A French monk--He teaches in Switzerland--Dispute between
the Monk and Zuinglius--Discourse of the Leader of the
Johannites--The Carnival at Berne--The Eaters of the
Dead--The Skull of St. Anne--Appenzel--The Grisons--Murder
and Adultery--Marriage of Zuinglius.
On Saturday the 12th July there was seen entering the streets of
Zurich a monk, tall, thin, stiff, gaunt, clad in a grey cordelier
frock, and mounted upon an ass. He had the look of a foreigner, and
his bare feet almost touched the ground.[849] He arrived thus by the
road from Avignon. He did not know one word of German, but by means of
Latin succeeded in making himself understood. Francis Lambert (this
was his name) asked for Zuinglius and delivered him a letter from
Berthold Haller. "The Franciscan father," wrote the Bernese curate,
"who is no less than the apostolic preacher of the general convent of
Avignon, has, for nearly five years, been teaching Christian truth: he
has preached in Latin to our priests at Geneva, at Lausanne in
presence of the bishop, at Friburg, and finally at Berne. His subjects
were, the Church, the priesthood, the sacrifice of the mass, the
traditions of the Roman bishops, and the superstitions of the
religious orders. It seemed to me wonderful to hear such things from a
cordelier and a Frenchman--circumstances, both of which, as you know,
imply a host of superstitions."[850] The Frenchman himself related to
Zuinglius how the writings of Luther having been discovered in his
cell, he had been obliged to take a hasty leave of Avignon; how he had
first preached the gospel at Geneva, and thereafter at Lausanne.
Zuinglius, overjoyed, gave the monk access to the church of Notre
Dame, assigning him a seat in the choir near the high altar. Lambert
here delivered four sermons, in which he forcibly attacked the errors
of Rome, but in the fourth he defended the invocation of the saints
and the Virgin.
[849] ... Kam ein langer, gerader, barfüsser Mönch...ritte auf einer
Eselin. (Füsslin Beyträge, iv, 39.)
[850] A tali Franciscano, Gallo, quæ omnia mare superstitionem
confluere faciunt, inaudita. (Zw. Ep. 207.)
[Sidenote: HE TEACHES IN SWITZERLAND.]
"Brother, you are in error,"[851] immediately exclaimed an animated
voice. It was the voice of Zuinglius. Canons and chaplains thrilled
with joy when they saw a quarrel rising between the Frenchman and the
heretical curate. "He has attacked you," said they all to Lambert:
"demand a public discussion." The man of Avignon did so, and at ten
o'clock on the morning of the 12th of July, the two chaplains met in
the hall of the canons. Zuinglius opened the Old and New Testament in
Greek and Latin: he discussed and lectured till two. Then the French
monk, clasping his hands, and raising them towards heaven,
exclaimed,[852] "I thank thee, O God, that thou hast by this
illustrious instrument given me such a clear knowledge of the truth!
Henceforth," added he, turning towards the assembly, "in all my
distresses I will invoke God only and leave off my beads. To-morrow I
resume my journey. I go to Bâle to see Erasmus of Rotterdam, and
thence to Wittemberg to see the monk Martin Luther." He accordingly
remounted his ass and set out. We will again meet with him. He was the
first exile from France, for the cause of the gospel, who appeared in
Switzerland and Germany--a modest fore-runner of many thousands of
refugees and confessors.
[851] Bruder da irrest du. (Füsslin Beytr. iv, p. 40.)
[852] Dass er beyde Hände zusammen hob. (Füsslin Beytr., iv, p. 50.)
Myconius had no such consolation. On the contrary he saw Sebastian
Hofmeister, who had come from Constance to Lucerne, and there boldly
preached the gospel, obliged to quit the city. Then Oswald's grief
increased. The moist climate of Lucerne disagreed with him. He was
wasted by fever; and the physicians declared that if he did not change
his residence he would die. Writing to Zuinglius, he says, "There is
no place I should like better to be than beside yourself, and no place
worse than at Lucerne. Men torture, and the climate consumes me. My
disease, some say, is the punishment of my iniquity. Ah, it is vain to
speak, vain to act: every thing is poison to them. There is One in
heaven on whom alone my hope depends."[853]
[853] Quicquid facio venenum est illis. Sed est in quem omnis spes mea
reclinat. (Zw. Ep. 192.)
[Sidenote: THE COMMANDER OF THE JOHANNITES.]
This hope was not vain. It was towards the end of March, and the feast
of the Annunciation was at hand. The evening before there was a great
solemnity in commemoration of a fire which in 1540 had reduced the
greater part of the town to ashes. Multitudes from the surrounding
districts had flocked into Lucerne, and several hundreds of priests
were then assembled. Some distinguished orator was usually employed to
preach on this great occasion. Conrad Schmid, commander of the
Johannites, arrived to discharge the duty. An immense crowd thronged
the church. What was the general astonishment on hearing the commander
lay aside the pompous Latin to which they had been accustomed, and
speak in good German,[854] so that all could comprehend him, enforce
with authority and holy fervour the love of God in sending his Son,
eloquently prove that external works cannot save, and that the
promises of God are truly the power of the gospel. "God forbid," said
the commander to his astonished audience, "that we should receive a
chief so full of lies as the Bishop of Rome, and reject Jesus
Christ.[855] If the Bishop of Rome dispenses the bread of the gospel,
let us receive him as pastor, but not as head; and if he does not
dispense it, let us not receive him in any way whatever." Oswald was
unable to restrain his joy. "What a man!" exclaimed he: "what a
discourse! what majesty! what authority! what overflowing of the
Spirit of Christ!" The impression was general. To the agitation which
filled the town succeeded a solemn silence; but all this was
transient. When nations shut their ears against the calls of God,
these calls are diminished from day to day, and soon cease. Thus it
was at Lucerne.
[854] Wolt er keine pracht tryben mit latein schwätzen, sondern gut
teutsch reden. (Bullinger MS.)
[855] Absit a grege Christiano, ut caput tam lutulentium et peccatis
plenum acceptans Christum abjiciat. (Zw. Ep. 195.)
At Berne, while the truth was preached from the pulpit, the papacy was
attacked at the merry-makings of the people. Nicolas Manuel, a
distinguished layman, celebrated for his poetical talents, and
advanced to the first offices in the state, indignant at seeing his
countrymen pillaged by Samson, composed carnival dramas, in which,
with the keen weapon of satire, he attacked the avarice, pride, and
luxury of the pope and the clergy. On the Shrove Tuesday "of the
Lords," (the clergy were at this time the lords, and began Lent eight
days before the common people,) all Berne was engrossed with a drama
or mystery entitled, "The Eaters of the Dead," which young boys were
going to perform in the street of La Croix. The people flocked to it
in crowds. In regard to the progress of art, these dramatic sketches
of the beginning of the sixteenth century are of some interest; but we
give them here with a very different view. We would have been better
pleased not to have had to quote squibs of this description on the
part of the Reformation, for truth triumphs by other arms. But the
historian does not make his facts. He must give them as he finds them.
At length, to the delight of the eager crowds assembled in the street
of La Croix, the representation began. The pope is seen clad in
gorgeous robes, and seated on a throne. Around him stand his
courtiers, his body guards, and a promiscuous band of priests of high
and low degree; behind are nobles, laymen, and mendicants. A funeral
train shortly appears: it is a rich farmer on the way to his last
home. Two of his relatives walk slowly in front of the coffin with
napkins in their hand. The train having arrived in front of the pope,
the bier is laid down at his feet, and the drama begins:
[Sidenote: THE CARNIVAL AT BERNE.]