the part of the people in their government, and on that of the
government in the sound and just sense of the people. No constitution
or laws, sacred as they may be in the eyes of the honorable citizen,
no so-called policy, which rests on a system of deceptions, no
rude strength of a dominant party, can ever supply the place of
faith--faith, which alone inspires to nobler action. Hence the
necessity in the state for religion also, which is the same as faith
purified In every wise government therefore it will be a chief concern
that the religion of the people be a sound one, _i.e._ one that will be
justified by its practical results, for in regard to these only can we
look for unanimity of opinion.
Christianity, freed from all the unwarranted additions with which
national prejudice, narrowness and love of spiritual domination have
striven for centuries to disfigure it, has no reason to shun this
trial, out of which it can only come forth more glorious and divine. Of
this Zwingli had been fully persuaded by his zealous study of the Holy
Scriptures. Hew naturally the idea rose in his mind, to make this trial
before the people themselves, who had hitherto been bound in the
fetters of a religion, which addressed them only by authority, instead
of before councils exclusively composed of clergymen and lords! Still
it was a great venture. The weakened eye, when suddenly brought forth
from the darkness, is blinded even by the purest light; the healthy one
alone can endure the splendor of the sun. And yet upon this very power
in a decided majority of his countrymen Zwingli relied, and the
memorials, which we have just read, might have fully convinced him that
sound sense was really at hand. But ought this claim to be preferred in
political matters, and not in ecclesiastical also? Thus much is clear,
that from this time forward Zwingli's endeavors took this direction.
If the bishop would deny him a hearing or condemn him contrary to
justice, he intended to appeal not to ultra-montane Rome, ignorant of
the German language and the German character, but to the judgment of
his own nation, to the decision of an independent government entitled
to act in the case, and the rule should be the Holy Scriptures, an
unassailable code of laws acknowledged by all. And thus the fundamental
idea of the Reformed Church naturally arose, which in its development
has been more clearly defined rather than corrupted,--limited rather
than extended. To follow out and discuss this subject is not our
business; hence we turn back to Zwingli.
He had now preached for three whole years in Zurich, and the agitation,
as we have seen, was certainly great. Still no one had as yet violated
existing church-usages or actually assailed them. No opportunity for
public interference on the part of the temporal and spiritual
authorities had yet occurred. Indeed it was the policy of the Nuncio to
keep in with the influential Reformer, since, as the deputy of a prince
then at war with France, he was proscribed by the other twelve cantons,
and could only hope for protection in neutral Zurich, where he
anxiously sought it.
During Lent in the year 1522 several individuals ventured for the first
time to transgress the episcopal ordinance in regard to the eating of
meat, in a dissimilar manner it is true. Christopher Froschauer, a
printer, having in the course of his business visited the Frankfort
Fair, and become thus acquainted with Luther's writings and a witness
of the spiritual awakening in Germany, had, when compelled by labor
severer than usual, partaken along with his workmen of more
strengthening food than was allowed, yet without concealment on the one
hand and without seeking publicity on the other. For quite different
reasons William Roubli, an outlawed clergyman from Basel, whom Zwingli
himself has styled a rash and foolish babbler, and Hans Gunthelm, an
impudent deserter, had not only done the same with great parade and
loose talk, but had attempted also to induce other families to join
them. Gladly did Zwingli's enemies seize this opportunity to lodge
complaints before the Council. An investigation was held and Froschauer
defended himself with dignity. The Council desired the opinion of the
chapter of canons, the three people's priests in the two cathedrals and
at the church of St. Peter, and thus the battle began in the very midst
of the authorities. The parties were nearly balanced, more talent on
the one side, greater numbers on the other.
The result was an affirmation of the rights of the Pope and the
bishops, and a feeble explanation, which left the government free scope
to act for itself--and it all ended in a simple reprimand to the
transgressors. But Zwingli's opponents were by no means satisfied. They
applied now to the bishop, and a few days after, Melchior Vattli,
suffragan of Constance, John Wanner, cathedral-preacher, and Doctor
Brendlin appeared with an embassy to the chapter of canons. At this
very first interference of the high ecclesiastical dignitaries, the
affair took a direction, which it retained in every step that followed.
"What Zwingli himself has to say in regard to this event deserves
careful attention.[4]
"When"--he writes to his friend, the canon Erasmus Fabricius, then
pastor at Stein--"on the seventh of April the ambassadors, of whose
approach I had already been apprized, had reached Zurich, I wished much
to learn what their purpose might be. But night had set in, before my
faithful assistant, Henry Luethy, came with the news, that the
_notarius_ (as he is called) had an order to summon all the priests to
attend early in the morning in the hall of the convent. I esteemed it a
good omen, that the business was to be opened by a courser so dull and
limping. Scarcely had we assembled on the morrow, when the bishop began
in a fashion, which I will portray further on in the conduct of affairs
before the Council. The whole speech was violent, threatening and
haughty, although he carefully abstained from any personal allusions to
myself and even avoided calling me by name. His declamation over, I
stepped out, thinking it unbecoming and pusillanimous not to neutralize
an address, that might do so much injury, especially because I could
perceive by their smothered sighs, and read in the paleness of their
faces the strong impression it had made on several priests, who shortly
before had been won over to the Gospel and were not yet firm as rocks.
Concisely and boldly I replied to the suffragan, in what sense and
spirit, let the valiant ones, who have heard me, judge. The most
important part of it you will learn meanwhile, when I come to describe
the session of the Council. The speakers withdrew from this wing, as
though he were beaten or put to flight, and hastened to another field
of combat, namely the hall of the Council, where, as some of the
members informed me, they brought it forward, likewise sparing my name,
yet with the declaration, lest I might perhaps be called in, that they
had nothing to do with me. After a short discussion, it was resolved to
have as full a meeting of the Great Council as possible on the
following day, and also to guard against the admission of the people's
priests, as there was no dependence to be placed on them and their
language, so unexceptionable, could not be contradicted. Through the
whole day I tried my utmost to gain admission for us, but in vain. The
burgomasters refused me, falling back on the resolution of the Council.
I was now compelled to retire, but besought Him, who hears the sighing
of the prisoner, that he would not leave the truth helpless, and that
he would protect His Gospel, which he had commissioned me to preach. On
the ninth the Great Council came together. 'It is unfair,' many were
heard to say, 'if the people's priests are not allowed to appear;' but
the Small Council protested, holding firmly to its resolution.
Nevertheless the vote was carried against its protest, and the majority
decided in favor of our presence with the privilege at the same time of
making replies, if we should find it necessary. Thus, as Livy says, the
greater number did not overcome the better; no, the greater _and_ the
better triumphed. Not in the least degree do I permit myself to censure
the Small Council for this; no: I wish only to show how powerless
intrigues are. Now, after the ambassadors had been introduced, they
suffered us also to enter, _the bishops of Zurich_, Henry Engelhart,
doctor and people's priest at the cathedral of the Virgin--Rudolph
R[oe]schli of St. Peter, and me Ulric Zwingli.
"After the exchange of salutations and the episcopal benediction the
suffragan began with a voice so mild that I never heard a sweeter, so
that if head and heart had only been in unison, Orpheus and Apollo
would have been obliged to yield to him in grace, and Demosthenes and
the Gracchi in eloquence. In vain would I attempt to communicate to you
the discourse entire. It was confused and much too long. Meanwhile I
had noted down the chief points in my tablets. It is greatly to be
deplored--said he--that there are some who teach in a perverse and
rebellious spirit that we are no longer bound to observe human precepts
and ceremonies. Thus not merely the civil laws, but the faith of all
Christendom also must go to the ground. Yet ceremonies are a
_manuduction_ (he employed this word, instead of the German
'introduction,' before men, who did not understand Latin) to virtue.
Indeed ceremonies are a _source_ (he afterwards denied having used the
word) of virtues. We may teach that fasting is superfluous, because
some have dared to separate themselves from other Christians and from
the Church by the eating of meat. We may appeal to the Holy Scriptures
whilst they contain no direct expressions bearing on the subject, go
against the decrees and Councils of the Holy Fathers of the Church,
against most venerable usages, which without the aid of the Holy Ghost
could not possibly have endured so long, for Gamaliel once said: If the
work be of God, it will stand. Then he reminded the Council that
outside of the Church no one can be saved, and as though he had not
talked enough, he came back once more to ceremonies. At last he
concluded with a neat peroration and rose up to retire along with his
companions.
"Sir Suffragan--said I, (I, peasant, ought to have used 'Gracious
Lord')--may it please you and your associates to stay, till I have
justified myself in my own name and in that of my colleagues? He
replied--We have no commission to dispute. I do not intend to dispute
but to utter publicly and freely what I have hitherto taught in
presence of these honest men, before you, learned scholars and
ambassadors present with a commission from the bishop, so that it will
be deemed the more worthy of belief if you yourself are obliged to find
it true; if not, then let the contrary happen. We have not--said the
saffragan--spoken against you, hence there is no need of your
vindication. You have indeed kept back my name; but your speech was
none the less aimed at me. As the combatant in the water said to his
antagonist, you say to me: My blow is not aimed at you, it is aimed at
the fish. For this reason you were not to use my name, because you
could thus charge me, who am called Zwingli, with the greatest crime in
the safest manner. Whilst we were contending in this style, the
burgomaster Roist tried to induce the deputies from Constance to give
us a hearing. The saffragan answered, that he knew very well whither
this thing would lead; that Ulric Zwingli was too violent and rude, so
that he could not meddle with him honorably and keep the path of
moderation. By what then--I asked--have I ever injured you? Or
according to what law must I, an innocent man, zealous for the cause of
Christ, be so heavily and bitterly assaulted, and yet not be allowed to
defend myself? Indeed--or do I deceive myself? I would have ventured to
hope, that the Bishop of Constance, though opposition to the pure
doctrines of the Gospel had found foothold elsewhere, before he took
the words of others instead of mine, would make himself acquainted with
the whole affair, especially through you, whom he has now chosen as his
legates on account of your learning. What would you do if in your
absence I would turn to the Council and refuse to hear you as judges?
And now, since I wish your presence so much, in order to be able to
give in an account, how dare you deny me? The deputies repeated what
they had said before. If I wished to lay anything before the bishop, in
regard to his doctrine, I could write to him. Now--said I--if no
arguments can persuade you to show me this favor, I beg you by our
common faith, our common baptism, for the sake of Christ our Lord and
Saviour, if you durst not listen as ambassadors, do it then as
Christians. Here arose an indignant murmur among the councillors and at
last, being exhorted by the burgomaster, and feeling themselves the
unworthiness of the opposition, they took possession of their former
places."
The people's priest began now by referring to the internal harmony of
Zurich and her peaceful position toward foreign countries. He asked
whether these could be a result of seditious doctrines, and such
especially as were derived from the Gospel, which commands us to render
unto Cæsar the things that are Cæsar's and obey our rulers? He showed
what human ordinances were, and denied that he rejected them without
discrimination. Their beneficial tendency ought to be proven, and they,
who enjoin them, ought to observe them also. He had never encouraged a
violation of the rules of fasting, but rather advised them to be kept,
in order to spare the weak. Yet he esteemed such restraint pharisaical
and in conflict with the letter and spirit of the Gospel. Vattli was
about to make objections, when Engelhart drew out his Greek Testament,
and, having opened it at the beginning of the fourth chapter of the
first epistle to Timothy, handed it to Zwingli. Zwingli translated the
passage. Then the suffragan said nothing on this point, but exhorted
the Council to respect the decrees of the Fathers and their usages, and
not to sunder themselves from the Church. "Do not suffer yourselves to
be persuaded, my dear lords"--replied Zwingli--"that anything permitted
by us can produce such an effect. Among all people, he who does
righteousness and loves God, he who believes the words of Jesus and
follows Him, belongs to his Church."--This was succeeded by many
speeches on one side and the other, which gradually became so warm that
the burgomaster dissolved the meeting. But a unanimous resolution was
passed by the Great Council, to request the Bishop, so to influence the
highest authorities that by means of a council of learned men and
synods an opportunity should be afforded for explanation and reply in
regard to the point in dispute. The people's priests were to be
exhorted meanwhile to enforce obedience to the rules of fasting.
By this important event, happening in the midst of the highest
authorities of the canton, the fire, which had hitherto existed only in
scattered sparks was now suddenly fanned into a clear blaze. The laity
and priests, the bishop, the government and even the Confederates took
steps, which compelled Zwingli, in the course of the same year to
vindicate himself on all sides, to buckle on his armor for the conflict
and declare himself openly.
The canon Hoffman, stirred up by the legation of the Bishop, was the
first to take the field. A good scholar of the old type, pure in his
morals, in former years a frank and fearless orator of the people,
devoted, as was natural for an old man, to the forms in which he had
moved during a long life, he esteemed it a duty to defend them, and
that so much the more, because he was summoned to the task by the other
clergy. He was lacking, however, in two particulars. According to his
own confession he had heard Zwingli but seldom. Still he received as
truth what was reported to him about his sermons, and boasted too much
of his riper experience against a man scarce forty years old. Making
skillful use of these weak points, the armed warrior advanced the more
resolutely against the rusted weapons of his antagonist. The old man
could not maintain his position. At a later period he once more
regained his courage, and certainly it must be said to his honor, that,
though vanquished, he did not shun the knightly combat.
With great bluntness, and not to a limited circle of associates like
Hoffman, the monks poured out their wrath from the convent-pulpits. The
more tasteless, silly, and ridiculous their revilings were, the more
did they expose themselves to the edge of Zwingli's keen argument and
wit. Without mercy he fell upon these people, among whom, as far as the
monasteries of the city are concerned, not a single one is known, to
whose praise anything can be said. We need only read his writings to
see how, dealing blow upon blow, he pursued them into every corner, and
brought out the truth in the clearness of sunlight against their loose
harangues. But then, in the pride of victory he suffered himself to run
perhaps into an extreme, which did not comport well with the
earnestness of the pulpit or of controversy conducted in a dignified
manner, and zealous use was made of this fact to his reproach.[5]
Remarkable phenomena began to develop themselves from this
pulpit-battle against the monks. Hot-headed characters, old and young,
impelled sometimes by a conviction of the truth, but oftener by conceit
and a desire to make a noise in the world, interrupted the awkward
preachers in the midst of their discourses, and accused them of
teaching error and even lies. A tumult arose in the church. It might
easily become a theatre of dishonorable strife. The Council arrested
several of the most violent of these stormers and forbade all such
disorderly behavior in future. Already the monks were in hopes they had
won the day; but Zwingli did not suffer them to escape, and probably at
his suggestion the preachers of the three orders were unexpectedly
summoned to the house of the provost, where with a deputation from the
government, the burgomaster Roist at its head, the three people's
priests, the commander Schmied and all the canons were assembled, and
Zwingli, being called on, began to read aloud from a written document
to each individual, the errors which he had taught. They were greatly
amazed, and denied some things, but admitted others. An attempt was now
made to have the chapter of canons appointed as umpire and mediator,
but Zwingli instantly opposed it with all his might: "I"--said he--"am
bishop and pastor in Zurich; to me the care of souls is committed, and
I have given my oath thereon, the monks not. They should hear me, not I
them. Indeed, if they ever again preach lies, I will mount the pulpit
and rebuke them publicly." Only in the conviction of his own strength
durst he venture to use such language. Only their felt weakness struck
his opponents dumb. Dr. Engelhart and the Commander Schmied also sided
with Zwingli. The Councils saw themselves obliged to follow the men of
learning, and the burgomaster concluded the act with the words: "Yes,
Masters of the Orders, this is also the opinion of my colleagues, that
henceforth vi u must preach the Gospel, Paul and the Prophets, and let
Scotus, Thomas[6] and such stuff lie."
The monks, compelled now to restrain themselves somewhat in the pulpit,
renewed their attacks the more stubbornly in private houses,
confessionals, drinking-gardens and wherever else they could do so with
safety. From Bunden, Constance, Luzern and Schwyz reports of their
calumnies reached him through his friends. Nothing pained him so much
as that he should be charged with distorting the Gospel. "Though I had
firmly resolved"--so he says in a sermon--"not to answer those, who
invented stories as to how many children were born to me this year, and
as to how much money I got from princes and lords, yet I never could
bear that such slander should be believed concerning me. Any one may
say what he pleases about my morals, but blasphemy I will not
tolerate." But then, the best citizens of Zurich roused to the highest
pitch of enthusiasm clung to him, especially the younger generation,
who trooped around him like a body-guard; and besides these, friends
sprang up beyond the canton on all sides, who came out boldly, or
watched over him in secret, were active on his behalf, and sympathized
in his struggles. In Luzern, Myconius and the canon Kilchmeier
advocated his cause even against statesmen and envoys of the
Confederacy with danger to themselves, holding out as long as it was
possible. In St. Gall, the same thing was done by Vadianus, who had
returned from Vienna and settled in his native city; in Constance by
the prebendary Wanner, who, when a member of the Episcopal embassy, had
been won over by the weight of his arguments; in Bern by the
Franciscan, Sebastian Meier, and in Freiburg by the youthful organist
Kother, who expressed his love for him in verses after the manner of a
capuchin-sermon. Martin Sænger, a native of Graubunden, sent him a poem
against his and Luther's enemies, from the fictitious pen of the Abbot
von Pfæffers, with the request that he would revise and prepare it for
publication. He also received an evidence of faithful friendship in an
anonymous letter of a more serious kind, written half in Latin and half
in Greek. "Keep a special guard over thy health and life"--so it
runs--"for it is high time. Verily thou art everywhere begirt by snares
and spies; sharp poison is ready for thee. The knaves durst no longer
rail against thee openly. But in secret they are plotting to mingle
poisonous mushrooms with thy food, as was done for the Emperor
Claudius. Hence take as much care of thyself as possible. If thou art
hungry, then eat at home bread, which thine own maid has baked. Abroad
thou canst eat nowhere with safety. There are persons living within
your walls, who will venture everything to destroy thee. Who they are,
from what oracle I have learned their design, I cannot write thee; but
it utters more truth than that of the Delphian Apollo; yet it were a
gross sin in a priest to give names either by mouth or pen. Thou art
sharp-sighted, and able to guess with ease, whence that has come,
which, out of brotherly love, could not be withholden from thee.
Preserve thyself for thine own sake, for thy followers, for the cause
of Christ, whose Gospel is proclaimed by you with such blessed results.
Whoever I may be, I am thine. Thou wilt find out hereafter." This was
the case. The writer was Michael Hummelberg, preacher at Ravensburg. Of
the same import were the warnings of others, to guard the approaches to
his dwelling, to take care, if he should be called from home, the
breaking of his windows by stones hurled at them, and the attack, which
was actually made one night on his assistant as he was about to go
forth at the feigned call of a sick person, instead of the people's
priest, who was expected by the bandits.
How little power all this had to frighten Zwingli from the course he
had marked out for himself, is seen in a yet bolder step, which he took
the same year--the sending of a petition to the Bishop of Constance in
the Latin language and to the governments of the Confederacy in German,
asking them to approve the marriage of priests. No proof is needed to
show that the noblest endeavor of man is after self-rule, spiritual
purification, the attainment of the supernatural. A few rarely-gifted
individuals press up this steep path with ease; by far the greater
number follow slowly and with toil. Before deliverance from the fetters
of earth, no one achieves a complete victory. This world is a school
not the home of perfection. They, who are nearest the goal, know best
how far they are yet distant from it. The following reflections are
suggested by this subject.