.]
The year, the first day of which was signalised by this bloody
execution, had scarcely commenced when Zuinglius was waited on in his
house at Zurich by a young man, of about twenty-eight years of age,
tall in stature, and with an exterior which bespoke candour,
simplicity, and diffidence.[795] He said his name was Berthold Haller.
Zuinglius, on hearing the name, embraced the celebrated preacher of
Berne, with that affability which made him so engaging. Haller, born
at Aldingen in Wurtemberg,[796] had first studied at Rotweil under
Rubellus, and afterwards at Pforzheim, where Simler was his teacher,
and Melancthon his fellow-student. The Bernese, who had already
distinguished themselves by arms, at this time resolved to invite
literature into the bosom of their republic. Rubellus, and Berthold,
not twenty-one years of age, repaired thither. Sometime after, the
latter was appointed canon, and ultimately preacher of the cathedral.
The gospel which Zuinglius preached had extended to Berne; Haller
believed, and thenceforth longed to see the distinguished man, whom he
now looked up to as his father. He went to Zurich after Myconius had
announced his intended visit. Thus met Haller and Zuinglius. The
former, a man of great meekness, unbosomed his griefs; and the latter,
a man of might, inspired him with courage. One day, Berthold said to
Zuinglius, "My spirit is overwhelmed.... I am not able to bear all
this injustice. I mean to give up the pulpit and retire to Bâle beside
Wittembach, and there occupy myself exclusively with sacred
literature." "Ah!" replied Zuinglius, "I too have my feelings of
despondency, when unjust attacks are made upon me; but Christ awakens
my conscience, and urges me on by his terrors and his promises. He
alarms me when he says, '_Whoso shall be ashamed of me before men, of
him will I be ashamed before my Father_;' and he sets my mind at ease
when he adds, '_Whoso shall confess me before men, him will I confess
before my Father_.' My dear Berthold, rejoice! Our name is written in
indelible characters in the register of citizenship on high.[797] I am
ready to die for Christ.[798] Let your wild cubs," added he, "hear the
doctrine of Jesus Christ, and you will see them become tame.[799] But
this task must be performed with great gentleness, lest they turn
again and rend you." Haller's courage revived. "My soul," said he to
Zuinglius, "is awakened out of its sleep. I must preach the gospel.
Jesus Christ must again be established in this city, from which he has
been so long exiled."[800] Thus the torch of Berthold was kindled at
the torch of Zuinglius, and the timid Haller threw himself into the
midst of the ferocious bears, who, as Zuinglius expresses it, "were
gnashing their teeth, and seeking to devour him."
[795] Animi tui candorem simplicem et simplicitatem candidissimam, hac
tua pusilla quidem epistola... (Zw. Ep. p. 136.)
[796] Ita ipse in literis MS. (J. J. Hott. iii, 54.)
[797] Scripta tamen habeatur in fastis supernorum civium. (Zw. Ep. p.
186.)
[798] Ut mori pro Christo non usque adeo detrectem apud me. (Ibid., p.
187.)
[799] Ut ursi tui ferociusculi, audita Christi doctrina, mansuescere
incipiant. (Ibid.) There is a bear in the arms of the town of Berne.
[800] Donec Christum, cucultatis nugis longe a nobis exulem ... pro
virili restituerim.... (Ibid., p. 187.) Until I have done my utmost to
restore Christ, who has long been exiled from us by monkish trifles.
[Sidenote: OSWALD PERSECUTED.]
It was in another part of Switzerland, however, that persecution was
to begin. Warlike Lucerne came forward, like a foe in full armour
couching his lance. In this canton, which was favourable to foreign
service, a martial spirit predominated, and the leading men knit their
brows when they heard words of peace fitted to curb their warlike
temper. Meanwhile the writings of Luther having found their way into
the town, some of the inhabitants began to examine them, and were
horrified. It seemed to them that an infernal hand had traced the
lines; their imagination was excited, their senses became bewildered,
and their rooms seemed as if filled with demons, flocking around them,
and glaring upon them with a sarcastic smile.[801] They hastily closed
the book, and dashed it from them in dismay. Oswald, who had heard of
these singular visions, did not speak of Luther to any but his most
intimate friends, and contented himself with simply preaching the
gospel of Christ. Nevertheless, the cry which rung through the town
was, "Luther and the schoolmaster (Myconius) must be burnt."[802] "I
am driven by my adversaries like a ship by the raging billows,"[803]
said Oswald to one of his friends. One day, in the beginning of the
year 1520, he was unexpectedly summoned to appear before the council,
and told, "Your orders are, not to read the writings of Luther to your
pupils, not to name him in their presence, and not even to think of
him."[804] The lords of Lucerne pretended, it seems, to have a very
extensive jurisdiction. Shortly after, a preacher delivered a sermon
against heresy. The whole audience was moved, and every eye was turned
on Myconius; for whom but he could the preacher have in his eye?
Oswald kept quietly in his seat, as if the matter had not concerned
him. But on leaving the church, as he was walking with his friend,
Canon Xylotect, one of the counsellors, still under great excitement,
passed close to them, and passionately exclaimed, "Well, disciples of
Luther, why don't you defend your master?" They made no answer. "I
live," said Myconius, "among fierce wolves; but I have this
consolation, that the most of them are without teeth. They would bite
if they could, but not being able, they bark."
[801] Dum Lutherum semel legerint ut putarent stubellam suam plenam
esse dæmonibus. (Ibid., p. 37.)
[802] Clamatur hic per totam civitatem: Lutherum comburendum et ludi
magistrum. (Ibid., p. 153.)
[803] Non aliter me impellunt quam procellæ marinæ navem aliquam.
(Ibid., p. 159.)
[804] Imò ne in mentem eum admitterem. (Zw. Ep. p. 159.)
The senate assembled: for the people began to be tumultuous. "He is a
Lutheran," said one of the counsellors: "he is a propagator of new
doctrines," said another: "he is a seducer of youth," said a third.
"Let him appear, let him appear." The poor schoolmaster appeared and
again listened to prohibitions and menaces. His unsophisticated soul
was torn and overwhelmed. His gentle spouse could only console him by
shedding tears. "Every one is rising up against me," exclaimed he in
his agony. "Assailed by so many tempests, whither shall I turn, how
shall I escape?... Were it not for Christ I would long ago have fallen
under these assaults."[805] "What matters it," wrote Doctor Sebastian
Hofmeister of Constance to him, "whether Lucerne chooses to keep you
or not? The whole earth is the Lord's. Every land is a home to the
brave. Though we should be the most wicked of men our enterprise is
just, for we teach the Word of Christ."
[805] Si Christus non esset, jam olim defecissem. (Ibid., p. 160.)
[Sidenote: ZUINGLIUS' PREACHING. HENRY BULLINGER.]
While the truth encountered so many obstacles at Lucerne it was
victorious at Zurich. Zuinglius was incessant in his labours. Wishing
to examine the whole sacred volume in the original tongues, he
zealously engaged in the study of Hebrew, under the direction of John
Boschenstein, a pupil of Reuchlin. But if he studied Scripture, it was
to preach it. The peasants who flocked to the market on Friday to
dispose of their goods, showed an eagerness to receive the Word of
God. To satisfy their longings, Zuinglius had begun, in December 1520,
to expound the Psalms every Friday after studying the original. The
Reformers always combined learned with practical labours--the latter
forming the end, the former only the means. They were at once
students and popular teachers. This union of learning and charity is
characteristic of the period. In regard to his services on Sunday,
Zuinglius, after lecturing from St. Matthew on the life of our
Saviour, proceeded afterwards to show from the Acts of the Apostles
how the gospel was propagated. Thereafter he laid down the rules of
the Christian life according to the Epistles to Timothy, employed the
Epistle to the Galatians in combating doctrinal errors, combined with
it the two Epistles of St. Peter, in order to show to the despisers of
St. Paul that both apostles were animated by the same spirit, and
concluded with the Epistle to the Hebrews, in order to give a full
display of the benefits which Christians derive from Jesus Christ
their sovereign priest.
[Sidenote: GEROLD DE KNONAU. WILLIAM ROUBLI.]
But Zuinglius did not confine his attention to adults; he sought also
to inspire youth with the sacred flame by which his own breast was
animated. One day in 1521, while he was sitting in his study reading
the Fathers of the Church, taking extracts of the most striking
passages, and carefully arranging them into a large volume, his door
opened, and a young man entered whose appearance interested him
exceedingly.[806] It was Henry Bullinger, who was returning from
Germany, and impatient to become acquainted with the teacher of his
country, whose name was already famous in Christendom. The handsome
youth fixed his eye first on Zuinglius, and then on the books, and
felt his vocation to do what Zuinglius was doing. Zuinglius received
him with his usual cordiality which won all hearts. This first visit
had great influence on the future life of the student, who was on his
return to the paternal hearth. Another youth had also won Zuinglius'
heart: this was Gerold Meyer of Knonau. His mother, Anna Reinhardt,
who afterwards occupied an important place in the Reformer's life, had
been a great beauty, and was still distinguished for her virtues. John
Meyer of Knonau, a youth of a noble family, who had been brought up at
the court of the bishop of Constance, had conceived a strong passion
for Anna, who, however, belonged to a plebeian family. Old Meyer of
Knonau had refused his consent to their marriage, and after it took
place disinherited his son. In 1513 Anna was left a widow with a son
and two daughters, and devoted herself entirely to the education of
her poor orphans. The grandfather was inexorable. One day, however,
the widow's maid-servant having in her arms young Gerold, then a
beautiful sprightly child of three years of age, stopped at the fish
market, when old Meyer, who was looking out at a window,[807]
observed him, and, continuing to gaze after him, asked to whom that
beautiful lively child belonged. "It is your son's child," was the
answer. The heart of the old man was moved--the ice immediately
melted--all was forgotten, and he clasped in his arms the widow and
children of his son. Zuinglius loved, as if he had been his own son,
the noble and intrepid youth Gerold, who was to die in the flower of
his age side by side with the Reformer, with his sword in his hand,
and surrounded alas! with the dead bodies of his enemies. Thinking
that Gerold would not be able to prosecute his studies at Zurich,
Zuinglius, in 1521, sent him to Bâle.
[806] Ich hab by Ihm ein gross Buch gesehen, _Locorum communium_, als
Ich by Ihm wass, an. 1521, dorinnen er _Sententias_ und _dogmata
Patrum_, flyssig jedes an seinem ort verzeichnet. (Bullinger, MS.)
[807] Lüget des Kindts grossvater zum fauster uss, und ersach das kind
in der fischer bränter (Kufe.) so fräch (frisch) und frölich sitzen
... (Archives of Meyer de Knonau quoted in a notice on _Anna
Rheinardt_, Erlanger, 1835, by M. Gerold Meyer de Knonau.) I am
indebted to my friend for some elucidations of obscure points in the
life of Zuinglius.
Young Knonau did not find Hedio the friend of Zuinglius there. Capito
being obliged to accompany the archbishop Albert to the coronation of
Charles V, had procured Hedio to supply his place. Bâle having thus,
one after another, lost her most faithful preachers, the church there
seemed forsaken; but other men appeared. Four thousand hearers
squeezed into the church of William Roubli, curate of St. Alban. He
attacked the mass, purgatory, and the invocation of saints; but this
turbulent man who was eager to draw the public attention upon himself,
declaimed more against error than in support of truth. On Corpus
Christi day he joined the public procession, but in place of the
customary relics, caused the Holy Scriptures to be carried before him,
splendidly bound, and bearing this inscription:--"THE BIBLE; this is
the true relic, the others are only dead bones." Courage adorns the
servant of God; affectation disgraces him. The work of an evangelist
is to preach the Bible, and not to make a presumptuous display of it.
The enraged priests accused Roubli before the council. A mob
immediately gathered in Cordelier Square. "Protect our preacher," said
the citizens to the council. Fifty Ladies of distinction interceded in
his behalf; but Roubli was obliged to quit Bâle. At a later period he
took part like Grebel in Anabaptist disorders. The Reformation, in the
course of its development, every where threw off the chaff which
mingled with the good grain.
[Sidenote: ZUINGLIUS AGAINST FOREIGN SERVICE.]
At this period a modest voice was heard from the humblest of the
chapels, clearly proclaiming the evangelical doctrine. It was that of
young Wolfgang Wissemberger, son of a counsellor of state and chaplain
of the hospital. All in Bâle who felt new religious wants attached
themselves to the gentle chaplain, preferring him to the presumptuous
Roubli. Wolfgang began to read the mass in German. The monks renewed
their clamour, but this time they failed, and Wissemberger continued
to preach the gospel; "for," says an old chronicler, "he was a burgess
and his father a counsellor."[808] This first success of the
Reformation in Bâle, while it was the prelude of still greater
success, at the same time tended greatly to promote the progress of
the work throughout the Confederation. Zurich no longer stood alone.
Learned Bâle began to be charmed with the new doctrine. The
foundations of the new temple were enlarged. The Reformation in
Switzerland obtained a fuller development.
[808] Dieweil er ein Burger war und sein Vater des Raths. (Fridolin
Ryff's Chronik.)
[Sidenote: ZUINGLIUS AGAINST THE PRECEPTS OF MAN.]
The centre of the movement was, however, at Zurich. But, to the deep
grief of Zuinglius, important political events occurred in 1521, and
in some measure distracted men's minds from the preaching of the
gospel. Leo X, who had offered his alliance at once to Charles V and
Francis I, had at last declared for the emperor. War between the two
rivals was on the point of breaking out in Italy. The French general
Lautrec had said, "There will be nothing left of the pope but his
ears."[809] This bad jest increased the pontiff's anger. The king of
France claimed the aid of the Swiss cantons, all of which, with the
exception of Zurich, had formed an alliance with him; he obtained it.
The pope flattered himself he would gain Zurich, and the cardinal of
Sion, ever given to intrigue, and confident in his ability and his
finesse, hastened thither to obtain soldiers for his master. But from
his old friend Zuinglius he encountered a vigorous opposition. He was
indignant that the Swiss should sell their blood to strangers, and his
imagination figured to itself the swords of the Zurichers under the
standard of the pope and the emperor in the plains of Italy crossing
the swords of the confederates united under the colours of France. At
such scenes of fratricide his patriotic and Christian soul shuddered
with horror. Thundering from the pulpit he exclaimed, "Would you rend
and overthrow the confederation?[810] ... We attack the wolves which
devour our flocks, but offer no resistance to those who prowl around
seeking to devour men.... Ah! it is not without cause that these hats
and mantles are of scarlet. Shake their robes and ducats and crowns
will tumble out of them, twist them and you will see the blood of your
brother, your father, your son, and your dearest friend trickling down
from them."[811] The energetic voice of Zuinglius was heard in vain.
The cardinal with the red hat succeeded, and two thousand seven
hundred Zurichers set out under the command of George Berguer.
Zuinglius was heart-broken. Still, however, his influence was not
lost. For a long time the banners of Zurich were not again to be
unfurled, and pass the gates of the town in the cause of foreign
powers.
[809] Disse che M. di Lutrech et M. de l' Escu havia ditto che'l
voleva che le recchia del papa fusse la major parte retaste di la so
persona. (Gradenigo, the Venitian ambassador at Rome, MS., 1523.)
[810] Sagt wie es ein fromme Eidtgnosschafft zertrennan und umbkehren
würde. (Bullinger MS.)
[811] Sic tragen billig rothe hüt und mäntel, dan schüte man sie, so
fallen Cronen und Duggaten heraus, winde man sie, so rünt deines
Bruders, Vaters, Sohns und guten freunds Blut heraus. (Ibid.)