BOOK XV.

SWITZERLAND--CONQUESTS. 1526-1530.

I. The divisions which the Reformation disclosed within its bosom, on

its appearance before the Diet of Augsburg, humbled it and compromised

its existence; but we must not forget that the cause of these

divisions was one of the conditions of the existence of the

regenerated Church. No doubt it would have been desirable for Germany

and Switzerland to have agreed; but it was of still greater importance

that Germany and Switzerland should have each its original Reform. If

the Swiss Reformation had been only a feeble copy of the German, there

would have been uniformity, but no duration. The tree, transplanted

into Switzerland, without having taken deep root, would soon have been

torn up by the vigorous hand that was erelong about to seize upon it.

The regeneration of Christianity in these mountains proceeded from

forces peculiar to the Helvetic Church, and received an organization

in conformity with the ecclesiastical and political condition of that

country. By this very originality it communicated a particular energy

to the principles of the Reformation, of much greater consequence to

the common cause than a servile uniformity. The strength of an army

arises in great measure from its being composed of soldiers of

different arms.

[Sidenote: THREE PERIODS OF REFORM.]

The military and political influence of Switzerland was declining. The

new developments of the European nations, subsequent to the sixteenth

century, were about to banish to their native mountains those proud

Helvetians, who for so long a period had placed their two-handed

swords in the balance in which the destinies of nations were weighed.

The Reformation communicated a new influence in exchange for that

which was departing. Switzerland, where the Gospel appeared in its

simplest and purest form, was destined to give in these new times to

many nations of the two worlds a more salutary and glorious impulse

than that which had hitherto proceeded from its halberds and its

arquebuses.

* * * * *

The history of the Swiss Reformation is divided into three periods, in

which the light of the Gospel is seen spreading successively over

three different zones. From 1519 to 1526 Zurich was the centre of the

Reformation, which was then entirely German, and was propagated in the

eastern and northern parts of the Confederation. Between 1526 and 1532

the movement was communicated from Berne: it is at once German and

French, and extended to the centre of Switzerland from the gorges of

the Jura to the deepest valleys of the Alps. In 1532 Geneva became the

focus of the light; and the Reformation, which was here essentially

French, was established on the shores of the Leman lake, and gained

strength in every quarter. It is of the second of these periods--that

of Berne--of which we are now to treat.

[Sidenote: TWO MOVEMENTS IN THE CHURCH.]

Although the Swiss Reformation is not yet essentially French, still

the most active part in it is taken by Frenchmen. Switzerland

_Romande_[847] is yoked to the chariot of Reform, and communicates to

it an accelerated motion. In the period we are about to treat of,

there is a mixture of races, of forces, and of characters, from which

proceeds a greater commotion. In no part of the christian world will

the resistance be so stubborn; but nowhere will the assailants display

so much courage. This petty country of Switzerland Romande, enclosed

within the colossal arms of the Jura and the Alps, was for centuries

one of the strongest fortresses of the Papacy. It is about to be

carried by storm; it is going to turn its arms against its ancient

masters; and from these few hillocks, scattered at the foot of the

highest mountains in Europe, will proceed the reiterated shocks that

will overthrow, even in the most distant countries, the sanctuaries of

Rome, their images and their altars.

[847] The French part of Switzerland, comprising the cantons of

Geneva, Vaud, Neuchatel, and part of those of Friburg, Berne, and

Valais.

[Sidenote: AGGRESSIVE SPIRIT.]

There are two movements in the Church: one is effected inwardly, and

its object is its preservation; the other is effected outwardly, and

the object aimed at is its propagation. There is thus a doctrinal

Church and a missionary Church. These two movements ought never to be

separated, and whenever they are disunited, it is because the spirit

of man, and not the spirit of God prevails. In the apostolic ages

these two tendencies were evolved at the same time and with equal

power. In the second and third centuries the external tendency

prevailed; after the Council of Nice (325) the doctrinal movement

resumed the superiority; at the epoch of the irruption of the northern

tribes the missionary spirit revived; but erelong came the times of

the hierarchy and of the schoolmen, in which all doctrinal powers

warred within the Church to found therein despotic government and an

impure doctrine--the Papacy. The revival of Christianity in the

sixteenth century, which emanated from God, was destined to renovate

these two doctrines, but by purifying them. Then indeed the spirit of

God acted at once externally and internally. In the days of the

Reformation there were tranquil and internal developments; but there

was also a more powerful and aggressive action. Men of God had for

ages studied the Word, and had peacefully explained its salutary

lessons. Such had been the work of Vesalia, Goch, Groot, Radewin,

Ruybrook, Tauler, Thomas à Kempis, and John Wessel; now, something

more was required. The power of action was to be united with the power

of thought. The Papacy had been allowed all necessary time for laying

aside its errors; for ages men had been in expectation; it had been

warned, it had been entreated; all had been unavailing. Popery being

unwilling to reform itself, it became necessary for men of God to take

its accomplishment upon themselves. The calm and moderate influence of

the precursors of the Reform was succeeded by the heroic and holy

revolutionary work of the Reformers; and the revolution they effected

consisted in overthrowing the usurping power to re-establish the

legitimate authority. "To everything there is a season," says the

Preacher, "and a time to every purpose under heaven: a time to plant,

and a time to pluck up that which is planted; a time to break down,

and a time to build up."[848] Of all Reformers, those who carried the

aggressive spirit to its highest degree were the men who came from

France, and more especially Farel, whose labours we have now to

consider.

[848] Eccles. iii. 1, 2, 3.

Never were such mighty effects accomplished by so puny a force. In the

government of God we pass in an instant from the greatest to the least

of things. We now quit the haughty Charles V. and all that court of

princes over which he presides, to follow the steps of a schoolmaster;

and we leave the palaces of Augsburg to take our seats in the lowly

cottages of Switzerland.

The Rhone, after issuing near St. Gothard from the mountains of the

Furka, from beneath an immense sea of eternal ice, rolls its noisy

waters through a rugged valley separating the two great chains of the

Alps; then issuing from the gorge of St. Maurice, it wanders through a

more smiling and fertile country. The sublime Dent du Midi on the

south, the proud Dent de Morcles on the north, picturesquely situated

opposite each other, point out from afar to the traveller's eye the

beginning of this latter basin. On the tops of these mountains are

vast glaciers and threatening peaks, near which the shepherds in the

midst of summer lead their numerous flocks to pasture; while in the

plain, the flowers and fruits of southern climes grow luxuriantly, and

the laurel blooms beside the most exquisite grapes.

[Sidenote: THE SCHOOLMASTER.]

At the opening of one of the lateral valleys that lead into the

Northern Alps, on the banks of the Grande Eau that falls in thunder

from the glaciers of the Diablerets, is situated the small town of

Aigle, one of the most southern in Switzerland. For about fifty years

it had belonged to Berne, with the four parishes (_mandemens_) which

are under its jurisdiction, namely, Aigle, Bex, Ollon, and the chalets

scattered in the lofty valleys of the Ormonds. It is in this country

that the second epoch of the Swiss Reformation was destined to begin.

In the winter of 1526-1527, a foreign schoolmaster, named Ursinus,

arrived in this humble district. He was a man of middle stature, with

red beard and quick eyes, and who, to a voice of thunder (says Beza),

united the feelings of a hero: his modest lessons were intermingled

with new and strange doctrines. The benefices being abandoned by their

titularies to ignorant curates, the people, who were naturally of rude

and turbulent habits, had remained without any cultivation. Thus did

this stranger, who was no other than Farel, meet with new obstacles at

every step.

Whilst Lefevre and most of his friends had quitted Strasburg to

re-enter France, after the deliverance of Francis I., Farel had turned

his steps towards Switzerland; and on the very first day of his

journey, he received a lesson that he frequently recalled to mind.

He was on foot, accompanied by a single friend. Night had closed

around them, the rain fell in torrents, and the travellers, in despair

of finding their road, had sat down midway, drenched with rain.[849]

"Ah!" said Farel, "God, by showing me my helplessness in these little

things, has willed to teach me what I am in the greatest, without

Jesus Christ!" At last Farel, springing up, plunged into the marshes,

waded through the waters, crossed vineyards, fields, hills, forests,

and valleys, and at length reached his destination, covered with mud

and soaked to the skin.

[849] Gravabat nox, opprimebat pluvia......coegit viæ difficultas in

media sedere via sub pluvia. (Farel to Capito and Bucer; Neuchatel,

MS.)

[Sidenote: FAREL'S STUDIES.]

In this night of desolation, Farel had received a new baptism. His

natural energy had been quelled; he became, for some time at least,

wise as a serpent and harmless as a dove; and, as not unfrequently

happens to men of such disposition, he at first overstepped his aim.

Believing that he was following the example of the Apostles, he

sought, in the words of Œcolampadius, "to circumvent by pious frauds

the old serpent that was hissing around him."[850] He represented

himself to be a schoolmaster, and waited until a door should be opened

to him to appear as a Reformer.[851]

[850] Piis artibus et apostolicis versatiis ad circumveniendum illum

opus est. Œcol. to Farel, 27th December, 1526. Neuchatel MS.)]

[851] Ubi ostium patuerit, tunc adversariis liberius obsistetur.

(Ibid.)

Scarcely had Magister Ursinus quitted the schoolroom and his primers,

than, taking refuge in his modest chamber, he became absorbed in the

Greek and Hebrew Scriptures, and the most learned treatises of the

theologians. The struggle between Luther and Zwingle was commencing.

To which of these two chiefs should the French Reform attach itself?

Luther had been known in France for a much longer time than Zwingle;

yet Farel decided in favour of the latter. Mysticism had characterized

the Germanic nations during the Middle Ages, and scholasticism those

of Roman descent. The French were in closer relation with the

dialectician Zwingle than with the mystic Luther; or rather, they were

the mediators between the two great tendencies of the Middle Ages;

and, while giving to the christian thought that correct form which

seems to be the province of southern nations, they became the

instruments of God to spread through the Church the fulness of life

and of the Spirit of Christ.

[Sidenote: THE DOOR IS OPENED.]

It was in this little chamber at Aigle that Farel read the first

publication addressed to the German by the Swiss Reformer.[852] "With

what learning," cries he, "does Zwingle scatter the darkness! with

what holy ingenuity he gains over the wise, and what captivating

meekness he unites with a forcible erudition! Oh, that by the grace of

God this work may win over Luther, so that the Church of Christ,

trembling from such violent shocks, may at length find peace!"[853]

[852] Pia et amica ad Lutheri sermonem apologia. (Opp. vol. ii. t. 2,

p. 1.)

[853] Ut Christi succussa undique Ecclesia, pacis non nihil sentiat.

(Zw. Epp. ii. p. 26.)

The schoolmaster Ursinus, excited by so noble an example, gradually

set about instructing the parents as well as the children. He at first

attacked the doctrine of purgatory, and next the invocation of Saints.

"As for the Pope, he is nothing," said he, "or almost nothing, in

these parts;[854] and as for the priests, provided they annoy the

people with all that nonsense, which Erasmus knows so well how to turn

into ridicule, that is enough for them."

[854] Papa aut nullus aut modicus hic est. (Zw. Epp. ii. p. 36.)

Ursinus had been some months at Aigle: a door was opened to him; a

flock had been collected there, and he believed the looked for moment

had arrived.

Accordingly, one day the prudent schoolmaster disappears. "I am

William Farel," said he, "minister of the Word of God." The terror of

the priests and magistrates was great, when they saw in the midst of

them that very man whose name had already become so formidable. The

schoolmaster quitted his humble study; he ascended the pulpit, and

openly preached Jesus Christ to the astonished multitude. The work of

Ursinus was over: Farel was himself again.[855] It was then about the

month of March or April, 1527, and in that beautiful valley, whose

slopes were brightening in the warm rays of the sun, all was

fermenting at the same time, the flowers, the vineyards, and the

hearts of this sensible but rude people.

[855] The name of Ursinus was doubtless taken from the bear (ursa),

which was on the shield of Berne. Ursinus meant Bernese.

Yet the rocks that the torrent meets as it issues from the Diablerets,

and against which it dashes at every step as it falls from eternal

snows, are more trifling obstacles than the prejudice and hatred that

were shown erelong in this populous valley to the Word of God.

[Sidenote: OPPOSITION.]

The Council of Berne, by a license of the 9th of March, had

commissioned Farel to explain the Holy Scriptures to the people of

Aigle and its neighbourhood. But the arm of the civil magistrate, by

thus mingling in religious affairs, served only to increase the

irritation of men's minds. The rich and lazy incumbents, the poor and

ignorant curates, were the first to cry out. "_If_ this man," said

they one to another, "continues preaching, it is all over with our

benefices and our Church."[856]

[856] J. J. Hottinger, H. K. G., iii. p. 364.

In the midst of this agitation, the bailiff of Aigle and the governor

of the four mandemens, Jacques de Roverea, instead of supporting the

minister of their excellencies of Berne, eagerly embraced the cause of

the priests. "The Emperor," said they, "is about to declare war

against all innovators. A great army will shortly arrive from Spain to

assist the Archduke Ferdinand."[857] Farel stood firm. Upon this the

bailiff and Roverea, exasperated by such boldness, interdicted the

heretic from every kind of instruction, whether as minister or

schoolmaster. But Berne caused to be posted on the doors of all the

churches in the four mandemens a new decree, dated the 3d of July, in

which their excellencies, manifesting great displeasure at this

interdiction "of the very learned Farel from the propagation of the

Divine Word,[858] ordered all the officers of the state to allow him

to preach publicly the doctrines of the Lord."

[857] Ferdinando adventurum esse ingentem ex Hispania exercitum.

(Zwinglius, Epp. ii. p. 64; dated 11 May, 1527.)

[858] Inhibita verbi divini propagatio. (Choupard MS.)

[Sidenote: LAUSANNE.]

This new proclamation was the signal of revolt. On the 25th July great

crowds assembled at Aigle, at Bex, at Ollon, and in the Ormonds,

crying out, "No more submission to Berne! down with Farel!" From words

they soon proceeded to actions. At Aigle the insurgents, headed by the

fiery syndic, tore down the edict, and prepared to fall upon the

Reformed. These, uniting with promptitude, surrounded Farel, resolved

to defend him. The two parties met face to face, and blood was near

flowing. The firm countenance of the friends of the Gospel checked

the partisans of the priests, who dispersed, and Farel, quitting Aigle

for a few days, carried his views farther.

In the middle of the beautiful valley of the Leman, on hills which

overlook the lake, stands Lausanne, the city of the bishop and of the

Virgin, placed under the patronage of the Dukes of Savoy. A host of

pilgrims, assembling from all the surrounding places, knelt devoutly

before the image of Our Lady, and made costly purchases at the great

fair of indulgences that was held in its precincts. Lausanne,

extending its episcopal crosier from its lofty towers, pretended to

keep the whole country at the feet of the Pope. But the eyes of many

began to be opened, thanks to the dissolute life of the canons and

priests. The ministers of the Virgin were seen in public playing at

games of chance, which they seasoned with mockery and blasphemy. They

fought in the churches; disguised as soldiers, they descended by night

from the cathedral hill, and roaming through the streets, sword in

hand and in liquor, surprised, wounded, and sometimes even killed the

worthy citizens; they debauched married women, seduced young girls,

changed their residences into houses of ill-fame, and heartlessly

turned out their young children to beg their bread.[859] Nowhere,

perhaps, was better exemplified the description of the clergy given us

by one of the most venerable prelates of the sixteenth century:

"Instead of training up youth by their learning and holiness of life,

the priests train birds and dogs; instead of books, they have

children; they sit with topers in the taverns, and give way to

drunkenness."[860]

[859] Histoire de la Reformation Suisse by Ruchat, i. p. 35.

[860] Pro _libros_ sibi _liberos_ comparant, pro studio concubinas

amant. (Tritheim Just. Vitæ Sacerdotalis, p. 765.) The play upon

_libros_ and _liberos_ (books and children) cannot be conveyed in

English.

[Sidenote: FAREL AT LAUSANNE.]

Among the theologians in the court of the bishop Sebastian of

Montfaucon, was Natalis Galeotto, a man of elevated rank and great

urbanity, fond of the society of scholars, and himself a man of

learning,[861] but nevertheless very zealous about fasts and all the

ordinances of the Church. Farel thought that, if this man could be

gained over to the Gospel, Lausanne, "slumbering at the foot of its

steeples," would perhaps awaken, and all the country with it. He

therefore addressed himself to him. "Alas! alas!" said Farel,

"religion is no longer but an empty mockery, since people, who think

only of their appetites, are the kings of the Church. Christian

people, instead of celebrating in the sacrament the death of the Lord,

live as if they commemorated Mercury, the god of fraud. Instead of

imitating the love of Christ, they emulate the lewdness of Venus; and

when they do evil, they fear more the presence of a wretched swineherd

than of God Almighty."[862]

[861] Urbanus, doctus, magnus, consuetudine doctorum obligatus. (Farel

to Galeotto, Neuchatel MS.)

[862] Pluris faciunt miserrimi subulci aspectum quam omnipotentis Dei.

(Farel to Galeotto, Neuchatel MS.)

But Galeotto made no reply, and Farel persevered, "Knock; cry out with

all your might," wrote he in a second letter; "redouble your attacks

upon our Lord."[863] Still there was no answer. Farel returned to the

charge a third time, and Natalis, fearing to reply in person,

commissioned his secretary, who forwarded a letter to Farel full of

insulting language.[864] For a season Lausanne was inaccessible.

[863] Pulsare, vociferari perge, nec prius cessa quam, &c. (Ibid.)

[864] Næniis totas implevit et conviciis. (Ibid.)

After having thus contended with a priest, Farel was destined to

struggle with a monk. The two arms of the hierarchy by which the

Middle Ages were governed had been chivalry and monachism. The latter

still remained for the service of the Papacy, although falling into

decay. "Alas!" exclaimed a celebrated Carthusian, "what an obstinate

devil would fear to do, a reprobate and arrogant monk will commit

without hesitation."[865]

[865] Quod agere veretur obstinatus diabolus, intrepide agit reprobus

et contumax monachus. (Jacob von Juterbock; de Negligentia

Prelatorum.)

[Sidenote: FAREL AND THE MONK.]

A mendicant friar, who dared not oppose the reformer in a direct

manner at Aigle, ventured into the village of Noville, situated on the

low grounds deposited by the Rhone as it falls into the lake of

Geneva. The friar, ascending the pulpit, exclaimed, "It is the devil

himself who preaches by the mouth of the minister, and all those who

listen to him will be damned." Then, taking courage, he slunk along

the bank of the Rhone, and arrived at Aigle with a meek and humble

look, not to appear there against Farel, whose powerful eloquence

terribly alarmed him, but to beg in behalf of his convent a few

barrels of the most exquisite wine in all Switzerland. He had not

advanced many steps into the town before he met the minister. At this

sight he trembled in every limb. "Why did you preach in such a manner

at Noville?" demanded Farel. The monk, fearful that the dispute would

attract public attention, and yet desirous of replying to the point,

whispered in his ear, "I have heard say, that you are a heretic and

misleader of the people." "Prove it," said Farel. Then the monk "began

to storm," says Farel,[866] and, hastening down the street,

endeavoured to shake off his disagreeable companion, "turning now this

way, now that, like a troubled conscience."[867] A few citizens

beginning to collect around them, Farel said to them, pointing to the

monk, "You see this fine father; he has said from the pulpit that I

preach nothing but lies." Then the monk, blushing and stammering,

began to speak of the offerings of the faithful (the precious wine of

Yvorne, for which he had come begging), and accused Farel of opposing

them. The crowd had now increased in number, and Farel, who only

sought an opportunity of proclaiming the true worship of God,

exclaimed, with a loud voice, "It is no man's business to ordain any

other way of serving God than that which He has commanded. We must

keep his commandments without turning either to the right hand or to

the left.[868] Let us worship God alone in spirit and in truth,

offering to him a broken and a contrite heart."

[866] Commença de se tempester; in the narrative he gives of this

adventure to the nuns of Vevay. (Neuchatel MS.)

[867] Tournant maintenant de ça, maintenant de là, comme fait la

conscience mal assurée. (Ibid.)

[868] Il n'appartient à personne vivante d'ordonner autre manière de

faire service à Dieu, que celle qu'il a commandée. Nous devons garder

ses commandemens, sans tirer ni à la dextre, ni à la senestre.

(Neuchatel MS.)

The eyes of all the spectators were fixed on the two actors in this

scene, the monk with his wallet, and the reformer with his glistening

eye. Confounded by Farel's daring to speak of any other worship than

that which the holy Roman Church prescribed, the friar was out of his

senses; he trembled, and was agitated, becoming pale and red by turns.

At last, taking his cap off his head, from under his hood, he flung it

on the ground, trampling it under foot, and crying: "I am amazed that

the earth does not gape and swallow us up!"[869]......Farel wished to

reply, but in vain. The friar with downcast eyes kept stamping on his

cap, "bawling out like one out of his wits:" and his cries resounding

through the streets of Aigle, drowned the voice of the reformer. At

length one of the spectators, who stood beside him, plucked him by the

sleeve, and said, "listen to the minister, as he is listening to you."

The affrighted monk, believing himself already half-dead, started

violently and cried out: "Oh, thou excommunicate! layest thou thy hand

upon me?"

[869] Hors de sens, trembloit, s'agitoit, palissoit, et rougissoit

tour à tour. Enfin tirant son bonnet de sa tête, hors da chaperon, il

le rua à terre, jettant et mettant son pied sus, en s'écriant: "Je

suis esbahi comme la terre ne nous abyme!" (Ibid.)

The little town was in an uproar; the friar at once furious and

trembling, Farel following up his attack with vigour, and the people

in confusion and amazement. At length the magistrate appeared, ordered

the monk and Farel to follow him, and shut them up, "one in one tower

and one in another."[870]

[870] L'un en une tour, et l'autre en l'autre. (Neuchatel MS.)

On the Saturday morning Farel was liberated from his prison, and

conducted to the castle before the officers of justice, where the monk

was already present. The minister began to address them: "My lords,

to whom our Saviour enjoins obedience without any exception, this

friar has said that the doctrine which I preach is against God. Let

him make good his words, or, if he cannot, permit your people to be

edified." The violence of the monk was over. The tribunal before which

he was standing, the courage of his adversary, the power of the

movement which he could not resist, the weakness of his cause--all

alarmed him, and he was now ready to make matters up. "Then the friar

fell upon his knees, saying: My lords, I entreat forgiveness of you

and of God. Next turning to Farel: And also, Magister, what I preached

against you was grounded on false reports. I have found you to be a

good man, and your doctrine good, and I am prepared to recall my

words."[871]

[871] Lors le frère se jeta à genoux, disant: Messeigneurs, je demande

merci à Dieu et à vous......Et aussi, Magister, ce que j'ai prêché

contre vous a été par de faux rapports, &c. (Neuchatel MS.)

Farel was touched by this appeal, and said: "My friend, do not ask

forgiveness of me, for I am a poor sinner like other men, putting my

trust not in my own righteousness, but in the death of Jesus."[872]

[872] Je suis pauvre pécheur comme les autres, ayant ma fiance, non en

ma justice, mais à la mort de Jesus. (Ibid.)

One of the lords of Berne coming up at this time, the friar, who

already imagined himself on the brink of martyrdom, began to wring his

hands, and to turn now towards the Bernese councillors, now towards

the tribunal, and then to Farel, crying, "Pardon, pardon!"--"Ask

pardon of our Saviour," replied Farel. The lord of Berne added: "Come

to-morrow and hear the minister's sermon; if he appears to you to

preach the truth, you shall confess it openly before all; if not, you

will declare your opinion: this promise in my hand." The monk held out

his hand, and the judges retired. "Then the friar went away, and I

have not seen him since, and no promises or oaths were able to make

him stay."[873] Thus the Reformation advanced in Switzerland Romande.

[873] Puis quand le frère fut parti, depuis ne l'ai vu, et nulles

promesses ni sermens ne l'ont pu faire demeurer. (Ibid.)

[Sidenote: OPPOSITION TO THE GOSPEL.]

But violent storms threatened to destroy the work that was hardly

begun. Romish agents from the Valais and from Savoy had crossed the

Rhone at St. Maurice, and were exciting the people to energetic

resistance. Tumultuous assemblages took place, in which dangerous

projects were discussed; the proclamations of the government were torn

down from the church-doors; troops of citizens paraded the city; the

drum beat in the streets to excite the populace against the reformer:

everywhere prevailed riot and sedition. Thus on the 16th February,

Farel ascended the pulpit for the first time after a short absence,

some Papist bands collected round the gate of the church, raised their

hands in tumult, uttered savage cries, and compelled the minister to

break off in his sermon.

[Sidenote: THE CONVERTED MONK.]

The council of Berne thereupon decreed that the parishioners of the

four mandemens should assemble. Those of Bex declared for the Reform;

Aigle followed their example, but with indecision; and in the

mountains above Ollon, the peasants not daring to maltreat Farel, set

their wives at him, who rushed upon him with their fulling-clubs. But

it was especially the parish of the Ormonds which, calm and proud at

the foot of its glaciers, signalized itself by its resistance. A

companion of Farel's labourers, named Claude (probably Claude de

Glontinis), when preaching there one day with great animation, was

suddenly interrupted by the ringing of the bells, whose noise was such

that one might have said all hell was busy pulling them. "In fact,"

says another herald of the Gospel, Jacques Comralis, who chanced to be

present, "it was Satan himself, who, breathing his anger into some of

his agents, filled the ears of the auditors with all this

uproar."[874] At another time, some zealous Reformers having thrown

down the altars of Baal, according to the language of the times, the

evil spirit began to blow with violence in all the chalets scattered

over the sides of the mountains; the shepherds issued precipitously

like avalanches, and fell upon the Church and the Reformers. "Let us

only find these sacrilegious wretches," cried the furious Ormondines;

"we will hang them,--we will cut off their heads,--we will burn

them,--we will throw their ashes into the Great Water."[875] Thus were

these mountaineers agitated, like the wind that roars in their lofty

valleys with a fury unknown to the inhabitants of the plains.

[874] Sed Sathan per ejus servos, voluit aures auditorum ejus sono

cymbali implere. (Neuchatel MS.)

[875] Quo invento suspenderetur primum, deinde dignus comburi,

alterius capitis obtruncatione, novissime in aquis mergeretur.

(Neuchatel MS.)

Other difficulties overwhelmed Farel. His fellow-labourers were not

all of them blameless. One Christopher Ballista, formerly a monk of

Paris, had written to Zwingle: "I am but a Gaul, a barbarian,[876] but

you will find me a man pure as snow, without any guile, of open heart,

through whose windows all the world may see."[877] Zwingle sent

Ballista to Farel, who was loudly calling for labourers in Christ's

vineyard. The fine language of the Parisian at first charmed the

multitude; but it was soon found necessary to beware of these priests

and monks disgusted with Popery. "Brought up in the slothfulness of

the cloister, gluttonous and lazy," says Farel, "Ballista could not

conform to the abstemiousness and rude labours of the Evangelists, and

soon began to regret his monk's hood. When he perceived the people

beginning to distrust him, he became like a furious monster, vomiting

waggon-loads of threats."[878] Thus ended his labours.

[876] Me quantumvis Gallum et barbarum. (Zw. Epp. ii. p. 205.)

[877] Absque ullo fuco, niveum, et aperti fenestratique pectoris.

(Ibid.)

[878] Quam beatus hic venter incanduit! quot minarum plaustra! Solent

tales belluæ, &c. (Neuchatel MS.)

[Sidenote: STATE--RELIGION.]

Notwithstanding all these trials, Farel was not discouraged. The

greater the difficulties, the more his energy increased. "Let us

scatter the seed everywhere," said he, "and let civilized France,

provoked to jealousy by this barbarous nation, embrace piety at last.

Let there not be in Christ's body either fingers, or hands, or feet,

or eyes, or ears, or arms, existing separately and working each for

itself, but let there be only one heart that nothing can divide. Let

not variety in secondary things divide into many separate members that

vital principle which is one and simple.[879] Alas! the pastures of

the Church are trodden under foot, and its waters are troubled! Let us

set our minds to concord and peace. When the Lord shall have opened

heaven, there will not be so many disputes about bread and water.[880]

A fervent charity--that is the powerful battering-ram with which we

shall beat down those proud walls, those material elements, with which

men would confine us."[881]

[879] Ne in digitos, manus, pedes, oculos, nares, aures, brachia, cor

quod unum est discindatur, et quæ in rebus est varietas, principium

non faciat multiplex. (Ibid.)

[880] An allusion to the controversies on anabaptism and the real

presence. Non tanta erit super aqua et pane contentio, nec super

gramine, solutaque obsidione. (Neuchatel MS.) The sense of these

latter words is obscure.

[881] Charitas fortissimus aries. (Farel to Bucer, 10th May, 1529.)

Thus wrote the most impetuous of the Reformers. These words of Farel,

preserved for three centuries in the city where he died, disclose to

us more clearly the intimate nature of the great Revolution of the

sixteenth century, than all the venturesome assertions of its Popish

interpreters. Christian unity thus from these earliest moments found a

zealous apostle. The nineteenth century is called to resume the work

which the sixteenth century was unable to accomplish.

[Sidenote: IRRESOLUTION OF BERNE.]

II. Of all the Swiss cantons, Berne appeared the least disposed to the

Reformation. A military state may be zealous for religion, but it will

be for an external and a disciplined religion; it requires an

ecclesiastical organization that it can see, and touch, and manage at

its will. It fears the innovations and the free movements of the Word

of God: it loves the form and not the life. Napoleon, by restoring

religion in France in the _Concordat_, has given us a memorable

example of this truth. Such, also, was the case with Berne. Its

government, besides, was absorbed by political interests, and although

it had little regard for the Pope, it cared still less to see a

Reformer put himself, as Zwingle did, at the head of public affairs.

As for the people, feasting on the "butter of their kine and milk of

their sheep, with fat of lambs,"[882] they remained closely shut up

within the narrow circle of their material wants. Religious questions

were not to the taste either of the rulers or of their fellow-citizens.

[882] Deut. xxxii. 14.

The Bernese government, being without experience in religious matters,

had proposed to check the movement of the Reform by its edict of 1523.

As soon as it discovered its mistake, it moved towards the cantons

that adhered to the ancient faith; and while that portion of the

people whence the Great Council was recruited, listened to the voice

of the Reformers, most of the patrician families, who composed the

Smaller Council, believing their power, their interests, and their

honor menaced, attached themselves to the old order of things. From

this opposition of the two councils there arose a general uneasiness,

but no violent shocks. Sudden movements, repeated starts, announced

from time to time that incongruous matters were fermenting in the

nation; it was like an indistinct earthquake, which raises the whole

surface without causing any rents: then anon all returns to apparent

tranquillity.[883] Berne, which was always decided in its politics,

turned in religious matters at one time to the right, and at another

to the left; and declared that it would be neither Popish nor

Reformed. To gain time was, for the new faith, to gain everything.

[883] Hundeshagen, Conflikte der Bernischen Kirche, p. 19.

[Sidenote: ALMANACK OF HERETICS.]

What was done to turn aside Berne from the Reformation, was the very

cause of precipitating it into the new way. The haughtiness with which

the five primitive cantons arrogated the guardianship of their

confederates, the secret conferences to which Berne was not even

invited, and the threat of addressing the people in a direct manner,

deeply offended the Bernese oligarchs. Thomas Murner, a Carmelite of

Lucerne, one of those rude men who act upon the populace, but who

inspire disgust in elevated minds, made the cup run over. Furious

against the Zurich calendar, in which the names of the saints had been

purposely omitted, he published in opposition to it the "Almanack of

Heretics and Church-robbers," a tract filled with lampoons and

invectives, in which the portraits of the Reformers and of their

adherents, among whom were many of the most considerable men of Berne,

were coupled with the most brutal inscriptions.[884] Zurich and Berne

in conjunction demanded satisfaction, and from this time the union of

these two states daily became closer.

[884] Quum nudus-tertius _Murneri_ Calendarium legissem, partim

ridendo hominis stultissimam impudentiam. (Œcolamp. to Zwingle, Febr.

1527, Epp. ii. p. 26.)

This change was soon perceived at Berne. The elections of 1527 placed

a considerable number of friends of the Reform in the Great Council;

and this body, forthwith resuming its right to nominate the members of

the Smaller Council, which had been usurped for twenty years by the

Bannerets and the Sixteen, removed from the government the most

decided partisans of the Roman hierarchy, and among others Gaspard de

Mulinen and Sebastian de Stein,[885] and filled the vacancies with

members of the Evangelical majority. The union of Church and State,

which had hitherto checked the progress of the Reform in Switzerland,

was now about to accelerate its movements.

[885] Mullinen e Senatoria dignitate protrusus est. Lapides quoque.

(Haller to Zwingle, April 25, 1527. Ibid. p. 49.)

[Sidenote: ANABAPTISTS IN BERNE.]

The Reformer Haller was not alone in Berne. Kolb had quitted the

Carthusian monastery at Nuremberg, in which he had been compelled to

take refuge, and had appeared before his compatriots, demanding no

other stipend than the liberty of preaching Jesus Christ. Already

bending under the weight of years, his head crowned with hoary locks,

Kolb, young in heart, full of fire, and of indomitable courage,

presented boldly before the chiefs of the nation that Gospel which

had saved him. Haller, on the contrary, although only thirty-five

years old, moved with a measured step, spoke with gravity, and

proclaimed the new doctrines with unusual circumspection. The old man

had taken the young man's part, and the youth that of the graybeard.

Zwingle, whose eye nothing escaped, saw that a favourable hour for

Berne was coming, and immediately gave the signal. "The dove

commissioned to examine the state of the waters is returning with an

olive-branch into the ark," wrote he to Haller; "come forth now, thou

second Noah, and take possession of the land. Enforce, be earnest, and

fix deeply in the hearts of men the hooks and grapnels of the Word of

God, so that they can never again be rid of them."[886]--"Your bears,"

wrote he to Thomas ab Hofen, "have again put forth their claws. Please

God that they do not draw them back until they have torn everything in

pieces that opposes Jesus Christ."

[886] Aculeos ac hamos, sic in mortalium pectora dimitte, ut etiam si

velint, non possint. (Zw. Epp. ii. p. 10.)

[Sidenote: VICTORY OF THE GOSPEL.]

Haller and his friends were on the point of replying to this appeal,

when their situation became complicated. Some Anabaptists, who formed

everywhere the extreme party, arriving in Berne in 1527, led away the

people from the Evangelical preachers "on account of the presence of

idols."[887] Haller had a useless conference with them. "To what

dangers is not Christianity exposed," cried he, "wherever these furies

have crept in!"[888] There has never been any revival in the Church,

without the hierarchical or radical sects immediately endeavouring to

disturb it. Haller, although alarmed, still maintained his unalterable

meekness. "The magistrates are desirous of banishing them," said he;

"but it is our duty to drive out their errors, and not their persons.

Let us employ no other weapons than the sword of the Spirit."[889] It

was not from Popery that the Reformers had learnt these principles. A

public disputation took place. Six Anabaptists declared themselves

convinced, and two others were sent out of the country.

[887] Ne plebem dehortentur ab auditione concionum nostrarum ob

idolorum præsentiam. (Zw. Epp. ii. p. 49.)

[888] Consideravimus omnes periculum urbis nostræ et totius

Christianismi, ubi illæ furiæ irrepserint. (Ibid. p. 50.)

[889] Nostrum est, omnio gladio spiritus refellere. (Ibid.)

The decisive moment was drawing near. The two great powers of the age,

the Gospel and the Papacy, were stirring with equal energy; the

Bernese councils were to speak out. They saw on the one hand the five

primitive cantons taking daily a more threatening attitude, and

announcing that the Austrian would soon reappear in Helvetia, to

reduce it once more into subjection to Rome; and on the other they

beheld the Gospel every day gaining ground in the Confederation. Which

was destined to prevail in Switzerland--the lances of Austria or the

Word of God? In the uncertainty in which the councils were placed,

they resolved to side with the majority. Where could they discover a

firm footing, if not there? _Vox populi, vox Dei._ "No one," said

they, "can make any change of his own private authority: the consent

of all is necessary."[890]

[890] Ut privata auctoritate nemo quippiam immutare præsumat (Haller

to Vadian.)

The government of Berne had to decide between two mandates, both

emanating from its authority: that of 1523, in favour of the free

preaching of the Gospel, and that of 1526, in favour "of the

sacraments, the saints, the mother of God, and the ornaments of the

churches." State messengers set out and traversed every parish: the

people gave their votes against every law contrary to liberty, and the

councils, supported by the nation, decreed that "the Word of God

should be preached publicly and freely, even if it should be in

opposition to the statutes and doctrines of men." Such was the victory

of the Gospel and of the people over the oligarchy and the priests.

[Sidenote: PAPIST PROVOCATIONS.]

Contentions immediately arose throughout the canton, and every parish

became a battle-field. The peasants began to dispute with the priests

and monks, in reliance on the Holy Scriptures. "If the mandate of our

lords," said many, "accords to our pastors the liberty of preaching,

why should it not grant the flock the liberty of acting?"--"Peace,

peace!" cried the councils, alarmed at their own boldness. But the

flocks resolutely declared that they would send away the Mass, and

keep their pastors and the Bible.[891] Upon this the Papal partisans

grew violent. "Heretics, rascals, wantons," said the banneret

Kuttler[892] to the good people of Emmenthal; and these peasants

obliged him to make an apology. The bailiff of Trachselwald was more

cunning. Seeing the inhabitants of Rudersweil listening with eagerness

to the Word of God, which a pious minister was preaching to them, he

came with fifers and trumpeters, and interrupted the sermon, inviting

the village girls by words and by lively tunes to quit the church for

the dance.

[891] Incolas vallis Emmenthal Senatum adiisse, _missam_que _missam

fecisse_. (Zw. Epp. ii. p. 104.)

[892] Pueros, hereticos, et homines lascivos. (Ibid. p. 106.)

These singular provocations did not check the Reform. Six of the city

companies (the shoe-makers, weavers, merchants, bakers, stone-masons,

and carpenters) abolished in the churches and convents of their

district all masses, anniversaries, advowsons, and prebends. Three

others (the tanners, smiths, and tailors) prepared to imitate

them;[893] the seven remaining companies were undecided, except the

butchers, who were enthusiasts for the Pope. Thus the majority of the

citizens had embraced the Gospel. Many parishes throughout the canton

had done the same; and the avoyer d'Erlach, the great adversary of the

Reformation, could no longer keep the torrent within bounds.

[893] Haller to Zwingle, 4th November, 1527. (Epp. ii. p. 105.)

[Sidenote: PROPOSED DISPUTATION.]

Yet the attempt was made: the bailiffs were ordered to note the

irregularities and dissolute lives of the monks and nuns; all women of

loose morals were even turned out of the cloisters.[894] But it was

not against these abuses alone that the Reformation was levelled; it

was against the institutions themselves, and against Popery on which

they were founded. The people must therefore decide.--"The Bernese

clergy," said they, "must be convoked, as at Zurich, and let the two

doctrines be discussed in a solemn conference. We will proceed

afterwards in conformity with the result."

[894] J. J. Hottinger, H. Kirchen, viii. p. 394.

On the Sunday following the festival of Saint Martin (11th November),

the council and citizens unanimously resolved that a public

disputation should take place at the beginning of the succeeding year.

"The glory of God and his Word," said they, "will at length appear!"

Bernese and strangers, priests and laymen, all were invited by letter

or by printed notice to come and discuss the controverted points, but

by Scripture alone, without the glosses of the ancients, and

renouncing all subtleties and abusive language.[895] Who knows, said

they, if all the members of the ancient Swiss confederation may not be

thus brought to unity of faith?

[895] Solam sacram Scripturam, absque veterum glossematis. (Haller to

Zwingle, 19th November 1527. Epp. ii. p. 113.)

Thus, within the walls of Berne, the struggle was about to take place

that would decide the fate of Switzerland; for the example of the

Bernese must necessarily lead with it a great part of the

Confederation.

[Sidenote: IMPORTANT QUESTION.]

The Five Cantons, alarmed at this intelligence, met at Lucerne, when

they were joined by Fribourg, Soleure and Glaris. There was nothing

either in the letter or in the spirit of the federal compact to

obstruct religious liberty. "Every state," said Zurich, "is free to

choose the doctrine that it desires to profess." The Waldstettes,[896]

on the contrary, wished to deprive the cantons of this independence,

and to subject them to the federal majority and to the Pope. They

protested, therefore, in the name of the confederation against the

proposed discussion. "Your ministers," wrote they to Berne, "dazzled

and confounded at Baden by the brightness of truth, would desire by

this new discussion to hide their shame; but we entreat you to desist

from a plan so contrary to our ancient alliances."--"It is not we who

have infringed them," replied Berne; "it is much rather your haughty

missive that has destroyed them. We will not abandon the Word of our

Lord Jesus Christ." Upon this the Roman cantons decided to refuse all

safe-conduct to those who should proceed to Berne. This was giving

token of sinister intentions.

[896] The inhabitants of the primitive democratic cantons, Schwytz,

Uri, Underwald, and Lucerne, to which Zug may be added.

The four bishops of Lausanne, Constance, Basle, and Sion, being

invited to the conference under pain of forfeiting all their

privileges in the canton of Berne, replied that, since it was to be a

disputation according to the Scriptures, they had nothing to do with

it. Thus did these priests forget the words of one of the most

illustrious Roman doctors of the fifteenth century: "In heavenly

things man should be independent of his fellows, and trust in God

alone."[897]

[897] John Goch, Dialogus de quatuor erroribus, p. 237.

The Romanist doctors followed the example of the bishops. Eck, Murner,

Cochlœus, and many others said everywhere: "We have received the

letter of this leper, of this accursed heretic Zwingle.[898] They want

to take the Bible for their judge; but has the Bible a voice against

those who do it violence? We will not go to Berne; we will not crawl

into that obscure corner of the world; we will not go and combat in

that gloomy cavern, in that school of heretics. Let these villains

come out into the open air, and contend with us on level ground, if

they have the Bible on their side, as they say." The Emperor ordered

the discussion to be adjourned; but on the very day of its opening,

the council of Berne replied, that as every one was already assembled,

delay was impossible.

[898] Epistolam leprosi, damnati, hæretici Zwinglii accepi. (Eck to G.

A. Zell, Zw. Epp. ii. p. 126.)

[Sidenote: UNEQUAL CONTEST.]

Then, in despite of the doctors and bishops, the Helvetic Church

assembled to decide upon its doctrines. Had it a right to do so?

No;--not if priests and bishops were appointed, as Rome pretends, to

form a mystic bond between the Church and our Lord; Yes--if they were

established, as the Bible declares, only to satisfy that law of order

by virtue of which all society should have a directing power. The

opinions of the Swiss Reformers in this respect were not doubtful. The

grace which creates the minister comes from the Lord, thought they;

but the Church examines this grace, acknowledges it, proclaims it by

the elders, and in every act in which faith is concerned, it can

always appeal from the minister to the Word of God. _Try the

spirits--prove all things_, it says to the faithful. The Church is the

judge of controversies;[899] and it is this duty, in which it should

never be found wanting, that it was now about to fulfil in the

disputation at Berne.

[899] _Judex controversiarum_--1 John iv. 1; 1 Thess. v. 21.

The contest seemed unequal. On one side appeared the Roman hierarchy,

a giant which had increased in strength during many centuries; and on

the other, there was at first but one weak and timid man, the modest

Berthold Haller. "I cannot wield the sword of the Word," said he in

alarm to his friends. "If you do not stretch out your hands to me, all

is over." He then threw himself trembling at the feet of the Lord, and

soon arose enlightened and exclaiming, "Faith in the Saviour gives me

courage, and scatters all my fears."[900]

[900] Fides in Dominum me animat, ut nihil verear. (Zw. Epp. ii. p.

123.)

Yet he could not remain alone: all his looks were turned towards

Zwingle: "It was I who took the bath at Baden," wrote Œcolampadius to

Haller, "and now it is Zwingle who should lead off the bear-dance in

Berne."[901]--"We are between the hammer and the anvil," wrote Haller

to Zwingle; "we hold the wolf by the ears, and know not how to let him

go.[902] The houses of De Watteville, Noll, Tremp, and Berthold are

open to you. Come, then, and command the battle in person."

[901] An allusion to the dispute at Baden, a celebrated bathing-place,

and to the arms of Berne. (Ibid. p. 118.)

[902] Lupum auribus tenemus. (Zurich MS.)

[Sidenote: A CHRISTIAN BAND.]

Zwingle did not hesitate. He demanded permission of the Council of

Zurich to visit Berne, in order to show there "that his teaching was

full of the fear of God, and not blasphemous; mighty to spread concord

through Switzerland, and not to cause troubles and dissension."[903]

At the very time that Haller received news of Zwingle's coming,

Œcolampadius wrote to him: "I am ready, if it be necessary, to

sacrifice my life. Let us inaugurate the new year by embracing one

another to the glory of Jesus Christ." Other doctors wrote to the same

effect. "These, then," cried Haller with emotion, "these are the

auxiliaries that the Lord sends to my infirmity, to aid me in fighting

this rude battle!"

[903] Neque ad perturbationem nostræ almæ Helvetiæ. (Zw. Epp. ii. p.

120.)

It was necessary to proceed with circumspection, for the violence of

the oligarchs and of the Five Cantons was well known.[904] The doctors

of Glaris, Schaffhausen, St. Gall, Constance, Ulm, Lindau and

Augsburg, assembled at Zurich, to proceed under the same escort as

Zwingle, Pellican, Collin, Megander, Grossman, the commander Schmidt,

Bullinger, and a great number of the rural clergy, selected to

accompany the reformer. "When all this game traverses the country,"

said the pensioners, "we will go a-hunting, and see if we cannot kill

some, or at least catch them and put them into a cage."

[904] Oligarchæ in angulis obmurmurent. (Ibid. p. 123.)

Three hundred chosen men, selected from the companies of Zurich and

from the parishes within its precincts, donned their breastplates and

shouldered their arquebuses; but in order not to give the journey of

these doctors the appearance of a military expedition, they took

neither colours, fife, nor drum; and the trumpeter of the city, a

civil officer, rode alone at the head of the company.

[Sidenote: OPENING OF THE CONFERENCE.]

On Tuesday the 2d of January they set out. Never had Zwingle appeared

more cheerful. "Glory be to the Lord," said he, "my courage increases

every day."[905] The burgomaster Roust, the town-clerk of Mangoldt,

with Funck and Jaëkli, both masters of arts, and all four delegated by

the council, were on horseback near him. They reached Berne on the 4th

of January, having had only one or two unimportant alarms.

[905] Crescit, Domino gloria, mihi animus in hac pugna. (Zw. Epp.

Vadiano.)

The Cordeliers' Church was to serve as the place of conference.

Tillmann, the city architect, had made arrangements according to a

plan furnished by Zwingle.[906] A large platform had been erected on

which were placed two tables, and around them sat the champions of the

two parties. On the evangelical side were remarked, besides Haller,

Zwingle, and Œcolampadius, many distinguished men of the Reformed

Church, strangers to Switzerland, as Bucer, Capito, and Ambrose

Blarer. On the side of the papacy, Dr. Treger of Friburg, who enjoyed

a high reputation, appeared to keep up the fire of the combat. As for

the rest, whether through fear or contempt, the most famous Roman

doctors were absent.

[906] Tillmannus urbis architectus locum juxta tuam deformationem

operabit. (Ibid. ii p. 123.)

The first act was to publish the regulations of the conference. "No

proof shall be proposed that is not drawn from the Holy Scriptures,

and no explanation shall be given of those scriptures, that does not

come from Scripture itself, explaining obscure texts by such as are

clear." After this, one of the secretaries, rising to call over the

roll, shouted with a loud voice that re-echoed through the

church,--The Bishop of Constance! No one replied. He did the same for

the bishops of Zion, Basle, and Lausanne. Neither of these prelates

was present at this meeting, either in person or by deputy. The Word

of God being destined to reign alone, the Roman hierarchy did not

appear. These two powers cannot walk together. There were present

about three hundred and fifty Swiss and German ecclesiastics.

[Sidenote: CHRIST, THE SOLE HEAD.]

On Tuesday, 7th January, 1528, the burgomaster Vadianus, of St. Gall,

one of the presidents, opened the disputation. After him the aged Kolb

stood up, and said: "God is at this moment agitating the whole world,

let us, therefore, humble ourselves before him," and he pronounced

with fervour a confession of sins.

When this was done, the first thesis was read. It was thus drawn up.

"The Holy Christian Church, of which Christ is the sole head, is born

of the Word of God, abideth in it, and listeneth not to the voice of a

stranger."

ALEXIS GRAT, a Dominican monk,--"The word _sole_ is not in Scripture.

Christ has left a vicar here below."

HALLER.--"The vicar that Christ left is the Holy Ghost."

TREGER.--"See then to what a pass things have come these last ten

years. This man calls himself a Lutheran, that a Zwinglian; a third, a

Carlstadtian; a fourth an Œcolampadist; a fifth, an Anabaptist......"

BUCER.--"Whosoever preacheth Jesus as the only Saviour, we recognize

as our brother. Neither Luther, nor Zwingle, nor Œcolampadius, desires

the faithful to bear his name. Besides, you should not boast so much

of a mere external unity. When antichrist gained the upperhand

throughout the world, in the East by Mahomet, in the West by the Pope,

he was able to keep the people in unity of error. God permits

divisions, in order that those who belong to him may learn to look not

to men, but to the testimony of the Word, and to the assurance of the

Holy Ghost in their hearts. Thus then, dearly beloved brethren, to the

Scriptures, the Scriptures![907] O Church of Berne, hold fast to the

teaching of Him who said, _Come unto me_, and not, _Come unto my

vicar_!"

[907] Darum fromme Christen! Zur Schrift, zur Schrift! (Acta Zw. ii.

p. 92.)

The disputation then turned successively on Tradition, the Merits of

Christ, Transubstantiation, the Mass, Prayer to the Saints, Purgatory,

Images, Celibacy, and the Disorders of the Clergy. Rome found numerous

defenders, and among others, Murer, priest of Rapperswyl, who had

said: "If they wish to burn the two ministers of Berne, I will

undertake to carry them both to the stake."

[Sidenote: REMARKABLE CONVERSION.]

On Sunday, the 19th of January the day on which the doctrine of the

Mass was attacked, Zwingle, desirous of acting on the people also,

went into the pulpit, and reciting the Apostles' Creed, made a pause

after these words: "He ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right

hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge

the quick and the dead." "These three articles," said he, "are in

contradiction to the Mass." All his hearers redoubled their attention;

and a priest, clothed in his sacerdotal vestments; who was preparing

to celebrate the holy sacrifice in one of the chapels, stopped in

astonishment at Zwingle's words. Erect before the consecrated altar on

which lay the chalice and the body of the Saviour, with eyes fixed

upon the reformer, whose words electrified the people, a prey to the

most violent struggles, and beaten down by the weight of truth, the

agitated priest resolved to sacrifice every thing for it. In the

presence of the whole assembly, he stripped off his priestly

ornaments, and throwing them on the altar, he exclaimed: "Unless the

Mass reposes on a more solid foundation, I can celebrate it no

longer!" The noise of this conversion, effected at the very foot of

the altar, immediately spread through the city,[908] and it was

regarded as an important omen. So long as the Mass remains, Rome has

gained everything: as soon as the Mass falls, Rome has lost all. The

Mass is the creative principle of the whole system of Popery.

[908] Das lachet menklich und ward durch die gantzen Stadt kundt.

(Bulling, i. p. 436.) In this and other quotations, we preserve the

orthography of the times.

[Sidenote: ST. VINCENT'S DAY.]

Three days later, on the 22d January, was the feast of St. Vincent,

the patron of the city. The disputation that had been carried on

during Sunday was suspended on that day. The canons asked the council

what they were to do. "Such of you," replied the council, "as receive

the doctrine of the theses ought not to say Mass; the others may

perform divine worship as usual."[909] Every preparation was

accordingly made for the solemnity. On St. Vincent's eve the bells

from every steeple announced the festival to the inhabitants of Berne.

On the morrow the sacristans lit up the tapers; incense filled the

temple, but no one appeared. No priests to say Mass, no faithful to

hear it! Already there was a vast chasm in the Roman sanctuary, a deep

silence, as on the field of battle, where none but the dead are lying.

[909] Bullinger says, on the contrary, that the council positively

forbade the Mass. But Bullinger, who is a very animated writer, is not

always exact in diplomatic matters. The council would not have come to

such a resolution before the close of the discussion. Other

contemporary historians and official documents leave no room for doubt

on this point. Stettler, in his Chronicle, pars ii. p. 6, ad annum

1528, details these proceedings as in the text.

In the evening it was the custom for the canons to chaunt vespers with

great pomp. The organist was at his post, but no one else appeared.

The poor man left thus alone, beholding with sorrow the fall of that

worship by which he gained his bread, gave utterance to his grief by

playing a mourning-hymn instead of the majestic _Magnificat_: "Oh,

wretched Judas, what hast thou done, that thou hast thus betrayed our

Lord?" After this sad farewell, he rose and went out. Almost

immediately, some men, excited by the passions of the moment, fell

upon his beloved organ, an accomplice in their eyes of so many

superstitious rites, and their violent hands broke it to pieces. No

more Mass, no more organ, no more anthems! A new Supper and new hymns

shall succeed the rites of Popery.

On the next day there was the same silence. Suddenly, however, a band

of men with loud voices and hasty steps was heard. It was the

Butchers' Company that, at this moment so fatal to Rome, desired to

support it. They advanced, carrying small fir-trees and green

branches, for the decoration of their chapel. In the midst of them was

a foreign priest, behind whom walked a few poor scholars. The priest

officiated; the sweet voices of the scholars supplied the place of the

mute organ, and the butchers retired proud of their victory.

[Sidenote: PAPIST BITTERNESS.]

The discussion was drawing to a close: the combatants had dealt

vigorous blows. Burgauer, pastor of St. Gall, had maintained the real

presence in the Host; but on the 19th January he declared himself

convinced by the reasonings of Zwingle, Œcolampadius, and Bucer; and

Matthias, minister of Saengen, had done the same.

A conference in Latin afterwards took place between Farel and a

Parisian doctor. The latter advanced a strange argument. "Christians,"

said he, "are enjoined to obey the devil;[910] for it is said, _Submit

unto thine adversary_ (Matt. v. 25); now, our adversary is the devil.

How much more, then, should we submit to the Church!" Loud bursts of

laughter greeted this remarkable syllogism. A discussion with the

Anabaptists terminated the conference.

[910] Nos tenemur obedire diabolo. (J. J. Hottinger, iii. p. 405.)

The two councils decreed that the Mass should be abolished, and that

every one might remove from the churches the ornaments he had placed

there.

Immediately twenty-five altars and a great number of images were

destroyed in the cathedral, yet without disorder or bloodshed; and the

children began to sing in the streets (as Luther informs us):[911]--

By the Word at length we're saved

From a God in a mortar brayed.

[911] Pueri in plateis cantant: se esse a Deo pisto liberatos. (L.

Epp. iii. p. 290.)

[Sidenote: NECESSITY OF REFORM.]

The hearts of the adherents of the Papacy were filled with bitterness

as they heard the objects of their adoration fall one after another.

"Should any man," said John Schneider, "take away the altar of the

Butchers' Company, I will take away his life." Peter Thorman compared

the cathedral stripped of its ornaments to a stable. "When the good

folks of the Oberland come to market," added he, "they will be happy

to put up their cattle in it." And John Zehender, member of the Great

Council, to show the little value he set on such a place of worship,

entered it riding on an ass, insulting and cursing the Reform. A

Bernese, who chanced to be there, having said to him, "It is by God's

will that these images have been pulled down,"--"Say rather by the

devil's," replied Zehender; "when have you ever been with God so as to

learn his will?" He was fined twenty livres, and expelled from the

council.[912] "What times! what manners!" exclaimed many; "what

culpable neglect! How easy would it have been to prevent so great a

misfortune! Oh! if our bishops had only been willing to occupy

themselves more with learning and a little less with their

mistresses!"[913]

[912] History of Berne, by Tillier, iii. p. 257.

[913] Si studiorum quam scortorum nostri episcopi amantiores essent.

(Ruchat, i. p. 576. Letter of J. de Munster, priest at Soleure.)

This Reform was necessary. When Christianity in the fourth century had

seen the favour of princes succeed to persecution, a crowd of heathens

rushing into the church had brought with them the images, pomps,

statues, and demigods of Paganism, and a likeness of the mysteries of

Greece and Asia, and above all of Egypt, had banished the Word of

Jesus Christ from the Christian oratories. This Word returning in the

sixteenth century, a purification must necessarily take place; but it

could not be done without grievous rents.

[Sidenote: ZWINGLE'S SERMON.]

The departure of the strangers was drawing near. On the 28th January,

the day after that on which the images and altars had been thrown

down, while their piled fragments still encumbered here and there the

porches and the aisles of the cathedral, Zwingle crossing these

eloquent ruins, once more ascended the pulpit in the midst of an

immense crowd. In great emotion, directing his eyes by turns on these

fragments and on the people, he said: "Victory has declared for the

truth, but perseverance alone can complete the triumph. Christ

persevered even until death. _Ferendo vincitur fortuna._ Cornelius

Scipio, after the disaster at Cannæ, having learnt that the generals

surviving the slaughter meditated quitting Italy, entered the

senate-house, although not yet of senatorial age, drew his sword, and

constrained the affrighted chiefs to swear that they would not abandon

Rome. Citizens of Berne, to you I address the same demand: do not

abandon Jesus Christ."

We may easily imagine the effect produced on the people by such words,

pronounced with Zwingle's energetic eloquence.

Then, turning towards the fragments that lay near him: "Behold," said

he, "behold these idols! Behold them conquered, mute, and shattered

before us! These corpses must be dragged to the shambles, and the gold

you have spent upon these foolish images must henceforward be devoted

to comforting in their misery the living images of God. Feeble souls,

ye shed tears over these sad idols; do ye not see that they break, do

ye not hear that they crack like any other wood, or like any other

stone? Look! here is one deprived of its head......(Zwingle pointed to

the image, and all the people fixed their eyes upon it); here is

another maimed of its arms.[914] If this ill usage had done any harm

to the saints that are in heaven, and if they had the power ascribed

to them, would you have been able, I pray, to cut off their arms and

their heads?"

[914] Hie lüt einer, dem ist's houpt ab, dem andern ein arm, &c. (Zw.

Opp. ii. p. 228.)

"Now then," said the powerful orator in conclusion, "stand fast in the

liberty wherewith Christ has made you free, and be not entangled again

with the yoke of bondage (Gal. v. 1). Fear not! That God who has

enlightened you, will enlighten your confederates also, and

Switzerland, regenerated by the Holy Ghost, shall flourish in

righteousness and peace."

[Sidenote: ZWINGLE TRIUMPHANT.]

The words of Zwingle were not lost. The mercy of God called forth that

of man. Some persons condemned to die for sedition, were pardoned, and

all the exiles were recalled. "Should we not have done so," said the

council, "had a great prince visited us? Shall we not much more do so,

now that the King of kings and the Redeemer of our souls has made his

entry among us, bearing an everlasting amnesty?"[915]

[915] Da der König aller Könige......(Haller, by Kirchhofer, p. 439.)

The Romish cantons, exasperated at the result of the discussion,

sought to harass the return of the doctors. On arriving before

Bremgarten, they found the gates closed. The bailiff Schutz, who had

accompanied them with two hundred men-at-arms, placed two halberdiers

before Zwingle's horse, two behind him, and one on each side; then

putting himself at the Reformer's left hand, while the burgomaster

Roust stationed himself on the right, he ordered the escort to

proceed, lance in rest.[916] The avoyers of the town being

intimidated, came to a parley; the gates were opened; the escort

traversed Bremgarten amidst an immense crowd, and on the 1st February

reached Zurich without accident, which Zwingle re-entered, says

Luther, like a conqueror.[917]

[916] Mit iren Spyessen für den hauffen. (Bull. chr. i. p. 439.)

[917] Zwingel triumphator et imperator gloriosus. (L. Epp. iii. p.

290.)

The Roman-catholic party did not dissemble the check they had

received. "Our cause is falling," said the friends of Rome.[918] "Oh!

that we had had men skilled in the Bible! The impetuosity of Zwingle

supported our adversaries; his ardour was never relaxed. That brute

has more knowledge than was imagined.[919] Alas! alas! the greater

party has vanquished the better."[920]

[918] Ruunt res nostræ. (Letter of the priest J. de Muller, an

eye-witness of the discussion. Rachat. i. p. 575.)

[919] Doctior tamen hæc bellua est quam putabam. (Ibid.)

[920] Vicitque pars major meliorem. (Ibid.)

The Council of Berne, desirous of separating from the Pope, relied

upon the people. On the 30th January, messengers going from house to

house convoked the citizens; and on the 2d February, the burgesses and

inhabitants, masters and servants, uniting in the cathedral, and

forming but one family, with hands upraised to heaven, swore to defend

the two councils in all they should undertake for the good of the

State or of the Church.

[Sidenote: EDICT OF REFORM.]

On the 7th February 1528, the council published a general edict of

Reform, and "threw for ever from the necks of the Bernese the yoke of

the four bishops, who," said they, "know well how to shear their

sheep, but not how to feed them."[921]

[921] Bull. Chron. i. p. 466.

At the same time the Reformed doctrines were spreading among the

people. In every quarter might be heard earnest and keen dialogues,

written in rhyme by Manuel, in which the pale and expiring Mass,

stretched on her deathbed, was loudly calling for all her physicians,

and finding their advice useless, at last dictating with a broken

voice her last will and testament, which the people received with loud

bursts of laughter.

The Reformation generally, and that of Berne in particular, has been

reproached as being brought about by political motives. But, on the

contrary, Berne, which of all the Helvetic states was the greatest

favourite of the court of Rome--which had in its canton neither a

bishop to dismiss nor a powerful clergy to humiliate--Berne, whose

most influential families, the Weingartens, Manuels, Mays, were

reluctant to sacrifice the pay and the service of the foreigner, and

all whose traditions were conservative, ought to have opposed the

movement. The Word of God was the power that overcame this political

tendency.[922]

[922] Hundeshagen, conflicte der Bernerkirche, p. 22.

[Sidenote: THE REFORM ACCEPTED.]

At Berne, as elsewhere, it was neither a learned, nor a democratic,

nor a sectarian spirit that gave birth to the Reformation. Undoubtedly

the men of letters, the liberals, the sectarian enthusiasts, rushed

into the great struggle of the sixteenth century; but the duration of

the Reform would not have been long had it received its life from

them. The primitive strength of Christianity, reviving after ages of

long and complete prostration, was the creative principle of the

Reformation; and it was erelong seen to separate distinctly from the

false allies that had presented themselves, to reject an incredulous

learning by elevating the study of the classics, to check all

demagogic anarchy by upholding the principles of true liberty, and to

repudiate the enthusiastic sects by consecrating the rights of the

Word and of the christian people.

But while we maintain that the Reformation was at Berne, as elsewhere,

a truly christian work, we are far from saying that it was not useful

to the canton in a political sense. All the European states that have

embraced the Reformation have been elevated, while those which have

combated it have been lowered.

III. It now became a question of propagating throughout all the canton

the reform accomplished in the city. On the 17th February, the council

invited the rural parishes to assemble on the following Sunday to

receive and deliberate upon a communication. The whole Church,

according to the ancient usage of Christendom, was about to decide for

itself on its dearest interests.

The assemblies were crowded; all conditions and ages were present.

Beside the hoary and the trembling head of the aged man might be seen

the sparkling eye of the youthful shepherd. The messengers of the

council first read the edict of the Reformation. They next proclaimed

that those who accepted it should remain, and that those who rejected

it should withdraw.

Almost all the assembled parishioners remained in their places. An

immense majority of the people chose the Bible. In some few parishes

this decision was accompanied with energetic demonstrations. At

Arberg, Zofingen, Brugg, Arau, and Buren, the images were burnt. "At

Stauffberg," it was said, "idols were seen carrying idols, and

throwing one another into the flames."[923]

[923] Da tregt ein Götz den andern in das fhüwr. (Bull. Chron. ii. p.

1.) A man whose business it was to shear the flocks, and who had been

nicknamed Götz-scherer (idol-shearer), had made himself very

distinguished among those who carried the images to the fire. Such was

the origin of this popular legend, and it is the key to many others.

[Sidenote: FAITH AND CHARITY.]

The images and the Mass had disappeared from this vast canton. "A

great cry resounded far and wide," writes Bullinger.[924] In one day

Rome had fallen throughout the country, without treachery, violence,

or seduction, by the strength of truth alone. In some places, however,

in the Hasli, at Frutigen, Unterseen, and Grindelwald, the malcontents

were heard to say: "If they abolish the Mass, they should also abolish

tithes." The Roman form of worship was preserved in the Upper

Simmenthal, a proof that there was no compulsion on the part of the

state.

[924] Das wyt und breit ein gross geschrey und wunder gepar. (Bull.

Chron. ii. p. 1.)

The wishes of the canton being thus manifested, Berne completed the

Reformation. All excesses in gambling, drinking, and dancing, and all

unbecoming dress, were forbidden by proclamation. The houses of

ill-fame were destroyed, and their wretched inhabitants expelled from

the city.[925] A consistory was appointed to watch over the public

morals.

[925] J. J. Hottinger, iii. p. 414.

Seven days after the edict, the poor were received into the Dominican

cloister, and a little later the convent of the Island was changed

into an hospital; the princely monastery of Königsfield was also

devoted to the same useful purpose. Charity followed everywhere in the

steps of faith. "We will show," said the council, "that we do not use

the property of the convents to our own advantage;" and they kept

their word. The poor were clothed with the priests' garments; the

orphans were decorated with the ornaments of the Church. So strict

were they in these distributions, that the state was forced to borrow

money to pay the annuities of the monks and nuns; and for eight days

there was not a crown in the public treasury.[926] Thus it was that

the State, as it has been continually repeated, grew rich with the

spoils of the Church! At the same time they invited from Zurich the

ministers Hoffmeister, Megander, and Rhellican, to spread throughout

the canton the knowledge of the classics and of the Holy Scriptures.

[926] Hoc unum tibi dico secretissime. (Haller to Zwingle, 21st

January, 1530.)

[Sidenote: FIRST EVANGELICAL COMMUNION.]

At Easter the Lord's Supper was celebrated for the first time

according to the Evangelical rites. The two councils and all the

people, with few exceptions, partook of it. Strangers were struck with

the solemnity of this first communion. The citizens of Berne and their

wives, dressed in decent garments, which recalled the ancient Swiss

simplicity, approached Christ's table with gravity and fervour;[927]

the heads of the state showed the same holy devotion as the people,

and piously received the bread from the hands of Berthold Haller. Each

one felt that the Lord was among them. Thus Hoffmeister, charmed at

this solemn service, exclaimed: "How can the adversaries of the Word

refuse to embrace the truth at last, seeing that God himself renders

it so striking a testimony!"[928]

[927] Relucet enim in illorum vestitu et habitu nescio quid veteris

illius Helvetiæ simplicitatis. (Hoffmeister to Zwingle. Zw. Epp. ii.

p. 167.)

[928] Ea res magnam spem mihi injecit de illis lucrandis qui hactenus

fuerunt male morigeri verbo. (Ibid.)

Yet everything was not changed. The friends of the Gospel witnessed

with pain the sons of the chief families of the republic parading the

streets in costly garments, inhabiting sumptuous houses in the city,

dwelling in magnificent mansions in the country--true seignorial

abodes, following the chase with hound and horn, sitting down to

luxurious banquets, conversing in licentious language, or talking with

enthusiasm of foreign wars and of the French party. "Ah!" said that

pious people, "could we but see old Switzerland revive with its old

virtues!"

[Sidenote: HEAD OF BEATUS.]

There was soon a powerful reaction. The annual renewal of the

magistrature being about to take place, the councillor Butschelbach, a

violent adversary of the Gospel, was ejected for adultery; four other

senators and twenty members of the Great Council were also replaced by

friends of the Reformation and of public morality. Emboldened by this

victory, the Evangelical Bernese proposed in the diet that every

Swiss should renounce foreign service. At these words the warriors of

Lucerne started under their weighty armour, and replied with a haughty

smile: "When you have returned to the ancient faith we will listen to

your homilies." All the members of the government, assembled at Berne

in sovereign council, resolved to set the example, and solemnly

abjured the pay of foreign princes. Thus the Reformation showed its

faith by its works.

Another struggle took place. Above the lake of Thunn rises a chain of

steep rocks, in the midst of which is situated a deep cavern, where,

if we may believe tradition, the pious Breton, Beatus, came in ancient

times to devote himself to all the austerities of an ascetic life; but

especially to the conversion of the surrounding district that was

still heathen. It was affirmed that the head of this saint, who had

died in Gaul, was preserved in this cavern; and hence it was visited

by pilgrims from every quarter. The pious citizens of Zug, Schwytz,

Uri, and Argovia, groaned, as they thought that the holy head of the

apostle of Switzerland would hereafter remain in a land of heretics.

The abbot of the celebrated convent of Muri in Argovia and some of his

friends set out, as in ancient times the Argonauts went in quest of

the Golden Fleece. They arrived in the humble guise of poor pilgrims,

and entered the cavern; one skilfully took away the head, another

placed it mysteriously in his hood, and they disappeared. The head of

a dead man!--and this was all that Rome saved from the shipwreck. But

even this conquest was more than doubtful. The Bernese, who had gained

information of this procession, sent three deputies on the 18th May,

who, according to their report, found this famous head, and caused it

to be decently interred before their eyes in the cemetery belonging to

the convent of Interlaken. This contest about a skull characterizes

the Church that had just given way in Berne before the vivifying

breath of the Gospel. _Let the dead bury their dead._

[Sidenote: THREATENING STORM.]

The Reformation had triumphed in Berne; but a storm was gathering

unperceived in the mountains, which threatened to overthrow it. The

State in union with the Church recalled its ancient renown. Seeing

itself attacked by arms, it took up arms in its turn, and acted with

that decision which had formerly saved Rome in similar dangers.

A secret discontent was fermenting among the people of the valleys and

mountains. Some were still attached to the ancient faith; others had

only quitted the Mass because they thought they would be exempted from

tithes. Ancient ties of neighbourhood, a common origin, and similarity

of manners had united the inhabitants of the Obwald (Unterwalden) to

those of the Hasli and of the Bernese Oberland, which were separated

only by Mount Brunig and the high pass of the Yoke. A rumour had been

set afloat that the government of Berne had profaned the spot where

the precious remains of Beatus, the apostle of these mountains, were

preserved, and indignation immediately filled these pastoral people,

who adhere firmer than others to the customs and superstitions of

their forefathers.

But while some were excited by attachment to Rome, others were aroused

by a desire for liberty. The subjects of the monastery of Interlaken,

oppressed by the monkish rule, began to cry out, "We desire to become

our own masters, and no longer pay rent or tithes." The provost of the

convent in affright ceded all his rights to Berne for the sum of one

hundred thousand florins;[929] and a bailiff, accompanied by several

councillors, went and took possession of the monastery. A report was

soon spread that they were about to transfer all the property of the

convent to Berne; and on the 21st of April bands of men from

Grindelwald, Lauterbrunnen, Ringelberg, Brienz, and other places,

crossed the lake, or issued from their lofty valleys, and taking

forcible possession of the cloister, swore to go even to Berne in

quest of the goods which the citizens had dared to take from them.

[929] Totum regnum suum tradiderunt in manus magistrates nostri

(Haller to Zwingle, 31st March.)

[Sidenote: REVOLT.]

They were quieted for a time; but in the beginning of June, the

people, at the instigation of Unterwalden, again arose in all the

Hasli. The Landsgemeinde[930] having been convoked, it decided by a

majority of forty voices for the re-establishment of the Mass. The

pastor Jaëkli was immediately expelled; a few men crossed the Brunig,

and brought back some priests from Unterwalden, to the sound of fifes

and trumpets. They were seen from afar descending the mountain, and

shouts, both loud and long, replied to them from the bottom of the

valley. At last they arrived:--all embraced one another, and the

people celebrated the Mass anew with great demonstrations of joy. At

the same time, the people of Frutigen and of the fertile valley of

Adelboden assailed the castellan Reuter, carried off his flocks, and

established a Roman-catholic priest in the place of their pastor. At

Aeschi even the women took up arms, drove out the pastor from the

church, and brought back the images in triumph. The revolt spread from

hamlet to hamlet and from valley to valley, and again took possession

of Interlaken. All the malcontents assembled there on the 22d October,

and swore, with hands upraised to heaven, boldly to defend their

rights and liberty.

[930] The assembly of all the people.

[Sidenote: CHRIST IN DANGER.]

Never, perhaps, had the republic been in greater danger. All the kings

of Europe, and almost all the cantons of Switzerland, were opposed to

the Gospel. The report of an army from Austria, destined to interpose

in favour of the Pope, spread through the Reformed cantons.[931]

Seditious meetings took place every day,[932] and the people refused

to pay their magistrates either quit-rent, service, tithes, or even

obedience, unless they shut their eyes to the designs of the

Roman-catholics. The council became confused. Amazed and confounded,

exposed to the mistrust of some and to the insults of others, they

had the cowardice to separate under the pretext of getting in the

vintage, and folding their arms, in the presence of this great danger,

waited until a Messiah should descend from heaven (says a reformer) to

save the republic.[933] The ministers pointed out the danger,

forewarned and conjured them; but each one turned a deaf ear. "Christ

languishes in Berne," said Haller, "and appears nigh perishing."[934]

The people were all in commotion; they assembled, made speeches,

murmured, and shed tears! Everywhere--in all their tumultuous

meetings--might be heard this complaint of Manuel on Papists and the

Papacy:[935]

With rage our foes their hateful threats denounce,

Because, O Lord, we love Thee best of all;

Because at sight of Thee the idols fall;

And war and bloodshed, shuddering, we renounce.

[931] Audisti nimirum quam se apparent _Austriaci_ ad bellum, adversus

quos ignoratur. Suspicantur quidam in Helvetios. (Œcol. to Zw. Epp.

ii. p. 161.)

[932] Seditiosorum concursus sunt quotidiani. (Zw. Epp. ii p. 227.)

[933] Nunc, nunc suum Messiam advenisse sperantes. (Ibid.)

[934] Ita languet Christus apud nos. (Ibid.)

[935] Dass wir hand d'Gotzen geworfen hin. (Hymn and Prayer.)

Berne was like a troubled sea, and Haller, who listened to the roaring

of the waves, wrote in the deepest anguish: "Wisdom has forsaken the

wise, counsel has departed from the councillors, and energy from the

chiefs and from the people! The number of the seditious augments every

day. Alas! what can the Bear, oppressed with sleep, oppose to so many

and to such sturdy hunters?[936] If Christ withdraw himself, we shall

all perish."

[936] Quid hæc inter tot et tantos venatores robustos. (Zw. Epp. ii.

p. 223.)

[Sidenote: ENERGY OF BERNE.]

These fears were on the point of being realized. The smaller cantons

claimed to have the power of interfering in matters of faith without

infringing the federal compact. While six hundred men of Uri kept

themselves ready to depart, eight hundred men of Unterwalden, bearing

pine-branches in their hats, symbols of the old faith, with haughty

heads and gloomy and angry looks, crossed the Brunig under the ancient

banner of the country, which was borne by Gaspard de Flue, a very

unworthy grandson of the great Nicholas.[937] This was the first

violation of the national peace for many years. Uniting at Hasli with

the men of Brienz, this little army crossed the lake, passed under the

cascades of Geisbach, and arrived at Unterseen, thirteen hundred

strong, and ready to march on Berne to re-establish the Pope, the

Idols, and the Mass in that rebellious city. In Switzerland, as in

Germany, the Reformation at its outset met with a peasant war. At the

first success, new combatants would arrive and pour through the passes

of the Brunig upon the unfaithful republic. The army was only six

leagues from Berne, and already the sons of Unterwalden were proudly

brandishing their swords on the banks of the lake of Thunn.

[937] A celebrated hermit who prevented a civil war in Switzerland in

1481.

Thus were the federal alliances trodden under foot by those very

persons who aspired to the name of conservatives. Berne had a right to

repel this criminal attack by force. Suddenly calling to mind her

ancient virtues, the city roused herself, and vowed to perish rather

than tolerate the intervention of Unterwalden, the restoration of the

Mass, and the fiery violence of the peasants.[938] There was at that

moment in the hearts of the Bernese one of those inspirations that

come from above, and which save nations as well as individuals. "Let

the strength of the city of Berne," exclaimed the Avoyer d'Erlach, "be

in God alone, and in the loyalty of its people." All the council and

the whole body of the citizens replied by noisy acclamations. The

great banner was hastily brought forth, the townspeople ran to arms,

the companies assembled, and the troops of the republic marched out

with the valiant avoyer at their head.

[938] Quam missam reducem aut violentiam villanorum pati. (Haller to

Zwingle, 26th October.)

[Sidenote: VICTORY.]

Scarcely had the Bernese government acted thus energetically, before

it saw the confidence of its friends increase, and the courage of its

adversaries diminish. God never abandons a people who are true to

themselves. Many of the Oberlanders became intimidated, and deserted

the ranks of the revolt. At the same time deputies from Basle and

Lucerne represented to Unterwalden that it was trampling the ancient

alliances under foot. The rebels, disheartened by the firmness of the

republic, abandoned Unterseen, and retired to the convent of

Interlaken. And soon after, when they beheld the decision of their

adversaries, distressed besides by the cold rains that fell

incessantly, and fearing that the snow, by covering the mountains,

would prevent their return to their homes, the men of Unterwalden

evacuated Interlaken during the night. The Bernese, to the number of

five thousand men, entered it immediately, and summoned the

inhabitants of the Hasli and of the bailiwick of Interlaken to

assemble on the 4th November in the plain that surrounds the

convent.[939] The day being arrived, the Bernese army drew up in order

of battle, and then formed a circle within which D'Erlach ordered the

peasants to enter. Hardly had he placed the rebels on the left and the

loyal citizens on the right, before the muskets and artillery fired a

general discharge, whose report re-echoing among the mountains, filled

the insurgents with terror, who thought it the signal of their death.

But the avoyer only intended to show they were in the power of the

republic. D'Erlach, who addressed them immediately after this strange

exordium, had not finished his speech, before they all fell on their

knees, and, confessing their crime, begged for pardon. The republic

was satisfied: the rebellion was over. The banners of the district

were carried to Berne, and the Eagle of Interlaken, in union with the

Wild-goat of Hasli, hung for a time beneath the Bear, as a trophy of

this victory. Four of the chiefs were put to death, and an amnesty was

granted to the remainder of the rebels. "The Bernese," said Zwingle,

"as Alexander of Macedon in times of old, have cut the Gordian knot

with courage and with glory."[940] Thus thought the Reformer of

Zurich; but experience was one day to teach him, that to cut such

knots is required a different sword from that of Alexander and of

D'Erlach. However that may be, peace was restored, and in the valleys

of the Hasli no other noise was heard than the sublime tumult borne

afar by the Reichenbach and all the surrounding torrents, as they pour

from the mountain-tops their multitudinous and foaming waters.

[939] Tradition says that it was on the spot where the hotel of

Interlaken now stands.

[940] Bernenses pro sua dignitate nodum hunc, quemadmodum Alexander

Macedo, Gordium dissectari. (Zw. Epp. ii. p 243.)

[Sidenote: POLITICAL ADVANTAGES.]

While we repudiate on behalf of the Church the swords of the Helvetic

bands, it would be unwise not to acknowledge the political advantages

of this victory. The nobles had imagined that the Reformation of the

Church would endanger the very existence of the State. They now had a

proof to the contrary: they saw that when a nation receives the

Gospel, its strength is doubled. The generous confidence with which,

in the hour of danger, they had placed some of the adversaries of the

Reformation at the head of affairs and of the army, produced the

happiest results. All were now convinced that the Reformation would

not trample old recollections under foot: prejudices were removed,

hatred was appeased, the Gospel gradually rallied all hearts around

it, and the ancient and remarkable saying was verified, which was so

often repeated by the friends and enemies of that powerful

republic--"God is become a citizen of Berne."

IV. The reformation of Berne was decisive for several cantons. The

same wind that had blown from on high with so much power on the

country of De Watteville and Haller, threw down "the idols" in a great

part of Switzerland. In many places the people were indignant at

seeing the Reformation checked by the timid prudence of diplomatists;

but when diplomacy was put to flight at Berne, the torrent so long

restrained poured violently onwards.

[Sidenote: ROMISH RELICS.]

Vadianus, burgomaster of St. Gall, who presided at the Bernese

disputation, had scarcely returned home, when the citizens, with the

authority of the magistrates, removed the images from the church of

St. Magnus, carried to the mint a hand of the patron saint in silver,

with other articles of plate, and distributed among the poor the money

they received in exchange; thus, like Mary, pouring their precious

ointment on the head of Christ.[941] The people of St. Gall, being

curious to unveil the ancient mysteries, laid their hands on the abbey

itself, on the shrines and crosses which had so long been presented to

their adoration; but instead of saintly relics, they found, to their

great surprise, nothing but some resin, a few pieces of money, several

paltry wooden images, some old rags, a skull, a large tooth, and a

snail's shell! Rome, instead of that noble fall which marks the ends

of great characters, sunk in the midst of stupid superstitions,

shameful frauds, and the ironical laughter of a whole nation.

[941] War gemünzet und den Armen ausgetheilt. (J. J. Hottinger, iii.

p. 415. St. Matthew xxvi. 7.)

Such discoveries unfortunately excited the passions of the multitude.

One evening some evil disposed persons, wishing to alarm the poor nuns

of St. Catherine, who had obstinately resisted the Reform, surrounded

the convent with loud cries. In vain did the nuns barricade the doors;

the walls were soon scaled, and the good wine, meat, confectionaries,

and all the far from ascetic delicacies of the cloister became the

prey of these rude jesters. Another persecution awaited them: Doctor

Schappeler having been appointed their catechist, they were

recommended to lay aside their monastic dress, and to attend his

heretical sermons "clothed like all the world," said the sister

Wiborath. Some of them embraced the Reform, but thirty others

preferred exile.[942] On the 5th February 1528, a numerous synod

framed the constitution of the church of St. Gall.

[942] Arx. Gesch. St. Gall, ii. p. 529. J. J. Hottinger, p. 416.

Müller; Hottinger, ii. p. 91.

[Sidenote: CONTESTS.]

The struggle was more violent at Glaris. The seeds of the Gospel

truth, which Zwingle had scattered there, had prospered but little.

The men in power anxiously rejected every innovation, and the people

loved better "to leap and dance, and work miracles, _glass in hand_,"

as an old chronicle says, "than to busy themselves about the Gospel."

The Landsgemeinde having pronounced, on the 15th May 1528, in favour

of the Mass by a majority of thirty-three voices, the two parties were

marked out with greater distinctness: the images were broken at Matt,

at Elm, at Bettschwanden, and as each man remained aloof in his own

house and village, there was no longer in the canton either council of

state or tribunal of justice. At Schwanden, the minister Peter

Rumelin, having invited the Roman-catholics to a disputation with him

in the church, the latter, instead of discussing, marched in

procession to the sound of drums round the place of worship in which

the Reformed were assembled, and then rushing into the pastor's house,

which was situated in the middle of the city, destroyed the stoves and

the windows: the irritated Reformed took their revenge and broke the

images. On the 15th April 1529, an agreement was concluded, by virtue

of which every man was free to choose between the Mass and the Sermon.

[Sidenote: SPREAD OF REFORM.]

At Wesen, where Schwytz exercised sovereignty conjointly with Glaris,

the deputies of the former canton threatened the people. Upon this the

young men took the images out of the churches, carried them to an open

place near the banks of the picturesque lake of Wallenstadt, above

which soar the mountains of the Ammon and of the Seven Electors, and

cried: "Look! this road (that by the lake) leads to Coire and to Rome;

that (to the south) to Glaris; this other (to the west) to Schwytz;

and the fourth (by the Ammon) to St. Gall. Take which you please! But

if you do not move off, you shall be burnt!" After waiting a few

moments, these young people flung the motionless images into the fire,

and the Schwytz deputies, eye-witnesses of this execution, withdrew

in consternation, and filled the whole canton with projects of

vengeance that were but too soon realized.

In the canton of Appenzell, where a conference had been opened, there

suddenly appeared a band of Roman-catholics, armed with whips and

clubs, and crying out: "Where are these preachers? we are resolved to

put them out of the village!" These strange doctors wounded the

ministers and dispersed the assembly with their whips. Out of the

eight parishes of the canton, six embraced the Reform, and Appenzell

became finally divided into little sections, the one Romanist and the

other Reformed.

In the Grisons religious liberty was proclaimed; the parishes had the

election of their pastors, several castles were rased to the ground to

render all return to arbitrary government impossible, and the

affrighted bishop went and hid in the Tyrol his anger and his desire

for vengeance. "The Grisons," said Zwingle, "advance daily. It is a

nation that by its courage reminds us of the ancient Tuscans, and by

its candour of the ancient Swiss."[943]

[943] Gens animo veteres Tuscos referens, candore veteres Helvetios.

(Zw. Epp.)

[Sidenote: OBSTACLES IN BASLE.]

Schaffhausen, after having long "halted between two opinions," at the

summons of Zurich and of Berne removed the images from its churches

without tumult or disorder. At the same time the Reformation invaded

Thurgovia, the valley of the Rhine, and other bailiwicks subordinate

to these cantons. In vain did the Roman-catholic cantons, that were in

the majority, protest against it. "When temporal affairs are

concerned," replied Zurich and Berne, "we will not oppose a plurality

of votes; but the Word of God cannot be subjected to the suffrages of

men." All the districts that lie along the banks of the Thur, of the

Lake of Constance, and of the Upper Rhine, embraced the Gospel. The

inhabitants of Mammeren, near the place where the Rhine issues from

the lake, flung their images into the water. But the statue of St.

Blaise, after remaining some time upright, and contemplating the

ungrateful spot whence it was banished, swam across the lake to

Catahorn, situated on the opposite shore, if we may believe the

account of a monk named Lang.[944] Even while running away Popery

worked its miracles.

[944] J. J. Hottinger, iii. p. 426.

Thus were the popular superstitions overthrown in Switzerland, and

sometimes not without violence. Every great development in human

affairs brings with it an energetic opposition to that which has

existed. It necessarily contains an aggressive element, which ought to

act freely, and by that means open the new path. In the times of the

Reformation the doctors attacked the Pope, and the people the images.

The movement almost always exceeded a just moderation. In order that

human nature may take one step in advance, its pioneers must take

many. Every superfluous step should be condemned, and yet we must

acknowledge their necessity. Let us not forget this in the history of

the Reformation, and especially in that of Switzerland.

Zurich was reformed; Berne had just become so: Basle still remained,

before the great cities of the Confederation were gained over to the

Evangelical faith. The reformation of this learned city was the most

important consequence resulting from that of the warlike Berne.

[Sidenote: ZEAL OF THE CITIZENS.]

For six years the Gospel had been preached in Basle. The meek and

pious Œcolampadius was always waiting for happier times. "The

darkness," said he, "is about to retire before the rays of

truth."[945] But his expectation was vain. A triple aristocracy--the

superior clergy, the nobles, and the university--checked the free

expansion of christian convictions. It was the middle classes who were

destined to effect the triumph of the Reformation in Basle.[946]

Unhappily the popular wave invades nothing without tossing up some

foul scum.

[945] Sperabam enim tenebras veritatis radio cessuras tandem. (Zw.

Epp. ii. p. 136.)

[946] Major pars civitatis quæ toto corde dolet tantis nos dissidiis

laborare. (Ibid. p. 36.)