relationship, of agreement in their manners and mode of living, and
neighborly intercourse existed from the most ancient times, between the
inhabitants of Obwalden and those of the Haslithal and a part of the
Bernese Oberland. Their friendship was kept alive by popular festivals
celebrated in common, and also by the reverence which was paid,
especially in the interior of Switzerland, to Saint Beatus, who, as the
first promulgator of Christianity in that region, dwelt in a cave on
the shore of lake Thun, called by his name, and received canonization.
Numerous pilgrimages were made thither from the Five Cantons. The
rumor, that the relics of the saint, exhibited there on such occasions,
had been cast into the lake by order of the Bernese government,
awakened universal indignation. But this was not true. Two deputies of
the Council had taken possession of them in order to carry them to
Interlachen and bury them afterward. In complaints against the
abolition of their pilgrimages, the inhabitants of the Bernese Oberland
joined with their neighbors of Unterwalden. Pastoral races are very
tenacious of old customs. If these be taken away their respect for law
is often shaken at the same time. The government of Bern had to
experience this. Between the two lakes of Thun and Brienz lay, under
the lordly supervision of Bern, the wealthy Augustinian cloister of
Interlachen. Its domain extended over a great part of the surrounding
country and through the mountain-valleys of Lauterbrunnen and
Grindelwald. The monks of that period were in good repute neither for
their learning nor their morals. The Provost himself Nicholas Trachsel,
was destitute both of external and internal dignity. And when the
doctrines in regard to the uselessness of monkery, the unscripturalness
of spiritual lordship, and the rights of Christian liberty now began to
spread among the people subject to the foundation, they immediately
applied them to deliverance from all dependence; from the duty of
paying rents and tithes. If the one, said they, is an invention of man,
so is the other. If we are to receive the Gospel, which teaches liberty
among brethren, then will we also become our own masters, an
independent canton like Unterwalden and Uri. The Provost, who did not
know how to resist them, fled with a few friends to Bern, where, for a
decent maintenance, he surrendered the monastery along with its domains
and privileges into the hands of the Council. Under sanction of the
Great Council, an agreement was quickly made by the government with the
assembled convent; its seal, documents, revenues and jewels were
brought to Bern; an officer was sent thither, and the whole converted
into a bailiwick. But the people belonging to the monastery, who
asserted that they ought to have had a voice in the change, at once
preferred a complaint. When the government tried to postpone
investigation, a violent insurrection broke out, which found sympathy
even in some parts of their own district. New hopes were excited among
the friends of the Old Order by this uprising of the malcontents, with
whom the inhabitants of the Haslithal and other Oberlanders also
joined, at the instigation of their neighbors in Obwalden. The Council
was in great perplexity. Some of its own members secretly rejoiced--but
only the most violent. With others, who also were little favorable to
the Reformation, the sense of duty, which demanded the sacrifice of
personal inclination to the interests of the state, predominated. From
this class chiefly, a commission was chosen to examine on the spot the
grievances of the malcontents and negotiate with them. They succeeded
in restoring political order by lessening their rents, tithes and other
taxes; by remitting more than 50,000 pounds of outstanding dues, and a
promise of increased support for the poor and sick; but to allay the
religious excitement was a far more difficult task.
Here, for the first time, the two religious parties appeared in arms
against each other. The occasion was given by a split among the
Oberlanders themselves--division in a matter, where no majority could
decide. In the Haslithal the Reformation had found resolute adherents.
They and the preachers sent hither from Bern were a source of daily
vexation to their fellow-citizens of the old faith, who surpassed them
in numbers. The latter sought advice from their neighbors of Obwalden,
who, on their part, very willingly came forward and tried to gain over
their allies to the support of the Oberlanders. In this they were not
unsuccessful. Even the ruling authorities of the Five Cantons exhorted
them to hold fast to the old religion in public or in private, and
hinted at coming events and help just at hand. Under the pretext of
looking once more upon the bones of Saint Beatus, the Abbot of Uri, the
_landamman_ and several prominent Zugers came to Interlachen. Ought not
the wicked attempt of the innovators to commit them to the earth be
prevented? Captain Sch[oe]nbrunner of Zug, asserted that he had
concealed at least part of the relics in his cap and thus saved them.
"Come to us in future," they now said, "as we heretofore made
pilgrimages to you. St. Beatus lies with us." The public mind became
more and more disturbed in the Haslithal. One Sunday in June, some of
the leaders, instigated by persons from Obwalden, called together a
general assembly of the people. The question was started whether the
mass should be restored; and it was decided in the affirmative by a
vote of one hundred and fifty one, against one hundred and eleven.
Dispatches immediately went forth to Obwalden and Uri for priests, and
several were conducted by the country people of the Five Cantons, yea,
by the very magistrates, with drums and fifes to Hasle and Brienz; and
mass was again celebrated amid great rejoicing. What should the
government do? It was a perilous undertaking for them to carry out
changes in worship against the decided will of a majority of the
people. Some members of the Council declared their opposition to it.
The mass, they thought, might be permitted, without bringing back
episcopal power and foreign church-rule. But the Great Council firmly
rejected every such compromise. Copies of the treaties, by which they
had come under the dominion of Bern, were sent to the inhabitants of
the Haslithal, and appeals made to their duty of submission to the
highest authorities of the Canton, even in ecclesiastical affairs. It
was all in vain. The adherents of the old faith, stirred up by their
new priests, determined to yield under no circumstances. They asked
help from Obwalden; they ventured to appear before the deputies of the
Five Cantons, assembled at Beckenried, with a similar request. But no
resolution was passed in their favor; even Uri and Zug came out
strongly against any interference incompatible with the federal laws.
The affair was regarded in a different light by Obwalden, and, under
the name, it is true, of an embassy to mediate between the parties in
the valley, a delegation was sent thither, accompanied, however, by
twenty-eight young men adorned with fir-twigs, the defiant badge of the
old party. Instead of reconciliation they brought fiercer quarrels. The
friends of the Reformation were roused, when they ventured to call them
heretics. Deputies from both sides now hastened to Bern, with prayers
for succor from one and a declaration from the other, that they were
willing to obey in all things, except matters of faith, which neither
the Confederation nor the government, but the Church alone, had a right
to touch. In this emergency, where they ought to issue commands, but
where those commands could not be executed, was a source of uneasiness
to the most skillful statesmen. Meanwhile this much was clear, that a
protest must be uttered against every interference from abroad. The
_schultheiss_ of Erlach, along with two members of the Small and three
of the Great Council, went to Sarnen. All save Councillor Wagner
belonged to the lukewarm friends of the Reformation. It was hoped that
their language would, for this reason, be less offensive in Obwalden.
The _schultheiss_, in his address, kept wholly within the limits of a
political consideration of the question. But when, among various
cutting remarks, it was cast up to him, that the very Articles of
Confederation, to which he appealed, and which were formerly, by reason
of the common, venerable faith of their pious forefathers, sworn to in
the names of the Saints, had been first brought into contempt by Bern
and violated by her antichristian innovations: "The Articles of
Confederation," said Erlach, "do not touch upon religion, and grant
full liberty in regard to it."--"Well!" replied the old _landamman_,
Halter, "if you yourselves say, that the Articles of Confederation do
not touch upon religion, then they cannot be violated even by our
intervention in matters of faith; and if your people or others appeal
to us for sympathy or succor, where true Christianity, as we have
received it from our old fathers, is concerned, we will pledge our
persons and property for its maintenance, and still keep our honor
towards you." The more clearly the Bernese tried, after this, to
exhibit the distinct peculiarities and rights of church and state
before the assembly at Hasle, the more did they fall, perhaps to the
injury of their cause, into that confusion of ideas, which is
altogether unavoidable, when we do not know how to discriminate between
Christ's kingdom of faith and love, resting only on his Gospel,
intended both for this world and the other, whose very element is
freedom, and a government under tyrannic forms established by men in
his name. As a true knowledge of the first lies at the foundation of
the visible church, it alone can exert a beneficial influence upon the
life of the state; yea, without this influence nothing worthy of being
so called can possibly exist. The opposite, found in the latter, leads
only to discord.
But for such a discrimination of ideas that age was not at all
prepared. Prejudiced opinion and passion triumphed.--A multitude of
excited people, from all the vallies of the Oberland, streamed into
Hasle. "We ourselves," said they, "desire to uphold the faith, the
faith of the church, and be separate from the government. On this faith
only have we sworn allegiance; if it be taken away, our obligations are
dissolved. We will fall in with the Confederates, who hold fast to the
old pledges." Before the eyes of the _schultheiss_ and his companions,
in direct violation of the law, leaders were chosen, the ministers of
Grindelwald, Æsche and Gsteig driven out of their houses with their
families, mass-priests placed in their stead, the adherents of the
government threatened and compelled to fly, reports of the help
promised by their neighbors circulated on all sides--indeed, after
several weeks of agitation and violence, the greater part of the
Oberlanders, assembled at Interlachen, swore under no circumstances to
separate themselves from the real Catholic church, to seek justice from
none but the Seven Cantons of the Old Confederacy; to suffer no persons
to be punished except under their sentence; to keep possession of the
cloister and its domains, and to render mutual aid with their persons
and property.
Bern was thrown into great embarrassment. Berchthold Haller wrote to
Zwingli: "The Small Council has lost its head; it is given up by us
Evangelicals. We have to hunt up the members at their country-seats;
the vintage serves as an excuse for their absence and neglect of duty.
Those of the Great Council murmur, lament and rave; but even they can
find no remedy. They try by adjournments and tricks to avoid the
necessity of sending out troops. Meanwhile the power of Antichrist
increases everyday." But the impotence was not so universal as
represented by the timid preacher. Courage revived; the Confederates
were written to for a faithful examination of affairs and help in the
hour of need, and a vanguard was sent to Thun; but the march of the
entire army was delayed, because the soldiers were not to be trusted in
all cases. This was to be expected. Conflicting religious views and the
boldly proclaimed resolution of the Oberlanders to risk everything for
their party, might seem to those, who had favored the Reformation more
from necessity than inward conviction, no sufficient reason to take up
arms against them. Something else had to be added to justify the
expedition. But it did not last. Even the lukewarm were compelled to
acknowledge that determined action had become just as much a duty as a
necessity. The insurgent Oberlanders themselves, though united for the
maintenance of the old faith, were no wise so in reference to their
position toward the government. Among a portion of them the feeling of
loyalty was not wholly extinct. They did not wish to separate
themselves from the state of Bern, nor refuse obedience in political
matters. It was otherwise with the more violent, who, for the time
being, had the upper hand. These latter desired a formal breach with
the government. They continued to believe in the possibility of forming
an independent canton of the Confederacy, under a constitution and laws
of their own making. Moreover, they hoped, should their Catholic
neighbors lend them aid, to secure and increase at the same time their
real power; and in the youthful heads of Obwalden especially such hopes
had found sympathy. In fact, eight hundred men set out for the
Oberland, and that under the banner of the canton, which was carried by
a grandson of the friar Nicholas von Flue, and six hundred men of Uri
were ready to follow them In spite of the disapprobation of their own
Council. This rash proceeding was a breach of the General Peace,
according to the spirit and letter of the Articles of Confederation,
and the Bernese government had henceforth a perfect right to resist it
by arms in the most energetic manner. And so it happened. Under the
command of the Schultheiss Von Erlach, five thousand men provided with
artillery and all, necessary supplies marched out. From the very
moment, when the power of the government was displayed, the confidence
of its friends increased and the courage of its enemies sank. Many of
the Oberlanders, who were in Interlachen, saw the arrival of the men of
Obwalden with concern, knowing their cause would be rather endangered
than promoted by them. They began to rue the step they had taken, and
quietly to desert the ranks of the insurgents. A hurried embassy from
Basel, the inhabitants of the country around Sarnen, and even a
deputation from Luzern showed the men of Obwalden that their invasion
was a breach of the Federal Compact, with good effect upon the more
considerate. Cold weather was approaching, and the rain poured down in
torrents; they became fearful, if they did not speedily return home, of
finding the mountain-passes blocked up with snow, and hence the Bernese
advanced without resistance, whilst the enemy retreated and in the end
dispersed. The more peaceable and better-thinking people of the Five
Cantons expected this turn of affairs, yea even wished it. "Then the
peasants," so writes Captain Sh[oe]nbrunner of Zug in his journal,
which is still extant, "went back again to their Lords of Bern, which
was not improper; for it is natural for every man to cleave to his
own."
The punishment that followed was truly severe: the restitution of all
property stolen or destroyed, payment of costs, the acceptance of the
Reformation, the surrendry of their banners with the seal of the
canton, and the abrogation of all privileges and immunities, formed the
chief items. The oath of unconditional obedience had to be sworn on
their bended knees.--"Then," we are told by a contemporary, "the
horse-guards were sent into all the insurgent villages, and especially
into the valley of Grindelwald to apprehend the real authors of the
mischief, the ringleaders and the pillagers. Then were the houses of
the rebels ransacked, and their cattle, goods and possessions, and
whatever property belonged to the Unterwaldeners in the canton were
taken and confiscated to the city of Bern, though afterward through
pity much was given back again to women and children. Hereupon some
arrived from Halse, Brienz, Grindelwald, Habkeren and Rinkenberg in
chains. These they sent with the others, who were captured on the
ascent at Oberhofen, to Thun, and thence to be dealt with according to
their deserts, well guarded to Bern." A number of the parties most
deeply implicated escaped punishment by fleeing to Obwalden. Among
these was a certain Hans im Sand, an aged, wealthy and, in other
respects, estimable man. He afterward crossed over the Bruenig by
stealth to visit his family, and was then betrayed, condemned and
beheaded. In accordance with the barbarous custom of the age, his widow
was obliged to pay the executioner, who went himself to get his wages.
At the earnest request of those, who had remained faithful, part of
their privileges were gradually restored, first to the inhabitants of
the Haslithal and then to the people of the monastery. Most of the
captives were set free through the prayers of friends or by giving
bail. On the other hand, the brother of the Provost of Interlachen and
two more of the principal rebels were executed, and Christian Kolb, who
had everywhere stirred up the insurgents to excess and violence, was
not only slain but quartered.
After this victory, the government of Bern addressed itself to the
establishment of the Reformation in the entire canton as well as to its
more rapid diffusion in all parts of the Confederacy. St. Gall, where
the mass and images had already been laid aside, now joined the
Christian _Buergerrecht_. In Basel, the middle class took a still
bolder stand against the more aristocratic party belonging to the old
faith. The Council was divided and cramped; one burgomaster stood
opposed to the other. Now the deputies of the cantons and now those of
the cities appeared with attempts at mediation. The churches re-echoed
with the mutual recriminations of the mass priests and the preachers.
[OE]colampadius wisely continued to speak in favor of peace, but he
could not bring it about; for the time for anything like compromise had
gone by. Crowds of armed men broke into the churches by force, altars
were overthrown, pictures and images dashed to pieces, dragged into the
streets and burned: the Small Council was compelled to exile twelve of
its members, and the Great Council to increase its number by the
admission of four associates from each guild. A committee, appointed by
them and armed with full authority, succeeded in restoring quiet. The
introduction of the Reformation into the whole canton followed these
events. In Glarus also, Schaffhausen, Appenzel and Graubuenden the new
party gained strength every day. Even Solothurn no longer stood firm in
the old faith, especially since Berchthold Haller had been called
thither as a preacher.
In all directions, with unremitting zeal, by his counsel, by his
writings, by his correspondence, Zwingli wrought upon the government of
Zurich, which committed to him the drawing up of its opinions, and, as
appears from the protocols, usually gave him a voice, during the latter
years of his life, in the most important deliberations of a political
nature. When the thorough measures, which he wished and demanded, met
with resistance from those, who were yet averse to church-reforms, he
procured, by means of a fiery sermon, about the close of the year 1528,
the passage of a law compelling the members of Small and Great
Councils, man for man, to declare and avow their faith, and accept
preaching and the Lord's Supper in the Evangelical mode. Some were
excluded from the Small Council, who would not make this promise.
Equally clear, from his correspondence, is the great attention bestowed
by him on events occurring outside of the fatherland; the proceedings
of the Imperial Diet, the mandates of the Emperor, and the measures of
Austria. Even before the treaty of the _Buergerrecht_ was ratified with
Constance, he received hints from different quarters in regard to
secret negotiations carried on between the authorities of the Austrian
government and the Five Cantons. The apprehensions might perhaps be
exaggerated. But they struck him as important. Hence he did not strive
to conceal the possibility of war; and a historical work, which would
give a full portrait of so great a character, durst not suppress the
fact, that previous to the Conference in Bern he had prepared for such
an emergency a very elaborate plan of defence, which is still extant in
his own hand-writing.[1] He, who would censure him for this, should
not, on the other side, forget the courageous spirit which, at a time,
when Zurich stood almost alone in the Confederacy, still, relying only
upon the truth and justice of the cause to be defended, thought it
possible to maintain the battle against such overwhelming odds as then
existed. In this feeling the pamphlet was thrown off, from the
beginning of which we make the following extract: "The author has
pondered over this counsel for the honor of God and the good of
Christ's Gospel, so that wickedness and injustice may not get the upper
hand and put down the fear of God and innocence. In the first place, it
should be proclaimed in all parishes in the city and canton, that all
men earnestly beseech God never to let us counsel or act contrary to
His divine will; and also, if it be consistent with that divine will,
to remove all victory from our enemies and bring forth the honor of His
Word, as well as grant us grace to live in accordance with his will. Of
course this work should begin at home; for there is need to let all the
people in the city and canton know with what violence and treachery
some of the Confederates have acted toward us, all which has been borne
with a patient. Christian spirit, in hope of a change for the better;
that now no choice is left but to defend ourselves in a knightly
fashion, or else to renounce God and His Word; and that it is the
determination of the good city of Zurich to lose everything: state,
goods, town, country, body and life, rather than abandon the truth she
has professed. Each and every district ought to be commanded, in case
any one is not willing thus seriously and honestly to stand by the Word
of God, the city and the canton, to notify him in the beginning, that
he must go off in three days under suitable conditions. But whoever has
courage enough to pledge soul, honor, life and property to God's Word
and the city of Zurich, to him shall be said that you have received
such and such counsels, and that you yourselves act wholly for God, and
will protect yourselves and Him from all harm." These counsels now
follow. They furnish proofs of his knowledge of foreign and domestic
relations as well as the arts of political life and stratagems of war.
He afterward shows how they ought to conduct themselves toward the
Emperor, France, other neighbors, every canton of the Confederacy,
their allies and the common territories. He unfolds the advantages of
striking the first blow, of surprises in war; he enters even into the
nature and use of various kinds of weapons. But then, he concludes:
"These crude and smoke-stained plans I have hastily brought together
for the sake of certain violent and dishonest persons, who, beyond all
propriety and in the teeth of the Federal Compact, threaten the good
city of Zurich with war. Still, I have an undoubting hope that Almighty
God will not let the pious people of the Confederacy suffer for the
treachery of a few, nor permit us thus to sit in judgment on each
other. I have prayed from the bottom of my heart, that he will defend
his city in some other way than the one here pointed out, and cause the
pious, common people to dwell peacefully together in one Confederacy."
How deeply concerned he was in guiding the ship of state is clear from
the fact, that in this same sketch he even designates the individuals,
who might be safely entrusted with the command of the different
batalions as well as with seats in the council of war, adding, it is
true: "But a muster can hurt nobody." From such labors he hurried off
to write letters to theologians, to study the Holy Scriptures, to mount
the pulpit, to draw up ecclesiastical regulations and formulas of
worship. Only such a man was able to carry out the Reformation in a
free state. Instead of condemning him, we must keep this steadily in
view, and be careful not to form our judgment according to the ideas of
the nineteenth, but of the sixteenth century.