uni 




THE LIBRARY 

OF 

THE UNIVERSITY 
OF CALIFORNIA 

LOS ANGELES 




NOT TO BE TAKEM FROM THE ROOM 



HISTORY 



THE REFORMATION 



SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 

BY J, H, MERLE D'AUBIGNE, D. D,, 

PRESIDENT OF THE THEOI OGICAL SCHOOL OF GENEVA, AND VIC2-PRE6I 
DENT OF THE SOCIETE EVANGELIQUE. 



TEANSLATED 

BY H. WHITE, 

. TKIN1TT COLX-EGE, CAMBRIDGE ; M A- AMD PH. I>R. HEIDBLDSRO. 



THE TRANSLATION CAREFULLY REVISED BY DR. D AUBIGNK, WHO HAS ALSO 
MADE VARIOUS ADDITIONS NOT HITHERTO PUBLISHED. 



VOL, IV, 



PUBLISHED BY THE 

AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY, 

150 NASSAU-STREET, NEW YOKE. 

1849. 



College 
Library 



PREFACE TO VOLUME FOURTH, 



WHEN a foreigner visits certain countries, as Eng- 
land, Scotland, or America, he is sometimes pre- 
sented with the rights of citizenship. Such has 
been the privilege of the " History of the Reforma- 
tion of the Sixteenth Century." From 150,000 to 
200,000 copies are in circulation, in the English 
language, in the countries I have just mentioned ; 
while in France the number hardly exceeds 4000. 
This is a real adoption, naturalizing my Work in 
the countries that have received it with so much 
favour. 

I accept this honour. Accordingly, while the 
former Volumes of my History were originally pub- 
lished in France; now that, after a lapse of five 
years, I think of issuing a continuation of it, I do 
so in Great Britain. 

This is not the only change in the mode of pub- 
lication. I did not think it right to leave to trans- 
lators, as in the case of the former Volumes, the task 
of expressing my ideas in English. The best trans- 
lations are always faulty ; and the Author alone can 
have the certainty of conveying his idea, his whole 
idea, and nothing but his idea. It became neces- 
sary for me to publish, myself, in English ; and this 

*? <"" Sfl T*> /*! f"' f~\ 

a "* ** V * .^ 



IV PREFACE TO VOLUME FOURTH. 

I accordingly do. But although that language is 
familiar to me, [ was desirous of securing, to a cer- 
tain extent, the co-operation of an English literary 
gentleman. Dr. HENRY WHITE, of Croydon, has 
had the great kindness to visit Switzerland for this 
purpose, although such a step exposed him to much 
inconvenience, and to pass with me at Geneva the 
time necessary for this labour. I could not have 
had a more enlightened coadjutor ; and I here ex- 
press my obligations to him for his very able assist- 
ance. 

I therefore publish in English this Continuation 
of the History of the Reformation. I do not think 
that, as I publish, myself, in this language, any one 
will have the power, or will entertain the idea, of 
attempting another publication. It would be a very 
bad speculation on the part of any bookseller ; for 
where is the reader that would not prefer the origi- 
nal text, as published by the Author himself, to a 
translation made by a stranger ? 

But there is a higher question a question of mo- 
rality. Of all property that a man can possess, there 
is none so essentially his own as the labours of his 
mind. He acquires the fruits of his fields by the 
sweat of his servants and of his beasts of burden ; 
and the produce of his manufactures by the labour 
of his workmen and the movement of his machines ; 
but it is by his own toils, by the exercise of his 
most exalted faculties, that he creates the produc- 
tions of his mind. Accordingly, in putting this 



PREFACE TO VOLUME FOURTH. V 

History under the protection of the laws, I place it 
at the same time under a no less secure safeguard, 
that of justice. I know that it is written in the con- 
sciences on the other side of the Channel and of the 
Atlantic : Ye shall have one manner of law, as well 
for the stranger as for one of your own country : for 
I am the Lord your God.* To English honour I 
confide this work. 

The first two Books of this Volume contain the 
most important epochs of the Reformation the Pro- 
test of Spires, and the Confession of Augsburg. 
The last two describe the establishment of the Re- 
form in most of the Swiss cantons, and the instruc- 
tive and deplorable events that are connected with 
the catastrophe of Cappel. 

It was my desire to narrate also the beginnings 
of the English Reformation; but my Volume is 
filled, and I am compelled to defer this subject to 
the next. It is true I might have omitted some 
matters here treated of, but I had strong reasons for 
doing the contrary. The Reformation in Great 
Britain is not very important before the period de- 
scribed in this volume ; the order of time compelled 
me therefore, to remain on the Continent ; for what- 
ever may be the historian's desire, he cannot change 
dates and the sequence that God has assigned to the 
events of the world. Besides, before turning more 
especially towards England, Scotland, France, and 

* Levit. xxiv. 22. 



Vi PREFACE TO VOLUME FOURTH. 

other countries, I determined on bringing the Re- 
formation of Germany and German Switzerland to 
the decisive epochs of 1530 and 1531. The His- 
tory of the Reformation, properly so called, is then, 
in my opinion, almost complete in those countries. 
The work of Faith has there attained its apogee : 
that of conferences, of interims, of diplomacy begins. 
I do not, however, entirely abandon Germany and 
German Switzerland, but henceforward they will 
occupy me less : the movement of the sixteenth 
century has there made its effort. I said from the 
very first : It is the History of the Reformation and 
not of Protestantism that I am relating. 

I cannot, however, approach the History of the 
Reformation in England without some portion of 
fear ; it is perhaps more difficult there than else- 
where. 1 have received communications from some 
of the most respectable men of the different eccle- 
siastical parties, who, each feeling convinced that 
their own point of view is the true one, desire me 
to present the history in this light. I hope to 
execute my task with impartiality and truth ; and 
thought it would be advantageous to study for 
some time longer the principles and the facts. In 
this task I am at present occupied, and shall conse- 
crate to it, with God's assistance, the first part of 
my next volume. Should it be thought that 1 
might have described the Reformation in Switzer- 
land with greater brevity, I beg my readers will call 
to mind that, independently of the intrinsie import- 



PREFACE TO VOLUME FOtTKTH. Vll 

ance of this history, Switzerland is the Author's 
birthplace. 

I had at first thought of making arrangements for 
the present publication with the English and Scotch 
booksellers who had translated the former portions. 
Relations that I had maintained with some of these 
publishers, and which had gained my esteem for 
them, induced me to adopt this course. They were 
consequently informed by letter of my purpose, and 
several months later I had an interview with some 
of them at Glasgow. From circumstances which it 
is unnecessary to explain, -no arrangement was en- 
tered into with these gentlemen. But at the same 
time, one of the first houses in Great Britain, Messrs 
OLIVER & BOYD of Edinburgh, who were introduced 
to me by my highly respected friend Dr CHALMERS, 
made me a suitable and precise offer. I could wait 
no longer ; and on the very eve of my departure 
from London for the Continent, after a sojourn of 
three months in Scotland and in England, I made 
arrangements with them, which have since been defi- 
nitively settled, and the work is now their property. 

The French laws are positive to protect literary 
property in France, even if it belongs to a foreigner. 
I am less familiar with the English laws ; but I will 
not do England the injustice of believing that its 
legislation is surpassed by that of France in justice 
and in morality. 

EATX-VIVES, Or NEVA, January 1846. 



CONTENTS. 



BOOK XIII. 

THE PROTEST AND THE CONFERENCE. 1526 1529. 

CHAPTER I. 

Twofold Movement of Reform Reform the Work of God First Diet of 
Spires Palladium of Reform Firmness of the Reformers Proceed- 
ings of the Diet- Report' of the Commissioners The Papacy painted 
and described by Luther The Destruction of Jerusalem Instructions 
of Seville Change of Policy- Holy League Religious Liberty pro- 
posed Crisis of the Reformation Page 1 

CHAPTER II. 

Italian War The Emperor's Manifesto March on Rome Revolt of the 
Troops The Sack of Rome German Humours Violence of the 
Spaniards Clement VII. capitulates 13 

CHAPTER III. 

Profitable Calm Constitution of the Church Philip of Hesse The 
Monk of Marburg Lambert's Paradoxes Friar Boniface Dispu- 
tation at Humburg Triumph of the Gospel in Hesse Constitution of 
the Church -Bishops Synods Two Elements of the Church Luther 
on the Ministry Organization of the Church Luther's Contradictions 
on State Interference- Luther to the Elector German Mass Melanc- 
thon's Instructions Disaffection Visitation of the Reformed Churches 
Results The Reformation advances Elizabeth of Brandenburg..21 

CHAPTER IV. 

Edict of Ofen Persecutions Winkler, Carpenter, and Keyser Alarm 
in Germany Pack's Forgery League of the Reformed Princes -Ad- 
vice of the Reformers Luther's Pacific Counsel -Surprise of the 
Papist Princes Pack's Scheme not improbable Vigour of the Re- 
formation , ... 40 



CONTENTS. IX 



CHAPTER V. 

Alliance between Charles and Clement VII. Omens Hostility of the 
Papists - Arbitrary Proposition of Charles Resolutions of the Diet 
The Reformation in Danger - Decision of the Princes Violence of 
Ferdinand The Scfiism completed Page 50 

CHAPTER VI. 

The Protest Principles of the Protest Supremacy of the Gospel - Chris- 
tian Union Ferdinand rejects the Protest Attempt at Conciliation 
Exultation of the Papists - Evangelical Appeal - Christian Unity a 
Reality Dangers of the Protestants -The Protestants leave Spires 
The Princes, the true Reformers Germany and Reform 57 

CHAPTER VII. 

Union necessary to Reform Luther's Doctrine on the Lord's Supper 
A Lutheran Warning Proposed Conference at Marburg Melanc- 
thon and Zwingle Zwingle leaves Zurich Rumours in Zurich The 
Reformers at Marburg Carlstadt's Petition Preliminary Discus- 
sionsHoly Ghost Original Sin Baptism Luther, Melancthon, and 
Zwingle Opening of the Conference The Prayer of the Church 
Hoc est Corpus Meum Syllogism of OZcolampadius The Flesh pro- 
fiteth nothing Lambert convinced Luther's Old Song Agitation 
in the Conference Arrival of new Deputies Christ's Humanity 
finite Mathematics and Popery Testimony of the Fathers Testi- 
mony of Augustine Argument of the Velvet Cover End of the Con- 
ference The Landgrave mediates Necessity of Union Luther 
rejects Zwingle's Hand Sectarian Spirit of the Germans Bucer's 
Dilemma Christian Charity prevails Luther's Report Unity of 
Doctrine Unity in Diversity Signatures -Two Extremes Three 
Views Germ of Popery Departure Luther's Dejection Turks 
before Vienna Luther's Battle-sermon and Agony Luther's Firm- 
ness Victory Exasperation of the Papists Threatening Prospects.,69 



BOOK XIV. 

THE AUGSBURG CONFESSION. 1530. 

CHAPTER L 

Two striking Lessons Charles V. in Italy The German Envoys Their 
Boldness The Landgrave's Present The Envoy sunder Arrest- Their 
Release and Departure Meeting of Charles and Clement - Gattinara's 
Proposition Clement's Arms War imminent Luther's Objections 
The Saviour is coming Charles's conciliatory Language The Empe- 
ror's Motives 103 

1* 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER II. 

The Coronation The Emperor made a Deacon The Romish Church 
and the State Alarm of the Protestants Luther advocates Passive 
Resistance Brack's noble Advice Articles' of Faith prepared 
Lu her's Strong Tower Luther at Coburg Charles at Inuspruck 
Two Parties at Court Gattinar* The King of Denmark won over by 
Charles Piety of the Elector Wiles of the Romanists Page 114 



CHAPTER III. 

Angsburg The Gospel preached The Emperor's Message The Ser- 
mons prohibited Firmness of the Elector The Elector's Reply 
Preparation of the Confession Luther's Sinai His Son and his Father 
Luther's Merriment Luther's Diet at Coburg - Saxony, a Paradise 
below -To the Bishops Travail of the Church Charles The Pope's 
Letter Melancthon on Fasting The Church, the Judge The Land- 
grave's catholic Spirit 125 

CHAPTER IV. 

Agitation in Augsburg Violence of the Imperialists Charles at 
Mnnich Charles's Arrival The Nuncio's Blessing The Imperial 
Procession Charles's Appearance Enters Augsburg Te Deum 
The Benediction Charles desires the Sermons to be discontinued 
Brandenburg offers his Head The Emperor's Request for Corpus 
Christi -Refusal of the Princes Agitation of Charles The Princes 
oppose Tradition Procession of Corpus Christi Exasperation of 
Charles 137 



CHAPTER V. 

The Sermons prohibited Compromise proposed and accepted The 
Herald Curiosity of the Citizens The new Preachers The Medley 
of Popery Luther encourages the Princes Veni Spiritus Mass of the 
Holy Ghost The Sermou Opening of the Diet The Elector's Prayer 
Insidious Plan of the Romanists Valdezand Melancthon No pub- 
lic Discussion Evangelical Firmness prevails 150 

CHAPTER VI. 

The Elector's Zeal The Signing of the Confession Courage of the 
Princes Melancthon's Weakness The Legate's Speech -Delays The 
Confession in Danger The Protestants are firm Melancthon's De- 
spondency Luther's Prayer and Anxiety Luther's Texts His Letter 
to Melancthon Faith 162 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER VII. 

The 25th June 1530 The Palatine Chapel Recollections and Contrast 
The Confession Prologue -Justification The Church - Free Will and 
Works Faith Interest of the Hearers The Princes become Preach- 
ers The Confession Abuses Church and State The two Govern- 
mentsEpilogue Argumentation Prudence Church and State 
The Sword Moderate Tone of the Confession Its Defects A New 
Baptism Page 173 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Effect on the Romanists Luther demands religious Liberty His 
dominant Idea Song of Triumph Ingenuous Confessions Hopes of 
the Protestants Failure of the Popish Intrigues The Emperor's 
Council Violent Discussions A Refutation proposed Its Authors 
Rome and the civil Power Perils of the Confessors Melancthon's 
Minimum The Emperor's Sister Melancthon's Fall Luther op- 
poses Concession The Legate repels Melancthon The Pope's Decision 
Question Melancthou's School-matters Answer 186 

CHAPTER IX. 

The Refutation Charles's Dissatisfaction Interviewwith thePrinces- 
The Swiss at Augsburg Tetrapolitan Confession Zwingle'8 Confes- 
sion-Afflicting Divisions The Elector's Faith His Peace The 
Lion's Skin The Refutation - One Concession Scripture and the 
Hierarchy Imperial Commands Interview between Melancthon and 
Campeggio Policy of Charles -Stormy Meeting Resolutions of the 
Consistory The Prayers of the Church Two Miracles The Empe- 
ror's Menace The Princes' Courage The Mask Negotiations The 
Spectres at Spires Tumult in Augsburg 202 

CHAPTER X. 

Philip of Hesse Temptation Union resisted The Landgrave's Dissi- 
mulationThe Emperor's Order to the Protestants Brandenburg's 
threatening Speeches Resolution of I'hilip of Hesse Flight from 
Augsburg -Discovery Charles's Emotion Revolution in the Diet 
Metamorphosis Unusual Moderation Peace ! Peace ! 219 

CHAPTER XI. 

The Mixed Commission The Three Points Romish Dissimulation 
Abuses Concessions The Main Question Bishops and Pope con- 
ceded Danger of Concession Opposition to the pretended Concord 






XH CONTENTS. 

Lather's opposing Letters The Word above the Church Melancthon'8 
Blindness Papist Infatuatioh A new Commission Be Men and noi 
Women The Tvro Phantoms Concessions The Three Points The 
great Antithesis Failure of Conciliation The Gordian Knot A 
Council granted Charles's Summons Menaces Altercations - Peace 
or War Romanism concedes Protestantism resists Luther recalls 
hisFrieuda Page 229 



CHAPTER XII. 

The Elector's Preparatives and Indignation Recess of Augsburg 
Irritating Language Apology of the Confession Intimidation 
Final Interview Messages of Peace Exasperation of the Papists 
Restoration of Popery Tumult in the Church Union of the Churches 
The Pope and the Emperor Close of the Diet Armaments 
Attack on Geneva Joy of the Evangelicals Establishment of Pro- 
testantism.., 248 



BOOK XV. 

SWITZERLAND CONQUESTS. 1526 1530. 

/ - V , ,\ 

CHAPTER I. 

Originality of the Swiss Reform -Change Three Periods of Reform- 
Switzerland Romande The two Movements in the Church - Aggressive 
Spirit The Schoolmaster Farel's new Baptism Mysticism and 
Scholasticism A Door is opened Opposition J.ausauue Manners 
of the Clergy Farel to Galeotto Farel and the Monk The Tribunal 
The Monk cries for Pardon Opposition of the Ormonds A false 
Convert Christian Unity 261 

CHAPTER II. 

State Religion in Berne Irresolution of Berne Almanack of Heretics 
Evangelical Majority Haller Zwingle's Signal The radicals in 
Berne Victory of the Gospel Papist Provocations- The City Com 
panies Proposed Disputation Objections of the Forest Cantons The 
Church, the Judge of Controversies Unequal Contest Zwingle A 
Christian Band The Cordeliers' Church Opening of the Conference 
The sole Head Unity of Error A Priest converted at the Altar St. 
Vincent's Day The Butchers A strange Argument Papist Bitter- 
ness -Necessity of Reform Zwingle's Sermon Visit of the King of 
Kings Edict of Reform Was the Reformation political? 276 



CONTENTS. ZU1 



CHAPTER III, 

The Reform accepted by the People Faith, Purity, and Charity First 
Evangelical Communion Bernese Proposition to the Diet Cavern, 
and Head of Beatus Threatening Storm from the Mountains Revolt 
Confusion in Berne Unterwalden crosses the Brunig Energy of 
Berne Victory Political Advantages. Page 294 

CHAPTER IV. 

Reformation of St. Gall Nuns of St. Catherine Reformation of Claris, 
Berne, Appenzell, the Orisons, Schaffhausen, and the Rhine District 
A Popish Miracle Obstacles iu Basle Zeal of the Citizens (Ecolam- 
padina marries Witticism of Erasmus First Action Half Measures 
Petition of the Reformed 303 

CHAPTER V. 

Crisis in Basle Half-measures rejected Reformed Propositions A 
Night of Terror Idols broken in the Cathedral The Hour of Mad- 
nessIdols broken in all the Churches Reform legalized Erasmus 
in Basle A great Transformation Revolution and Reformation.. .3 10 

CHAPTER VI. 

Farel's Commission Farel at Lausanne and Morat Neufchatel Farel 
preaches at Serriere Enters Neufchatel -Sermon -The Monks 
Farel's Preaching Popery in Neufchatel - Canons and Monks unite 
Farel at Morat and in the Vully Reformation of the Bishopric of 
Basle Farel again iu Neufchatel Placards The Hospital Chapel 
Civil Power invoked by the Romanists 319 

CHAPTER VII. 

Valangin Guillemette de Vergy Farel goes to the Val de Ruz The 
Mass interrupted Farel dragged to the River Farel in Prison 
Apostles and Reformers compared Farel preaching at Neufchatel 
Installed in the Cathedral A Whirlwind sweeps over the People The 
Idols destroyed Interposition of the Governor Triumph of the Re- 
formed 329 

. CHAPTER VIII. 

The Romanists demand a Ballot The Bernese in Favour of the Re- 
form Both Parties come to the Poll The Prudhommes of Neufchatel 
Proposed Delay The Romanists grasp the Sword The Voting- 
Majority for Reform Protestantism perpetual The Image of Saint 
John A Miracle Retreat of the Canons Popery and the Gospel.333 



XIV CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER IX. 

Reaction preparing Failure of the Plot Farel in Valangin and near 
the Lake De Bely at Fontaine Farel's Sufferings- Marcourt at Val- 
angin Disgraceful Expedient Vengeance The Reform established 
French Switzerland characterized Gathering Tempest Page 347 



BOOK XVI. 

SWITZERLAND CATASTROPHE. 1528 1531. 

CHAPTER I. 

Two great Lessons Christian Warfare Zwingle, Pastor, Statesman, and 
General His noble Character -Persecutions Swiss Catholics seek 
an Alliance with Austria Great Dissatisfaction Deputation to the 
Forest Cantons Zwingle's Proposal Moderation of Berne Keyser's 
Martyrdom Zwingle and War Zwingle's Error 354 

( 

CHAPTER II. 

Free Preaching of the Gospel in Switzerland Zwingle supports the 
common Bailiwicks War Zwingle joins the Army The Zurich 
Army threatens Zug The Landamman Aebli Bernese Interposition 
Zwingle's Opposition Swiss Cordiality Order in the Zurich Camp 
A Conference Peace restored Austrian Treaty torn Zwingle's 
Hymn Nuns of Saint Catherine 363 

. CHAPTER III. 

Conquests of Reform in Schaffhausen and Zurzack Reform i:i Glaris 
To-day the Cowl, To-morrow the Reverse - Italian Bailiwicks The 
Monk of Como Egidio's Hope for Italy - Call of tha Monk of Locarno 
Hopes of reforming Italy The Monks of Wettingen Abbey of 
Saint Gall Kilian Koufft Saint Gall recovers its Liberty The Re- 
form in Soleure Miracle of Saint Ours Popery triumphs The 
Grisons invaded by the Spaniards Address of the Ministers to the 
Romish Cantons God's Word the Means of Unity CEcolampadius 
for spiritual Influence Autonomy of the Church 372 

CHAPTER IV. 

Zwingle and the Christian State Zwingle's double Part Zwingle and 
Luther in Relation to Politics Philip of Hesse and the Free Cities 
Projected Union between Zwingle and Luther Zwiugle's political 



CONTKNTS. XV 

Action Project of Alliance against the Emperor Zwingle advocates 
active Resistance He destines the Imperial Crown foi Philip Faults 
of the Reformation Embassy to Venice Giddiness of the Reforma- 
tion 1 'rejected Alliance with France Zwingle's Plan of Alliance 
Approaching Ruin Slanders in the Five Cantons Violence Myste- 
rious Paper Berne and Basle vote for Peace General Diet at Baden 
Evangelical Diet at Zurich Political Relormation of Switzerland 
Activity of Zurich X Page 388 



CHAPTER V. 

Diet of Arau Helvetic Unity Berne proposes to close the Markets 
Opposition of Zurich Proposition agreed to and published Zwingle's 
War Sermon Blockade of the Waldstettes No Bread, no Wine, no 
Salt Indignation of the Forest Cantons The Roads blockaded 
Processions Cry of Despair France tries to conciliate Diet at Brem- 
garten Hope The Cantons inflexible The Strength of Zurich 
broken Discontent Zwingle's false Position Zwingle demands his 
Dismission The Council remonstrate He remains Zwingle at Brem- 
garten Zwingle's Farewell to Bullinger Zwingle's Agony -The 
Forest Cantons reject all Conciliation Frightful Omens The Comet 
Zwingle's Tranquillity 406 



CHAPTER VI. 

The Five Cantons decide for War Deceitful Calm Fatal Inactivity 
Zurich forewarned Banner of Lucerne planted Manifesto The 
Bailiwicks pillaged Tl e Monastery of Cappel Letter Infatuation 
of Zurich New Warnings The War begins The Tocsin A fearful 
Night The War Banner and Army of Zurich Zwingle's Departure 
Zwiugle's Horse Anna Zwingle ,. 423 



CHAPTER VII. 

The Scene of War The Enemy at Zng Declaration of War Council 
Army of the Forest Cantons appears The first Gun fired Zwingle's 
Gravity and Sorrow- Zurich Army ascending the Albis Halt and 
Council at the Beech Tree They quicken their March Jauch's Re- 
connaissance His Appeal Ambuscade 435 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Unforeseen Change The whole Army advances Universal Disorder 

The Banneret's Death The Banner in Danger The Banner saved 

Terrible Slaughter- Slaughter of the Pastors Zwingle's last Words 

Barbarity of the Victors The Furnace of Trial Zwingle's dying 

Moments Day after the Battle Homage and Outrage 144 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER IX. 

Consternation in Zurich Violence of the Populace Grief and Distress 
Zwiugle is dead ! Funeral Oration Army of Zurich Another 
Reverse on the Goubel Inactivity of the Beruese Hopes and Plan of 
Charles V. End of the War Treaty of Peace .................... Page 455 



CHAPTER X. 

Restoration of Popery at Bremgarten and Rapperschwyl Priests and 
Monks everywhere Sorrow of CEcolampadius A tranquil Scene- 
Peaceful Death of (Kcolampadius -Henry Bullinger at Zurich Con- 
trition and Exultation The great Lesson Conclusion.. ............... 463 



HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION, 



BOOK XIII. 

THE PROTEST AND THE CONFERENCE. 1526 1529. 

CHAPTER I. 

Twofold Movement of Reform Reform the Work of God First Diet of 
Spires Palladium of Reform Firmness of the Reformers- Proceed- 
ings of the Diet -Report of the Commissioners - The Papacy painted 
and described by Luther - The Destruction of Jerusalem Instructions 
of Seville Change of Policy Holy League Religious Liberty pro- 
posedCrisis of the Reformation. 

WE have witnessed the commencement, the struggles, the 
reverses, and the progress of the Reformation; but the 
conflicts hitherto described have been only partial ; we are 
entering upon a new period, that of general battles. Spires 
(1529) and Augsburg (1530) are names that shine forth 
with more immortal glory than Marathon, Pavia, or Marengo. 
Forces that up to the present time were separate, are now 
uniting into one energetic band ; and the power of God is 
at work in those brilliant actions, which open a new era 
in the history of nations, and communicate an irresistible 
impulse to mankind. The passage from the middle ages to 
modern times has arrived. 

A great protest is about to be accomplished ; and although 
there have been protestants in the Church from the very 
beginning of Christianity, since liberty and truth could not 
be maintained here below, save by protesting continually 
against despotism and error, Protestantism is about to take 
a new step. Tt is about to become a body, and thus attack 



2 TWOFOLD MOVEMENT OF REFORM. 

with greater energy that " mystery of iniquity" which for 
ages has taken a bodily shape at Rome, in the very temple 
of God.* 

But although we have to treat of protests, it must not 
however be imagined that the Reformation is a negative 
work. In every sphere in which anything great is evolved, 
whether in nature or society, there is a principle of life at 
work, a seed that God fertilizes. - The Reformation, when 
it appeared in the sixteenth century, did not, indeed, per- 
form a new work, for a reformation is not a formation ; 
but it turned its face toward the beginnings of Christianity; 
it seized upon them with affection, and embraced them with 
adoration. Yet it was not satisfied with this return to primi- 
tive times. Laden with its precious burden, it again crossed 
the interval of ages, and brought back to fallen and lifeless 
Christendom the sacred fire that was destined to restore it to 
light and life. In this twofold movement consisted its action 
and its strength. Afterwards, no doubt, it rejected superan- 
nuated forms, and combated error ; but this was, so to 
speak, only the least of its works, and its third movement. 
Even the protest of which we have to speak had for its end 
and aim the re-establishment of truth and of life, and was 
essentially a positive act. 

This powerful and rapid twofold action of reform, by 
which the apostolic times were re-established at the opening 
of modern history, proceeded not from man. A reformation 
is not arbitrarily made, as charters and revolutions are in 
some countries. A real reformation, prepared during many 
ages, is the work of the Spirit of God. Before the appointed 
hour, the greatest geniuses and even the most faithful of 
God's servants cannot produce it ; but when the reforming 
time is come, when it is God's pleasure to renovate the 
affairs of the world, the divine life must clear a passage, and 
it is able to create of itself the humble instruments by which 
this life is communicated to the human race. Then, if men 
are silent, the very stones will cry out.-J- 

It is to the protest of Spires (1529) that we are now 
about to turn our eyes; but .the way to this protest was 
2 Thess. it. f Luke xix. 40. 



FIRST DIET CK SPIRES. 3 

prepared by years of peace, and followed by attempts at 
concord that we shall have also to describe. Nevertheless 
the formal establishment of Protestantism remains the great 
fact that prevails in the history of the Reformation from 
1526 to 1529. 

The Duke of Brunswick had brought into Germany the 
threatening message of Charles the Fifth. That emperor 
was about to repair from Spain to Rome to come to an 
understanding with the, pope, and from thence to pass into 
Germany to constrain the heretics. The last summons 
was to be addressed to them by the Diet of Spires, 1526.* 
The decisive hour for the Reformation was on the point of 
striking. 

On the 25th June 1526, the diet opened. In the instruc- 
tions, dated at Seville, 23d March, the emperor ordered 
that the Church customs should be maintained entire, and 
called upon the diet to punish those who refused to carry 
out the edict of Worms.-J- Ferdinand himself was at Spires, 
and his presence rendered these orders more formidable. 
Never had the hostility which the Romish partisans enter- 
tained against the evangelical princes, appeared in so strik- 
ing a manner. " The Pharisees," said Spalatin, " are in- 
veterate in their hatred against Jesus Christ." J 

Never also had the evangelical princes showed so much 
hope. Instead of coming forward frightened and trembling, 
like guilty men, they were seen advancing, surrounded 
by the ministers of the "Word, with uplifted heads and 
cheerful looks. Their first step was to ask for a place of 
worship. The Bishop of Spires, count-palatine of the Rhine, 
having indignantly refused this strange request, the princes 
complained of it as an act of injustice, and ordered their 
ministers to preach daily in the halls of their palaces, which 

* See Vol. III. book x. chap. xiv. The Diet of Spires, held in 1526, 
must not be confounded with that of 1529, at which the protest took 
place. 

t Sleidan, Hist. Ref. book vi. 

t Christum pharisreis vehementer fuisso inyisum. Seckend. ii. 46. 

Fortitfr interdisit.. Cochlcens, p. 138. 



4 PALLADIUM OF REFORM. 

were immediately filled by an immense crowd from the 
city and the country, amounting to many thousands.* In 
vain on the feast days did Ferdinand, the ultra-montane 
princes, and the bishops assist in the pomps of the Roman 
worship in the beautiful cathedral of Spires ; the unadorned 
Word of God, preached in the protestant vestibules, en- 
grossed all hearers, and the mass was celebrated in an empty 
church.f 

It was not only the ministers, but the knights and the 
grooms, " mere idiots," who, unable to control their zeal, 
everywhere eagerly extolled the Word of the Lord.J All the 
followers of the evangelical princes wore these letters em- 
broidered on their right sleeves : V. D. M. I. JE., that is to 
say, " The Word of the Lord endureth for ever." The same 
inscription might be read on the escutcheons of the princes, 
suspended over their hotels. The Word of God such from 
this moment was the palladium of the Reformation. 

This was not all. The Protestants knew that the mere 
worship would not suffice: the landgrave had therefore 
called upon the elector to abolish certain " court customs " 
which dishonoured the Gospel. These two princes had con- 
sequently drawn up an order of living which forbade drunk- 
enness, debauchery, and other vicious customs prevalent 
during a diet.|| 

Perhaps the protestant princes sometimes put forward 
their dissent beyond what prudence would have required. 
Not only they did not go to mass, and did not observe the 
prescribed fasts, but still further, on the fast days, their 
attendants were seen publicly bearing dishes of meat and 
game, destined for their masters' tables, and crossing, says 
Cochlceus, in the presence of the whole auditory, the halls in 
which the worship was celebrating. " It was," says this 

* Ingens concursus plebis ct rusticorum. Cochlceus. Mult,- millibus 
hominum accurrentibus. Seckeud. ii. 48. 

+ Poptilura a sacris avertebant. Cochlceus, p. 138. 

J Miuistri eorum, equites et stabularii, idiotae, petulanter jactabant 
rerbum Domini. Ibid. 

Verbum Domini manet in seternum. Ibid. 

U Adversus iaveteratos illos et irnpios usus nircmhirn essa. Seek. ii. 4G 



FIRMNESS OF THE REFORMERS. 5 

writer, " with the intent of attracting the catholics by the 
savour of the meats and of the wines."* 

The elector in effect had a numerous court : seven hundred 
persons formed his retinue. One day he gave a banquet at 
which twenty-six princes with their gentlemen and council- 
lors were present. They continued playing until a very late 
hour ten at night. Everything in Duke John announced 
the most powerful prince of the empire. The youthful land- 
grave of Hesse, full of zeal and knowledge, and in the 
strength of a first Christian lore, made a still deeper impres- 
sion on those who approached him. He would frequently 
dispute with the bishops, and owing to his acquaintance 
with the Holy Scriptures, easily stopped their mouths.f 

This firmness in the friends of the Reformation produced 
results that surpassed their expectation. It was no longer 
possible to be deceived : the spirit that was manifested in 
these men was the spirit of the Bible. Everywhere the 
sceptre was falling from the hands of Rome. " The leaven 
of Luther," said a zealous papist, "sets all the people of 
Germany in a ferment, and foreign nations themselves are 
agitated by formidable movements."! 

It was immediately seen how great is the strength of deep 
convictions. The states that were well disposed towards 
the reform, but which had not ventured to give their adhe- 
sion publicly, became emboldened. The neutral states, 
demanding the repose of the empire, formed the resolution of 
opposing the edict of Worms, the execution of which would 
have spread trouble through all Germany ; and the papist 
states lost their boldness. The bow of the mighty was 
broken. 

Ferdinand did not think proper, at so critical a moment, 
to communicate to the diet the severe instructions he had 

* Ut complures allicerentur ad eorum sectam, in ferculis portabantur 
carnes coctae in diebus jejunii, aperte in conspectu totius audit mi. 
Cochloeus, p. 138. 

) Annales Spalatini. 

J Germanise populi Lutherico fermento inesca.ti, et in externis quoqtw 
nationihns, gravissimi erant motus. Cochlirus, p. 138. 

1 Samuel ii. 4. 



6 PROCEEDINGS OF THE DIET. 

received from Seville. * He substituted a proposition calcu- 
lated to satisfy both parties. 

The laymen immediately recovered the influence of which 
the clergy had dispossessed them. The ecclesiastics resisted 
a proposal in the college of princes that the diet should 
occupy itself with church abuses, but their exertions were 
unavailing. Undoubtedly a non-political assembly would 
have been preferable to the diet, but it was already a point 
gained that religious matters were no longer to be regulated 
solely by the priests. 

As soon as this resolution was communicated to the depu- 
ties from the cities, they called for the abolition of every usage 
contrary to the faith in Jesus Christ. In vain did the bishops 
exclaim that, instead of doing away with pretended abuses, 
they would do much better to burn all the books with which 
Germany had been inundated during the last eight years. 
" You desire," was the reply, " to bury all wisdom and 
knowledge."-}- The request of the cities was agreed to,J 
and the diet was divided into committees for the abolition of 
abuses. 

Then was manifested the profound disgust inspired by the 
priests of Rome. " The clergy," said the deputy for Frank- 
fort, " make a jest of the public good, and look after their 
own interests only." " The laymen/' said the deputy from 
Duke George, " have the salvation of Christendom much 
more at heart than the clergy." 

The commissioners made their report : people were aston- 
ished at it. Never had men spoken out so freely against 
the pope and the bishops. The commission of the princes, 
in which the ecclesiastics and laymen were in equal num- 

* Some historians appear to think lhat these instructions were com- 
municated in reality at the very opening of the diet. Ranke shows that 
this was not the case ; but adds, that he sees no reason why the com- 
missaries should have thought themselves authorized to make any other 
proposition. The motives that I have assigned appear to me the true 
ones. I shall state below why the commissaries returned afterwards to 
the imperial instructions. 

f Omnes libros csse comburendos. Sed rejectum est quia sic omnia 
doctrina et eruditio theologica interitura esset. Seckend. ii. 45. 

t Civitatum suffragia multum valuerunt. Ibid. 



THE PAPACY DESCRIBED. 7 

bers, proposed a fusion of popery and reform. " The priests 
would do better to marry," said they, " than to keep women 
of ill fame in their houses ; every man should be at liberty 
to communicate under one or both forms ; German and 
Latin may be equally employed in the Lord's Supper and in 
Baptism ; as for the other sacraments, let them be preserved, 
but let them be administered gratuitously. Finally, let the 
Word of God be preached according to the interpretation of 
the Church (this was the demand of Rome), but always 
explaining Scripture by Scripture" (this was the great prin- 
ciple of the Reformation). Thus the first step was taken 
towards a national union. Still a few more efforts, and the 
whole German race would be walking in the direction of 
the Gospel. 

The evangelical Christians, at the sight of this glorious 
prospect, redoubled their exertions. "Stand fast in the doc- 
trine," said the Elector of Saxony to his councillors.* At 
the same time hawkers in every part of the city were selling 
Christian pamphlets, short and easy to read, written in Latin 
and in German, and ornamented with engravings, in which 
the errors of Rome were vigorously attacked.-]- One of these 
books was entitled, The Papacy with its Members painted 
and described by Doctor Luther. In it figured the pope, the 
cardinals, and all the religious orders, exceeding sixty, each 
with their costumes and description in verse. Under the 
picture of one of these orders were the following lines : 

Greedy priests, see, roll in gold, 
Forgetful of the humble JeaU : 

under another : 

We forbid you to behold 
The Bible, lest it should mislead you ! 

* Elector Saxoniae conciliarios suos exhortatus est, in doctrina evan- 
gelica firmi. Seckend. ii. 48. 

t Circumferebantur item libri Lutherani venales per totam cmtatcm. 
Cochloeus, p. 138. 

t Dass die Schrift sie nicht Tcrfuhrc, 

Durft ihr keinen nicht studir. L. Opp. xix. p. 535. 



8 DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM. 

and under a third : 

We can fast and pray the harder 
With an overflowing larder.* 

" Not one of these orders," said Luther to the reader, " thinks 
either of faith or charity. This one wears the tonsure, the 
other a hood ; this a cloak, that a robe. One is white, an- 
other black, a third gray, and a fourth blue. Here is one 
holding^ a looking-glass, there one with a pair of scissors. 
Each has his playthings Ah! these are the palmer- 
worms, the locusts, the canker-worms, and the caterpillars, 
which, as Joel saith, have eaten up all the earth." f 

But if Luther employed the scourges of sarcasm, he also 
blew the trumpet of the prophets ; and this he did in a work 
entitled The Destruction of Jerusalem. Shedding tears like 
Jeremiah, he denounced to the German people a ruin similar 
to that of the holy city, if like it they rejected the Gospel. \ 
" God has imparted to us all his treasures," exclaimed he; 
" he became man, he has served us, he died for us, he has 
risen again, and he has so opened the gates of heaven, that 

all may enter The hour of grace is come The glad 

-tidings are proclaimed But where is the city, where is 

the prince that has received them ? They insult the Gospel : 
they draw the sword, and daringly seize God by the beard. ,| 

But wait He will turn round; with one blow will 

he break their jaws, and all Germany wL'l be one vast 
ruin." 

These works had a very great sale.^j They were read not 
only by the peasants and townspeople, but also by the nobles 
and princes. Leaving the priests alone at the foot of the 
altar, they threw themselves into the arms of the new Gos- 

* Doch war ihr ki'ch niramer leer. L. Opp. xix. 536. 

f Ibid. 535. Joel i. 4. 

J Libclli, parvuli quidcm mole, sed virulentia perquam grandes, sermo 
Lutheri Teuthonicus <ie destructione Jerusalem. Cochlceus, p. 138. 

Wird Mensch, dienet uns, stirbt fur uns. Luth. Opp. xiv. (L.) 226. 

|| Greiffen Gott zu frech in den Bart. Ibid. Deo minis ferociter bar 
bam vellicant. Cochlceus. 

^ Perquam plurima vendebantur exemplaria. Ibid. p. 139. 



THE INSTRUCTIONS OF SEVILLE. 9 

pel.* The necessity of a reform of abuses was proclaimed 
on the 1st of August by a general committee. 

Then Rome, which had appeared to slumber, awoke. Fa- 
natical priests, monks, ecclesiastical princes, all gathered 
round Ferdinand. Cunning, bribery, nothing Avas spared. Did 
not Ferdinand possess the instructions of Seville ? To refuse 
their publication was to effect the ruin of the Church and of 
the empire. Let the voice of Charles, said they, oppose its 
powerful veto to the dizziness that is hurrying Germany 
along, and the empire will be saved ! Ferdinand made up his 
mind, and at length, on the 3d August, published the decree 
drawn up more than four months previously in favour of 
the edict of Worms.-}- 

The persecution was about to begin ; the reformers would 
be thrown into dungeons, and the sword drawn on the banks 
of the Guadalquivir would at last pierce the bosom of the 
Reformation. 

The effect of the imperial ordinance was immense. The 
breaking of an axletree does not more violently check the 
velocity of a railway train. The elector and the landgrave 
announced that they were about to quit the diet, and ordered 
their attendants to prepare for their departure. At the same 
time the deputies from the cities drew towards these two 
princes, and the Reformation appeared as if it would enter 
immediately upon a contest with the pope and Charles the 
Fifth. 

But it was not yet prepared for a general struggle. The 
tree was destined to strike its roots deeper, before the Al- 
mighty unchained the stormy winds against it. A spirit 
of blindness, similar to that which in former times was sent 
out upon Saul and Herod,:J: then seized upon the great enemy 
of the Gospel; and thus was it that Divine Providence 
saved the Reformation in its cradle. 

The first movement of trouble being over, the friends of 

* Non solum plebs et rustica turba, verum etiam plerique optimatum 
et nobilmm trahebantur in farorem novi Evangelii, atque in odium an- 
tique religionis. Cochloeus, p. 160. 

t Sleidan, Hist, de la Ref. vi. 229. 

J 1 Sam. xvi. 14-23 ; Matth. ii. 
VOL. IV. 2 



10 TI1E HOLY LEAGUE 

the Gospel began to consider the date of the imperial in- 
structions, and to weigh the new political combinations which 
seemed to announce to the world the most unlooked-for 
events. " When the emperor wrote these letters," said the 
cities of Upper Germany, " he was on good terms with the 
pope, but now everything is changed. It is even asserted 
that he told Margaret, his representative in the Low Countries, 
to proceed gently with respect to the Gospel. Let us send 
him a deputation." That was not necessary. Charles had 
not waited until now to form a different resolution. The 
course of public affairs, taking a sudden turn, had rushed 
into an entirely new path. Years of peace were about to be 
granted to the Reformation. 

Clement VII., whom Charles was about to visit, according 
to the instructions of Seville, in order to receive the im- 
perial crown in Rome itself and from his sacred hands, and 
in return to give up to the pontiff the Gospel and the Refor- 
mation, Clement VII., seized with a strange infatuation, 
had suddenly turned against this powerful monarch. The 
emperor, unwilling to favour his ambition in every point, 
had opposed his claims on the states of the Duke of Ferrara. 
Clement immediately became exasperated, and cried out 
that Charles wished to enslave the peninsula, but that the 
time was come for re-establishing the independence of Italy. 
This great idea of Italian independence, entertained at that 
period by a few literary men, had not, as in our days, penetrated 
the mass of the nation. Clement therefore hastened to have 
recourse to political combinations. The Pope, the Venetians, 
and the King of France, who had scarcely recovered his 
liberty, formed a holy league, of which the King of England 
was by a bull nominated the preserver and protector.* In 
June 1526, the emperor caused the most favourable pro- 
positions to be presented to the pope ; but his advances 
were ineffectual, and the Duke of Sessa, Charles's ambas- 
sador at Rome, returning on horseback from his last audi- 
ence, placed a court-fool behind him, who, by a thousand 
monkey tricks, gave the Roman people to understand how 
little they cared for the pope and his projects. Clement 
* Sleidan, Hist, de la Ref. vi. ; Bullar. Mag. roman. x. 



RELIGIOUS LIBEKTY PROPOSED. 11 

responded to these bravadoes by a brief, in which he threat- 
ened the emperor with excommunication, and without loss 
of time pushed his troops into Lombardy, whilst Milan, 
Florence, and Piedmont declared for the holy league. Thus 
was Europe preparing to be avenged for the triumph of 
Pavia. 

Charles did not hesitate. He wheeled to the right as 
quickly as the pope had done to the left, and turned abruptly 
towards the evangelical princes. " Let us suspend the edict 
of Worms," wrote he to his brother ; " let us bring back 
Luther's partisans by mildness, and by a good council cause 
the triumph of evangelical truth." At the same time he 
demanded that the elector, the landgrave, and their allies 
should march with him against the Turks or against Italy, 
for the common good of Christendom. 

Ferdinand hesitated. To gain the friendship of the 
Lutherans was to forfeit that of the other princes, who 
were already beginning to utter violent threats.* The Pro- 
testants themselves were not very eager to take the em- 
peror's hand. " It is God, God himself," they said, " who 
will save his churches." f 

What was to be done ? The edict of Worms could neither 
be repealed nor carried into execution. 

So strange a situation led of necessity to the desired solu- 
tion : religious liberty. The first idea of this occurred to 
the deputies of the cities. " In one place," said they, " the 
ancient ceremonies have been preserved ; in another they 
have been abolished ; and both think they are right. Let 
us allow every man to do as he thinks fit, until a council 
shall re-establish the desired unity by the Word of God." 
This idea gained favour, and the recess of the diet, dated 
the 27th August, decreed that a universal or at the least a 
national free council should be convoked within a year, that 
they should request the emperor to return speedily to Ger- 
many, and that, until then, each state should behave in its 

* Ferdinandtls, ut audio, graviter minatur. Corp. Ref. i. 801. 

{ Imperator pollicetur sed nemo his promissis movetur. Spero 

Deum defensurum esse suas Ecclesias. Ibid. 



12 CRISIS OF THE REFORMATION. 

own territory in such a manner as to be able to render an ac- 
count to God and to the emperor.* 

Thus they escaped from their difficulty by a middle 
course ; and this time it was really the true path. Each 
one maintained his rights, while recognising another's. 
The diet of 1526 forms an important epoch in history : an 
ancient power, that of the middle ages, is shaken ; a new 
power, that of modern times, is advancing ; religious liberty 
boldly takes its stand in front of Romish despotism ; a lay 
spirit prevails over the sacerdotal spirit. In this single step 
there is a complete victory : the cause of the reform is won. 

Yet it was little suspected. Luther, on the morrow of the 
day on which the recess was published, wrote to a friend : 
" The diet is sitting at Spires in the German fashion. They 
drink and gamble, and there is nothing done except that."f 
" Le congres danse et ne marche pas,"J has been said in 
our days. Great things are often transacted under an ap- 
pearance of frivolity, and God accomplishes his designs un- 
known even to those whom he employs as his instruments. 
In this diet a gravity and love of liberty of conscience were 
manifested, which are the fruits of Christianity, and which in 
the sixteenth century had its earliest if not its most energetic 
development among the German nations. 

Yet Ferdinand still hesitated. Mahomet himself came to 
the aid of the Gospel. Louis, king of Hungary and Bohemia, 
drowned at Mohacz on the 29th August 1526, as he was 
fleeing from before Soliman II., had bequeathed the crown of 
these two kingdoms to Ferdinand. But the Duke of Bavaria, 
the "Waywode of Transylvania, and, above all, the terrible 
Soliman, contested it against him. This was sufficient to 
occupy Charles's brother : he left Luther, and hastened to 
dispute two thrones. 

* Unupquisque in sua ditione ita se gereret ut rationem Deo et irapora- 
tori redder e posset. Sockend. ii. 41. 
t Potatur et luditur, prasterea nihil. L. Epp. iii. 126. 
Tho congress dances but does not move forward. 



ITALIAN WAK. 13 



CHAPTER II. 

Italian War The Emperor's Manifesto March on Rome Revolt of the 
Troops The Sack of Rome German Humours Violence of the 
Spaniards Clement VII. capitulates. 

THE emperor immediately reaped the fruits of his new policy. 
No longer having his hands tiect by Germany, he turned 
them against Rome. The Reformation was to be exalted 
and the Papacy abased. The blows aimed at its pitiless 
enemy were about to open a new career to the evangelical 
work. 

Ferdinand, who was detained by his Hungarian affairs, 
gave the charge of the Italian expedition to Freundsberg, 
that old general who had in so friendly a manner patted 
Luther on the shoulder, as the reformer was about to appear 
before the Diet of Worms.* This veteran, who, as a contem- 
porary observes,-}- " bore in his chivalrous heart God's holy 
Gospel, well fortified and flanked by a strong wall," pledged 
his wife's jewels, sent recruiting parties into all the towns of 
Upper Germany, and, owing to the magic idea of a war 
against the pope, soon witnessed crowds of soldiers flocking 
to his standard. " Announce," Charles had said to his 
brother, " announce that the army is to march against the 
Turks ; every one will know what Turks arc meant." 

Thus the puissant Charles, instead of marching with the 
pope against the Reformation, as he had threatened at Seville, 
marches with the Reformation against the pope. A few days 
had sufficed to produce this change of direction: there are 
few periods in history in which the hand of God is more 
plainly manifested. Charles immediately assumed all the 
airs of a reformer. On the 17th September, he addressed a 

* See Vol. II. book vii. chap. viii. 
f Haug marschalk, surnamcd Zeller. 



14 THE EMPEROR'S MANIFESTO. 

manifesto to the pope,* in which he reproaches him for be- 
having not like the father of the faithful, but like an insolent 
and haughty man ; {- and declares his astonishment that he, 
Christ's vicar, should dare shed blood to acquire earthly pos- 
sessions, " which," added he, " is quite contrary to the evan- 
gelical doctrine." J Luther could not have spoken better. 
" Let your holiness," continued Charles the Fifth, " return 
the sword of St. Peter into the scabbard, and convoke a holy 
and universal council." But the sword was much more to 
the pontiffs taste than the council. Is not the papacy, 
according to the Romish doctors, the source of the two 
powers ? Can it not depose kings, and consequently fight 
against them ? Charles prepared to requite " eye for eye, 
and tooth for tooth." || 

Now began that terrible campaign during which the storm 
burst on Rome and on the Papacy that had been destined to 
fall on Germany and the Gospel. By the violence of the 
blows inflicted on the pontifical city, we may judge of the 
severity of those that would have dashed in pieces the re- 
formed churches. While retracing such scenes of horror, we 
have constant need of calling to mind that the chastisement 
of the seven-hilled city had been predicted by the Holy 
Scriptures, ^f 

In the month of November, Freundsberg at the head of 
fifteen thousand men was at the foot of the Alps. The old 
general, avoiding the military roads, that were well guarded 
by the enemy, flung himself into a narrow path, over fright- 
ful precipices, that a few blows of the mattock would have 
rendered impassable. The soldiers were forbidden to look 
behind them ; nevertheless their heads turned, their feet slip- 
ped, and horse and foot rolled from time to time into the 
abyss. In the most difficult passes, the surest-footed of 

* Caroli Imperat. Rescriptum ad dementis Scptimi criminationes. 
Goldasti, Constitut. Imperiales, i. 479. 

T Non jam pastoris seu communis patris laudem, sed superbi et inso- 
lentis nomen. Ibid. 487. 

J Cum id ab evangelica doctrina, prorsus alienum videtur. Ibid. 489. 

Utriusque potestatis apicem Papa tenet. Turrecremata de Potestate 
Papali. || Exod. xxi. 24. 

U Revel, xviii. We should not however restrict this prediction to the 
incomplete sack of J527, from which the city recovered. 



MARCH ON ROME. 15 

the infantry lowered their long pikes to the right and left of 
their aged chief, by way of barrier, and Freundsberg advanced 
clinging to the lansquenet in front, and pushed on by the one 
behind. In three days the Alps were crossed, and on the 
19th November the army reached the territory of Brescia. 

The Constable of Bourbon, who succeeded to the chief 
command of the imperial army after the death of Pescara, 
had just taken possession of the duchy of Milan. The em- 
peror having promised him this conquest for a recompense, 
Bourbon was compelled to remain there some time to conso- 
lidate his power. At length, on the 12th February, he and 
his Spanish troops joined the army of Freundsberg, which 
was becoming impatient at his delays. The constable had 
many men, but no money ; he resolved therefore to follow 
the advice of the Duke of Ferrara, that inveterate enemy of 
the princes of the Church, and proceed straight to Rome.* 
The whole army received this news with a shout of joy. The 
Spaniards were filled with the desire of avenging Charles the 
Fifth, and the Germans were overflowing with hatred against 
the pope : all exulted in the hope of receiving their pay and 
of having their labours richly repaid at last by those trea- 
sures of Christendom that Rome had been accumulating for 
ages. Their shouts re-echoed beyond the Alps. Every man 
in Germany thought that the last hour of the papacy had 
arrived, and prepared to contemplate its fall. " The em- 
peror's forces are triumphing in Italy," wrote Luther ; " the 
pope is visited from every quarter. His destruction draweth 
nigh : his hour and his end are come."-}- 

A few slight advantages gained by the papal soldiers in 
the kingdom of Naples, led to the conclusion of a truce that 
was to be ratified by the pope and by the emperor. As soon 
as this was known, a frightful tumult broke out in the con- 
stable's army. The Spanish troops revolted, compelled him 
to flee, and pillaged his tent. Then approaching the lans- 
quenets, they began to shout as loudly as they could, the 
only German words they knew : Lance I lance I money ! 

* Guicciardini, History of the Wars in Italy, xviii. 698. 
t Papa ubique visitatur, ut destruatur : venit enim finis et hora eju$, 
Luther to Haussmami, 10th January 1527. Epp. Hi. 156. 



16 REVOLT OF THE TROOPS. 

money ! * Such cries found an echo in the bosoms of the 
imperialists : they were moved in their turn, and also began 
to shout with all their might : Lance ! lance ! money ! 
money ! Freundsberg beat to muster, and having drawn up 
the soldiers around him and his principal officers, calmly 
demanded if he had ever deserted them. All was useless. 
The old affection which the lansquenets bare to their leader 
seemed extinct. One chord alone vibrated in their hearts : 
they must have pay and war. Accordingly, lowering their 
lances, they presented them, as if they would slay their offi- 
cers, and again began to shout, " Lance ! lance ! money ! 
money!" When Freundsberg, whom no army however 
large had ever frightened, Freundsberg, who was accus- 
tomed to say, " the more enemies, the greater the honour," 
saw these lansquenets, at whose head he had grown gray, 
aiming their murderous steel against him, he lost all power 
of utterance, and fell senseless upon a drum, as if struck 
with a thunderbolt. 7 The strength of the veteran general 
was broken for ever. But the sight of their dying captain 
produced on the lansquenets an effect that no speech could 
have made. All the lances were upraised, and the agitated 
soldiers retired with downcast eyes. Four days later, 
Freundsberg recovered his speech. " Forward," said he to 
the Constable ; " God himself will bring us to the mark.' 1 
Forward! forward! repeated the lansquenets. Bourbon 
had no alternative: besides, neither Charles nor Clement 
would listen to any proposals of peace. Freundsberg was 
carried to Ferrara, and afterwards to his castle of Min- 
delheim, where he died after an illness of eighteen months ; 
and on the 18th April, Bourbon took that highroad to Rome, 
which so many formidable armies coming from the north 
had already trodden. 

AVhilst the storm descending from the Alps was approach- 
ing the eternal city, the pope lost his presence of mind, sent 

" Lanz, lanz, gelt, gelt. 

+ Cum vero hastas ducibus obverterent indignatione et segritudine 
animi oppressus, Fronsbergius subito in deliquium incidit, ita ut in tym- 
pano quod adstabat desidere cogeretur, nullumque vcrbum proloqui am- 
plius posset. Seckend. ii. 79. 



THE ASSAULT. 17 

away his troops, and kept only his body-guard. More than 
thirty thousand Romans, capable of bearing arms, paraded 
their bravery in the streets, dragging their long swords after 
them, quarrelling and fighting ; but these citizens, eager in 
the pursuit of gain, had little thought of defending the pope, 
and hoping to derive great profit from his stay, they desired 
on the contrary that the magnificent Charles would come 
and settle in Rome. 

On the evening of the 5th May, Bourbon arrived under the 
walls of the capital ; and he would have begun the assault 
at that very moment had he been provided with ladders. 
On the morning of the 6th, the army, concealed by a thick 
fog which hid their movements,* was put in motion, the 
Spaniards marching to their station above the gate of the 
Holy Ghost, and the Germans below.f The Constable, 
wishing to encourage his soldiers, seized a scaling-ladder, 
mounted the wall, and called on them to follow him. At 
this moment a ball struck him : he fell, and expired an 
hour after. Such was the end of this unhappy man, a 
traitor to his king and to his country, and suspected even by 
his new friends. 

His death, far from checking, served only to excite the 
army. Claudius Seidenstucker, grasping his long sword, 
first cleared the wall ; he was followed by Michael Hart- 
mann, and these two reformed Germans exclaimed that God 
himself was marching before them in the clouds. The 
gates were opened, the army poured in, the suburbs were 
taken, and the pope, surrounded by thirteen cardinals, fled 
to the castle of St. Angelo. The Imperialists, at whose 
head was now the Prince of Orange, offered him peace on 
condition of his paying three hundred thousand crowns. 
But Clement, who thought that the holy league was on the 
point of delivering him, and fancied he already saw their 
leading horsemen, rejected every proposition. After four 
hours' repose, the attack was renewed, and by sunset the 
army was master of all the city. It remained under arms 

* Guicciardini, ii. 721. 

+ Since the new wall built by Urban VIII. on the top of the Janicu- 
lum, the gates of the Holy Ghost and of Seltimiana have become useless. 



18 THE SACK. 

and in good order until midnight, the Spaniards in the 
Piazza Navona, and the Germans in the Campofiore. At 
last, seeing no demonstrations either of war or of peace, the 
soldiers disbanded and ran to pillage. 

Then began the famous " Sack of Rome." The papacy 
had for centuries put Christendom in the press. Prebends, 
annates, jubilees, pilgrimages, ecclesiastical graces, she 
had made money of them all. These greedy troops, that for 
months had lived in wretchedness, determined to make her 
disgorge. No one was spared, the imperial not more than 
the ultramontane party, the Ghibellines not more than the 
Guelfs. Churches, palaces, convents, private houses, basilics, 
banks, tombs every thing was pillaged, even to the golden 
ring that the corpse of Julius II. still wore on its finger. 
The Spaniards displayed the greatest skill, scenting out and 
discovering treasures in the most mysterious hiding-places ; 
but the Neapolitans were^the most outrageous.* " On 
every side were heard," says Guicciardini, " the piteous 
shrieks of the Roman women and of the nuns whom the 
soldiers dragged away by companies to satiate their lust. -J- 

At first the Germans found a certain pleasure in making 
the papists feel the weight of their swords. But erelong, 
happy at procuring victuals and drink, they were more 
pacific than their allies. It was upon those things which 
the Romans called " holy" that the anger of the Lutherans 
was especially discharged. They took away the chalices, 
the pyxes, the silver remontrances, and clothed their ser- 
vants and camp-boys with the sacerdotal garments. J The 
Campofiore was changed into an immense gambling-house. 
The soldiers brought thither golden vessels and bags full of 
crowns, staked them upon one throw of the dice, and after 
losing them, went in search of others. A certain Simon 
Baptista, who had foretold the sack of the city, had been 
thrown into prison by the pope ; the Germans liberated him, 
and made him drink with them. But, like Jeremiah, he 
prophesied against all. " Rob, plunder," cried he to his 

Jovius Vita Pompeii Colonnse, p. 191 ; Ranke, Deutsche Gesch. ii. 398. 

t Guicciardiui, ii. 724. 

J Sacras vestes profania induebant lixis. Cochlceus, p. 156. , 



GERMAN HUMOURS. 19 

liberators ; " you shall however give back all ; the money of 
the soldiers and the gold of the priests will follow the same 
road." 

Nothing pleased the Germans more than to mock the 
papal court. " Many prelates," says Guicciardini, " were 
paraded on asses through all the city of Rome."* After 
this procession, the bishoj)s paid their ransom ; but they fell 
into the hands of the Spaniards, who made them pay it a 
second time.-{- 

One day a lansquenet named Guillaume de Sainte Celle 
put on the pope's robes, and placed the triple crown upon 
his head ; others gathered round him, adorning themselves 
with the red hats and long robes of the cardinals; and 
going in procession upon asses through the streets of the 
city, they all arrived at last before the castle of St. Angelo, 
to which Clement VII. had retired. Here the soldier-cardi- 
nals alighted, and lifting up the front of their robes, kissed 
the feet of the pretended pontiff. The latter drank to the 
health of Clement VII., the cardinals kneeling did the same, 
and exclaimed that henceforward they would be pious popes 
and good cardinals, careful not to excite wars as their pre- 
decessors had done. They then formed a conclave, and the 
pope having announced to his consistory that it was his 
intention to resign the papacy, all hands were immediately 
raised for the election, and they cried out, " Luther is pope ! 
Luther is pope !":{: Never had pontiff been proclaimed with 
such perfect unanimity. Such were the humours of the 
Germans. 

The Spaniards did not let the Romans off so easily. Cle- 
ment VII. had called them " Moors," and had published a 
plenary indulgence for whoever should kill any of them. 
Nothing, therefore, could restrain their fury. These faithful 
Catholics put the prelates to death in the midst of horrible 
cruelties, destined to extort their treasures from them : they 

Wars of Italy, ii. 723. 

{ Eundem civem seu curialem baud raro, nunc ab Hispanis, nunc a 
Germanis aero mutuato redimi. Cochloeus, p. 156. 

J Milites itaque levasse manum ac exclamasse : Lutherus Papa ! 
Lutherus Papa ! Ibid 



80 CLEMENT CAPITULATES. 

spared neither rank, sex, nor age. It was not until the sack 
had lasted ten days, and a booty of ten millions of golden 
crowns had been collected, and from five to eight thousand 
victims had perished, that quiet began to be in some degree 
restored. 

Thus did the pontifical city decline in the midst of a long 
and cruel pillage, and that splendour with which Rome from 
the beginning of the sixteenth century had filled the world 
faded in a few hours. Nothing could preserve this haughty 
capital from chastisement, not even the prayers of its 
enemies. " I would not have Rome burnt," Luther had ex- 
claimed ; " it would be a monstrous deed."* The fears of 
Melancthon were still keener : " I tremble for the libraries," 
said he : " we know how hateful books are to Mars."-}- But 
in despite of these wishes of the reformers, the city of Leo X . 
fell under the judgment of God. 

Clement VII., besieged in the castle of Saint Angelo, and 
fearful that the enemy would blow his asylum into the air 
with their mines, at last capitulated. He renounced every 
alliance against Charles the Fifth, and bound himself to re- 
main a prisoner until he had paid the army four hundred 
thousand ducats. The evangelical Christians gazed with 
astonishment on this judgment of the Lord. ''Such," said 
they, " is the empire of Jesus Christ, that the emperor, pur- 
suing Luther on behalf of the pope, is constrained to ruin 
the pope instead of Luther. All things minister unto the 
Lord, and turn against his adversaries."! 

* Roma.ni nollem exustam, magnum enim portentum eseet. Epp. iii. 
221. 

t Metuo bibliothecis. Corp. Ref. i. 869. 

t Ut Cresar pro Papa Lutheram persequens, pro Luthero papam cog.it ur 
vastare. L. Epp. iii. 183. 



PROFITABLE CALM. 21 



CHAPTER III. 

Profitable Calm Constitution of the Church Philip of Hesse The 
Monk of Marburg Lambert's Paradoxes Friar Boniface Dispu- 
tation at Homburg Triumph of the Gospel in Hesse Constitution of 
the Church Bishops Synods Two Elements of the Church Luther 
on the Ministry Organization of the Church Luther's Contradictions 
on State Interference Luther to the Elector German Mass Melanc- 
thon's Instructions Disaffection Visitation of the Reformed Churches 
Results The Reformation advances Elizabeth of Brandenburg. 

THE Reformation needed some years of repose that it might 
increase and gain strength ; and it could not enjoy peace, 
unless its great enemies were at war with each other. The 
madness of Clement VII. was as it were the lightning- 
conductor of the Reformation, and the ruins of Rome built 
up the Gospel. It was not only a few months' gain ; from 
1526 to 1529 there was a calm in Germany, by which the 
Reformation profited to organize and extend itself. A con- 
stitution was now to be given to the renovated Church. 

As the papal yoke had been broken, the ecclesiastical 
order required to be re-established. It was impossible to 
restore their ancient jurisdiction to the bishops ; for these 
continental prelates maintained that they were, in an especial 
manner, the pope's servants. A new state of things was 
therefore called for, under pain of seeing the Church fall 
into anarchy. This was immediately provided against. It 
was then that the evangelical nations separated definitely 
from that despotic dominion which had for ages kept all the 
"West in bondage. 

The diet had already on two occasions wished to make 
the reform of the Church a national work ; the emperor, the 
pope, and a few princes were opposed to it ; the diet of Spires 
had therefore resigned to each state the task that it could 
not accomplish itself. 



2* CONSTITUTION OF THE CHURCH. 

But what constitution were they about to substitute for 
the papal hierarchy ? 

They could, while suppressing the pope, preserve the 
Episcopal order : it was the form nearest approximating that 
which was on the point of being destroyed. This was done 
in England, where we have an Episcopalian Church ; but, as 
we have just observed, it could not be realized on the conti- 
nent. There were no Latimers, no Cranmers among the 
continental bishops. 

They might, on the contrary, reconstruct the ecclesiasti- 
cal order, by having recourse to the sovereignty of God's 
Word, and by re-establishing the rights of the Christian 
people. This form was the most remote from the Roman 
hierarchy. Between these two extremes there were several 
middle courses. 

The latter plan was Zwingle's : but the reformer of Zurich 
had not fully carried it out. He had not called upon the 
Christian people to exercise the sovereignty, and had stopped 
at the Council of Two Hundred as representing the Church.* 

The step before which Zwingle had hesitated might be 
taken, and it was so. A prince did not shrink from what 
had alarmed even republicans. Evangelical Germany, at 
the moment when she began to try her hand on ecclesi- 
astical constitutions, began with that which trenched deep- 
est on the papal monarchy. 

It was not, however, from Germany that such a system 
could proceed. If aristocratic England was destined to 
cling to the episcopal form, docile Germany was des- 
tined the rather to stop in a governmental medium. The 
democratic extreme issued from Switzerland and France. 
One of Calvin's predecessors now hoisted that flag which 
the powerful arm of the Genevese Reformer was to lift again 
in after-years and plant in France, Switzerland, Holland, 
Scotland, and even in England, whence it was a century 
later to cross the Atlantic and summon North America to 
take its rank among the nations. 

Philip of Hesse, who has been compared to Philip of 
Macedon in subtlety, and to his son Alexander in courage, 

* Supra, Vol. III. b. xi. ch. x. ' 



PHILIP OF HESSE. 23 

was the most enterprising of all the evangelical princes. 
Philip comprehended that religion was at length acquiring 
its due importance; and far from opposing the great de- 
velopment that was agitating the people, he put himself in 
harmony with the new ideas. 

The morning-star had risen for Hesse almost at the same 
time as for Saxony. In 1517, when Luther in Wittemberg 
was preaching the gratuitous remission of sins, men and 
women in Marburg were seen repairing secretly to one of 
the ditches of the city, and there, collected round a solitary 
loophole, listening eagerly to the words of consolation that 
issued from within. It was the voice of the Franciscan, 
James Limburg, who having declared that for fifteen cen- 
turies the priests had falsified the Gospel of Christ, had been 
thrown into this gloomy dungeon. These mysterious assem- 
blies lasted a fortnight. On a sudden the voice was silent ; 
these lonely meetings had been discovered, and the Francis- 
can, torn from his cell, had been hurried away across the 
Lahnberg towards some unknown spot. Not far from the 
Ziegenberg, some weeping citizens of Marburg came up with 
him, and hastily pulling aside the awning that covered his car, 
they asked him, " Whither are you going?" "Where God 
wills," calmly replied the friar.* He was never heard of 
again, and it is not known what became of him. These dis- 
appearances are usual in the papacy. 

No sooner had Philip prevailed in the Diet of Spires, than 
he resolved on devoting himself to the reformation of his 
hereditary states. 

His resolute character made him incline towards the Swiss 
reform : it was not therefore one of the moderates that he 
wanted. He had formed a connexion at Spires with James 
Sturm, the deputy from Strasburg, who spoke to him of 
Francis Lambert of Avignon, who was then at Strasburg. 
Of a pleasing exterior and decided character, Lambert com- 
bined with the fire of the south all the perseverance of the 
north. He was the first in France to throw off the cowl, and 
from that time he had never ceased to call for a thorough 

* Rommel, Phil, yon Heese, i. 123. 



24 LAMBERT'S PARADOXES. 

reform in the Church. " Formerly," said he, " when I was a 
hypocrite, I lived in abundance ; now I consume frugally my 
daily bread with my small family;* but I had rather be 
poor in Christ's kingdom, than possess abundance of gold in 
the dissolute dwellings of the pope." The landgrave saw 
that Lambert was just the man he required, and invited him 
to his court. 

Lambert, desiring to clear the way for the Reformation of 
Hesse, drew up one hundred and fifty-eight theses, which he 
entitled " paradoxes," and posted them, according to the 
custom of the times, on the church doors. 

Friends and enemies immediately crowded round them. 
Some Roman-catholics would have torn them down, but the 
reformed townspeople kept watch, and holding a synod in the 
public square, discussed, developed, and proved these propo- 
sitions, ridiculing at the same time the anger of the papists. 

Boniface Dornemann, a young priest, full of self-conceit, 
whom the bishop, on the day of his consecration, had extolled 
above Paul for his learning, and above the Virgin for his 
chastity, finding himself too short to reach Lambert's placard, 
borrowed a stool, and, surrounded by a numerous audience, 
began to read the propositions aloud.-f- 

" All that is deformed ought to be reformed. The Word 
of God alone teaches us what ought to be so, and all reform 
that is effected otherwise is vain."| 

This was the first thesis. " Hem !" said the young priest, 
" I shall not attack that." He continued. 

" It belongs to the Church to judge on matters of faith. 
Now the Church is the congregation of those who are united 
by the same spirit, the same faith, the same God, the same 
Mediator, the same Word, by which alone they are governed, 
and in which alone they have life." 

" Nunc cum familiola mea panem manduco et potum capio in mensura. 
Lambert! Commentarii de Sacro Conjugio. 

+ Cum statura homines hujusmodi esset ut inter Pygmaeos internosci 
diffioulter posset, scabellura sibi dari postulabat, eoque conscenso, ccepit, 
&o. Othon. Melandri Jocorum Cent. 

J Vana est omnis Reformatio quse alioqui fit. Faradoxa Lamberti : 
Sculteti Annal. 

Ecelesia eat congregatio eorum qnos unit idem spiritus. Ibid. 



FKIAR BONIFACE. 25 

" I cannot attack that proposition," said the priest.* He 
continued reading from his stool. 

" The Word is the true key. The kingdom of heaven is 
open to him who believes the Word, and shut against him 
who believes it not. Whoever, therefore, truly possesses the 
Word of God, has the power of the keys. All other keys, 
all the decrees of the councils and popes, and all the rules of 
the monks, are valueless." 

Friar Boniface shook his head and continued. 

" Since the priesthood of the Law has been abolished, 
Christ is the only immortal and eternal priest, and he does 
not, like men, need a successor. Neither the Bishop of 
Home nor any other person in the world is his representative 
here below. But all Christians, since the commencement of 
the Church, have been and are participators in his priest- 
hood." 

This proposition smelt of heresy. Dornemann, however, 
was not discouraged ; and whether it was from weakness of 
mind, or from the dawning of light, at each proposition that 
did not too much shock his prejudices, he repeated : " Cer- 
tainly, I shall not attack that one!" The people listened in 
astonishment, when one of them whether he was a fana- 
tical Romanist, a fanatical reformer, or a mischievous wag, 
I cannot tell tired with these continual repetitions, ex- 
claimed : " Get down, you knave, who cannot find a word to 
impugn." Then rudely pulling away the stool, he threw the 
unfortunate clerk flat in the mud.-J- 

On the 21st October, at seven in the morning, the gates 
of the principal church at Homburg were thrown open, and 
prelates, abbots, priests, counts, knights, and deputies of the 
towns, entered in succession, and among them was Philip, in 
his quality of first member of the church. 

After Lambert had explained and proved his theses, he 
added : " Let him stand forth who has anything to say 
against them." At first there was a profound silence ; but 

* Hanc equidem baud impugnaverim. Illam ne quidem attigerim. 
Othon. Mel. Joe. Cent. 

f- Apagesis, nebulo ! qui quod impugnes infirmesque invenire baud pos- 
sis ! hisque dictis scabellum ei inox subtrahit, ut miser ille praeceps in 
lutum ageretur. Ibid. 



26 TRIUMPH OF THE GOSPEL IN HESSE. 

at length Nicholas Ferber, superior of the Franciscans of 
Marburg, who in 1524, applying to Rome's favourite argu- 
ment, had entreated the Landgrave to employ the sword 
against the heretics, began to speak with drooping head and 
downcast eyes. As he invoked Augustin, Peter Lombard, 
and other doctors to his assistance, the landgrave observed 
to him : " Do not put forward the wavering opinions of men, 
but the Word of God, which alone fortifies and strengthens 
our hearts." The Franciscan sat down in confusion, saying, 
" This is not the place for replying." The disputation, how- 
ever, recommenced, and Lambert, showing all the power of 
truth, so astonished his adversary, that the superior, alarmed 
at what he called " thunders of blasphemy and lightnings of 
impiety,"* sat down again, observing a second time, " This 
is not the place for replying." 

In vain did the Chancellor Feige declare to him that each 
man had the right of maintaining his opinion with full liberty ; 
in vain did the landgrave himself exclaim that the Church 
was sighing after truth : silence had become Rome's refuge. 
" I will defend the doctrine of purgatory," a priest had said 
prior to the discussion ; " I will attack the paradoxes under 
the sixth head (on the true priesthood)," had said another ;f 
and a third had exclaimed, " I will overthrow those under 
the tenth head (on images) ; " but now they were all 
dumb. 

Upon this Lambert, clasping his hands, exclaimed with 
Zacharias : Blessed be the Lord God of Israel ; for he hath 
visited and redeemed his people. 

After three days of discussion, which had been a continual 
triumph for the evangelical doctrine, men were selected and 
commissioned to constitute the churches of Hesse in accord- 
ance with the Word of God. They were more than three 
days occupied in the task, and their new constitution was 
then published in the name of the synod. 

The first ecclesiastical constitution produced by the Re- 
formation should have a place in history, and the more so as 

* Fulgura impietatum, tonitrua blasphemiarum. 

+ Erant enim prius qui "dicerent : Ego asseram purgatorium ; alius, 
Ego [mpugnabo paradoxa tituli sexti, etc. Lamberti Epistola ad Colon. 



CONSTITUTION OF THE CHURCH. 27 

it was then put forward as a model for the new churches of 
Christendom.* 

The autonomy or self-government of the Church is its 
fundamental principle : it is from the Church, from its re- 
presentatives assembled in the name of the Lord, that this 
legislation emanates ; there is no mention in the prologue 
either of state or of landgrave.f Philip, content with having 
broken for himself and for his people the yoke of a foreign 
priest, had no desire to put himself in his place, and was 
satisfied with that external superintendence which is neces- 
sary for the maintenance of order. 

A second distinctive feature in this constitution is its 
simplicity both of government and worship. The assembly 
conjures all future synods not to load the churches with a 
multitude of ordinances, " seeing that where orders abound, 
disorder superabounds." They would not even continue the 
organs in the churches, because, said they, " men should 
understand what they hear."| The more the human mind 
has been bent in one direction, the more violent is the re- 
action when it is unbent. The Church passed at that time 
from the extreme of symbols to the extreme of simplicity. 
These are the principal features of this constitution : 

" The Church can only be taught and governed by the 
Word of its Sovereign Pastor. Whoever has recourse to 
any other word shall be deposed and excommunicated. 

" Every pious man, learned in the Word of God, whatever 
be his condition, may be elected bishop if he desire it, for he 
is called inwardly of God.|| 

" Let no one believe that by a bishop we understand any- 
thing else than a simple minister of the Word of God.^j" 

* This constitution will be found in Schminke, Monumenta Hassiaca, 
vol. ii. p. 588 : " Pro Hassise Ecclesiis, et si deinde nonnullao alias ad 
idem nostro exemplo provocarentur." 

f 1 Synodus in nomine Domini congregata. Ibid. 

J Ne homines non intelligant. Ibid, cap 3. 

Non admittimus verbum aliud quam ipsius pastoris nostri. Ibid, 
cap. 2. 

|| Si quis pius, in verbo sancto et exercitatus, docere petit verbum 
sanctum, non repellatur, a Deo enim interne mittitur. Ibid. cap. 23. 

^1 Ne quis putet, nos hie per episcopo , alios iatelligere, quam ministroa 
Dei verbi. Ibid. 



28 BISHOPS SYNODS. 

" The ministers are servants, and consequently they ought 
not to be lords, princes, or governors. 

" Let the faithful assemble and choose their bishops and 
deacons. Each church should elect its own pastor. * 

" Let those who are elected bishops be consecrated to 
their office by the imposition of the hands of three bishops ; 
and as for the deacons, if there are no ministers present, let 
them receive the laying on of hands from the elders of the 
Church.f 

" If a bishop causes any scandal to the Church by his 
effeminacy, by the splendour of his garments, or by levity oi 
conduct, and if, on being warned, he persists, let him be de- 
posed by the Church.^: 

" Let each church place its bishop in a condition to live 
with his family, and to be hospitable, as St. Paul enjoins ; 
but let the bishops exact nothing for their casual duties. 

" On every Sunday let there be in some suitable place an 
assembly of all the men who are in the number of the saints, 
to regulate with the bishop, according to God's Word, all the 
affairs of the Church, and to excommunicate whoever gives 
occasion of scandal to the Church ; for the Church of Christ 
has never existed without exercising the power of excom- 
munication. || 

" As a weekly assembly is necessary for the direction of 
the particular churches, so a general synod should be held 
annually for the direction of all the churches in the country.^ 

" All the pastors are its natural members ; but each 
church shall further elect from its body a man full of the 

* Eligat qusevis ecclesia episcopum suum. Monumenta Hassiaca, 
cap. 23. 

f Manns imponant duo ex senioribus, nisi alii episcopi intersint. Ibid, 
cap. 21. 

J Deponat ecclesia episcopum suum, quod ad earn spectet judicare de 
voce pastorum. Ibid. cap. 23. 

Alat qucevis ecclesia episcopum suum sicque illi administret ut cum 
sua familia vivere possit. Ibid. cap. 23. 

|| Fiat conventus fidelium in congruo loco, ad quern quotquot ex viris 

in sanctorum numero habentur Christi ecclesiam nunquam fuisse sine 

excommunicatione. Ibid. cap. 15. 

II Ut semel pro toto Hessia celebretur synodus apud Marpurgum tertia 
ominica post pascha. Ibid. cap. 18. 



TWO ELEMENTS IN THE CHURCH. 29 

Spirit and of faith, to whom it shall intrust its powers for 
all that is in the jurisdiction of the synod. * 

" Three visitors shall be elected yearly, with commission 
to go through all the churches, to examine those who have 
been elected bishops, to confirm those who have been ap- 
proved of, and to provide for the execution of the decrees of 
the synod." 

It will no doubt be found that this first evangelical con- 
stitution went in some points to the extreme of ecclesiastical 
democracy ; but certain institutions had crept in that were 
capable of increase and of changing its nature. Six super- 
intendents for life were afterwards substituted for the three 
annual visitors (who, according to the primitive institution, 
might be simple members of the church) ; and, as has been 
remarked,-}- the encroachments, whether of these superin- 
tendents or of the state, gradually paralyzed the activity 
and independence of the churches of Hesse. This constitu- 
tion fared like that of the Abbe Sieyes, in the year 8 (A. D. 
1799), which although intended to be republican, served 
through the influence of Napoleon Bonaparte to establish 
the despotism of the empire. 

It was not the less a remarkable work. Romish doctors 
have reproached the Reformation for making the Church a 
too interior institution. | In effect, the Reformation and 
Popery recognise two elements in the Church, the one ex- 
terior, the other interior ; but while Popery gives precedence 
to the former, the Reformation assigns it to the latter. If 
however it be a reproach against the Reformation for hav- 
ing an inward Church only, and for not creating an external 
one, the remarkable constitution of which we have just ex- 
hibited a few features, will save us the trouble of replying. 
The exterior ecclesiastical order, which then sprang from 
the very heart of thje Reformation, is far more perfect than 
that of Popery. 

* Universi episcopi Q,uaelibet ecclesia congregetur et eligat ex se 

ipsa unum plenum fide et Spiritu Dei. Monnmenta Hassiaca, cap. 18. 

t Rettig, Die Freie Kirohe. 

t This is the opinion set forth in the Symbolik of Dr. Mohler, the most 
celebrated defender of the Romish doctrine among our contemporaries. 



30 LUTHER ON THE MINISTRY. 

One great question presented itself : Will these principles 
be adopted by all the Churches of the Reformation ? 

Everything seemed to indicate that they would. At that 
time the most pious men were of opinion, that the ecclesias- 
tical power proceeded from the members of the Church. On 
withdrawing from the hierarchical extreme, they flung them- 
selves into a democratical one. Luther himself had professed 
this doctrine as early as 1523. When the Calixtins o! 
Bohemia found that the bishops of their country refused 
them ministers, they had gone so far as to take the first 
vagabond priest. " If you have no other means of procur- 
ing pastors," wrote Luther to them, " rather do without 
them, and let each head of a family read the Gospel in his 
own house, and baptize his children,* sighing after the sacra- 
ment of the altar as the Jews at Babylon did for Jerusa- 
lem."* The consecration of the pope creates priests not of 
God, but of the devil, ordained solely to trample Jesus Christ 
under foot, to bring his sacrifice to naught, and to sell ima- 
ginary holocausts to the world in his name. 7 Men become 
ministers only by election and calling, and that ought to be 
effected in the following manner : 

" First, seek God by prayer ; J then being assembled to- 
gether with all those whose hearts God has touched, choose 
in the Lord's name him or them whom you shall have 
acknowledged to be fitted for this ministry. After that, let 
the chief men among you lay their hands on them, and re- 
commend them to the people and to the Church." 

Luther, in thus calling upon the people alone to nominate 
their pastors, submitted to the necessities of the times in 
Bohemia. It was requisite to constitute the ministry ; and 
as the ministry had no existence, it could not then have the 
legitimate part that belongs to it in the choice of God's 
ministers. 

* Tutius enim et salubrius esset, qucmlibet patrem-familias sua& domui 
legere Evangelium. L. Opp. Lat. ii. 363. See Vol. I. p. 145 bot. 

f Per ordines papisticos non sacerdotes Dei sed sacerdotos Satan, 
tantum ut Christum conculcent. Ibid. 364. 

t Orationibus turn privatis turn publicis. Ibid. 370. 

Eligite quern et quos volueritis. Turn impositis super eos manibua, 
Bint hoc ipso vestri episcopi, vestri ministri, sen pastores. Ibid. 



LUTHER'S CONTRADICTIONS ON STATE-INTERFERENCE. 31 

But another necessity, proceeding in like manner from 
the state of affairs, was to incline Luther to deviate in 
Saxony from the principles he had formerly laid down. 

It can hardly be said that the German Reformation began 
with the lower classes, as in Switzerland and France ; and 
Luther could scarcely find anywhere that Christian people, 
which should have played so great a part in his new consti- 
tution. Ignorant men, conceited townspeople, who would 
not even maintain their ministers these were the members 
of the Church. Now what could be done with such ele- 
ments ? 

But if the people were indifferent, the princes were not so. 
They stood in the foremost rank of the great battle of the 
Reformation, and sat on the first bench in the council. The 
democratic organization was therefore compelled to give way 
to an organization conformable to the civil government. 
The Church is composed of Christians, and they are taken 
wherever they are found high or low. It was particularly 
in high stations that Luther found them. He admitted the 
princes (as Zwingle did the Council of Two Hundred) as re- 
presentatives of the people, and henceforward the influence 
of the State became one of the principal elements in the 
constitution of the evangelical Church in Germany. 

Thus Luther, setting out in principle from the democratic, 
arrived in fact at the Erastian extreme. Never perhaps was 
there so immense a space between the premises laid down 
by any man and the conduct he adopted. If Luther crossed 
that wide interval without hesitation, it was not from mere 
inconsistency on his part ; he yielded to the necessities of 
the times. The rules of Church government are not, like the 
doctrines of the Gospel, of an absolute nature ; their appli- 
cation depends in a measure on the state of the Church. 
Nevertheless there was some inconsistency in Luther : he 
often expressed himself in a contradictory manner on what 
princes ought and ought not to do in the Church. This is 
a point upon which the reformer and his age had no very 
settled opinions : there were other questions to be cleared 
up. 

In the mind of the reformer the tutelage of the princes 



82 OOD IN THE STATE. 

was only to be provisional. The faithful being still in their 
minority, they had need of a guardian : but the era of the 
Church's majority might arrive, and then would come its 
emancipation. 

As we said in another place,* we will not decide on this 
great controversy of Church and State. But there are cer- 
tain ideas which can never be forgotten. God is the principle 
from which every being emanates, and who ought to govern 
the whole world societies as well as individuals the State 
not less than the Church. God has to do with governments, 
and governments with God. The great truths of which the 
Church is the depository are given from above to exert their 
influence on the whole nation, on him who is seated on 
the throne, as well as on the peasant in his cottage : and it 
is not only as an individual that the prince must be par- 
taker of this heavenly light ; it is also that he may receive 
a Divine wisdom as governor of his people. God must be 
in the State. To place nations, governments, social and 
political life on one side, and God, his "Word, and his 
Church on the other, as if there were a great gulf between 
them, and that these two orders of things should never meet, 
would be at once high treason against man and against 
God. 

But if there ought to be a close union between these two 
spheres (the Church and State), we ought to seek the means 
best calculated to obtain it. Now, if the direction of the 
Church is intrusted to the civil government, as was the case 
in Saxony, there is great reason to fear lest the reality of 
this union should be compromised, and the infiltration of 
heavenly strength into the body of the nation be obstructed. 
The Church administered by a civil department will often 
be sacrificed to political ends, and, gradually becoming secu- 
larized, will lose its pristine vigour. This at least has taken 
place in Germany, where in some places religion has sunk 
to the rank of a temporal administration. In order that any 
created being may exercise all the influence of which it is 
capable, it ought to have a free development. Let a tree 
grow unconfined in the open fields, you will better enjoy its 
Vol. II. p. 357 



LUTHER'S LETTER TO THE ELECTOR. 33 

cool shade, and gather more abundant fruits, than if you 
planted it in a vase and shut it up in your chamber. Such 
a tree is the Church of Christ. 

The recourse to the civil power, which was perhaps at 
that time necessary in Germany, had still another conse- 
quence; when Protestantism became an affair of governments 
it ceased to be universal. The new spirit was capable of 
creating a new earth. But instead of opening new roads 
and of purposing the regeneration of all Christendom and 
the conversion of the whole world, Protestantism shrank 
back, and Protestants sought to settle themselves as com- 
fortably as possible in a few German duchies. This timidity, 
which has been called prudence, did immense injury to the 
Reformation. 

The organizing power being once discovered in the councils 
of the princes, the reformers thought of organization, and 
Luther applied to the task ; for although he was in an 
especial manner an assailant and Calvin an organizer, these 
two qualities, as necessary to the reformers of the Church 
as to the founders of empires, were not wanting in either of 
these great servants of God. 

It was necessary to compose a new ministry, for most of 
the priests who had quitted the papacy were content to re- 
ceive the watchword of Reform without having personally 
experienced the sanctifying virtue of the truth. There was 
even one parish in which the priest preached the Gospel in 
his principal church, and sang mass in its succursal.* 

But something more was wanting: a Christian people had to 
be created. " Alas ! " said Luther of some of the adherents 
of the Reform, " they have abandoned their Romish doctrines 
and rites, and they scoff at ours."-j- 

Luther did not shrink from before this double necessity ; 
and he made provision for it. Convinced that a general 
visitation of the churches was necessary, he addressed the 
elector on this subject, on the 22d October 1526. " Your 

* In re-do parochial! evangelico more doccbat, in filial! missificabat. 
Seek. p. 102. 

+ Sic enim aua papistica neglexerunt, et nostra contemnunt. L. Epp. 
iii. 224. 

VOL. IV. 3 



34 GERMAN MASS. 

highness, in your quality of guardian of youth, and of all 
those who know not how to take care of themselves," said 
he, " should compel the inhabitants, who desire neither 
pastors nor schools, to receive these means of grace, as they 
are compelled to work on the roads, on bridges, and such 
like services.* The papal order being abolished, it is your 
duty to regulate these things : no other person cares about 
them, no other can, and no other ought to do so. Commis- 
sion, therefore, four persons to visit all the country ; let two 
of them inquire into the tithes and church property ; and let 
two take charge of the doctrine, schools, churches, and 
pastors." It may be asked, on reading these words, whether 
the Church which was formed in the first century without 
the support of princes, could not in the sixteenth be reformed 
without them? 

Luther was not content with soliciting in writing the in- 
tervention of the prince. He was indignant at seeing the 
courtiers, who in the time of the Elector Frederick had 
shown themselves the inveterate enemies of the Reformation, 
now rushing, " sporting, laughing, skipping," as he said, 
on the spoils of the Church. Accordingly, at the end of 
this year, the elector having come to Wittemberg, the re- 
former repaired immediately to the palace, made his complaint 
to the prince-electoral, whom he met at the gate, and then, 
without caring about those who would have stopped him, 
forced his way into the elector's bedchamber, and addressing 
this prince, who was surprised at so unexpected a visit, begged 
him to remedy the evils of the Church. The visitation of 
the churches was resolved upon, and Melancthon was com- 
missioned to draw up the necessary instructions. 

In 1526, Luther published his " German Mass," by which 
he signified the order of church service in general. " The 
real evangelical assemblies," he said, "do not take place 
publicly, pell-mell, admitting people of every sort ;f but 
they are formed of serious Christians, who confess the Gospel 

" Als oberster vonnnnd der Jugend und aller die es bedurfen, soil sit> 
mit Gewalt dazu halten. L. Epp. iii. 136. 

t Non publice, eivo promiscue et admissa omnii generis plebe. D 
Missa Germ. 



MELANCTHON'S INSTKUUTIONS. 35 

by their words and by their lives,* and in the midst of 
whom we may reprove and excommunicate those who do 
not live according to the rule of Christ Jesus.-f- I cannot 
institute such assemblies, for I have no one to place in 
them ;J but if the thing becomes possible, I shall not bo 
wanting in this duty." 

It was with a conviction that he must give the Church, 
not the best form of worship imaginable, but the best pos- 
sible, that Melancthon, like Luther, laboured at his Instruc- 
tions. 

The German Reformation at that time tacked about, as it 
were. If Lambert in Hesse had gone to the extreme of a 
democratical system, Melancthon in Saxony was approxi- 
mating the contrary extreme of traditional principles. A 
conservative principle was. substituted for a reforming one. 
Melancthon wrote to one of the inspectors : " All the old 
ceremonies that you can preserve, pray do so.|| Do not 
innovate much, for every innovation is injurious to the 
people."^ 

They retained, therefore, the Latin liturgy, a few German 
hymns being mingled with it ;*"* the communion in one kind 
for those only who scrupled from habit to take it in both ; 
a confession made to the priest without being in any way 
obligatory ; -many saints' days, the sacred vestments,f-}- and 
other rites, " in which," said Melancthon, " there is no 
harm, whatever Zwingle may say." ft And at the same 
time they set forth with reserve the doctrines of the Refor- 
mation. 

* Qui nomina sua in catalogum referreiit, adds he. De Missa feerm. 

t Excommunicari qui C'hristiano more se non gererent. Ibid. 

t Neque enim habeo qui sint idonei. Ibid. 

Dr Dewette thinks this letter is Luther's, L. Epp. iii. 352. It appears 
clear to me, as also to Dr Bretschneider, that it is Melancthon's. Luther 
never went so far in the way of concession. 

|| Observe quantum ex veteribus cagrenioniis retineri potest, retineas. 
Corp. Ref. ii. 990. 

U Omnis novitas nocet in vulgo. Ibid. 

** Non aboleas earn totam (the Latin mass) : satis est alicubi miscere 
Germanicas cantationes. Ibid. 

ft Ut retineantur vestes usitatse in sacris. Corp. Ref. ad Jonam,20th 
December 1527. 

Vel si Zvringlius ip?e przcdicaturus sit. Corp. Ref. ii. 910. 



86 DISAFFECTION. 

It is but right to confess the dominion of facts and cir- 
cumstances upon these ecclesiastical organizations ; but there 
is a dominion which rises higher still that of the Word of 
God. 

Perhaps Melancthon did all that could be effected at that 
time ; but it was necessary for the work to be one day re- 
sumed and re-established on its primitive plan, and this was 
Calvin's glory. 

A cry of astonishment was heard both from the camp of 
Rome and from that of the Reformation. "Our cause is 
betrayed," exclaimed some of the evangelical Christians : 
" the liberty is taken away that Jesus Christ had given us."* 

On their part the Ultramontanists triumphed in Melanc- 
thon's moderation : they called it a retractation, and took 
advantage of it to insult the Reform. Cochloeus published a 
"horrible" engraving, as he styles it himself, in which, from 
beneath the same hood was seen issuing a seven-headed 
monster .representing Luther. Each of these heads had 
different features, and all, uttering together the most fright- 
ful and contradictory words, kept disputing, tearing, and 
devouring each other.-f- / 

The astonished Elector resolved to communicate Melanc- 
thon's paper to Luther. But never did the reformer's respect 
for his friend show itself in a more striking manner. He made 
only one or two unimportant additions to this plan, and sent it 
back accompanied with the highest eulogiums. The Roman- 
ists said that the tiger caught in a net was licking the hands 
that clipped his talons. But it was not so. Luther knew 
that the aim of Melancthon's labours was to strengthen the 
very soul of the Reformation in all the churches of Saxony. 
That was sufficient for him. He thought besides, that in 
every thing there must be a transition; and being justly 
convinced that his friend was more than himself a man of 
transition, he frankly accepted his views. 

The general visitation began. Luther in Saxony, Spalatin 
in the districts of Altenburg and Zwickau, Melancthon in 

* Alii dicercnt prodi causam. Camer. Vita Melancthon. p. 107. 
t Monstrosus ille Germanise partus, Lutherus septiceps. Cochloeus, 
p. 169. 



VISITATION OF THE REFORMED CHURCHES. 37 

Thuringia, and Thuring in Franconia, with ecclesiastical 
deputies and several lay colleagues, commenced the work in 
October and November 1528. 

They purified the clergy by dismissing every priest of 
scandalous life ;* assigned a portion of the church property 
to the maintenance of public worship, and placed the re- 
mainder beyond the reach of plunder. They continued the 
suppression of the convents, and everywhere established 
unity of instruction. " Luther's greater and smaller cate- 
chisms," which appeared in 1529, contributed more perhaps 
than any other writings to propagate throughout the new 
churches the ancient faith of the apostles. The visiters 
commissioned the pastors of the great towns, under the title 
of superintendents, to watch over the churches and the 
schools ; they maintained the abolition of celibacy ; and the 
ministers of the Word, become husbands and fathers, formed 
the germ of a third estate, whence in after-years were diffused 
in all ranks of society learning, activity, and light. This is 
one of the truest causes of that intellectual and moral supe- 
riority which indisputably distinguishes the evangelical 
nations. 

The organization of the churches in Saxony, notwithstand- 
ing its imperfections, produced for a time at least the most 
important results. It was because the Word of God pre- 
vailed ; and because, wherever this Word exercises its power, 
secondary errors and abuses are paralyzed. The very dis- 
cretion that was employed really originated in a good prin- 
ciple. The reformers, unlike the enthusiasts, did not utterly 
reject an institution because it was corrupted. They did not 
say, for example, " The sacraments are disfigured, let us do 
without them! the ministry is corrupt, let us reject it!" 
but they rejected the abuse, and restored the use. This 
prudence is the mark of a work of God ; and if Luther some- 
times permitted the chaff to remain along with the wheat, 
Calvin appeared later, and more thoroughly purged the 
Christian threshing-floor. 

The organization which was at that time going on in 

* Viginti fere rudes et incpti, mnltique concnbinarii et potatores depre- 
hensi sunt. Seckcnd. D. 10'2. 



38 THE REFORMATION ADVANCES. 

Saxony, exerted a strong reaction on all the German empire, 
and the doctrine of the Gospel advanced with gigantic strides. 
God's design in turning aside from the reformed states of 
Germany the thunderbolt that he caused to fall upon the 
seven-hilled city, was clearly manifest. Never were years 
more usefully employed ; and it was not only to framing a 
constitution that the Reformation devoted itself, it was also 
to extend its doctrine. 

The duchies of Luneburg and Brunswick, many of the 
most important imperial cities, as Nuremberg, Augsburg, 
Ulm, Strasbtirg, Gottingen, Gosslar, Nordhausen, Lubeck, 
Bremen, and Hamburg, removed the tapers from the chapels, 
and substituted in their place the brighter torch of the Word 
of God. 

In vain did the frightened canons allege the authority of 
the Church. " The authority of the Church," replied Kempe 
and Zechenhagen, the reformer of Hamburg, " cannot be ac- 
knowledged unless the Church herself obeys her pastor Jesus 
Christ."* Pomeranus visited many places to put a finishing 
hand to the Reform. 

In Franconia, the Margrave George of Brandenburg, hav- 
ing reformed Anspach and Bayreuth, wrote to his ancient 
protector, Ferdinand of Austria, who had knit his brows on 
being informed of these proceedings : " I have acted thus by 
God's order ; for he commands princes to take care not only 
of the bodies of their subjects, but also of their souls."-}- 

In East Friesland, on new-year's day 1527, a Dominican 
named Resius, having put on his hood,| ascended the pulpit 
at Noorden, and declared himself ready to maintain certain 
theses according to the tenor of the Gospel. After silencing 
the Abbot of Noorden by the soundness of his arguments, 
Resius took off his cowl, left it on the pulpit, and was received 
in the nave by the acclamations of the faithful. Erelong the 
whole of Friesland laid aside the uniform of popery, as 
Resius had done. 

* Evangelic! auctoritatem Ecclesiae non aliter agnosccndam esse con- 
tendebant quam si vocem pastoris Christi sequeretur. Seckend. i. 245. 
t Non modo quoad corpus, sed etiam quoad animam. Ibid. ii. 121. 
J Resins, cucullum indutus, siiggestuna a.scendit. Scultet. Ann, p. 93 



ELIZABETH OF BRANDENBURG. 39 

At Berlin, Elizabeth, electress of Brandenburg, having read 
Luther's works, felt a desire to receive the Lord's Supper in 
conformity with Christ's institution. A minister secretly 
administered it at the festival of Easter, 1528 ; but one of 
her children informed the elector. Joachim was greatly 
exasperated, and ordered his wife to keep her room for 
several days ;* it was even rumoured that he intended 
shutting her up.f This princess, being deprived of all re- 
ligious support, and mistrusting the perfidious manoeuvres 
of the Romish priests, resolved to escape by flight ; and 
claimed the assistance of her brother, Christian II. of Den- 
mark, then residing at Torgau. Taking advantage of a 
dark night, she quitted the castle in a peasant's dress, and 
got into a rude country-waggon that was waiting for her at 
the gate of the city. Elizabeth urged on the driver, when, 
in a bad road, the wain broke down. The electress, hastily 
unfastening a handkerchief she wore round her head, flung 
it to the man, who employed it in repairing the damage, and 
erelong Elizabeth arrived at Torgau. " If I should expose 
you to any risk," said she to her uncle, the Elector of 
Saxony, " I am ready to go wherever Providence may lead 
me." But John assigned her a residence in the castle of 
Lichtenberg, on the Elbe, near Wittemberg. Without 
taking upon us to approve of Elizabeth's flight, let us ac- 
knowledge the good that God's Providence derived from it. 
This amiable lady, who lived at Lichtenberg in the study of 
His Word, seldom appearing at court, frequently going to 
hear Luther's sermons, and exercising a salutary influence 
over her children, who sometimes had permission to see her, 
was the first of those pious princesses whom the house of 
Brandenburg has counted, and even still counts, among its 
members. 

At the same time, Holstein, Sleswick, and Silesia de- 
cided in favour of the Reformation : and Hungary, as well 
as Bohemia, saw the number of its adherents increase. 

In every place, instead of a hierarchy seeking its righte- 
ousness in the works of man, its glory in external pomp, its 

* Aliquot diebus a marito in cnbiculo tletenta fuisse. Seckend. ii. 122. 
t Marchio statuerat cam immurarc. L. F-pp. ad Lenkium, iii. 296. 



40 EDICT OF OPEN. 

strength in a material power, the Church of the Apostles 
reappeared, humble as in primitive times, and like the 
ancient Christians, looking for its righteousness, its glory, 
and its power solely in the blood of the Lamb and in the 
Word of God.* 



CHAPTER IV. 

Edict of Ofen Persecutions Winkler, Carpenter, and Keyser Alarm 
in Germany Pack's Forgery League of the Reformed Princes Ad- 
vice of the Reformers Luther's Pacific Counsel Surprise of the 
Papist Princes Pack's Scheme not improbable Vigour of the Re 
formation. 

THESE triumphs of the Gospel could not pass unperceived ; 
there was a powerful reaction, and until political circum- 
stances should permit a grand attack upon the Reformation 
On the very soil where it was established, and of lighting 
against it by means of diets, and if necessary by armies, 
the adversaries began to persecute it in detail in the Romish 
countries with tortures and the scaffold. 

On the 20th August 1527, King Ferdinand, by the Edict 
of Ofen in Hungary, published a tariff of crimes and penal- 
ties, in which he threatened death by the sword, by fire, or 
by water, -J- against whoever should say that Mary was like 
other women ; or partake of the sacrament in an heretical 
manner; or consecrate the bread and wine, not being a 
Romish priest; and further, in the second case, the house 
in which the sacrament should have been administered was 
to be confiscated or rased to the ground. 

Such was not the legislation of Luther. Link having 
asked him if it were lawful for the magistrate to put the 
false prophets to death, meaning the Sacramentarians, 

* Revelation xii. 11. 

t Die sollen mit dem Feuer, Schwerdt oder Wasser gestraft werden. 
Ferd. Mandat. L. Opp. xix. 596. 



PERSECUTIONS WINKLER AND CARPENTER. 41 

whose doctrines Luther had so violently attacked,* the 
reformer replied : " I am slow whenever life is concerned, 
even if the offender is exceedingly guilty.-}- I can by no 
means admit that the false teachers should be put to 
death: | it is sufficient to remove them." For ages the 
Romish Church has bathed in blood. Luther was the first 
to profess the great principles of humanity and religious 
liberty. 

Recourse was sometimes had to more expeditious means 
than the scaffold itself. George Winkler, pastor of Halle, 
having been summoned before Archbishop Albert in the 
spring of 1527, for having administered the sacrament in 
both kinds, had been acquitted. As this minister was re- 
turning home along an unfrequented road in the midst of 
the woods, he was suddenly attacked by a number of horse- 
men, who murdered him, and immediately fled through the 
thickets without taking anything from his person. " The 
world," exclaimed Luther, " is a cavern of assassins under 
the command of the devil ; an inn, whose landlord is a 
brigand, and which bears this sign, Lies and Murder : and 
none are more readily put to death therein than those who 
proclaim Jesus Christ." 

At Munich, George Carpenter was led to the scaffold for 
having denied that the baptism of water is able by its own 
virtue to save a man. " When you are thrown into the 
fire," said some of his brethren, " give us a sign by which 
we may know that you persevere in the faith." " As long 
as I can open my mouth, I will confess the name of the 
Lord Jesus." || The executioner stretched him on a ladder, 
tied a small bag of gunpowder round his neck, and then 
flung him into the flames. Carpenter immediately cried 

* Contra hostes sacramentarios strenue nobiscum certare. Epp. to 
Lenk, July 14, 1528. 

t Ego ad judicium sanguinis tardus sum, etiam ubi meritum abundat. 
Ibid. 

Nullo modo possum admittere falsos doctores occidi. Ibid. 

Mox enim ut interfecerunt, aufugerunt per avia loca, nib.il praedae 
aut pecuniae capientes. Cochl. p. 152. 

|| Dum OvS aperire licebit, servatoris nostri nomen profiteri nunquam 
Intermittain. Scultet. ii. 110. 



42 PERSECUTIONS UEVSEK. 

out, " Jesus ! Jesus !" and while the executioner was turn- 
ing him again and again with his hooks, the martyr several 
times repeated the word Jesus, and expired. 

At Landsberg nine persons were consigned to the flames, 
and at Munich twenty-nine were thrown into the water. 
At Scherding, Leonard Keyser, a friend and disciple of 
Luther, having been condemned by the bishop, had his head 
shaved, and being dressed in a smock-frock, was placed on 
horseback. As the executioners were cursing and swearing, 
because they could not disentangle the ropes with which his 
limbs were to be tied, he said to them mildly : " Dear 
friends, your bonds are not necessary ; my Lord Christ has 
already bound me." When he drew near the stake, Keyser 
looked at the crowd and exclaimed : " Behold the harvest ! 
Master, send forth thy labourers !" He then ascended the 
scaffold and said : " Jesu, save me ! I am thine." These 
were his last words.* " Who am I, a wordy preacher," 
cried Luther, when he received the news of his death, " in 
comparison with this great doer!"-{- 

Thus the Reformation manifested by such striking works 
the truth that it had come to re-establish ; namely, that 
faith is not, as Rome maintains, an historical, vain, dead 
knowledge,^ but a lively faith, the work of the Holy Ghost, 
the channel by which Christ fills the heart with new desires 
and with new affections, the true worship of the living God. 

These martyrdoms filled Germany with horror, and gloomy 
forebodings descended from the thrones among the ranks of 
the people. Around the domestic hearth, in the long winter 
evenings, the conversation wholly turned on prisons, tor- 
tures, scaffolds, and martyrs ; the slightest noise alarmed 
the old men, women, and children. Such narratives gathered 
strength as they passed from mouth to mouth ; the rumour 
of a universal conspiracy against the Gospel spread through 

* Incenso jam igne, clara voce proclamavit : Tuus sum Jesu ! Salva 
me ! Seckend. ii. 85. 

f Tarn impar verbosus prsedicator, illi tarn potenti verbi operator. 
L. Epp. iii. 1214. 

J Si quis dixerit fidem non ease veram fidem, licet non fit viva, aut 
eum qui fidem sine charitate habet, non esse christianum, anathema sit. 
Cone. Frid. Sess. 6, p. 28. 



FORGERY. 48 

all the empire. Its adversaries, taking advantage of this 
terror, announced with a mysterious air that they must look 
during this year (1528) for some decisive measure against 
the reform.* One scoundrel (Pack) resolved to profit by this 
state of mind to satisfy his avarice. 

No blows are more terrible to a cause than those which it 
inflicts upon itself. The Reformation, seized with a dizzi- 
ness, was on the verge of self-destruction. There is a spirit 
of error that conspires against the cause of truth, beguiling 
by subtlety ;{- the Reformation was about to experience its 
attacks, and to stagger under the most formidable assault, 
perturbation of thought, and estrangement from the ways 
of wisdom and of truth. 

Otho Pack, vice-chancellor to Duke George of Saxony, 
was a crafty and dissipated man,J who took advantage of 
his office, and had recourse to all sorts of practices to pro- 
cure money. The duke having on one occasion sent him to 
the Diet of Nuremberg as his representative, the Bishop of 
Merseburg confided to him his contribution towards the im- 
perial government. The bishop having been afterwards 
called upon for this money. Pack declared that he had paid 
it to a citizen of Nuremberg, whose seal and signature he 
produced. This paper was a forgery; Pack himself was the 
author of it. The wretch, however, put an impudent face 
on the matter, and having escaped conviction, preserved the 
confidence of his master. Erelong an opportunity presented 
itself of exercising his criminal talents on a larger scale. 

No one entertained greater suspicions with regard to the 
papists than the Landgrave of Hesse. Young, susceptible, 
and restless, he was always on the alert. In the month of 
February 1528, Pack happening to be at Cassel to assist 
Philip in some difficult business, the landgrave imparted to 
him his fears. If any one could have had any knowledge 
of the designs of the papists, it must have been the vice- 

* Nescio quid mirari quod hoc anno contra reformationem expco 
tandum sit. Seckend. ii, 101. t 2 Corinthians xi. 3. 

+ Homo erat versutus, et praeterea prodigus, quo vitio ad alia induetufi 
est. Seckend. ii. 1(4. 

It is still to b<> seen in the records at Dresden. 



44 PACK'S FORGEKY. 

chancellor of one of the greatest enemies to the Reforma- 
tion. The crafty Pack heaved a sigh, bent down his eyes, 
and was silent. Philip immediately became uneasy, en- 
treated him, and promised to do nothing that would injure 
the duke. Then Pack, as if he had allowed an important 
secret to be torn from him' with regret, confessed that a 
league against the Lutherans had been concluded at Breslau 
on the Wednesday following Jubilate Sunday, 12th May 
1527 ; and engaged to procure the original of this act for the 
landgrave, who offered him for this service a remuneration 
of ten thousand florins. This was the greatest transaction 
that the wretched man had ever undertaken ; but it tended 
to nothing less than the utter overthrow of the empire. 

The landgrave was amazed : he restrained himself, how- 
ever, wishing to see the act with his own eyes before in- 
forming his allies. He therefore repaired to Dresden. " I 
cannot," said Pack, " furnish you with the original : the 
duke always carries it about his person to read it to other 
princes whom he hopes to gain over. Recently at Leipsic, 
he showed it to Duke Henry of Brunswick. But here is a 
copy made by his highness's order." The landgrave took 
the document, which bore all the marks of the most perfect 
authenticity. It was crossed by a cord of black silk, and 
fastened at both ends by the seal of the ducal chancery.* 
Above was an impression from the ring Duke George 
always wore on his finger, with the three quarterings that 
Philip had so often seen ; at the top, the coronet, and at the 
bottom, the two lions. He had no more doubts as to its 
authenticity. But how can we describe his indignation as 
he read this guilty document ? King Ferdinand, the Elec- 
tors of Mentz and of Brandenburg, Duke George of Saxony, 
the Dukes of Bavaria, the Bishops of Salzburg, Wurtzburg, 
and Bamberg, had entered into a coalition to call upon the 
Elector of Saxony to deliver up the arch-heretic Luther, 
with all the apostate priests, monks, and nuns, and to re- 
establish the ancient worship. If he made default, his states 
were to be invaded, and this prince and his descendants for 

* Cui filum sericum circumligatura, et sigillum cancellarise impressnm 
erat. Seek. ii. 94. 



PACK'S FORGERY. 45 

ever dispossessed. The same measure was next to be ap- 
plied to the landgrave, only (" it was your father-in-law, 
Duke George," said Pack to Philip, " who got this clause 
inserted ") his states were to be restored to him in consider- 
ation of his youth, if he became fully reconciled to the holy 
Church. The document stated moreover the contingents of 
men and money to be provided by the confederates, and the 
share they were to have in the spoils of the two heretical 
princes.* 

Many circumstances tended to confirm the authenticity 
of this paper. Ferdinand, Joachim of Brandenburg, and 
George of Saxony, had in fact met at Breslau on the day 
indicated, and an evangelical prince, the Margrave George, 
had seen Joachim leave Ferdinand's apartments, holding in 
his hand a large parchment to which several seals were 
attached. The agitated landgrave caused a copy to be 
taken of this document, promised secrecy for a time, paid 
Pack four thousand florins, and engaged to make up the 
sum agreed upon, if he would procure him the original. 
And then, wishing to prevent the storm, he hastened 
to Weimar to inform the elector of this unprecedented con- 
spiracy. 

" I have seen," said he to John and his son, " nay more 
I have had in my hands, a duplicate of this horrible 
treaty. Signatures, seals nothing was wanting.-}- Here 
is a copy, and I bind myself to place the original before your 
eyes. The most frightful danger threatens us ourselves, 
our faithful subjects, and the Word of God." 

The elector had no reason to doubt the account the 
landgrave had just given him : he was stunned, confounded, 
and overpowered. The promptest measures alone could 
avert such unprecedented disasters: everything must be 
risked to extricate them from certain destruction. The 
impetuous Philip breathed fire and flames ;| his plan of 
defence was already prepared. He presented it, and in the 

Hortleber, De Bello Germanico, ii. 579. 

t Nam is affirmabat se archetypon vidisse, commemorabat rty* 
f,l*f. Corp. Ref. i. 986. 
Mirabiliter incensus erat. Ibid. 



46 LEAGUE OP THE REFORMED PRINCES. 

first moment of consternation carried the consent of his 
ally, as it were by assault. On the 9th March 1528, the two 
princes agreed to employ all their forces to defend themselves, 
and even to take the offensive, and sacrifice life, honour, 
rank, subjects, and states, that they might preserve the 
Word of God. The Dukes of Prussia, Mecklenburg, Lune- 
burg, and Pomerania, the Kings of Denmark and Poland, 
and the Margrave of Brandenburg, were to be inrited to 
enter into this alliance. Six hundred thousand florins were 
destined for the expenses of the war ; and to procure them, 
they would raise loans, pledge their cities, and sell the 
offerings in the churches.* They had already begun to 
raise a powerful army.-J- The landgrave set out in person 
for Nuremberg and Anspach. The alarm was general in 
those countries ; the commotion was felt throughout all 
Germany,^ and even beyond it. John Zapolya, king of 
Hungary, at that time a refugee at Cracow, promised a 
hundred thousand florins to raise an army, and twenty thou- 
sand florins a-month for its maintenance. Thus a spirit of 
error was misleading the princes ; if it should carry away 
the Reformers also, the destruction of the Reformation would 
not be far distant. 

But God was watching over them. Supported on the 
rock of the Word, Melancthon and Luther replied : " It is 
written, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God." As 
soon as these two men whom the danger threatened (for 
it was they who were to be delivered up to the papal 
power) saw the youthful landgrave drawing the sword, and 
the aged elector himself putting his hand on the hilt, they 
uttered a cry, and this cry, which was heard in heaven, 
saved the Reformation, 

Luther, Pomeranus, and Melancthon immediately "for- 
warded the following advice to the elector : " Above all 
things, let not the attack proceed from our side, and let no 
blood be shed through our fault. Let us wait for the 

* Venditisque templorum donariis. Seckend. ii. 95. 
f Magno studio validum comparaverunt ambo exercitum. Cochloeus, 
p. 171. 

T Non leviter comrnotos csse nostrorum animos. Corp. Ref. ii. 986. 



LUTHER'S PACIFIC COUNSELS. 47 

enemy, and seek after peace. Send an ambassador to the 
emperor to make him acquainted with this hateful plot." 

Thus it was that the faith of the children of God, which 
is so despised by politicians, conducted them aright, at the 
very moment when the diplomatists were going astray. The 
elector and his son declared to the landgrave that they 
would not assume the offensive. Philip was in amazement. 
" Are not the preparations of the papists worthy an attack ?" 
asked he.* " What ! we will threaten war, and yet not 
make it! We will inflame the hatred of our antagonists, 
and leave them time to prepare their forces ! No, no ; for- 
ward ! It is thus we shall secure the means of an honour- 
able peace." " If the landgrave desires to begin the 

war," replied the reformer, " the elector is not obliged to 
observe the treaty ; for we must obey God rather than 
men. God and the right are above every alliance. Let 
us beware of painting the devil on our doors, and inviting 
him as godfather. -{- But if the landgrave is attacked, the 
elector ought to go to his assistance; for it is God's will 
that we preserve our faith." This advice which the re- 
formers gave, cost them dear. Never did man, condemned 
to the torture, endure a punishment like theirs. The fears 
excited by the landgrave were succeeded by the terrors 
inspired by the papist princes. This cruel trial left them 
in great distress. " I am worn away with sorrow," cried 
Melancthon ; " and this anguish puts me to the most horrible 
torture.J The issue," added he, " will be found on our knees 
before God." 

The elector, drawn in different directions by the theolo- 
gians and the politicians, at last took a middle course : he 
resolved to assemble an army, " but only," said he, " to 
obtain peace." Philip of Hesse at length gave way, and 
forthwith sent copies of the famous treaty to Duke George, 
to the dukes of Bavaria, and to the emperor's representatives, 

* Landgravius procparamenta adyersariorum pro aggressione habebat. 
Seek. ii. 95. 

+ Man darf den Teufel nicht iiber die Thfir malen, noch ihn za 
gevattern bitten. L. Epp. iii. 321. 

: Curao vehementer cruciarunt. Corp. Ref. i. 988. 

Ev yavia.fi 3-tou. Ibid. 



48 SURPRISE OF THE PAPIST PRINCES. 

calling upon them to renounce such crnel designs. " I 
would rather have a limb cut off," said he to his father- 
in-law, " than know you to be a member of such an 
alliance." 

The surprise of the German courts, when they read this 
document, is beyond description. Duke George immediately 
replied to the landgrave, that he had allowed himself to be 
deceived by unmeaning absurdities ; that he who pretended 
to have seen the original of this act was an infamous liar, 
and an incorrigible scoundrel; and called upon the land- 
grave to give up his authority, or else it might well be 
thought that he was himself the inventor of this impudent 
fabrication. King Ferdinand, the Elector of Brandenburg, 
and all the pretended conspirators, made similar replies. 

Philip of Hesse saw that he had been deceived ; * his con- 
fusion was only exceeded by his anger. He had in this 
affair justified the accusations of his adversaries who called 
him a hot-headed young man, and had compromised to the 
highest degree the cause of the Reformation and that of his 
people. .He said afterwards, " If that business had not hap- 
pened, it would no more happen now. Nothing that I have 
done in all my life has caused me greater vexation?' 

Pack fled in alarm to the landgrave, who caused him to 
be arrested ; and envoys from the several princes whom this 
scoundrel had compromised met at Cassel, and proceeded to 
examine him. He maintained that the original act of the 
alliance had really existed in the Dresden archives. In the 
following year the landgrave banished him from Hesse, prov- 
ing by this action that he did not fear him. Pack was after- 
wards discovered in Belgium ; and at the demand of Duke 
George, who had never shown any pity towards him, he was 
seized, tortured, and finally beheaded. 

The landgrave was unwilling to have taken up arms to no 
purpose. The Archbishop-elector of Mentz was compelled, on 
the llth June 1528, to renounce in the camp of Herzkirchen 
all spiritual jurisdiction in Saxony and Hesse.j This was 
no small advantaged , 

* Wir fiihlten dass wir betrogon waren. Hortleber, iv. 567. 
t Kopp. Hess. Gerichts Verf. i. 107. 



VIGOUR OF THE REFORMATION. 49 

Scarcely had the arras been laid aside before Luther took 
up his pen and began a war of another kind. " Impious 
princes may deny this alliance as long as they please," wrote 
he to Link ; " I am very certain that it is not a chimera. 
These insatiable leeches will take no repose until they see 
the whole of Germany flowing with blood." * This idea of 
Luther's was the one generally entertained. " The docu- 
ment presented to the landgrave may be," it was said, 
" Pack's invention ; but all this fabric of lies is founded on 
some truth. If the alliance has not been concluded it has 
been conceived." 

Melancholy were the results of this affair. It inspired 
division in the bosom of the Reformation 2 and fanned the 
hatred between the two parties.:}: The sparks from the piles 
of Keyser, Winkler, Carpenter, and so many other martyrs, 
added strength to the fire that was already threatening to 
set the empire in flames. It was under such critical circum- 
stances, and with such menacing dispositions, that the famous 
Diet of Spires was opened in March 1529. The Empire and 
the Papacy were in reality preparing to annihilate the Refor- 
mation, although in a manner different from what Pack had 
pretended. It was still to be learnt whether more vital 
strength would be found in the revived Church than in so 
many sects that Rome had easily crushed. Happily the faith 
had increased, and the constitution given to the Church had 
imparted greater power to its adherents. All were resolved 
on defending a doctrine so pure, and a church government 
so superior to that of Popery. During three years of tran- 
quillity, the Gospel tree had struck its roots deep ; and if the 
storm should burst it would now be able to brave it. 

* Sanguisugse insatiabiles quiescere nolunt, nisi Germaniam sanguine 
madere sentiant. 14th June 152b. 
f- ( Non enim prorsus conficta res. Corp. Ref. i. 988. 
liicc mince apud immicos odia auxerint. Ibid. 985. 



ALLIANCE BETWEEN CHARLES AND CLEMENT. 



CHAPTER V. 

Alliance between Charles and Clement VII. Omens Hostility of tho 
Papists Arbitrary Proposition of Charles Resolutions of the Diet 
The Reformation in Danger Decision of the Princes Violence of 
Ferdinand The Schism completed. 

THE sack of Rome, by exasperating the adherents of the 
Papacy, had given arms to all the enemies of Charles V. 
The French army under Lautrec had forced the imperial 
army, enervated by the delights of a new Capua, to hide it- 
self within the walls of Naples. Doria, at the head of his 
Genoese galleys, had destroyed the Spanish fleet, and all the 
imperial power seemed drawing to an end in Italy. But 
Doria suddenly declared for the emperor ; pestilence carried 
off Lautrec and half of his troops ; and Charles, suffering only 
from alarm, had again grasped the power with a firm resolu- 
tion to unite henceforward closely with the pontiff, whose 
humiliation had nearly cost him so dear. On his side Cle- 
ment VII., hearing the Italians reproach him for his illegiti- 
mate birth, and even refuse him the title of pope, said aloud, 
that he would rather be the emperor's groom than the sport 
of his people. On the 29th June 1528, a peace between the 
heads of the Empire and of the Church was concluded at 
Barcelona, based on the destruction of heresy ; and in No- 
vember a diet was convoked to meet at Spires on the 21st 
February 1529. Charles was resolved to endeavour at first 
to destroy the Reform by a federal vote ; but if this means 
did not suffice, to employ his whole power against it. The 
road being thus traced out, they were about to commence 
operations. 

Germany felt the seriousness of the position. Mournful 
omens filled every mind. About the middle of January, 
a great brightness in the sky had suddenly dispersed the 
darkness of the night.* " What that forebodes," exclaimed 

* An aurora borealis. " Magnum chasma, quo nox tota illurainaba- 
tur." L. Epp. iii. 420. 



OMENS. 51 

Luther, " God only knows ! " At the beginning of April there 
was a rumour of an earthquake that had engulfed castles, 
cities, and whole districts in Carinthia and Istria, and split 
the tower of St. Mark at Venice into four parts. " If that 
is true," said the reformer, " these prodigies are the forerun- 
ners of the day of Jesus Christ."* The astrologers declared 
that the aspect of the quartiles of Saturn and Jupiter, and 
the general position of the stars, was ominous.f The waters 
of the Elbe rolled thick and stormy, and stones fell from the 
roofs of churches. " All these things," exclaimed the terri- 
fied Melancthon, " excite me in no trifling degree." \ 

The letters of convocation issued by the imperial govern- 
ment agreed but too well with these prodigies. The emperor, 
writing from Toledo to the elector, accused him of sedition 
and revolt. Alarming whispers passed from mouth to mouth 
that were sufficient to cause the fall of the weak. Duke 
Henry of Mecklenburg and the elector-palatine hastily re- 
turned to the side of popery. , 

Never had the sacerdotal party appeared in the diet in 
such numbers, or so powerful and decided. On the 5th 
March, Ferdinand, the president of the diet, after him the 
Dukes of Bavaria, and lastly the ecclesiastical electors of 
Mentz and Treves, had entered'the gates of Spires surrounded 
by a numerous armed escort. || On the 13th March, the 
Elector of Saxony arrived, attended only by Melancthon and 
Agricola. But Philip of Hesse, faithful to his character, 
entered the city on the-18th March to the sound of trumpets, 
and with two hundred horsemen. 

The divergence of men's minds soon became manifest. A 
papist did not meet an evangelical in the street without cast- 
ing angry glances upon him, and secretly threatening him 
with perfidious machination^ The elector-palatine passed 

* Si vera sunt, diem Christi praecurrunt bsec monstra. L. Epp. iii. 438. 

f Adspectum rtr^ayovur Saturni et Jovis. Corp. Ref. i. 1075. 

J Ego non leviter commoveor his rebus. Ibid. 1076. 

Nunquam fuit tanta frequentia ullis conciliia ^;ja>v quanta in hia 
est. Ibid. 1039. 

II Mogantinum et Trevirensem cum comitatu armato. Seckend. ii. 129. 

^l Vultu significant quantum nos oderint, et quid machinentur. Corp. 
Ref. i. 1040. 



52 HOSTILITY OF THE PAPISTS. 

the Saxons without appearing to know them;* and although 
John of Saxony was the most important of the electors, none 
of the chiefs of the opposite party visited him. Grouped 
around their tables, the Roman-catholic princes seemed ab- 
sorbed in games of hazard. -J- 

But erelong they gave positive marks of their hostile dis- 
position. The elector and the landgrave were prohibited 
from having the Gospel preached in their mansions. It was 
asserted even at this early period that John was about to be 
turned out of Spires, and deprived of his electorate. J " We 
are the execration and the sweepings of the world," said 
Melancthon ; " but Christ will look down on his poor people, 
and will preserve them." In truth, God was with the wit- 
nesses to his Word. The people of Spires thirsted for the 
Gospel, and the elector wrote to his son on Palm Sunday : 
" About eight thousand persons were present to-day in my 
chapel at morning and evening worship." 

The Roman party now quickened their proceedings : their 
plan was simple but energetic. It was necessary to put 
down the religious liberty that had existed for more than three 
years, and for this purpose they must abrogate the decree of 
1526, and revive that of 1521. 

On the 15th March the imperial commissaries announced 
to the diet that the last resolution of Spires, which left all 
the states free to act in conformity with the inspirations of 
their consciences, having given rise to great disorders, the 
emperor had annulled it by virtue of his supreme power. 
This arbitrary act, which had no precedent in the empire, as 
well as the despotic tone in which it was notified, filled the 
evangelical Christians with indignation and alarm. " Christ," 
exclaimed Sturm, " has again fallen into the hands of Caia- 
phas and Pilate." || 

A commission was charged to examine the imperial pro- 

* Pfalz kennt kein Sachsen mehr. Epp. Alberti Mansfeld. 
f Adversae partes proceres alea tempus perdere. L. Epp. iii. 438. 
: Alii exclusum Spiras, alii ademtum electoratum. Ibid. 
Sed Christus respiciet et salvabit populum pauperem. Corp. Ref. i. 
1040. 

|| Christus eat denuo in mwribus Caiaphi et Pilati. Jung Beytr'age, 
4. 



RESOLUTIONS OF T1IE DIET. 53 

position. The Archbishop of Salzburg, Faber, and Eck, that 
is to say, the most violent enemies of the Reformation, were 
among its members. " The Turks are better than the Lu- 
therans," said Faber, " for the Turks observe fast-days, and 
the Lutherans violate them.* If we must choose between 
the Holy Scriptures of God and the old errors of the Church, 
we should reject the former." 7 Every day in full assembly 
Faber casts some new stone at us Gospellers," says Melanc- 
thon.| " Oh, what an Iliad I should have to compose," 
added he, " if I were to report all these blasphemies ! " 

The priests called for the execution of the edict of Worms, 
1521, and the evangelical members of the commission, among 
M'hom were the Elector of Saxony and Sturm, demanded on 
the contrary the maintenance of the edict of Spires, 1526. 
The latter thus remained within the bounds of legality, whilst 
their adversaries were driven to coups d'etat. In fact, a new 
order of things having been legally established in the empire, 
no one could infringe it ; and if the diet presumed to destroy 
by force what had been constitutionally established three 
years before, the evangelical states had the right of opposing 
it. The majority of the commission felt that the re-estab- 
lishment of the ancient order of things would be a revolution 
no less complete than the Reformation itself. How could 
they subject anew to Rome and to her clergy those nations 
in whose bosom the Word of God had been so richly spread 
abroad ? For this reason, equally rejecting the demands of 
the priests and of the evangelicals, the majority came to a 
resolution on the 24th March that every religious innovation 
should continue to be interdicted in the places where the 
edict of Worms had been carried out ; and that in those 
where the people had deviated from it, and where they could 
not conform to it without danger of revolt, they should at 
least effect no new reform, they should touch upon no con- 
troverted point, they should not oppose the celebration of 

* Vociferatus est Turcos Lutheranis meliores esse. Corp. Ref. p. 1041. 
f Malle abjicere scripturam quam veteres errores Ecclesiae. Ibid, 
p. 1046. 
t Faber lapidat nos quotidie pro condone. Ibid. 



54 REFORMATION IN DANGER. 

the mass, they should permit no Roman-catholic to embrace 
Lutheranism,* they should not decline the Episcopal juris- 
diction, and should tolerate no anababtistsf or sacramenta- 
rians. The status-quo and no proselytism such were the 
essentials of this resolution. 

The majority no longer voted as in J526: the wind had 
turned against the Gospel. Accordingly this proposition, 
after having been delayed a few days by the festival of Easter, 
was laid before the diet on the 6th April, and passed on the 
7th4 

If it became a law, the Reformation could neither be ex- 
tended into those places where as yet it was unknown, nor 
be established on solid foundations in those where it already 
existed. The re-establishment of the Romish hierarchy, sti- 
pulated in the proposition, would infallibly bring back the 
ancient abuses ; and the least deviation from so vexatious 
an ordinance would easily furnish the Romanists with a 
pretext for completing the destruction of a work already so 
violently shaken. 

The Elector, the Landgrave, the Maegrave of Branden- 
burg, the Prince of Anhalt, and the Chancellor of Luneburg 
on one side, and the deputies for the cities on the other, con- 
sulted together. An entirely new order of things was to 
proceed from this council. If they had been animated by 
selfishness, they would perhaps have accepted this decree. 
In fact they were left free, in appearance at least, to profess 
their faith : ought they to demand more ? could they do so ? 
Were they bound to constitute themselves the champions 
of liberty of conscience in all the world ? Never, perhaps, 
had there been a more critical situation ; but these noble- 
minded men came victorious out of the trial. What ! 
should they legalize by anticipation the scaffold and the 
torture ! Should they oppose the Holy Ghost in its work of 
converting souls to Christ ! Should they forget their Master's 
command : " Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel 

* Nee catholicos a libero religionis exercitio impecfiri debere, neque 
cuiquam ex his licere Lutherarasmum amplecti. Seckend. ii. 127. 
t As they were called by their opponents. 
t Sleidan, i. 261. 



DECISION OF THE PRINCKS. 55 

to every creature?" If one of the states of the empire 
desired some day to follow their example and be reformed, 
should they take away its power of doing so? Having 
themselves entered the kingdom of heaven, should they 
shut the door after them ? No ! rather endure everything, 
sacrifice everything, even their states, their crowns, and their 
lives. 

" Let us reject this decree," said the princes. " In 
matters of conscience the majority has no power." " It 
is to the decree of 1526," added the cities, " that we are 
indebted for the peace that the empire enjoys : its abolition 
would fill Germany with troubles and divisions. The diet 
is incompetent to do more than preserve religious liberty 
until a council meets." Such in fact is the grand attribute 
of the state, and if in our days the protestant powers 
should desire to influence the Romish governments, they 
should strive solely at obtaining for the subjects of the latter 
that religious liberty which the pope confiscates to his own 
advantage wherever he reigns alone, and by which lie profits 
greatly in every evangelical state.. Some of the deputies 
proposed refusing all assistance against the Turks, hoping 
thus to force the emperor to interfere in this religious qtfes- 
tion. But Sturm called upon them not to mix up political 
matters with the salvation of souls. They resolved there- 
fore to reject the proposition, but without holding out any 
threats. It was this noble resolution that gained for modern 
times liberty of thought and independence of faith. 

Ferdinand and the priests, who were no less resolute, 
determined, however, on vanquishing what they called a 
daring obstinacy; and they commenced with the weaker 
states. They began to frighten and divide the cities, which 
had hitherto pursued a common course. On the 12th April 
they were summoned before the diet : in vain did they 
allege the absence of some of their number, and ask for 
delay. It was refused, and the call was hurried on. Twenty- 
one free cities accepted the proposition of the diet, and four- 
teen rejected it. It was a bold act on the part of the latter, 
and was accomplished in the midst of the most painful 
sufferings. " This is the first trial," said Pfarrer, second 



56 VIOLENCE OF FERDINAND. 

deputy of Strasburg ; " now will come the second : we must 
either deny the Word of God or be burnt." * 

A violent proceeding of Ferdinand's immediately com- 
menced the series of humiliations that were reserved for 
the evangelical cities. A deputy of Strasburg should, in 
conformity with the decree of Worms, have been a member 
of the imperial government from the commencement of April. 
He was declared excluded from his rights until the re- 
establishment of the mass in Strasburg. All the cities 
united in protesting against this arbitrary act. 

At the same time, the elector-palatine and King Fer- 
dinand himself begged the princes to accept the decree, 
assuring them that the emperor would be exceedingly pleased 
with them. " We will obey the emperor," replied they 
calmly, " in everything that may contribute to maintain 
peace and the honour of God." v 

It was time to put an end to this struggle. On the 18th 
April it was decreed that the evangelical states should not 
be heard again ; and Ferdinand prepared to inflict the de- 
cisive blow on the moripw. 

When the day came, the king appeared in the diet, sur- 
rounded by the other commissaries of the empire, and by 
several bishops. He thanked the Roman-catholics for their 
fidelity, and declared that the resolution having been defini- 
tively agreed to, it was about to be drawn lip in the form of an 
imperial decree. He then announced to the elector and his 
friends, that their only remaining course was to submit to 
the majority. 

The evangelical princes, who had not expected so positive 
a declaration, were excited at this summons, and passed, 
according to custom, into an adjoining chamber to deliberate. 
But Ferdinand was not in a humour to wait for their answer. 
He rose, and the imperial commissaries with him. Vain 
were all endeavours to stop him. " I have received an order 
from his imperial majesty, " replied he ; "I have executed 
it. All is over." 

Thus did Charles's brother notify an order to the Christian 

* Das wort Gottes zu wiederrufen oder aber brennen. Jung Beytrage, 
p. 87. 



THE PROTEST. i>7 

princes, and then retire without caring even if there was 
any reply to be made ! To no purpose they sent a deputa- 
tion entreating the king to return. " It is a settled affair," 
repeated Ferdinand ; " submission is all that remains." * 
This refusal completed the schism : it separated Rome from 
the Gospel. Perhaps more justice on the part of the empire 
and of the papacy might have prevented the rupture that 
since then has divided the Western Church. 



CHAPTER VI. 

The Protest Principles of the Protest Supremacy of the Gospel Chris- 
tian Union Ferdinand rejects the Protest Attempt at Conciliation 
Exultation of the Papists Evangelical Appeal Christian Unity a 
Reality Dangers of the Protestants The Protestants leave Spires 
The Princes, the true Reformers - Germany and Reform. 

IF the imperial party displayed such contempt, it was not 
without a cause. They felt that weakness was on the side 
of the Reformation, and strength with Charles and the 
pope. But the weak have also their strength ; and of this 
the evangelical princes were aware. As Ferdinand paid no 
attention to their complaints, they ought to pay none to his 
absence, to appeal from the report of the diet to the Word 
of God, and from the Emperor Charles to Jesus Christ, the 
King of kings and Lord of lords. 

They resolved upon this step. A declaration was drawn 
up to that effect, and this was the famous Protest that 
henceforward gave the name of Protestant to the renovated 
Church. The elector and his allies having returned to the 
common hall of the diet, thus addressed the assembled 
states :f 

* Die artikel wiiren heschlossen. Jung Beytr. p. 90. 

f There are two copies of this act ; one of them is brief, and the other, 
which is longer, was transmitted in writing to the imperial commis- 
saries. It is from the latter we extract the passages in the text. They 
will both be found in Jung Beytrage, p. 91-105. See also Mailer's His- 
toric der Protestation, p. 52. 

VOL. IV. 4 



58 THE PROTEST. 

" Dear Lords, Cousins, Uncles, and Friends! Having 
repaired to this diet at the summons of his majesty, and foi 
the common good of the empire and of Christendom, we have 
heard and learnt that the decisions of the last diet concerning 
our holy Christian faith are to be repealed, and that it is 
proposed to substitute for them certain restrictive and oner- 
ous resolutions. 

" King Ferdinand and the other imperial commissaries, 
by affixing their seals to the last Recess of Spires, had pro- 
mised, however, in the name of the emperor, to carry out 
sincerely and inviolably all that it contained, and to permit 
nothing that was contrary to it. In like manner, also, you 
and we, electors, princes, prelates, lords, and deputies of the 
empire, bound ourselves to maintain always and with our 
whole might every article of that decree. 

" We cannot therefore consent to its repeal : 

" Firstly, because we believe that his imperial majesty 
(as well as you and we), is called to maintain firmly what 
has been unanimously and solemnly resolved. 

" Secondly, because it concerns the glory of God and the 
salvation of our souls, and that in such matters we ought to 
have regard, above all, to the commandment of God, who is 
Bang of kings and Lord of lords ; each of us rendering him 
account for himself, without caring the least in the world 
about majority or minority.* 

" We form no judgment on that which concerns you, most 
dear lords ; and we are content to pray God daily that he 
will bring us all to unity of faith, in truth, charity, and holi- 
ness through Jesus Christ, our throne of grace and our only 
mediator. 

" But in what concerns ourselves, adhesion to your re- 
solution (and let every honest man be judge!) would be 
acting against our conscience, condemning a doctrine that 
we maintain to be Christian, and pronouncing that it ought 
to be abolished in our states, if we could do so without 
trouble. 

" This would be to deny our Lord Jesus Christ, to reject 

* Bin jeglieher fttr sioh selbt vor Gott stehen. Jung Beytrage, p. 86. 



THE PROTEST. 59 

his holy Word, and thus give him just reason to deny us in 
turn before his Father, as he has threatened. 

" What! we ratify this edict! We assert that when 
Almighty God calls a man to His knowledge, this man can- 
not however receive the knowledge of God ! Oh ! of what 
deadly backslidings should we not thus become the accom- 
plices, not only among our own subjects, but also among 
yours ! 

" For this reason we reject the yoke that is imposed on 
us. And although it is universally known that in our states 
the holy sacrament of the body and blood of our Lord is be- 
comingly administered, we cannot adhere to what the edict 
proposes against the sacramentarians, seeing that the im- 
perial edict did not speak of them, that they have not been 
heard, and that we cannot resolve upon such important points 
before the next council. 

" Moreover" and this is the essential part of the protest 
" the new edict declaring the ministers shall preach the 
Gospel, explaining it according to the writings accepted by 
the holy Christian Church ; we think that, for this regulation 
to have any value, we should first agree on what is meant 
by the true and holy Church. Now, seeing that there is 
great diversity of opinion in this respect ; that there is no 
sure doctrine but such as is conformable to the Word of God ; 
that the Lord forbids the teaching of any other doctrine ; that 
each text of the Holy Scriptures ought to be explained by 
other and clearer texts ; that this holy book is in all things 
necessary for the Christian, easy of understanding, and cal- 
culated to scatter the darkness : we are resolved, with the 
grace of God, to maintain the pure and exclusive preaching 
of his only Word, such as it is contained in the biblical books 
of the Old and New Testament, without adding anything 
thereto that may be contrary to it.* This Word is the only 
truth ; it is the sure rule of all doctrine and of all life, and 
can never fail or deceive us. He who builds on this foun- 
dation shall stand against all the powers of hell, whilst all 

* Allein Gottes wort, lauter und rein, und nichts das dawieder 1st. 
Jung Beytrage, p. 101 . 



60 PRINCIPLES OF THE PROTEST. 

the human vanities that are set up against it shall fall before 
the face of God. 

" For these reasons, most dear lords, uncles, cousins, and 
friends, we earnestly entreat you to weigh carefully our 
grievances and our motives. If you do not yield to our 
request, we PROTEST by these presents, before God, our only 
Creator, Preserver, Redeemer, and Saviour, and who will 
one day be our judge, as well as before all men and all crea- 
tures, that we, for us and for our people, neither consent nor 
adhere in any manner whatsoever to the proposed decree, in 
any thing that is contrary to God, to his holy Word, to our 
right conscience, to the salvation of our souls, and to the last 
decree of Spires. 

" At the same time we are in expectation that his imperial 
majesty will behave towards us like a Christian prince who 
loves God above all things ; and we declare ourselves ready 
to pay unto him, as well as unto you, gracious lords, all the 
affection and obedience that are our just and legitimate duty." 

Thus, in presence of the diet, spoke out those courageous 
men whom Christendom will henceforward denominate THE 
PROTESTANTS. 

They had barely finished when they announced their in- 
tention of quitting Spires on the morrow.* 

This protest and declaration produced a deep impression. 
The diet was rudely interrupted and broken into two hostile 
parties, thus preluding war. The majority became the 
prey of the liveliest fears. As for the Protestants, relying, 
jure humano, upon the edict of Spires, and, jure divino, upon 
the Bible, they were full of courage and firmness. 

The principles contained in this celebrated protest of the 
19th April 1529, constitute the very essence of Protestantism. 
Now this protest opposes two abuses of man in matters of 
faith : the first is the intrusion of the civil magistrate, and 
the second the arbitrary authority of the Church. Instead 
of these abuses, Protestantism sets the power of conscience 
above the magistrate; and the authority of the Word of 
God above the visible church. In the first place, 6 Rejects 
the civil pOAver in divine things, and says with the prophets 
* Also zu verritten urlaub genomraen. Jung Beytr'dge, \>. 52. 



THE SUPREMACY OP THE GOSPEL. 61 

and apostles : We must obey God rather than man. In pre- 
sence of the crown of Charles the Fifth, it uplifts the crown 
of Jesus Christ. But it goes farther: it lays down the 
principle, that all human teaching should be subordinate to 
the oracles of God. Even the primitive Church, by recog- 
nising the writings of the apostles, had performed an act of 
submission to this supreme authority, and not an act of 
authority, as Rome maintains ; and the establishment of a 
tribunal charged with the interpretation of the Bible, had 
terminated only in slavishly subjecting man to man in what 
should be the most unfettered conscience and faith. In 
this celebrated act of Spires no doctor appears, and the Word 
of God reigns alone. Never has man exalted himself like 
the pope ; never have men kept in the background like the 
reformers. 

A Romish historian maintains that the word Protestant 
signifies enemy of the emperor and of the pope* If he 
means that Protestantism, in matters of faith, rejects the 
intervention both of the empire and of the papacy, it is well. 
But even this explanation does not exhaust the signification 
of the word, for Protestantism threw off man's authority 
solely to place Jesus Christ on the throne of the Church, 
and his Word in the pulpit. There has never been anything 
more positive, and at the same time more aggressive, than 
the position of the Protestants at Spires. By maintaining 
that their faith alone is capable of saving the world, they 
defended with intrepid courage the rights of Christian pro- 
selytism. We cannot abandon this proselytism without 
deserting the protestant principle. 

The Protestants of Spires were not content to exalt the 
truth ; they defended charity. Faber and the other papal 
partisans had endeavoured to separate the princes, who in 
general walked with Luther, from the cities that ranged 
themselves rather on the side of Zwingle. (Ecolampadius 
had immediately written to Melancthon, and enlightened 
him on the doctrines of the Zurich reformer. He had in- 
dignjtfitly rejected the idea that Christ was banished into 
a cSer of heaven, and had energetically declared that, 

* Perduelles in Pontificem ac Csesarem. Pallavicini, C. T. I. p. 217. 



62 CHBISTIAN UNION. 

according to the Swiss Christians, Christ was in every place 
upholding all things by the Word of his power.* " With 
the visible symbols," he added, " we give and we receive the 
invisible grace, like all the faithful." f 

These declarations were not useless. There were at Spires 
two men who from different motives opposed the efforts of 
Faber, and seconded those of (Ecolampadius. The landgrave, 
ever revolving projects of alliance in his mind, felt clearly 
that if the Christians of Saxony and of Hesse allowed the 
condemnation of the churches of Switzerland and of Upper 
Germany, they would by that very means deprive them- 
selves of powerful auxiliaries.^ Melancthon, who unlike the 
landgrave was far from desiring a diplomatic alliance, lest it 
should hasten on a war, defended the great principles of 
justice, and exclaimed: "To what just reproaches should 
we not be exposed, were we to recognise in our adversaries 
the right of condemning a doctrine without having heard 
those who defend it I" The union of all evangelical Chris- 
tians is therefore a principle of primitive Protestantism. 

As Ferdinand had not heard the protest of the 19th 
April, a deputation of the evangelical states went the next 
day to present it to him. The brother of Charles the Fifth 
received it at first, but immediately after desired to return it. 
Then was witnessed a strange scene the king refusing to 
keep the protest, and the deputies to take it back. At last 
the latter, out of respect, received it from Ferdinand's hands ; 
but they laid it boldly upon a table, and directly quitted the 
hall. 

The king and the imperial commissaries remained in pre- 
sence of this formidable writing. It was there before their 
eyes a significant monument of the courage and faith of 
the Protestants. Irritated against this silent but mighty 
witness, which accused his tyranny, and left him the respon- 
sibility of all the evils that were about to burst upon the 
empire, the brother of Charles the Fifth called some of his 

* Ubique ut et portet omnia verbo virtutis suae. Hospin. Hist. Sacr. 
ii. 112. 

f* Xo;v yet./) Ttiv a.oaan* (Hto, <ruv fv/u.(->o*.vv ojaTaiv. Ibid. 

J Oinni studio laborabat ut iilos uniret. Seek. ii. 127. 



ATTEMPT AT CONCILIATION. 63 

councillors, and ordered them instantly to carry the impor- 
tant document back to the Protestants. 

All this was unavailing; the protest had been regis- 
tered in the annals of the world, and nothing could erase it. 
Liberty of thought and of conscience had been conquered 
for ages to come. Thus all evangelical Germany, foreseeing 
these things, was moved at this courageous act, and adopted 
it as the expression of its Avill and of its faith. Men in every 
quarter beheld in it not a mere political event, but a 
Christian action, and the youthful electoral prince, John 
Frederick, in this respect the organ of his age, cried to the 
Protestants of Spires : " May the Almighty, who has given you 
grace to confess energetically, freely, and fearlessly, preserve 
you in that Christian firmness until the day of eternity !"* 

While the Christians were filled with joy, their enemies 
were frightened at their own work. The very day on which 
Ferdinand had declined to receive the protest (Tuesday 20th 
April), at one in the afternoon, Henry of Brunswick and 
Philip of Baden presented themselves as mediators, announc- 
ing, however, that they were acting solely of their own 
authority. They proposed that there should be no more 
mention of the decree of Worms, and that the first decree of 
Spires should be maintained, but with a few modifications ; 
that the two parties, while remaining free until the next 
council, should oppose every new sect, and tolerate no doc- 
trine contrary to the sacrament of the Lord's body.-}- 

On Wednesday, 21st April, the evangelical states did not 
appear adverse to these propositions ; and even those who 
had embraced the doctrines of Zwingle declared boldly that 
such a proposal would not compromise their existence. 
" Only let us call to mind," said they, " that in such difficult 
matters we must act, not with the sword, but with the sure 
Word of God.J For, as Saint Paul says : What is not of 

* In eo mansuros esse, neo passuros ut ulla hominum machinatione ab 
ea sententia divellerentur. Seckend. ii. 121. 

t Vergleich artikel. Jung Beytrage, p. 55. 

J In diesen Schweren Sachen, nichts mit Gewalt noch Schwerdt, 
sondern*mit Gottea gewissem wort. Ibid. p. 59. This document is front 
the pen of Sturm. 



64 EXULTATION OF THE PAPISTS. 

faith is sin. If therefore we constrain Christians to do what 
they believe unjust, instead of leading them by God's Word 
to acknowledge what is good, we force them to sin and 
incur a terrible responsibility." 

The fanatics of the Roman party trembled as they saw 
the victory nearly escaping from them ; they rejected all 
compromise, and desired purely and simply the re-establish- 
ment of the papacy. Their zeal overcame everything, and 
the negotiations were broken off. 

On Thursday, 22d April, the diet re-assembled at seven 
in the morning, and the Recess was read precisely as it had 
been previously drawn up, without even mentioning the at- 
tempt at conciliation which had just failed. 

Faber triumphed. Proud of having the ear of kings, he 
tossed himself furiously about, and, to look at him, one 
would have said (according to an eye-witness) that he 
was a Cyclops forging in his cavern the monstrous 
chains with which he was about to bind the Reformation 
and the reformers.* The papist princes, carried away 
by the tumult, gave the spur, says Melancthon, and flung 
themselves headlong into a path filled with dangers.^ 
Nothing was left for the evangelical Christians but to 
fall on their knees and cry to the Lord. " All that remains 
for us to do," repeated Melancthon, "is to call upon the 
Son of God." t 

The last sitting of the diet took place on the 24th April. 
The princes renewed their protest, in which fourteen free and 
imperial cities joined ; and they next thought of giving their 
appeal a legal form. 

On Sunday, 25th April, two notaries, Leonard Stetner of 
Freysingen and Pangrace Saltzmann of Bamberg, were 
seated before a small table in a narrow chamber on the 
ground-floor of a house situated in St. John's Lane, near the 
church of the same name in Spires, and around them were 

* Cyclops ille nunc ferocem se facit. Corp. Ref. i. 1062. 
f- Ut ingrediantur lubricum isti iter, impingendo stimulis calces. 
Ibid. 
t Do quo reliquum est ut inyocemus Filium Dei. Ibid. 



CHRISTIAN UNITY A REALITY. 65 

the chancellors of the princes and of the evangelical cities, 
with several witnesses.* 

This little house belonged to an humble pastor, Peter 
Muterstatt, deacon of St. John's, who, taking the place of 
the elector or of the landgrave, had offered a domicile for the 
important act that was preparing. His name shall in conse- 
quence be transmitted to posterity. The document having 
been definitively drawn up, one of the notaries began read- 
ing it. " Since there is a natural communion between all 
men," said the Protestants, " and since even persons con- 
demned to death are permitted to unite and appeal against 
their condemnation ; how much more are we, who are 
members of the same spiritual body, the Church of the Son 
of God, children of the same Heavenly Father, and conse- 
quently brothers in the Spirit,f authorized to unite when our 
salvation and eternal condemnation are concerned." 

After reviewing all that had passed in the diet, and after 
intercalating in their appeal the principal documents that 
had reference to it, the Protestants ended by saying : " We 
therefore appeal for ourselves, for our subjects, and for all 
who receive or who shall hereafter receive the Word of God, 
from all past, present, or future vexatious measures, to his 
Imperial Majesty, and to a free and universal assembly of 
holy Christendom." This document filled twelve sheets of 
parchment; the signatures and seals were affixed to the 
thirteenth. 

Thus in the obscure dwelling of the chaplain of St. John's 
was made the first confession of the true Christian union. 
In presence of the wholly mechanical unity of the pope, 
these confessors of Jesus raised the banner of the living 
unity of Christ ; and, as in the days of our Saviour, if there 
were many synagogues in Israel, there was at least but one 
temple. The Christians of Electoral Saxony, of Luneburg, 
of Anhalt, of Hesse and the Margravate, of Strasburg, 
Nuremberg, Ulm, Constance, Lindau, Memmingen, Kemp- 

* Untem in einem Kleinen Stiiblein. Jung Beytrage, p. 78. Instru- 
mentum Appellationis. 

f Membra unius corporis spiritualis Jesu Christi et filii unius patris 
ccelestis, ideoque fratres spirituals. Seckend. ii. 130. 

4* 



66 DANGEKS OF THE PROTESTANTS. 

ten, Nordlingen, Heilbronn, Reutlingen, Isny, Saint Gall, 
Weissemburg, and Windsheim, took each other's hands on 
the 25th April, near the church of St. John, in the face of 
threatening persecutions. Among them might be found 
those who, like Zwingle, acknowledged in the Lord's Supper 
the entirely spiritual presence of Jesus Christ, as well as 
those who, with Luther, admitted his corporeal presence. 
There existed not at that time in the evangelical body any 
sects, hatred, or schism ; Christian unity was a reality. 
That upper chamber in which, during the early days of 
Christianity, the apostles with the women and the brethren 
"continued with one accord in prayer and supplication,"* 
and that lower chamber where, in the first days of the Re- 
formation, the renewed disciples of Jesus Christ presented 
themselves to the pope and the emperor, to the world and to 
the scaffold, as forming but one body, are the two cradles of 
the Church; and it is in this its hour of weakness and 
humiliation that it shines forth with the brightest glory. 

After this appeal each one returned in silence to his 
dwelling. Several tokens excited alarm for the safety of the 
Protestants. A short time previously Melancthon hastily 
conducted through the streets of Spires toward the Rhine 
his friend Simon Grynseus, pressing him to cross the river. 
The latter was astonished at such precipitation.-}- " An old 
man of grave and solemn air, but who is unknown to me," 
said Melancthon, " appeared before me and said : In a 
minute officers of justice will be sent by Ferdinand to arrest 
Grynseus." As he was intimate with Faber, and had been 
scandalized at one of his sermons, Grynseus went to him, and 
begged him no longer to make war against the truth. Faber 
dissembled his anger, but immediately after repaired to the 
king, from whom he had obtained an order against the im- 
portunate professor of Heidelberg4 Melancthon doubted 
not that God had saved his friend by sending one of His 
holy angels to forewarn him. Motionless on the banks of the 

" Acts i. 14. 

-f- Miranti quae esset tantse festinationis causa. Camerarius Vita 
Mel. p. 113. 

J Faber qui yalde offenderetur orationi tali, dissimulate tamen omnia. 
Ibid. 



THE PKOTESTANTS LEAVE SPIRES. 67 

Rhine, he waited until the waters of that stream had rescued 
Grynseus from his persecutors. " At last," cried Melanc- 
thon, as he saw him on the opposite side, " at lasj; he is torn 
from the cruel jaws of those who thirst for innocent blood."* 
When he returned to his house, Melancthon was informed 
that officers in search of Grynseus had ransacked it from 
top to bottom.-j- 

There was nothing to detain the Protestants longer in 
Spires, and accordingly, on the morning after their appeal 
(Monday, 26th April), the elector, the landgrave, and the 
Dukes of Luneburg, quitted the city, reached Worms, and 
then returned by Hesse into their own states. The appeal 
of Spires was published by the landgrave on the 5th, and by 
the elector on the 13th of May. 

Melancthon had returned to Wittemberg on the 6th of 
May, persuaded that the two parties were about to draw the 
sword. His friends were alarmed at seeing him agitated, 
exhausted, and like one dead. | " It is a great event that 
has just taken place at Spires," said he ; " an event preg- 
nant with dangers, not only to the empire, but to religion 
itself. All the pains of hell oppress me." || 

It was Melancthon's greatest affliction, that these evils 
were attributed to him, as indeed he ascribed them himself. 
" One single thing has injured us," said he ; " our not hav- 
ing approved, as was required of us, the edict against the 
Zwinglians." Luther did not take this gloomy view of af- 
fairs ; but he was far from comprehending the force of the 
protest. " The diet," said he, " has come to an end almost 
without results, except that those who scourge Jesus Christ 
have not been able to satisfy their fury."^J 

* Ereptus quasi e faucibus eorum qui sitiunt sanguinein innocentium. 
Mel. ad Camer. 23d April, Corp. Ref. i. 1062. 

f Affluit armata quasdam manus ad comprehendum Grynaeum missa. 
Camer. Vit. Mel. p. 113. 

J Ita fuit perturbatus ut primis diebus pene extinctus sit. Corp. Ref. 
i. 1067. 

Non euim tantum imperium, sed religio etiam periclitantur. Ibid. 

|| Omnes dolores inferni oppresserant me. Ibid. 1067, 1069. 

U Christo-mastiges et Psycho-tyranni suum furorein non potuerunt 
explere. L. Epp. Linco, 6th May 1520 



68 GERMANY AND REFORM. 

Posterity has not ratified this decision, and, on the con- 
trary, dating from this epoch the definitive formation of Pro- 
testantism, it has hailed in the Protest of Spires one of the 
greatest movements recorded in history. 

Let us see to whom the chief glory of this act belongs. 
The part taken by the princes, and especially by the Elector 
of Saxony, in the German Reformation, must strike every 
impartial observer. These are the true reformers the true 
martyrs. The Holy Ghost, that bloweth where it listeth, 
had inspired them with the courage of the ancient confessors 
of the Church ; and the God of election was glorified in 
them. Somewhat later, perhaps, this great part played by 
the princes may have produced deplorable consequences : 
there is no grace of God that man cannot pervert. But no- 
thing should prevent us from rendering honour to whom 
honour is due, and from adoring the work of the eternal 
Spirit in these eminent men who, under God, were in the 
sixteenth century the liberators of Christendom. 

The Reformation had taken a bodily form. It was Luther 
alone who had said No at the Diet of "Worms : but churches 
and ministers, princes and people, said No at the Diet of 
Spires. 

In no country had superstition, scholasticism, hierarchy, 
and popery, been so powerful as among the Germanic nations. 
These simple and candid people had humbly bent their neck 
to the yoke that came from the banks of the Tiber. But 
there was in them a depth, a life, a need of interior liberty, 
which, sanctified by the Word of God, might render them 
the most energetic organs of Christian truth. It was from 
them that was destined to emanate the reaction against that 
material, external, and legal system, which had taken the 
place of Christianity ; it was they who were called to shat- 
ter in pieces the skeleton which had been substituted for the 
spirit and the life, and restore to the heart of Christendom, 
ossified by the hierarchy, the generous beatings of which it 
had been deprived for so many ages. The universal Church 
will never forget the debt it owes to the princes of Spires 
and to Luther. 



UNION NECESSARY TO REFORM. 



CHAPTER VH. 

Union necessary to Reform Luther's Doctrine on the Lord's Supper 
A Lutheran Warning Proposed Conferen.ce at Marburg Melanc- 
thon and Zwingle Zwingle leaves Zurich Rumours in Zurich The 
Reformers at Marburg Carlstadt's Petition Preliminary Discus- 
sionsHoly Ghost Original Sin Baptism Luther, Melancthon, and 
Zwingle Opening of the Conference The Prayer of the Church 
Hoc est Corpus Meum Syllogism of GEcolampadius The Flesh pro- 
fiteth nothing Lambert convinced Luther's Old Song Agitation 
in the Conference Arrival of new Deputies Christ's Humanity 
finite Mathematics and Popery Testimony of the Fathers Testi- 
mony of Augustine Argument of the Velvet Cover End of the Con- 
ference The Landgrave mediates Necessity of Union Luther 
rejects Zwingle's Hand Sectarian Spirit of the Germans Bucer'a 
Dilemma Christian Charity prevails Luther's Report Unity of 
Doctrine Unity in Diversity Signatures Two Extremes Three 
Views Germ of Popery Departure Luther's Dejection Turks 
before Vienna Luther's Battle-sermon and Agony Luther's Firm- 
ness Victory Exasperation of the Papists Threatening Prospects. 

THE Protest of Spires had still further increased the indig- 
nation of the papal adherents ; and Charles the Fifth, 
according to the oath he had made at Barcelona, set about 
preparing " a suitable antidote for the pestilential disease with 
which the Germans were attacked, and to avenge in a strik- 
ing manner the insult offered to Jesus Christ."* The pope, 
on his part, endeavoured to combine all the other princes of 
Christendom in this crusade ; and the peace of Cambray, 
concluded on the 5th August, tended to the accomplishment 
of his cruel designs. It left the emperor's hands free against 
the heretics. After having entered their protest at Spires, 
it was necessary for the evangelicals to think of maintain- 
ing it. 

The protestant states that had already laid the founda- 
tions of an evangelical alliance at Spires, had agreed to send 

* Illatamque Christo injuriam pro viribus ulciscentur. Dumont, Corp. 
Univ. Diplomatique, iv. 1, 5. 



70 LUTHER'S DOCTRINE ON THE LORD'S SUPPER. 

deputies to Rothach ; but the elector, staggered by the repre- 
sentations of Luther, who was continually repeating to him, 
" In returning and rest shall ye be saved ; in quietness and 
in confidence shall be your strength,"* ordered his deputies 
to listen to the propositions of his allies, but to decide upon 
nothing. They adjourned to a new conference, which never 
took place. Luther triumphed ; for human alliances failed. 
" Christ the Lord will know how to deliver us without the 
landgrave, and even against the landgrave," said he to his 
friends.-}- 

Philip of Hesse, who was vexed at Luther's obstinacy, 
was convinced that it arose from a dispute about words. 
" They will hear no mention of alliances because of the 
Zwinglians," said he ; " well then, let us put an end to the 
contradictions that separate them from Luther." 

The union of all the disciples of the Word of God seemed 
in fact a necessary condition to the success of the Reforma- 
tion. How could the Protestants resist the power of Rome 
and of the empire, if they were divided ? The landgrave no 
doubt wished to unite their minds, that he might afterwards 
be able to unite their arms ; but the cause of Christ was not 
to triumph by the sword. If they should succeed in uniting 
their hearts and prayers, the Reformation would then find 
such strength in the faith of its children, that Philip's spear- 
men would no longer be necessary. 

Unfortunately this union of minds, that was now to be 
sought after above all things, was a very difficult task. 
Luther in 1519 had at first appeared not only to reform, but 
entirely renovate the doctrine of the Lord's Supper, as the 
Swiss did somewhat later. " I go to the sacrament of the 
Lord's Supper," he had said, " and I there receive a sign 
from God that Christ's righteousness and passion justify me : 
such is the use of the sacrament."J This discourse, which 
had gone through several impressions in the cities of Upper 

* Isaiah xxx. 15. L. Epp.iii. 454. 

t Unser Herr Christus, &c. Ibid. This confidence of Luther shocks 
a Lutheran historian Plank, ii. 4.14. 
J In the writing entitled, Dass diese Worte nochfeste Stehen. L. Opp. 



A LUTHERAN WARNING. 71 

Germany, had prepared men's minds for the doctrine of 
Zwingle. Accordingly Luther, astonished at the reputation 
he had gained, published this solemn declaration in 1527 : 
" I protest before God and before the whole world that I have 
never walked with the sacramentarians." 

Luther in fact was never Zwinglian as regards the Com- 
munion. Far from that, in 1519, he still believed in Tran- 
substantiation. Why then should he speak of a sign? It 
was for this reason. While, according to Zwingle, the bread 
and wine are signs of the body and blood of Christ ; accord- 
ing to Luther, the very body and blood of Jesus Christ are 
signs of God's grace. These opinions are widely different 
from one another. 

Erelong this disagreement declared itself. In 1527 Zwingle, 
in his Friendly Exposition* refuted Luther's opinion with 
mildness and respect. Unluckily the pamphlet of the Saxon 
reformer, " against the enthusiasts," was then issuing from 
the press, and in it Luther expressed his indignation that his 
adversaries should dare to speak of Christian unity and peace. 
"Well!" exclaimed he, "since they thus insult all reason, I 
will give them a Lutheran warning. -j- Cursed be this con- 
cord ! cursed be this charily ! down, down, with it, to the 
bottomless pit of hell ! If I should murder your father, your 
mother, your wife, your child, and then, wishing to murder 
you, I should say to you, ' Let us be at peace, my dear 
friend !' what answer would you make? It is thus that the 
enthusiasts, who murder Jesus Christ my Lord, God the 
Father, and Christendom my mother, wish to murder me also ; 
and then they say, Let us be friends !" 

Zwingle wrote two replies " to the excellent Martin Luther," 
in a cold tone and with a haughty calmness more difficult to 
pardon than the invectives of the Saxon doctor. " We 
ought to esteem you a vessel of honour, and we do so with 
joy," said he, "notwithstanding your faults." Pamphlet 
followed pamphlet, Luther always writing with the same 

Arnica exegesis,id est, Expositio Eucharistiae negotii ad M. Luther um. 
Zw. Opp. 

f Eiue Lutherische Warming. L. Opp. xix. 391. Wider die Schwarm- 
geister. 



72 PROPOSED CONFERENCE AT MARBURG. 

impetuosity, and Zwingle with unalterable coolness and 
irony. 

Such were the doctors whom the landgrave undertook to 
reconcile. Already, during the sitting of the Diet of Spires, 
Philip of Hesse, who was afflicted at hearing the papists 
continually repeating, " You boast of your attachment to the 
pure Word of God, and yet you are nevertheless disunited,"* 
had made overtures to Zwingle in writing. He now went 
farther, and invited the theologians of the different parties to 
meet at Marburg. These invitations met with various re- 
ceptions. Zwingle, whose heart was large and fraternal, 
answered the landgrave's call ; but it was rejected by Luther, 
who discovered leagues and battles behind this pretended 
concord. 

It seemed, however, that great difficulties would detain 
Zwingle. The road from Zurich to Marburg lay through 
the territories of the emperor and of other enemies to the 
Reformation; the landgrave himself did not conceal the 
dangers of the journey ;-f- but in order to obviate these diffi- 
culties, he promised an escort from Strasburg to Hesse, and 
for the rest "the protection of God."| These precautions 
were not of a nature to reassure the Zurichers. 

Reasons of another kind detained Luther and Melancthon. 
" It is not right," said they, " that the landgrave has so much 
to do with the Zwinglians. Their error is of such a nature 
that people of acute minds are easily tainted by it. Reason 
loves what it understands, particularly when learned men 
clothe their ideas in a scriptural dress." 

Melancthon did not stop here, but put forth the very ex- 
traordinary notion of selecting papists as judges of the dis- 
cussion. " If there were no impartial judges," said he, " the 
Zwinglians would have a good chance of boasting of victory." 
Thus, according to Melancthon, papists would be impartial 
judges when the real presence was the subject of discussion ! 

* Inter nos Ipsos de religionis doctrina non consentire. Zw. Epp. ii. 287. 
t Viarn Francofurdi capias, quara autem hac periculosiorem 6696 
putamus. Ibid. p. 312. 
J Juvanto Deo tuti. Ibid. p. 329. 
Papistische als unparteische. Corp. Ref. i. 1066. 



MELANCTHON AND ZWINQLE. 73 

He went still farther. " Let the elector," he wrote on the 
14th May to the Prince' Electoral, "refuse to permit our 
journey to Marburg, so that we may be able to allege this 
excuse." The elector would not lend himself to so disgrace- 
ful a proceeding; and the reformers of Wittemberg found 
themselves compelled to accede to the request of Philip of 
Hesse. But they did so with these words : " If the Swiss 
do not yield to us, all your trouble will be lost ;" and they 
wrote to the theologians among their friends who were con- 
voked by the prince : " Stay away if you can ; your absence 
will be very useful to us."* 

Zwingle, on the contrary, who would have gone to the end 
of the world, made every exertion to obtain permission from 
the magistrates of Zurich to visit Marburg. " I am con- 
viriced," said he to the secret council, " that if we doctors 
meet face to face, the splendour of truth will illuminate our 
eyes."-J- But the council, that had only just signed the first 
religious peace,f and who feared to see war burst out afresh 
positively refused to allow the departure of the reformer. 

Upon this Zwingle decided for himself. He felt that his 
presence was necessary for the maintenance of peace in 
Zurich ; but the welfare of all Christendom summoned him 
to Marburg. Accordingly, raising his eyes, towards heaven, 
he resolved to depart, exclaiming, " God ! Thou hast 
never abandoned us ; Thou wilt perform thy will for thine 
own glory." During the night of the 31st August, Zwingle, 
who was unwilling to wait for the landgrave's safe-conduct, 
prepared for his journey. Rodolph Collins, the Greek pro- 
fessor, was alone to accompany him. The reformer wrote 
to the Smaller and to the Great Council : " If I leave without 
informing you, it is not, most wise lords, because I despise 
your authority; but, knowing the love you bear towards me, 
I foresee that your anxiety will oppose my going." 

As he was writing these words, a fourth message arrived 

* Si potes, noli adesae. L. Epp. iii. 501. 
f Ut veritatis splendor oculos nostros feriat. Zw. Epp. ii. 321. 
J See below, Book xvi. chap. ii. anno 1529. 

Dei nunquam fallentis, qui nos nunquam deseruit, gratiam reputavi. 
Zw. Epp. ii. 356. 



74 RUMOURS IN ZURICH. 

from the landgrave, more pressing still than the preceding 
ones. The reformer sent the prince's letter to the burgo- 
master with his own ; he then quitted his house privily by 
night,* concealing his departure both from friends, whose 
importunity he feared, and from enemies, whose snares he 
had good cause to dread. He did not even tell his wife 
where he was going, lest it should distress her. He and 
Collins then mounted two horses that had been hired for the 
purpose,-^ and rode off rapidly in the direction of Basle. 

During the day the rumour of Zwingle's absence spread 
through Zurich, and his enemies were elated. " He has fled 
the country," said they ; " he has run away with a pack of 
scoundrels!" "As he was crossing the river at Brack," 
said others, " the boat upset and he was drowned." " The 
devil," affirmed many with a malicious smile, " appeared, to 
him bodily and carried him off.":}: " There was no end to 
their stories," says Bullinger. But the council immediately 
resolved on acceding to the wish of the reformer. On the 
very day of his departure they appointed one of the council- 
lors, TJlrich Funck, to accompany him to Marburg, who 
forthwith set out with one domestic and an arquebusier. 
Strasburg and Basle in like manner sent statesmen in com- 
pany with their theologians, under the idea that this confer- 
ence would doubtless have, also, a political object. 

Zwingle arrived safely at Basle, and embarked on the 
river on the 6th September with (Ecolampadius and several 
merchants.)! In thirteen hours they reached Strasburg, 
where the two reformers lodged in the house of Matthew 
Zell, the cathedral preacher. Catherine, the pastor's wife, 
prepared the dishes in the kitchen, waited at table, accord- 
ing to the ancient German manners,^ and then sitting down 
near Zwingle, listened attentively, and spoke with so much 

* Sabbati die, mane ante lucem, 1 Septembris. Zw. Epp. ii. 356. 

f Equis conductoriis. Ibid. 361. 

J Dei Tufel vere by imm gesin. Bulling, ii. 224. 

Integer et sanua Basiliam pervenit. Zw. Epp. ii. 361. 

|| Aliquos mercatorum fide dignos, comites. Ibid. 

^| Ich bin 14 Tag magd und Kikhin gewesen. Fiissl. Beytr. v. 313. 
See her remarkable correspondence with the superintendent Rabus. Ibid. 
191-364. 



THE REFORMERS AT MARBURG. 75 

piety and knowledge, that the latter soon ranked her above 
many doctors. 

After discussing with the magistrates the means of re- 
sisting the Romish league, and the organization to be given 
to the Christian confederacy,* Zwingle quitted Strasburg ; 
and he and his friends, conducted along by-roads, through 
forests, over mountains and valleys, by secret but sure 
paths, at length reached Marburg, escorted by forty Hessian 
cavaliers.-i- 

Luther, on his side, accompanied by Melancthon, Cruciger, 
and Jonas, had stopped on the Hessian frontier, declaring 
that nothing should induce him to cross it without a safe- 
conduct from the landgrave. This document being obtained, 
Luther arrived at Alsfeld, where the scholars, kneeling under 
the reformer's windows, chanted their pious hymns. He 
entered Marburg on the 30th September, a day after the 
arrival of the Swiss. Both parties went to inns ; but they 
had scarcely alighted, before the landgrave invited them to 
come and lodge in the castle, thinking by this means to 
bring the opposing parties closer together. Philip enter- 
tained them in a manner truly royaLJ " Ahl" said the 
pious Jonas, as he wandered through the halls of the palace, 
" it is not in honour of the Muses, but hi honour of God 
and of his Christ, that we are so munificently treated in these 
forests of Hesse I" After dinner, on the first day, (Ecolam- 
padius, Hedio, and Bucer, desirous of entering into the 
prince's views, went and saluted Luther. The latter con- 
versed affectionately with (Ecolampadius in the castle-court ; 
but Bucer, with whom he had once been very intimate, and 
who was now on Zwingle's side, having approached him, 
Luther said to him, smiling and making a sign with his 
hand : " As for you, you are a good-for-nothing fellow and 
a knave !" 

" De jure praesidendi conciliis civitatum christianarum. Ftissl. Beytr. 
v. 364. See book xvi. of this History. 

t Per devia et sylyas, monies et valles, tutissimos et occultos. Ibid. 
868. 

J Excepit in arce hopitio et mensa regali. Corp. Ref. i. 1096. 

Subridens aliquantulum respondit : tu es nequam et nebula. Sculteti 
Annal. ad 1529. 



76 CARLSTADT'S PETITION. 

The unhappy Carlstadt, who had begun this dispute, was 
at that time in Friesland, preaching the spiritual presence ot 
(Christ, and living in such destitution that he had been forced 
to sell his Hebrew Bible to procure bread. The trial had 
crushed his pride, and he wrote to the landgrave : " We 
are but one body, one house, one people, one sacerdotal race; 
we live and die by one and the same Saviour.* For this 
reason, I, poor and in exile, humbly pray your highness, by 
the blood of Jesus Christ, to allow me to be present at the 
disputation." 

But how bring Luther and Carlstadt face to face ? and 
yet how repel the unhappy man ? The landgrave, to extri- 
cate himself from this difficulty, referred him to the Saxon 
reformer. Carlstadt did not appear. 

Philip of Hesse desired that, previously to the public con- 
ference, the theologians should have a private interview. It 
was however considered dangerous, says a contemporary, for 
Zwingle and Luther, who were both naturally violent, to 
contend with one another at the very beginning; and as 
(Ecolampadius and Melancthon were the mildest, they were 
apportioned to the roughest champions.-}- On Friday, the 
1st October, after divine service, Luther and (Ecolampadius 
were conducted into one chamber, and Zwingle and Melanc- 
thon into another. The combatants were then left to struggle 
two and two. 

The principal contest took place in the room of Zwingle 
and Melancthon. " It is affirmed," said Melancthon. to 
Zwingle, " that some among you speak of God after the 
manner of the Jews, as if Christ was not essentially God." 
" I think on the Holy Trinity," replied Zwingle, " with the 
Council of Nice and the Athanasian creed." " Councils ! 
creeds ! What does that mean ?" asked Melancthon. " Have 
you not continually repeated that you recognise no other 
authority than that of Scripture ? " " We have never rejected 
the councils," replied the Swiss reformer, " when they are 
based on the authority of the Word of God.J The four first 
* State Papers of Cassel. 
t Abgetheilt zu den riihren. Bull. ii. 225. 

t Ubi unquam concilia rejioimus, verbi divini auctoritati suffulta ? 
Zw. Opp. iv. 191. 



MELANCTHON AND ZWIKGLE. 77 

councils are truly sacred as regards doctrine, and none of the 
faithful have ever rejected them." This important declara- 
tion, handed down to us by CEcolampadius, characterizes the 
reformed theology.* 

" But you teach," resumed Melancthon, " like Thomas 
Munster, that the Holy Ghost acts quite alone, independently 
of the sacraments and of the Word of God." " The Holy 
Ghost," replied Zwingle, " works in us justification by the 
Word, but by the Word preached and understood, by the 
soul and the marrow of the Word, by the mind and will of 
God clothed in human language." f 

" At least," continued Melancthon, " you deny original 
sin, and make sin consist only in actual and external works, 
like the Pelagians, the philosophers, and the Papists." 

This was the principal difficulty. " Since man naturally 
loves himself," replied Zwingle, " instead of loving God ; in 
that there is a crime, a sin that condemns him."}: He had 
more than once before expressed the same opinion ; and yet 
Melancthon exulted on hearing him : " Our adversaries," 
said he afterwards, " have given way on all these points !" 

Luther had pursued the same method with CEcolampa- 
dius as Melancthon with Zwingle. The discussion had in 
particular turned on baptism.] | Luther complained that the 
Swiss would not acknowledge that by this simple sacrament 
a man became a member of the Church. " It is true," said 
CEcolampadius, " that we require faith either an actual or 
a future faith. Why should we deny it ? Who is a Chris- 
tian, if it be not he who believes in Christ ? However; I 
should be unwilling to deny that the water of baptism is in 
a certain sense a water of regeneration ; for by it he, whom 
the Church knew not, becomes its child.'TT 

* The word Reformed is used to distinguish the doctrine and the church 
of Zwingle and Calvin from those of Luther. 

+ Meiis et medulla verbi, mens et voluntas Dei amicta tamen humania 
verbis. Zw. Epp. iv. 173. 

J Malum, peccatum. Ibid. 172. 

De peccato originali ad Urb. Rhegium. Ibid. iii. 632. 

H Vol. I. page 145 bot. 

IT Atque adeo ipse non negarim, aquam baptismi ease aquam regene- 
rantem: fit enim puer ecclesiae, qui dudum tb ecclesia non agnosce- 
batur. Zw. Opp. iv 193. 



78 MELANCTHOK AND ZWINGLE. 

These four theologians were in the very heat of their dis- 
cussions, when domestics came to inform them that the 
prince's dinner was on the table. They immediately arose, 
and Zwingle and Melancthon meeting Luther and (Ecolam- 
padius, who were also quitting their chamber, the latter 
approached Zwingle, and whispered mournfully in his ear ; 
" I hare fallen a second time into the hands of Dr. Eck."* 
In the language of the reformers nothing stronger could be 
said. 

It does not appear that the conference between Luther and 
(Ecolampadius was resumed after dinner. Luther's manner 
held out very little hope ; but Melancthon and Zwingle re- 
turned to the discussion, and the Zurich doctor finding the 
Wittemberg professor escape him like an eel, as he said, and 
take " like Proteus a thousand different forms," seized a pen 
in order to fix his antagonist. Zwingle committed to writing 
whatever Melancthon dictated, and then wrote his reply, 
giving it to the other to read.f In this manner they spent six 
hours, three in the morning and three in the afternoon.}: 
They prepared for the general conference. 

Zwingle requested that it should be an open one; this 
Luther resisted. It was eventually resolved that the princes, 
nobles, deputies, and theologians, should be admitted ; but 
a great crowd of citizens, and even many scholars and gentle- 
men, who had come from Frankfort, from the Rhine districts, 
from Strasburg, from Basle and other Swiss towns, were 
excluded. Brentz speaks of fifty or sixty hearers ; Zwingle of 
twenty-four only. 

On a gentle elevation, watered by the Lahn, is situated 
an old castle, overlooking the city of Marburg ; in the dis- 
tance may be seen the beautiful valley of the Lahn, and 
beyond, the mountain-tops rising one above another, until 

* Luthcrum (Ecolampadem ita excepit, ut ad me veniens clam quera- 
tur, se denuo in Eccium incidisse. Zw. Epp. ii. 369. 

f- At Melancthon, cum nimis lubricus esset et Protei in morem se in 
omnia transformaret, me compulit, ut snmpto calamo njanu armarem. 
Ibid. 

J Istud colloquium sex in boras traximus. Ibid. 370. 

Quinquaginta aut sexaginta colloquio prsesentes. Zw. Opp. iv. 201. 
Pauci arbitri ad summum quatuor et yiginti. Epp. ii. 370. 



OPENING OP THE CONFERENCE. 79 

they are lost in the horizon. It was beneath the vaults 
and Gothic arches of an antique chamber in this castle, 
known as the Knight's Hall, that the conference was to 
take place. 

On Saturday morning (2d October) the landgrave took his 
seat ill the hall, surrounded by his court, but in so plain a 
dress that no one would have taken him for a prince. He 
wished to avoid all appearance of acting the part of a Con- 
stantine in the affairs of the Church. Before him was a 
table which Luther, Zwingle, Melancthon, and CEcolampa- 
dius approached. Luther, taking a piece of chalk, bent over 
the velvet cloth which covered it, and steadily wrote four 
words in large characters. All eyes followed the movement 
of his hand, and soon they read Hoc EST CORPUS MEUM.* 
Luther wished to have this declaration continually before 
him, that it might strengthen his own faith, and be a sign 
to his adversaries. 

Behind these four theologians were seated their friends, 
Hedio, Sturm, Funck, Frey, Eberhard, Thane, Jonas, 
Cruciger, and others besides. Jonas cast an inquiring 
glance upon the Swiss : " Zwingle," said he, " has a certain 
rusticity and arrogance ;f if he is well versed in letters, it is 
in spite of Minerva and of the muses. In CEcolampadius 
there is a natural goodness and admirable meekness. Hedio 
seems to have as much liberality as kindness ; but Bucer 
possesses the cunning of a fox, that knows how to give 
himself an air of sense and prudence." Men of moderate 
sentiments often meet with worse treatment than those of 
the extreme parties. 

Other feelings animated those who contemplated this 
assembly from a distance. The great men who had led 
the people in their footsteps on the plains of Saxony, on the 
banks of the Rhine, and in the lofty valleys of Switzerland, 
were there met face to face : the chiefs of Christendom who 
had separated from Rome, were come together to see if they 
could remain one. Accordingly, from all parts of Germany, 

* This is my body. Zw. Opp. iv. 175. 

t In Zwinglio agreste quiddam est et arrogantulnm. Corp. Ref. i. 
p. 1097. 



80 HOC EST CORPUS MEUM. 

prayers and anxious looks were directed towards Marburg. 
" Illustrious princes of the Word," * cried the evangelical 
Church through the mouth of the poet Cordus, " penetrating 
Luther, mild (Ecolampadius, magnanimous Zwingle, pious 
Snepf, eloquent Melancthon, courageous Bucer, candid Hedio, 
excellent Osiander, valiant Brentz, amiable Jonas, fiery 
Craton, Msenus, whose soul is stronger than his body, great 
Dionysius, and you Myconius all you whom Prince Philip, 
that illustrious hero, has summoned, ministers and bishops, 
whom the Christian cities have sent to terminate the schism, 
and to show us the way of truth ; the suppliant Church 
falls weeping at your feet, and begs you by the bowels of 
Jesus Christ to bring this matter to a happy issue, that 
the world may acknowledge in your resolution the work of 
the Holy Ghost himself." f 

The landgrave's chancellor, John Feige, having reminded 
them in the prince's name that the object of this colloquy 
was the re-establishment of union, " I protest," said Luther, 
" that I differ from my adversaries with regard to the doc- 
trine of the Lord's Supper, and that I shall always differ 
from them. Christ has said, This is my body. Let them 
show me that a body is not a body. I reject reason, common 
sense, carnal arguments, and mathematical proofs. God is 
above mathematics. J We have the Word of God; we 
must adore it and perform it !" 

" It cannot be denied," said (Ecolampadius, " that there 
are figures of speech in the Word of God ; as John is Elias, 
the rock was Christ, I am the vine. The expression This is 
my body, is a figure of the same kind." Luther granted 
that there were figures in the Bible, but denied that this last 
expression was figurative. 

All the various parties, however, of which the Christian 
Church is composed see a figure in these words. In fact, 
the Romanists declare that This is my body signifies not 

* Ineignes verbi proceres. Bull. ii. 236. 
t Et cupido supplex vobia Ecclesia voto 
Vestros cadit flens ad pedes. Ibid. 
J Deum esse supra mathematicam. Zw. Opp. iv. 175. 



SYLLOGISM OF CECOLAMPADIUS. 81 

only " my body," but also " my blood," " my soul," and even 
" my Divinity," and " Christ wholly." * These words, there- 
fore according to Rome, are a synecdoche, a figure by which 
a part is taken for the whole. And, as regards the Lutherans, 
the figure is still more evident.-j- Whether it be synecdoche, 
metaphor, or metonymy, there is still a figure. 

In order to prove it, (Ecolampadius employed this syl- 
logism : 

" What Christ rejected in the sixth chapter of St. John, 
he could not admit in the words of the Eucharist. 

" Now Christ, who said to the people of Capernaum, 
The flesh profited nothing, rejected by those very words the 
oral manducation of his body. 

" Therefore he did not establish it at the institution of his 
Supper." 

LUTHER. " I deny the minor (the second of these pro- 
positions) ; Christ has not rejected all oral manducation, 
but only a material manducation, like that of the flesh of 
oxen or of swine." J 

(ECOLAMPADIUS. " There is danger in attributing too 
much to mere matter." 

LUTHER. " Everything that God commands becomes 
spirit and life. If we lift up a straw, by the Lord's order, 
^n that very action we perform a spiritual work. We 
must pay attention to him who speaks, and not to what he 
says. God speaks : Men, worms, listen ! God commands : 
let the world obey ! and let us all together fall down and 
humbly kiss the Word." 

(ECOLAMPADIUS. " But since we have the spiritual eating, 
what need of the bodily one ?" 

LUTHER. " I do not ask what need we have of it ; but 
I see it written, Eat, this is my body. We must therefore 

* If any one denies that the body and blood of our Saviour Jesus 
Christ, with his soul and his divinity, and consequently the whole Jesus 
Christ (totum Christum), is contained ia the 'Sacrament of the Eucharist, 
let him be anathema. Council of Trent, sess. 13. 

t Tota Christi persona. Form, concord, viii. 

J Qualis est carnis bovillse aut suillao. Scult. p. 217. 

Qunjn prrecipit quid, pareat mundns ; et cranes osculemur verbum. 
Zw. Opp. iv. 176. 

VOL. iv. 5 



82 THE FLESH PROFITETH NOTHING. 

believe and do. We must do we must dol* If God 
should order me to eat dung ,1 would do it, with the assur- 
ance that it would be salutary." -J- 

At this point Zwiugle interfered in the discussion. 

" We must explain Scripture by Scripture," said he. 
" We cannot admit two kinds of corporeal manducation, as 
if Jesus had spoken of eating, and the Capernaites of tearing 
in pieces, for the same word is employed in both cases. 
Jesus says that to eat his flesh corporeally profiteth nothing 
(John vi. 63) ; whence it would result that he had given us 
in the Supper a thing that would be useless to us. Besides, 
there are certain words that seem to me rather childish, 
the dung, for instance. The oracles of the demons were 
obscure, not so are those of Jesus Christ." 

LUTHER. " When Christ says the flesh profiteth nothing, 
he speaks not of his own flesh, but of ours." 

ZWINGLE. " The soul is fed with the Spirit and not with 
the flesh." 

LUTHER. " It is with the mouth that we eat the body ; 
the soul does not eat it."J 

ZWINGLE. " Christ's body is therefore a corporeal nourish- 
ment, and not a spiritual." 

LUTHER. " You are captious." 

ZWTNGLE. " Not so ; but you utter contradictory things." 

LUTHER. " If God should present me wild apples, I 
should eat them spiritually. In the Eucharist, the mouth 
receives the body of Christ, and the soul believes in his 
words." 

Zwingle then quoted a great number of passages from 
the Holy Scriptures, in which the sign is described by the 
very thing signified ; and thence concluded that, consider- 
ing our Lord's declaration in St. John, The flesh profiteih 
nothing, we must explain the words of the Eucharist in a 
similar manner. 

Many hearers were struck by these arguments. Among 
the Marburg professors sat the Frenchman Lambert; his 

* Man mus es thun ssepe inculcabat. Zw. Opp. iv. 176. 

t Si juberet fimum comedere, facerem. Ibid. 

Anima non edit ipsum (corpus) corporaliter. Zw. Epp, ii. 370. 



UJTIIER S OLD SONG. 83 

tall and spare frame was violently agitated, lie had been 
at first of Luther's opinion,* and was then hesitating he- 
tween the two reformers'. As he went to the conference, he 
said : " I desire to be a sheet of blank paper, on which the 
finger of God may write his truth." Erelong he exclaimed, 
after hearing Zwingle and (Ecolampadius : " Yes ! the Spirit, 
'tis that which vivifies !"}- When this conversion was 
known, the Wittembergers, shrugging their shoulders, called 
it " Gallic fickleness." " What 1" replied Lambert, " was St. 
Paul fickle because he was converted from Pharisaism? 
And have we ourselves been fickle in abandoning the lost 
sects of popery?" 

Luther was, however, by no means shaken. " This is my 
body" repeated he, pointing with his finger to the words 
written before him. " This is my body. The devil himself 
shall not drive me from that. To seek to understand it, is 
to fall away from the faith." J 

" But, doctor," said Zwingle, " St. John explains how 
Christ's body is eaten, and you will be obliged at last to 
leave off singing always the same song." 

" You make use of unmannerly expressions," replied 
Luther. The Wittembergers themselves called Zwingle's 
argument " his old song." || Zwingle continued without 
being disconcerted : " I ask you, doctor, whether Christ in 
the sixth chapter of St. John did not wish to reply to the 
question that had been put to him ?" 

LUTHER. " Master Zwingle, you wish to stop my mouth 
by the arrogancy of your language. That passage has 
nothing to do here." 

ZWINGLE, hastily. " Pardon me, doctor, that passage 
breaks your neck." 

LUTHER. " Do not boast so much ! You are in Hesse, 

* See his commentary on St. Luke xxii. 19, 20. 

f He added, that the body of Christ was in the Eucharist neither ma- 
thematically or commensurably, nor really (neque mathematice sea oom- 
mensurative, neque re ipsa). Epist. Lamb, de Marb. col. 

J Si interrogo, excido a fide. Zw. Epp. ii. 177. 

Invidiose loqueris. Bull. ii. 228. 

|| Veterem suam cantilenam. Zw. Opp. iv. 221. 



84 AGITATION IN THE CONFERENCE. 

and not in Switzerland. In this country we do not break 
people's necks." 

Then turning towards his friends, Luther complained 
bitterly of Zwingle ; as if the latter had really wished to 
break his neck. " He makes use of camp terms and blood- 
stained words," said he.* Luther forgot that he had em- 
ployed a similar expression in speaking of Carlstadt. 

ZWINGLE resumed : " In Switzerland also there is strict 
justice, and we break no man's neck without trial. That 
expression signifies merely that your cause is lost and 
hopeless." ' 

Great agitation prevailed in the Knight's Hall. The 
roughness of the Swiss and the obstinacy of the Saxon had 
come into collision. The landgrave, fearing to behold the 
failure of his project of conciliation, nodded assent to 
Zwingle's explanation. " Doctor," said he to Luther, " you 
should not be offended at such common expressions." It 
was in vain: the agitated sea could not again be calmed. 
The prince therefore arose, and they all repaired to the 
banqueting hall. After dinner they resumed their tasks. 

" I believe," said Luther, "'that Christ's body is in heaven, 
but I also believe that it is in the sacrament. It concerns 
me little whether it be against nature, provided that it be 
not against faith.f Christ is substantially in the sacrament, 
such as he was born of the Virgin." 

CEcoLAMPADius, quoting a passage from St. Paul : " We 
know not Jesus Christ after the flesh." | 

LUTHEK. " After the flesh means, in this passage, after 
our carnal affections." 

(ECOLAMPADIUS. " You will not allow that there is a 
metaphor in these words, This is my body, and yet you ad- 
mit a synecdoche." 

LUTHEK. " Metaphor permits the existence of a sign 
only ; but it is not so with synecdoche. If a man says he 

* Verbum istud, tanquam castrense et cruentum. Hospin. p. 131. 
-f- Non euro quod sit contra naturam, modo non contra fidem. Zw. 
Opp. iv. 178. J 2 Cor. r. 16. 

Pro carnalibus affectibus. Zw. Opp. iv. p. 202. 



ARRIVAL Ofr NEW DEPUTIES. 85 

wishes to drink a bottle, we understand that he means the 
beer in the bottle. Christ's body is in the bread, as a 
sword in the scabbard,* or as the Holy Ghost in the dove." 

The discussion was proceeding in this manner, when 
Osiander, pastor of Nuremberg, Stephen Agricola, pastor of 
Augsburg, and Brentz, pastor of Halle in Swabia, author of 
the famous Syngramma, entered the hall. These also had 
been invited by the landgrave. But Brentz, to whom 
Luther had written that he should take care not to appear, 
had no doubt by his indecision retarded his own departure 
as well as that of his friends. Places were assigned them 
near Luther and Melancthon. " Listen, and speak if 
necessary," they were told. They took but little advantage 
of this permission. " All of us, except Luther," said Melanc- 
thon, " were silent personages." -{ 

The struggle continued. 

When Zwingle saw that exegesis was not sufficient for 
Luther, he added dogmatical theology to it, and, subsidi- 
arily, natural philosophy. 

" I oppose you," said he, " with this article of our faith : 
Ascendit in cwlum he ascended into heaven. If Christ is in 
heaven as regards his body, how can he be in the bread ? 
The Word of God teaches us that he was like his brethren 
in all things (Heb. ii. 17). He therefore cannot be in several 
places at once." 

LUTHER. " Were I desirous of reasoning thus, I would 
undertake to prove that Jesus Christ had a wife ; that he 
had black eyes, J and lived in our good country of Germany. 
I care little about mathematics." 

" There is no question of mathematics here," said Zwingle, 
" but of St. Paul, who writes to the Philippians, pogpfiv 
SoiXou XajSuv." \\ 

LUTHER, interrupting him. " Read it to us in Latin or 
in German, not in Greek." 

ZWINGLE (in Latin). " Pardon me : for twelve years 

* Corpus est in pane sicut gladius in vagina. Zw. Opp. iv. 202. 

f Fuimus xu$a. x-^'atrutm.. Corp. Ref. i. 1098. 

t Quod uxorem et uigros oculos habuisset. Scultet. p. 225. 

In Germania diuturnum contubernium egisse. Zw. Opp. iv. 209. 

I! Having taken the form of a scTvant. Phil. ii. 7. 



86 MATHEMATICS AND POPERY. 

past I have made use of the Greek Testament only." Then 
continuing to read the passage, he concluded from it that 
Christ's humanity is of a finite nature like our own. 

LUTHER, pointing to the words written before him. " Most 
dear sirs, since my Lord Jesus Christ says, Hoc est corpus 
meum, I believe that his body is really there." 

Here the scene grew animated. Zwingle started from his 
chair, sprung towards Luther, and said, striking the table 
before him :* 

" You maintain then, doctor, that Christ's body is locally 
in the Eucharist ; for you say Christ's body is really there 
there there" repeated Zwingle. " There is an adverb of 
place.-}- Christ's body is then of such a nature as to exist in 
a place. If it is in a place, it is in heaven, whence it fol- 
lows that it is not in the bread." 

LUTHER. " I repeat that I have nothing to do with ma- 
thematical proofs. As soon as the words of consecration 
are pronounced over the bread, the body is there, however 
wicked be the priest who pronounces them." 

ZWINGLE. " You are thus re-establishing Popery." J 

LUTHER. " This is not done through the priest's merits, 
but because of Christ's ordinance. I will not, when Christ's 
body is in question, hear speak of a particular place. I 
absolutely will not." 

ZWINGLE. " Must every thing, then, exist precisely as 
you will it?" 

The landgrave perceived that the discussion was growing 
hot ; and as the repast was waiting, he broke off the con- 
test. 

The conference was continued on the next day Sunday, the 
3d October, perhaps because of an epidemic (the Sweating 
Sickness) that had just broken out at Marburg, and which 
did not allow any great prolongation of the colloquy. 
Luther, returning to the discussion of the previous even- 
ing, said : 

* Ibi Zwinglius illico prosiliens. Scultet. p. 225. 
+ Da, da, da. Ibi est adverbium loci. Ibid. 
J Damit richtend ir das papstum uf. Zw. Opp. iii. 57. 
Coena instabat et diremit certamen. Ibid. iv. 179. 



TESTIMONY OF THE FATHEBS. 87 

" Christ's body is in the sacrament, but it is not there as 
in a place." 

ZWINGLE. " Then it is not there at all." 

LUTHER. " Sophists say, that a body may very well be 
in several places at once. The universe is a body, and yet 
we cannot assert that it is in a particular place." 

ZWINGLE. " Ah ! you speak of sophists, doctor ; are you 
really after all obliged to return to the onions and flesh pots 
of Egypt ?* As for what you say, that the universe is in no 
particular place, I beg all intelligent men to weigh this 
proof." Then Zwingle, who, whatever Luther may have 
said, had more than one arrow in his quiver, after establish- 
ing his proposition by exegesis and philosophy, resolved on 
confirming it by the testimony of the Fathers of the Church. 

" Listen," said he, " to what Fulgentius, bishop of Ruspa 
in Numidia, said, in the fifth century, to Trasamond, king of 
the Vandals : " The Son of God took the attributes of true 
humanity, and did not lose those of true divinity. Born in 
time, according to his mother, he lives in eternity according 
to the divinity that he holds from the Father : coming from 
man, he is man, and consequently in a place ; proceeding 
from the Father, he is God, and consequently present in 
every place. According to his human nature, he was absent 
from heaven while he was upon earth, and quitted the earth 
when he ascended into heaven ; but, according to his divine 
nature, he remained in heaven, when he came down thence, 
and did not abandon the earth when he returned thither." { 

But Luther still replied : " It is written, This is my body" 
Zwingle, becoming impatient, said, " All that is idle wrang- 
ling. An obstinate disputant might also maintain this 
expression of our Saviour to his mother, Behold thy son, 
pointing to St. John. Vain would be every explanation, he 
would continue crying No, no ! He said Ecce filius tuus, 
Behold thy son, behold thy son! Listen to anew testimony; 
it is from the great Augustine : ' Let us not think,' says he, 

* Ad csepas et ollas ^Egyptiacas. Zw. Opp. ii. part 3, 57. 

t Secundum humanam substantiam, absens coelo, cum eseet in terra, 
et derelinquens terram cum ascendisset in coelum. Fulgentius to King 
Trasamond, lib. ii. 

I 



88 TESTIMONT OF AUGUSTINE. 

' that Christ, according to his human form, ig present in 
every place ; let us beware, in our endeavour to establish 
his divinity, of taking away his truth from his body. Christ 
is noAv everywhere present, like God ; and yet, in conse- 
quence of his real body, he is in a definite part of heaven." * 

" St. Augustine," replied Luther, " is not here speaking 
of the Eucharist. Christ's body is not in the Eucharist, as 
in a place." 

CEcolampadius saw that he might take advantage of this 
assertion of Luther's. " The body of Christ," said he, " is 
not locally in the Eucharist, therefore no real body is there ; 
fcr every one knows that the essence of a body is its exist- 
ence in a place." 

Here finished the morning's discussion. 

CEcolampadius, upon reflection, felt convinced that Luther's 
assertion might be looked upon as an approximation. " I 
remember," said he after dinner, " that the doctor conceded 
this morning that Christ's body was not in the sacrament as 
in a place. Let us therefore inquire amicably what is the 
nature of Christ's bodily presence." 

" You will not make me take a step further," exclaimed 
Luther, who saw where they wished to drag him ; " you 
have Fulgentius and Augustine on your side, but all the 
other Fathers are on ours." 

CEcolampadius, who seemed to the Wittembergers to be 
vexatiously precise,f then said, " Name these doctors." We 
will take upon ourselves to prove that they are of our 
opinion." 

" We will not name them to you,"J said Luther. " It 
was in his youth," added he, " that Augustine wrote what 
you have quoted; and, besides, he is an obscure author." 
Then, retreating to the ground which he had resolved never 
to quit, he was no longer content to point his finger at the 
inscription, Hoc est corpus meum, but seized the velvet cover 
on which the words were written, tore it off the table, held 

* In loco aliquo coeli propter veri corporis modura. Aug. Ep. p. 57. 
f Q,uem oranes sperassemus mitiorem, interdura videbatur paulo inoro 
sior, sed citra contumeliam. Z\v. Opp. iv. 201. 
J Non nominabimus illos. Scnltot. p. 228. 



END OF THE CONFERENCE. 89 

it up in front of Zwingle and (Ecolampadius, and placing it 
before their eyes,* " See !" said he, " see ! This is our text : 
you have not yet driven us from it, as you had boasted, and 
we care for no other proofs." 

" If this be the case," said (Ecolampadius, " we had better 
leave off the discussion. But I will first declare, that, if we 
quote the Fathers, it is only to free our doctrine from the 
reproach of novelty, and not to support our cause by their 
authority." No better definition can be given of the legiti- 
mate use of the doctors of the Church. 

There was no reason, in fact, for prolonging the confer- 
ence. "As Luther was of an intractable and imperious 
disposition," says even his great apologist Seckendorf, " he 
did not cease from calling upon the Swiss to submit simply 
to his opinion."-}- 

The chancellor, alarmed at such a termination of the 
colloquy, exhorted the theologians to come to some under- 
standing. " I know but one means for that," said Luther ; 
" and this it is : Let our adversaries believe as we do." 
" We cannot," answered the Swiss. " Well then," rejoined 
Luther, " I abandon you to God's judgment, and pray that 
he will enlighten you." " We will do the same," added 
(Ecolampadius. 

While these words were passing, Zwingle sat silent, 
motionless, and deeply moved; and the liveliness of his 
affections, of which he had given more than one proof during 
the conference, was then manifested in a very different 
manner. He burst into tears in the presence of all. 

The conference was ended. It had been in reality more 
tranquil than the documents seem to show, or perhaps the 
chroniclers appreciated such matters differently from our- 
selves. " With the exception of a few sallies, all had passed 
off quietly, in a courteous manner, and with very great 
gentleness," says an eye-witness.:]: " During the colloquy no 

* Da hub Luther die Sammatendeck auf, und Zeigt ihm den Spruch, 
den er mit kreyden hett fiir sich geschrieben. Osiander ; Niederer's 
Nachrichten, Si. 1 14. 

t Lutherus Yero ut erat fero et imperioso ingenio. Seek. p. 136. 

J Omnia humanissime et summa cum mansuetudine transigebantnr. 
Zw. Opp. iv.201. 



90 THE LANDGRAVE MEDIATES. 

other words than these were heard : ' Sir, and very dear 
friend, your charity,' or other similar expressions. Not a 
word of schism or of heresy. It might have been said that 
Luther and Zwingle were brothers, and not adversaries." * 
This is the testimony of Brentz. But these flowers concealed 
an abyss, and Jonas, also an eye-witness, styles the con- 
ference " a very sharp con test." { 

The contagion that had suddenly broken out in Marburg 
was creating frightful ravages, and filled everybody with 
alarm.:j: All were anxious to leave the city. " Sirs," re- 
marked the landgrave, " you cannot separate thus." And 
desirous of giving the doctors an opportunity of meeting one 
another with minds unoccupied by theological debates, he 
invited them to his table. This was Sunday night. 

Philip of Hesse had all along shown the most constant 
attention, and each one imagined him to be on his side. " I 
would rather place my trust in the simple words of Christ, 
than in the subtle thoughts of man," was a remark he made, 
according to Jonas ; but Zwingle affirmed that this prince 
entertained the same opinions as himself, although with 
regard to certain persons he dissembled the change. Luther, 
sensible of the weakness of his defence as to the declarations 
of the Fathers, transmitted a note to Philip, in which several 
passages were pointed out from Hilary, Chrysostom, Cy- 
prian, Irenseus, and Ambrose, which he thought were in his 
favour. 

The time of departure drew near, and nothing had been 
done. The landgrave toiled earnestly at the union, as Luther 
wrote to his wife.[| He invited the theologians one after 
another into his closet ;^f he pressed, entreated, warned, ex- 
horted, and conjured them. " Think," said he, " of the 
salvation of the Christian republic, and remove all discord 

* Amicissime Domine, Vestra charitas, et id genus Dixisses Lu- 

therum et Zwinglium non adversaries. Zw. Opp. iv. 201. 

f Acerrimo certamine. Corp. Ref. i. 1096. 

J Nisi Sudor Anglicus subito Marburgum invasisset et terrore omnium 
animos percutisset. Hospin. p. 131. , 

Dicitur palam proclamasse. Corp. Ref. p. 1097. " 

|| Da arbeit der Landgraf heftig. L. Epp. iii. 512. 

^1 Unumquemque nostrum seorsim absque arbitris. Zw. Opp. iv. 20S. 



NECESSITY OF UNION. 91 

from its bosom."* Never had general at the head of an 
army taken such pains to win a battle. 

A final meeting took place, and undoubtedly the Church 
has seldom witnessed one of greater solemnity. Luther and 
Zwingle, Saxony and Switzerland, met for the last time. 
The sweating sickness was carrying off men around them 
by thousands ;f Charles the Fifth and the pope were uniting 
in Italy; Ferdinand and the Roman-catholic princes were 
preparing to tear in pieces the Protest of Spires; the 
thunder-cloud became more threatening every day ; union 
alone seemed capable of saving the Protestants, and the 
hour of departure was about to strike an hour that would 
separate them perhaps for ever. 

" Let us confess our union in all things in which we 
agree," said Zwingle ; " and as for the rest, let us remember 
that we are brothers. There will never be peace between 
the churches if, while we maintain the grand doctrine of 
salvation by faith, we cannot differ on secondary points."}: 
Such is, in fact, the true principle of Christian union. The 
sixteenth century was still too deeply sunk in scholasticism 
to understand this : let us hope that the nineteenth century 
will comprehend it better. 

" Yes, yes!" exclaimed the landgrave; " you agree ! Give 
then a testimony of your unity, and recognise one another as 
brothers." " There is no one upon earth with whom I more 
desire to be united, than with you," said Zwingle, approach- 
ing the Wittemberg doctors. (Ecolampadius, Bucer, and 
Hedio said the same. s 

" Acknowledge them ! acknowledge them as brothers ! " 
continued the landgrave. || Their hearts were moved ; they 
were on the eve of unity : Zwingle, bursting into tears, in 
the presence of the prince, the courtiers, and divines (it is 

* Compellans, rogans, monens, exhortans, postulans ut Reipublicre 
Christianas rationed haberemus, et discordiam e media tolloremus. Zw. 
Opp. iv. 203. 

t Multa perierunt millia. Hospin. p. 131. 

Quod nulla unquam Ecclesiarum pax constituta sit, si non in multls 
aliis dissentiendi a se facultatem faciant. Scultet. p. 207. 

Es werendt kerne liith uff Erden. Bull. ii. 225. 

H Idque Princeps valds urgebat. L. Epp. iii. 513. 



92 SECTARIAK SPIRIT OF THE GERMANS. 

Luther himself who records this),* approached Luther, and 
held out his hand. The two families of the Reformation 
were about to be united : long quarrels were about to be 
stifled in their cradle ; but Luther rejected the hand that was 
offered him : " You have a different spirit from ours," said 
he. These words communicated to the Swiss, as it were, an 
electric shock. Their hearts sunk each time Luther repeated 
them, and he did so frequently. He himself is our in- 
formant. 

A brief consultation took place among the Wittemberg 
doctors. Luther, Melancthon, Agricola, Brentz, Jonas, and 
Osiander, conferred together. Convinced that their peculiar 
doctrine on the eucharist.was essential to salvation, they 
considered all those who rejected it as without the pale of 
the faith. "What folly !"f said Melancthon, who after- 
wards nearly coincided with Zwingle's sentiments : " they 
condemn us, and yet they desire we should consider them as 
our brothers !" " What versatility!" added Brentz : "they 
accused us but lately of worshipping a bread-god, and they 
now ask for communion with us !"J Then, turning towards 
Zwingle and his friends, the Wittembergers said : " You do 
not belong to the communion of the Christian Church ; we 
cannot acknowledge you as brethren !" 

The Swiss were far from partaking of this sectarian spirit. 
" We think," said Bucer, " that your doctrine strikes at the 
glory of Jesus Christ, who now reigns at the right hand of 
the Father. But seeing that in all things you acknowledge 
your dependence on the Lord, we look at your conscience, 
which compels you to receive the doctrine you profess, and 
we do not doubt that you belong to Christ." 

" And we," said Luther " we declare to you once more 
that our conscience opposes our receiving you as brethren." 
" If such is the case," replied Bucer, " it would be folly to 
ask it." 

* Zwinglius palam lacrymans coram Langravio et omnibus. Hospin. 
p. 136. 

t Vide eorum stultitiam ! Corp. Ref. i. 1108. 

Nos tanquam adoratores panifici Dei traduxerant. Zw. Opp. iv. 
203. 

Eos a communione Ecclesia> Christiana alienos ease. Ibid. 



BCTCEE'S DILEMMA. 93 

" I am exceedingly astonished that you wish to consider me 
as your brother," pursued Luther. " It shows clearly that 
you do not attach much importance to your own doctrine." 

" Take your choice," said Bucer, proposing a dilemma to 
the reformer : " either you should not acknowledge as 
brethren those who differ from you in any point and if so, 
you will not find a single brother in your own ranks* or 
else you will receive some of those who differ from you, and 
then you ought to receive us." 

The Swiss had exhausted their solicitations. " "We are 
conscious," said they, " of having acted as if in the presence 
of God. Posterity will be our witness." f They were on 
the point of retiring : Luther remained like a rock, to the 
landgrave's great indignation. J The Hessian divines, Kraft, 
Lambert, Snepf, Lonicer, and Melander, united their exer- 
tions to those of the prince. 

Luther was staggered, and conferred anew with his col- 
leagues. " Let us beware," said he to his friends, " of wip- 
ing our noses too roughly, lest blood should come." 

Then turning to Zwingle and (Ecolampadius, they said : 
" We acknowledge you as friends ; we do not consider you 
as brothers and members of Christ's Church. [| But we do 
not exclude you from that universal charity which we owe 
even to our enemies." ^[ 

The hearts of Zwingle, (Ecolampadius, and Bucer, were 
ready to burst,** for this concession was almost a new insult. 
" Let us carefully avoid all harsh and violent words and 
writings," said they ; " and let each one defend himself 
without railing." ff 

Luther then advanced towards the Swiss, and said : " We 

* Nemo alter! vel inter ipsos frater erit. Zvr. Opp. ir. 194. 

+ Id testabitur posteritas. Ibid. 

J Principi illud durum videbatur. Ibid. 203. 

No nimis mungendo, sanguinem eliceremus. L. Epp. in his letter 
written to Gerbellius on the same day Monday. 

|| Agnoscere quidem velimus tanquam amicos, sed non tanquam fratres. 
Zw. Opp. iv. 203. 

^f Charitate quse etiam hosti debetur. Ibid. 190. 

** Indignissime affecti sunt. Ibid. 

++ Quisque suam sententiam doceat absque invectivis. L. Epp. iii. 
614. 



94 LUTHER'S REPORT TO THE CONFERENCE. 

consent, and I offer you the hand of peace and charity." 
The Swiss rushed in great emotion towards the Wittem- 
bergers, and all shook hands.* Luther himself was softened : 
Christian charity resumed her rights in his heart. " Assur- 
edly," said he, " a great portion of the scandal is taken away 
by the suppression of our fierce debates ; we could not have 
hoped for so much. May Christ's hand remove the last ob- 
stacle that separates us.f There is now a friendly concord 
between us, and if we persevere in prayer, brotherhood will 
come.' 

It was desirable to confirm this important result by a re- 
port. " We must let the Christian world know," said the 
landgrave, " that, except the manner of the presence of the 
body and blood in the eucharist, you are agreed in all the 
articles of faith." \ This was resolved on ; but who should 
be charged with drawing up the paper? All eyes were 
turned upon Luther. The Swiss themselves appealed to his 
impartiality. 

Luther retired to his closet, lost in thought, uneasy, and 
finding the task very difficult. " On the one hand," said he, 
" I should like to spare their weakness ; but, on the other, 
I would not in the least degree strike at the holy doctrine of 
Christ." He did not know how to set about it, and his 
anguish increased. He got free at last. " I will draw up 
the articles," said he, " in the most accurate manner. Do 
I not know that whatever I may write, they will never sign 
them? "|| Erelong fifteen articles were committed to paper, 
and Luther, holding them in his hand, repaired to the theo- 
logians of the two parties. 

These articles are of importance. The two doctrines that 
were evolved in Switzerland and in Saxony, independently 
of each other, were brought together and compared. If 

* Dedimus tamen manus pacis et caritatis. L. Epp. iii. 513. 

t Urtnam et ille reliquus scrupulus per Christum tandem tollatur, in 
his letter written to Gerbellius, after leaving this meeting. 

J Ut orbi Christiano notum fieret eos in omnibus fidei capitibus con- 
Bentiro. Hospin. p. 127. 

Het gern ihrer Schwachheit verschont. Niederer Nachr. ii. 120. 

|| Doch zuletz sprach er Ich will die artikel auf aller besste stellcn, ay 
werdens doch nicht anaemeu. Ibid. 



UNITY OF DOCTRINE. 95 

they were of man, there would be found in them a servile 
uniformity, or a remarkable opposition. This was not the 
case. A great unity was found between the German and 
the Swiss Reformations, for they both proceeded from the 
same Divine teaching ; and a diversity on secondary points, 
for it was by man's instrumentality that God had effected them. 

Luther took his paper, and reading the first article, said : 

" First, we believe that there is one sole, true, and natural 
God, creator of heaven and earth and of all creatures ; and 
that this same Go*!, one in essence and in nature, is three- 
fold in person, that is to say, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, 
as was declared in the Nicene Council, and as all the Christian 
Church professes." 

To this the Swiss gave their assent. 

They were agreed also on the divinity and humanity of 
Jesus Christ ; on his death and resurrection, on original sin, 
justification by faith, the operation of the Holy Ghost and of 
the Word of God, baptism, good works, confession, civil order, 
and tradition. 

Thus far all were united. The Wittembergers could not 
recover from their astonishment.* The two parties had re- 
jected, on the one hand, the errors of the papists, who make 
religion little more than an outward form ; and, on the other, 
those of the Enthusiasts, who speak exclusively of internal 
feelings ; and they were found drawn up under the same ban- 
ners between these two camps. But the moment was come 
that would separate them. Luther had kept till the last the 
article on the Eucharist. 

The reformer resumed : 

" We all believe with regard to the Lord's Supper, that it 
ought to be celebrated in both kinds, according to the pri- 
mitive institution ; that the mass is not ^a work by which a 
Christian obtains pardon for another man, whether dead or 
alive ; that the sacrament of the altar is the sacrament of 
the very body and very blood of Jesus Christ ; and that the 
spiritual manducation of this body and blood is specially 
necessary to every true Christian." f 

* Quod mirari non satis potuimus. Brentius, Zw. Opp. iv. 203. 

+ Quod spiritualis manducatio hujus corporis et sanguinis unicuiquc 
Christiano pneeipue necessaria sit. Scultet. p. 232. 



96 UNITY IN DIVEKSITY SIGNATURES. 

It was now the turn of the Swiss to be astonished. Luther 
continued : 

" In like manner, as to the use of the sacrament, we are 
agreed that, like the Word, it was ordained of Almighty 
God, in order that weak consciences might be excited by the 
Holy Ghost to faith and charity." 

The joy of the Swiss was redoubled. Luther continued : 
"And although at present we are not agreed on.the question 
whether the real body and blood of Christ are corporeally 
present in the bread and wine, yet both the interested parties 
shall cherish more and more a truly Christian charity for one 
another, so far as conscience permits; and we will all earnestly 
implore the Lord to condescend by his Spirit to confirm us in 
the sound doctrine."* 

The Swiss obtained what they had asked: unity in diversity. 
It was immediately resolved to hold a solemn meeting for the 
signature of the articles. 

They were read over again. (Ecolampadius, Zwingle, 
Bucer, and Hedio, signed them first on one copy; while 
Luther, Melancthon, Jonas, Osiander, Brentz, and Agricola, 
wrote their names on the other : both parties then subscribed 
the copy of their adversaries, and this important document 
was sent to the press.-j- 

Thus the Reformation had made a sensible step at Mar- 
burg. The opinion of Zwingle on the spiritual presence, 
and of Luther on the bodily presence, are both found in 
Christian antiquity ; but both the extreme doctrines have 
been always rejected : that of the Rationalists, on the one 
hand, who behold in the Eucharist, nothing but a simple com- 
memoration ; and of the Papists, on the other, who adore 
in it a transubstantiation. These are both errors ; while the 
doctrines of Luther and Zwingle, and the medium taken 
by Calvin, already maintained by some of the Fathers, 

* Osiander (a Lutheran) employs the accusative, " in den rechten 
Verstand," which would indicate a movement towards an object that 
we do not possess ; Bullinger and Scultet (both Reformed divines) have 
the dative. 

t Bullinger and others indicate the 3d October as the day on which 
the articles were signed ; Osiander, an eye-witness, and whose narrative 
u very exact, says it was the 4th, which agrees with all the other data. 



TSU GERMS OF POPERY. 97 

were considered in ancient times as different views of the 
same truth. If Luther had yielded, it might have been feared 
that the Church would fall into the extreme of rationalism ; 
if Zwingle, that it would rush into the extreme of popery. 
It is a salutary thing for the Church that these different 
views should be entertained ; but it is a pernicious thing 
for individuals to attach themselves to one of them in such 
a manner as to anathematize the other. " There is only 
this little stumbling-block," wrote Melancthon, " that embar- 
rasses the Church of our Lord."* 

All, Romanists and Evangelicals, Saxons and Swiss, 
admitted the presence, and even the real presence of Christ ; 
but here was the essential point of separation : Is this pre- 
sence effected by the faith of the communicant, or by the 
opus operatum of the priest ? The germs of Popery, Sacer- 
dotalism, Puseyism, are inevitably contained in this latter 
thesis. If it is maintained that a wicked priest (as has been 
said) operates this real presence of Christ by three words, we 
enter the church of the pope. Luther appeared sometimes 
to admit this doctrine, but he has often spoken in a more 
spiritual manner; and taking this great man in his best 
moments, we behold merely an essential unity and a second- 
ary diversity in the two parties of the Reformation. Un- 
doubtedly the Lord has left to his Church outward ordi- 
nances ; but he has not attached salvation to them. The 
essential point is the connexion of the faithful with the 
Word, with the Holy Ghost, with the Head of the Church. 
This is the great truth which the Swiss Reform proclaims, 
and which Lutheranism itself recognises. After the Marburg 
conference, the controversy became more moderate. 

There was another advantage. The evangelical divines 
at Marburg marked with one accord their separation from 
the Papacy. Zwingle was not without fear (unfounded, no 
doubt) with regard to Luther : these fears were dispersed. 
" Now that we are agreed," said he, " the Papists will no 
longer hope that Luther will ever be one of them."* The 

* Hie unus in Eoclesia haerct scrupulus. Corp. Ref. i. 1106. 
t Pontifici non ultra poasunt sperare Lutherum suum fore. Zw. Opp 
il. 370. 



98 DEPARTURE LUTHER'S DEJECTION. 

Marburg articles were the first bulwark erected in common 
by the reformers against Rome. 

It was not, then, in vain that, after the Protest of Spires, 
Philip of Hesse endeavoured, at Marburg, to bring together 
the friends of the Gospel. But, if the religious object was 
partially attained, the political object almost entirely failed. 
They could not arrive at a confederation of Switzerland and 
Germany. Nevertheless, Philip of Hesse and Zwingle, with 
a view to this, had numerous secret conversations, which 
made the Saxons uneasy, as they were not less opposed to 
Zwingle's politics than to his theology. " When you have 
reformed the peasant's cap," said Jonas to him, " you will 
also claim to reform the sable hat of princes." 

The landgrave having collected all the doctors at his table 
on the last day, they shook hands in a friendly manner,* and 
each one thought of leaving the town. 

On Tuesday the 5th October, Philip of Hesse quitted Mar- 
burg early, and in the afternoon ' of the same day Luther 
departed, accompanied by his colleagues ; but he did not go 
forth as a conqueror. A spirit of dejection and alarm had 
taken possession of his raind.-J- He writhed in the dust, like 
a worm, according to his own expression. He fancied he 
should never see his wife and children again, and cried out 
that he, " the consoler of so many tortured souls, was now 
without any consolation !"| 

This state might partly arise from Luther's want of 
brotherly feeling; but it had other causes also. Soliman 
had come to fulfil a promise made to King Ferdinand. The 
latter having demanded, in 1528, the surrender of Belgrade, 
the sultan had haughtily replied, that he would bring the 
keys himself to Vienna. In fact, the Grand Turk, crossing 
the frontiers of Germany, had invaded countries " on which 
the hoofs of the Mussulman war-horses had never trod," and 
eight days before the conference at Marburg, he had covered 
with his innumerable tents the plain and the fertile hills in 

* Die Hand einander friintlich gebotten. Bui. ii. 236. 
f Ego vix et Egre domum reversus sum. L. Epp. iii. 520. 
J Sic me vexante Angelo Satanre, ut desperarim me vivum et salTum 
risiirum meos. Ibid. 



LUTHER'S BATTLE-SERMON. 99 

the midst of which rise the walls of Vienna. The struggle 
had begun under ground, the two parties having dug deep 
galleries beneath the ramparts. Three different times the 
Turkish mines were exploded ; the walls were thrown down ;* 
" the balls flew through the air like a flight of small birds," 
says a Turkish historian ; " and there was a horrible ban- 
quet, at which the genii of death joyously drained their 
glasses."f 

Luther did not keep in the background. He had already 
written against the Turks, and now he published a Battle- 
Sermon. " Mahomet," said he, " exalts Christ as being 
without sin ; but he denies that he was the true God ; he is 
therefore His enemy. Alas ! to this hour the world is such 
that it seems everywhere to rain disciples of Mahomet. 
Two men ought to oppose the Turks : the first is Christian, 
that is to say, Prayer; the second is Charles, that is to say, 
The sword." And in another place, " I know my dear Ger- 
mans well, fat and well-fed swine as they are ; no sooner is 
the danger removed, than they think only of eating and 
sleeping. Wretched man ! if thou dost not take up arms, 
the Turk will come ; he will carry thee away into his Tur- 
key ; he will there sell thee like a dog ; and thou shalt serve 
him night and day, under the rod and the cudgel, for a 
glass of water and a morsel of bread. Think on this ; be 
converted, and implore the Lord not to give thee the Turk 
for thy schoolmaster." \ 

The two arms pointed out by Luther were, in reality, 
vigorously employed ; and Soliman, perceiving at last that 
he was not the " soul of the universe," as his poets had 
styled him, but that there was a strength in the world 
superior to his own, raised the siege of Vienna on the 16th 
October ; and " the shadow of God over the two worlds," as 
he called himself, " disappeared and vanished in the Bos- 
phorus." 

But Luther imagined that, when retiring from before the 

* Ipsam urbcm in tribus locis, suffoso solo et pulvere supposito disjicit 
et patefecit. L. Epp. iii. 518. 
+ Dschelalsade, quoted by Ranke. 
i Heer predict wider die Tiirken. L. Opp. (W.) xx. 2691. 



100 LUTHER 8 AGONY AND FIRMNESS. 

walls of Vienna, " the Turk, or at least his god, who is the 
devil," had rushed upon him ; and that it was this enemy of 
Christ and of Christ's servants that he was destined to com- 
bat and vanquish in his frightful agony.* There is an im- 
mediate reaction of the violated law upon him who violates 
it. Now Luther had transgressed the royal law, which is 
charity, and he suffered the penalty. At last he re-entered 
Wittemberg, and flung himself into the arms of his friends, 
" tormented by the angel of death." } 

Let us not, however, overlook the essential qualities of a 
reformer that Luther manifested at Marburg, there are in 
God's work, as in a drama, different parts. What various 
characters we see among the Apostles and among the Re- 
formers I It has been said that the same characters and the 
same parts were assigned to St. Peter and to Luther, at the 
time of the Formation cind of the Reformation of the Church. 
They were both in fact men of the initiative, who start for- 
ward quite alone, but around whom an army soon collects at 
the sight of the standard which they wave. But there was 
perhaps in the reformer a characteristic not existing to the 
same degree in the apostle : this was firmness. 

As for Zwingle, he quitted Marburg in alarm at Luther's 
intolerance. " Lutheranism," wrote he to the landgrave, 
" will lie as heavy upon us as popery." He reached Zurich 
on the 19th October. " The truth," said he to his friends, 
" has prevailed so manifestly, that if ever any one has been 
defeated before all the world, it is Luther, although he con- 
stantly exclaimed that he was invincible.")) On his side, 
Luther spoke in a similar strain. " It is through fear of 
their fellow-citizens," added he, " that the Swiss, although 
vanquished, are unwilling to retract."^[ 

* Forte ipsum Turcam partim in isto agone cogor ferre et vincere, 
ealtem ejus Deum, diabolum. L. Epp. iii. 520. 

f- Angelas Satanre, vel quisquis est diabolus mortis ita me fatigat. 
Ibid. 515. 

J Dr Vinet. 

Das Lutherthum werde so schwer, als das Papsthum. Zw. Epp. 
p. 374. 

|| Lutherus impudens et contumax aperto est victus. Ibid, p 370. 

IF Metuebant plebem suam ad quam non lictiisset reverti. Zvv. Opp. ii. 19. 



THE V1CTO1U KXASRERATION OF THE PAPIST*. 101 

If it should be asked on which side the victory really was, 
perhaps we ought to say that Luther assumed the air of a 
conqueror, but Zwingle was so in reality. The conference 
propagated through all Germany the doctrine of the Swiss, 
which had been little known there until then, and it was 
adopted by an immense number of persons. Among these 
were Laffards, first rector of St. Martin's school at Bruns- 
wick, Dionysius Melander, Justus Lening, Hartmann. Ibach, 
and many others. The landgrave himself, a short time be- 
fore his death, declared that this conference had induced him 
to renounce the oral manducation of Christ.* 

Still the dominant principle at this celebrated epoch was 
unity. The adversaries are the best judges. The Roman- 
catholics were exasperated that the Lutherans and Zwin- 
glians had agreed on all the essential points of faith. " They 
have a fellow-feeling against the Catholic Church," said they 
' as Herod and Pilate against Jesus Christ." The enthusi- 
astic sects said the same,-j- and the extreme hierarchical as 
well as the extreme radical party deprecated alike the unity 
of Marburg. 

Erelong a greater agitation eclipsed all these rumours, 
and events which threatened the whole evangelical body, 
proclaimed its great and intimate union with new force. 
The emperor, it was everywhere said, exasperated by the 
Protest of Spires, had landed at Genoa with the pomp of a 
conqueror. After having sworn at Barcelona to reduce the 
heretics under the power of the pope, he was going to visit 
this pontiff, humbly to bend the knee before him ; and he 
would rise only to cross the Alps and accomplish his terrible 
designs. " The Emperor Charles," said Luther, a few days 
after the landing of this prince, " has determined to show 
himself more cruel against us than the Turk himself, and he 
has already uttered the most horrible threats. Behold the 
hour of Christ's agony and weakness. Let us pray for all 
those who will soon have to endure captivity and death.";}: 

" Rommels Anmerkungen, p. 227-229. 

t Pontificiis et catabaptistis multum displicuit consensus Marpurgi. 
Scultet. p. 208. 

J Carolus Caesar multo atrocius minatur et ssevire statuit in nos, quam 
Turca. L. Epp. iii. 324. 



102 THBEATENING PROSPECTS. 

Such was the news that then agitated all Germany. The 
grand question was, whether the Protest of Spires could be 
maintained against the power of the emperor and of the pope 
This was seen in the year 1530. 






BOOK XIV. 

THE AUGSBURG CONFESSION. 1530. 

CHAPTER I. 

Two striking Lessons Charles V. in Italy The German Envoys Their 
Boldness The Landgrave's Present The Envoys under Arrest Their 
Release and Departure Meeting of Charles and Clement Gattinara's 
Proposition Clement's Arms War imminent Luther's Objections 
The Saviour is coming Charles's conciliatory Language The Empe- 
ror's Motives. 

THE Reformation was accomplished in the name of a spirit- 
ual principle. It had proclaimed for its teacher the Word 
of God ; for salvation, Faith ; for king, Jesus Christ ; for 
arms, the Holy Ghost ; and had hy these very means re- 
jected all worldly elements. Rome had been established by 
the law of a carnal commandment ; the Reformation, by the 
power of an endless life* 

If there is any doctrine that distinguishes Christianity 
from every other religion, it is its spirituality. A heavenly 
life brought down to man such is its work ; thus the oppo- 
sition of the spirit of the Gospel to the spirit of the world, 
was the great fact which signalized the entrance of Christi- 
anity among the nations. But what its Founder had sepa- 
rated, had soon come together again ; the Church had fallen 
into the arms of the world ; and by this criminal union it 
had been reduced to the deplorable condition in which we 
find it at the era of the Reformation. 

Thus one of the greatest tasks of the sixteenth century 
was to restore the spiritual element to its rights. The 
* Hebrews vii. 16. 



104 TWO STRIKING LESSONS. 

Gospel of the reformers had nothing to do with the world and 
with politics. While the Roman hierarchy had become a 
matter of diplomacy and a court intrigue, the Reformation 
was destined to exercise no other influence over princes and 
people than that which proceeds from the Gospel of peace. 

If the Reformation, having attained a certain point, be- 
came untrue to its nature, began to parley and temporize 
with the world, and ceased thus to follow up the spiritual 
principle that it had so loudly proclaimed, it was faithless to 
God and to itself. 

Henceforward its decline was at hand. 

It is impossible for a society to prosper if it be unfaithful 
to the principles it lays down. Having abandoned what 
constituted its life, it can find naught but death. 

It was God's will that this great truth should be inscribed 
on the very threshold of the temple He was then raising in 
the world ; and a striking contrast was to make this truth 
stand gloriously prominent. 

One portion of the reform was to seek the alliance of 
the world, and in this alliance find a destruction full of 
desolation. 

Another portion, looking up to God, was haughtily to 
reject the arm of the flesh, and by this very act of faith 
secure a noble victory. 

If three centuries have gone astray, it is because they 
were unable to comprehend so holy and so solemn a lesson. 

It was in the beginning of September 1529 that Charles 
V., the victor by battles or by treaties over the pope and the 
King of France, landed at Genoa. The shouts of the 
Spaniards had saluted him as he quitted the Iberian penin- 
sula ; but the dejected eyes, the bended heads, the silent lips 
of the Italians given over to his hands, alone welcomed him 
to the foot of the Apennines. Everything led to the belief 
that Charles would indemnify himself on them for the ap- 
parent generosity with which he had treated the pope. 

They were deceived. Instead of those barbarous chiefs 
of the Goths and Huns, instead of those proud and fierce 
emperors, who more than once had crossed the Alps and 



THE GERMAN ENVOYS. 105 

rushed upon Italy, sword in hand and with cries of venge- 
ance, the Italians saw among them a young and graceful 
prince, with pale features, a delicate frame, and weak voice, 
of winning manners, having more the air of a courtier 
than of a warrior, scrupulously performing all the duties 
of the Romish religion, and leading in his train no terrible 
cohorts of German barbarians, but a brilliant retinue of 
Spanish grandees, who condescendingly paraded the pride of 
their race and the splendour of their nation. This prince, 
the victor of Europe, spoke only of peace and amnesty ; 
and even the Duke of Ferrara, who of all the Italian princes 
had most cause of fear, having at Modena placed the keys 
of the city in his hands, heard from his friendly lips the 
most unexpected encouragements. 

Whence did this strange conduct proceed ? Charles had 
shown plainly enough, at the time of the captivity of 
Francis I., that generosity towards his enemies was not his 
dominant virtue. It was not long before this mystery was 
explained. 

Almost at the same time with Charles there arrived 
in Italy, by way of Lyons and Genoa, three German bur- 
gesses, whose whole equipage consisted of six horses.* 
These were John Ehinger, burgomaster of Memmingen, 
who carried his head high, scattered money around him, and 
who was not remarkable for great sobriety ; Michael Caden, 
syndic of Nuremberg, a worthy, pious, and brave man, but 
detested by the Count of Nassau, the most influential of 
Charles's ministers ; and, lastly, Alexis Frauentraut, secre- 
tary to the Margrave of Brandenburg, who, having married 
a nun, was in very bad odour among the Roman-catholics. 
Such were the three men whom the Protestant princes, 
assembled at Nuremberg, commissioned to bear to the 
emperor the famous Protest of Spires. They had purposely 
chosen these deputies from a middle station, under the 
impression that they would incur less danger.-{- To carry 
such a message to Charles V. was, to say the truth, a task 

* Legatis attribuerunt equos sex. Seckend. ii 134. 
+ Ut essent tutiores. Ibid, 133. 
VOL. IV. 6 



106 BOLDNESS OF THE ENVOTS. 

that few persons cared to execute. Accordingly a pension 
had been secured to the widows of these envoys in case of 
misfortune. 

Charles was on his way from Genoa to Bologna, and 
staying at Piacenza, when the three Protestant deputies 
overtook him. These plain Germans presented a singular 
contrast in the midst of that Spanish pomp and Romish 
fervour by which the young prince was surrounded. Car- 
dinal Gattinara, the emperor's chancellor, who sincerely 
desired a reform of the Church, procured them an audience 
of Charles V. for the 22d of September ; but they were re- 
commended to be sparing in their words, for there was 
nothing the emperor so much disliked as a Protestant 
sermon. 

The deputies were not checked by these intimations ; 
and after handing the protest to Charles, Frauentraut began 
to speak : " It is to the Supreme Judge that each one of 
us must render an account," said he, " and not to creatures 
who turn at every wind. It is better to fall into the most 
cruel necessity, than to incur the anger of God. Our nation 
will obey no decrees that are based on any other foundation 
than the Holy Scriptures." * 

Such was the proud tone held by these German citizens 
to the emperor of the west. Charles said not a word it 
would have been paying them too much honour; but he 
charged one of his secretaries to announce an answer at some 
future time. 

There was no hurry to send back these paltry ambassa- 
dors. In vain did they renew their solicitations daily. 
Gattinara treated them with kindness, but Nassau sent 
them away with bitter words. A workman, the armourer 
to the court, having to visit Augsburg to purchase arms, 
begged the Count of Nassau to despatch the Protestant de- 
puties. " You may tell them," replied the minister of 
Charles V., " that we will terminate their business in 
order that you may have travelling companions." But the 

* Neque suarum esse virium aut officii, ut eos ad impossibilia et noxia 
adigant. Seokend. ii. 134. 



THE LANDGRAVE'S PRESENT. 107 

armourer having found other company, they were compelled 
to wait.* 

These envoys endeavoured at least to make a good use of 
their time. " Tak^this book," said the landgrave to Caden 
at the very moment of departure, giving him a French work 
bound in velvet, and richly ornamented, " and deliver it to 
the emperor." f It was a summary of the Christian Faith 
which the landgrave had received from Francis Lambert, 
and which had probably been written by that doctor. Caden 
sought an opportunity of presenting this treatise ; and did 
so one day, as Charles was going publicly to mass. The 
emperor took the book, and passed it immediately to a 
Spanish bishop. The Spaniard began to read it,J and 
lighted upon that passage of Scripture in which Christ 
enjoins his apostles not to exercise lordship. The author 
took advantage of it to maintain that the minister, charged 
with spiritual matters, should not interfere with those which 
are temporal. The papist prelate bit his lips, and Charles, 
who perceived it, having asked, " Well, what is the matter ?" 
the bishop in confusion had recourse to a falsehood.|| "This 
treatise," replied he, " takes the sword from the Christian 
magistrate, and grants it only to nations that are strangers 
to the faith." Immediately there was a great uproar : the 
Spaniards above all were beside themselves. " The wretches 
that have endeavoured to mislead so young a prince," said 
they, " deserve' to be hung on the first tree by the wayside !" 
Charles swore, in fact, that the bearer should suffer the 
penalty of his audacity. 

At length, on the 12th October, Alexander Schweiss, im- 
perial secretary, transmitted the emperor's reply to the 
deputies. It said that the minority ought to submit to the 
decrees passed in diet, and that if the Duke of Saxony and 
his allies were contumacious, means would not be wanting 
to compel them.*[f 

Hortleben, von den Ursachen des deutschen Kriegs, p. SO. 

f Libellum eleganter ornatum. Scultet. p. 253. 

t Cum obiter legisset. Ibid. Luke xxii. 26. 

H Falso et maligne relatum csset. Seckend. ii. 133. 

^f Sibi non defore media qnibns ad id compellerentur. Ibid. 



108 THE ENVOYS UNDER ARREST. 

Upon this Ehinger and Caden read aloud the appeal to 
the emperor drawn up at Spires, whilst Frauentraut, who 
had renounced his quality of deputy and assumed that 
of a notary,* took notes of what was passing. When 
the reading was finished, the deputies advanced towards 
Schweiss, and presented the appeal. The imperial secretary 
rejected the document with amazement; the deputies in- 
sisted ; Schweiss continued firm. They then laid the appeal 
on the table. Schweiss was staggered ; he took the paper, 
and carried it to the emperor. 

After dinner, just as one of the deputies (Caden) had gone 
out, a tumult in the hotel announced some catastrophe. It 
was the imperial secretary who returned duly accompanied. 
" The emperor is exceedingly irritated against you on 
account of this appeal," said he to the Protestants ; " and he 
forbids you, under pain of confiscation and death, to leave 
your hotel, to write to Germany, or to send any message 
whatsoever."-}- Thus Charles put ambassadors under arrest, 
as he would the officers of his guard, desirous in this manner 
of showing his contempt, and of frightening the princes. 

Caden's servant slipped in alarm out of the hotel, and ran 
to his master. The latter, still considering himself free, 
wrote a hasty account of the whole business to the senate of 
Nuremberg, sent off his letters by express, and returned to 
share in the arrest of his colleagues.^: 

On the 23d of October, the emperor left Piacenza, carrying 
the three Germans with him. But on the 30th he released 
Ehinger and Frauentraut, who, mounting their horses in the 
middle of the night, rushed at full speed along a route 
thronged with soldiers and robbers. " As for you," said 
Granvelle to Caden, " you will stay under pain of death. 
The emperor expects that the book you presented to him 
will be given to the pope." Perhaps Charles thought it 
pleasant to show the Roman pontiff this prohibition issued 
against the ministers of God to mingle in the government of 

* Tabellionis sive notarii officium. Seckend. ii. 133. 
f Sub capitis pcena, ne pcdem a diversario moveant. Ibid. 
J A famulo certior factus, rem omnem senatui aperuit. Ibid. 
Ut idem scriptum exhibeat quoqn*' Pontifici. Scnltet. p. 254. 



MEETING OF CHARLES AND CLEMENT. 109 

nations. But Cadcn, profiting by the confusion of the court, 
secretly procured a horse, and fled to Ferrara, thence to 
Venice, from which place he returned to Nuremberg.* . 

The more Charles appeared irritated against Germany, the 
greater moderation he showed towards the Italians : heavy 
pecuniary contributions were all that he required. It was 
beyond the Alps, in the centre of Christendom, by means of 
these very religious controversies, that he desired to establish 
his power. He pressed on, and required only two things : 
behind him, peace ; with him, money. 

On the 5th of November he entered Bologna. Every- 
thing was striking about him : the crowd of nobles, the 
splendour of the equipages, the haughtiness of the Spanish 
troops, the four thousand ducats that were scattered by 
handfuls among the people ;-J- but above all, the majesty and 
magnificence of the young emperor. The two chiefs of 
Romish Christendom were about to meet. The pope quitted 
his palace with all his court ; and Charles, at the head of an 
army which would have conquered the whole of Italy in a 
few days, affecting the humility of a child, fell on his knees, 
and kissed the pontiffs feet. 

The emperor and the pope resided at Bologna in two 
adjoining palaces, separated by a single wall, through which 
a doorway had been opened, of which each had a key ; and 
the young and politic emperor was often seen visiting the 
old and crafty pontiff, carrying papers in his hand. 

Clement obtained Sforza's forgiveness, who appeared be- 
fore the emperor sick and leaning on a staff. Venice also 
was forgiven : a million of crowns arranged these two 
matters. But Charles could not obtain from the pope the 
pardon of Florence. That illustrious city was sacrificed to 
the Medici, " considering," it was said, " that it is impossible 
for Christ's vicar to demand anything that is unjust." 

The most important affair was the Reformation. Some 
represented to the emperor that, victor over all his enemies, 

" Silentio conscendit equum. Scultet. p. 254. 

+ In Tulgus sparsum aurum quatuor millia ducatorum. L. Epp. iii 
665. 



110 GATTINARA'S PROPOSITION. 

he should carry matters with a high hand, and constrain the 
Protestants by force of arms.* Charles was more moderate ; 
he preferred weakening the Protestants by the Papists, and 
then the Papists by the Protestants, and by this means rais- 
ing his power above them both. 

A wiser course was nevertheless proposed in a solemn 
conference. " The Church is torn in pieces," said Chan- 
cellor Gattinara. " You (Charles) are the head of the 
empire ; you (the pope) the head of the Church. It is your 
duty to provide by common accord against unprecedented 
wants. Assemble the pious men of all nations, and let a 
free council deduce from the Word of God a scheme of 
doctrine such as may be received by every people."j 

A thunderbolt falling at Clement's feet could not have 
startled him more. The offspring of an illegitimate union, 
and having obtained the papacy by means far from honour- 
able, and squandered the treasures of the Church in an un- 
just war, this pontiff had a thousand personal motives for 
dreading an assembly of Christendom. " Large congrega- 
tions," replied he, " serve only to introduce popular opinions. 
It is not by the decrees of councils, but with the edge of the 
sword, that we should decide controversies."! 

As Gattinara still persisted : " What ! " said the pope, 
angrily interrupting him, " you dare contradict me, and ex- 
cite your master against me ! " Charles rose up ; all the 
assembly preserved profound silence, and the prince resum- 
ing his seat, seconded his chancellor's request. Clement was 
eontent to say that he would reflect upon it. He then began 
to work upon the young emperor in their private conferences, 
and Charles promised at last to constrain the heretics by 

" Armis cogandos. Seckend. ii. 112 ; Maimbourg, ii. 194. 

f- Oratio de Congressu Bononiensi, hi Melancthonis Orationum, iv. 
87, and Caelestiiius Hist. Concil. 1830, Augustse, i. 10. Respectable 
authors, Walsh, Muller, and Beausobre, incorrectly quote at full length 
the speeches delivered at this conference. They are amplifications ; but 
to deny that they have some historical foundation would be flying to the 
opposite extreme. 

Non concilii decretis, sed armis controversias dirimendas. Soultet. 
p. 248 ; Maimbourg the Jesuit, ii. 177. 



WAK IMMINENT - LUTHER'S OBJECTIONS. Ill 

violence, while the pope should summon all other princes to 
his aid.* " To overcome Germany by force, and then erase 
it from the surface of the earth, is the sole object of the 
Italians," they wrote from Venice to the elector. -J- 

Such was the sinister news which, by spreading alarm 
among the Protestants, should also have united them. Un- 
fortunately a contrary movement was then taking place. 
Luther and some of his friends had revised the Marburg 
articles in a sense exclusively Lutheran, and the ministers 
of the Elector of Saxony had presented them to the con- 
ference at Schwabach. The reformed deputies from Ulm 
and Strasburg had immediately withdrawn, and the con- 
ference was broken up. 

But new conferences had erelong become necessary. The 
express that Caden had forwarded from Piacenza had reached 
Nuremberg. Every one in Germany understood that the 
arrest of the princes' deputies was a declaration of war. 
The elector was staggered, and ordered his chancellor to 
consult the theologians of Wittemberg. 

"We cannot on our conscience," replied Luther on the 
18th November, " approve of the proposed alliance. We 
would rather die ten times than see our Gospel cause one 
drop of blood to be shed4 Our part is to be like lambs of 
the slaughter. The cross of Christ must be borne. Let 
your highness be without fear. We shall do more by our 
prayers than all our enemies by their boastings. Only let 
not your hands be stained with the blood of your brethren ! 
If the emperor requires us to be given up to his tribunals, 
we are ready to appear. You cannot defend our faith : each 
one should believe at his own risk and peril." 

On the 29th November an evangelical congress was 
opened at Smalkald, and an unexpected event rendered this 
meeting still more important. Ehinger, Caden, and Frauen- 



* Pontifex, ut caeteri Christian! principes, ipsos pro viribus juvent. 
Guicciardini, xix. 908. 

t Ut Germania vi efc armis opprimatur, funditus deleatur et eradicetur. 
Coelestin. i. 42. 

J Liebor zehn raa! todt seyn. Epp. iii. 526. 

Auf soin ei/;en Gefohr glauben. Ibid. 257. 



112 THE SAVIOUR IS COMING. 

traut, who had escaped from the grasp of Charles V., ap- 
peared before them.* The landgrave had no further doubts 
of the success of his plan. 

He was deceived. No agreement between contrary doc- 
trines, no alliance between politics and religion were 
Luther's two principles, and they still prevailed. It was 
agreed that those who felt disposed to sign the articles of 
Schwabach, and 'those only, should meet at Nuremberg on 
the 6th of January. 

The horizon became hourly more threatening. The 
papists of Germany wrote one to another these few but 
significant words: "The Saviour is coming."-}- "Alas" 
exclaimed Luther, " what a pitiless saviour ! He will de- 
vour them all, as well as us." In effect, two Italian bishops, 
authorized by Charles V., demanded in the pope's name all 
the gold and silver from the churches, and a third part of 
the ecclesiastical revenues : a proceeding which caused an 
immense sensation. " Let the pope go to the devil," replied 
a canon of Paderborn, a little too freely.} *' Yes, yes ! " 
archly replied Luther, "this is your saviour that is com- 
ing ! " The people already began to talk of frightful omens. 
It was not only the living who were agitated : a child still 
in its mother's womb had uttered horrible shrieks. " All 
is accomplished," said Luther ; " the Turk has reached the 
highest degree of his power, the glory of the papacy is de- 
clining, and the world is splitting on every side."|| The re- 
former, dreading lest the end of the world should arrive 
before he had translated all the Bible, published the pro- 
phecies of Daniel separately, " a work," said he, " for these 
latter times." " Historians tell us," he added, " that Alex- 
ander the Great always placed Homer under his pillow: 
the prophet Daniel is worthy not only that kings and princea 
should lay him under their^ heads, but carry him in thei* 
hearts ; for he will teach them, that the government of 

Advenerant et gesta referebant. Seckend. ii. 140 ; Sleidan. i. 236. 
f Invicem scriptillant, dicentes : Salvator venit. L, Epp. iii. 54(X 
Dat do Duwel dem Bawst int Lieff fare. Ibid. 
Infans in utero, audiente tola familia, bis vociferatus ept. Ibid. 
|| Dedication of Daniel to John Frederick. Ibid. ,">;>.>. 



CHARLES'S CONCILIATORY LANGUAGE. 118 

nations proceeds from the power of God. We are balanced 
in the hand of the Lord, as a ship upon the sea, or a cloud 
in the sky."* 

Yet the frightful phantom that Philip of Hesse had not 
ceased to point out to his allies, and whose threatening jaws 
seemed already opening, suddenly vanished, and they dis- 
covered in its place the graceful image of the most amiable 
of princes. 

On the 21st January, Charles had summoned all the 
states of the empire to Augsburg, and had endeavoured to 
employ the most conciliatory language. " Let us put an 
end to all discord," he said, " let us renounce our anti- 
pathies, let us offer to our Saviour the sacrifice of all our 
errors, let us make it our business to comprehend and weigh 
with meekness the opinions of others. Let us annihilate all 
that has been said or done on both sides contrary to right, 
and let us seek after Christian truth. Let us all fight under 
one and the same leader, Jesus Christ, and let us strive 
thus to meet in one communion, one church, and one 
unity ."f 

What language! How was it that this prince, who hitherto 
had spoken only of the sword, should now speak only of 
peace ? Some may say that the wise Gattinara had a share 
in it ; that the act of convocation was drawn up under the 
impression of the terror caused by the Turkish invasion ; 
that the emperor already saw with how little eagerness the 
Roman-catholics of Germany seconded his views ; that he 
wished to intimidate the pope ; that this language, so full of 
graciousness, was but a mask which Charles employed to 
deceive his enemies ; that he wished to manage religion in 
true imperial fashion, like Theodosius and Constantine, and 
seek first to unite both parties by the influence of his 
wisdom and of his favours, reserving to himself, if kind- 
ness should fail, to employ force afterwards. It is possi- 
ble that each of these motives may have exercised a certain 

* Schwebt in seiner Macht, wie ein Schiff auf dem Meer, ja wie eine 
Wolke unter dem Himmel. L. Epp. Hi. 555. 

t Wie wir alle untor einem Christo seyn und streiten. Forstenmann's 
Urkundenbuch, i. 1. 

6* 



114 THE EMPEROR'S MOTIVES. 

influence on Charles, but the latter appears to us nearer 
the truth, and more conformable to the character of this 
prince. 

If Charles, however, showed any inclination to mildness, 
the fanatical Ferdinand was at hand to bring him back. 
" I will continue negotiating without coming to any conclu- 
sion," wrote he to his brother ; " and should I even be re- 
duced to that, do not fear ; pretexts will not be wanting to 
chastise these rebels, and you will find men enough who 
will be happy to aid you in your revenge." * 



CHAPTER II. 

The Coronation The Emperor made a Deacon The Romish Church 
and the State Alarm of the Protestants Luther advocates Passive 
Resistance Bruck's noble Advice Articles of Faith prepared 
Luther's Strong Tower Luther at Coburg Charles at Innspruck 
Two Parties at Court Gattinara The King of Denmark won over by 
Charles Piety of the Elector Wiles of the Romanists. 

CHARLES, like Charlemagne in former times, and Napoleon 
in later days, desired to be crowned by the pope, and had at 
first thought of visiting Rome for that purpose ; but' Ferdi- 
nand's pressing letters compelled him to choose Bologna, f 
He appointed the 22d February for receiving the iron crown 
as king of Lombardy, and resolved to assume the golden 
crown, as emperor of the Romans, on the 24th of the same 
month his birthday and the anniversary of the battle of 
Pavia, and which he thought was always fortunate to him. J 
The offices of honour that belonged to the electors of the 
empire were given to strangers ; in the coronation of the 
Emperor of Germany all was Spanish or Italian. The 

* Bucholz Geschichte Ferdinands, iii. 432. 

f- Sopravennero lettere di Germania che lo sollicittavano & transferirsi 
in quella provincia. Guicciardini, L. xx. 
J Natali suo quern semper feliccm hnbuit. Seckend. ii. 150. 



THE CORONATION. 115 

sceptre was carried by the Marquis of Monlferrat, the sword 
by the Duke of Urbino, and the golden crown by the Duke 
of Savoy. One single German prince of little importance, 
the Count-palatine Philip, was present : he carried the orb. 
After these lords came the emperor himself between two 
cardinals ; then the members of his council. All this pro- 
cession defiled across a magnificent temporary bridge erected 
between the palace and the church. At the very moment 
the emperor drew near the church of San Petronio, where 
the coronation was to take place, the scaffolding cracked 
behind him and gave way : many of his train were wounded, 
and the multitude fled in alarm. Charles calmly turned back 
and smiled, not doubting that his lucky star had saved him. 

At length Charles V. arrived in front of the throne on 
which Clement was seated. But before being made em- 
peror, it was necessary that he should be promoted to the 
sacred orders. The pope presented him with the surplice 
and the amice to make him a canon of St. Peter's and of St. 
John Lateranus, and the canons of these two churches im- 
mediately stripped him of his royal ornaments, and robed 
him with the sacerdotal garments. The pope went to the 
altar and began mass, the new canon drawing near to wait 
upon him. After the offertory, the imperial deacon pre- 
sented the water to the pontiff; and then kneeling down 
between two cardinals, he communicated from the pope's 
hand. The emperor now returned to his throne, where the 
princes robed him with the imperial mantle brought from 
Constantinople, all sparkling with diamonds, and Charles 
humbly bent the knee before Clement VII. 

The pontiff, having anointed him Avith oil and given him 
the sceptre, presented him with a naked sword, saying: " Make 
use of it in defence of the Church against the enemies of 
the faith ! " Next taking the golden orb, studded with jewels, 
which the count-palatine held, he said : " Govern the world 
with piety and firmness !" Last came the Duke of Savoy, 
who carried the golden crown enriched with diamonds. The 
prince bent down, and Clement put the diadem on his head, 
saying : " Charles, emperor invincible, receive this crown 



116 THE ROMISH CHURCH AND THE STATE. 

which we place on your head, as a sign to all the earth of 
the authority that is conferred upon you." 

The emperor then kissed the white cross embroidered on 
the pope's red slipper, and exclaimed : " I swear to be, with 
all my powers and resources, the perpetual defender of the 
pontifical dignity and of the Church of Rome."* 

The two princes now took their seats under the same 
canopy, but on thrones of unequal height, the emperor's being 
half a foot lower than the pontiffs, and the cardinal-deacon 
proclaimed to the people " The invincible emperor, Defender 
of the Faith." For the next half-hour nothing was heard 
but the noise of musketry, trumpets, drums, and fifes, all the 
bells of the city, and the shouts of the multitude. Thus was 
proclaimed anew the close union of politics with religion. 
The mighty emperor, transformed to a Roman deacon and 
humbly serving mass, like a canon of St. Peter's, had typi- 
fied and declared the indissoluble union of the Romish Church 
with the State. This is one of the essential doctrines of 
Popery, and one of the most striking characteristics that dis- 
tinguish it from the evangelical and the Christian Church. 

Nevertheless, during the whole of the ceremony the pope 
t seemed ill at ease, and sighed as soon as men's eyes ceased 
to gaze on him. Accordingly, the French ambassador wrote 
to his court that these four months which thp emperor and 
pope had spent together at Bologna, would bear fruit of 
which the King of France would assuredly have no cause to 
complain.j 

Scarcely had Charles V. risen from before the altar of San 
Petronio, ere he turned his face towards Germany, and ap- 
peared on the Alps as the anointed of the Papacy. The letter 
of convocation, so indulgent and benign, seemed forgotten : 
all things were made new since the pope's blessings : there 
was but one thought in the imperial train, the necessity of 
rigorous measures ; and the legate Campeggio ceased not to 

* Omnibus viribus, ingenio, et facultatibus suis Pontifician dignitatis et 
Romance Ecclesiae perpetuum fore defensorem. Ccelestin. Hiat. Commit. 
Aug. 16. 

t Letter to M. L' Admiral, 25th February. Legrand, Histoire du 
Divorce, iii. 386, 



ALARM OF THE PROTESTANTS. 117 

insinuate irritating words into Charles's ear. " At the first 
rumour of the storm that threatens them," said Granvelle, 
" we shall see the Protestants flying on every side, like timid 
doves upon which the Alpine eagle pounces."* 

Great indeed was the alarm throughout the empire ; al- 
ready even the affrighted people, apprehensive of the greatest 
disasters, repeated everywhere that Luther and Melancthon 
were dead. " Alas!" said Melancthon, consumed by sorrow, 
when he heard these reports, " the rumour is but too true, 
for I die daily." -J- But Luther, on the contrary, boldly rais- 
ing the eye of faith towards heaven, exclaimed : " Our ene- 
mies triumph, but erelong to perish." In truth the councils 
of the elector displayed an unprecedented boldness. " Let 
us collect our troops," said they ; " let us march on the Tyrol, 
and close the passage of the Alps against the emperor." j 
Philip of Hesse uttered a cry of joy when he heard of this. 
The sword of Charles had aroused his indolent allies at last. 
Immediately fresh couriers from Ferdinand were sent to 
hasten the arrival of Charles, and -all Germany was in expec- 
tation. 

Before carrying out this gigantic design, the elector de- 
sired to consult Luther once more. The emperor in the 
midst of the electors was only the first among his equals ; 
and independent princes were allowed to resist another prince, 
even if he were of higher rank than themselves. But Luther, 
dreading above all things the intervention of the secular arm 
in church affairs, was led to reply on the 6th March in this 
extraordinary manner : " Our princes' subjects are also the 
emperor's subjects, and even more so than princes are. To 
protect by arms the emperor's subjects against the emperor, 
would be as if the burgomaster of Torgau wished to protect 
by force his citizens against the elector." 

" What must be done then ?" " Listen," replied Luther. 
" If the emperor desires to march against us, let no prince 

* Tanquam columbae, adveniente aquila, dispergentur. Rommel An- 
merkungen, p. 236. 

f- Ego famam de qua scribis intelligo nimis veram esse, morior enim 
quotidie. Corp. Ref. ii. 122. 

t Cum copiis quas habitant per Tyrolensem ditionem incedenti occur- 
rerc et Alpium transitum impedire. Seckend. ii. 150. 



1 18 BRUCK'S NOBLE ADVICK. 

undertake our defence. God is faithful : he will not aban- 
don us." All preparations for war were immediately sus- 
pended, the landgrave received a polite refusal, and the con- 
federation was dissolved. It was the will of God that his 
cause should appear before the emperor without league and 
without soldiers, having faith alone for its shield. 

Never perhaps has such boldness been witnessed in feeble 
and unarmed men ; but never, although under an appear- 
ance of blindness, was there so much wisdom and under- 
standing. 

The question next discussed in the elector's council was, 
whether he should go to the diet. The majority of the coun- 
cillors opposed it. " Is it not risking everything," said they, 
" to go and shut oneself up within the walls of a city with a 
powerful enemy?" Bruck and the prince-electoral were of 
a different opinion. Duty in their eyes was a better coun- 
cillor than fear. " What!" said they, " would the emperor 
insist so much on the presence of the princes at Augsburg 
only to draw them into a snare ? We cannot impute such 
perfidy to him." The landgrave, on the contrary, seconded 
the opinion of the majority. " Remember Piacenza," said 
he. " Some unforeseen circumstance may lead the emperor 
to take all his enemies in one cast of the net." 

The chancellor stood firm. " Let the princes only com- 
port themselves with courage," said he, " and God's cause is 
saved." The decision was in favour of the nobler plan. 

This diet was to be a lay council, or at the very least a 
national convention.* The Protestants foresaw that a few 
unimportant concessions would be made to them at first, and 
then that they would be required to sacrifice their faith. It 
was therefore necessary to settle what were the essential 
articles of Christian truth, in order to know whether, by what 
means, and how far they might come to an understanding 
with their adversaries. The elector accordingly had letters 
sent on the 14th March to the four principal theologians of 
Wittemberg, setting them this task before all other business.-}- 

* Cum hsec comitia pro concilio aut conventu national! haberi videau- 
tur. Seckend. ii. 17. Letter to the Elector, Corp. Ref. ii. 26. 
+ Omnibus sepositis aliia rebus. L. Epp. iii. 564. 



ARTICLES OF FAITH PREPARED. 119 

Thus, instead of collecting soldiers, this prince drew up 
articles : they were the best armament. 

Luther, Jonas, and Melancthon (Pomeranus remaining 
at Wittemberg), arrived at Torgau in Easter week, asking 
leave to deliver their articles in person to Charles the 
Fifth.* " God forbid ! " replied the elector, " I also desire 
to confess my Lord." 

John having then confided to Melancthon the definitive 
arrangement of the confession, and ordered general prayers 
to be offered up, began his journey on the 3d April, with 
one hundred and sixty horsemen, clad in rich scarlet cloaks 
embroidered with gold. 

Every man was aware of the dangers that threatened 
the elector, and hence many in his escort marched with 
downcast eyes and sinking hearts. But Luther, full of 
faith, revived the courage of his friends, by composing and 
singing with his fine voice that beautiful hymn, since be- 
come so famous : Eirf feste Burg ist unser Gotte, Our 
God is a strong tower.-}- Never did soul that knew its own 
weakness, but which, looking to God, despised every fear, 
find such noble accents. 

With our own strength we nought can do, 

Destruction yawns on every side : 
He fights for us, our champion true, 

Elect of God to be our guide. 
What is his name 1 The anointed One, 

The God of armies he ; 
Of earth and heaven the Lord alone 
With him, on field of battle won, 
Abideth victory. 

This hymn was sung during the diet, not only at Augs- 
burg, but in all the churches of Saxony, and its energetic 

* Different projects will be found in Forstenmann's Urkundenbuch, 
i. p. 63-108, and in the Corp. Ref. iv. p. 973, sqq. Those that were pre- 
sented were doubtless the Articuli non concedendi, Articles not to be con- 
ceded. They treat of the communion in both kinds, of celibacy, the mass, 
orders, the pope, convents, confession, distinction of meats, and of the 
lacraments. Corp. Ref. iv. 981. 

t We have attempted a very feeble translation of the second stanza. 



120 LUTHER AT COBCRG CHARLES AT INNSPRUCK. 

strains were often seen to revive and inspirit the most 
dejected minds.* 

On Easter-eve the troop reached Coburg, and on the 
23d April the elector resumed his journey ; but at the very 
moment of departure Luther received an order to remain. 
" Some one has said, ' Hold your tongue, you have a harsh 
voice,'" wrote he to a friend.f He submitted, however, 
without hesitation, setting an example of that passive obedi- 
ence which he so boldly advocated. The elector feared that 
Luther's presence would still further exasperate his adver- 
saries, and drive Charles to extreme measures : the city of 
Augsburg had also written to him to that effect. But at 
the same time John was anxious to keep the reformer 
within reach, that he might be able to consult him. He 
was therefore left at Coburg, in the castle overlooking the 
town and the river Itz, in the upper story on the south 
side. It was from this place he wrote those numerous 
letters dated from the region of birds; and it was there that 
for many months he had to maintain with his old enemy of 
the Wartburg, Satan, a struggle full of darkness and of 
anguish. 

On the 2d May the elector reached Augsburg; it had 
been expected that he would stay away, and, to the great 
astonishment of all, he was the first at the rendezvous.^ 
He immediately sent Dolzig, marshal of the court, to meet 
the emperor and to compliment him. On the 12th May 
Philip of Hesse, who had at last resolved on not separating 
himself from his ally, arrived with an escort of one hundred 
and ninety horsemen ; and almost at the same time the 
emperor entered Innspruck, in the Tyrol, accompanied by 
his brother, the queens of Hungary and Bohemia, the am- 
bassadors of France, England, and Portugal, Campeggio the 
papal legate, and other cardinals, with many princes and 
nobles of Germany, Spain, and Italy. 

* Qui tristem etiam et abjectum a nimum erigere et exhilarate, et velut 
\*$a<r,a%uv possent. Scult. p. 270. 

t Sed erat qui diceret : Tace tu, habes malam vocem. L. Epp. ir. 2< 
% Mirantibus homiuibus. Seek. ii. 153. 



TWO PARTIES AT COUKT. 121 

How to bring back the heretics to obedience to the 
Church was the great topic of conversation in this brilliant 
court among nobles and priests, ladies and soldiers, coun- 
cillors and ambassadors. They, or Charles at least, were 
not for making them ascend the scaffold, but they wished to 
act in such a manner that, untrue to their faith, they should 
bend the knee to the pope. Charles stopped at Innspruck 
to study the situation of Germany, and ensure the success of 
his schemes. 

Scarcely was his arrival known ere a crowd of people, 
high and low, flocked round him on every side, and more 
than 270,000 crowns, previously raised in Italy, served to 
make the Germans understand the justice of Rome's cause. 
" All these heretics," was the cry, " will fall to the ground 
and crawl to the feet of the pope." * 

Charles did not think so. He was, on the contrary, 
astonished to see what power the Reformation had gained. 
He momentarily even entertained the idea of leaving Augs- 
burg alone, and of going straight to Cologne, and there 
proclaiming his brother King of the Romans.f Thus, 
religious interests would have given way to dynastic interests, 
at least so ran the report. But Charles the Fifth did not 
stop at this idea. The question of the Reformation was 
there before him, increasing hourly in strength, and it could 
not be eluded. 

Two parties divided the imperial court. The one, numer- 
ous and active, called upon the emperor to revive simply the 
edict of Worms, and, without hearing the Protestants, con- 
demn their cause.:}: The legate was at the head of this 
party. " Do not hesitate," said he to Charles ; " confiscate 
their property, establish the inquisition, and punish these 
obstinate heretics with fire and sword." The Spaniards, 
who strongly seconded these exhortations, gave way to their 

* Zum kreutz kriechen werden. Mathesius Pred. p. 91. The allusion 
is to the cross embroidered on the pope's slipper. 

t Iter Coloniam versus decrevisse. Epp. Zw. May 13. 

Alii censeut Caesarem debere, edicto proposito, sine ulla cogitatione 
damnare causam nostram. Corp. Ref. ii. 57. 

Instructio data Casari dal Reverendissimo Campeggio. Ranke, iii. 
288. 



122 GATT1NARA. 

accustomed debauchery, and many of them were arrested for 
seduction.* This was a sad specimen of the faith they wished 
to impose on Germany. Rome has always thought lightly 
of morality. N 

Gattinara, although sick, had painfully followed in Charles's 
train to neutralize the influence of the legate. A determined 
adversary of the Roman policy, he thought that the Pro- 
testants might render important services to Christendom. 
" There is nothing I desire so much," said he, " as to sea 
the Elector of Saxony and his allies persevere courageously 
in the profession of the Gospel, and call for a free religious 
council. If they allow themselves to be checked by promises 
or threats, I hesitate myself, I stagger, and I doubt of the 
means of salvation." 7 The enlightened and honest members 
of the Papal Church (and of whom there is always a small 
number) necessarily sympathize with the Reformation. 

Charles V., exposed to these contrary influences, desired 
to restore Germany to religious unity by his personal inter- 
vention : for a moment he thought himself on the eve of 
success. 

Amongst the persons who crowded to Innspruck was the 
unfortunate Christian, king of Denmark, Charles's brother- 
in-law. In vain had he proposed to his subjects undertaking 
a pilgrimage to Rome in expiation of the cruelties of which 
he was accused: his people had expelled him. Having 
repaired to Saxony, to his uncle the elector, he had there 
heard Luther, and had embraced the evangelical doctrines, 
as far at least as external profession goes. This poor de- 
throned monarch could not resist the eloquence of the power- 
ful ruler of two worlds, and Christian, won over by Charles 
the Fifth, publicly placed himself again under the sceptre of 
the Roman hierarchy. All the papal party uttered a shout 
t>f triumph. Nothing equals their credulity, and the im- 
portance they attach to such valueless accessions. " I can- 
not describe the emotion with which this news has filled me," 
wrote Clement VII. to Charles, his hand trembling with joy : 

* Sich die Spanier zu Inspruck unfiathig gehalten. Corp. Ref. ii. 5G. 
t Semper vacillaturum de vera et certa salntis adipiscendae rationa 
Sock. ii. 57 



PIETY OF THE ELECTOR. 123 

u the brightness of your majesty's virtues begins at last to 
scatter the darkness : this example will lead to numberless 
conversions." 

Things were in this state when Duke George of Saxony, 
Duke William of Bavaria, and the Elector Joachim of Bran- 
denburg, the three German princes who were the greatest 
enemies to the Reformation, hastily arrived at Innspruck. 

The tranquillity of the elector, whom they had seen at 
Augsburg, had alarmed them, for they knew not the source 
whence John derived his courage : they fancied he was 
meditating some perfidious design. " It is not'without rea- 
son," said they to Charles, " that the Elector John has re- 
paired the first to Augsburg, and that he appeared there 
with a considerable train : he wishes to seize your person. 
Act then with energy, and allow us to offer your majesty a 
guard of six thousand horse."* Conference upon conference 
immediately took place. The Protestants were affrighted. 
" They are holding a diet at Innspruck," said Melancthon, 
" on the best means of having our heads." -J- But Gattinara 
prevailed on Charles to preserve his neutrality. 

While this agitation prevailed in the Tyrol, the evangelical 
Christians, instead of mustering in arms, as they were accused, 
sent up their prayers to heaven, and the Protestant princes 
were preparing to render an account of their faith. 

The Elector of Saxony held the first rank among them. 
Sincere, upright, and pure from his youth, early disgusted 
with the brilliant tourneys in which he had at first taken 
part, John of Saxony had joyfully hailed the day of the 
Reformation, and the Gospel light had gradually penetrated 
his serious and reflective mind. His great pleasure was to 
have the Holy Scriptures read to him during the latter hours 
of the day. It is true that, having arrived at an advanced 
age, the pious elector sometimes fell asleep, but he soon 
awoke with a start, and repeated the last passage aloud. 
Although moderate and a friend of peace, he yet possessed 
an energy that was powerfully aroused by the great interests 

* Ut mascnle ageret, sex mille eqnitnm, presidium ei offerentes. 
Seek. ii. 156. 
i Ibi habentur de nostris cervicibns comitia. Corp. Ref. ii. 45. 



124 WILES OF THE ROMANISTS. 

of the faith. There is no prince in the sixteenth century, 
and none perhaps since the primitive times of the Church, 
who has done so much as John of Saxony for the cause of 
the Gospel. Accordingly it was against him that the first 
efforts of the Papists were directed. 

In order to gain him over, they wished to put in operation 
very different tactics from those which had been previously 
employed. At Spires the evangelicals had met with angry 
looks in every quarter ; at Augsburg, on the contrary, the 
Papists gave them a hearty welcome ; they represented the 
distance that separated the two parties as very trifling, and 
in their private conversations made use of the mildest lan- 
guage, " seeking thus to entice the credulous Protestants to 
take the bait," says an historian.* The latter yielded with 
simplicity to these skilful manoeuvres. 

Charles the Fifth was convinced that the simple Germans 
would not be able to resist his star. " The King of Den- 
mark has been converted," said his courtiers to him, " why 
should not the elector follow his example ? Let us draw him 
into the imperial atmosphere." John was immediately in- 
vited to come and converse familiarly with the emperor at 
Innspruck, with an assurance that he might reckon on 
Charles's particular favour. 

The prince-electoral, John Frederick, who on seeing the 
advances of the Papists had at first exclaimed : " We con- 
duct our affairs with such awkwardness, that it is quite 
pitiable !" allowed himself to be caught by this stratagem. 
" The Papist princes," said he to his father, " exert every 
means of blackening our characters. Go to Innspruck in 
order to put a stop to these underhand practices ; or if you 
are unwilling, send me in your place." 

This time Ihe prudent elector moderated his son's pre- 
cipitancy, and replied to Charles's ministers, that it was not 
proper to treat of the affairs of the diet in any other place 
than that which the emperor had himself appointed, and 
begged, in consequence, that his majesty would hasten his 
arrival. This was the first check that Charles met with. 

* Seckendorf. 



AUG6BUKG. 125 



CHAPTER III. 

Augsburg The Gospel preached The Emperor's Message The Ser- 
mons prohibited Firmness of the Elector The Elector's Reply 
Preparation of the Confession Luther's Sinai His Son and his Father 
Luther's Merriment Luther's Diet at Coburg - Saxony, a Paradise 
below -To the Bishops Travail of the Church Charles The Pope's 
Letter Melancthon on Fasting The Church, the Judge The Land- 
grave's catholic Spirit. 

MEANTIME Augsburg was filling more and more every day. 
Princes, bishops, deputies, gentlemen, cavaliers, soldiers in 
rich uniforms, entered by every gate, and thronged the 
streets, the public places, inns, churches, and palaces. All 
that was most magnificent in Germany was there about to 
be collected. The critical circumstances in which the empire 
and Christendom were placed, the presence of Charles V. 
and his kindly manners, the love of novelty, of grand shows, 
and of lively emotions, tore the Germans from their homes. 
All those who had great interests to discuss, without reckon- 
ing a crowd of idlers, flocked from the various provinces ot 
the empire, and hastily made their way towards this illustri- 
ous city.* 

In the midst of this crowd the elector and the landgrave 
were resolved to confess Jesus Christ, and to take advantage 
of this convocation in order to convert the empire. Scarcely 
had John arrived when he ordered one of his theologians to 
preach daily with open doors in the church of the Domini- 
cans.-f On Sunday the 8th May, the same was done in the 
church of St. Catherine 5 on the 13th, Philip of Hesse 
opened the gates of the cathedral, and his chaplain Snepff 
there proclaimed the Word of Salvation ; and on the follow- 
ing Sunday (May 15) this prince ordered Cellarius, minister 

* Omnes allicicbat. Cochlceus, p. 191. 

t Rogautibus Augustanis publice in templum Dominicorum. Sok. 
Lat. p. 193. 



126 THE GOSPEL PREACHED. 

of Augsburg and a follower of Zwingle, to preach in the 
same temple. Somewhat later the landgrave firmly settled 
himself in the church of St. Ulric, and the elector in that 
of St. Catherine. These were the two positions taken up 
by these illustrious princes. Every day the Gospel was 
announced in these places to an immense and attentive 
crowd.* 

The partisans of Rome were amazed. They expected to 
see criminals endeavouring to dissemble their faults, and 
they met with confessors of Christ with uplifted heads and 
words of power. Desirous of counterbalancing these 
sermons, the Bishop of Augsburg ordered his suffragan and 
his chaplain to ascend the pulpit. But the Romish priests 
understood better how to say mass than to preach the 
Gospel. " They shout, they bawl," said some. " They 
are stupid fellows," added all their hearers, shrugging their 
shoulders.-J- 

The Romanists, ashamed of their own priests, began to 
grow angry,^: and unable to hold their ground by preach- 
ing, had recourse to the secular power. " The priests are 
setting wondrous machines at work to gain Caesar's mind," 
said Melancthon. They succeeded, and Charles made 
known his displeasure at the hardihood of the princes. The 
friends of the pope then drew near the Protestants, and 
whispered into their ears, " that the emperor, victor over 
the King of France and the Roman pontiff, would appear 
in Germany to crush all the Gospellers." || The anxious 
elector demanded the advice of his theologians. 

Before the answer was ready, Charles's orders arrived, 
brought by two of his most influential ministers, the Counts 
of Nassau and of Nuenar. A more skilful choice could not 
have been made. These two nobles, although devoted to 
Charles, were favourable to the Gospel, which they professed 

* Taglig in den kirchen, unverstort ; dazu kommt sehr viel Volks. 
Corp. Ref. ii. 63. 

t Clamant et vociferantur. Audires homines stupidissimos atquo etiam 
BCUSU communi carentes. Ibid. 86. 

J Urebat hoc pontifices. Scultet. p. 271. 

'Oi a%iiiif miris machinis oppugnant. Corp. Ref. ii. 70. 

| Evangelicos omnes obtritnrum. Scultet, p. 269. 



THE EMPEROR'S MESSAGE. 127 

not long after. The elector was therefore fully disposed to 
listen to their counsel. 

On the 24th May, the two counts delivered their letters 
to John of Saxony, and declared to him the emperor's ex- 
ceeding grief that religious controversies should disturb the 
good understanding which had for so many years united the 
houses of Saxony and Austria ;* that he was astonished 
at seeing the elector oppose an edict (that of Worms) 
which had been unanimously passed by all the states of the 
empire; and that the alliances he had made tended to tear 
asunder the unity of Germany, and might inundate it with 
blood. They required at last that the elector would im- 
mediately put a stop to the evangelical preachings, and 
added, in a confidential tone, that they trembled at the 
thought of the immediate and deplorable consequences which 
would certainly follow the elector's refusal. " This," sain 
they, " is only the expression of our own personal senti- 
ments." It was a diplomatic manoeuvre, the emperor having 
enjoined them to give utterence to a few threats, but solely 
as if proceeding from themselves.-}- 

The elector was greatly agitated. " If his majesty for- 
bids the preaching of the Gospel," exclaimed he, " I shall 
immediately return home."^ He waited however for the 
advice of his theologians. 

Luther's answer was ready first. " The emperor is our 
master," said he ; " the town and all that is in it belong to 
him. If your highness should give orders at Torgau for this 
to be done, and for that to be left undone, the people ought 
not to resist. I should prefer endeavouring to change his 
majesty's decision by humble and respectful solicitation; but 
if he persists, might makes right ; we have but done our 
duty." Thus spoke the man who has often been repre- 
sented as a rebel. 

Melancthon and the others were nearly of the same opinion, 

* These instructions may be found in Ccelestin, i. 50, and Forstemann 
Urk. i. 220. 

t Quidquid duri Electori denuntiabant suo veluti nomine et injussi 
tlicebant. Seek. ii. 156. 

Den nachsten heira zu reiten. Corp. Rf. ii. 88. 

L. Epp. iv. 18, 



128 FIRMNESS OP THE ELECTOR. 

except that they insisted more on the necessity of representing 
to the emperor, " that in their sermons nothing controversial 
was introduced, but they were content simply to teach the 
doctrine of Christ the Saviour.* Let us beware, above all," 
continued they, " of leaving the city. Let your highness 
with an intrepid heart confess in presence of his majesty by 
what wonderful ways you have attained to a right under- 
standing of the truth,-}- and do not allow yourself to be 
alarmed at these thunder-claps that fall from the lips of our 
enemies." To confess the truth such was the object to 
which, according to the Reformers, everything else should be 
subordinate. 

Will the elector yield to this first demand of Charles, and 
thus begin, even before the emperor's arrival, that list of 
sacrifices, the end of which cannot be foreseen ? 

No one in Augsburg was firmer than John. In vain did 
the reformers represent that they were in the emperor's city, 
and only strangers 4 the elector shook his head. Melanc- 
thon in despair wrote to Luther : " Alas ! how untractable 
is our old man ! " Nevertheless he again returned to the 
charge. Fortunately there was an intrepid man at the elec- 
tor's right hand, the chancellor Bruck, who feeling convinced 
that policy, honour, and above all, duty, bound the friends 
of the Reformation to resist the menaces of Charles, said to 
the elector : " The emperor's demand is but a worthy begin- 
ning to bring about the definitive abolition of the Gospel. || 
If we yield at present, they will crush us by and by. Let 
us therefore humbly beg his majesty to permit the continu- 
ance of the sermons." Thus, at that time, a statesman stood 
in the foremost rank of the confessors of Jesus Christ. This 
is one of the characteristic features of this great age, and it 
must not be forgotten, if we would understand its history 
aright. 

On the 31st May, the elector sent his answer in writing 
to Charles's ministers. " It is flot true," it bore, " that the 

* Nullas materias disputabiles a nobis doceri. Corp. Hef. ii. 72. 

t Quo modo plane inenarrabili atque mirifico. Ibid. 74. 

J In cujus urbe jam sumus hospites. Ibid. 46. 

Sed noster scncx difficilis est. Ibid. 

|| Ein fiigsamer Anfang dor Niderbringiing des Evangelii. Ibid. 7ft. 



THE ELECTOR'S REPLY. 129 

edict of Worms was approved of by the six electors. How 
could the elector, my brother, and myself, by approving it 
have opposed the everlasting word of Almighty God ? Ac- 
cordingly, succeeding diets have declared this edict impos- 
sible to be executed. As for the relations of friendship that 
I have formed, their only aim is to protect me against actg 
of violence. Let my accusers lay before the eyes of his 
majesty the alliances they have made ; I am ready to pro- 
duce mine, and the emperor shall decide between us. 
Finally, As to the demand to suspend our preachings, nothing 
is proclaimed in them but the glorious truth of God, and 
never was it so necessary to us. We cannot therefore do 
without it!"* 

This reply must necessarily hasten the arrival of Charles ; 
and it was urgent they should be prepared to receive him. 
To proclaim their belief, and then be silent, was the whole 
plan of the protestant campaign. A Confession was there- 
fore necessary. One man, of small stature, frail, timid, and 
in great alarm, was commissioned to prepare this instrument 
of war. Philip Melancthon worked at it night and day : he 
weighed every expression, softened it down, changed it, and 
then frequently returned to his first idea. He was wasting 
away his strength ; his friends trembled lest he should die 
over his task; and Luther enjoined him, as early as the 
12th of May, under pain of anathema, to take measures for 
the preservation of " his little body," and not " to commit 
suicide for the love of God."-}- " God is as usefully served 
by repose," added he, " and indeed man never serves him 
better than by keeping himself tranquil. It is for this reason 
God willed that the Sabbath should be so strictly observed." J 

Notwithstanding these solicitations, Melancthon's appli- 
cation augmented, and he set about an exposition of the 
Christian faith, at once mild, moderate, and as little removed 
as possible from the doctrine of the Latin Church. At 
Coburg he had already put his hand to the task, and traced 

* Quo carere non possit. Seek. p. 156 ; Muller, Hist. Prot. p. 506. 
f- Ut sub anathemate cogam te in regulas seryandi corpusculi tui. L. 
Epp. iv. 16. 

t Ideo enim Sabbatum voluit tam rigide prse cseteris servari. Ibid, 
VOL. TV. 7 



130 PREPARATION OF THE CONFESSION. ^ 

out in the first part the doctrines of the faith, according to 
the articles of Schwabach ; and in the second, the abuses of 
the Church, according to the articles of Torgau, making 
altogether quite a new work. At Augsburg he gave a more 
correct and elegant form to this Confession.* 

The Apology, as it was then called, was completed on the 
llth May; and the elector sent it to Luther, begging him 
to mark what ought to be changed. " I hare said what I 
thought most useful," added Melancthon, who feared that his 
friend would find the Confession too weak ; " for Eck ceases 
not to circulate against us the most diabolical calumnies, 
and I have endeavoured to oppose an antidote to his 
poisons."-f- 

Luther replied to the elector on the 15th May : " I have 
read Master Philip's Apology; I like it well enough, and 
have no corrections to make. Besides, that would hardly 
suit me, for I cannot walk so meekly and so silently. May 
Christ our Lord grant that this work may produce much and 
great fruit." 

Each day, however, the elector's councillors and theologians, 
in concert with Melancthon, improved the Confession, and 
endeavoured to render it such that the charmed diet should, 
in its own despite, hear it to the very end.| 

While the struggle was thus preparing at Augsburg, 
Luther at Coburg, on the summit of the hill, " on his Sinai," 
as he called it, raised his hands like Moses towards heaven. 
He was the real general of the spiritual war that was then 
waging ; his letters ceased not to bear to the combatants the 
directions which they needed, and numerous pamphlets issu- 
ing from his stronghold, l$ke discharges of musketry, spread 
confusion in the enemy's camp. 

The place where he had been left was, by its solitude, 
favourable to study and to meditation. || " I shall make a 

* More rhetorically. Feci aliquando ^ra^xurtfov quam Coburgse 
ecripseram. Corp. Ref. ii. 40. 

t Quia Eckius addidit ^nt^ixururaf $<jSXa,- contra nos. Ibid. 45. 
In Apologia quotidie multa mutamus. Ibid. 60. 
Mathesius Predigten, p. 92. 
(] Longe amoenissimus et studiis commodisaimus. L. Epp. iv. 2. 



MJTHEU'S SINAI HIS SON AND HIS FATHER. 131 

Zion of this Sinai," said he on the 22d April, " and I shall 
build here three tabernacles ; one to the Psalms, another to 

the Prophets, and a third to Esop!" This last word 

may well startle us. The association belongs neither to the 
language nor the spirit of the Apostles. It is true that Esop 
was not to be his principal study : the fables were soon laid 
aside, and truth alone engaged Luther. " I shall weep, I 
shall pray, I shall never be silent," wrote he, " until I know 
that my cry has been heard in heaven."* 

Besides, by way of relaxation, he had something better 
than Esop; he had those domestic joys whose precious 
treasures the Reformation had opened to the ministers of 
the Word. It was at this time he wrote that charming 
letter to his infant son, in which he describes a delightful 
garden where children dressed in gold are sporting about, 
picking up apples, pears, cherries, and plums ; they sing, 
dance, and enjoy themselves, and ride pretty little horses, 
with golden bridles and silver saddles.f 

But the reformer was soon drawn away from these pleas- 
ing images. About this time he learnt that his father had 
gently fallen asleep in the faith which is in Jesus Christ. 
" Alas !" exclaimed he, shedding tears of filial love, " it is by 
the sweat of his brow that he made me what I am.":j: Other 
trials assailed him; and to bodily pains were added the 
phantoms of his imagination. One night in particular he 
saw three torches pass rapidly before his eyes, and at the 
same moment heard claps of thunder in his head, which he 
ascribed to the devil. His servant ran in at the moment he 
fainted, and after having restored him to animation, read to 
him the Epistle to the Galatians. Luther, who had fallen 
asleep, said as he awoke : " Come, and despite, of the devil 
let us sing the Psalm, Out of the depths have I cried unto 
thee, Lord !" They both sang the hymn. While Luther 

* Orabo igitur et plorabo, non quieturus donee, &c. L. Epp. ir. 2. 

+ This letter, which is a masterpiece of its kind, may be found in 
Luther's Epp. iy. 41, and also in Riddle's "Luther and his Times ," 
p. 268. 

J Per ejus sudores aluit et finxit qualis sum. Epp. IT. 33. 



132 LUTHER'S MERRIMENT DIET AT COBURG. 

was thus tormented by these internal noises, he translated 
the prophet Jeremiah, and yet he often deplored his idleness. 

He soon devoted himself to other studies, and poured out 
the floods of his irony on the mundane practices of courts. 
He saw Venice, the pope, and the King of France, giving 
their hands to Charles V. to crush the Gospel. Then, alone 
in his chamber in the old castle, he burst into irresistible 
laughter. " Mr. Par-ma-foy (it was thus he designated 
Francis I.), In-nomine-Domini (the pope), and the republic 
of Venice, pledge their goods and their bodies to the em- 
peror Sanctissimum foedus. A most holy alliance truly ! 

This league between these four powers belongs to the chap- 
ter Non-credimus. Venice, the pope, and France become 
imperialists! But these are three persons in one sub- 
stance, filled with unspeakable hatred against the emperor. 
Mr. Par-ma-foy cannot forget his defeat at Pavia; Mr. 
In-nomine-Domini is, 1st, an Italian, which is already too 
much; 2d, a Florentine, which is worse; 3d, a bastard 
that is to say, a child of the devil ; 4th, he will never forget 
the disgrace of the sack of Rome. As for the Venetians, 
they are Venetians : that is quite enough ; and they have 
good reason to avenge themselves on the posterity of Maxi- 
milian. All this belongs to the chapter Firmiter-credimus. 
But God will help the pious Charles, who is a sheep among 
wolves. Amen."* The ex-monk of Erfurth had a surer 
political foresight than many diplomatists of his age. 

Impatient at seeing the diet put off from day to day, 
Luther formed his resolution, and ended by convoking it 
even at Coburg. " We are already in full assembly," wrote 
he on the 28th April and the 9th May. " You might here 
see kings, dukes, and other grandees, deliberating on the 
affairs of their kingdom, and with indefatigable voice publish- 
ing their dogmas and decrees in the air. They dwell not in 
those caverns which you decorate with the name of palaces : 
the heavens are their canopy ; the leafy trees form a floor of 
a thousand colours, and their walls are the ends of the earth. 
They have a horror of all the unmeaning luxury of silk and 
* To Gasp, of Teutleben, 19th June. L. Epp. IT. 37. 



SAXONY A PARADISE BELOW. 133 

gold; they ask neither coursers nor armour, and have all 
the same clothing and the same colour. I have not seen 
or heard their emperor ; but if I can understand them, they 

have determined this year to make a pitiless war upon 

the most excellent fruits of the earth. Ah ! my dear friends," 
said he to his colleagues,* to whom he was writing, " these 
are the sophists, the papists, who are assembled before me 
from all quarters of the world to make me hear their sermons 
and their cries." These two letters, dated from the " empire 
of ravens and crows" finish in the following mournful strain, 
which shows us the reformer descending into himself after 
this play of his imagination : " Enough of jesting ! jesting 
which is, however, sometimes necessary to dispel the gloomy 
thoughts that overwhelm me."-}- 

Luther soon returned to real life, and thrilled with joy at 
beholding the fruits that the Reformation was already bear- 
ing, and which were for him a more powerful " apology" 
than even the Confession of Melancthon. " Is there in the 
whole world a single country to be compared to your high- 
ness's states," wrote he to the elector, " and which possesses 
preachers of so pure a doctrine, or pastors so fitted to bring 
about the reign of peace ? Where do we see, as in Saxony, 
boys and girls well instructed in the Holy Scriptures and in 
the Catechism, increasing in wisdom and in stature, pray- 
ing, believing, talking of God and of Christ better than has 
been done hitherto by all the universities, convents, and 
chapters of Christendom ?"| "My dear Duke John, says 
the Lord to you, I commend this paradise to thee, the most 
beautiful that exists in the world, that thou mayst be its 
gardener." And then he added : " Alas ! the madness of 
the papist princes changes this paradise of God into a dirty 
slough, and corrupting the youth, daily peoples with real 
devils their states, their tables, and their palaces." 

* An seine Tischgcscllen, messmates or table-companions. L. Epp. 
iv.7. 

+ Sed serio et necessario joco qui mihi irruentes cogitationes repelleret. 
Ibid. 14. 

$ Es wachst jetzt daher die zart Jugend von Knablin nn Maidlia. 
Ibid. 21. 



134 TRAVAIL OF THE CHURCH. 

Luther, not content with encouraging his prince, desired 
also to frighten his adversaries. It was with this intent 
that he wrote at that time an address to the members of the 
clergy assembled at Augsburg. A crowd of thoughts, like 
lansquenets armed cap-a-pie, " rushed in to fatigue and 
bewilder him;"* and in fact there is no want of barbed 
words in the discourse he addresses to the bishops. "In 
short," said he to them in conclusion, " we know and you 
know that we have the Word of God, and that you have it 
not. pope I if I live I shall be a pestilence to thee ; and 
if I die, I shall be thy death !" f 

Thus was Luther present at Augsburg, although invisible ; 
and he effected more by his words and by his prayers than 
Agricola, Brentz, or Melancthon. These were the days of 
travail for the Gospel truth. It was about to appear in the 
world with a might, destined to eclipse all that had been 
done since the time of St. Paul ; but Luther only announced 
and manifested the things that God was effecting : he did 
not execute them himself. He was, as regards the events of 
the Church, what Socrates was to philosophy : " I imitate 
my mother (she was a midwife)," this philosopher was in 
the habit of saying ; " she does not travail herself, but she 
aids others." Luther and he never ceased repeating it 
has created nothing ; but he has brought to light the pre- 
cious seed, hidden for ages in the bosom of the Church. The 
man of God is not he who seeks to form his age according 
to his own peculiar ideas, but he who, distinctly perceiving 
God's truth, such as it is found in his Word, and as it is 
hidden in his Church, brings it to his contemporaries with 
courage and decision. 

Never had these qualities been more necessary, for matters 
were taking an alarming aspect. On the 4th June died 
Chancellor Gattinara, who was to Charles the Fifth " what 
Ulpian was to Alexander Severus," says Melancthon, and 
with him all the human hopes of the Protestants vanished. 
" It is God," Luther had said, " who has raised up for us a 

* Ut plurimos Lansknecktos, prorsus vi repellere cogar, qui insalutati 
non cessant obstrepere. L. Epp. iv. 10. 
f Pestis eram vivus, moriens ero mors tua, Papa. L. Opp. xx. 164. 



MELANCTHON ON FASTING. 135 

Naaman in the court of the King of Syria." In truth 
Gattinara alone resisted the pope. When Charles brought 
to him the objections of Rome : " Remember," said the 
chancellor, " that you are master !" Henceforward every- 
thing seemed to take a new direction. The pope required 
that Charles should be satisfied with being his " lictor," as 
Luther says, to carry out his judgments against the here- 
tics.* Eck, whose name (according to Melancthon) was no 
bad imitation of the cry of Luther's crows, heaped one upon 
anotherf a multitude of pretended heretical propositions, 
extracted from the reformer's writings. They amounted to 
four hundred and four, and yet he made excuse that, being 
taken unawares, he was forced to restrict himself to so small 
a number, and he called loudly for a disputation with the 
Lutherans. They retorted on these propositions by a num- 
ber of ironical and biting theses on "wine, Venus, and 
baths, against John Eck ;" and the poor doctor became the 
general laughing-stock. 

But others went to work more skilfully than he. Coch- 
loeus, who became chaplain to Duke George of Saxony in 
1527, begged an interview with Melancthon, "for," added 
he, " I cannot converse with your married ministers." J 
Melancthon, who was looked upon with an evil eye at Augs- 
burg, and who had complained of being more solitary there 
than Luther in his castle, was touched by this courtesy, 
and was still more fully penetrated w,ith the idea that 
things should be ordered in the mildest manner possible. 

The Romish priests and laymen made a great uproar, be- 
cause on fast days meat was usually eaten at the elector's 
court. Melancthon advised his prince to restrict the liberty 
of his attendants in this respect. " This disorder," said he, 
" far from leading the simple-minded to the Gospel, scandal- 
izes them." He added, in>his ill-humour: " A fine holiness 

* Tantum lictorem suum in haereticos. Epp. ir. 10. 

t Magnum acervum conclusionum congessit. Corp. Ref. p. 39. 

J Cum uxoratia presbyteris tuis privatim colloqui non intendimus. 
Ibid. p. 82. 

Is os non minus sumns monachi quaei vos in ilia arce yestra. Ibid, 
p. 46. 



136 THE CHURCH, THE JUDGE. 

truly, to make it a matter of conscience to fast, and yet to 
be night and day given up to wine and folly!"* The elec- 
tor did not yield to Melancthon's advice; it would have 
been a mark of weakness of which his adversaries would 
have known how to take advantage. 

On the 31st May, the Saxon Confession was at length 
communicated to the other protestant states, who required 
that it should be presented in common in the name of them 
all.f But at the same time they desired to make their 
reservations with regard to the influence of the state. " We 
appeal to a council," said Melanethon ; " we will not receive 
the emperor as our judge; the ecclesiastical constitutions 
themselves forbid him to pronounce in spiritual matters.}: 
Moses declares that it is not the civil magistrate who de- 
cides, but the sons of Levi. St. Paul also says ( I Cor. xiv.), 
' let the others judge,' which cannot be understood except of 
an entire Christian assembly ; and the Saviour himself gives 
us this commandment : ' Tell it unto the Church.' We 
pledge, therefore, our obedience to the emperor in all civil 
matters ; but as for the Word of God, we demand liberty." 

All were agreed on this point ; but the dissent came from 
another quarter. The Lutherans feared to compromise their 
cause if they went hand in hand with the Zwinglians. 
" This is Lutheran madness," replied Bucer : " it will perish 
of its own weight." But, far from allowing this madness 
" to perish," the reformed augmented the disunion by exag- 
gerated complaints. " In Saxony they are beginning to 
sing Latin hymns again," said they ; " the sacred vestments 
are resumed, and oblations are called for anew.|| We would 
rather be led to slaughter, than be Christians after that 
fashion." 

The afflicted landgrave, says Bucer, was " between the 

* Und dennoch Tag und Nacht voll und toll seyn. Corp. Ref. ii. p. 79. 

-f In gemein in aller Fiirsten und Stadte Namen. Ibid. ii. p. 88. 

J Die constitutiones canonices den Kaysern verbieten zu ricUten und 
sprechen in geistlichen sachen. Ibid. p. 66. 

Do Lutheranis furonbus sua ipsi mole ruent. Zw. Epp. ii 432. 

Ii Hinc Latinee resumuutur cantiones, repetuutur sanctaa vcstes. Ibid. 
P. 457. 



THE LANDGRAVE'S CATHOLIC SPIRIT. 137 

hammer and the anvil;" and his allies caused him more 
uneasiness than his enemies.* He applied to Rhegius, 
to Brentz, to Melancthon, declaring that it was his most 
earnest wish to see concord prevail among all the evangelical 
doctors. " If these fatal doctrines are not opposed," replied 
Melancthon, " there will be rents in the Church that will 
last to the end of the world. Do not the Zwinglians boast 
of their full coffers, of having soldiers prepared, and of 
foreign nations disposed to aid them ? Do they not talk of 
sharing among them the rights and the property of the 

bishops, and of proclaiming liberty Good God! shall we 

not think of posterity, which, if we do not repress these 
guilty seditions, will be at once without throne and without 
altar ?"f " No, no ! we are one," replied this generous 
prince, who was so much in advance of his age ; " we all 
confess the same Christ, we all profess that we must eat 
Jesus Christ, by faith, in the eucharist. Let us unite." 
All was unavailing. The time in which true catholicity 
was to replace this sectarian spirit, of which Home is the 
most perfect expression, had not yet arrived. 



CHAPTER IV. 

Agitation in Augsburg Violence of the Imperialists Charles at 
Munich Charles's Arrival The Nuncio's Blessing The Imperial 
Procession Charles's Appearance Enters Augsburg Te Deum . 
The Benediction Charles desires the Sermons to be discontinued 
Brandenburg offers his Head The Emperor's Request for Corpus 
Christi Refusal of the Princes Agitation of Charles The Princes 
oppose Tradition Procession of Corpus Christi Exasperation of 
Charles. 

IN proportion as the emperor drew near Augsburg, the 
anxieties of the Protestants continued increasing. The 

* Cattus inter sacrum et saxum stat, et da sociis magis quam hostibus 
Bolicitus est. Zw. Epp. ii. 457. 
t Keine Kirche und kein Regiment. Corp. Ref. ii. 95. 

7* 



138 AGITATION IN AUGSBURG. 

burghers of this imperial city expected to see it become the 
theatre of strange events. Accordingly they said that if 
the elector, the landgrave, and other friends of the Refor- 
mation were not in the midst of them, they would all desert 
it.* " A great destruction threatens us," was repeated on 
every side.f One of Charles's haughty expressions above 
all disquieted the Protestants. " What do these electors 
want with me ?" he had said impatiently ; " I shall do what 
I please !" J Thus arbitrary rule was the imperial law des- 
tined to prevail in the diet. 

To this agitation of men's minds was added the agita- 
tion of the streets, or rather one led to the other. Masons 
and locksmiths were at work in all the public places and 
crossings, laboriously fastening barriers and chains to the 
walls, that might be closed or stretched at the first cry of 
alarm. At the same time about eight hundred foot and 
horse soldiers were seen patrolling the streets, dressed in 
velvet and silk,|| whom the magistrates had enrolled in 
order to receive the emperor -with magnificence. 

Matters were in this state, and it was about the middle 
of May, when a number of insolent Spanish quartermasters 
arrived, who, looking with contemptuous eyes on these 
wretched burghers, entered their houses, conducted them- 
selves with violence, and even rudely tore down the arms of 
some of the princes.^f The magistrates having delegated 
councillors to treat with them, the Spaniards made an 
impudent reply. " Alas !" said the citizens, " if the servants 
are so, what will their master be ?" The ministers of Charles 
were grieved at their impertinence, and sent a German 
quartermaster who employed the forms of German politeness 
to make them forget this Spanish haughtiness. 

That did not last long, and they soon felt more serious 
alarm. The Council of Augsburg were asked what was 

* Wo Sachsen, Hessen, und andere Lutherische nit hie waren. Corp. 
Ref. ii. 89. 

f Minatur nobis Satan granae exitium. Ibid. 92. 
J Er wolte es machen, wie es Ihm eben ware. Ibid. 88. 
Neu aufgericbte Ketten und Stock. Ibid. 66. 
|| Mit sammet und seide auf's kostlichst ausgestrichen. Ibid. 
II Den jungen Furstcn zu Neuburg ihre wappen abgerissen. Ibid. 55. 



VIOLENCE OF THE IMPERIALISTS. 139 

the meaning of these chains and soldiers, and they were 
ordered, in the emperor's name, to take down the one and 
disband the other. The magistrates of the city answered in 
alarm, " For more than ten years past we have intended 
putting up these chains ;* and as for the soldiers, our 
object is simply to pay due honour to his majesty." After 
many parleys it was agreed to dismiss the troops, and that 
the imperial commanders should select afresh a thousand 
men, who should make oath to the emperor, but be paid by 
the city of Augsburg. 

The imperial quartermasters then resumed all their inso- 
lence ; and no longer giving themselves the trouble of 
entering the houses and the shops, they tore down the sign- 
boards of the Augsburg citizens, and wrote in their place 
how many men and horses the latter would be required to 
lodge. -J- 

Such were the preludes to the work of conciliation that 
Charles V. had announced, and that he was so slow in 
beginning. Accordingly his delay, attributed by some to 
the crowds of people who surrounded him with their accla- 
mations ; by others to the solicitations of the priests, who 
opposed his entry into Augsburg until he had imposed 
silence on the ministers; and by others, finally, to the 
lessons the pope had given him in the arts of policy and 
stratagem,:}: still more estranged the elector and his allies. 

At last Charles, having quitted Innspruck two days after 
Gattinara's death, arrived at Munich on the 10th June. 
His reception was magnificent. About two miles from the 
town a temporary fortress had been erected, around which a 
sham-fight took place. Soldiers mounted to the assault, 
mines were exploded ; discharges of artillery, clouds of smoke, 
the clash of arms, the shouts of the combatants, delighted the 
eyes and ears of the emperor ; within the city, theatres had 
been raised in the open air, in which the Jewish Esther, the 

* Vor zehn Jaliren in Sinn gehalt. Corp. Ref. ii. 66. 

* Gehen niclit mclir in die Hauser und schrieben an die Thiir. 
Ibid. 89. 

t Csesarera instructum arte pontificum quaerere causas morse. L. 
Epp. iv. 31. 

Das hat Kais. Maj. wohl gefallen. Forstemann, Urkunden, i. 246. 



140 CHARLES'S ARRIVAL. 

Persian Cambyses, and other pieces not less famous, were 
represented; and the whole, combined with splendid fire- 
works, formed the welcome given by the adherents of the 
pope to him whom they styled their saviour. 

Charles was not far distant from Augsburg. As early as 
the llth June, every day and every hour, members of the 
imperial household, carriages, waggons, and baggage entered 
the city, to the sound of the clacking whip and of the horn ;* 
and the burghers in .amazement gazed with dejected eyes on 
all this insolent train, that fell upon their city like a flight 
of locusts.f 

At five o'clock in the morning of the 15th June,f the 
elector, the princes, and their councillors, assembled at the 
town-hall, and erelong arrived the imperial commissaries, 
with orders for them to go out and meet Charles. At three 
in the afternoon the princes and deputies quitted the city, 
and, having reached a little bridge across the river Lech, 
they there halted and waited for the emperor. The eyes ol 
every member of the brilliant assemblage, thus stopping on 
the smiling banks of an alpine torrent, were directed along 
the road to Munich. At length, after waiting two or three 
hours, clouds of dust and a loud noise announced the em- 
peror. Two thousand of the imperial guard marched first ; 
and as soon as Charles had come to within fifty paces of the 
river, the electors and princes alighted. Their sons, who had 
advanced beyond the bridge, perceiving the emperor pre- 
paring to do the same, ran to him and begged him to remain 
on horseback ; but Charles dismounted without hesitation, || 
and approaching the princes with an amiable smile, cordially 
shook hands with them. Albert of Mentz, in his quality of 
arch-chancellor of the empire, now welcomed the emperor, 
and the Count-palatine Frederick replied in behalf of Charles. 

While this was passing, three individuals remained apart 

* Alle stund die Wagen, der Tross und viel gesindfl nach einander 
Herein. Corp. Ref. ii. 90. 
{ Finden aber wenig Freuden feuer. Ibid. 
Zu morgens, um fiinf Uhr. F. Urkunden, i. 263. 
Ab Electorum filiis qui procurrerant rogatus. Seek. ii. 101. 
II Max ab eqnis descenderunt. Cochloeus. 



THE NUNCIO'S BLESSING. 141 

on a little elevation ;* these were the Roman legate, proudly 
seated on a mule, glittering with purple, and accompanied by 
two other cardinals, the Archbishop of Salzburg and the 
Bishop of Trent. The Nuncio, beholding all these great 
personages on the road, raised his hands, and gave them his 
blessing. Immediately the emperor, the king, and the princes 
who submitted to the pope, fell on their knees; the Spa- 
niards, Italians, Netherlanders, and Germans in their train, 
imitated their movements, casting however a side glance on 
the Protestants, who, in the midst of this humbly prostrate 
crowd, alone remained standing.f Charles did not appear to 
notice this, but he doubtless understood what it meant. 
The Elector of Brandenburg then delivered a Latin speech 
to the legate. He had been selected because he spoke this 
language better than the princes of the Church ; and accord- 
ingly, Charles, when praising his eloquence, slily put in a 
word about the negligence of the prelates.^ The emperor 
now prepared to remount his horse ; the Prince-electoral of 
Saxony, and the young princes of Luneburg, Mecklenburg, 
Brandenburg, and Anhalt, rushed towards him to aid him in 
getting into his saddle : one held the bridle, another the 
stirrup, and all were charmed at the magnificent appearance 
of their powerful sovereign. The procession began to 
move on. 

First came two companies of lansquenets, commanded by 
Simon Seitz, a citizen of Augsburg, who had made the cam- 
paign of Italy, and was returning home laden with gold.|| 
Next advanced the households of the six electors, composed 
of princes, counts, councillors, gentlemen, and soldiers; the 
household of the Dukes of Bavaria had slipped into their 
ranks, and the four hundred and fifty horsemen that com- 
posed it marched five abreast, covered with bright cuirasses, 
and wearing red doublets, while over their heads floated 

Auf em Ort geruckt. P. Urkunden, i. 256. 
( Primum constantise specimen. Seek. ii. 101. 
J Prelatorum autem negligentiam accusaret. Ibid. 
Conscendentem juniores principes adjuverunt. Ibid, and F. Urknn- 
den, i. 258. 

i) Bekleit von gold. Lit. clothed with gold. F. Urkunden, i. 26SL 



142 CHARLES'S APPEARANCE. 

handsome many-coloured plumes. Bavaria was already in 
this age the main support of Rome in Germany. 

Immediately after came the households of the emperor 
and of his brother, in striking contrast with this warlike 
show. They were composed of Turkish, Polish, Arabian, 
and other led horses ; then followed a multitude of young 
pages, clad in yellow or red velvet, with Spanish, Bohemian, 
and Austrian nobles in robes of silk and velvet;* among 
these the Bohemians had the most martial air, and gracefully 
rode their superb and prancing coursers. Last the trum- 
peters, drummers, heralds, grooms, footmen, and the legate's 
cross-bearers, announced the approach of the princes. 

In fact these powerful lords, whose contentions had so 
often filled Germany with confusion and war, now advanced 
riding peacefully side by side. After the princes appeared 
the electors ; and the Elector of Saxony, according to custom, 
carried the naked and glittering imperial sword immediately 
before the emperor.-j- 

Last came the prince, on whom all eyes were fixed.:}: 
Thirty years of age, of distinguished port and pleasing fea- 
tures, robed in golden garments that glittered all over with 
precious stones, wearing a small Spanish hat on the crown 
of his head,|| mounted on a beautiful Polish hackney of the 
most brilliant whiteness, riding beneath a rich canopy of red, 
white, and green damask borne by six senators of Augsburg, 
and casting around him looks in which gentleness was 
mingled with gravity, Charles excited the liveliest enthusiasm, 
and every one exclaimed that he was the handsomest man 
in the empire, as well as the mightiest prince in the world. 

He had at first desired to place his brother and the legate 
at his side; but the Elector of Mentz, attended by two 
hundred guards arrayed in silk, had claimed the emperor's 
right hand; and the Elector of Cologne, with a hundred 
well-armed attendants, had taken his station on the left. 

* Viel sammete und seiden Rocke. L. Opp. xx. 201. 

+ Noster princeps de more prsetulit ensem. Corp. Ref. ii. 118. 

J Omnium oculos in se convertit. Seek. ii. 160. 

Totus gemmis coruscabat. Ibid. 

(| Ein klein Spanisch Hutlein. F. Urkuuden, i. 260. 



ENTERS AUGSBURG TE DEUM. 143 

King Ferdinand and the legate came next ; to whom suc- 
ceeded the cardinals, ambassadors, and prelates, among whom 
was remarked the haughty Bishop of Osma, the emperor's 
confessor. The imperial cavalry and the troops of Augsburg 
closed the procession. 

Never, according to the higtorians, had anything so mag- 
nificent been seen in the empire ;* but they advanced slowly, 
and it was between eight and nine o'clock in the evening 
before they reached the gates of Augsburg.f Here they 
met the burgomaster and councillors, who prostrated them- 
selves before Charles, and at the same time the cannon from 
the ramparts, the bells from all the steeples in full peal, the 
noise of trumpets and kettle-drums, and the joyful acclama- 
tions of the people, re-echoed with loud din. Stadion, bishop 
of Augsburg, and his clergy robed in white, struck up the 
Advenisti desirabilis ; and six canons, advancing with a 
magnificent canopy, prepared to conduct the emperor to the 
cathedral, when Charles's horse, startled at this unusual 
sight, suddenly reared,:}: and the emperor had some difficulty 
in mastering him. At length Charles entered the minster, 
which was ornamented with garlands and flowers, and sud- 
denly illuminated by a thousand torches. 

The emperor went up to the altar, and falling on his 
knees, raised his hands towards heaven. During the Te 
Deum, the Protestants observed with anxiety that Charles 
kept conversing in a low tone with the Archbishop of Mentz; 
that he bent his ear to the legate who approached to speak 
to him, and nodded in a friendly manner to Duke George. 
All this appeared to them of evil omen ; but at the moment 
when the priests sang the Te ergo qucesimus, Charles, break- 
ing off his conversations, suddenly rose, and one of the 
acolytes running to him with a gold embroidered cushion, 
the emperor put it aside, and knelt on the bare stones of the 
church. All the assembly knelt with him ; the elector and 

* Antea in imperio non erat visa. Seek. ii. 160. 
f Ingressus est in urbem intra octavam et nonam. Ibid, 114. 
J Da entsetzt sich K. M. Hengst fur solohem Himmel. F. Urknnden, 
i. 26.. 
Ihr baud aufgehebt. Ibid. 



144 THE BENEDICTION. 

the landgrave alone remained standing. Duke George, 
astonished at such boldness, cast a threatening glance at 
his cousin. The Margrave of Brandenburg, carried away 
by the crowd, had fallen on his knees ; but having seen his 
two allies standing, he hastily rose up again. 

The Cardinal-archbishop of Salzburg then proceeded to 
pronounce the benediction ; but Campeggio, impatient at 
having as yet taken no part in the ceremony, hastened to 
the altar, and rudely thrusting the archbishop aside, said 
sharply to him :* " This office belongs to me, and not to 
you." The other gave way, the emperor bent down, and 
the landgrave, with difficulty concealing a smile, hid himself 
behind a candelabrum. The bells now rang out anew, the 
procession recommenced its march, and the princes conducted 
the emperor to the palatinate (the name given to the bishop's 
palace), which had been prepared for him. The crowd now 
dispersed : it was after ten at night. 

The hour was come in which the partisans of the papacy 
flattered themselves with the prospect of rendering the Pro- 
testants untrue to their faith. The arrival of the emperor, 
the procession of the holy sacrament that was preparing, the 
late hour, all had been calculated beforehand ; " the noc- 
turns of treason were about to begin," said Spalatin. 

A few minutes of general conversation took place in the 
emperor's apartments ; the princes of the Romish party were 
then allowed to retire ; but Charles had given a sign to the 
Elector of Saxony, to the Landgrave of Hesse, to George, 
margrave of Brandenburg, to the Prince of Anhalt, and to 
the Duke of Luneburg, to follow him into his private cham- 
ber. { His brother Ferdinand, who was to serve as inter- 
preter, alone went in with them. Charles thought that so 
long as the Protestant princes were before the world, they 
would not yield ; but that in a private and friendly inter- 
view, he might obtain all he desired of them. 

" His majesty requests you to discontinue the sermons," 
said Ferdinand. On hearing these words the two elder 



* Cardinalem legatus castigatum abegit. Seek. ii. 161. 
f Ad conclave sunm. Corp. Ref. pp. 106, 1 14. 



BRANDENBURG OFFERS HIS HEAD. 143 

princes (the elector and the margrave) turned pale and did 
not speak :* there was a long silence. 

At last the landgrave said : " We entreat your majesty 
to withdraw your request, for our ministers preach only the 
pure Word of God, as did the ancient doctors of the Church, 
St. Augustine, St. Hilary, and so many others. Of this 
your majesty may easily convince yourself. We cannot 
deprive ourselves of the food of the Word of God, and deny 
his Gospel."f 

Ferdinand, resuming the conversation in French J (for it 
was in this language that he conversed with his brother), 
informed the emperor of the landgrave's answer. Nothing 
was more displeasing to Charles than these citations of 
Hifary and Augustine ; the colour mounted to his cheeks, 
and he was nearly giving way to his anger. " His Ma- 
jesty," said Ferdinand in a more positive tone, " cannot desist 
from his demand." " Your conscience," quickly replied the 
landgrave, " has no right to command ours." || As Ferdi- 
nand still persisted, the margrave, who had been silent until 
then, could contain himself no longer ; and without caring 
for interpreters, stretched out his neck towards Charles, 
exclaiming in deep emotion : " Rather than allow the Word 
of the Lord to be taken from me, rather than deny my God, 
I would kneel down before your majesty and have my head 
cut off!" As he uttered these simple and magnanimous 
words, says a contemporary,^ the prince accompanied them 
with a significant gesture, and let his hands fall on his neck 
like the headsman's axe. The excitement of the princes was 
at its height : had it been necessary, they would all four 
have instantly walked to the scaffold. Charles was moved 
by it ; surprised and agitated, he hastily cried out in his bad 

* Die beede alte Fiirsten zum hochsten entsetz. Corp. Ref. pp. 106, 
114. 

t Se non posse cibo verbi Dei carere, nee sana conscjentia Evangelium 
negare. Ibid. 1 15. 

J In Franzosischer Sprache. Ibid. 107. 

Sich darob etwas angerbt und erhitzt. Ibid. 115. 

|| K. M. gewissen sey aber kein Herr und meyster iiber ihr gewissen. 
Ibid. 

Tf Ut simpliciter, ita magnanimiter, says Bwntz. Ibid. 



146 THE EMPEROR'S REQUEST FOR CORPUS CHRISTI. 

German, making a show of checking the landgrave : " Dear 
prince, not the head! not the head!" But he had scarcely 
uttered these few words, when he checked himself. 

These were the only words that Charles pronounced before 
the princes during all the diet. His ignorance of the German 
language, and sometimes also the etiquette of the Escurial, 
compelled him to speak only by the mouth of his brother or 
of the count-palatine. As he was in the habit of consecrat- 
ing four hours daily to divine worship, the people said: "He 
talks more with God than with men." This habitual silence 
was not favourable to his plans. They requited activity 
and eloquence ; but instead of that the Germans saw in the 
dumb countenance of their youthful emperor, a mere puppet, 
nodding his head and winking his eyes. Charles sometimes 
felt very keenly the faults of this position : " To be able to 
speak German," said he, " I would willingly sacrifice any 
other language, even were it Spanish or French, and more 
than that, one of my states."* 

Ferdinand saw that it was useless to insist on the cessa- 
tion of these meetings ; but he had another arrow in his 
quiver. The next day was the festival of Corpus Christi, 
and by a custom that had never as yet been infringed, all 
the princes and deputies present at the diet were expected 
to take part in the procession. Would the Protestants re- 
fuse this act of courtesy at the very opening of a diet to which 
each one came in a conciliatory spirit ? Have they not de- 
clared that the body and blood of Christ are really in the 
Host ? Do they not boast of their opposition to Zwingle, 
and can they stand aloof, without being tainted with heresy? 
Now, if they share in the pomp that surrounds " the Lord's 
body ;" if they mingle with that crowd of clergy, glittering 
in luxury and swelling with pride, who carry about the 
God whom they have created ; if they are present when the 
people bow down ; will they not irrevocably compromise 
their faith ? The machine is well prepared ; its movements 
cannot fail; there is no more doubt! The craft of the 



" Es wSre Spanisch oder Franzosisch and dazu eines Landes minder. 
Corp. Ref. ii. 114. 



THE PRINCES' REFUSAL. 147 

Italians is about to triumph over the simplicity of these 
German boors ! 

Ferdinand therefore resumes, and making a weapon of the 
very refusal that he had just met with : " Since the em- 
peror," said he, " cannot obtain from you the suspension of 
your assemblies, he begs at least that you will accompany 
him to-morrow, according to custom, in the procession of 
the Holy Sacrament. Do so, if not from regard to him, at 
least for the honour of Almighty God."* 

The princes were still more irritated and alarmed. " Christ," 
said they, " did not institute his sacrament to be worshipped." 
Charles persevered in his demand, and the Protestants in their 
refusal.-}- Upon this the emperor declared that he would not 
accept their excuse, that he would give them time for re- 
flection, and that they must be prepared to reply early on 
the morrow. 

They separated in the greatest agitation. The prince- 
electoral, who had waited for his father in the first hall 
along with other lords, sought, at the moment the princes 
issued from the emperor's chamber, to read on their coun- 
tenance what had taken place. Judging from the emotion 
depicted on their features that the struggle had been severe, 
he thought that his father was incurring the greatest dan- 
gers, and accordingly, grasping him by the hand, dragged 
him to the staircase of the palace, exclaiming in affright, as 
if Charles's satellites were already at his heels, " Come, come 
quickly!" 

Charles, who had expected no such resistance, was in 
truth confounded, and the legate endeavoured to exasperate 
him still more.J Agitated, filled with anger and vexation, 
and uttering the most terrible threats, the young emperor 
paced hastily to and fro the halls of his palace ; and unable 
to wait for the answer until the morrow, he sent in the 



* Et saltern in honorem Dei illud facerent. Corp. Ref. ii. 116. 

*f- Persistit Caesar in postulatione, persisterunt illi in recusatiouc 
Ibid. 115. 

J A ssevitia Legati Romanensiunrcaptivi. Ibid. 116. 

Hinc secutae sunt grayissimso minse, jactatse SBevissimae Csesaria in- 
dignationea. Ibid. 



148 THE PRINCES OPPOSE TRADITION. 

middle of the night to demand the elector's final decision. 
" At present we require sleep," replied the latter ; " to-morrow 
we will let you know our determination."* As for the land- 
grave, he could not rest any more than Charles. Scarcely 
had he returned home, when he sent his chancellor to the 
Nuremberg deputies, and had them awoke to make them 
acquainted with what had taken place.f 

At the same time Charles's demand was laid before the 
theologians, and Spalatin, taking the pen, drew up their 
opinion during the night. " The sacrament," it bore, " was 
not instituted to be worshipped, as the Jews worshipped the 
brazen image.:}: We are here to confess the truth, and not 
for the confirmation of abuses. Let us therefore stay away 1" 
This opinion confirmed the evangelical princes in their de- 
termination; and the day of the 16th June began. 

The Elector of Saxony, feeling indisposed during the night, 
commissioned his son to represent him ; and at seven o'clock 
the princes and councillors repaired on horseback to the em- 
perors palace. 

The Margrave of Brandenburg was their spokesman. " You 
know," said he to Charles, " how, at the risk of our lives, my 
ancestors and myself have supported your august house. But, 
in the things of God, the commands of God himself oblige me 
to put aside all commandment of man. We are told that death 
awaits those who shall persevere in the sound doctrine : I am 
ready to suffer it." He then presented the declaration of the 
evangelical princes to the emperor. " We will not counten- 
ance by our presence," said they, "these impious human 
traditions, which are opposed to the Word of God. We de- 
clare, on the contrary, without hesitation, and with one 
accord, that we must expel them from the Church, lest 
those of its members that are still sound should be infected 
by this deadly poison." || " If you will not accompany his 



* Quieto sibi opus esse dicens, responsum in diem alterum distuliL 
Seek. ii. 162. 

t Hat nachten uns aufweckon lassen. Corp. Ref. ii. 106. 
J Wie die Juden die Schlange haben angebethet. Ibid. 111. 
Heute zu sieben Uhren sind gomeldete Fiirsten. Ibid. iii. 107. 
y Cielestin. i. 82. 



PROCESSION OF CORPUS CHRISTI. 149 

majesty for the love of God," said Ferdinand, " do so at least 
for love of the emperor, and as vassals of the empire.* His 
majesty commands you." " An act of worship is in question," 
replied the princes, " our conscience forbids it." Then Fer- 
dinand and Charles having conversed together in a low tone : 
" His majesty desires to see," said the king, " whether you 
will obey him or not."f At the same time the emperor and 
his brother quitted the room ; but the princes, instead of 
following him, as Charles had hoped, returned full of joy to 
their palaces. 

The procession did not begin till noon. Immediately be- 
hind the canopy under which the Elector of Mentz carried 
the host, came the emperor alone, with a devout air, bearing 
a taper in his hand, his head bare and shorn like a priest's, 
although the noon-day sun darted on him its most ardent 
rays.J By exposing himself to these fatigues, Charles de- 
sired to profess aloud his faith in what constitutes the essence 
of Roman-catholicism. In proportion as the spirit and the 
life had escaped from the primitive churches, they had striven 
to replace them by forms, shows, and ceremonies. The essen- 
tial cause of the Romish worship is found in that decline of 
charity and faith which catholic Christians of the first ages 
have often deplored ; and the history of Rome is summed up 
in this expression of St. Paul, Having a form of godliness, 
but denying the power thereof. But as the power was then 
beginning to revive in the Church, the form began also to 
decline. Barely a hundred citizens of Augsburg had joined 
in the procession of the 16th June. It was no longer the 
pomp of former times : the Christian people had learned anew 
to love and to believe. 

Charles, however, under an air of devotion concealed a 
wounded heart. The legate was less able to command him- 
self, and said aloud that this obstinacy of the princes would 



* Ut vassalli et principes imperil. Cochloeus, p. 192. 

f Sie wolle sehen, ob sie I. M. gehorchsam leisten oder iiioht. Corp. 
Ref. ii. 108. 

J Clericaliter, detonso capillo. Zw. Epp. ii, 471. Nudo capite sub 
meridiani solis ardoribus. Pallavioini, i. 228. 

2 Timothy iii. 5. 



150 EXASPERATION OF CHARLES. 

be the cause of great mischief to the pope.* "When the pro- 
cession was over (it had lasted an hour), Charles could no 
longer master his extreme irritation; and he had scarcely 
returned to his palace, when he declared that he would give 
the protestant princes a safe-conduct, and that on the very 
next day these obstinate and rebellious men should quit 
Augsburg ; -{- the diet would then take such resolutions as 
were required for the safety of the Church and of the Empire. 
It was no doubt the legate who had given Charles this idea, 
which, if executed, would infallibly have led to a religious 
war. But some of the princes of the Roman party, desirous 
of preserving peace, succeeded, though not without difficulty, 
m getting the emperor to withdraw his threatening order. J 



CHAPTER V. 

The Sermons prohibited Compromise proposed and accepted The 
Herald Curiosity of the Citizens The new Preachers The Medley 
of Popery Luther encourages the Princes Veni Spiritus Mass of the 
Holy Ghost The Sermon Opening of the Diet The Elector's Prayer 
Insidious Plan of the Romanists Valdez and Melancthon No pub- 
lic Discussion Evangelical Firmness prevails. 

CHARLES, being defeated on the subject of the procession, 
resolved to take his revenge on the assemblies, for nothing 
galled him like these sermons. The crowd ceased not to fill 
the vast church of the Franciscans, where a Zwinglian 
minister of lively and penetrating eloquence was preaching 
on the Book of Joshua. He placed the kings of Canaan 
and the children of Israel before them : his congregation 
heard them speak and saw them act, and every one recog- 

* Sarpi, Council of Trent, i. 99. 

t Ut mox altera die, cum salvo-conductu, Lutheran! abirent domum. 
Cochl. p. 193. 

t Pads et concordite avidi, supplicarunt ejus majestati nt sedata ira. 
Ibid. 

Maximus populi concursus araplissima rede. Ibid. 



THE SERMONS PROHIBITED. 151 

nised in the kings of Canaan the emperor and the ultra- 
montane princes, and in the people of God the adherents of 
the Reformation. In consequence, his hearers quitted the 
church enthusiastic in their faith, and filled with the desire 
of seeing the abominations of the idolaters fall to the ground. 
On the 16th June, the Protestants deliberated on Charles's 
demand, and it was rejected by the majority. " It is only a 
scarecrow," said they ; " the Papists only desire to see if the 
nail shakes in the wall, and if they can start the hare from 
the thicket." 

The next morning (17th June) before breakfast, the princes 
replied to the emperor. " To forbid our ministers to preach 
purely the holy Gospel would be rebellion against God, who 
wills not that his Word be bound. Poor sinners that we are, 
we have need of this Divine Word to surmount our troubles.* 
Moreover, his majesty has declared, that in this diet each 
doctrine should be examined with impartiality. Now, to 
order us henceforward to suspend the sermons, would be to 
condemn ours beforehand." 

Charles immediately convoked the other temporal and spir- 
itual princes, who arrived at mid-day at the palatine palace, 
and remained sitting until the evening ; f the discussion was 
exceedingly animated. " This very morning," said some of 
the speakers, " the Protestant princes, as they quitted the 
emperor, had sermons delivered in public." J Exasperated at 
this new affront, Charles with difficulty contained himself. 
Some of the princes, however, entreated him to accept their 
mediation, to which he consented ; but the Protestants were 
immovable. Did these heretics, whom they imagined to re- 
duce so easily, appear in Augsburg only to humiliate Charles? 
The honour of the chief of the empire must be saved at any 
cost. " Let us ourselves renounce our preachers," said the 
princes ; " the Protestants will not then persist in keeping 
theirs 1" 

The committee accordingly proposed that the emperor 

* Nee se illo animsa nutrimento carere. Caelestinus, Hist. Comit. i. 88 ; 
Forat. Urkunden, i. 283. 

h Caesar a meridie. Seek. 165. Den gangen Tag. Corp. Ref. ii. 1 13. 
J Eo ipso die condones continuatse. Seckend. p. 165. 



152 A COMPROMISE PROPOSED AND ACCEPTED. 

should set aside both Papist and Lutheran preachers, and 
should nominate a few chaplains, with authority to announce 
the pure Word of God, without attacking either of the two 
parties.* " They shall be neutral men," said they to the 
Protestants ; neither Faber nor his partisans shall be admit- 
ted." " But they will condemn our doctrine." " By no 
means. The preacher shall do nothing but read the text of 
the Gospels, Epistles, and a general confession of sins."f 
The evangelical states required time to reflect upon it. 

" We must accept it," said Melancthon ; " for if our ob- 
stinacy should lead the emperor to refuse hearing our con- 
fession, the evil would be greater still." 

" We are called to Augsburg," said Agricola, " to give an 
account of our doctrine, and not to preach."}: 

" There is no little disorder in the city," remarked Spalatin. 
" The sacramentarians and enthusiasts preach here as well 
as we : we must get out of this confusion." 

" What do the papists propose ?" said other theologians ; 
"to read the Gospels and Epistles without explanation. 
But is not that a victory ? What ! we protest against the 
interpretations of the Church ; and lo ! priests who are to 
read the Word of God without their notes and commentaries, 
that is to say, transforming themselves into protestant mini- 
sters !" " ! admirable wisdom of the courtiers !" exclaimed 
Melancthon, smiling. 

To these motives were added the opinions of the lawyers. 
As the emperor ought to be considered the rightful magis- 
trate of an imperial city, so long as he made it his residence, 
all jurisdiction in Augsburg really belonged to him. 

" Well, then," said the protestant princes, " we agree to 
silence our preachers, in the hope that we shall hear nothing 
offensive to our consciences. If it were otherwise, we should 
feel ourselves constrained to repel so serious an insult. || 

* Csesare omiies tarn papistarum quarn evaugelicorum condones. Corp. 
Ref. ii. 116. 

f Qui tautum rccitcnt Evangelium et epistolam yaa.[*.pa.rixZi-,. Ibid. 
119. 

J Non sumus parochi Augustanorum, added he. Ibid. 

Vide miram sapientiam Aulicorum. Ibid. 

| Ut de remcdiis propulsanchc injuriie cogitent. Seek. ii. 105. 



THE HERALD CURIOSITY OF THE CITIZENS. 153 

Besides," added the elector, as he withdrew, " we expect that 
if at any time we desire to hear one of our chaplains in our 
own palace, we shall be free to do so."* 

They hastened to the emperor, who desired nothing better 
than to come to an understanding with the Protestants on 
this subject, and who ratified everything. 

This was Saturday. An imperial herald was immediately 
sent out, who, parading the streets of the city at seven in 
the evening to the sound of trumpets,f made the following 
proclamation : " yes, yes ! J Thus ordains his imperial 
majesty, our most gracious lord : no one shall be allowed to 
preach in Augsburg except by his majesty's nomination, 
under penalty of incurring the displeasure and punishment 
of his majesty." 

A thousand different remarks were exchanged in the 
houses of the citizens of Augsburg. " We are very impa- 
tient," said they, " to see the preachers appointed by the 
emperor, and who will preach (0 ! unprecedented wonder !) 
neither against the evangelical doctrine nor against the doc- 
trine of the pope !" " We must expect," added another, 
" to behold some Tragelaph or some chimera with the head 
of a lion, a goat's body, and a dragon's tail."|| The Spaniards 
appeared well satisfied with this agreement, for many of them 
had never heard a single sermon in their lives ; it was not 
the custom in Spain ; but Zwingle's friends were filled with 
indignation and alarm.^j 

At length Sunday the 19th of June arrived ; every one 
hastened to the churches, and the people who filled them, 
with eyes fixed on the priest and with attentive ears,** pre~ 
pared to listen to what these new and strange preachers 

* Ob je einer einen Prediger in seiner Herberg fur sich predigen liesa. 
Corp. Ref. ii. 113. 

) Per tubicines et heraldum. Sturmius, Zvr. Epp. p. 466. 

J Hort, Hort. Corp. Ref. ii. 124. 

Omnes hunc avidissime expectant. Ibid. 116. 

II Cbimaeram aut Tragelaphum aliquem expectamus. Ibid. The 7Va 
gelaph is a fabulous animal partaking of the nature of a goat and a stag. 
Representations of it were common on drinking-bowls and goblets among 
the ancient Greeks. 

TI Multos deterreat. Sturm to Zwingle, Epp. p. 466, 

** Arrectis auribus. Corp. Ref. ii. 1 16. 
VOL. IV. $ 



154 THE NEW PREACHERS. 

would say.* It was generally believed that their task would 
be to make an evangelico-papistical discourse, and they 
were very impatient to hear this marvel. But 

" The mountain in labour gave birth to a mouse !" 

The preacher first read the common prayer ; he then added 
the Gospel of the day, finished with a general confession of 
sins, and dismissed his congregation. People looked at one 
another in surprise : " Verily," said they, " here is a preacher 
that is neither Gospeller nor Papist, but strictly textual."-}- 
At last all burst into laughter ; " and truly," adds Brentz, 
" there was reason enough.''^ In some churches, however, 
the chaplains, after reading the Gospel, added a few puerile 
words, void of Christianity and of consolation, and in no 
way founded on the holy Scripture. 

After the so-called sermon, they proceeded to the mass. 
That in the cathedral was particularly noisy. The emperor 
was not present, for he was accustomed to sleep until nine 
or ten o'clock, || and a late mass was performed for him ; but 
Ferdinand and many of the princes were present. The 
pealing notes of the organ, the resounding voices of the 
choir, echoed through the minster, and a numerous and 
motley crowd, rushing in at all the doors, filled the aisles of 
the temple. One might have said that every nation in the 
world had agreed to meet in the cathedral of Augsburg. 
Here were Frenchmen, there Spaniards, Moors in one place, 
Moriscos in another, on one side Italians, on the other Turks, 
and even, says Brentz, those who are called Stratiots.^" 
This crowd was no bad representation of the medley of 
popery. 

One priest alone, a fervent Romanist, dared to offer an 
apology for the mass in the church of the Holy Cross. 

* Quid novi norus concionator allaturus sit. Corp. Ref. ii. 117. 

h Sic habes concionatorem neque eyangelicum neque papisticum, sed 
nudum textualem. Ibid. 

$ Rident omnes, et certe res Talde ridicula est. Ibid. 

Paucula quaedam, eaque puerilia et inepta, nee Christiane, absque 
fundamento verbi Divini et consolatione. Seek. ii. 165. 

|j Dormire solet usque ad nonam aut deoimam. Corp. Ref. ii. 117. 

IT Ibi videas hie Gallos, hie Hispanos, hie Ethiopes, illie etiam Ethio- 
pissas, hie Italos, illic etiam Turcas, aut quos vocant Stratiotas. Ibid, 



THE MEDLEY OF POPERY. 155 

Charles, wishing to maintain his authority, had him thrown 
into the Grayfriars' prison, whence they contrived to let 
him escape. As for the evangelical pastors of Augsburg, 
almost all left the city to hear the Gospel elsewhere. The 
protestant princes were anxious to secure for their churches 
the assistance of such distinguished men. Discouragement 
and alarm followed close upon this step, and even the firmest 
were moved. The elector was inconsolable at the privation 
imposed upon him by the emperor. " Our Lord God," said 
he, heaving a deep sigh, " has received an order to be silent 
at the Diet of Augsburg."* From that time forward Luther 
lost the good opinion he had previously entertained of Charles, 
and foreboded the stormiest future. " See what will be the 
end of all this," said he. " The emperor, who has ordered 
the elector to renounce the assemblies, will afterwards com- 
mand him to renounce the doctrine ; the diet will enter upon 
its paroxysm, and nothing will remain for us but to rely upon 
the arm of the Lord." Then giving way to all his indigna- 
tion, he added : " The papists, abandoned to devils, are trans- 
ported with rage ; and to live they must drink blood.-}- 
They wish to give themselves an air of justice, by giving us 
one of obstinacy. At Augsburg you have not to deal with 
men, but with the very gates of hell." Melancthon himself 
saw his hopes vanish. " All, except the emperor," said he, 
" hate us with the most violent hatred. The danger is great, 

very great.J Pray to Christ that he may save us !" But 

Luther, however full of sorrow he might be, far from being 
cast down, raised his head and endeavoured to reanimate the 
courage of his brethren. " Be assured and doubt not," wrote 
he to them, " that you are the confessors of Jesus Christ, 
and the ambassadors of the Great King." 

They had need of these thoughts, for their adversaries, 
elated by this first success, neglected nothing that might 
destroy the Protestants, and taking another step forward, 

* Hac ratione, Deo ejusque verbo silentium est impositum. Seek. ii. 165. 
+ Ut nisi sanguinem biberint, vivere non possint. Ibid. 
J Magnum omnino periculum est. Corp. Ref. ii. 118. 
Ea fides vivificabit et censolabifur vos, quia Magni Regis estis legati. 
L. Epp. iv. 59. 



156 VENI SPffilTUS. 

proposed forcing them to be present at the Romish cere- 
monies.* " The Elector of Saxony," said the legate to 
Charles, " ought in virtue of his office of grand-marshal of 
the empire to carry the sword before you in all the cere- 
monies of the diet. Order him therefore to perform his duty 
at the mass of the Holy Ghost, which is to open the sittings." 
The emperor did so immediately, and the elector, uneasy at 
this message, called together his theologians. If he refused, 
his dignity would be taken away ; and if he obeyed, he 
would trample his faith under foot (thought he), and would 
do dishonour to the Gospel. 

But the Lutheran divines removed the scruples of their 
prince. " It is for a ceremony of the empire," said they, 
" as grand-marshal, and not as a Christian, that you are 
summoned; the Word of God itself, in the history of Naaman, 
authorizes you to comply with this invitation."-]- The friends 
of Zwingle did not think so ; their walk was more decided 
than that of Wittemberg. " The martyrs allowed them- 
selves to be put to death," said they, " rather than burn a 
grain of incense before the idols." Even some of the Pro- 
testants, hearing that the Veni Spiritus was to be sung, said, 
wagging their heads : " We are very much afraid that the 
chariot of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, having been 
taken away by the papists, the Holy Ghost, despite their 
mass, will never reach Augsburg."! Neither these fears nor 
these objections were listened to. 

On Monday the 20th June, the emperor and his brother, 
with the electors and princes of the empire, having entered 
the cathedral, took their seats on the right side of the choir ; 
on the left were placed the legate, the archbishops, and 
bishops ; in the middle were the ambassadors. Without 
the ehoir, in a gallery that overlooked it, were ranged the 
landgrave and other Protestants, who preferred being at 
a distance from the host. The elector, bearing the 
sword, remained upright near the altar at the moment of the 

' Sarpi, Hist. Council of Trent, book i. 99. 

t 2 Kings v. 18. Exemplo Naamanis, Seek. ii. 167; Sarpi, p. 99. 

J Ne ablato Spiritus vehiculo, quod est verbum Dei, Spiritus Sanctua 
ad Angustam prse pedum imbecillitate pervenire non possit. Corp. Ro 
ii. 116. Abstinondo ab adoratione hostire. Seek. ii. 119. 



MASS OF THE HOLY GHOST. 157 

adoration. The acolytes, having closed the gates of the 
choir immediately after,* Vincent Pompinello, archbishop of 
Salerno, preached the sermon. He commenced with the 
Turks and their ravages, and then, by an unexpected turn, 
began suddenly to exalt the Turks even above the Germans. 
" The Turks," said he, " have but one prince whom they 
obey ; but the Germans have many who obey no one. The 
Turks live under one sole law, one only custom, one only 
religion ; but among the Germans there are some who are 
always wishing for new laws, new customs, new religions. 
They tear the seamless coat of Christ ; they abolish by 
devilish inspirations the sacred doctrines established by 
unanimous consent, and substitute for them, alas ! buf- 
foonery and obscenity.-}- Magnanimous emperor, powerful 
king!" said he, turning towards Charles and his brother, 
" sharpen your swords, wield them against these perfidious 
disturbers of religion, and thus bring them back into the 
fold of the Church 4 There is no peace for Germany so long 
as the sword shall not have entirely eradicated this heresy. 
St. Peter and St. Paul ! I call upon you ; upon you, St. 
Peter, in order that you may open the stony hearts of these 
princes with your keys ; and upon you, St. Paul, that if 
they show themselves too rebellious, you may come with 
your sword, and cut in pieces this unexampled hardness!" 

This discourse, intermingled with panegyrics of Aristides, 
Themistocles, Scipio, Cato, the Curtii and Scsevola, being 
concluded, the emperor and princes arose to make their 
offerings. Pappenheim returned the sword to the elector, 
who had intrusted it to him; and the grand-marshal, as 
well as the margrave, went to the offertory, but with a smile, 
as it is reported. 1 1 This fact is but little in harmony with the 
character of these princes. 

* Erant enim chori fores clausac, nee quisquam oration! interfuit. 
Corp. Ref. ii. 120. 

f- Diabolica persuasione eliminant, et ad scurrilia ac impudica quseque 
deducunt. Pallavicini, Hist. Trid. C. i. 23. 

J Exacuant gladios quos in perversos illos perturbatores. Corp. Ref. ii. 
120. Nisi eradicata funditus per gladium hseresi ilia. Ibid. 

|| Protestantes etiam ad ofierandum munuscula in altari, ut moris erat, 
accessi.sse, Bed cum risu. Spalat. Seek. ii. 167. 



158 OPENING OF THE DIET. 

At length they quitted the cathedral. No one, except the 
friends of the nuncio, was pleased with the sermon. ETCH 
the Archbishop of Mentz was offended at it. " What does 
he mean," exclaimed he, " by calling on St. Paul to cut the 
Germans with his sword ?" Nothing but a few inarticulate 
sounds had been heard in the nave ; the Protestants eagerly 
questioned those of their party who had been present in the 
choir. " The more these priests inflame people's minds, and 
the more they urge their princes to bloody wars," said Brentz 
at that time, " the more we must hinder ours from giving 
way to violence."* Thus spoke a minister of the Gospel of 
peace after the sermon of the priests of Rome. 

After the mass of the Holy Ghost, the emperor entered 
his carriage,-]- and having reached the town-hall, where the 
sittings of the diet were to take place, took his seat on a 
throne covered with cloth of gold, while his brother placed 
himself on a bench in front of him ; then all around them 
were ranged the electors, forty-two sovereign princes, the 
deputies from the cities, the bishops, and ambassadors, form- 
ing, indeed, that illustrious assembly which Luther, six 
weeks before, had imagined he saw sitting in the air.J 

The count-palatine read the imperial proposition. It re- 
ferred to two points ; the war against the Turks, and the 
religious controversy. " Sacrificing my private injuries and 
interests to the common good," said the emperor, " I have 
quitted my hereditary kingdoms, to pass, not without great 
danger, into Italy, and from thence to Germany. I have 
heard with sorrow of the divisions that have broken out 
here, and which, striking not only at the imperial majesty, 
but still more at the commandments of Almighty God, must 
engender pillage, conflagration, war, and death." At one 
o'clock the emperor, accompanied by all the princes, returned 
to his palace. 

On the same day the elector gathered around him all his 

* Ut nostros principes ab importuna violentia retineamus. Corp. Ref. 
u. 120. 

f Imperator cum omnibus in curiam vectus est. Sturm to Zw. 
Epp. ii. 430. 

Ex Yolucrum monedularumque regno. L. Epp. iv. 13. 

Nicht anders dann zu Raub, Brandt, und Kricg. F. Urkunden, i. 307 



THE ELECTOR'S PKAYER. 159 

co-religionists, whom the emperor's speech had greatly ex- 
cited, and exhorted them not to be turned aside by any 
threats from a cause which was that of God himself.* All 
seemed penetrated with this expression of Scripture : " Speak 
the word, and it shall not stand ; for God is with us."f 

The elector had a heavy burden to bear. Not only had 
he to walk at the head of the princes, but he had further to 
defend himself against the enervating influence of Melanc- 
thon. Throughout the whole of the diet this prince offers 
to our notice no mere abstraction of the state, but the 
noblest individuality. Early on Tuesday morning, feeling 
the necessity of that invisible strength which, according to a 
beautiful figure in the Holy Scriptures, causes us to ride 
upon the high places of the earth ; and seeing, as was usual, 
his domestics, his councillors, and his son assembled around 
him, John begged them affectionately to withdraw.^ He 
knew that it was only by kneeling humbly before God that 
he could stand with courage before Charles. Alone in his 
chamber, he opened and read the Psalms ; then falling on 
his knees, he offered up the most fervent prayer to God ; 
next, wishing to confirm himself in the immovable fidelity 
that he had just vowed to the Lord, he went to his desk, 
and there committed his resolutions to writing. Dolzig and 
Melancthon afterwards saw these lines, and were filled with 
admiration as they read them.|| 

Being thus tempered anew in heavenly thoughts, John 
took up the imperial proposition, and meditated over it; 
then, having cabled in his son and the chancellor Bruck, and 
Melancthon shortly after, they all agreed that the delibera- 
tions of the diet ought to commence with the affairs of 
religion; and his allies, who were consulted, concurred in 
this advice. 

The legate had conceived a plan diametrically opposed to 
this. He desired to stifle the religious question, and for this 
end required that the princes should examine it in a secret 

* Cohortatus est ad intrepidam causso Dei assentionem. Seek. ii. 108. 
+ Isaiah viii. 10. 

J Mane remotis omnibus consiliariis et ministris. Seek. ii. 169. 
Preeibus ardentissimis a Deo successum negotii petiisset. Ibid. 
y Q,u cum admiratione legisse dicuntur. Ibid. 



160 VALDEZ AND MEI.ANCTHON. 

committee.* The evangelical Christians entertained no 
doubt that if the truth was proclaimed in the great council 
of the nation, it would gain the victory ; but the more they 
desired a public confession, the more it was dreaded by the 
pope's friends. The latter wished to take their adversaries 
by silence, without confession, without discussion, as a city 
is taken by famine without fighting and without a storm : 
to gag the Reformation, and thus reduce it to powerlessness 
and death, were their tactics. To have silenced the preachers 
was not enough : the princes must be silenced also. They 
wished to shut up the Reformation as in a dungeon, and 
there leave it to die, thinking they would thus get rid of it 
more surely than by leading it to the scaffold. 

This plan was well conceived : it now remained to be put 
in execution, and for that purpose it was necessary to per- 
suade the Protestants that such a method would be the 
surest for them. The person selected for this intrigue was 
Alphonso Valdez, secretary to Charles V., a Spanish gentle- 
man, a worthy individual, and who afterwards showed a 
leaning towards the Reformation. Policy often makes use 
of good men for the most perfidious designs. It was decided 
that Valdez should address the most timid of the Protestants 
Melancthon. 

On the 16th or 17th of June, immediately after the arrival 
of Charles, Valdez begged Melancthon to call on him. " The 
Spaniards," said he, " imagine that the Lutherans teach im- 
pious doctrines on the Holy Trinity, on Jesus Christ, on the 
blessed Mother of God.-}- Accordingly, they think they do a 
more meritorious work in killing a Lutheran than in slaying 
a Turk." 

" I know it," replied Melancthon, " and I have not yet 
been able to succeed in making your fellow-countrymen 
abandon that idea." 

" But what, pray, do the Lutherans desire ?" 

" The Lutheran question is not so complicated and so 

* Si acturi Fjnt secreto et inter sese, nulla publica disputatione Tel 
audientia. L. Epp. ir. 43. 

f Hispanis persuasum esse Lutheranos impie de Sanctissima Trinitate 
Ex relatione Spalati in Seek. ii. 165. 



NO PUBLIC DISCUSSION. 161 

unseemly as his majesty fancies. We do not attack the 
Catholic Church, as is commonly believed ;* and the whole 
controversy is reducible to these three points. The two 
kinds in the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, the marriage 
of pastors, and the abolition of private masses. If we could 
agree on these articles, it would be easy to come to an 
understanding on the others." 

" Well, I will report this to his majesty." 

Charles V. was charmed at this communication. " Go," 
said he to Valdez, " and impart these things to the legate, 
and ask Master Philip to transmit to you in writing a short 
exposition of what they believe and what they deny." 

Valdez hastened to Campeggio. " What you relate pleases 
me tolerably," said the latter. " As for the two kinds in 
the sacrament, and the marriage of priests, there will be 
means of accommodation ;-} but we cannot consent to the 
abolition of private masses." This would have been in fact 
cutting off one of the greatest revenues of the Church. 

On Saturday, June 18, Valdez saw Melancthon again. 
" The emperor begs of you a moderate and concise exposi- 
tion," said he, " and he is persuaded that it will be more 
advantageous to treat of this matter briefly and privately, J 
avoiding all public hearing and all prolix discussion, which 
would only engender anger and division." " Well," said 
Melancthon, " I will reflect upon it." 

Melancthon was almost won over: a secret conference 
agreed better with his disposition. Had he not often re- 
peated that peace should be sought after above all things ? 
Thus everything induced the legate to hope that a public 
struggle would be avoided, and that he might be content, as 
it were, to send mutes against the Reform, and strangle it in 
a dungeon. 

Fortunately the chancellor and the Elector Frederick did not 

* Non adeo per eos Ecclesiam Catholicam oppugnari, quam vulgo 
pntaretur. Ex relatione Spalati in Seek. ii. 100. 

f Mit beider Gestalt sacraments oder des Pfafien und Monch Elie. 
Corp. Ref. ii. 123. 

J Die Sache in einer Enge und Stille rorzu nehmen. Ibid. 

Ca-lestin. Hist. Coinit. August, p. 193. Intelligo hoc revs 
moliri. ut omnino nihil agatur do negotiis ecclesiasticis. Ibid. 57. 
8* 



162 THE ELECTOR'S ZEAL. 

think fit to entertain the propositions with which Charles had 
commissioned the worthy Valdez. The resolution of these 
lay members of the Church saved it from the false step its 
doctors were about to take ; and the wiles of the Italians 
failed against evangelical firmness. Melancthon was only 
permitted 'to lay the Confession before the Spaniard, that he 
might look into it, and in despite of the moderation employed 
in it, Valdez exclaimed : " These words are too bitter, and 
your adversaries will never put up with them!"* Thus 
finished the legate's manoeuvre. 



CHAPTER VI. 

The Elector's Zeal The Signing of the Confession Courage of the 
Princes Melancthon's Weakness The Legate's Speech Delays The 
Confession in Danger The Protestants are firm Melancthon's De- 
spondency Luther's Prayer and Anxiety Luther's Texts His Letter 
to Melancthon Faith. 

CHARLES, compelled to resign himself to a public sitting, 
ordered on Wednesday, 22d June, that the elector and his 
allies should have their Confession ready for the ensuing 
Friday. The Roman party were also invited to present a 
confession of faith; but they excused themselves, saying 
that they were satisfied with the Edict of Worms. 

The emperor's order took the Protestants by surprise, for 
the negotiations between Valdez and Melancthon had pre- 
vented the latter from putting the finishing stroke to the 
Confession. It was not copied out fair; and the conclusions^ 
as well as the exordium, were not definitively drawn up. In 
consequence of this, the Protestants begged the Archbishop of 
Mentz to obtain for them the delay of a day ; but their peti- 
tion was refused. f They therefore laboured incessantly, 

* Ac plane putarit w;*friov esse quam ut ferre peasant lulversarii. 
Corp. Ref. ii. 140. 
f Dasselbige abgeschlagen. Ibid. 127. 



SIGNING OF THE CONFESSION. 163 

even during the night, to correct and transcribe the Confes- 
sion. 

On Thursday, '23d June, all the protestant princes, deputies, 
councillors, and theologians met early at the elector's. The 
Confession was read in German, and all gave their adhesion 
to it, except the landgrave and the Strasburgers, who re- 
quired a change in the article on the sacrament.* The 
princes rejected their demand. 

The Elector of Saxony was already preparing to sign, it, 
when Melancthon stopped him : he feared giving too politi- 
cal a colouring to this religious business. In his idea it 
was the Church that should appear, and not the State. " It 
is for the theologians and ministers to propose these things,' 
said he ;-j- " let us reserve for other matters the authority of 
the mighty ones of the earth." " God forbid that you should 
exclude me," replied the elector ; " I am resolved to do what 
is right without troubling myself about my crown. I desire 
to confess the Lord. My electoral hat and my ermine are 
not so precious to me as the cross of Jesus Christ. I shall 
leave on earth these marks of my greatness ; but my Mas- 
ter's cross will accompany me to heaven." 

How resist such Christian language ! Melancthon gave 
way. 

The elector then approached, signed, and handed the pen 
to the landgrave, who at first made some objections ; how- 
ever the enemy was at the door ; was this a time for dis- 
union ? At last he signed, but with a declaration that the 
doctrine of the Eucharist did not please him.J 

The margrave and Luneburg having joyfully subscribed 
their names, Anhalt took the pen in his turn, and said, " I 
have tilted more than once to please others ; now, if the 
honour of my Lord Jesus Christ requires it, I am ready to 
saddle my horse, to leave my goods and life behind, and rush 
into eternity, towards an everlasting crown." Then, having 

* Argentinenses ambierunt aliquid ut excepto articulo sacramenti sus- 
ciperentur. Ibid. 155. 

f Non principum nomine edi sed docentium, qui theologi vocaiitur. 
Caraer. p. 120. 

t Landgravius subscribit nobiscum, sed tamen dicit sibi, de sacramento, 
& nostris non satisfieri. Corp": Ref. ii. 155. 



COURAGE OF THE PBINCES. 

signed, this youthful prince said, turning to the theologians, 
u I would rather renounce my subjects and my states, 
rather quit the country of my fathers staff in hand, rather 
gain my bread by cleaning the shoes of the foreigner, than 
receive any other doctrine than that which is contained in 
this Confession." Nuremberg and Reutlingen alone of the 
cities subscribed their signatures;* and all resolved on 
demanding of the emperor that the Confession should be read 
publicly.f 

The courage of the princes surprised every one. Rome 
bad crushed the members of the Church, and had reduced 
them to a herd of slaves, whom she dragged silent and 
humiliated behind her : the Reformation enfranchised them, 
and with their rights it restored to them their duties. The 
priest no longer enjoyed the monopoly of religion ; each 
head of a family again became priest in his own house, 
and all the members of the Church of God were thencefor- 
ward called to the rank of confessors. The laymen are 
nothing, or almost nothing, in the sect of Rome, but they are 
the essential portion of the Church of Jesus Christ. Where- 
ever tne priestly spirit is established, the Church dies ; where- 
ever laymen, as these Augsburg princes, understand their 
duty and their immediate dependence on Christ, the Church 
lives. 

The evangelical theologians were moved by the devoted- 
ness of the princes. " When I consider their firmness in 
the confession of the Gospel," said Brentz, " the colour 
mounts to my cheeks. What a disgrace that we, who are 
only beggars beside them, are so afraid of confessing Christ!" J 
Brentz was then thinking of certain towns, particularly of 
Halle, of which he was pastor, but no doubt also of the 
theologians. 

The latter, in truth, without being deficient in devoted- 
ness, were sometimes wanting in courage. Melancthon 

* Confession! tantum subscripserunt Nuremberga et Reutlingen. Corp. 
Ref. ii. 155. 

t Decretum est ut publics recitandae concessio ab Imperatore petere- 
tur. Seek. ii. 169. 

$ Rubore suffundor non mediocri, quod noa, prae illis mendici, &o. 
Corp. Ref. ii. 125. 



MELANCTHON'S WEAKNESS. 165 

was in constant agitation ; he ran to and fro, slipping in 
everywhere (says Cochlceus in his Philippics), visiting not 
only the houses and mansions of private persons, but also 
insinuating himself into the palaces of cardinals and princes, 
nay, even into the court of the emperor ; and, whether at 
table or in conversation, he spared no means of persuading 
every person, that nothing was more easy than to restore 
peace between the two parties.* 

One day he was with the Archbishop of Salzburg, who 
in a long discourse gave an eloquent description of the 
troubles produced, as he said, by the Reformation, and 
ended with a peroration " written in blood," as Melancthon 
characterized it.-J- Philip in agony had ventured during the 
conversation to slip in the word conscience. " Conscience 1" 
hastily interrupted the archbishop, " Conscience! What 
does that mean ? I tell you plainly that the emperor will 
not allow confusion to be thus brought upon the empire." 
" Had I been in Melancthon's place," said Luther, " I 
should have immediately replied to the archbishop : And 
our emperor, ours, will not tolerate such blasphemy."- - 
" Alas," said Melancthon, " they are all as full of assurance 
as if there was no God." j 

Another day Melancthon was with Campeggio, and con- 
jured him to persevere in the moderate sentiments he ap- 
peared' to entertain. And at another time, as it would seem, 
he was with the emperor himself. "Alas!" said the 
alarmed Zwinglians, " after having qualified one-half of the 
Gospel, Melancthon is sacrificing the other." || 

The wiles of the Ultramontanists were added to Philip's 
dejection, in order to arrest the courageous proceedings of 
the princes. Friday, 24th June, was the day fixed for read- 
ing the Confession, but measures were taken to prevent it. 
The sitting of the diet did not begin till three in the after- 

* Cursitabat hinc inde, perreptans ac penetrans. Cochl. Phil. 4. iu 
Apol. 

+ Addebat Epilogum plane sanguine scriptum. Corp. Ref. ii. 126. 

Securi sunt quasi nullus sit Deus. Ibid. 156. 

Melancthon a Csesare, Salisburgensi et Campegio Yocatus eat. Zw. 
Epp. ii. 473. 

H Ut cum mitigarit tarn multa, cedat ot reliqua. Ibid. 



166 THE LEGATE'S SPEECH DELAYS. 

noon ; the legate was then announced ; Charles went to 
meet him as far as the top of the grand staircase, and 
Campeggio, taking his seat in front of the emperor, in King 
Ferdinand's place, delivered a harangue in Ciceronian style. 
" Never," said he, " has St. Peter's bark been so violently 
tossed by such various waves, whirlwinds, and abysses.* 
The Holy Father has learnt these things with pain, and 
desires to drag the Church from these frightful gulfs. For 
the love of Jesus Christ, for the safety of your country and 
for your own, mighty Prince ! get rid of these errors, 
deliver Germany, and save Christendom!" 

After a temperate reply from Albert of Mentz, the legate 
quitted the town-hall, and the evangelical princes stood 
up ; but a fresh obstacle had been provided. Deputies from 
Austria, Carinthia, and Carniola, first received a hearing. -j- 

Much time had* thus elapsed. The evangelical princes, 
however, rose up again, and the Chancellor Briick said: 
" It is pretended that new doctrines not based on Scripture, 
that heresies and schisms, are spread among the people by 
us. Considering that such accusations compromise not only 
our good name, but also the safety of our souls,^: we beg 
his majesty will have the goodness to hear what are the 
doctrines we profess." 

The emperor, no doubt by arrangement with the legate, 
made reply that it was too late ; besides, that this reading 
would be useless ; and that the princes should be satisfied 
with putting in their Confession in writing. Thus the 
mine, so skilfully prepared, worked admirably ; the Confes- 
sion, once handed to the emperor, would be thrown aside, 
and the Reformation would be forced to retire, without the 
papists having even condescended to hear it, without de- 
fence, and overwhelmed with contumely. 

The protestant princes, uneasy and agitated, insisted. 
" Our honour is at stake," said they ; " our souls are en- 

* Neque unquam tarn Yariis sectarum turbinibus navicula Petri fluc- 
tuaverit. Seek. ii. 169. 

t Oratio yalde lugubris et miserabilis contra Turcas. Corp. Ref. 
ii. 154. 

Terum etiam ad animae dispendium aut salutem rcternam. Sock. 
ii. 189. 



THE CONFESSION IN DANGER. 167 

dangered.* We are accused publicly ; publicly we ought to 
answer." Charles was shaken ; Ferdinand leant towards 
him, and whispered a few words in his ear :-{- the emperor 
refused a second time. 

Upon this the elector and princes, in still greater alarm, 
said for the third time, with emotion and earnestness :J 
" For the love of God, let us read our Confession! No 
person is insulted in it." Thus were seen, on the one hand, 
a few faithful men, desiring with loud cries to confess their 
faith; and on the other, the great emperor of the west, 
surrounded by a crowd of cardinals, prelates, and princes, 
endeavouring to stifle the manifestation of the truth. It 
was a serious, violent, and decisive struggle, in which the 
holiest interests were discussed ! 

At last Charles appeared to yield : " His majesty grants 
your request," was the reply to the princes ; " but as it is 
now too late, he begs you to transmit him your written 
Confession, and to-morrow, at two o'clock, the diet will be 
prepared to hear it read at the Palatine Palace." 

The princes were struck by these words, which, seeming 
to grant them everything, in reality granted nothing. In 
the first place, it was not in a public sitting at the town- 
hall, but privately in his own palace, that the emperor was 
willing to hear them ;|| then they had no doubt that if the 
Confession left their hands it was all over with the public 
reading. They therefore remained firm. " The work has 
been done in great haste," said they, and it was the truth ; 
" pray leave it with us to-night, that we may revise it." 
The emperor was obliged to yield, and the Protestants 
returned to their hotels full of joy ; while the legate and his 
friends, perceiving that the Confession was inevitable, saw 
the morrow approach with continually increasing anxiety. 

* Ihre Seele, Ehre und Glimpf belunget. Corp. Ref. ii. 128. 

f- Viderant enim eum subinde aliquid illi in aurem insusurrare. Seek, 
ii. 169. 

J Zum dritten mal heftig angehalten. Corp. Ref. ii. 128. 

Circumsistebant Caesarem magno numero cardinales et praelati eocle- 
siast ici. Seek. ii. 169. 

|| Non quidem publice in praetorio, sed privatim in palatio suo. Corp. 
Ref. ii. 124. 



168 MELANCTHON S DESPONDENCY. 

Among those who prepared to confess the evangelical 
truth, was one, however, whose heart was filled with sad- 
ness : it was Melancthon. Placed between two fires, he 
saw the reformed, and many even of his own friends, re- 
proach his weakness ; while the opposite party detested 
what they called his hypocrisy. His friend Camerarius, 
who visited Augsburg about this time, often found him 
plunged in thought, uttering deep sighs, and shedding bitter 
tears.* Brentz, moved with compassion, coming to the un- 
happy Philip, would sit down by his side and weep with 
him;f and Jonas endeavoured to console him in another 
manner, by exhorting him to take the book of Psalms, and 
cry to God with all his heart, making use of David's words 
rather than of his own. 

One day intelligence arrived which formed a general topic 
of conversation in Augsburg, and which, by spreading terror 
among the partisans of the pope, gave a momentary relief 
to Melancthon. It was said that a mule in Rome had given 
birth to a oolt with crane's feet. " This prodigy," said Me- 
lancthon thoughtfully, " announces that Rome is near its 
end;" | perhaps because the crane is a bird of passage, and 
that the pope's mule thus gave signs of departure. Melanc- 
thon had immediately written to Luther, who replied that 
he was exceedingly rejoiced that God had given the pope 
so striking a sign of his approaching fall. It is good to 
recall to memory these puerilities of the age of the reformers, 
that we may better understand the high range of these men 
of God in matters of faith. 

These idle Roman stories did not long console Melancthon. 
On the eve of the 25th of June, he was present in imagina- 
tion at the reading of that Confession which he had drawn 
up, which was about to be proclaimed before the world, and 
in which one word too many or too few might decide on the 

* Non modo suspirantem sed profundentem lacrymas conspexi. Camer. 
p. 121. 

t Brentius assidebat haec scribenti, una lacrymans. Corp. Ref. ii. 126. 

J Roma) qusedam mula pcperit, et partus habuit pedes gruis. Videa 
significari exitium Romas per schismata. Ibid. p. 126. 

$ Gaudeo Papse signum datum in mula puerpera, ut citius pereai. 
L. Epp. iv. 4. 



MELANCTHON'S DESPONDENCY. 169 

approbation or the hatred of the princes, on the safety or 
ruin of the Reformation and of the empire. He could bear 
up no longer, and the feeble Atlas, crushed under the burden 
of the world upon his shoulders, gave utterance to a cry of 
anguish. " All my time here is spent in tears and mourn- 
ing," wrote he to Vitus Diedrich, Luther's secretary in the 
castle of Coburg ;* and on the morrow he wrote to Luther 
himself : " My dwelling is in perpetual tears.f My conster- 
nation is indescribable.^ my father ! I do not wish my 
words to exaggerate my sorrows ; but without your con- 
solations, it is impossible for me to enjoy here the least 
peace. 

Nothing in fact presented so strong a contrast to Melanc- 
thon's distrust and dejection, as the faith, calmness, and ex- 
ultation of Luther. It was of advantage to him that he 
was not then in the midst of the Augsburg vortex, and to 
be able from his stronghold to set his foot with tranquillity 
upon the rock of God's promises. He was sensible himself 
of the value of this peaceful hermitage, as he called it. 
" I cannot sufficiently admire," said Vitus Diedrich, " the 
firmness, cheerfulness, and faith of this man, so astonishing 
in such cruel times." 

Luther, besides his constant reading of the "Word of God,|| 
did not pass a day without devoting three hours at least to 
prayer, and they were hours selected from those the most 
favourable to study.^f One day, as Diedrich approached 
the reformer's chamber, he heard his voice,** and remained 
motionless, holding his breath, a few steps from the door. 
Luther was praying, and his prayer (said the secretary) was 
full of adoration, fear, and hope, as when one speaks to a 

* Hie consumitur omne mihi tempus in lacrymis et luctu. Corp. Ref. 
ii. 126. 

t Versamur hie in miserrimis curis et plane perpetuis lacrymis. Ibid, 
p. HO. 

* Mira consternatio animorum nostrorum. Ibid. 

Ex eremo tacita. L. Epp. iv. 51. It is thus he dates his letter. 

|| Assidue autem ilia diligentiore rerbi Dei tractatione alit. Corp. 
Ex>f. ii. 159. 

TI Nullus abit dies, qnin ut minimum tres horas easque studiis optimas 
in orationibus ponat. Ibid. 

** Semel mihi contigit ut orantem eum audirem. Ibid. 



170 LUTHER'S ANXIETY. 

friend or to a father.* " I know that thou art our Father 
and our God," said the reformer, alone in his chamber, 
" and that thou wilt scatter the persecutors of thy children, 
for thou art thyself endangered with us. All this matter is 
thine, and it is only by thy constraint that we have put our 
hands to it. Defend us then, Father !" The secretary, 
motionless as a statue, in the long gallery of the castle, lost 
not one of the words that the clear and resounding voice of 
Luther bore to his ears.f The reformer was earnest with 
God, and called upon him with such unction to accomplish 
his promises, that Diedrich felt his heart glow within him.J 
" Oh ! exclaimed he, as he retired, " How could not these 
prayers but prevail in the desperate struggle at Augsburg !" 

Luther might also have allowed himself to be overcome 
with fear, for he was left in complete ignorance of what was 
taking place in the diet. A Wittemberg messenger, who 
should have brought him forests of letters (according to his 
own expression), having presented himself: " Do you bring 
any letters?" asked Luther. " No!" " Hew are those 
gentlemen?" " Well!" Luther, grieved at such silence, 
returned and shut himself up in his chamber. 

Erelong there appeared a courier on horseback carrying 
despatches from the elector to Torgau. " Do you bring me 
any letters ?" asked Luther, " No !" " How are those 
gentlemen ?" continued he, fearfully. " "Well !" " This is 
strange," thought the reformer. A waggon having left Co- 
burg laden with flour (for they were almost in want of pro- 
visions at Augsburg), Luther impatiently awaited the return 
of the driver ; but he returned empty. Luther then began 
to revolve the gloomiest thoughts in his mind, not doubting 
that they were concealing some misfortune from him. At 
last another individual, Jobst Nymptzen, having arrived from 
Augsburg, Luther rushed anew towards him, with his usual 
question : " Do you bring me any letters ?" He waited 

* Tanta spe et fide ut cum patre et amico colloqui sentiat. Corp. Ref. 
ii. 159. 

f Turn orantem clara voce, procul stans, audivi. Ibid. 

J Ardebat mihi quoque animus singular! quodam impetu. Ibid. 

Hie coepi cogitare tristia, suspirans, vos aliquid mali me celare velle. 
L. Epp. iv. 60. 



LUTHER S TEXTS. 171 

trembling for the reply. " No !" " And how are those gentle- 
men ?" " Well !" The reformer withdrew, a prey to anger 
and to fear. 

Then Luther opened his Bible, and to console himself for 
the silence of men, conversed with God. There were some 
passages of Scripture in particular that he read continually. 
We point them out below.* He did more ; he wrote with 
his own hand many declarations of Scripture over the doors 
and windows, and on the walls of the castle. In one place 
were these words from the 118th Psalm: I shall not die, 
but live, and declare the works of the Lord. In another, 
those of the 12th^chapter of Proverbs : The way of the icicked 
seduceth them ; and over his bed, this passage from the 4th 
Psalm : / will both lay me down in peace and sleep ; for 
ihou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety. Never perhaps 
did man so environ himself with the promises of the Lord, 
or so dwell in the atmosphere of his Word and live by his 
breath, as Luther at Coburg. 

At length letters came. " If the times in which we live 
were not opposed to it, I should have imagined some revenge," 
wrote Luther to Jonas -, " but prayer checked my anger, and 
anger checked my prayer. -f- I am delighted at that tranquil 
mind which God gives our prince. As for Melancthon, it is 
his philosophy that tortures him, and nothing else. For our 
cause is in the very hands of Him who can say with un- 
speakable dignity : No one shall pluck it out of my hands. 
I would not have it in our hands, and it would not be de- 
sirable that it were so.} I have had many things in my 
hands, and I have lost them all ; but whatever I have been 
able to place in God's, I still possess." 

*2Tim. iii. 12; Philip, ii. 12, 13; John x. 17, 18; Matth. xvi. 18; 
Psalm xlvi. 1,2; 1 John iv. 4; Psalm Iv. 23; xxvii. 14; John xvi. 33; 
Luke xvii. 5 ; Psalm xxxii. 11 ; cxlv. 18, 19; xci. 14, 15; Sirach ii. 11; 
1 Maccab. ii. 61; Matth. vi. 31; 1 Peter v. 6, 7; Matth. x. 28; Rom. iv. 
and vi.; Heb. v. and xi.; 1 Sam. iv. 18 ; xxxi. 4-8 ; ii. 30 ; 2 Tim. ii. 17, 
18, 19; i. 12 ; Eph. iii. 20, 21. Among these passages will be observed 
two verses taken from the Apocrypha, but whose equivalents might easily 
be found in the Word of God. 

f Sed orandi tempus non sinebat irasci, et ira non sinebat oraro. 
L. Epp. iv. 46. 

J Nee vellem, nee consultum esset, in nostra manu esse. Ibid. 



172 LUTHER TO MELANCTHON. 

On learning that Melancthon's anguish still continued, 
Luther wrote to him ; and these are words that should be 
preserved : 

" Grace and peace in Christ ! in Christ, I say, and not in 
the world, Amen. I hate with exceeding hatred those ex- 
treme cares which consume you. If the cause is unjust, 
abandon it ; if the cause is just, why should we belie the 
promises of Him who commands us to sleep without fear ? 
Can the devil do more than kill us? Christ will not be 
wanting to the work of justice and of truth. He lives ; he 
reigns ; what fear, then, can we have ? God is powerful to 
upraise his cause if it is overthrown, to make it proceed if it 
remains motionless, and if we are not worthy of it, he will 
do it by others. 

" I have received your Apology,* and I cannot under- 
stand what you mean, when you ask what we must concede 
to the papists. We have already conceded too much. Night 
and day I meditate on this affair, turning it over and over, 
diligently searching the Scriptures, and the conviction of the 
truth of our doctrine every day becomes stronger in my 
mind. With the help of God, I will not permit a single 
letter of all that we have said to be torn from us. 

" The issue of this affair torments you, because you can- 
not understand it. But if you could, I would not have the 
least share in it. God has put it in a l common place,' that 
you will not find either in your rhetoric or in your philosophy : 
that place is called Faith.-}- It is that in which subsist all 
things that we can neither understand nor see. Whoever 
wishes to touch them, as you do, will have tears for his sole 
reward. 

" If Christ is not with us, where is he in the whole uni- 
verse? If we are not the Church, where, I pray, is the 
Church ? Is it the Dukes of Bavaria, is it Ferdinand, is it 
the pope, is it the Turk, who is the Church ? If we have 
not the Word of God, who is it that possesses it ? 



* The Confession revised and corrected. 

f Deus posuit earn in locum quondam communem, quern in tua rhetoric* 
noa habes uec in philosophic tua; is vocaturyiWc^. L. Epp. IT. 63. 



I 

THE 25TH JUNE 1530. 173 

" Only we must have faith, lest the cause of faith should 
be found to be without faith.* 

" If we fall, Christ falls with us, that is to say, the Master 
of the world. I would rather fall with Christ, than remain 
standing with Csesar." 

Thus wrote Luther. The faith which animated him flowed 
from him like torrents of living water. He was indefatigable : 
in a single day he wrote to Melancthon, Spalatin, Brent?:, 
Agricola, and John Frederick, and they were letters full of 
life. He was not alone in praying, speaking, and believing. 
At the same moment, the evangelical Christians exhorted 
one another everywhere to prayer.-f- Such was the arsenal 
in which the weapons were forged that the confessors of 
Christ wielded before the Diet of Augsburg. 



CHAPTER VII. 

The 25th June 1530 The Palatine Chapel Recollections and Contrast 
The Confession Prologue Justification The Church Free Will and 
Works Faith Interest of the Hearers The Princes become Preach- 
ers The Confession Abuses Church and State The two Govern- 
ments Epilogue Argumentation Prudence Church and State 
The Sword Moderate Tone of the Confession Its Defects A New 
Baptism. 

AT length the 25th June arrived. This was destined to be 
the greatest day of the Reformation, and one of the most 
glorious in the history of Christianity and of mankind. 

As the chapel of the Palatine Palace, where the emperor 
had resolved to hear the Confession, could contain only about 
two hundred persons,:}: before three o'clock a great crowd was 
to be seen surrounding the building and thronging the court, 
hoping by this means to catch a few words; and many 
having gained entrance to the chapel, all were turned out 

* Tantnm est opus fide, ne causa fidei sit sine fide. L. Epp. iv. 61. 
+ Wittembergae scribuut, tarn diligenter ibi Ecclesiam orare. Ibid. 69. 
J Capiebat forsaa ducentoi. Jonas, Corp. Ref. ii. 157. 



174 RECOLLECTIONS AND CONTRAST. 

except those who were, at the least, councillors to the 
princes. 

Charles took his seat on the throne. The electors or 
their representatives were on his right and left hand ; after 
them, the other princes and states of the empire. The 
legate had refused to appear in this solemnity, lest he should 
seem by his presence to authorize the reading of the Confes- 
sion.* 

Then stood up John elector of Saxony, with his son John 
Frederick, Philip landgrave of Hesse, the Margrave George 
of Brandenburg, Wolfgang prince of Anhalt, Ernest duke 
of Brunswick-Luneburg, and his brother Francis, and last 
of all the deputies of Nuremberg and Reutlingen. Their air 
was animated and their features radiant with joy.-]- The 
apologies of the early Christians, of Tertullian and Justin 
Martyr, hardly reached in writing the sovereigns to whom 
they were addressed. But now, to hear the new apology 
of resuscitated Christianity, behold that puissant emperor, 
whose sceptre, stretching far beyond the Columns of Hercules, 
reaches the utmost limits of the world, his brother the King 
of the Romans, with electors, princes, prelates, deputies, am- 
bassadors, all of whom desire to destroy the Gospel, but who 
are constrained by an invisible power to listen, and, by that 
very listening, to honour the Confession ! 

One thought was involuntarily present in the minds of the 
spectators, the recollection of the Diet of Worms.J Only 
nine years before, a poor monk stood alone for this same 
cause in a hall of the town-house at Worms, in presence of 
the empire. And now in his stead behold the foremost of 
the electors, princes, and cities ! What a victory is declared 
by this simple fact ! No doubt Charles himself cannot escape 
from this recollection. 

The emperor, seeing the Protestants stand up, motioned 
them to sit down; and then the two chancellors of the 
elector, Brack and Bayer, advanced to the middle of the 
chapel, and stood before the throne, holding in their hands, 

* Sarpi, Hist. Council Trent, i. 101. 

t Laeto et alacri animo et vultu. Scultet. i. 273. 

J Ante decenninm in conventu Wornaatensi. Corp. Ref. ii. 153. 



THE CONFESSION PROLOGUE. 175 

the former the Latin and the other the German copy oi the 
Confession. The emperor required the Latin copy to be 
read.* " We are Germans," said the Elector of Saxony, 
"and on German soil; I hope therefore your majesty will 
allow us to speak German." If the Confession had been 
read in Latm, a language unknown to most of the princes, 
the general effect would have been lost. This was another 
means of shutting the mouth of the Gospel. The emperor 
complied with the elector's demand. 

Bayer then began to read the evangelical Confession, 
slowly, seriously, distinctly, with a clear, strong, and sonor- 
ous voice, which re-echoed under the arched roof of the 
chapel, and carried even to the outside this great testimony 
paid to the truth.-j- 

" Most serene, most mighty, and invincible emperor and 
most gracious lord," said he, " we who appear in your 
presence, declare ourselves ready to confer amicably with 
you on the fittest means of restoring one sole, true, and 
same faith, since it is for one sole and same Christ that we 
fight.J And in case that these religious dissensions cannot 
be settled amicably, we then offer to your majesty to explain 
our cause in a general, free, and Christian council." 

This prologue being ended, Bayer confessed the Holy 
Trinity, conformably with the Nicene Council, || original and 
hereditary sin, " which bringeth eternal death to all who are 
not born again," ^[ and the incarnation of the Son, " very God 
and very man."** 

" We teach, moreover," continued he, " that we cannot be 
justified before God by our own strength, our merits, or our 

* Caesar Latinnm prelegi rolebat. Seek. ii. 170. 

t Qui clare, distincte, tarde et voce adeo grand! et sonora earn pro- 
nunciavit. Scultet. p. 276. 

J Ad unam veram concordem religionem, sicut omnes sub uno Christo 
sumus ct militamus. Confcssio, Prsefatio. Urkund. i. 474. 

Causani dicturos in tali generali, libero, et Christiano concilio. 
Ibid. 479. 

|| Et tamen tres sunt personse ejusdem essentise. Ibid. 682. 

t Vitram originis, afferens seternam mortem bis qui non renascuntur 
Ibid. 483. 

** Unus Christug, vere Dens, et vere homo. Ibid 



176 JUSTIFICATION THE CHURCH. 

works ; but that we are justified freely for Christ's sake 
through faith,* when we believe that our sins are forgiven 
in virtue of Christ, who by his death has made satisfaction 
for our sins: this faith is the righteousness that God im- 
puteth to the sinner. 

" But we teach, at the same time, that this faith ought to 
bear good fruits, and that we must do all the good works 
commanded by God, for the love of God, and not by their 
means to gain the grace of God." 

The Protestants next declared their faith in the Christian 
Church, " which is," said they, " the assembly of all true 
believers and all the saints," -f in the midst of whom there 
are, nevertheless, in this life, many false Christians, hypo- 
crites even, and manifest sinners ; and they added, " that it 
is sufficient for the real unity of the Church that they agree 
on the doctrine of the Gospel and the administration of the 
sacraments, without the rites and ceremonies instituted by 
men being everywhere the same.":}: They proclaimed the 
necessity of baptism, and declared " that the body and blood 
of Christ are really present and administered in the Lord's 
Supper to those who partake of it." 

The chancellor then successively confessed the faith of the 
evangelical Christians touching confession, penance, the na- 
ture of the sacraments, the government of the Church, eccle- 
siastical ordinances, political government, and the last judg- 
ment. " As regards free will," continued he, " we confess 
that man's will has a certain liberty of accomplishing civil 
justice, and of loving the things that reason comprehends ; 
that man can do the good that is within the sphere of na- 
ture plough his fields, eat, drink, have a friend, put on a 
coat, build a house, take a wife, feed cattle, exercise a call- 
ing ; as also he can, of his own movement, do evil, kneel 

Quod homines non possint justificari coram Deo, propriis viribua, 
meritis, aut operibus, sed gratis, propter Christum, per fidem. Confessio, 
Praefatio. Urkund. i. 484. 

f- Congregatio sanctorum et vere credentium. Ibid. 487. 

J Ad verara unitatem Ecclesise, satis est consentire de doctrina Evan- 
gelii et administratione sacramentorum, nee necesse est, &c. Ibid. 486. 

Quod corpus et sanguis Christ!, vcre adsint et distribuantur vescenti- 
bus in ccena Domini. F. Urkund. i, 488. 



FREEWILL AM> \VOKKS FAITH. 177 

before an idol, and commit murder. But we maintain that 
without the Holy Ghost he cannot do what is righteous in 
the sight of God." 

Then, returning to the grand doctrine of the Reformation, 
and recalling to mind that the doctors of the pope " have 
never ceased impelling the faithful to puerile and useless 
works, as the custom of chaplets, invocations of saints, mo- 
nastic vows, processions, fasts, feast-days, brotherhoods," the 
Protestants added, that as for themselves, while urging the 
practice of truly Christian works, of which little had been 
said before their time,* " they taught that man is justified 
by faith alone ; not by that faith which is a simple know- 
ledge of the history, and which wicked men and even devils 
possess, but by a faith which believes not only the history, 
but also the effect of the history;-}- which believes that 
through Christ we obtain grace ; which sees that in Christ 
we have a merciful Father ; which knows this God ; which 
calls upon him ; in a word, which is not without God, as the 
heathen are." 

" Such," said Bayer, " is a summary of the doctrine pro- 
fessed in our churches, by which it may be seen that this 
doctrine is by no means opposed to Scripture, to the univer- 
sal Church, nor even to the Romish Church, such as the 
doctors describe it to us ; | and since it is so, to reject us as 
heretics is an offence against unity and charity." 

Here terminated the first part of the Confession, the aim 
of which was to explain the evangelical doctrine. The 
chancellor read with so distinct a voice, that the crowd which 
was unable to enter the hall, and which filled the court and 
all the approaches of the episcopal palace, did not lose a 
word. This reading produced the most marvellous effect 

* De quibus rebus olim parum docebant concionatores ; tantum puerilia 
ct non necessaria opera urgebant. F. Urkund. i. 495. 

f Non tantum historias notitiam, sed fidem quae credit non tantum his- 
toriam, sed etiam effectum historiae. Ibid. 498. 

J Nihil inesse quod discrepat a Scripturis vel ab Ecclesia Catholica, vel 
ab Ecclesia Romana, quatenus ex Scriptoribus nota est. Ibid. 501. 

Verum etiam in area inferior! et vicinis locis exaudiri potuerit. Scol- 
tet. p. 274. 

VOL. IV. 9 



178 T1IE PRINCES AKE PREACHERS. 

on the princes who thronged the chapel. Jonas watched 
every change in their countenances,* and there beheld inte- 
rest, astonishment, and even approbation depicted by turns. 
" The adversaries imagine they have done a wonderful thing 
hy forbidding the preaching of the Gospel," wrote Lusher to 
the elector ; " and they do not see, pour creatures ! that by 
the reading of the Confession in the presence of the diet, 
there has been more preaching than in the sermons of ten 
lectors. Exquisite subtlety ! admirable expedient ! Master 
Agricola and the other ministers are reduced to silence ; but 
in their place appear the Elector of Saxony and the other 
princes and lords, who preach before his imperial majesty 
and the members of the whole empire, freely, to their beard, 
and before their noses. Yes, Christ is in the diet, and he 
does not keep silence : the Word of God cannot le bound. 
They forbid it in the pulpit, and are forced to hear it in the 
palace ; poor ministers cannot announce it, and great princes 
proclaim it ; the servants are forbidden to listen to it, and 
their masters are compelled to hear it ; they will have 
nothing to do with it during the whole course of the diet, 
and they are forced to submit to hear more in one day than 

is heard ordinarily in a whole year When all else is 

silent, the very stones cry out, as says our Lord Jesus 
Christ."f 

That part of the Confession destined to point out errors 
and abuses still remained. Bayer continued : he explained 
and demonstrated the doctrine of the two kinds ; he attacked 
the compulsory celibacy of priests, maintained that the Lord's 
Supper had been changed into a regular fair, in which it was 
merely a question of buying and selling, and that it had been 
re-established in its primitive purity by the Reformation, and 
was celebrated in the evangelical churches with entirely new 
devotion and gravity. He declared that the sacrament was 
administered to no one who had not first made confession of 
his faults, and he quoted this expression of Chrysostom : 
" Confess thyself to God the Lord, thy real Judge ; tell thy 

* Jonas scribit vidisse se vultus omnium de quo mihi spondet narratio- 
nem coram. L. Epp. iv. 71. f Ibid. 82. 



THE CONFESSION ABUSES. 179 

sin, not with the tongue, but in thy conscience and in thy 
heart." 

Bayer next came to the precepts on the distinction of 
meats and other Roman usages. " Celebrate such a festi- 
val," said he ; " repeat sudt a prayer, or keep such a fast; 
be dressed in such a manner, and so many other ordinances 
of men this is what is now styled a spiritual ani Christian 
life ; while the good works prescribed by God, as those of a 
father of a family who toils to support his wife, his sons, and 
his daughters of a mother who brings children into the 
world, and takes care of them of a prince or of a magistrate 
who governs his subjects, are looked upon as secular things, 
and of an imperfect nature." As for monastic vows in par- 
ticular, he represented that, as the pope could give a dispen- 
sation from them, those vows ought therefore to be abol- 
ished. 

The last article of the Confession treated of the authority 
of the bishops : powerful princes crowned with the episcopal 
mitie were there; the Archbishops of Mentz, Cologne, Salz- 
burg, and Bremen, with the Bishops of Bamberg, Wurzburg, 
Eichstadt, Worms, Spires, Strasburg, Augsburg, Constance, 
Coire, Passati, Liege, Trent, Brixen, and of Lebus and Ratz- 
burg, fixed their eyes on the humble confessor. He fearlessly 
continued, and energetically protesting against that confusion 
of Church and State which had characterized the Middle 
Ages, he called for the distinction and independence of the 
two societies. 

" Many," said he, " have unskilfully confounded the epis- 
copal and the temporal power; and from this confusion have 
resulted great wars, revolts, and seditions.* It is for this 
reason, and to reassure men's consciences, that we find our- 
selves constrained to establish the difference, which exists be- 
tween the power of the Church and the power of the sword.-{- 

" We therefore teach that the powe/ of the keys or of the 

* Nonnulli incommode commiscuerunt potestatem ecclesiasticam et 
potestatem gladii ; et ex hac confusione, &c. Urkund. Confes. Augs. L 
539. 

r Coacti sunt ostendere discrimen ccclesiasticse potestatis et potestatia 
gladii. Ibid. 



180 THE CONFESSION THK TWO GOVERNMENTS. 

bishops is, conformably with the Word of the Lord, a com- 
mandment emanating from God, to preach the Gospel, to 
remit or retain sins, and to administer the Sacraments. 
This power has reference only to eternal goods, is exercised 
only hy the minister of the Word, and does not trouble 
itself with political administration. The political adminis- 
tration, on the other hand, is busied with everything else 
but the Gospel. The magistrate protects, not souls, but 
bodies and temporal possessions. He defends them against 
all attacks from without, and, by making use of the sword 
and of punishment, compels men to observe civil justice and 
peace.* 

" For this reason we must take particular care not to 
mingle the power of the Church with the power of the 
Siate.f The power of the Church ought never to invade 
an office that is foreign to it ; for Christ himself said : My 
kingdom is not of this ivorld. And again : Who made me a 
judge over you ? St. Paul said to the Philippians : Our 
citizenship is in heaven.]. And to the Corinthians : The 
iveapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through 
God. 

" It is thus that we distinguish the two governments and 
the two powers, and that we honour both as the most excel- 
ent gifts that God has given here on earth. 

" The duty of the bishops is therefore to preach the Gospel, 
to forgive sins, and to exclude from the Christian Church all 
who rebel against the Lord, but without human power, and 
solely by the Word of God. If the bishops act thus, the 
churches ought to be obedient to them, according to this de- 
claration of Christ : Whoever heareth you, heareth me. 

" But if the bishops teach anything that is contrary to the 
Gospel, then the churches have an order from God which 

* Politica administratio versatur enim circa alias res quam Evange- 

lium ; magistratus defendit non mentes sed corpora et coercet 

homines gladio. Urkund. Confes. Augs. i. 541. 

+ Nou. igitur commiscendse sunt potestates ecclesiasticse et civilis. 
Ibid. 

J Greek, va^invfta. Philip, iii. 20. Scott and Henry Comment. 

Excludere a communione Ecclesise, sine vi humana ed verbo. Urkund. 
Confes. Augs. i. 544. 



THE CONFESSION EPIIX5GUE. 181 

forbids them to obey (Matt. vii. 15 ; Galatians i. 8; 2 Cor. 
xiii. 8, 10). And St. Augustine himself, in his letter against 
Pertilian, writes : ' We must not obey the catholic bishops, 
if they go astray, and teach anything contrary to the canonical 
Scriptures of God.'"* 

After some remarks on the ordinances and traditions of the 
Church, Bayer came to the epilogue of the Confession. 

" It is not from hatred that we have spoken," added he, 
"nor to insult any one; but we have explained the doctrines 
that we maintain to be essential, in order that it may be 
understood that we admit of neither dogma nor ceremony 
which is contrary to the Holy Scriptures, and to the usage of 
the universal Church." 

Bayer then ceased to read. He had spoken for two hours : 
the silence and serious attention of the assembly were not once 
disturbed.-}- 

This Confession of Augsburg will ever remain one of the 
masterpieces of the human mind enlightened by the Spirit 
of God. 

The language that had been adopted, while it was per- 
fectly natural, was the result of a profound study of character. 
These princes, these warriors, these politicians who were 
sitting in the Palatine Palace, entirely ignorant as they 
were of divinity, easily understood the Protestant doctrine ; 
for it was not explained to them in the style of the schools, 
but in that of everyday life, and with a simplicity and clear- 
ness that rendered all misunderstanding impossible. 

At the same time the power of argumentation was so 
much the more remarkable, as it was the more concealed. 
At one time Melancthon (for it was really he who spoke 
through the mouth of Bayer) was content to quote a single 
passage of Scripture or of the Fathers in favour of the 
doctrine he maintained ; and at another he proved his 
thesis so much the more strongly, that he appeared only to 
be declaring it. With a single stroke he pointed out the 

* Nee catholicis episcopis consentiendum est, sicuti forte falluntur, aut 
contra canonicas Dei scripturas aliquid sentiunt. Urkund. Confes. Augs. 
i. 544. 

t Mil grosser Stille und Ernst. Briich's Apologie, p. 59. 



182 CHUHCH AND STATE. 

sad consequences that would follow the rejection of the faith 
he professed, or with one word showed its importance for 
the prosperity of the Church ; so that, while listening to him, 
the most violent enemies were obliged to acknowledge to 
themselves that there was really something to say in favour 
of the new sect. 

To this force of reasoning the apology added a prudence 
no less remarkable. Melancthon, while declining with firm- 
ness the errors attributed to his party, did not even appear 
to feel the injustice of these erroneous imputations ; and 
while pointing out those of Popery, he did not say expressly 
they were those of his adversaries ; thus carefully avoiding 
everything that might irritate their minds. In this he showed 
himself wise as a serpent and harmless as a dove. 

But the most admirable thing of all is the fidelity with 
which the Confession explains the doctrines most essential to 
salvation. Rome is accustomed to represent the reformers 
as the creators of the Protestant doctrines ; but it is not in 
the sixteenth century that we must look for the days of that 
creation. A bright track of light, of which "VVickliffe and 
Augustine mark the most salient points, carries us back to 
the apostolic age : it was then that shone in all their bril- 
liancy the creative days of evangelical truth. Yet it is true 
(and if this is what Rome means, we fully concur in the 
idea), never since the time of St. Paul had the Christian 
doctrine appeared with so much beauty, depth, and life, as in 
the days of the Reformation. 

Among these doctrines, that of the Church, which had 
been so long disfigured, appeared at this time in all its 
native purity. With what wisdom, in particular, the con- 
fessors of Augsburg protest against that confusion of religion 
and politics which, since the deplorable epoch of Constantino, 
had changed the kingdom of God into an earthly and carnal 
institution ! Undoubtedly what the Confession stigmatizes 
with the greatest energy is the intrusion of the Church into 
the affairs of the State ; but can it be thought that it was 
to approve the intrusion of the State in Church affairs ? The 
evil of the Middle Ages was the having enslaved the State 
to the Church, and the confessors of Augsburg rose like, one 



NO SWOKD. 183 

man to combat it. The evil of the three centuries which 
have passed away since then, is to have subjected the 
Church to the State; and we may believe that Luther and 
Melancthon would have found against this disorder thunders 
no less powerful. What they attack in a general sense, is 
the confusion of the iv. o societies-, what they demand, is 
their independence, I do not say their separation, for sepa- 
ration of Church and State was quite unknown to the 
reformers. If the Augsburg confessors were unwilling that 
things from above should monopolize those of the earth, 
they would have been still less willing for things of earth to 
oppress those from heaven. 

There is a particular application of this principle, which 
the Confession points out It wills the bishops should repri- 
mand those who obey wickedness, " but without human 
power, and solely by the Word of God." It therefore rejects 
the use of the sword in the chastisement of heretics. This 
we see is a primitive principle, fundamental and essential to 
the Reformation, as the contrary doctrine is a primitive 
principle, fundamental and essential to the Papacy. If 
among Protestants we find some writing, or even some 
example opposed to this, it is but an isolated fact, which 
cannot invalidate the official principles of the reform it is 
one of those exceptions which always serve to confirm the 
rule. 

Finally, the Augsburg Confession does not usurp the 
rights of the Word of God 5 it desires to be its handmaid 
and not its rival ; it does not found, it does not regulate the 
faith, but simply professes it. " Our churches teach," it 
says ; and it will be remembered that Luther considered it 
only as a sermon preached by princes and kings. Had it 
desired more, as has since been maintained, by that very 
circumstance it would have been nullified. 

Was, however, the Confession able to follow in all things 
the exact path of truth ? We may be p'ermitted to doubt it. 

It professes not to separate from the teaching of the 
Catholic Church, and even from that of the Romish Church 
by which is no doubt signified the ancient Roman Church 



184 MODERATE TONE OF THE CONFESSION. 

and rejects the popish particularism which, for about eight 
centuries, imprisoned men's consciences. The Confession, 
however, seems overlaid with superstitious fears when there 
is any question of deviating from the views entertained by 
some of the Fathers of the Church, of breaking the toils of 
the hierarchy, and of acting as regards Rome, without blam- 
able forbearance. This, at least, is what its author, Me- 
}ancthon, professes. " We do not put forward any dogma," 
said he, " which is not founded on the Gospel or on the 
teaching of the Catholic Church ; we are prepared to concede 
everything that is necessary for the episcopal dignity ;* and, 
provided the bishops do not condemn the Gospel, we preserve 
all the rites that appear indifferent to us. In a word, there is 
no burden that we reject, if we can bear it without guilt." { 
Many will think, no doubt, that a little more independence 
would have been proper in this matter, and that it would 
liave been better to have passed over the ages that have 
followed the times of the apostles, and have frankly put in 
practice the grand principle which the Reformation had pro- 
claimed : " There is for articles of faith no other foundation 
than the Word of God."f 

Melancthon's moderation has been admired ; and, in truth, 
while pointing out the abuses of Rome, he was silent on 
what is most revolting in them, on their disgraceful origin, 
their scandalous consequences, and is content to show that 
they are in contradiction to the Scripture. But he does 
more ; he is silent on the divine right claimed by the pope, 
on the number of the sacraments, and on several other 
points. His great business is to justify the renovated, and 
not to attack the deformed, Church. " Peace, peace !" was 
his cry. But if, instead of all this circumspection, the Refor- 
mation had advanced with courage, had wholly unveiled the 
"Word of God, and had made an energetic appeal to the 
sympathies of reform then spread in men's hearts, would it 

* Concessuros omnia quae ad dignitatem Episcoporum stabiliendam 
pertinent. Corp Ref. ii. 431. 

-f- Is'iillum detractavimas onus, quod sine scelere susoici posset. Ibid. 
t Sofum verbum Dei eondit articii/asjidei. 



DEFECTS OF THE CONFESSION. 185 

not have taken a stronger and more honourable position, and 
would it not have secured more extensive conquests ? 

The interest that Charles the Fifth showed in listening to 
the Confession seems doubtful. According to some, he 
endeavoured to understand that foreign language ;* accord- 
ing to others, he fell asleep.-}- It is easy to reconcile these 
contradictory testimonies. 

When the reading was finished, Chancellor Bruck, with 
the two copies in his hand, advanced towards the emperor's 
secretary and presented them to him. Charles the Fifth, 
who was wide awake at this moment, himself took the two 
Confessions, handed the German copy, considered as official, 
to the Elector of Mentz, and kept the Latin one for himself.}: 
He then made reply to the Elector of Saxony and to his 
allies, that he had graciously heard their Confession ; but as 
this affair was one of extreme importance, he required time 
to deliberate upon it. 

The joy with which the Protestants were rilled shone in 
their eyes.|| God had been with them; and they saw that 
the striking act which had so recently been accomplished 
imposed on them the obligation of confessing the truth 
with immovable perseverance. " I am overjoyed," wrote 
Luther, " that I have lived until this hour, in which Christ 
has been publicly exalted by such illustrious confessors 
and in so glorious an assembly." ^| The whole evangelical 
church, excited and renovated by this public confession of 
its representatives, was then more intimately united to its 
Divine Chief, and baptized with a new baptism. " Since 
the apostolic age," said they (these are the words of a con- 
temporary), " there has never been a greater work or a more 
magnificent confession." ** 

* Satis attentus erat Caesar. Jonas in Corp. Ref. ii. 184. 

f Cum nostra confessio legeretur, obdormivit. Brentius in Corp. 
Ref. ii 245. 

J The Latin copy, deposited in the archives of the imperial house, 
should be found at Brussels ; and the German copy, sent afterwards to 
the Council of Trent, ought to be in the Vatican. 

Gnedichlich vernohmen. F. Urkund. ii. 3. 

|| Cum incredibili protestantium gaudio. Seek. ii. 170. 

TI Mihi vehementer placet vixisse in hanc horam. L. Epp. iv. 7L 

** Grosser und hoher Werk. Mathesius, Hist. p. 93-98. 



186 EFFECT ON THE ROMAMSTi?. 

The emperor, having descended from his throne, ap- 
proached the Protestant princes, and begged them in a low 
tone not to publish the Confession;* they acceded to his 
request, and every one withdrew. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

Effect on the Romanists Luther demands religious Liberty His 
dominant Idea Song of Triumph Ingenuous Confessions Hopes of 
the Protestants Failure of the Popish Intrigues The Emperor's 
Council Violent Discussions A Refutation proposed Its Authors 
Rome and the civil Power Perils of the Confessors Melancthon's 
Minimum The Emperor's Sister Melancthon's Fall Luther op- 
poses Concession The Legate repels Melancthon The Pope's Decision 
Question Melancthon's School-matters Answer. 

THE Romanists had expected nothing like this. Instead 
of a hateful controversy, they had heard a striking confes- 
sion of Jesus Christ ; the most hostile minds were conse- 
quently disarmed. " We would not for a great deal," was 
the remark on every side, " have missed being present at 
this reading."-J- The effect was so prompt, that for an 
instant the cause was thought to be definitively gained. 
The bishops themselves imposed silence on the sophisms 
and clamours of the Fabers and the Ecks.J " All that the 
Lutherans have said is true," exclaimed the Bishop of 
Augsburg ; " we cannot deny it." " Well, doctor," said 
the Duke of Bavaria to Eck, in a reproachful tone, " you 
had given me a very different idea of this doctrine and of 
this affair." j| This was the general cry ; accordingly the 

* In still angeredet und gebethen. Corp. Ref. ii. 143. 

t Briicks Geschichte der Handl. ia den Sachen des Glaubens zu Augs- 
bourg. Frrsfemann Archiv. p. 50.- 

J Multi episcopi ad pacem sunt inclinati. L. Epp. iv. 70. 

Ilia qme recitata sunt, vera sunt, runt pura vcritas ; non possorntis 
inficiari. Corp. Ref. ii. 154. 

|| So hab mnnlravor nicht gesagt. Mathcs. Hist. p. 99. 



LUTHER DEMANDS RELIGIOUS LIBERTY. 187 

sophists, as they called them, were embarrassed. " But, 
after all," said the Duke of Bavaria to them, " can you refute 
by sound reasons the Confession made by the elector and 
his allies?" " With the writings of the apostles and pro- 
phets no!" replied Eck; " but with those of the Fathers 
and of the councils yes!"* " I understand," quickly re- 
plied the duke ; " I understand. The Lutherans, according 
to you, are in Scripture ; and we are outside." 

The Archbishop Hermann, elector of Cologne, the Count- 
palatine Frederick, Duke Erick of Brunswick-Luneburg, 
Duke Henry of Mecklenburg, and the Dukes of Pomerania, 
were gained over to the truth ; and Hermann sought ere- 
long to establish it in his electorate. 

The impression produced in other countries by the Con- 
fessiou was perhaps still greater. Charles sent copies to all 
the courts; it was translated into French, Italian,-]- and 
even into Spanish and Portuguese ; it circulated through all 
Europe, and thus accomplished what Luther had said : 
" Our Confession will penetrate into every court, and the 
sound thereof will spread through the whole earth." J It 
destroyed the prejudices that had been entertained, gave 
Europe a sounder idea of the Reformation, and prepared 
the most distant countries to receive the seeds of the 
Gospel. 

Then Luther's voice began to be heard again. He saw 
that it was a decisive moment, and that he ought now to 
give the impulse that would gain religious liberty. He 
boldly demanded this liberty of the Roman-catholic princes 
of the diet ; and at the same time endeavoured to make 
his friends quit Augsburg. Jesus Christ had been boldly 
confessed. Instead of that long series of quarrels and dis- 
cussions which was about to become connected with this 
courageous act, Luther would have wished for a striking 
rupture, even should he seal with his blood the testimony 

* Mit Propheten und Apostein schriften nicht. Mathes. Hist. p. 99. 

+ Caesar sibi fecit nostrum confessionem reddi ItalicaetGallica lingua. 
Corp. Ref. ii. 155. The French translation will be found in Forstemann's 
Urkunden. i. 357. Articles principaulx de lafoy. 

t Perrumpet in omnes aulas Principum et Regum. L. Epp. iv. 98. 

Epistle to the Elector of Mentz. Ibid. 74. 



188 LDTHKK'S DOMINANT IDEA. 

rendered to the Gospel. The stake, in his idea, would have 
been the real catastrophe of this tragedy. " I absolve you 
from this diet, in the name of the Lord," * wrote he to his 
friends. " Now home, return home, again I say home ! 
Would to God that I were the sacrifice offered to this new 
council, as John Huss at Constance ! " -J- 

But Luther did not expect so glorious a conclusion : he 
compared the diet to a drama. First, there had been the 
exposition, then the prologue, afterwards the action, and 
now he waited for the tragic catastrophe, according to some, 
but which, in his opinion, would be merely comic.J Every 
thing, he thought, would be sacrificed to political peace, and 
dogmas would be set aside. This proceeding, which, even 
in our own days, would be in the eyes of the world the 
height of wisdom, was in Luther's eyes the height of folly. 

He was especially alarmed at the thought of Charles's 
intervention. To withdraw the Church from all secular 
influence, and the governments from all clerical influence, 
was then one of the dominant ideas of the great reformer. 
" You see," wrote he to Melancthon, " that they oppose to 
our cause the same argument as at Worms, to wit, still and 
for ever the judgment of the emperor. Thus Satan is 
always harping on the same string, and that emaciated 
strength of the civil power is the only one which this 
myriad-wiled spirit is able to find against Jesus Christ." 
But Luther took courage, and boldly raised his head. 
" Christ is coming," continued he ; " he is coming, sitting at 

the right hand Of whom? not of the emperor, or we 

should long ago have been lost, but of God himself: let us 
fear nothing. Christ is the King of kings and the Lord of 
lords. If he loses this title at Augsburg, he must also lose 
it in all the earth, and in all the heavens." 

Thus a song of triumph was, on the part of the confessors 

* Igitur absolve TOS in nomine Domini ab isto conventu. L. Epp. iv. 
96. 

+ Vellem ego sacrificinra esse hujus novissimi concilii, sicut Johannes 
Huss Constantue. Ibid. 110. 

J Sed catastrophen illi tragicam, nos comicam expectamus. Ibid. 85. 

Fie Satan chorda semper oberrat eadem, et mille-artifex ille non 
habet contra Christum, nisi unum illnd elumbe robur. Ibid. 100. 



INGENUOUS CONFESSIONS. 189 

of Augsburg, the first movement that followed this cou- 
rageous act, unique doubtless in the annals of the Church. 
Some of their adversaries at first shared in their triumph, 
and the others were silent ; but a powerful reaction took 
place erelong. 

On the following morning, Charles having risen in ill- 
humour and tired for want of sleep, the first of his ministers 
who appeared in the imperial apartments was the count- 
palatine, as wearied and embarrassed as his master. " We 
must yield something," said he to Charles ; " and I would 
remind your majesty that the Emperor Maximilian was will- 
ing to grant the two kinds in the Eucharist, the marriage of 
priests, and liberty with respect to the fasts." Charles the 
Fifth eagerly seized at this proposition as a means of safety. 
But Granvelle and Campeggio soon arrived, who induced 
him to withdraw it. 

Rome, bewildered for a moment by the blow that had 
struck her, rose up again with energy. " I stay with the 
mother," exclaimed the Bishop of Wartzburg, meaning by it 
the Church of Rome; "the mother, the mother!" "My. 
lord," wittily replied Brentz, " pray, do not, for the mother, 
forget either the Father or the Son !" " Well ! I grant it," 
replied the Archbishop of Salzburg to one of his friends, " I 
also should desire the communion in both kinds, the mar- 
riage of priests, the reformation of the mass, and liberty as 

regards food and other traditions But that it should 

be a monk, a poor monk, who presumes to reform us all, is 
what we cannot tolerate."* " I should have no objection," 
said another bishop, " for Divine worship to be celebrated 
everywhere as it is at Wittemberg ; but we can never con- 
sent that this new doctrine should issue from such a corner.''-]- 
And Melancthon insisting with the Archbishop of Salzburg 
on the necessity of a reform of the clergy : "Well ! and how 
can you wish to reform us ?" said the latter abruptly : " we 
priests have always been good for nothing." This is one of 
the most ingenuous confessions that the Reformation has 

* Sed quod unus monachus debeat nos reformare omnes. Corp. lle 
ii. 155. 
fr Aus dem Loch nd Winckel. L. Opp. xx. 307. 



190 HOPES OF THE PROTESTANTS. 

torn from the priests. Every day fanatical monks and doc- 
tors, brimful of sophisms, were seen arriving at Augsburg, 
who endeavoured to inflame the hatred of the emperor and 
of the princes.* " If we formerly had friends," said Melanc- 
thon on the morrow of the Confession, " now we possess 
them no longer. We are here alone, abandoned by all, and 
contending against measureless dangers."f 

Charles, impelled by these contrary parties, affected a 
great indifference. But without permitting it to be seen, he 
endeavoured, meanwhile, to examine this affair thoroughly. 
" Let there not be a word wanting," he had said to his secre- 
tary, when requiring from him a French translation of the 
Confession. " He does not allow anything to be observed," 
whispered the Protestants one to another, convinced that 
Charles was gained ; " for if it were known, he would lose 
his Spanish states : let us maintain the most profound 
secrecy." But the emperor's courtiers, who perceived these 
strange hopes, smiled and shook their heads. " If you have 
money," said Schepper, one of the secretaries of state, to 
Jonas and Melancthon, " it will be easy for you to buy from 
the Italians whatever religion you please ;j: but if your 
purse is empty, your cause is lost." Then assuming a more 
serious tone : " It is impossible," said he, " for the emperor, 
surrounded as he is by bishops and cardinals, to approve of 
any other religion than that of the pope." 

This was soon evident. On the day after the Confession 
(Sunday, 26th June), before the breakfast hour, all the 
deputations from the imperial cities were collected in the 
emperor's antechamber. Charles, desirous of bringing back 
the states of the empire to unity, began with the weakest. 
" Some of the cities," said the count-palatine, " have not 
adhered to the last Diet of Spires : the emperor calls upon 
them to submit to it." 

Strasburg, Nuremberg, Constance, Ulin, Reutlingen, Heil- 
bronn, Memmingen, Lindau, Kempten, Windsheim, Isny, 

* Quotidie confiuunt hue sophistse ac monachi. Corp. Bef. ii. 141. 
( Nos hie soli ac deserti. Ibid. 

Nos, si pecuniam haberemus, facile religionem qnam vellemus erntu- 
roe ab Italis. Ibid. 156. 
Heute Tor dem morgenessen. Ibid. 143. 



FAILURE OF TQE POPISH INTRIGUES. 191 

and Weissemburg, which were thus summoned to renounce 
the famous protest, thought the moment curiously chosen. 
They asked for time. 

The position was complicated : discord had been thrown 
in the midst of the cities, and intrigue was labouring daily 
to increase it.* It was not only between the popish and the 
evangelical cities that disagreement existed ; but also be- 
tween the Zwinglian and the Lutheran cities, and even 
among the latter, those which had not adhered to the Con- 
fession of Augsburg manifested great ill-humour towards 
the deputies of Reutlingen and Nuremberg. This proceed- 
ing of Charles the Fifth was therefore skilfully calculated ; 
for it was based on the old axiom, Divide et impera. 

But the enthusiasm of faith overcame all these stratagems, 
and on the next day (27th June), the deputies from the 
cities transmitted a reply to the emperor, in which they de- 
clared that they could not adhere to the Recess of Spires 
"without disobeying God, and without compromising the 
salvation of their souls." -f- 

Charles, who desired to observe a just medium, more from 
policy than from equity, wavered between so many contrary 
convictions. Desirous nevertheless of essaying his mediat- 
ing influence, he convoked the states faithful to Rome, on 
Sunday, 26th June, shortly after his conference with the 
cities. 

All the princes were present : even the pope's legate and 
the most influential Roman divines appeared at this council, 
to the great scandal of the Protestants. " What reply should 
be made to the Confession ?" was the question set by Charles 
the Fifth to the senate that surrounded him.J 

Three different opinions were proposed. " Let us beware," 
said the men of the papacy, " of discussing our adversaries 1 
reasons, and let us be content with executing the edict of 
Worms against the Lutherans, and with constraining them 

* Es sind unter uns Stadten, vie! practica und Seltsames wesens, 
Corp. Ref. ii. 151. 

f- Ohne Vcrletzung der gewissen gegen Gott. F. Urkund. ii. 6. 

Adyersarii nostri jam deliberant quid Telint respondere. Corp, 
Ref. ii. 26th June. 



192 VIOLENT DISCUSSIONS.' 

by arms."* " Let us submit the Confession to the ex- 
amination of impartial judges," said the men of the empire, 
" and refer the final decision to the emperor. Is not even 
the reading of the Confession an appeal of the Protestants 
to the imperial power?" Others, in the last place (and 
these were the men of tradition and of ecclesiastical doc- 
trine), were desirous of commissioning certain doctors to 
compose a refutation, which should be read to the Protest- 
ants and ratified by Charles. 

The debate was very animated : the mild and the violent, 
the politic and the fanatical, took a decided course in the 
assembly. George of Saxony and Joachim of Brandenburg 
showed themselves the most inveterate, and surpassed in 
this respect even the ecclesiastical princes.-}- " A certain 
clown, whom you know well, is pushing them all from 
behind," J wrote Melancthon to Luther; "and certain hy- 
pocritical theologians hold the torch and lead the whole 
baud." This clown was doubtless Duke George. Even the 
princes of Bavaria, whom the Confession had staggered at 
first, immediately rallied around the chiefs of the Roman 
party. The Elector of Mentz, the Bishop of Augsburg, the 
Duke of Brunswick, showed themselves the least unfavour- 
able to the evangelical cause. " I can by no means advise 
his majesty to employ force," said Albert. " If his majesty 
should constrain their consciences, and should afterwards 
quit the empire, the first victims sacrificed would be the 
priests ; and who knows whether, in the midst of these dis- 
cords, the Turks would not suddenly fall upon us ? " But 
this somewhat interested wisdom of the archbishop did not 
find many supporters, and the men of war immediately 
plunged into the discussion with their harsh voices. " If 
there is any fighting against the Lutherans," said Count 
Felix of Werdenberg, " I gratuitously offer my sword, and 
I swear never to return it to its scabbard until it has over- 
thrown the stronghold of Luther." This nobleman died sud- 
'denly a few days after, from the consequences of his intem- 

* Hem agendam esse vi, non audiendam causam. Corp. Ref. ii. 154. 
t Hi sunt duces.et quidem acerrimi alterius partis. Ibid. 
J Omnes umi8 gubernat rusticus. Ibid. 26th Jnne, 176. 



VIOLENT DISCUSSIONS RED INK ANSWEB. 193 

perance. Then the moderate men again interfered : " The 
Lutherans attack no one article of the faith," said the Bishop 
of Augsburg ; " let us come to an arrangement with them ; 
and to obtain peace, let us concede to them the sacrament in 
both kinds and the marriage of priests. I would even yield 
more, if it were necessary." Upon this loud cries arose : 
" He is a Lutheran," they exclaimed, " and you will see that 
he is fully prepared to sacrifice even the private masses!" 
"The masses! we must not even think of it," remarked 
some with an ironical smile ; " Rome will never give them 
up, for it is they which maintain her cardinals and her 
courtiers, with their luxury and their kitchens."* The 
Archbishop of Salzburg and the Elector of Brandenburg 
replied with great violence to the motion of the Bishop of 
Augsburg. " The Lutherans," said they abruptly, " have 
laid before us a Confession written with black ink on white 
paper. Well : If I were emperor, I would answer them with 
red in."-j- " Sirs," quickly replied the Bishop of Augsburg, 
" take care then that the red letters do not fly in your faces !" 
The Elector of Mentz was compelled to interfere and calm 
the speakers. 

The emperor, desirous of playing the character of an um- 
pire, would have wished the Roman party at least to have 
placed in his hands an act of accusation against the Reform : 
but all was now altered ; the majority, becoming daily more 
compact since the Diet of Spires, no longer sided with Charles. 
Full of the sentiment of their own strength, they refused to 
assume the title of a party, and to take the emperor as a 
judge. " What are you saying," cried they, " of diversity 
between the members of the empire? There is but one 
legitimate party. It is not a question of deciding between 
two opinions whose rights are equal, but of crushing rebels, 
and of aiding those who have remained faithful to the con- 
stitution of the empire." 

This haughty language enlightened Charles : he found 
they had outstripped him, and that, abandoning his lofty 

* Cardinel. Churstusanen, Praclit und Kuchen. Bruck Apol. p. 63. 
t Wir wollten antvorten rait einer Schrift mit Rubricken geschriebea, 
Corp. Ref. ii. 147. 



194 A REFUTATION PROPOSED. 

position of arbiter, he must submit merely to be the executor 
of the orders of the majority. It was this majority which 
henceforward commanded in Augsburg. They excluded the 
imperial councillors who advocated more equitable views, 
and the Archbishop of Mentz himself ceased for a time to 
appear in the diet.* 

The majority ordered that a refutation of the Evangelical 
doctrine should be immediately drawn up by Romish theo- 
logians. If they had selected for this purpose moderate men 
like the Bishop of Augsburg, the Reformation would still 
have had some chance of success with the great principles of 
Christianity ; but it was to the enemies of the Reform, to the 
old champions of Rome and of Aristotle, exasperated by so 
many defeats, that they resolved to intrust this task. 

They were numerous at Augsburg, and not held in very 
great esteem. " The princes," said Jonas, " have brought 
their learned men with them, and some even their unlearned 
and their fools"-^ Provost Faber and Doctor Eck led the 
troop ; behind them was drawn up a cohort of monks, and 
above all of Dominicans, tools of the Inquisition, and im- 
patient to recompense themselves for the opprobrium they 
had so long endured. There was the provincial of the 
Dominicans, Paul Hugo, their vicar John Bourkard, one of 
their priors Conrad Koelein, who had written against 
Luther's marriage ; with a number of Carthusians, Augus- 
tines, Franciscans, and the vicars of several bishops. Such 
were the men who, to the number of twenty, were commis- 
sioned to refute Melancthon. 

One might beforehand have augured of the work by the 
workmen. Each one understood that it was a question, not 
of refuting the Confession, but of branding it. Campeggio, 
who doubtless suggested this ill-omened list to Charles, was 
well aware that these doctors were incapable of measuring 
themselves with Melancthon; but their names formed the 
most decided standard of popery, and announced to the world 
clearly and immediately what the diet proposed to do. This 



* Non venit in senatum. Corp. Ref. ii. 175. 
t Qnidcm etiam sues ineruditos et ineptos. 



ROME AND THE CIVIL POWER. 195 

was the essential point Rome would not leave Christendom 
even hope. 

It was, however, requisite to know whether the diet, 
and the emperor who was its organ, had the right of pro- 
nouncing in this purely religious matter. Charles put the 
question both to the Evangelicals and to the Romanists.* 

" Your highness," said Luther, who was consulted by the 
elector, " may reply with all assurance : Yes, if the emperor 
wish it, let him be judge ! I will bear everything on his part; 
but let him decide nothing contrary to the Word of God. 
Your highness cannot put the emperor above God himself.-{- 
Does not the first commandment say, Thou shalt have no 
other Gods before me ?" 

The reply of the papal adherents was quite as positive in 
a contrary sense. " We think," said they, " that his ma- 
jesty, in accord with the electors, princes, and states of the 
empire, has the right to proceed in this affair, as Roman 
Emperor, guardian, advocate, and sovereign protector of the 
Church and of our most holy faith."! Thus, in the first days 
of the Reformation, the Evangelical Church frankly ranged 
itself under the throne of Jesus Christ, and the Roman 
Church under the sceptre of kings. Enlightened men, even 
among Protestants, have misunderstood this double nature 
of Protestantism and Popery. 

The philosophy of Aristotle and the hierarchy of Rome, 
thanks to this alliance with the civil power, were at length 
about to sec the day of their long expected triumph arrive. 
So long as the schoolmen had been left to the force of their 
syllogisms and of their abuse, they had been defeated ; but 
now Charles the Fifth and the diet held out their hands to 
them; the reasonings of Faber, Eck, and Wimpina were 
about to be countersigned by the German chancellor, and 
confirmed by the great seals of the empire. Who could 
resist them ? The Romish error has never had any strength 

* See the document extracted from the archives of Bavaria in F. Ur- 
kund. ii. 9. 

f Konnen den Kaiser nicht uber Gott setzen. L. Epp. iv. 83. 

Rotnischen Kaiser. Vogt, Advocaten und Obristen Beschirmer der 
kirkeu. F. Urknnd. ii. 10. 



196 PERILS OF THE CONFESSORS. 

except by its union with the secular arm ; and its victories 
in the Old and in the New World are owing, even in our 
days, to state patronage.* 

These things did not escape the piercing eye of Luther. 
He saw at once the weakness of the argument of the papist 
doctors and the power of Charles's arm. " You are waiting 
for your adversaries' answer," wrote he to his friends in 
Augsburg ; " it is already written, and here it is : The 
Fathers, the Fathers, the Fathers ; the Church, the Church, 

the Church ; usage, custom ; but of the Scriptures 

nothing !"f " Then the emperor, supported by the testimony 
of these arbiters, will pronounce against you ;| and then will 
you hear boastings from all sides that will ascend up to 
heaven, and threats that will descend even to hell." 

Thus changed the situation of the Reform. Charles was 
obliged to acknowledge his weakness ; and, to save the 
appearance of his power, he took a decisive part with the 
enemies of Luther. The emperor's impartiality disappeared : 
the state turned against the Gospel, and there remained for 
it no other saviour than God. 

At first many gave way to extreme dejection : above all, 
Melancthon, who had a nearer view of the cabals of the 
adversaries, exhausted moreover by long vigils, fell almost 
into despair. " In the presence of these formidable evils," 
cried he, " I see no more hope."|| And then, however, he 
added" Except the help of God." 

The legate immediately set all his batteries to work. Al- 
ready had Charles several times sent for the elector and the 
landgrave, and had used every exertion to detach them from 
the Evangelical Confession.^ Melancthon, uneasy at these 
secret conferences, reduced the Confession to its minimum, 
and entreated the elector to demand only the two kinds in 
the Eucharist and the marriage of priests. " To interdict 

* Otaheite for instance. 

f- Patres, Patrea,Patres; Ecclesia, Ecclesia; usus, consuetude, praeterea 
e Scriptura nihil. L. Epp. iv. 96. 
$ Pronuntiabit Caesar contra vos. Ibid. 

Quadam tristitia et quasi desesperatioue vexatur. Corp. Ref. ii. 163. 
|| Q,uid uobis sit sperandum in tautis odiis inimicorum. Ibid. 145. 
^1 Legati Norinberg ad Senatum. Corp. Rcf. ii. 161. 



MELANOTHON'S MINIMUM. 197 

the former of these points," said he, " would be to alienate a 
great number of Christians from the communion; and to 
forbid the second would be depriving the Church of all the 
pastors capable of edifying it. Will they destroy religion 
and kindle civil war, rather than apply to these purely eccle- 
siastical constitutions a mitigation that is neither contrary 
to sound morals nor to faith ?"* The protestant princes 
begged Melancthon to go himself and make these proposals 
to the legate.f 

Melancthon agreed : he began to flatter himself with suc- 
cess ; and, in truth, there were, even among the papists, 
individuals who were favourable to the Reformation. There 
had recently arrived at Augsburg, from beyond the Alps, 
certain propositions tolerably Lutheran, | and one of the 
emperor's confessors boldly professed the doctrine of justi- 
fication by faith, cursing " those asses of Germans," said he, 
" who are incessantly braying against this truth." One of 
Charles's chaplains approved even the whole of the con- 
fession. There was something farther still : Charles the 
Fifth having consulted the grandees of Spain, who were 
famous for their orthodoxy : " If the opinions of the Pro- 
testants are contrary to the articles of the faith," they had 
replied, " let your majesty employ all his power to destroy 
this faction ; but if it is a question merely of certain changes 
in human ordinances and external usages, let all violence be 
avoided." || " Admirable reply !" exclaimed Melancthon, who 
persuaded himself that the Romish doctrine was at the bottom 
in accordance with the Gospel. 

The Reformation found defenders in even still higher sta- 
tions. Mary, sister of Charles the Fifth, and widow of King 
Louis of Hungary, arriving at Augsburg three days after 
the reading of the Confession, with her sister-in-law the 
Queen of Bohemia, Ferdinand's wife, assiduously studied the 

Melancthon ad Due. Sax. Elect. Corp. Ref. ii. 162. 

f Principes nostri miserunt nos ad R. D. V. Ibid. 171. 

Pervenerunt ad nos propositions qua-darn Italicae Batis Lutherans. 
Ibid. 163. 

Istis Germanis asinis, nobis in hac parte obgannientibus. Ibid. 

II Hispanici proceres prteelare et sapieuter responderunt Csesari. Ibid, 
179. 



198 MELANCTHON'S FALL. 

Holy Scriptures ; she carried them with her to the hunting 
parties, in which she found little pleasure, and had discovered 
therein the jewel of the Reform, the doctrine of gratuitous 
salvation. This pious princess made her chaplain read 
evangelical sermons to her, and often endeavoured, although 
with prudence, to appease her brother Charles with regard 
to the Protestants.* 

Melancthon, encouraged by these demonstrations, and at 
the same time alarmed by the threats of war that the adver- 
saries did not cease from uttering, thought it his duty to 
purchase peace at any cost, and resolved in consequence to 
descend in his propositions as low as possible. He therefore 
demanded an interview with the legate in a letter whose 
authenticity has been unreasonably doubted.-]- At the deci- 
sive moment the heart of the reform champion fails, his 
head turns he staggers he falls ; and in his fall he runs 
the risk of dragging with him the cause which martyrs have 
already watered with their blood. 

Thus speaks the representative of the Reformation to the 
representative of the papacy : 

" There is no doctrine in which we differ from the Roman 
Church ;J we venerate the universal authority of the Roman 
Pontiff, and we are ready to obey him, provided he does not 
reject us, and that of his clemency, which he is accustomed 
to show towards all nations, he will kindly pardon or approve 
certain little things that it is no longer possible for us to 

change Now then, will you reject those who appear as 

suppliants before you ? Will you pursue them with fire and 

sword? Alas! nothing draws upon us in Germany so 

much hatred, as the unshaken firmness with which we main- 
tain the doctrines of the Roman Church. But with the aid 
of God, we will remain faithful, even unto death, to Christ 
and to the Roman Church, although you should reject us."|| 

* "H aStXiffl auratcpKlo^e; studet nobis placaro fratrem. Corp. Ref. ii. 178. 
f See the Corp. Ref. ii. 168. 

J Dogma nullum habemus diversum ab Ecclesia Romana. Ibid. 170. 
Quam quia Ecclesiae Romanse dogmata summa constantia defendi- 
mus. Ibid. 

Vel si recusabitis nos in gratia m pecipcre. Ibid. 



LUTHER OPPOSES CONCESSION. 199 

Thus did Melancthon humble himself. God permitted 
this fall, that future ages might clearly see how low the 
Reformation was willing to descend in order to maintain 
unity, and that no one might doubt that the schism had 
come from Koine ; but also, assuredly, that they might learn 
how great, in every important work, is the weakness of the 
noblest instruments. 

Fortunately there was then another man who upheld the 
honour of the Reformation. At this very time Luther wrote 
to Melancthon : " There can be no concord between Christ 
and Belial. As far as regards me, I will not yield a hair's 
breadth.* Sooner than yield r l should prefer suffering every- 
thing, even the most terrible evils. Concede so much the 
less, as your adversaries require the more. God will not aid 
us until we are abandoned by all."-}- And fearing some weak- 
ness on the part of his friends, Luther added : " If it were 
not tempting God, you would long ago have seen me at 
your side 1"J 

Never, in fact, had Luther's presence been so necessary, 
for the legate had consented to an interview, and Melancthon 
was about to pay court to Campeggio. 

The 8th of July was the day appointed by the legate. 
His letter inspired Philip with the most sanguine hopes. 
" The cardinal assures me that he will accede the usage of 
the two kinds, and the marriage of priests," said he ; "I am 
eager to visit him !"|| 

This visit might decide the destiny of the Church. If the 
legate accepted Philip's ultimatum, the evangelical countries 
would be replaced under the power of the Romish bishops, 
and all would have been over with the Reformation ; but it 
was saved through the pride and blindness of Rome. The 
Papists, believing it on the brink of the abyss, thought that 
a last blow would settle it, and resolved, like Luther, to con- 
cede nothing, "not even a hair's breadth." The legate, 

* At certe pro mea persona, ne pilum quidem cedam. L. Epp. iv. 88. 

f Neque enim juvabimur ni deserti prius. simus. Ibid. 91. 

J Certe jamdudum coram vidissetis me. Ibid. 98. 

Ego multos prehensaro soleo et Campegium etiam. Corp. Ref. ii. 198 

II Propero enim ad Campeginm. Ibid. 174. 



200 THE LEGATE REJECTS MELANCTHOJf. 

however, even while refusing, assumed an air of kindness, 
and of yielding to foreign influence. " I might have the 
power of making certain concessions, but it would not be 
prudent to use it without the consent of the German princes ;* 
their will must be done ; one of them in particular conjures 
the emperor to prevent us from yielding the least thing. I 
can grant nothing." The Roman prince, with the most 
amiable smile, then did all he could to gain the -chief of the 
protestant teachers. Melancthon retired filled with shame 
at the advances he had made, but still deceived by Campeggio. 
" No doubt," said he, " Eck and Cochloeus have been before- 
hand with me at the legate's."-}- Luther entertained a dif- 
ferent opinion. " I do not trust to any of these Italians," 
said he ; " they are scoundrels. When an Italian is good, 
he is very good ; but then he is a black swan." 

It was truly the Italians who were concerned. Shortly 
after the 12th of July arrived the pope's instructions. He 
had received the Confession by express,:}: and sixteen days 
had sufficed for the transmission, the deliberation, and the 
return. Clement would hear no mention either of discussions 
or of council. Charles was to march straight to the mark, 
to send an army into Germany, and stifle the Reformation 
by force. At Augsburg, however, it was thought best not 
to go so quickly to work, and recourse was had to other 
means. 

" Be quiet ; we have them," said the Romish doctors. 
Sensible of the reproach that had been made against them, 
of having misrepresented the Reformation, they accused the 
Protestants themselves of being the cause. " These it is," 
they said, " who, to give themselves an air of being in 
accord with us, now dissemble their heresy; but we will 
catch them in their own nets. If they confess to not hav- 
ing inserted in their Confession all that they reject, it will 
be proved that they are trifling with us. If, on the con- 

* Se nihil posse decernere, nisi de voluntate principum Germanise. 
Corp. Kef. ii. 174. 

t Forte ad legatum veniebant Eccius et Cochlo3iis. Ibid. 175. 

Nostra Confessio ad Itomam per veredarios mis^a cst. Ibid. 18ti, 
219. 



THE POPE'S DECISION QUESTION. 201 

trary, they pretend to have said everything, they will by 
that very circumstance be compelled to admit all that they 
have not condemned." The protestant princes were there- 
fore called together, and they were asked if the Reformation 
was confined to the doctrines indicated in the Apology, or if 
there was something more.* 

The snare was skilfully laid. The papacy had not even 
been mentioned in Melancthon's Confession; other errors 
besides had been omitted, and Luther himself complained of 
it aloud. " Satan sees clearly," said he, " that your Apo- 
logy has passed lightly over the articles of purgatory, the 
worship of saints, and, above all, of the Pope and of Anti- 
christ." The princes requested to confer with their allies of 
the towns ; and all the Protestants assembled to deliberate 
on this momentous incident. 

They looked for Melancthon's explanation, who did not 
decline the responsibility of the affair. Easily dejected 
through his own anxiety, he became bold whenever he was 
directly attacked. " All the essential doctrines," said he, 
" have been set forth in the Confession, and every error and 
abuse that is opposed to them has been pointed out. But 
was it necessary to plunge into all those questions so full 
of contention and animosity, that are discussed in our uni- 
versities? Was it necessary to ask if all Christians are 
priests, if the primacy of the pope is of right divine, if there 
can be indulgences, if every good work is a deadly sin, if 
there are more than seven sacraments, if they may be ad- 
ministered by a layman, if divine election has any founda- 
tion in our own merits, if sacerdotal consecration impresses 
an indelible character, if auricular confession is necessary to 

salvation? No, no! all these things are in the province 

of the schools, and by no means essential to faith." -{- 

It cannot be denied that in the questions thus pointed 
out by Melancthon there were important points. However 
that may be, the evangelical committee were soon agreed, 
and on the morrow they gave an answer to Charles's 

* An plura velimus Csesari prseponero controversa quam fecerimus. 
Corp. Ref. ii. 188. 
f- Melancthoois Judicium. Ibid. 182. 

VOL. IV. 10 



202 MELANCTHON'S SCHOOL-MATTEKS. 

ministers, drawn up with as much frankness as firmness, in 
which they said " that the Protestants, desirous of arriving 
at a cordial understanding, had not wished to complicate 
their situation, and had proposed not to specify all the errors 
that had been introduced into the Church, but to confess all 
the doctrines that were essential to salvation ; that if, never- 
theless, the adverse party felt itself urged to maintain cer- 
tain abuses, or to put forward any point not mentioned in 
the Confession, the Protestants declared themselves ready to 
reply in conformity with the Word of God."* The tone of 
this answer showed pretty clearly that the evangelical 
Christians did not fear to follow their adversaries wherever 
the latter should call them. Accordingly the Roman party 
eaid no more on this business. 



CHAPTER IX. 

The Refutation Charles's Dissatisfaction Interview with the Princes 
The Swiss at Augsburg Tetrapolitan Confession Zwingle's Confes- 
sion Afflicting Divisions The Elector's Faith His Peace The 
Lion's Skin The Refutation One Concession Scripture and the 
Hierarchy Imperial Commands Interview between Melancthon and 
Campeggio Policy of Charles Stormy Meeting Resolutions of the 
Consistory The Prayers of the Church Two Miracles The Empe- 
ror's Menace The Princes' Courage The Mask Negotiations The 
Spectres at Spires Tumult in Augsburg. 

THE commission charged to refute the Confession met twice 
a-day,-|- and each of the theologians who composed it added 
to it his refutations and his hatred. 

On the 13th July the work was finished. " Eck with 
his band,J said Melancthon, " transmitted it to the empe- 
ror." Great was the astonishment of this prince and of his 
ministers at seeing a work of two hundred and eighty pages 

" Aus Gottes Wort, weiter bericht zu thun. F. Urkundenbuch, ii. 19. 

f- Bis die convenire dicuntur. Zw. Epp. ii. 472. 

J Eccius cum sua commanipulatione. Corp. Ref. ii. 1 93. 



CHARLES'S DISSATISFACTION. 203 

filled with abuse.* " Bad workmen waste much wood," 
said Luther, " and impious writers soil much paper." This 
was not all : to the Refutation were subjoined eight appen- 
dices on the heresies that Melancthon had dissembled (as 
they said), and* wherein they exposed the contradictions and 
" the horrible sects" to which Lutheranism had given birth. 
Lastly, not confining themselves to this official answer, the 
Romish theologians, who saw the sun of power shining 
upon them, filled Augsburg with insolent and abusive pam- 
phlets. 

There was but one opinion on the Papist Refutation ; it 
was found confused, violent, thirsting for blood, -f- Charles 
the Fifth had too much good taste not to perceive the dif- 
ference that existed between this coarse work and the noble 
dignity of Melancthon's Confession. He rolled, handled, 
crushed, and so damaged the two hundred and eighty pages 
of his doctors, that when he returned them two days after, 
says Spalatin, there were not more than twelve entire. 
Charles would have been ashamed to have such a pamphlet 
read in the diet, and he required, in consequence, that it 
should be drawn up anew, shorter and in more moderate 
language. J That was not easy, " for the adversaries, con- 
fused and stupified," says Brentz, " by the noble simplicity 
of the evangelical Confession, neither knew where to begin 
nor where to end ; they accordingly took nearly three weeks 
to do their work over again." 

Charles and his ministers had great doubts of its success ; 
leaving, therefore, the theologians for a moment, they ima- 
gined another manoeuvre. " Let us take each of the pro- 
testaut princes separately," said they : " isolated, they will 
not resist." Accordingly, on the 15th July, the Margrave 
of Brandenburg was visited by his two cousins, the Electors 
of Mentz and of Brandenburg, and by his two brothers the 
Margraves Frederick and John Albert. " Abandon this new 

* Longum et plenum conviciis scriptum. Corp. Ref. ii. 193. 

+ Adeo confusa, incondita, Tiolenta, sanguinoleuta et crudelis ut pudue- 
rint. Ibid. 196. 

: Hodie auctoribua ipsis Sophistis, a Cassaro rursus ease redditam ut 
emendetur et civilius componatur. Ibid. 

Nostra confessioue ita stupidos, attonitos, et eonfusoa. Ibid. 



204 INTERVIEW WITH THE PRINCES. 

faith," said they to him, " and return to that which existed 
a century ago. If you do so, there are no favours that you 
may not expect from the emperor ; if not, dread his anger."* 

Shortly after, the Duke Frederick of Bavaria, the Count 
of Nassau, De Rogendorf, and Truchses were announced to 
the Elector on the part of Charles. " You have solicited the 
emperor," said they, " to confirm the marriage of your son 
with the Princess of Juliers, and to invest you with the elec- 
toral dignity ; but his majesty declares, that if you do not 
renounce the heresy of Luther, of which you are the princi- 
pal abettor, he cannot accede to your demand." At the same 
time the Duke of Bavaria, employing the most urgent solici- 
tations, accompanied with the most animated gestures -J- and 
the most sinister threats,;): called upon the elector to abandon 
his faith. " It is asserted," added Charles's envoys, " that 
you have made an alliance with the Swiss. The emperor 
cannot believe it ; and he orders you to let him know the 
truth." 

The Swiss ! it was the same thing as rebellion. This 
alliance was the phantom incessantly invoked at Augsburg 
to alarm Charles the Fifth. And in reality deputies or at 
least friends of the Swiss, had already appeared in that city, 
and thus rendered the position still more serious. 

Bucer had arrived two days before the reading of the 
Confession, and Capito on the day subsequent to it. There 
was even a report that Zwingle would join them. || But for 
a long time all in Augsburg, except the Strasburg deputa- 
tion, were ignorant of the presence of these doctors.^ It was 
only twenty-one days after their arrival that Melancthon 
learnt it positively,** so great was the mystery in which the 
Zwinglians were forced to enshroud themselves. This was 
not without reason : a conference with Melancthon having 

" Corp. Ref. ii. 206 ; F. Urkund. ii. 93. 

f- Mit reden und Gebehrden prachtig erzeigt. Ibid. 207. 

J Minas diras promissis ingentibus adjicieus. Zw. Epp. ii. 484. 

Venimus hue, ego pridie solemnitatis Divi Johannis, Capito die do 
minica sequente. Zw. Epp. ii. 472. 

|| Rumor apud nos est, et te cum tuis Helvetiis comitia advolaturum. 
Ibid. 431, 467. 

H Ita latent ut non quibuslibet sui copiam faciant. Corp. Ref. p. 196. 

** Capito et Bucerus adsunt. Id hodie certo comperi. Ibid. 



ZWINGLE'S CONFESSION. 205 

been requested by them : " Let them write," replied he ; "I 
should compromise our cause by an interview with them." 

Bucer and Capito in their retreat, which was like a prison 
to them, had taken advantage of their leisure to draw up the 
Tetrapolitan Confession, or the confession of the four cities. 
The deputies of Strasburg, Constance, Memmingen, and Lin- 
dau, presented it to the emperor.* These cities purged them- 
selves from the reproach of war and revolt that had been con- 
tinually objected against them. They declared that their only 
motive was Christ's glory, and professed the truth " freely, 
boldly, but without insolence and without scurrility." -J- 

Zwingle about the same time caused a private confession 
to be communicated to Charles,} which excited a general 
uproar. " Does he not dare to say," exclaimed the Roman- 
ists, " that the mitred and withered race (by which he means 
the bishops) is in the Church what hump-backs and the 
scrofula are in the body ? " " Does he not insinuate," said 
the Lutherans ; " that we are beginning to look back after 
the onions and garlic of Egypt ?" " One might say with 
great truth that he had lost his senses," exclaimed Melanc- 
thon. || " All ceremonies, according to him, ought to be 
abolished; all the bishops ought to be suppressed. In a 
word, all is perfectly Helvetic, that is to say, supremely bar- 
barous." 

One man formed an exception to this concert of reproaches, 
and this was Luther. " Zwingle pleases me tolerably," wrote 
he to Jonas, " as well as Bucer." ^[ By Bucer, he meant no 
doubt the Tetrapolitan Confession : this expression should be 
noted. 

Thus three Confessions, laid at the feet of Charles the Fifth, 

* Cinglianae civitates propriam Confessionem obtulerunt Cassari. Corp. 
Ref. p. 187. This Confession will be found in Niemeyer, Collectio Con- 
fessionum, p. 740. 

h Ingenue ac fortiter ; citra procaciam tamen et sannas, id fateri et 
dicere quod res est. Zw. Epp. ii. 485. 

J See Niemeyer Coll. Conf. p. 16. 

Pedatum et mitratum genus Episcoporum, id esset in Ecclesia, quod 
gibbi et strumata in corpore. Ibid. Zwingle compares the bishops to 
tho dry and fruitless props that support the vines. 

|| Dicas simpliciter mente captum esse. Corp. Ref. p. 193. 

TI Zwinglius mihi sane placet, et Bucerus. L. Epp. iv. 110. 



206 AFFLICTING DIVISIONS. 

attested the divisions that were rending Protestantism. In 
vain did Bucer and Capito endeavour to come to an under- 
standing with Melancthon, and write to him : " We will 
meet where you will, and when you < will; we will bring 
Sturm alone with us, and if you desire it, we will not even 
bring him."* All was unavailing. It is not enough for a 
Christian to confess Christ ; one disciple should confess an- 
other disciple, even if the latter lies under the shame of the 
world; but they did not then comprehend this duty. " Schism 
is in the schism," said the Romanists, and the emperor flat- 
tered himself with an easy victory. " Return to the Church," 
was the cry from every side, " which means," interrupted the 
Strasburgers, " let us put the bit in your mouths, that we 
may lead you as we please." -J- 

All these things deeply afflicted the elector, who was be- 
sides still under the burden of Charles's demands and threats. 
The emperor had not once spoken to liim,^ and it was every- 
where said that his cousin George of Saxony would be pro- 
claimed elector in his stead. 

On the 28th July, there was a great festival at the court. 
Charles, robed in his imperial garments, whose value was 
said to exceed 200,000 gold ducats, and displaying an air 
of majesty which impressed respect and fear, conferred on 
many princes the investiture of their dignities ; the elector 
alone was excluded from these favours. Erelong he was 
made to understand more plainly what was reserved for him, 
and it was insinuated, that if he did not submit, the emperor 
would expel him from his states, and inflict upon him the 
severest punishment." || 

The elector turned pale, for he doubted not that such 
would certainly be the termination. How with his small 
territory could he resist that powerful monarch who had just 
vanquished France and Italy, and now saw Germany at his 

* Veniemus quo et quando tu voles. Corp. Ref. ii. 208. 

t Una tamen omnium vox : Revertimini ad Eccksiani. Zw. Epp. ii. 
484. 

J Colloquium ejus nondum frui potuisse. Seek. ii. 154. 

Apparuit Caesar majestate insignitus vestibus suis imperialibua. 

Corp. Ref. ii. 242. 

H Miiller, Gosch. der Protestation, p. 715. 



THE ELECTOR'S FAITH. 207 

feet ? And besides, if he could do it, had he the right ? 
Frightful nightmares pursued John in his dreams. He be- 
held himself stretched beneath an immense mountain under 
which he lay painfully struggling, while his cousin George 
of Saxony stood on the summit and seemed to brave him. 

John at length came forth from this furnace. " I must 
either renounce God or the world," said he. " Well ! my 
choice is not doubtful. It is God who made me elector, 
me, who was not worthy of it. I fling myself into his 
arms, and let him do with me what shall seem good to him." 
Thus the elector by faith stopped the mouths of lions and 
subdued kingdoms.* 

All evangelical Christendom had taken part in the struggle 
of John the Persevering. It was seen that if he should now 
fall, all would fall with him ; and they endeavoured to sup- 
port him. " Fear not," cried the Christians of Magdeburg, 
" for your highness is under Christ's banner." f " Italy is 
in expectation," wrote they from Venice ; " if for Christ's 
glory you must die, fear nothing." | But it was from a 
higher source that John's courage was derived. " I beheld 
Satan as lightning fall from heaven," said his Master. The 
elector, in like manner, beheld in hjs dreams George fall 
from the top of the mountain, and lie dashed in pieces at his 
feet. 

Once resolved to lose everything, John, free, happy, and 
tranquil, assembled his theologians. These generous men 
desired to save their master. " Gracious lord," said Spalatin, 
" recollect that the Word of God, being the sword of the 
Spirit, must be upheld, not by the secular power, but by the 
hand of the Almighty." || "Yes!" said all the doctors, 
" we do not wish that, to save .us, you should risk your 

children, your subjects, your states, your crown We will 

rather give ourselves into the hands of the enemy, and con- 
jure him to be satisfied with our blood." ^[ John, touched 

* Hebrews xi. 33, 34. 

f Unter dem Heerpannyr Jesu Christi. Mtiller, p. 131. 

J Etiamsi mors subeunda tibi foret ob Christi gloriam. Corp. Ref. ii. 
228. L. P. Roselli. Luke x. 18. 

il Gottes Wort keines wegs durch weltlicb. Schwert. F. Urkund, ii, 
82. ^ Sie \vollen ihnen an ihrem Elate genligen lassen. Ibid. 90. 



208 THE LION'S SKIN. 

by this language, refused, however, their solicitations, and 
firmly repeated these words, which had become his device : 
" I also desire to confess my Saviour." 

It was on the 20th July that he replied to the pressing 
arguments by which Charles had endeavoured to shake him. 
He proved to the emperor that, being his brother's legitimate 
heir, he could not refuse him the investiture, which, besides, 
the Diet of Worms had secured to him. He added, that he 
did not blindly believe what his doctors said, but that, 
having recognised the "Word of God to be the foundation of 
their teaching, he confessed anew, and without any hesita- 
tion, all the articles of the Apology. " I therefore entreat 
your majesty," continued he, " to permit me and mine to 
render an account to God alone of what concerns the salva- 
tion of our souls."* The Margrave of Brandenburg made 
the same reply. Thus failed this skilful manoeuvre, by 
which the Romanists had hoped to break the strength of the 
Reformation. 

Six weeks had elapsed since the Confession, and as yet 
there was no reply. " The Papists, from the moment they 
heard the Apology," it was said, " suddenly lost their 
yoice."-j- At length the Romish theologians handed their 
revised and corrected performance to the emperor, and per- 
suaded this prince to present it in his own name. The 
mantle of the state seemed to them admirably adapted to 
the movements of Rome. " These sycophants," said Melanc- 
thon, " have desired to clothe themselves with the lion's 
skin, to appear to us so much the more terrible."! All the 
states of the empire were convoked for the next day but one. 

On Wednesday, 3d August, at two o'clock in the after- 
noon, the emperor, sitting on his throne in the chapel of the 
Palatinate Palace, attended by his brother, with the electors, 
princes, and deputies, the Elector of Saxony and his allies 
were introduced, and the count-palatine, who was called 
" Charles's mouthpiece," said to them : " His majesty 

" Forstemann's Urkundenbuch, pp. 80-92, 113-119. 
f Papistas obmutuisse ad ipsornm Coufesskmem. Cochl. p. 195. 
J Voluerunt sycophantso theologi Xav7> illam sibi circumdare, at 
essent nobis formidabiliores. Corp. Ref. p. 252. 



THE REFUTATION ONE CONCESSION. 



209 



having handed your Confession to several doctors of dif- 
ferent nations, illustrious by their knowledge, their morals, 
and their impartiality, has read their reply with the greatest 
care, and submits it to you as his own."* 

Alexander Schweiss then took the papers and read the 
Refutation. The Roman party approved some articles of the 
Confession, condemned others, and in certain less salient 
passages, it distinguished between what must be rejected and 
what accepted. 

It gave way on an important point ; the opus operatum. 
The Protestants having said in their 13th Article that faith 
was necessary in the sacrament, the Romish party assented 
to it ; thus abandoning an error which the papacy had so 
earnestly defended against Luther in that very city of Augs- 
burg, by the mouth of Cajetan. 

Moreover, they recognised as truly Christian the evan- 
gelical doctrine on the Trinity, on Christ, on baptism, on 
eternal punishment, and on the origin of evil. 

But on all the other points, Charles, his princes, and his 
theologians, declared themselves immovable. They main- 
tained that men are born with the fear of God, that good 
works are meritorious, and that they justify in union with 
faith. They upheld the seven sacraments, the mass, transub- 
stantiation, the withdrawal of the cup, the celibacy of priests, 
the invocation of saints, and denied that the Church was an 
assembly of the saints. 

This Refutation was skilful in some respects, and, above 
all, in what concerned the doctrine of works and of faith. 
But on other points, in particular on the withdrawal of the 
cup and the celibacy of priests, its arguments were lament- 
ably weak, and contrary to the well known facts of history. 

While the Protestants had taken their stand on the 
Scriptures, their adversaries supported the divine origin of 
the hierarchy, and laid down absolute submission to its 
laws. Thus, the essential character, which still distin- 
guishes Rome from the Reformation, stood prominently 
forth in this first combat. 

* Velut suam suaque publica auctoritate roboratam. Urkundenbuch 
ii. 144. 

10* 



210 SCRIPTURE AND THE HIERARCHY. 

Among the auditors who filled the chapel of the Palatin- 
ate Palace, concealed in the midst of the deputies of Nurem- 
berg, was Joachim Camerarius, who, while Schweiss was 
reading, leant over his tablets and carefully noted down all 
he could collect. At the same time others of the Protest- 
ants, speaking to one another, were indignant, and even 
laughed, as one of their opponents assures us.* " Really," 
said they with one consent, " the whole of this Refutation 
is worthy of Eck, Faber, and Cochlceus ! " 
. As for Charles, little pleased with these theological disser- 
tations, he slept during the reading ; -j- but he awoke when 
Schweiss had finished, and his awakening was that of a lion. 

The- count-palatine then declared that his majesty found 
the articles of this Refutation orthodox, catholic, and con- 
formable to the Gospel ; that he therefore required the Pro- 
testants to abandon their Confession, now refuted, and to 
adhere to all the articles which had just been set forth ; J 
that, if they refused, the emperor would remember his office, 
and would know how to show himself the advocate and de- 
fender of the Roman Church. 

This language was clear enough : the adversaries im- 
agined they had refuted the Protestants by commanding 
the latter to consider themselves beaten. Violence arms 
war were all contained in these cruel words of Charles's 
minister. The princes represented that, as the Refutation 
adopted some of their articles and rejected others, it required 
a careful examination, and they consequently begged a copy 
should be given them. 

The Romish party had a long conference on this demand-: 
night was at hand ; the count-palatine replied that, consider- 
ing the late hour and the importance of this affair, the em- 
peror would make known his pleasure somewhat later. The 
diet separated, and Charles the Fifth, exasperated at the 
audacity of the evangelical princes, says Cochioeus, returned 
in ill-humour to his apartments. || 

* Multi e Lutheranis inepte cachinnabantur. Cochioeus, p. 895. 

f Imperator iterum obdormivit. Corp. Ref. ii. 245. 

J Petiit Caesar ut oianes in illos articulos consentiant. Ibid. 

Orationis summa atrox. Ibid. 253. 

|| Ctesar non cequo ar.iiuo ferebat corum contnmaciam. Cochl. p. 195. 



INTERVIEW BETWEEN MELANCTHON AND CAMPEGGIO. 211 

The Protestants, on the contrary, withdrew full of peace ; 
the reading of the Refutation having given them as much 
confidence as that of the Confession itself.* They saw in 
their adversaries a strong attachment to the hierarchy, but 
a great ignorance of the Gospel a characteristic feature of 
the Romish party; and this thought encouraged them. 
" Certainly," said they, " the Church cannot be where there 
is no knowledge of Christ." -J- 

Melancthon alone was still alarmed : he walked by sight 
and not by faith, and, remembering the legate's smiles, he 
had another interview with him, as early as the 4th August, 
still demanding the cup for the laity, and lawful wives for 
the priests. " Then," said he, " our pastors will place them- 
selves again under the government of bishops, and we shall 
be able to prevent those innumerable sects with which pos- 
terity is threatened." J Melancthon's glance into the future 
is remarkable: it does not, however, mean that he, like 
many others, preferred a dead unity to a living diversity. 

Campeggio, now certain of triumphing by the sword, dis- 
dainfully handed this paper to Cochlceus, who hastened to 
refute it. It is hard to say whether Melancthon or Cam- 
peggio was the more infatuated. God did not permit an 
arrangement that would have enslaved his Church. 

Charles passed the whole of the 4th and the morning of 
the 5th August in consultation with the Ultramontane party. 
" It will never be by discussion that we shall come to an 
understanding," said some ; " and if the Protestants do not 
submit voluntarily, it only remains for us to compel them." 
They nevertheless decided, on account of the Refutation, to 
adopt a middle course. During the whole of the diet, 
Charles pursued a skilful policy. At first he refused every- 
thing, hoping to lead away the princes by violence ; then he 
conceded a few unimportant points, under the impression 
that the Protestants, having lost all hope, would esteem so 
much the more the little he yielded to them. This was 

* Facti sunt erectiore animo. Corp. Ref. ii. 259. 
t Ecclesiam ibi non esse, ubi ignoratur Christus. 
t Quod nisi fict, quid in tot sectis ad posteros futurum sit. Corp. Rof 
ii. 148. 



212 POLICY OF CHARLES. 

what he did again under the present circumstances. In tl3 
afternoon of the 5th, the count-palatine announced that the 
emperor would give them a copy of the Refutation, but on 
these conditions ; namely, that the Protestants should not 
reply, that they should speedily agree with the emperor, and 
that they would not print or communicate to any one the 
Refutation that should be confided to them.* 

This communication excited murmurs among the Protest- 
ants. " These conditions," said they all, " are inadmissible." 
"The Papists present us with their paper," added the 
Chancellor Bruck, " as the fox offered a thin broth to his 
gossip the stork." 

The savoury broth upon a plate by Reynard was served up, 
But Mistress Stork, with her long beak, she could not get a sup.f 

" If the Refutation," continued he, " should come to be 
known without our participation (and how can we prevent 
it ?), we shall be charged with it as a crime. Let us be- 
ware of accepting so perfidious an offer.f We already 
possess in the notes of Camerarius several articles of this 
paper, and if we omit any point, no one will have the right 
to reproach us with it." 

On the next day (6th August), the Protestants declared 
to the diet that they preferred declining the copy thus offered 
to them, and appealed to God and to his majesty . They 
thus rejected all that the emperor proposed to them, even 
what he considered as a favour. 

Agitation, anger, and affright were manifested on every 
bench of that august assembly. || This reply of the evan- 
gelicals was war was rebellion. George of Saxony, the 
Princes of Bavaria, all the violent adherents of Rome, trem- 
bled with indignation ; there was a sudden, an impetuous 
movement, an explosion of murmurs and of hatred ; and it 

" F. Urkund. ii. 179 ; Corp. Ref. ii. 256 ; Bruch, Apol. 72. 

f Gluck wie der Fuchs brauchet, da er den Storch zu gast lud. Bruck, 
Apol. 74. 

$ Quando exemplum per alios in vulgus exire poterat. Corp. Ref. 
ii. 76. 

Das Sie es Gott und Kays. Maj. befehlen mussten. Urkund. ii. 181. 

11 Und darob wie man Spiiren mag, ein Entzetzen gehabt. Ibid. 



RESOLUTIONS OT THE CONSISTORY. . 213 

might have heen feared that the two parties would have 
come to blows in the very presence of the emperor, if Arch- 
bishop Albert, the Elector of Brandenburg, and the Dukes 
of Brunswick, Pomerania, and Mecklenburg, rushing be- 
tween them, had not conjured the Protestants to put an end 
to this deplorable combat, and not drive the emperor to 
extremities.* The diet separated, their hearts filled with 
emotion, apprehension, and trouble. 

Never had the diet proposed such fatal alternatives. The 
hopes of agreement, set forth in the edict of convocation, 
had only been a deceitful lure : now the mask was thrown 
aside; submission or the sword such was the dilemma 
offered to the Reformation. All announced that the day of 
tentatives was passed, and that they were beginning one of 
violence. 

In truth, on the 6th July, the pope had assembled the 
consistory of cardinals in his palace at Rome, and had made 
known to them the protestant ultimatum ; namely, the cup 
for the laity, the marriage of priests, the omission of the 
invocation of saints in the sacrifice of the mass, the use of 
ecclesiastical property already secularized, and for the rest, 
the convocation of a council. " These concessions," said the 
cardinals, " are opposed to the religion, discipline, and laws 
of the Church.-}- We reject them, and vote our thanks to the 
emperor for the zeal which he employs in bringing back the 
deserters." The pope having thus decided, every attempt 
at conciliation became useless. 

Campeggio, on his side, redoubled in zeal. He spoke aa 
if in his person the pope himself were present at Augsburg.} 
" Let the emperor and the right-thinking princes form a 
league," said he to Charles ; " and if these rebels, equally 
insensible to threats and promises, obstinately persist in 
their diabolical course, then let his majesty seize fire and 
sword, let him take possession of all the property of the 

* Hi accedunt ad nostroa principes et jubent omittere hoc certamen, 
ne Caesar vehementius commoyeatur. Corp. Ref. ii. 254. 
( Oppositas religioni, discipline, legibusque Ecclesise. Pallav. i. 234. 
$ Als were der Papst selbst gegenwartig gewest. Briick, Apol. 62. 



214 THE PRAYEBS OF THE CHURCH. 

heretics, and utterly eradicate these venomous plants.* Then 
let him appoint holy inquisitors, who shall go on the track 
of the remnants of Reformation, and proceed against them, 
as in Spain against the Moors. Let him put the university 
of Wittemberg under ban, burn the heretical books, and send 
back the fugitive monks to their convents. But this plan 
must be executed with courage." 

Thus the jurisprudence of Rome consisted, according to a 
prophecy uttered against the city which is seated on seven 
hills, in adorning itself with pearls that it "had stolen, and in 
becoming drunk with the blood of the samts.-}- 

While Charles was thus urged on with blind fury by the 
diet and the pope, the protestant princes, restrained by a 
mute indignation, did not open their mouths,:): and hence 
they seemed to betray a weakness of which the emperor was 
eager to profit. But there was also strength concealed 
under this weakness. " We have nothing left," exclaimed 
Melancthon, " but to embrace our Saviour's knees." In this 
they laboured earnestly. Melancthon begged for Luther's 
prayers ; Brentz for those of his own church : a general cry 
of distress and of faith ran through evangelical Germany. 
" You shall have sheep," said Brentz, " if you will send us 
sheep: you know what I rnean." The sheep that were to 
be offered in sacrifice were the- prayers of the saints. 

The Church was not wanting to itself. " Assembled 
every day," wrote certain cities to the electors," we beg for 
you strength, grace, and victory, victory full of joy." But 
the man of prayer -and faith was especially Luther. A calm 
and sublime courage, in which firmness shines at the side of 
joy a courage that rises and exults in proportion as the 
danger increases is what Luther's letters at this time pre- 

* Se alcuni perseverassero in questa diabolica via quella S. M. 

potra mettere la mano al ferro e al foco et radicitus extirpare questa 
venenata pianta. Instructio data Csesari a revereudissimo Campeggi in 
diet a August ana, 1530. 

f Revelation xvii. and xviii. 

J Tacita indignatio. Corp. Ref. ii. 254. 

Habebitis oves, si OYCS ad nos mittatis : intelligitis qute volo. 
Ibid. 246. 



TWO MIRACLES. 215 

sent in every line. The most poetical images are pale 
beside those energetic expressions which issue in a boiling 
torrent from the reformer's soul. " I have recently wit- 
nessed two miracles," wrote he on the 5th August to Chan- 
cellor Bruck ; " this is the first. As I was at my window, I 
saw the stars, and the sky, and that vast and magnificent 
firmament in which the Lord has placed them. I could 
nowhere discover the columns on which the Master has 
supported this immense vault, and yet the heavens did not 
fall 

" And here is the second. I beheld thick clouds hanging 
above us like a vast sea. I could neither perceive ground 
on which they reposed, nor cords by which they were sus- 
pended ; and yet they did not fall upon us, but saluted us 
rapidly and fled away. 

" God," continued he, " will choose the manner, the time, 
and the place suitable for deliverance, and he will not linger. 
What the men of blood have begun, they have not yet 
finished Our rainbow is faint their clouds are threat- 
ening the enemy comes against us with frightful 

machines But at last it will be seen to whom belong the 

ballistse, and from what hands the javelins are launched.* 
It is no matter if Luther perishes : if Christ is conqueror, 
Luther is conqueror also."f 

The Roman party, who did not know what was the 
victory of faith, imagined themselves certain of success. 

The doctors having refuted the Confession, the Protestants 
ought, they imagined, to declare themselves convinced, and 
all would then be restored to its ancient -footing: such was 
the plan of the emperor's campaign. He therefore urged 
and called upon the Protestants ; but instead of submitting, 
they announced a refutation of the Refutation. Upon this 
Charles looked at his sword, and all the princes who sur- 
rounded him did the same. 

John of Saxony understood what that meant, but he 
remained firm. "The straight line," said he (the axiom 

In fine videbitur cujus toni L. Epp. ir. 130. 

f- Vincat Cliristus modo, nihil refert si pereat Lutherus, quia victore 
Christo Tictor erit. Ibid. 139. 



216 THE PRINCES' COURAGE. 

was familiar to him), " is the shortest road." It is this in- 
domitable firmness that has secured for him in history the 
name of John the Persevering. He was not alone : all those 
protestant princes who had gnnvn up in the midst of courts, 
and who were habituated to pay an humble obedience to the 
emperor, at that time found in their faith a noble indepen- 
dence that confounded Charles the Fifth. 

With the design of gaining the Marquis of Brandenburg, 
they opened to him the possibility of according him some 
possessions in Silesia on which he had claims. " If Christ 
is Christ," replied he, " the doctrine that I have confessed is 
truth." " But do you know," quickly replied his cousin the 
Elector Joachim, "what is your stake?" "Certainly," 
replied the margrave, " it is said I shall be expelled from 
this country. Well! may God protect me!" One day 
Prince Wolfgang of Anhalt met Doctor Eck. "Doctor," 
said he, "you are exciting to war, but you will find those 
who will not be behindhand with you. I have broken many 
a lance for my friends in my time. My Lord Jesus Christ 
is assuredly worthy that I should do as much for him." 

At the sight of this resolution, each one asked himself 
whether Charles, instead of curing the disease, was not 
augmenting it. Reflections, criticisms, jests, passed between 
the citizens ; and the good sense of the people manifested in 
its own fashion what they thought of the folly of their chief. 
We will adduce one instance. 

It is said that one day, as the emperor was at table with 
several Roman-catholic princes, he was informed that some 
comedians begged permission (according to custom) to amuse 
their lordships. First appeared an old man wearing a mask, 
and dressed in a doctor's robe, who advanced with difficulty 
carrying a bundle of sticks in his arms, some straight and 
some crooked. He approached the wide fireplace of the 
Gothic hall, threw down his load in disorder, and imme- 
diately withdrew.* Charles and the courtiers read on his 
back the inscription JOHN REUCHLIN. Then appeared 
another mask with an intelligent look, who made every 

* Persona larva contecta, habitu doctoral! portabat struem lignorum. 
T. L. Fabricius. opp. omnia, ii. 231. 



THE MASK. 217 

exertion to pair the straight and the crooked pieces ;* but 
finding his labour useless, he shook his head, turned to the 
door, and disappeared. They read ERASMUS OF ROTTERDAM. 
Almost immediately after advanced a monk with bright eye 
and decided gait, carrying a brasier of lighted coals.f He 
put the wood in order, set fire to it, blew and stirred it up, 
so that the flame rose bright and sparkling into the air. He 
then retired, and on his back were the words MARTIN 
LUTHER. 

Next approached a magnificent personage, covered with 
all the imperial insignia, who, seeing the fire so bright, drew 
his sword, and endeavoured by violent thrusts to extinguish 
it ; but the more he struck, the fiercer burnt the flames, and 
at last he quitted the hall in indignation. His name, as it 
would seem, was not made known to the spectators, but all 
divined it. The general attention was soon attracted by a 
new character. A man, wearing a surplice and a mantle of 
red velvet, with an alb of white wool that reached to his 
heels, and having a stole around his neck, the ends ornamented 
with pearls, advanced majestically. Beholding the flames 
that already filled the hearth, he wrung his hands in terror, 
and looked around for something to extinguish them. He 
saw two vessels at the very extremity of the hall, one filled 
with water, and the other with oil. He rushed towards 
them, seized unwittingly on that containing the oil, and 
threw it on the fire.J The flame then spread with such 
violence that the mask fled in alarm, raising his hands to 
heaven ; on his back was read the name of LEO X. 

The mystery was finished ; but instead of claiming their 
remuneration, the pretended actors had disappeared. No 
one asked the moral of this drama. 

The lesson, however, proved useless ; and the majority of 
the diet, assuming at the same time the part assigned to the 
emperor and the pope, began to prepare the means necessary 
for extinguishing the fire kindled by Luther. They nego- 

* Hie conabatur curva rectis exsequare lignis. T. L. Fabricius, opp. 
omnia, ii. 231. 

+ In azula ferens ignem et prunas. Ibid. 
J Currens in amphoram oleo plenam. Ibid, 232. 



218 NEGOTIATIONS TI1E SPECTRES AT SPIRES. 

tiated in Italy with the Duke of Mantua, who engaged to 
send a few regiments of light cavalry across the Alps ;* and 
in England with Henry VIIL, who had not forgotten 
Luther's reply, and who promised Charles, through his am- 
bassador, an immense subsidy to destroy the heretics.-j- 

At the same time frightful prodigies announced the 
gloomy future which threatened the Reform. At Spires 
fearful spectres, in the shaps of monks with angry eyes and 
hasty steps, had appeared .during the night. " What do you 
want ?" they had been asked. " We are going," they replied, 
" to the Diet of Augsburg !" The circumstance had been 
carefully investigated, and was found perfectly trustworthy 4 
"The interpretation is not difficult," exclaimed Melancthon: 
" Evil spirits are coming to Augsburg to counteract our 
exertions, and to destroy peace. They forebode horrible 
troubles to us." No one doubted this. " Everything is 
advancing towards war," said Erasmus. || " The diet will 
not terminate," wrote Brentz, " except by the destruction of 
all Germany."^" " There will be a slaughter of the saints," 
exclaimed Bucer, " which will be such that the massacres of 
Diocletian will scarcely come up to it."** War and blood ! 
this was the general cry. 

Suddenly, on the night of Saturday, 6th August, a great 
disturbance broke out in the city of Augsburg.-]--}- There was 
running to and fro in the streets ; messengers from the 
emperor were galloping in every direction*, the senate was 

* Che tentano col Duca di Mantona d' avere il modo di condurre 1 000 
cavalli leggier! d' Italia in case si facesse guerra in Germanica. Nic. 
Tiefolo Relat. 

t Cui (Csesari) ingentem vim pecunise in hoc sacrum bellum contra, 
hrereticos Anglus promisisse fertur. Zw. Epp. ii. 484. 

Res et diligenter iuquisita et explorata maximeque uVi'oinffTts. Corp. 
Ref. ii. 259. 

Monachorum Spirensium $.*(*. plane significat horribilem tumul- 
turn. Ibid. 260. 

|| Vides rem plane tendere ad bellum. Corp. Ref. Aug. 12, p. 268. 

^1 Comitia non fiuieutur nisi totius Germanise malo et exitio. Corp. 
Ref. ii. 216. 

"* Laniena sanctorum qualis vix Diocletiani temporc fuit. Buc. Ep 
A.ug. 14, 1530. 

TT Tumultum maguum fuisse in civitate. Corp. Ref. ii. 277. 



PHILIP OF HESSF. 219 

called together and received an order to allow no one to 
pass the gates of the city.* All were afoot in the imperial 
barracks ; the soldiers got ready their arms ; the regiments 
were drawn up, and at daybreak (about three o'clock on 
Sunday morning) the emperor's troops, in opposition to the 
custom always observed in the diet, relieved the soldiers of 
the city and took possession of the gates. At the same time 
it was reported that these gates would not be opened, and 
that Charles had given orders to keep a strict watch upon 
the elector and his allies.-j- A terrible awakening for those 
who still flattered themselves with seeing the religious de- 
bates conclude peacefully! Might not these unheard-of 
measures be the commencement of wars and the signal of a 
frightful massacre ? 



CHAPTER X. 

Philip of Hesse Temptation Union resisted The Landgrave's Dissi- 
mulation The Emperor's Order to the Protestants Brandenburg's 
threatening Speeches-Resolution of Philip of Hesse Flight from 
Augsburg Discovery Charles's Emotion Revolution in the Diet 
Metamorphosis Unusual Moderation Peace ! Peace ! 

TROUBLE and anger prevailed in the imperial palace, and 
it was the landgrave who had caused them. Firm as 
a rock in the midst of the tempest with which he was sur- 
rounded, Philip of Hesse had never bent his head to the 
blast. One day, in a public assembly, addressing the bishops, 
he had said to them, " My lords, give peace to the empire ; 
we beg it of you. If you will not do so, and if I must fall, 
be sure that I will drag one or two of you along with me." 
They saw it was necessary to employ milder means with 
him, and the emperor endeavoured to gain him by showing 

* Facto autem intempesta nocte Caesar senatui mandavit, ne quenquaai 
per portas urbis sure emittant. Corp. Ref. ii. 277. 

t Dass man auf den Churfiirst zu Sachsen aufsehen haben soil. Brack, 
Apol. p. 80. 



220 TEMPTATION. 

a favourable disposition with respect to the county of Kat- 
zenellenbogen, about which he was at variance with Nassau, 
and to Wurtemberg, which he claimed for his cousin Ulric. 
On his side Duke George of Saxony, his father-in-law, had 
assured him that he would make him his heir if he would 
submit to the pope. "They carried him to an exceeding 
high mountain, whence they showed him all the kingdoms 
of the world and the glory thereof/** says a chronicler, but 
the landgrave resisted the temptation. 

One day he heard that the emperor had manifested a de- 
sire to speak to him. He leapt instantly on his horse and 
appeared before Charles.-}- The latter, who had with him 
his secretary Schweiss and the Bishop of Constance, repre- 
sented that he had four complaints against him ; namely, of 
having violated the edict of Worms, of despising the mass, 
of having, during his absence, excited all kinds of revolt, 
and, finally, of having transmitted to him a book in which 
his sovereign rights were attacked. The landgrave justi- 
fied himself; and the emperor said that he accepted his re- 
plies, except with regard to the faith, and begged him to 
show himself in that respect entirely submissive to his ma- 
jesty. " What would you say," added Charles, in a winning 
tone, " if I elevated you to the regal dignity ?J But, if you 
show yourself rebellious to my orders, then I shall behave 
as becomes a Roman emperor." 

These words exasperated the landgrave, but they did 
not move him. " I am in the flower of my age," replied he, 
" and I do not pretend to despise the joys of life and the 
favour of the great ; but to the deceitful goods of this world 
I shall always prefer the ineffable grace of my God." Charles 
was stupified ; he could not understand Philip. 

From this time the landgrave had redoubled his exertions 
to unite the adherents of the Reformation. The Zwinglian 
cities felt that, whatever was the issue of the 'diet, they 
would be the first victims, unless the Saxons should give 

* A of den hohen berg gefuhrt. Lanze's Chronik. 
t Von ihr selbst gen Hof geritten. Corp. Ref. ii. 165. 
J Quin et in regem te erehcndum curabimus. Rommel, Philip dec 
Gr. i. 268. 



UNION RESISTED. 221 

them their hand. But this there was some difficulty in ob- 
taining. 

" It does not appear to me useful to the public weal, or 
safe for the conscience," wrote Melancthon to Bucer, "to 
load our princes with all the hatred your doctrine inspires."* 
The Strasburgers replied, that the real cause of the Papists' 
hatred was not so much the doctrine of the eucharist as 
that of justification by faith. " All we, who desire to belong 
to Christ," said they, " are one, and have nothing to expect 
but death."f 

This was true ; but another motive besides checked Me- 
lancthon. If all the Protestants united, they would feel 
their strength, and war would be inevitable. Therefore, 
then, no union ! 

The landgrave, threatened by the emperor, rejected by 
the theologians, began to ask himself what he did at Augs- 
burg. The cup was full. Charles's refusal to communicate 
the Romish Refutation, except on inadmissible conditions, 
made it run over. Philip of Hesse saw but one course to 
take to quit the city. 

Scarcely had the emperor made known the conditions 
which he placed on the communication of the reply, than on 
Friday evening, 5th August, the landgrave, going alone to 
the count-palatine, Charles's minister, had begged for an 
immediate audience with his majesty. Charles, who did 
not care to see him, pretended to be busy, and had put off 
Philip un^il the following Sunday.]; But the latter answered 
that he could not wait ; that his wife, who was dangerously 
ill, entreated him to return to Hesse without delay; and 
that, being one of the youngest princes, the meanest in un- 
derstanding, and useless to Charles, he humbly begged his 
majesty would permit him to leave on the morrow. The 
emperor refused. 

We may well understand the storms this refusal excited 
in Philip's mind : but he knew how to contain himself; never 

* Nostros principcs ouerare invidia Testri dogmat is. Corp. Ref. ii. 221. 

+ Arctissime quoque inter nos conjunct! essemus, qaotquot Christ! csse 
volumus. Ibid. p. 236. 

j Cum imperator dilationem rcspondcndi astu quodam accepissct. 
Ibid. pp. 254, 276. 



222 THE LANDGKAVE'S DISSIMULATION. 

had lie appeared more tranquil ; during the whole of Satur- 
day (6th August), he seemed occupied only with a mag- 
nificent tourney in honour of the emperor and of his brother 
Ferdinand.* He prepared for it publicly ; his servants went 
to and fro, but under that din of horses and of armour, Philip 
concealed very different designs. " The landgrave conducts 
himself with very great moderation," wrote Melancthon to 
Luther the same day.-f- " He told me openly that, to pre- 
serve peace, he would submit to conditions still harder than 
those which the emperor imposes on us, and accept all that 
he could without dishonouring the Gospel." 

Yet Charles was not at ease. The landgrave's demand 
pursued him 5 all the Protestants might do the same, and 
even quit Augsburg unexpectedly. The clue, that he had 
hitherto so skilfully held in his hands, was perhaps about to 
be broken : it was better to be violent than ridiculous. The 
emperor therefore resolved on striking a decisive blow. The 
elector, the princes, the deputies, were still in Augsburg : 
and he must at every risk prevent their leaving it. Such 
were the heavy thoughts that on the night of the 6th August, 
while the Protestants were calmly sleeping,:}: banished repose 
from Charles's eyes; and which made him hastily arouse 
the councillors of Augsburg, and send his messengers and 
soldiers through the streets of the city. 

The protestant princes were still slumbering, when they 
received, on the part of the emperor, the unexpected order to 
repair immediately to the Hall of the Chapter. 

It was eight o'clock when they arrived. They found there 
the Electors of Brandenburg and Mentz, the Dukes of 
Saxony, Brunswick, and Mecklenburg, the Bishops of Salz- 
burg, Spires, and Strasburg, George Truchses, the Margrave 
of Baden's representative, Count Martin of CElting, the Abbot 
of Weingarten, and the Provost of Bamberg. These were 

* Ad ludos equestres in honorem Caesaris instituendos publice sese 
apparavit. Seek. ii. 172. 

f Landgravius valde moderate se gerit. Corp. Ref. ii. 254. 

J Ego vero somno sopitus dulciter quiescebam. Ibid. 273. 

Mane facto Caesar... courocavit nostros principes. Ibid. 277; Briick, 
Apol. p. 79. 



BRANDENBURG S THREATENING SPEECHES. 228 

the commissioners nominated by Charles to terminate this 
great affair. 

It was the most decided among them, Joachim of Bran- 
denburg, who began to speak. " You know," said he to the 
Protestants, " with what mildness the emperor has endea- 
voured to re-establish unity. If some abuses have crept 
into the Christian Church, he is ready to correct them, in 
conjunction with the pope. But how contrary to the Gospel 
are the sentiments you have adopted ! Abandon then your 
errors, do not any longer remain separate from the Church, 
and sign the Refutation without delay.* If you refuse, then 
through your fault how many souls will be lost, how much 
blood shed, what countries laid waste, what trouble in all 
the empire ! And you," said he, turning towards the elector, 
" your electorate, your life, all will be torn from you, and 
certain ruin will fall upon your subjects, and even upon their 
wives and children." 

The elector remained motionless. At any time this lan- 
guage would have been alarming : it was still more so now 
that the city was almost in a state of siege. " We now 
understand," said the Protestants-to one another, " why the 
imperial guards occupy the gates of the city."f It was 
evident, indeed, that the emperor intended violence.J 

The Protestants were unanimous : surrounded with sol- 
diers, at the very gates of the prison, and beneath the 
thousand swords of Charles, they remained firm. All these 
threats did not make them take one step backwards. It 
was important for them, however, to consider their reply. 
They begged for a few minutes' delay, and retired. 

To submit voluntarily, or to be reduced by force, such was 
the dilemma Charles proposed to the evangelical Christians. 

At the moment when each was anxious about the issue 
of this struggle, in which the destinies of Christianity were 

* Ut sententise quam in refntatione audivissent suscribant. Corp. 
Rf. ii. 277. 

f Intelligis nunc cur port munitse fuerunt. Ibid. 

t Quia volebat Csesar nostros violentia ad suam sententiam cogere. 
Ibid. 

Sed hie minse nostros nib.il commoverunt : perstant in sontentia, ncc 
vel tantillnm recednnt. Ibid. 



224 FLIGHT FROM AUGSBURG. 

contending, an alarming rumour suddenly raised the agitation 
of all minds to its height. 

The landgrave, in the midst of his preparations for the 
tournament, meditated the most serious resolution. Ex- 
cluded by Charles from every important deliberation, irritated 
at the treatment the Protestants had undergone during this 
diet,* convinced that they had no more chance of peace,-j- 
not doubting that their liberty was greatly endangered in 
Augsburg, and feeling unable to conceal under the appear- 
ance of moderation the indignation with which his soul was 
filled, being besides of a quick, prompt, and resolute cha- 
racter, Philip had decided on quitting the city and repairing 
to his states, in order to act freely, and to serve as a support 
to the Reformation. 

But what mystery was required ! If the landgrave was 
taken in the act, no doubt he would be put under arrest. This 
daring step might therefore become the signal of those ex- 
treme measures from which he longed to escape. 

It was Saturday, the 6th August, the day for which Philip 
had requested the emperor's leave of absence. He waits 
until the commencement of the night, and then, about eight 
o'clock, disguised in a foreign dress, without bidding farewell 
to any of his friends,:}: and taking every imaginable precau- 
tion^ he makes for the gates of the city, about the time 
when they are usually closed. Five or six cavaliers follow 
him singly, and at a little distance. || In so critical a moment 
will not these men-at-arms attract attention? Philip traverses 
the streets without danger, approaches the gate,^[ passes 

* Commotus indignitate actionum. Corp. Ref. ii. 260. 

+ Spem pacis abjecisse. Ibid. 

+ Clam omnibus abit. Ibid. 

Multa cum cautela. Seek. ii. 172. 

|| Clam cum paucis equitibus. Corp. Ref. ii. 277; Mit 5oder C pfcrden. 
Ibid. 263. 

Tf Seckendorf, and M. de Rommel no doubt after him, say that the 
landgrave went out through a secret gate (porta urbis secretiori, Seek. ii. 
172; Rommel, i. 270). I prefer the contemporary evidence, particularly 
that of Breutz, which says : Vesperi priusquam portae urbis clauderentur, 
urbe elapsus est. Corp. Ref. li. 277. The chief magistrate of Augsburg, 
who alone had the keys of the wicket, would never have dared to favour 
too departure of the landgrave. 



DISCOVERY CHARLES'S EMOTION. 225 

with a careless air through the midst of the guard, between 
the scattered soldiers ; no one moves, all remain idly seated, 
as if nothing extraordinary was going on. Philip has passed 
without being recognised.* His five or six horsemen come 
through in like manner. Behold them all at last in the open 
country. The little troop immediately spur their horses, and 
flee with headlong speed far from the walls of the imperial 
city. 

Yet Philip has taken his measures so well, that no one 
as yet suspects his departure. When during the night 
Charles occupies the gates with his own guards, he thinks 
the landgrave still in the city.-j- When the Protestants 
were assembled at eight in the morning in the Chapter-hall, 
the princes of both parties weje a little astonished at the 
absence of Philip of Hesse. They were accustomed, how- 
ever, to see him keep aloof, and thought he might be out of 
humour. No one imagined he was between twelve and 
fifteen leagues from Augsburg. 

After the termination of the conference, and as all were 
returning to their hotels, the Elector of Brandenburg and 
his friends on the one hand, elated at the speech they had 
delivered, the Elector of Saxony and his allies on the other, 
resolved to sacrifice everything, inquiries were made at the 
landgrave's lodgings as to the reason of his absence ; they 
closely questioned Saltz, Nuszbicker, Mayer, and Schnepf. 
At last the Hessian councillors could no longer keep the 
secret. " The landgrave," said they, " has returned to 
Hesse." 

This news circulated immediately through all the city, 
and shook it like the explosion of a mine. Charles espe- 
cially, who found himself mocked and frustrated in his 
expectations Charles, who had not had the least suspicion,^ 
trembled, and was enragcd. The Protestants, whom the 
landgrave had not admitted to his secret,]] were as much 

* Abierat ille ignotus. Corp. Ref. 261. 
{ Ezistimabat enim Caesar adhuc prsesto adesse. Ibid. 
Cassare nihil suspicante. Ibid. 277. 
Imperator re insperata commotus. Seek. ii. 172. 
[| Unwissend des Churfiirsten vpn Sachsen und unaerer. Corp. Ref. 
ii.263. 

vol.. IV, 11 



226 REVOLUTION IN THE DIET. 

astonished as the Roman-catholics themselves, and feared 
that this inconsiderate departure might be the immediate 
signal for a terrible persecution. There was only Luther, 
who, the moment he heard of Philip's proceeding, highly 
approved of it, and exclaimed : " Of a truth all these delays 
and indignities are enough to fatigue more than one land- 
grave."* 

The Chancellor of Hesse gave the Elector of Saxony 
a letter that his master had left for him. Philip spoke in 
this ostensible document of his wife's health ; but he had 
charged his ministers to inform the elector in private of the 
real causes of his departure. He announced, moreover, that 
he had given orders to his ministers to assist the Protestants 
in all things, and exhorted his allies to permit themselves in 
no manner to be turned aside from the Word of God.-J- 
" As for me," said he, " I shall fight for the Word of God, 
at the risk of my goods, my states, my subjects, and my 
life." 

The effect of the landgrave's departure was instantaneous : 
a real revolution was then effected in the diet. The Elector 
of Mentz and the Bishops of Franconia, Philip's near neigh- 
bours, imagined they already saw him on their frontiers at 
the head of a powerful army, and replied to the Archbishop 
of Salzburg, who expressed astonishment at their alarm : 
" Ah 1 if you were in our place you would do the same." 
Ferdinand, knowinglhe intimate relations of Philip with the 
Duke of Wurtemberg, trembled for the estates of this prince, 
at that time usurped by Austria ; and Charles the Fifth, 
undeceived with regard to those princes whom he had 
believed so timid, and whom he had treated with so much 
arrogance, had no doubt that this sudden step of Philip's had 
been maturely deliberated in the common council of the Pro- 
testants. All saw a declaration of war in the landgrave's 
hasty departure. They called to mind that at the moment 
when they thought the least about it, they might see him 

" Es mOchte wohl ista moraet indignitasnoch einenlandgraven miide 
tnachen. L. Epp. iv. 134. 

f Ut nullo modo a verbo Dei abstrahi aut terreri se patiatur. Seek. 
U. 172. 



METAMORPHOSIS. 227 

appear at the head of his soldiers, on the frontiers of his 
enemies, and no one was ready ; no one even wished to be 
ready 1 A thunderbolt had fallen in the midst of the diet. 
They repeated the news to one another, with troubled eyes 
and affrighted looks. All was confusion in Augsburg ; and 
couriers bore afar, in every direction, astonishment and 
consternation. 

This alarm immediately converted the enemies of the 
reform. The violence of Charles and of the princes was 
broken in this memorable night as if by enchantment ; and 
the furious wolves were suddenly transformed into meek and 
docile lambs.* 

It was still Sunday morning : Charles the Fifth imme- 
diately convoked the diet for the afternoon.-}- " The land- 
grave has quitted Augsburg," said Count Frederick from the 
emperor ; " his majesty flatters himself that even the friends 
of that prince were ignorant of his departure. It is without 
the emperor's knowledge, and even in defiance of his express 
prohibition, that Philip of Hesse has left, thus failing in all 
his duties. He has wished to put the diet out of joint.}: 
But the emperor conjures you not to permit yourselves to 
be led astray by him, and to contribute rather to the happy 
issue of this national assembly. His majesty's gratitude 
will thus be secured to you." 

The Protestants replied, that the departure of the land- 
grave had taken place without their knowledge ; that they 
had heard of it with pain, and that they would have dis- 
suaded him. Nevertheless they did not doubt that this 
prince had solid reasons for such a step ; besides he had left 
his councillors with full powers, and that, as for them, they 
were ready to do everything to conclude the diet in a be- 
coming manner. Then, confident in their rights, and decided 
to resist Charles's arbitrary acts, they continued : " It is 
pretended that the gates were closed on our account. We 

* Sed hanc violentiam abitua Landgrayii interrupit. Corp. Ref. p. 
277. 

f Nam cum paucia post horis resciscunt Landgravium elapsum, cou- 
vocant iterum nostros. Ibid. 

J Zertrennung dieses Reichstags zu verursachen. Ibid. 264. 



228 UNUSUAL MODERATION. 

beg your majesty to revoke this order, and to prevent any 
similar orders being given in future." 

Never was Charles the Fifth less at ease ; he had just 
spoken as a father, and they remind him that a few hours 
back he had acted like a tyrant. Some subterfuge was re- 
quisite. " It is not on your account," replied the count- 
palatine, " that the emperor's soldiers occupy the gates 

Do not believe those who tell you so Yesterday there 

was a quarrel between two soldiers,* and a mob was col- 
lected This is why the emperor took this step. Besides, 

such things will not be done again without the Elector of 
Saxony, in his quality of marshal of the empire, being first 
informed of them." An order was given immediately to 
reopen the gates. 

No exertions were now spared by the Roman party to 
convince the Protestants of their good will : there was an 
unaccustomed mildness in the language of the count-pala- 
tine and in the looks of Charles.-}- The princes of the papal 
party, once so terrible, were similarly transformed. They 
had been hastily forced to speak out ; if they desired war, 
they must begin it instantly. 

But they shrunk back at this frightful prospect. How, 
with the enthusiasm that animated the Protestants, take up 
arms against them 1 Were not the abuses of the Church 
everywhere acknowledged, and could the Roman princes be 
sure of their own subjects ? Besides, what would be the 
issue of a war but the increase of the emperor's power ? The 
Roman-catholic states, and the Duke of Bavaria in parti- 
cular, would have been glad to see Charles at war with the 
Protestants, in the hope that he would thus consume his 
strength ; but it was, on the contrary, with their own sol- 
diers that the emperor designed attacking the heretics. 
Henceforth they rejected the instrumentality of arms as 
eagerly as they had at first desired it. 

Everything had thus changed in Augsburg : the Romish 

* Es Hbe em Trabant mit einom andern ein Unwill gehabt. Corp. 
Ref. a. 2C5. 

f Nullo alio tempore mitius et benigniua quam tune cum protestanti- 
bus cgerit. Seek. ii. 172. 



THE MIXED COMMISSION. 229 

party was paralyzed, disheartened, and even broken up. 
The sword already drawn was hastily thrust back into the 
sheath. Peace I peace ! was the cry of all 



CHAPTER XL 

The Mixed Commission The Three Points Romish Dissimulation- 
Abuses Concessions The Main Question Bishops and Pope con- 
ceded Danger of Concession Opposition to the pretended Concord 
Luther's opposing Letters The Word above the Church Melancthon's 
Blindness - Papist Infatuation A new Commission Be Men and not 
Women The Two Phantoms Concessions The Three Points The 
great Antithesis Failure of Conciliation The Gordian Knot A 
Council granted Charles's Summons Menaces Altercations Peace 
or War Romanism concedes Protestantism resists Luther recalls 
his Friends. 

THE diet now entered upon its third phasis, and as the time 
of tentatives had been followed by that of menaces ; now 
that of arrangements was to succeed the period of threaten- 
ings. New and more formidable dangers were then to be 
encountered by the Reformation. Rome, beholding the 
sword torn from its grasp, had seized the net, and enlacing 
her adversaries with " cords of humanity and bands of love," 
was endeavouring to drag them gently into the abyss. 

At eight o'clock in the morning of the 16th August, a 
mixed commission was framed, which counted on each side 
two princes, two lawyers, and three theologians. In the 
Romish party, there were Duke Henry of Brunswick, the 
Bishop of Augsburg, the Chancellors of Baden and Cologne, 
with Eck, Cochloeus, and Wimpina ; on the part of the Pro- 
testants, were the Margrave George of Brandenburg, the 
Prince Electoral of Saxony, the Chancellors Bruck and 
Heller, with Melancthon, Brentz, and Schnepf.* 

They agreed to take as basis the Confession of the evan- 
* P. Urkundenbueh, ii. 219. 



230 



THE THREE POINTS. 



gelical states, and began to read it article by article. The 
Romish theologians displayed an unexpected condescension. 
Out of twenty-one dogmatical articles, there were only six 
or seven to which they made any objection. Original Sin 
stopped them some time ; at length they came to an under- 
standing ; the Protestants admitted that Baptism* removed 
the guilt of the sin, and the Papists agreed that it did not 
wash away concupiscence. As for the Church, they granted 
that it contained sanctified men and sinners ; they coincided 
also on Confession. The Protestants rejected especially as 
impossible the enumeration of all the sins prescribed by 
Rome. Dr. Eck yielded this point.* 

There remained three doctrines only on which they dif- 
fered. 

The first was that of Penance. The Romish doctors 
taught that it contained three parts : contrition, confession, 
and satisfaction. The Protestants rejected the latter, and 
the Romanists clearly perceiving that with satisfaction would 
fall indulgences, purgatory, and other of their doctrines and 
profits, vigorously maintained it. " We agree," said they, 
" that the penance imposed by the priest does not procure 
remission of the guilt of sin : but we maintain that it ia 
necessary to obtain remission of the penalty." 

The second controverted point was the Invocation of 
Saints ; and the third, and principal one, Justification by 
Faith. It was of the greatest importance for the Romanists 
to maintain the meritorious influence of works : all their 
system in reality was based on that. Eck therefore haughtily 
declared war on the assertion that faith alone justifies. 
" That word sole" said he, " we cannot tolerate. It gene- 
rates scandals, and renders men brutal and impious. Let us 
send back the sole to the cobbler." f 

But the Protestants would not listen to such reasoning; 
and even when they put the question to each other, Shall 
we maintain that faith alone justifies us gratuitously? 

* Die Sund die man nicht wisse, die durff man nicht beichten. F. 
Urkunden. ii.228. See vol. I. p. 145 hot. 

t Man soil die Sole ein weil zum Schuster Schicken. Urkund. ii. 225, 
This wretched pua of Eck's requires no comment. 



ROMISH DISSIMULATION. 233 

" Undoubtedly, undoubtedly," exclaimed one of them with 
exaggeration, " gratuitously and uselessly." * They even 
adduced strange authorities : " Plato," said they, " declares 
that it is not by external works, but by virtue that God is 
to be adored ; and every one knows these verses of Cato's : 

Si dens est animus, nobis ut carmina dicunt, 
Hie tibi prsecipue pura sit mente colendus." f 

" Certainly," resumed the Romish theologians : " it is 
only of works performed with grace that we speak ; but we 
say that in such works there is something meritorious." 
The Protestants declared they could not grant it. 

They had approximated however beyond all hope. The 
Roman theologians, clearly understanding their position, 
had purposed to appear agreed rather than be so in reality. 
Every one knew, for instance, that the Protestants rejected 
transubstantiation : but the article of the Confession on this 
point, being able to be taken in the Romish sense, the 
Papists had admitted it. Their triumph was only deferred. 
The general expressions that were used on the controverted 
points, would permit somewhat later a Romish interpreta- 
tion to be given to the Confession ; ecclesiastical authority 
would declare this the only true one ; and Rome, thanks to 
a few moments of dissimulation, would thus reascend the 
throne. Have we not seen in our own days the Thirty-nine 
Articles of the Anglican Church unfairly interpreted in 
accbrdance with the Council of Trent ? There are causes 
in which falsehood is never wanting. This plot was as 
skilfully executed, as it was profoundly conceived. 

The commissioners were on the best terms with one 
another, and concord seemed restored. One single uneasi- 
ness disturbed that happy moment : the idea of the land- 
grave : " Ignorant that we are almost agreed," said they, 
" this young madbrain is doubtless already assembling his 
army ; we must bring him back, and make him a witness 
of our cordial union." On the morning of the 13th, one of 
the members of the Commission (Duke v Henry of Bruns- 

Omnino, omnino, addendum etiara/rwsfra. Scultet. p. 289. 
( If God is a spirit, as the poets teach, he should be worshipped with 
a pure mind. 



232 ABUSES CONCESSIONS. 

wick), accompanied by a councillor of the emperor, set out 
to discharge this difficult mission.* Duke George of Saxony 
supplied his place as arbitrator. 

They now passed from the first part of the Confession to 
the second : from doctrines to abuses. Here the Romish 
theologians could not yield so easily, for if they appeared to 
agree with the Protestants, it was all over with the honour 
and power of the hierarchy. It was accordingly for this 
period of the combat that they had reserved their cunning 
and their strength. 

They began by approaching the Protestants as near as 
they could, for the more they granted, the more they might 
draw the Reform to them and stifle it. " We think," said 
they, " that with the permission of his holiness, and the 
approbation of his majesty, we shall be able to permit, until 
the next council, the communion in both kinds, wherever it 
is practised already ; only, your ministers should preach at 
Easter, that it is not of divine institution, and that Christ is 
wholly in each kind.-f- 

" Moreover, as for the married priests," continued they, 
" desirous of sparing the poor women whom they have se- 
duced, of providing for the maintenance of their innocent 
children, and of preventing every kind of scandal, we will 
tolerate them until the next council, and we shall then see 
if it will not be right to decree that married men may be ad- 
mitted to holy orders, as was the case in the primitive Church 
for many centuries.^: 

" Finally, we acknowledge that the sacrifice of the mass 
is a mystery, a representation, a sacrifice of commemoration, 
a memorial of the sufferings and death of Christ, accomplished 
on the cross." 

This was yielding much : but the turn of the Protestants 
was come ; for if Rome appeared to give, it was only to take 
in return. 

* Brunswigus coactus est abire v^s T (uijct&oia, quern timent contra- 
here exercitum. Scultet. p. 299. 

t Vorschlage des Anschlusees der Sieben des Gegentheils. Urk. ii. 251. 

J Wie von alters in der ersten Kircho etliche Hundert Jahre, in 
Gebrauch gewesen. Ibid. 254. 

Zu Errinnerung und Godachtmss. Ibid. 253. 



BISHOPS AND POPE CONCEDED. 233 

The grand question was -the Church, its maintenance and 
government : who should provide for it ? They could see 
only two means : princes or bishops. If they feared the 
bishops, they must decide for the princes : if they feared the 
princes, they must decide for the bishops. They were at 
that time too distant from the normal state to discover a 
third solution, and to perceive that the Church ought to be 
maintained by the Church itself by the Christian people. 
" Secular princes in the long-run will be defaulters to the go- 
vernment of the Church," said the Saxon divines in the opinion 
they presented on the 18th August ; " they are not fit to 
execute it, and besides it would cost them too dear :* the 
bishops, on the contrary, have property destined to provide 
for this charge." 

Thus the presumed incapacity of the state, and the fear 
they entertained of its indifference, threw the Protestants into 
the arms of the hierarchy. 

They proposed, therefore, to restore to the bishops their 
jurisdiction, the maintenance of discipline, and the superin- 
tendence of the priests, provided they did not persecute the 
evangelical doctrine, or oppress the pastors with impious 
vows and burdens. " We may not," added they, " without 
strong reasons rend that order by which bishops are over 
priests, and which existed in the Church from the beginning. 
It is dangerous before the Lord to change the order of 
governments." Their argument is not founded upon the 
Bible, as may be seen, but upon ecclesiastical history. 

The Protestant divines went even farther, and, taking a 
last step that seemed decisive, they consented to acknowledge 
the pope as being (but of human right) supreme bishop of 
Christendom. " Although the pope is Antichrist, we may 
be under his government, as the Jews were under Pharaoh, 
and in later days under Caiaphas." We must confess these 
two comparisons were not flattering to the pope. " Only," 
added the doctors, "let sound doctrine be fully accorded to us." 

The chancellor Brack alone appears to have been con- 
scious of the truth : he wrote on the margin with a firm 
hand : " We cannot acknowledge the pope, because we say 

" 1st Ihnen auch nicht moglich. Dazu Kostct cs zu viel. Urk. ii. 247. 
11* 



234 DANGER OP CONCESSION. 

he is Antichrist, and because he claims the primacy by divine 
right."* 

Finally, the Protestant theologians consented to agree 
with Rome as regards indifferent ceremonies, fasts, and forms 
of worship ; and the elector engaged to put under sequestra- 
tion the ecclesiastical property already secularized, until the 
decision of the next council. 

Never was the conservative spirit of Lutheranism more 
clearly manifested. " We have promised our adversaries to 
concede to them certain points of church government, that 
may be granted without wounding the conscience," wrote 
Melancthon.-j- But it began to be very doubtful whether 
ecclesiastical concessions would not drag with them doctrinal 

concessions also. The Reform was drifting away still a 

few more fathoms, and it would be lost. Already disunion, 
trouble, and affright were spreading among its ranks. " Me- 
lancthon has become more childish than a child," said one 
of his friends ;| and yet he was so excited, that the Chan- 
cellor of Luneburg having made some objections to these 
unprecedented concessions, the little master of arts proudly 
raised his head, and said with a sharp, harsh tone of voice : 
" He who dares assert that the means indicated are not 
Christian is a liar and a scoundrel." On which the chan- 
cellor immediately repaid him in his own coin. These ex- 
pressions cannot, however, detract from Melancthon's repu- 
tation for mildness. After so many useless efforts, he was 
exhausted, irritated, and his words cut the deeper, as they 
were the less expected from him. He was not the only one 
demoralized. Brentz appeared clumsy, rude, and uncivil ; 
Chancellor Keller had misled the pious Margrave of Bran- 
denburg, and transformed the courage of this prince into 
pusillanimity : no other human support remained to the 
elector than his chancellor Bruck. And even this firm man 
began to grow alarmed at his isolation. 

But he was not alone : the most earnest protests were 

* Cum dicimus eum Antichristum. Urk. ii. 247. 

+ Nos politica qusedam concessuros quse sine offensione conscientise. 
Corp. Ref. ii. 302. 

J Philippus ist kindischer donn ein Kind worden. Baumgartner, 
Ibid. 363. Der LU^e als ein Bosewicht. Ibid. 364. 



LUTHER'S OPPOSING LETTERS. 235 

received from without. " If it is true that you are making 
such concessions," said their affrighted friends to the Saxon 
divines, " Christian liberty is at an end.* What is your 
pretended concord ? a thick cloud that you raise in the air to 
eclipse the sun that was beginning to illumine the Church.f 
Never will the Christian people accept conditions so opposed 
to the Word of God ; and your only gain will be furnishing 
the enemies of the Gospel with a specious pretext to butcher 
those who remain faithful to it." Among the laymen these 
convictions were general. " Better die with Jesus Christ," 
said all Augsburg, \ " than gain the favour of the whole 
world without him !" 

No one felt so much alarm as Luther when he saw the 
glorious edifice that God had raised by his hands on the point 
of falling to ruin in those of Melancthon. The day on which 
this news arrived, he wrote five letters, to the elector, to 
Melancthon, to Spalatin, to Jonas, and to Brentz, all equally 
filled with courage and with faith. 

" I learn," said he, " that you have begun a marvellous 
work, namely, to reconcile Luther and the pope ; but the 
pope will not be reconciled, and Luther begs to be excused. 
And if, in despite of them, you succeed in this affair, then 
after your example I will bring together Christ and Belial. 

" The world I know is full of wranglers who obscure the 
doctrine of justification by faith, and of fanatics who perse- 
cute it. Do not be astonished at it, but continue to defend 
it with courage, for it is the heel of the seed of the woman 
that shall bruise the head of the serpent. || 

" Beware also of the jurisdiction of the bishops, for fear 
we should soon have to recommence a more terrible struggle 
than the first. They will take our concessions widely, very 
widely, always more widely, and will give us theirs narrowly, 
very narrowly, and always more narrowly. ^[ All these ne- 

* Actum est de Christiana libertate. Baumgartner, Corp. Ref. ii. 295. 

j- Quid ea concordia aliud esset quam natse jam et divulgatffl luci ob- 
ducero nubem. Jbid. 296. J Die gange Stadt sagt. Ibid. 297. 

Sed Papa nolet et Lutherus deprecatur. L. Epp. iv. 144. 

|| Nam hie est ille unicus calcaneus seminis antique serpenti adyer- 
santis. Ibid. 151. 

fl Ipsi enim nostras concessiones large, largius, largissime, suas vero, 
sfcricte, strictius, strictissime. Ibid. 145. 



236 THE WORD ABOTE THE CHURCH. 

gotiations are impossible, unless the pope should renounce 
his papacy. 

" A pretty motive indeed our adversaries assign 1 They 
cannot, say they, restrain their subjects, if we do not publish 
everywhere that they have the truth on their side : as if God 
only taught his Word, that our enemies might at pleasure 
tyrannize over their people. 

" They cry out that we condemn all the Church. No, 
we do not condemn it ; but as for them, they condemn all 
the Word of God, and the Word of God is more than the 
Church."* 

This important declaration of the reformers decides the 
controversy between the evangelical Christians and the 
Papacy : unfortunately we have often seen Protestants re- 
turn, on this fundamental point, to the error of Rome, and 
set the visible Church above the Word of God. 

" I write to you now," continues Luther, " to believe with 
all of us (and that through obedience to Jesus Christ), that 
Campeggio is a famous demon.-}- I cannot tell how violently 
I am agitated by the conditions which you propose. The 
plan of Campeggio and the pope has been to try us first by 
threats, and then, if these do not succeed, by stratagems ; 
you have triumphed over the first attack, and sustained the 
terrible coming of Csesar : now, then, for the second. Act 
with courage, and yield nothing to the adversaries, except 
what can be proved with evidence from the very Word of 
God. 

" But if, which Christ forbid ! you do not put forward all 
the Gospel ; if, on the contrary, you shut up that glorious 
eagle in a sack ; Luther doubt it not ! Luther will come 
and gloriously delivef the eagle.j: As certainly as Christ 
lives, that shall be done ! " 

Thus spoke Luther, but in vain : everything in Augsburg 
was tending towards approaching ruin ; Melancthon had a 

* Sed ab ipsis totum vcrbum Dei, quod plus quam ecclesia est, damnari 
L. Epp. iy. 145. 

f Quod Campeggius est unua magnus et insignis diabolus. Ibid. 147. 

J Veniet, ne dubita, veiiiet Lutterus, hanc aquilam Uberaturus mag- 
nifice. L. Epp. iv. 155, 



MELANCTHON'S BLINDNESS. 237 

bandage over his eyes that nothing could tear off. He no 
longer listened to Luther, and cared not for popularity. 
" It does not become us," said he, " to be moved by the 
clamours of the vulgar:* we must think of peace and of 
posterity. If we repeal the episcopal jurisdiction, what will 
be the consequence to our descendants ? The secular powers 
care nothing about the interests of religion.-}- Besides, too 
much dissimilarity in the churches is injurious to peace: 
we must unite with the bishops, lest the infamy of schism 
should overwhelm us for ever."J 

The evangelicals too readily listened to Melancthon, and 
vigorously laboured to bind to the papacy by the bonds of 
the hierarchy that Church which God had so wonderfully 
emancipated. Protestantism rushed blindfold into the nets 
of its enemies. Already serious voices announced the return 
of the Lutherans into the bosom of the Romish Church. 
" They are preparing their defection, and are passing over 
to the Papists," said Zwingle. The politic Charles the 
Fifth acted in such a manner that no haughty word should 
compromise the victory ; but the Roman clergy could not 
master themselves : their pride and insolence increased every 
day. " One would never believe," said Melancthon, " the 
airs of triumph which the Papists give themselves." There 
was good reason I the agreement was on the verge of con- 
clusion: yet one or two steps and then, woe to the Re- 
formation ! 

Who could prevent this desolating ruin ? It was Luther 
who pronounced the name towards which all eyes should be 
turned : " Christ lives," said he, " and He by whom the 
violence of our enemies has been conquered will give un 
strength to surmount their wiles." This, which was in truth 
the only resource, did not disappoint the Reformation. 

If the Roman hierarchy had been willing, under certain 
admissible conditions, to receive the Protestants who were 

* Sed nos nihil decet vulgi clamoribus moveri. Corp. Ref. ii. 303. 
+ Profani jurisdictionem ecclesiasticam et similia negotia religionem 
Don curent. Ibid. 

Ne schismatis infamia perpetuo laboremus. Ibid. 
Lutheran! defectionem parant ad Papistas. Zvr. Epp. ii. 461. 



238 A NEW COMMISSION. 

ready to capitulate, all would have been over with them. 
When once it held them in its arms, it would have stifled 
them; but God blinded the Papacy, and thus saved his 
Church. " No concessions," had declared the Romish senate ; 
and Campeggio, elated with his victory, repeated, " No con- 
cessions !" He moved heaven and earth to inflame the 
Catholic zeal of Charles in this decisive moment. From the 
emperor he passed to the princes. " Celibacy, confession, 
the withdrawal of the cup, private masses!" exclaimed he: 
"all these are obligatory: we must have all." This was 
saying to the evangelical Christians, as the Samnites to the 
ancient Romans : " Here are the Caudine Forks ; pass 
through them !" 

The Protestants saw the yoke, and shuddered. God re- 
vived the courage of confessors in their weakened hearts. 
They raised their heads, and rejected this humiliating capi- 
tulation. The commission was immediately dissolved. 

This was a great deliverance ; but soon appeared a fresh 
danger. The evangelical Christians ought immediately to 
have quitted Augsburg ; but, said one of them,* " Satan, 
disguised as an angel of light, blinded the eyes of their 
understanding." They remained. 

All was not yet lost for Rome, and the spirit of falsehood 
and of cunning might again renew its attacks. 

It was believed at court that this disagreeable termination 
of the commission was to be ascribed to some wrong-headed 
individuals, and particularly to Duke George. They there- 
fore resolved to name another, composed of six members 
only : on the one side, Eck, with the Chancellors of Cologne 
and Baden ; on the other, Melancthon, with the Chancellors 
Brack and Heller. The Protestants consented, and all was 
begun anew. 

The alarm then increased among the most decided follow- 
ers of the Reformation. " If we expose ourselves unceas- 
ingly to new dangers, must we not succumb at last?"f The 
deputies of Nuremberg in particular declared that their city 

* Baumgartner to Spengler. Corp. Ref. ii. 363. 
f Fremunt et alii socii ac indignantur regnura Episcoporum restitul 
Ibid. 328. 



BE MEN AND NOT WOMEN. 239 

would never place itself again under the detested yoke of 
the bishops. " It is the advice of the undecided Erasmus 
that Melancthon follows," said they. " Say rather of 
Ahithophel" (2 Sam. xv.), replied others. " However it 
may be," added they ; " if the pope had bought Melancthon, 
the latter could have done nothing better to secure the 
victory for him."* 

The landgrave was especially indignant at this cowardice. 
" Melancthon," wrote he to Zwingle, " walks backwards like 
a crab."-{- From Friedwald, whither he had repaired after 
his flight from Augsburg, Philip of Hesse endeavoured to 
check the fall of Protestantism. " When we begin to yield, 
we always yield more," wrote he to his ministers at Augs- 
burg. " Declare therefore to my allies that I reject these 
perfidious conciliations. If we are Christians, what we 
should pursue is, not our own advantage, but the consol- 
ation of so many weary and afflicted consciences, for whom 
there is no salvation if we take away the Word of God. The 
bishops are not real bishops, for they speak not according to 
the Holy Scriptures. If we acknowledge them, what would 
follow ? They would remove our ministers, silence the 
Gospel, re-establish ancient abuses, and the last state would 
be worse than the first. If the Papists will permit the free 
preaching of the pure Gospel, let us come to an understand- 
ing with them ; for the truth will be the strongest, and will 
root out all the rest. But if not ! No. This is not the 
moment to yield, but to remain firm even to death. Baffle 
these fearful combinations of Melancthon, and tell the depu- 
ties of the cities, from me, to be men, and not women.J 
Let us fear nothing : God is with us." 

Melancthon and his friends, thus attacked, sought to jus- 
tify themselves : on the one hand, they maintained, that if 
they preserved the doctrine it would finally overthrow the 
hierarchy. But then why restore it? Was it not more 
than doubtful whether a doctrine so enfeebled would still 

* Si conductus quanta ipse voluisset pecunia a Papa esset. Corp. 
Ref. ii. 333. 

+ Retro it, ut cancer. Zw. Epp. ii. 506. 
t Das sie nicht weyber seyen sondern manner. Corp. Ref. ii. 327. 



240 THE TWO PHANTOMS. 

retain strength sufficient to shake the Papacy ? On the 
other hand, Melancthon and his friends pointed out two 
phantoms before which they shrunk in affright. The first 
was war, which, in their opinion, was imminent. " It will 
not only," said they, " bring numberless temporal evils with 
it, the devastation of Germany, murder, violation, sacrilege, 
rapine ; but it will produce spiritual evils more frightful still, 
and inevitably bring on the perturbation of all religion."* 
The second phantom was the supremacy of the state. Me- 
lancthon and his friends foresaw the dependence to which 
the princes would reduce the Church, the increasing secu- 
larization of its institutions and of its instruments, the 
spiritual death that would result, and shrank back with 
terror from the frightful prospect. " Good men do not think 
that the court should regulate the ministry of the Church,"-}- 
said Brentz. " Have you not yourselves experienced," 
added he ironically, " with what wisdom and mildness these 
boors ('tis thus I denominate the officials and prefects of the 
princes) treat the ministers of the Church, and the Church 
itself. Rather die seven times !" " I see, " exclaimed Me- 
lancthon, " what a Church we shall have if the ecclesiastical 
government is abolished. I discover in the future a tyranny 
far more intolerable than that which has existed to this 
day."J Then, bowed down by the accusations that poured 
upon him from every side, the unhappy Philip exclaimed : 
" If it is I who have aroused this tempest, I pray his ma- 
jesty to throw me, like Jonas, into the sea, and to drag me 
out only to give me up to torture and to the stake." 

If the Romish episcopacy were once recognised, all seemed 
easy. In the Commission of Six, they conceded the cup to 
the laity, marriage to the pastors, and the article of prayei 
to saints appeared of little importance. But they stopped 
at three doctrines which the evangelicals could not yield, 

* Confusio et perturbatio religionum. Corp. Ref. ii. 382. 

t Ut aula ministoriura in ecclesia ordinet bonis non videtur consultum. 
Ibid. 362. 

J Video postea multo intolerabiliorem futuram tyrannidcm quarn un- 
quam antea fuisse. Ibid. 334. 

Si mca causa hsec tempcstas coacta est, mo statim velut Jonatn in 
mare sjieiat. Ibid. 382. 



THE GREAT ANTITHESIS. 241 

The first was the necessity of human satisfaction for the 
remission of the penalties of sin ; the second, the idea of 
something meritorious in every good work ; the third, the 
utility of private masses. "Ah!" quickly replied Cam- 
peggio to Charles the Fifth, " I would rather be cut in pieces 
than concede anything about masses."* 

" What !" replied the politicians, " when you agree on all 
the great doctrines of salvation, will you for ever rend the 
unity of the Church for three such trivial articles ? Let the 
theologians make a last effort, and we shall see the two 
parties unite, and Rome embrace Wittemberg." 

It was not so : under these three points was concealed a 
whole system. On the Roman side, they entertained the 
idea that certain works gain the Divine favour, independ- 
ently of the disposition of him who performs them, and by 
virtue of the will of the Church. On the evangelical side, 
on the contrary, they felt a conviction that these external 
ordinances were mere human traditions, and that the only 
thing which procured man the Divine favour was the work 
that God accomplished by Christ on the cross ; while the 
only thing that put him in possession of this favour was the 
work of regeneration that Christ accomplishes by his Spirit 
in the heart of the sinner. The Romanists, by maintaining 
their three articles, said : " The Church saves," which is the 
essential doctrine of Rome ; the evangelicals, by rejecting 
them, said : " Jesus Christ alone saves," which is Christianity 
itself. This is the great antithesis which then existed, and 
which still separates the two Churches. With these three 
points, which placed souls under her dependence, Rome 
justly expected to recover everything ; and she showed by 
her perseverance that she understood her position. But 
the evangelicals were not disposed to abandon theirs. The 
Christian principle was maintained against the ecclesiastical 
principle which aspired to swallow it up : Jesus Christ stood 
firm in presence of the Church, and it was seen that hence- 
forward all conferences were superfluous. 

Time pressed : for two months and a half Charles the 
Fifth had been labouring in Augsburg, and his pride 

* Er wollte sich ehe auf Stiicke zerreissen lassen. L. Opp. xx. 328. 



242 FAILURE OF CONCILIATION. 

suffered because four or five theologians checked the tri- 
umphal progress of the conqueror of Pavia. " What 1" said 
they to him, " a few days sufficed to overthrow the King of 
France and the pope, and you cannot succeed with these 
gospellers 1" They determined on breaking off the confer- 
ences. Eck, irritated because neither stratagem nor terror 
had been effectual, could not master himself in the presence 
of the Protestants. " Ah !" exclaimed he, at the moment of 
separation, " why did not the emperor, when he entered 
Germany, make a general inquest about the Lutherans? 
He would then have heard arrogant answers, witnessed 
monsters of heresy, and his zeal suddenly taking fire, would 
have led him to destroy all this faction.* But now Bruck's 
mild language and Melancthon's concessions prevent him 
from getting so angry as the cause requires." Eck said 
these words with a smile ; but they expressed all his thoughts. 
The colloquy terminated on the 30th August. 

The Romish states made their report to the emperor. 
They were face to face, three steps only from each other, 
without either side being able to approach nearer, even by 
a hair's breadth. 

Thus, then, Melancthon had failed; and his enormous 
concessions were found useless. From a false love of peace, 
he had set his heart on an impossibility. Melancthon was 
at the bottom a really Christian soul. God preserved him 
from his great weakness, and broke the clue that was about 
to lead him to destruction. Nothing could have been more 
fortunate for the Reformation than Melancthon's failure; 
but nothing could, at the same time, have been more fortu- 
nate for himself. His friends saw that though he was will- 
ing to yield much, he could not go so far as to yield Christ 
himself, and his defeat justified him in the eyes of the Pro- 
testants. 

The Elector of Saxony and the Margrave of Brandenburg 
sent to beg Charles's leave to depart. The latter refused at 
first rather rudely, but at last he began to conjure the princes 
not to create by their departure new obstacles to the ar- 

* IIcTc inflammassent Imperatorem ad totam bane factionem delendam. 
Corp. Ref. ii. 335. 



THE GORD1AN KNOT. 243 

rangements they soon hoped to be" able to conclude.* We 
shall see what was the nature of these arrangements. 

The Romanists appeared to redouble their exertions. If 
they now let the clue slip, it is lost for ever : they laboured 
accordingly to reunite the two ends. There were conferences 
in the gardens, conferences in the churches, at St George's, 
at St Maurice's, between the Duke of Brunswick and John 
Frederick the elector's son, the Chancellors of Baden and of 
Saxony, the Chancellor of Liege and Melancthon; but all 
these attempts were unavailing. It was to other means 
they were going to have recourse. 

Charles the Fifth had resolved to take the affair in hand, 
and to cut the Gordian knot, which neither doctors nor 
princes could untie. Irritated at seeing his advances 
spurned and his authority compromised, he thought that the 
moment was come for drawing the sword. On the 4th Sep- 
tember, the members of the Roman party, who were still 
endeavouring to gain over the Protestants, whispered these 
frightful intentions in Melancthon's ears. " We scarcely 
dare mention it," said they : " the sword is already in the 
emperor's hands, and certain people exasperate him more 
and more. He is not easily enraged, but once angry, it is 
impossible to quiet him."-]- 

Charles had reason to appear exacting and terrible. He 
had at length obtained from Rome an unexpected concession 
a council. Clement VII. had laid the emperor's request 
before a congregation : " How will men who reject the 
ancient councils submit to* a new one ?" they had replied. 
Clement himself had no wish for an assembly, which he 
dreaded alike on account of his birth and conduct.:): How- 
ever, his promises at the Castle of St Angelo and at Bologna 
rendered it impossible for him to give a decided refusal. He 
answered, therefore, that " the remedy would be worse than 

* Antwort des Kaisers, &c. Urkund. ii. 313. 

+ Nescio an ausim dicere, jam ferrum in manu Caesaris case. Corp 
Ref. ii. 342. 

In earn (concilii celcbrationem) Pontifkis animus baud propsndeba- 
tur. PallaTicini, i. 251. 



244 CHARLES'S SUMMONS. 

the disease ;* but that if the emperor, who was so good a 
Catholic, judged a council absolutely necessary, he would 
consent to it, under the express condition, however, that the 
Protestants should submit in the meanwhile to the doctrines 
and rites of the Church." Then as the place of meeting he 
appointed Rome ! 

Scarcely had news of this concession spread abroad, than 
the fear of a Reformation froze the papal court. The public 
charges of the Papacy, which were altogether venal, imme- 
diately fell, says a cardinal, and were offered at the lowest 
price,f without even being able to find purchasers.^: The 
Papacy was compromised ; its merchandise was endangered ; 
and the price current immediately declined on the Roman 
exchange. 

On Wednesday, 7th September, at two in the afternoon, 
the protestant princes and deputies having been introduced 
into the chamber of Charles the Fifth, the count-palatine 
said to them, " that the emperor, considering their small 
number, had not expected they would uphold new sects 
against the ancient usages of the Universal Church ; that, 
nevertheless, being desirous of appearing to the last full of 
kindness, he would require of his holiness the convocation 
of a council ; but that in the meanwhile they should return 
immediately into the bosom of the Catholic Church, and re- 
store everything to its ancient footing." 

The Protestants replied on the morrow, the 8th September, 
that they had not stirred up new sects contrary to the Holy 
Scriptures ; || that, quite the reverse, if they had not agreed 
with their adversaries, it was because they had desired to 
remain faithful to the "Word of God ; that, by convoking in 
Germany a general, free, and Christian council, it would only 

* Al contrario, remedio e piu pericoloso e per partorir maggiori mali. 
Lettere di Principe, ii. 197. 

f- Evulgatus concilii rumor publica Ronue munera jam in vilis- 

simum pretium decidissent. Pallav. i. 251. 

J Che noil se non trovano danari. Lett, di Prin. iii. 5. 

Interim restitui debere omnia Papistis. Corp. Ref. ii. 355. See also 
Erkl'drung des Kaisers Karl. v. Urkunden. ii. 391. 

H Nit neue, Secten wieder die heilige Schrifft. Brlick, Apol. p. 136. 



MENACES. 245 

be doing what preceding diets had promised ; but that 
nothing should compel them to re-establish in their churches 
an order of things opposed to the commandments of God." 

It was eight in the evening when, after a long delibera- 
tion, the Protestants were again called in. " His majesty," 
said George Truschses to them, " is equally astonished, both 
that the catholic members of the commissions have accorded 
so much, and that the protestant members have refused 
everything. What is your party in the presence of his im- 
perial majesty, of his papal holiness, of the electors, princes, 
estates of the empire, and other kings, rulers, and potentates 
of Christendom? It is but just that the minority should 
yield to the majority. Do you desire the means of concilia- 
tion to be protracted, or do you persist in your answer? 
Speak frankly ; for if you persist, the emperor will imme- 
diately see to the defence of the Church. To-morrow at one 
o'clock you will bring your final decision." 

Never had such threatening words issued from Charles's 
mouth. It was evident he wished to subdue the Protestants 
by terror ; but this end was not attained. They replied the 
next day but one a day more having been accorded them 
that new attempts at conciliation would only fatigue the 
emperor and the diet ; that they only required regulations to 
maintain political peace until the assembling of the council.* 
" Enough," replied the redoubtable emperor ; " I will reflect 
upon it ; but in the mean time let no one quit Augsburg." 

Charles the Fifth was embarrassed in a labyrinth from 
which he knew not how to escape. The State had resolved 
to interfere with the Church, and saw itself compelled to 
have immediate recourse to its ultima ratio the sword. 
Charles did not desire war, and yet how could he now avoid 
it ? If he did not execute his threats, his dignity was com- 
promised, and his authority rendered contemptible. He 
sought an outlet on one side or the other, but could find 
none. It therefore only remained for him to close his eyes, 
and rush forward heedless of the consequences. These 
thoughts disturbed him : these cares preyed upon him ; he 
was utterly confounded. 

* Urkunden. ii. 410 ; Bruck, Apol. p. 139. 



246 ALTERCATIONS. 

It was now that the elector sent to beg Charles would 
not be offended if he left Augsburg. " Let him await my 
answer," abruptly replied the emperor: and the? elector 
having rejoined that he would send his ministers to explain his 
motives to his majesty : " Not so many speeches," resumed 
Charles, with irritation ; " let the elector say whether he 
will stay or not!"* 

A rumour of the altercation between these two powerful 
princes having spread abroad, the alarm became universal ; 
it was thought war would break out immediately, and there 
was a great disturbance in Augsburg. -J- It was evening : 
men were running to and fro ; they rushed into the hotels of 
the princes and of the protestant deputies, and addressed them 
with the severest reproaches. " His imperial majesty," said 
they, " is about to have recourse to the most energetic 
measures ! " They even declared that hostilities had begun : 
it was whispered that the commander of Horneck (Walter 
of Kronberg), elected by the emperor grand-master of the 
Teutonic order, was about to enter Prussia with an army, 
and dispossess Duke Albert, converted by Luther.;}: Two 
nights successively the same tumult was repeated. They 
shouted, they quarrelled, they fought, particularly in and 
before the mansions of the princes : the war was nearly 
commencing in Augsburg. 

At that crisis (12th September), John Frederick, prince- 
electoral of Saxony, quitted the city. 

On the same day, or on the morrow, Jerome Wehe, chan- 
cellor of Baden, and Count Truchses on the one side; 
Chancellor Bruck and Melancthon on the other, met at six 
in the morning in the church of St. Maurice. 

Charles, notwithstanding his threats, could not decide 
on employing force. He might no doubt by a single word 
to his Spanish bands or to his German lansquenets have 
seized on these inflexible men, and treated them like Moors. 

* Kurtz mit Solchen worten ob er erwarten wolte oder nicht ! Bruck, 
Apol. p. 143. 

f Fan beschwerlich Geschrey zu Augsbourg den selben abend ausge- 
brochen. Ibid. p. 145. 

J Man wiirde em Kriegs-volk in Preussen Sobicken. Ibid. p. 143. 

% Ibid. p. 155-160. 



EOMANISM CONCEDES PROTESTANTISM EESISTS. 247 

But how could Charles, a Netherlander, a Spaniard, who had 
been ten years absent from the empire, dare, without raising 
all Germany, offer violence to the favourites of the nation ? 
"Would not the Roman-catholic princes themselves see in 
this act an infringement of their privileges ? AVar was 
unseasonable. " Lutheranism is extending already from the 
Baltic to the Alps," wrote Erasmus to the legate : " You 
have but one thing to do : tolerate it." * 

The negotiation begun in the church of St. Maurice was 
continued between the Margrave of Brandenburg and Count 
Truchses. The Roman party only sought to save appear- 
ances, and did not hesitate, besides, to sacrifice everything. 
It asked merely for a few theatrical decorations that the 
mass should be celebrated in the sacerdotal garment, with 
chanting, reading, ceremonies, and its two canons.-f- All 
the rest was referred to the next council, and the Protes- 
tants, till then, should conduct themselves so as to render 
account to God, to the council, and to his majesty. 

But on the side of the Protestants the wind had also 
changed. Now they no longer desired peace with Rome : the 
scales had at last fallen from their eyes, and they discovered 
with affright the abyss into which they had so nearly plunged. 
Jonas, Spalatin, and even Melancthon were agreed. " "We 
have hitherto obeyed the commandment of St. Paul, Be at 
peace with all men" said they ; " now we must obey this 
commandment of Christ, Beware ye of the leaven of the 
Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. On the side of our adver- 
saries is nothing but cunning and perfidy, and their only aim 
is to stifle our doctrine, which is truth itself4 They hope to 
save the abominable articles of purgatory, indulgences, and 
the Papacy, because we have passed them by in silence. 
Let us beware of betraying Christ and his Word in order to 
please Antichrist and the devil." || 

* A mare Baltico ad Helvetios. Eras. Epp. sir. 1. 

f In gewbhnlichen Kleidungen mit Gesang und Lesen. Urk. ii. 418. 
The canon was a frame of card-board placed on the altar before the 
priest, and which contained the Apostles' Creed with various prayers. 

Eitel List, gefahrliche Tiicke, &c. Jonas. Urkund. ii. 423. 

Die grauliche artikel. Spalat. Ibid. 428. De Primatu Papse, <le 
Purgatorio, de Indulgentiis. Melancthon, Corp. Ref. ii. 374. 

|| Dem Teufel und Antichrist zu gefallen. Urk. ii. 431. 



248 LUTHERS'S APPEAL. 

Luther at the same time redoubled his entreaties to with- 
draw his friends from Augsburg. " Return, return," cried 
he to them ; " return, even if it must be so, cursed by the 
pope and the emperor.* You have confessed Jesus Christ, 
offered peace, obeyed Charles, supported insults, and endured 
blasphemies. I will canonize you, I, as faithful members of 
Jesus Christ. You have done enough, and more than 
enough: now it is for the Lord to act, and he will actl 
They have our Confession, they have the Gospel ; let them 
receive it, if they will ; and if they will not, let them 

go . If a war should come, let it come! We have 

prayed enough ; we have discussed enough. The Lord is 
preparing our adversaries as the victim for the sacrifice ; he 
will destroy their magnificence, and deliver his people. 
Yes ! he will preserve us even from Babylon, and from her 
burning walls." 



CHAPTER XII. 

The Elector's Preparations and Indignation Recess of Augsburg 
Irritating Language Apology of tho Confession Intimidation 
Final Interview Messages of Peace Exasperation of the Papists 
Restoration of Popery Tumult in the Church Union of the Churches 
The Pope and the Emperor Close of the Diet Armaments 
Attack on Geneva Joy of the Evangelicals Establishment of Pro- 
testantism. 

THUS Luther gave the signal of departure. They replied 
to the reformer's appeal, and all prepared to quit Augsburg 
on Saturday, 17th September. At ten at night, Duke Ernest 
of Luneburg assembled the deputies of Nuremberg and the 
ministers of the landgrave in his hotel", and announeed to 
them that the elector was determined to leave the next 
morning, without informing any one, and that he would 
accompany him. " Keep the secret," said he to them, " and 
know that if peace cannot be preserved, it will be a trifling 

1 . " Vel maledicti a Papa et Casara. L. Epp. ir. 182-171. 



THE ELECTOR'S PREPARATIONS AND INDIGNATION. 249 

matter for me to lose, combating with you, all that God has 
given me." * 

The elector's preparations betrayed his intentions. In the 
middle of the night Duke Henry of Brunswick arrived hastily 
at his hotel, beseeching him to wait ;-j- and towards morning 
Counts Truchses and Mansfeldt announced that, on the 
morrow between seven and eight, the emperor would give 
him his conge. 

On Monday, 19th September, the elector purposing to 
leave Augsburg immediately after his audience with Charles, 
breakfasted at seven o'clock, then s*ent off his baggage and 
his cooks,| and ordered his officers to be ready at ten o'clock. 
At the moment" when John quitted the hotel to wait upon 
the emperor, all the members of his household were drawn 
up on each side booted &nd spurred ; but, having been intro- 
duced to Charles, he was requested to wait two, four, or six 
days longer. 

As soon as the elector was alone with" his allies, his indig- 
nation burst forth, and he even became violent. " This new 
delay will end in nothing,")] he said ; " I am resolved to set 
out, happen what may. It seems to me, from the manner 
in which things are arranged, that I have now completely 
the air of a prisoner." The Margrave of Brandenburg begged 
him to be calm. " I shall go," the elector still replied. At 
last he yielded, and having appeared again before Charles 
the Fifth, he said, " I will wait until Friday next ; and, if 
nothing is done by that time, I shall leave forthwith." 

Great was the anxiety of the Protestants during these 
four days of expectation. Most of them doubted not that, 
by acceding"to Charles's prayers, they had delivered them- 
selves into the hands of their enemies. "The emperor is 
deliberating whether he ought to hang us or let us live," 

* Alles das, so Ihm Gott geben hatt, darob zu verlieren ein geringes 
ware. Corp. Ref. ii. 379- 
t In der selben Nacht. Ibid. 

Prsemissis fere omnibus impedimentis una cum cocis. Ibid. 385. 
Gestiefelt und gespornt. Ibid. 380. 
I) Etwas darob sehwcrautig und hitzig erzeight. Ibid. 
VOL. IV. 12 



250 THE BECESS OF AUGSBUEO. 

wrote Brentz.* Fresh negotiations of Truchses were with- 
out success.-)- 

All that now remained for the emperor was to draw up, 
in common with the Romish states, the recess of the diet. 
This was done ; and that the Protestants might not complain 
of its having been prepared without their knowledge, he 
assembled them in his palace on Thursday, 22d September, 
the day previous to that fixed for the elector's departure, and 
had his project read to them by the count-palatine. This 
project was insult and war. The emperor granted to the 
elector, the five princes, and the six cities,J a delay of six 
months, until the loth April next year, to come to an 
arrangement with the Church, the Pope, the Emperor, and 
all the princes and monarchs of Christendom. This was 
clearly announcing to them that the Romanists were very 
willing to delay until the usual period for bringing armies 
into the field. 

Nor was this all : the delay was granted only on the ex- 
press condition that the Protestants should immediately join 
the emperor in reducing the Anabaptists,) | and all those who 
opposed the holy sacrament, by which were meant the 
Zwinglian cities. He wished by this means to tie the hands 
of the Protestants, and prevent the two families of the Re- 
formation from uniting during the winter. 

Finally, the Protestants were forbidden to make any inno- 
vations, to print or sell anything on the objects of faith, or 
to draw any one whatever to their sect, " since the Confes- 
sion had been soundly refuted by the Holy Scriptures." 
Thus the Reformation was officially proclaimed a sect, and a 
sect contrary to the Word of God. 

Nothing was more calculated to displease the friends of 
the Gospel, who remained in Charles's presence astonished, 
alarmed, and indignant. This had been foreseen ; and, at 

* Adhuc deliberat Csesar pendendum ne nobis sit, an diutius vivendum. 
Corp. Ref. ii. t Urkund. ii. 455-472. 

: Nuremberg and Reutlingen, to which were added the cities of Kemp- 
ten, Heilbronn, Windsheim, and Weissemburg. Ibid. 474-478. 

Protestantes vehementer hoc decreto minime expectato territi. Seek. 
ii. 200. 

II As they were called by their opponents. 



APOLOGY OF THE CONCESSION. 251 

the moment when the Protestants were about to enter the 
emperor's chamber, Truchses and Wehe, making signs to 
them, mysteriously slipped a paper into their hands, con- 
taining a promise that if, on the 15th April, the Protestants 
required a prolongation of the delay, their request would 
certainly be granted.* But Brack, to whom the paper was 
given, was not deceived. " A subtle ambuscade," said he ; 
" a masterpiece of knavery ! God will save his own, and 
will not permit them to fall into the snare."f This trick, in 
fact, served only still more to increase the courage of the 
Protestants. 

Bruck, without discussing the recess in a political point of 
view, confined himself to what was principally at stake, the 
Word of God. " We maintain," said he, " that our Confes- 
sion is so based on the holy Word of God, that it is impossible 
to refute it. We consider it as the very truth of God, and 
we hope by it to stand one day before the judgment-seat of 
the Lord." He then announced that the Protestants had 
refuted the Refutation of the Romish theologians, and hold- 
ing in his hand the famous Apology of the Confession of 
Augsburg written by Melancthon, he stepped forward, and 
offered it to Charles the Fifth. The count-palatine took it, 
and the emperor was already stretching out his hand, when 
Ferdinand having whispered a few words, he beckoned to 
the count, who immediately returned the Apology to Doctor 
Bruck4 This paper, and the " Commonplaces," are the 
reformer's masterpieces. The embarrassed emperor told the 
Protestants to come again at eight the next morning. 

Charles the Fifth, resolving to employ every means to get 
his decree accepted, began by entreaties ; and scarcely was 
the Margrave of Brandenburg seated to take his evening 
repast, when Truchses and Wehe appeared before him, using 
every kind of discourse and argument, but without success. 

The next day (Friday, 23d September), the evangelical 

* Bruck, Apologie, p. 182. 

+ Betruge, meisterstuck, aber Gott errettet die seinen. Ibid. 
J Auf Konig Ferdinandus wincke wieder geben. Apologie, p. 184. 
Nach essen allerley Rede Disputation und Persuasion furgewendt. 
Urk. ii. 601. 



252 INTIMIDATION. 

princes and the deputies of the cities assembled at five in the 
morning at the margrave's hotel, where the recess was again 
read in the presence of Truchses and Wehe, Chancellor 
Bruck assigning seven reasons for its rejection. " I under- 
take," said Wehe, " to translate the recess into German in 
such a manner that you can accept it. As for the word 
sect, in particular, it is the clerk who placed it there by mis- 
take."* The mediators retired in haste to communicate to 
Charles the complaints of the Protestants. 

Charles and his ministers gave up every idea of recon- 
ciliation, and hoped for nothing except through fear. The 
Protestants having reached the imperial palace at eight 
o'clock, they were made to wait an hour ; the Elector of Bran- 
denburg then said to them in Charles's name : " His majesty 
is astonished beyond measure that you still maintain your 
doctrine to be based on the Holy Scriptures. If you say the 
truth, his majesty's ancestors, so many kings and emperors, 
and even the ancestors of the Elector of Saxony, were here- 
tics ! There is no Gospel, there is no Scripture, that imposes 
on us the obligation of seizing by violence the goods of 
another, and of then saying that we cannot conscientiously 
restore them. It is for this reason," added Joachim, after 
these words, which he accompanied with a sardonic smile, 
" I am commissioned to inform you, that if you refuse the 
recess, all the Germanic states will place their lives and their 
property at the emperor's disposal, and his majesty himself 
will employ the resources of all his kingdoms to complete 
this affair before leaving the empire." 

" We do not accept it," replied the Protestants firmly. 
"His majesty also has a conscience," then resumed the 
Elector of Brandenburg, in a harsh tone ; " and if you do 
not submit, he will concert with the pope and the other 
potentates on the best means of extirpating this sect and its 
new errors." But in vain did they add threat to threat : the 
Protestants remained calm, respectful, and unshaken. " Our 
enemies, destitute of all confidence in God," said they, 
" would shake like a reed in presence of the emperor's anger, 

* Sondern vom Sckreiber gesetzt, dcr dis nicht geacht. Urk. ii. 606. 



FINAL INTERVIEW. 253 

and they imagine that we should tremble in like manner ; 
but we have called unto God, and he will keep us faithful 
to his truth." 

The Protestants then prepared to take their final leave of 
the emperor. This prince, whose patience had been put to 
a severe trial, approached to shake hands according to cus- 
tom ; and beginning with the Elector of Saxony, he said to 
him in a low voice : " Uncle, uncle ! I should never have 
expected this of you." The elector was deeply affected : his 
eyes filled with tears : but, firm and resolute, he bent his 
head and quitted Charles without reply. It was now two 
in the afternoon. 

While the Protestants were returning to their hotels, calm 
and happy, the Romish princes retired to theirs, confused 
and dispirited, uneasy and divided. They doubted not that 
the conge which had just been granted to the Protestants 
would be regarded by them as a declaration of war, and that 
on quitting Augsburg, they would rush to arms. This 
thought terrified them. Accordingly, the Elector of Saxony 
had hardly reached his palace, when he saw Dr. Ruhel, 
councillor of the Elector of Mentz, hastening towards him, 
commissioned by his master to deliver this message : " Al- 
though my brother the elector (Joachim of Brandenburg) 
has declared that the states of the empire are ready to sup- 
port the emperor against you, know that both myself and 
the ministers of the elector-palatine and of the Elector of 
Treves immediately declared to his majesty that we did not 
adhere to this declaration, seeing that we thought very 
favourably of you.* I intended saying this to the emperor 
in your presence, but you left so precipitately, that I was 
unable." 

Thus spoke the primate of the German Church, and even 
the choice of his messenger was significant: Dr. Ruhel 
was Luther's brother-in-law. John begged him to thank 
his master. 

As this envoy retired, there arrived one of the gentlemen 
of Duke Henry of Brunswick, a zealous Romanist. He was 
at first refused admittance on account of the departure, but 
* Wiissten auch nicht anders denn wohl und gut. Urk. p. 210. 



254 EXASPERATION OF THE PAPISTS. 

returned hastily, just as Bruck's carriage was leaving the 
courtyard of the hotel. Approaching the carriage-door, he 
said : " The duke informs the elector that he will endeavour 
to put things in a better train, and will come this winter to 
kill a wild hoar with him."* Shortly after, the terrible 
Ferdinand himself declared that he would seek every means 
of preventing an outbreak.-}- All these manifestations of the 
affrighted Roman-catholics showed on which side was the 
real strength. 

At three o'clock in the afternoon the Elector of Saxony, 
accompanied by the Dukes of Luneburg and the Princes of 
Anhalt, quitted the walls of Augsburg. " God be praised," 
said Luther, " that our dear prince is at last out of hell !" 

As he saw these intrepid princes thus escaping from his 
hands, Charles the Fifth gave way to a violence that was 
not usual with him. " They want to teach me a new faith," 
cried he ; " but it is not with the doctrine that we shall 
finish this matter : we must draw the sword, and then shall 
we see who is the strongest." || All around him gave way 
to their indignation. They were astonished at the audacity 
of Bruck, who had dared call the Romanists heretics ! ^[ 
But nothing irritated them so much as the spirit of pro- 
selytism which in those glorious days characterized evangeli- 
cal Germany ; and the anger of the Papists was particularly 
directed against the Chancellor of Luneburg, "who," said 
they, " had sent more than a hundred ministers into different 
places to preach the new doctrine, and who had even publicly 
boasted of it." ** Ci Our adversaries thirst for our blood," 
wrote, as they heard these complaints, the deputies of Nur- 
emberg, who remained almost alone at Augsburg. 

On the 4th October, Charles the Fifth wrote to the pope ; 
for it was from Rome that the new crusade was to set out : 

* Ein Sawe fahen helfen. Urk. p. 211. 
f Corp. Ref. ii. 897. 

Ein mal aus der Holle los ist. L. Epp. iv. 175. 
Der Kaiser ist fast hitzig im Handel. Corp. Ref. ii. 591. 
|| Es gehoren die Fauste dar zu. Ibid. 592 ; Urkund. ii. 710. 
ft Fur Ketzer angezogen. Ibid. 

** Bis in die Hundert Prediger in andere Lande Schiken helfen daselbat 
die neue Lehre zu predigen. Urkund. ii. 646. 



RESTORATION OP POPERY. 255 

" The negotiations are broken off; our adversaries are more 
obstinate than ever; and I am resolved to employ my 
strength and my person in combating them. For this reason 
I beg your holiness will demand the support of all Christian 
princes." 

The enterprise began in Augsburg itself. The day on 
which he wrote to the pope, Charles, in honour of St. Francis 
of Assisi, whose feast it was, re-established the Cordeliers 
in that city, and a monk ascending the pulpit said : " All 
those who preach that Jesus Christ alone has made satisfac- 
tion for our sins, and that God saves us without regard to 
our works, are thorough scoundrels. There are, on the con- 
trary, two roads to salvation: the common road, namely, 
the observance of the commandments ; and the perfect road, 
namely, the ecclesiastical state." Scarcely was the sermon 
finished ere the congregation began to remove the benches 
placed in the church for the evangelical preaching, breaking 
them violently (for they were fixed with chains), and throw- 
ing them one upon another. Within these consecrated 
walls two monks, in particular, armed with hammers and 
pincers, tossed their arms, and shouted like men possessed. 
" From their frightful uproar," exclaimed some, " one would 
imagine they were pulling down a house."* It was in truth 
the house of God they wished to begin destroying. 

After the tumult was appeased, they sang mass. As soon 
as this was concluded, a Spaniard desired to recommence 
breaking the benches, and on being prevented by one of the 
citizens, they began to hurl chairs at each other ; one of the 
monks, leaving the choir, ran up to them and was soon 
dragged into the fray ; at length the captain of police arrived 
with his men, who distributed their well directed blows on 
every side. Thus began in Germany the restoration of Ro- 
man-catholicism : popular violence has often been one of its 
most powerful allies. 

On the 13th October the recess was read to all the Romish 
states, and on the same day they concluded a Roman league.-j- 

Two cities had signed the Confession, and two others had 

Ein alt Haus abbrechen. Corp. Ref. ii. 400. 
t Ratschlag, &c. Urkund. ii. 737-740. 



256 UNION OF THE CHUECHES. 

assented to it ; the imperialists hoped, however, that these 
powerless municipalities, affrighted at the imperial authority, 
would withdraw from the protestant union. But on the 17th 
October, instead of two or four cities, sixteen imperial towns, 
among which were the most important in Germany, declared 
it was impossible to grant any support against the Turks, so 
long as public peace was not secured in Germany itself. * 

An event more formidable to Charles had just taken place. 
The unity of the Reformation had prevailed. " We are one 
in the fundamental articles of faith," had said the Zwinglian 
cities, " and in particular (notwithstanding some disputes 
about words among our theologians), we are one in the doc- 
trine of the communion in the body and blood of our Lord. 
Receive us." The Saxon deputies immediately gave their 
hands. Nothing unites the children of God so much as the 
violence of their adversaries. " Let us unite," said all, " for the 
consolation of our brethren and the terror of our enemies."y 

In vain did Charles, who was intent on keeping up divi- 
sion among the Protestants, convoke the deputies of the 
Zwinglian cities ; in vain, desiring to render them odious, 
had he accused them of fastening a consecrated wafer to a 
wall and firing bullets at it ;| in vain did he overwhelm 
them with fierce threats : all his efforts were useless. At 
length the evangelical party was one. 

The alarm increased among the Roman party, who resolved 
on fresh concessions. " The Protestants call for public 
peace," said they ; " well then, let us draw up articles of 
peace." But, on the 29th October, the Protestants refused 
these offers, because the emperor enjoined peace to all the 
world, without binding himself. " An emperor has the right 
to command peace to his subjects," haughtily answered 
Charles ; " but it has never been heard that he commanded 
it to himself." 

* Wo sie nicht einen gemeinen Friedens versichert. Corp. Ref. ii. 
411,416. 

t Diesem Theil desto mehr Freude and Trost und dem gegentheil 
Erschrecken. Urkund. ii. 728. 

J An erne Wand geheftet und dazu geschossen. Corp. Ref. ii. 423. 

These negotiations will be found in Forstermaim's Urkunden. p. 
750-793. 



THE POPE AND THE EMPEROR CLOSE OP THE DIET. 257 

Nothing remained but to draw the sword ; and for that 
Charles made every preparation. On the 25th October, he 
wrote to the cardinals at Rome : " We inform you that we 
shall spare neither kingdoms nor lordships ; and that we shall 
venture even our soul and our body to complete such neces- 
sary matters." 

Scarcely had Charles's letter been received, before his 
major-domo, Pedro de la Cueva, arrived in Rome by express. 
" The season is now too far advanced to attack the Lutherans 
immediately," said he to the pope ; " but prepare everything 
for this enterprise. His majesty thinks it his duty to prefer 
before all things the accomplishment of your designs." Thus 
Clement and the emperor were also united, and both sides 
began to concentrate their forces. 

On the evening of the llth November, the recess was read 
to the protestant deputies, and on the 12th they rejected it, 
declaring that they did not acknowledge the emperor's power 
to command in matters of faith.* The deputies of Hesse 
and of Saxony departed immediately after, and on the 19th 
November the recess was solemnly read in the presence of 
Charles the Fifth, and of the princes and deputies who were 
still in Augsburg. This report was more hostile than the 
project communicated to the Protestants. It bore, among 
other things (and this is only a sample of the urbanity of 
this official doctrine), that " to deny free will was the error 
not of man, but of a brute." " We beg his majesty," said 
the Elector Joachim, after it was read, " not to leave Ger- 
many, until by his cares one sole and same faith be re- 
established in all the empire." 

The emperor replied, that he would not go farther than his 
states of the Low Countries. They desired that deeds should 
follow close upon words. It was then nearly seven in the 
evening ; a few torches, lighted up here and there by the 
ushers, and casting a pale light, alone illuminated this 
assembly: they separated without seeing each other; and 
thus ended, as it were by stealth, that diet so pompously 
announced to the Christian world. 

On the 22d November, the recess was made public, and 

" Urkunden. ii. 823; Corp. Ref. ii. 437. 
12* 



258 ARMAMENTS ATTACK OF GENEVA. 

two days after Charles the Fifth set out for Cologne. The 
ruler of two worlds had seen all his influence baffled by a 
few Christians ; and he who had entered the imperial city in 
triumph, now quitted it gloomy, silent, and dispirited. The 
mightiest power of the earth was broken against the power 
of God. 

But the emperor's ministers and officers, excited by the 
pope, displayed so much the more energy. The states of the 
empire were bound to furnish Charles, for three years, 40,000 
foot, 8000 horse, and a considerable sum of money;* the 
Margrave Henry of Zenete, the Count of Nassau, and other 
nobles, made considerable levies on the side of the Rhine ; 
a captain going through the Black Forest called its rude in- 
habitants to his standard, and there enrolled six companies 
of lansquenets ; King Ferdinand had written to all the 
knights of the Tyrol and of Wurtemberg to gird on their 
cuirasses and take down their swords ; Joachim of Talheim 
collected the Spanish bands in the Low Countries, and or- 
dered them towards the Rhine ; Peter Scher solicited from 
the Duke of Lorraine the aid of his arms ; and another chief 
hastily moved the Spanish army of Florence in the direction 
of the Alps. There was every reason to fear that the Ger- 
mans, even the Roman-catholics, would take Luther's part ; 
and hence principally foreign troops were levied.f Nothing 
but war was talked of in Augsburg. 

On a sudden a strange rumour was heard. ^ The signal 
is given, said every one. A free city, lying on the confines 
of the Germanic and Roman world, a city at war with its 
bishop, in alliance with the Protestants, and which passed 
for reformed even before really being so, had been suddenly 
attacked. A courier from Strasburg brought this news to 
Augsburg, and it circulated through the town with the 
rapidity of lightning. Three days after Michaelmas, some 
armed men, sent by the Duke of Savoy, pillaged the suburbs 
of Geneva, and threatened to take possession of the city, and 
put all to the edge of the sword. Every one in Augsburg 

* 40,000 zu Fuss und 8000 zu Ross. Corp. Ref. ii. 399. 

t Legati Norinb. ad Senatum, llth October. Ibid. 402; Legati Sax. 
ad Electorem, 10th October. Urkund. ii. 711. 

$ Shortly before the close of the diet. 



JOY OP THE EVANGELICALS. 259 

was amazed. " Ho ! " exclaimed Charles the Fifth, in 
French, " the Duke of Savoy has begun too soon."* It 
was reported that Magaret, governor of the Low Countries, 
the pope, the Dukes of Lorraine and Gueldres, and even the 
King of France, were directing their troops against Geneva. 
It was there that the army of Rome intended fixing its point 
cTappui. The avalanche was- gathering on the first slopes 
of the Alps, whence it would rash over all Switzerland, and 
then roll into Germany, burying the Gospel and the Refor- 
mation under its huge mass.-}- 

This sacred cause appeared to be in great danger, and 
never in reality had it gained so noble a triumph. The coup 
de main attempted on those hills, where six years later Calvin 
was to take his station, and plant the standard of Augsburg 
and of Nazareth, having failed, all fears were, dispelled, and 
the victory of the confessors of Christ, for an instant ob- 
scured, shone forth anew in all its splendour. 

While the Emperor Charles, surrounded by a numerous 
train of princes, was approaching the banks of the Rhine sad 
and dispirited, the evangelical Christians were returning in 
triumph to their homes. Luther was the herald of the vic- 
tory gained at Augsburg by Faith. " Though our enemies 
should have around them, beside them, with them, not only 
that puissant Roman emperor, Charles, but still more the 
emperor of the Turks and his Mahomet," said he, " they 
could not intimidate, they could not frighten me. It is I 
who in the strength of God am resolved to frighten and over- 
throw them. They shall yield to me they shall fall ! and I 
shall remain upright and firm. My life shall be their heads- 
man, and my death their hell!| God blinds them and 

hardens their hearts ; he is driving them towards the Red 
Sea : all the horses of Pharaoh, his chariots and his horse- 
men, cannot escape their inevitable destiny. Let them go 
then, let them perish, since they will it so ! As for us, the 
Lord is with us." 

* Hatt der Kayser unter andern in Franzosisch geredet. Urk. ii. 421. 
f Geneva expugnata, bellum etiam urbibus Germanise Suoerioris in- 
ferretur. Corp. Ref. ii. 402. 

$ Mein leben soil ihr Henker seyn. L. Opp. xx. 304. 
Vadaut igitur et pereant, quomodo sic volant. L. Epp. iv. 167. 



260 ESTABLISHMENT OF PROTESTANTISM. 

Thus the Diet of Augsburg, destined to crush the Refor- 
mation, was what strengthened it for ever. It has been 
usual to consider the peace of Augsburg (1555) as the period 
when the Reform was definitively established. That is the 
date of legal Protestantism; evangelical Christianity has 
another the autumn of 1530. In 1555 was the victory oi 
the sword and of diplomacy ; in 1530 was that of the Word 
of God and of Faith ; and this latter victory is in our eyes 
the truest and the surest. The evangelical history of the 
Reformation in Germany is nearly finished at the epoch we 
have reached, and the diplomatic history of legal Protest- 
antism begins. Whatever may now be done, whatever may 
be said, the Church of the first ages has reappeared ; and it 
has reappeared strong enough to show that it will live. 
There will still be conferences and discussions; there will 
still be leagues and combats ; there will even be deplorable 
defeats ; but all these are a secondary movement. The great 
movement is accomplished : the cause of faith is won by 
faith. The effort has been made : the evangelical doctrine 
has taken root in the world, and neither the storms of men, 
nor the powers of hell, will ever be able to tear it up. 






BOOK XV. 

SWITZERLAND CONQUESTS. 1526 1530. 

CHAPTER I. 

Originality of the Swiss Reform Change Three Periods of Reform- 
Switzerland Romande The two Movements in the Church Aggressive 
Spirit The Schoolmaster Farel's new Baptism Mysticism and 
Scholasticism A Door is opened Opposition Lausanne Manners 
of the Clergy Farel to Galeotto Farel and the Monk The Tribunal 
The Monk cries for Pardon Opposition of the Ormonds A false 
Convert Christian Unity. 

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 con- 
ditions of the existence of the regenerated Church. No 
doubt it would have been desirable for Germany and Swit- 
zerland 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, with- 
out 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 ori- 
ginality it communicated a particular energy to the principles 
of the Reformation, of much greater consequence to the 



262 THREE PERIODS OF REFORM. 

common cause than a servile uniformity. The strength of 
an army arises in great measure from its being composed of 
soldiers of different arms. 

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 des- 
tined 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 
was 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. 

Although the Swiss Reformation is not yet essentially 
French, still the most active part in it is taken by French- 
men. Switzerland Romande* 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 French part of Switzerland, comprising the cantons of Geneva, 
Vaud, Neufchatel, and part of those of Friburg, Berne, and Valais. 



SWITZERLAND ROMANDE. 263 

the resistance be so stubborn ; but nowhere will the assail- 
ants display so much courage. This petty country of Swit- 
zerland Romande, enclosed within the collosal 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. 

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 a 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 movements, but by 
purifying them. Then indeed the Spirit of God acted at 
once externally and internally. In the days of the Refor- 
mation 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 
a Kempis, and John Wessel ; now, something more was re- 
quired. The power of action was to be combined with the 
power of thought. The Papacy had been allowed all neces- 
sary time for laying aside its errors ; for ages men had been 



AGGRESSIVE SPIRIT. 

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 accom- 
plishment upon themselves. The calm and moderate in- 
fluence 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."* 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. 

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 leave 
the palaces of Augsburg to take our seats in the lowly cot- 
tages 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, pic- 
turesquely 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 threaten- 
ing 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. 

At the opening of one of the lateral valleys that lead into 
the Northern Alps, on the banks of the Grande Eau that falls 
* Eocles. iii. 1 



THE SCHOOLMASTER. 265 

in thunder from the glaciers of the Diablerets, is situated the 
small town of Aigle, one of the most southern in Switzer- 
land. For about fifty years it had belonged to Berne, with 
the four parishes (mandemens] which are under its jurisdic- 
tion, 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, 
with a voice of thunder (says Beza) combined 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 with- 
out 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 Stras- 
burg 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.* " Ah !" said Farel, " God, 
by showing me my helplessness in these little things, has 
willed to teach me how weak I am in the greatest, without 
Jesus Christ ! " -J- 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 destina- 
tion, covered with mud and soaked to the skin. 

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 

* Gravabat nox, opprimebat pluvia coegit vise difficultas in media. 

sedere via sub pluvia. Farel to Capito and Bucer. Neufchatel MS. 

} Voluit Dominus per infirma hsec, docere quid possit homo in ma- 
joribus. Coct. Epp. MS. of Neufchatel. 



266 MYSTICISM AND SCHOLASTICISM. 

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 CEcolampadius, " by pious frauds to circum- 
vent the old serpent that was hissing around him."* He 
represented himself to be a schoolmaster, and waited until a 
door should be opened to him to appear as a reformer. -}- 

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 cor- 
rect 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. 

It was in his little chamber at Aigle that Farel read the 
first publication addressed to the German by the Swiss re- 
former.:}: " 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 deep 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 !" 

* Piis artibus et apostolicis versatiis ad circumveniendum ilium opus 
est. CEcol. to Farel, 27th December 1526. Neufchatel MS. 

f Ubi ostium patuerit, tune adversariis liberius obsistetur. Ibid. 

J Pia et arnica ad Lutheri sermonem apologia. Opp. vol. ii. t. 2, p. 1. 

Ut Christi succussa undique Ecclesia, pacis non nihil sentiat. Zw. 
Epp. ii. 26. 



THE DOOR IS OPENED. 267 

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 ;* 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." 

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 disap- 
pears. " 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.-}- 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 ferment- 
ing at the same time, the flowers, the vineyards, and the 
hearts of this sensible but rude people. 

Yet the rocks that the torrent meets as it issues fro. a 
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. 

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 

* Papa aut nullus aut modicus hie est. Zw. Epp. ii. 36. 
h The name of Ursinus was doubtless taken from the bear (ursa) 
which was on the shield of Berne. Ursinus meant Bernese. 



268 OPPOSITION. 

another, " continues preaching, it is all over with our bene- 
fices and our Church." * 

In the midst of this agitation, the bailiff of Aigle and the 
governor of the four mandemens, Jacques de Roverea, in- 
stead 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." f 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,:}: ordered all the officers of the state to allow him to 
preach publicly the doctrines of the Lord." 

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 submis- 
sion 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, promptly unitingand surrounding 
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 

" J. J. Hottinger, H. K. G., iii. 364. 

+ Ferdinando adventurum esse ingentem ex Hispania exercitum. 
Zwinglius, Epp. ii. 64 ; dated llth May 1527. 
t Inhibita verbi divini propagatio. Choupard MS. 



LAUSANNE. 269 

image of Our Lady, and made costly purchases at the great 
fair of indulgences that was held in its precincts. Lau- 
sanne, extending its episcopal crosier from its lofty towers, 
pretended to keep the whole country at the feet of the pope. 
But owing to the dissolute life of the canons and priests, 
the eyes of many began to be opened. The ministers of the 
Yirgin 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 resi- 
dences into houses of ill-fame, and heartlessly turned out 
their young children to beg their bread.* Nowhere, perhaps, 
was better exemplified the description of the clergy given 
.us by one of the most venerable prelates at the beginning 
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." -j- 

Among the theologians in the court of the Bishop Sebas- 
tian 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,^ 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, " re- 
ligion is now little better than an empty mockery, since 
people who think only of their appetites are the kings of 
the Church. Christian people, instead of celebrating in the 

* Histoire de la Reformation Suisse by Ruchat, i. 35. 

+ Pro libros sibi liberos comparand, pro studio concubinas amant. 
Tritheim Instit. Vitae Sacerdotalis, p. 765. The play upon libros and 
liberos (books and children) cannot be conveyed in English. 

Urbanus, doctus, magnus, consuetudine doctorum obligatus. Farel 
to Galeotto. Neufchatel MS. 



270 FAKEL TO GALEOTTO. 

sacrament the aeath of the Lord, live as if they comme- 
morated -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." * 

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." f 
Still there was no answer. Farel returned to the charge a 
third time, and Natalis, fearing perhaps to reply in person, 
commissioned his secretary, who forwarded a letter to Farel 
full of abusive language.^ For a season Lausanne was in- 
accessible. 

After having thus contended with a priest, Farel was des- 
tined to struggle with a monk. The two arms of the hierarchy 
by which the Middle Ages had been governed were 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." 

A mendicant friar, who dared not oppose the reformer in 
a direct manner at Aigle, ventured into the village of No- 
ville, 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 be- 
half of his convent a few barrels of the most exquisite wine 
in all Switzerland. He had not advanced many steps into 

* Pluris faciunt miserrimi subulci aspectum quam omnipotentis Dei. 
Farel to Galeotto. Neufchatel MS. 

*h Pulsare, vociferari perge, nee prius cessa quam, &c. Ibid. 

J Nseniis totas implevit et conviciis. Ibid. 

Quod agere veretur obstinatus diabolus, intrepide agit reprobus et 
ontumax mouachus. Jacob von Juterbock : de Negligentia Prelatorum. 



FAREL AND THE MONK. 271 

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 de- 
sirous 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,* and, hastening down the street, en- 
deavoured to shake off his disagreeable companion, " turn- 
ing now this way, now that, like a troubled conscience." f 
A few citizens beginning to collect around them, Farel said 
to them, pointing to the monk, " You see this fine father j 
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 op- 
posing 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 com- 
mandments without turning either to the right hand or to 
the Ieft4 Let us worship God alone in spirit and in truth, 
offering to him a broken and a contrite heart." 

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 surprised that the earth does not gape and swallow 

* Commen?a de se tempester ; in the narrative he gives of this adven- 
ture to the nuns of Vevay. Neufchatel MS. 

f- Tournant maintenant de 9a, maintenant de la, comme fait la con- 
science mal assure'e. Ibid. 

J II n'appartient a personne vivante d'ordonner autre maniere de faire 
service a Dieu, quo celle qu'il a commande'e. Nous devons garder ses com- 
mandemens, sans tirer ni 1 la dextre, ni a la senestre. Ibid. 



272 THE TRIBUNAL. 

us up!'"*.... Farel wished to reply, but in vain. The 

friar with downcast eyes kept stamping on his cap, " bawling 
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 ?" 

The little town was in an uproar ; the friar at once furious 
and trembling, Farel following up his attack with vigour, 
and the people confused and amazed. At length the magis- 
trate appeared, ordered the monk and Farel to follow him, 
and shut them up, " one in one tower and one in an- 
other." f 

On the Saturday morning Farel was liberated from his 
prison, and conducted to the castle before the officers of 
justice, where the monk had arrived before him. 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." J 

* Hors de sens, trembloit, s'agitoit, palissoit et rougissoit tour a tour. 
Enfin tirant son bonnet de sa tete, hors du chaperon, il le rua a terre, 
jettant et mettant son pied sus, en s'e'criant : " Je suis esbahi comme la 
terre ne nous abyme ! Neufchatel MS. 

f- L'un en uue tour, et 1'antre en 1'autre. Ibid. 

$ Lors le frere se jeta a genoux disant : Messeigneurs, je demande 

merci a Dieu et a vous Et aussi, Magister, co que j'ai preche" centre 

yous a etc par de faux rapports, &c. Ibid. 



THE MONK CRIES FOR PARDON. 273 

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."* 

One of the lords of Berne coming up at this time, the 
friar, who already imagined himself on the brink of martyr- 
dom, began to wring his hands, and to turn now towards the 
Bernese councillors, now towards the tribunal, and then to 
Farel, crying, " Pardon, pardon 1" " 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 ."-I- 
Thus the Reformation advanced in Switzerland Romande. 

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 sedi- 
tion. And hence, when Farel ascended the pulpit on the 
16th February, 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. 

The council of Berne thereupon decreed that the parish- 
ioners 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 

* Js suis pauvre pecheur comme les autres, ayant ma fiance, non en 
ma justice, mais a la mort de Jesus. Neufchatel MS. 

f Puis quand le frere fut parti, depuis ne 1'ai vu, et nulles promesses ni 
sermens ne Pont pu faire demenrcr. Ibid. 
VOL. IV. 13 



274 OPPOSITION OF THE ORMONDS. 

peasants, not daring to maltreat Farel, excited their wives, 
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 labours, named Claude (probably 
Claude de Gloutinis), 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 Camralis, 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."* 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 ava- 
lanches, and fell upon the church and the evangelicals. 
" 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." f Thus were these mountaineers 
agitated, like the wind that roars in their lofty valleys with 
a fury unknown to the inhabitants of the plains. 

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,:): but you will find me pure as 
snow, without any guile, of open heart, through whose 
windows all the world may see." 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 

Seel Sathan per ejus servos, roluit aures auditorum ejus sono cymbali 
implere. Neufchatel MS. 

f Quo invento suspenderetur primum, deinde dignus comburi, ulterius 
capitis obtruncatione, novissime in aquis mergeretur. Ibid. 

$ Me quantumvis Gallum et barbarum. Zw. Epp. ii. 205. 

Absque ullo fnco, nivenm, et aperti fenestratiqne pectoria. Ibid. 



CHRISTIAN UNITY. 275 

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 abstemious- 
ness 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."* Thus ended his 
labours. 

Notwithstanding all these trials, Farel was not discour- 
aged. The greater the difficulties, the more his energy in- 
creased. 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 separ- 
ate members that vital principle which is one and simple.j 
Alas ! the pastures of the Church are trodden under foot, 
and its waters are troubled 1 Let us set our minds to concord 
and peace. When the ix>rd shall have opened heaven, there 
will not be so many disputes about bread and water.| A 
fervent charity that is the powerful battering-ram with 
which we shall beat down those proud Avails, those material 
elements, with which men would confine us." 

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 

Quam beatus hie venter incanduit ! quot minarum plaustra I Solent 
tales belluae, &c. Neufchatel MS. 

T Ne in digitos, manus, pedes, oculos, nares, aures, brachia, cor quod 
unum est discindatur, et qure in reitus est varietas, principium non faciat 
multiplex. Ibid. 

$ An allusion to the controversies on bnptism and the real presence. 
Non tanta erit super aqua et pane contentio, uec super gramine, solutaque 
obsidione. Ibid. The sense of these latter words is obscure. 

g Charitas fortissimas aries. Farel to Bucer, 10th May 152P. 



276 STATE RELIGION IN BERNE. 

apostle. The nineteenth century is called to resume the 
work which the sixteenth century was unable to accomplish. 



CHAPTER II. 

State Religion in Berne Irresolution of Berne Almanack of Heretics 
Evangelical Majority Haller Zwingle's Signal The radicals in 
Berne Victory of the Gospel Papist Provocations The City Com- 
paniesProposed Disputation Objections of the Forest Cantons The 
Church, the Judge of Controversies Unequal Contest Zwingle A 
Christian Band The Cordelier's Church Opening of the Conference 
The sole Head Unity of Error A Priest converted at the Altar St. 
Vincent's Day The Butchers A strange Argument Papist Bitter- 
nessNecessity of Reform Zwingle's Sermon Visit of the King of 
Kings Edict of Reform Was the Reformation political 1 

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 memor- 
able example of this truth. Such, also, was the case with 
Berne. Its government, besides, was absorbed in 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,"* 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. 

The Bernese government, being without experience in 
religious matters, had proposed to check the movement of 

* Deut. xxxii. 14. 



IRRESOLUTION OF BERNE. 277 

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, Avho 
composed the Smaller Council, believing their power, their 
interests, and their honour menaced, attached themselves to 
the old order of things. From this opposition of the two coun- 
cils 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 ano-n all returns to 
apparent tranquillity.* 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. 

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 ar- 
rogated 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 Avho 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.^- 

* Hundeshagen, Conflikte der Bernischen Kirche, p. 19, 

+ Quum nndus-tcrtius Murneri Calendarium legissem, partim ridondo 

hominis stultissimam impud.en.tiam. CEcolamp. to Zwingle, Febr. 152", 

Epp. ii. 26. 



HALLER ZWINGLE'S SIGNAL. 

Zurich and Berne in conjunction demanded satisfaction, and 
from this time the union of these two states daily^became 
closer. 

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,* 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. 

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 sld, moved with a mea- 
sured 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 pos- 
session of the land. Enforce, be earnest, and fix deeply in 
the hearts of men the hooks and grapnels of the Word of 

* Mullinen e Senatoria dignitate protrusus est. Lapides quoqua 
Haller to ZwingJe, April 25, 1527. 



ANABAPTISTS IN BERNE. 279 

God, so that they can never again be rid of them."* " Your 
bears," wrote lie to Thomas ab Hofen, " have again put fortii 
their claws. Please God that they do not draw them back 
until they have torn everything in pieces that opposes Jesus 
Christ." 

Haller and his friends were on tne point of replying to this 
appeal, when their situation became complicated. Some 
of the radicals, arriving at Berne in 1527, led away the 
people from the evangelical preachers " on account of the 
presence of idols."f Haller had a useless conference 
with them. " To what dangers is not Christianity ex- 
posed," cried he, " wherever these furies have crept in !": 
There has never been any revival in the Church, with- 
out the hierarchical or radical sects immediately endea- 
vouring to disturb it. Haller, although alarmed, still main- 
tained 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. " 
It was not from popery that the Reformers had learnt 
these principles. A public disputation took place. Six 
of the radicals declared themselves convinced, and two 
others were sent out of the country. 

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 

' Aculeos ac hamos, sic in mortalium pectora dimittc, ut etiam si velint, 
Don possint. Zw. Epp. ii. 10. 

t Ne plebem dehortentur ab auditione concionum nostrarum ob idolo- 
rum prasentiam. Ibid. 49. 

Consideravimus omnes pericuhim urbis nostrac et totius Cljristianismi 
ubi illae furiac irrepserint. Ibid. 50. 

Nostrum est, oaui?. ^la< l io spiritus refellere. Ibid. 



280 VICTORY OF THE GOSPEL. 

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." * 

The government of Berne had to decide hetween 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 messen- 
gers 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. 

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.-f- Upon this 
the papal partisans grew violent. The banneret Kuttler 
called the good people of Emmenthal, " heretics, rascals, 
wantons ;" but these peasants obliged him to make an 
apology.} The bailiff of Trachselwald was more cunning. 
Seeing the inhabitants of Eudersweil listening with eager- 
ness 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. 

* Ut privata auctoritate nemo quippiam immutare praesumat. Haller 
to Vadian. 

+ Incolas vallis Emmenthal Scnatum adiisse, missamqno missamfecisse. 
Zw. Epp. ii. 104. 

Pueros, hereticos, et homines lascfvos. Ibid. 106. 



PROPOSED DISPUTATION. 281 

These singular provocations did not check the Reform. 
Six of the city companies (the shoemakers, weavers, mer- 
chants, bakers, stone-masons, and carpenters) abolished in 
the churches and convents of their district all masses, anni- 
versaries, advowsons, and prebends. Three others (the 
tanners, smiths, and tailors) prepared to imitate them ;* the 
seven remaining companies were undecided,, except the 
butchers, who were enthusiastic 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, that great adversary of the Reformation, 
could no longer keep the torrent within bounds. 

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.f 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 ought therefore to decide. " The 
Bernese clergy," said they, " must be convoked, as at Zurich, 
and let the two doctrines be discussed in a solemn confer- 
ence. We will proceed afterwards in conformity with the 
result." 

On the Sunday following the festival of Saint Martin 
(llth November), the council and citizens unanimously re- 
solved that a public disputation should take place at the 
beginning of the succeeding year. " The glory of God and 
his AVord, : ' 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 lan- 
guage.! Who knows, said they, whether all the members 
of the ancient Swiss confederation may not be thus brought 
to unity of faith ? 

* Haller to Zwingle, 4th November 1527. Epp. ii. 105. 
t J. J. Hottinger, H. Kirchen. viii. 394. 

Solam sacram Scripturam, absque veterum glossematis, Haller to 
Zwingle, 19th November 1527. Epp. ii. 113. 
13* 



OBJECTIONS OF THE FOREST CANTONS. 

Thus, within the walls of Berne, the struggle was about 
to take place that would decide tlie fate of Switzerland ; for 
the example of the Bernese must necessarily lead with it a 
great part of the confederation. 

The Five Cantons, alarmed at this intelligence, met at 
Lucerne, where they were joined by Friburg, 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,* on the con- 
trary, 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 5 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 on refusing a safe-conduct 
to those who should proceed to Berne. This was giving 
token of sinister intentions. 

The 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 in- 
dependent of his fellows, and trust in God alone." f 

The Romanist doctors followed the example of the bishops. 
Eck, Murner, Cochloeus, and many others, said wherever they 
went : " We have received the letter of this leper, of this 



* The inhabitants of the primitive democratic cantons, Schwytz, Uri, 
Underwald , and Lucerne, to which Zug may be added, 
t John Goch, Dialogns de quatuor erroribus, p. 237. 



THE CHURCH THE JUDGE OF CONTROVERSIES. 283 

accursed heretic, Zwingle.* 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 would be impossible. 

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 ap- 
pointed, 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 ;f and it is this duty, in which it should never 
be found wanting, that it was now about to fulfil in the dis- 
putation at Berne. 

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, 

* Epistolam leprosi, damnati, hceretici Zwinglii accepi. Eck to G. A. 
Zell, Zw. Epp. ii. 126. 
f Judex controversiarum1 John IT. 1; 1 Thess. V. 21. 



UNEQUAL CONTEST ZWINGLE. 

K Faith in the Saviour gives me courage, and scatters all my 
fears."* 

Yet he could not remain alone : all his looks were turned 
towards Zwingle : " It was I who took the bath at Baden," 
wrote (Ecolampadius to Haller, " and now it is Zwingle who 
should lead off the bear-dance in Berne."-f- " We are be- 
tween the hammer and the anvil," wrote Haller to Zwingle ; 
" we hold the wolf by the ears, and know not how to let him 
go.j: The houses of De Watteville, Noll, Tremp, and Ber- 
thold are open to you. Come, then, and command the battle 
in person." 

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 blas- 
phemous ; mighty to spread concord through Switzerland, 
and not to cause troubles and dissension." At the very 
time that Haller received news of Zwingle's coming, (Eco- 
lampadius wrote to him : " I am ready, if it be necessary, to 
sacrifice my life. Let us inaugurate the new year by em- 
bracing 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 !" 

It was necessary to proceed with circumspection, for the 
violence of the oligarchs and of the Five Cantons was well 
known.|| The doctors of Glaris, Schati hausen, 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 accom- 
pany the reformer. " When all this game traverses the 
country," said the pensioners, " we will go a-hunting, and 

* Fides in Dominum me animat, ut nihil verear. Zw. Epp. ii. 123. 
t An allusion to the dispute at Baden, a celebrated bathing-place, and 
to the arms of Berne. Ibid. 118. 
J Lupum auribus tenemus. Zurich MS. 

Neque ad perturbationem nostrze almte Helvetia. Zw. Epp. ii. 120. 
II Oligarch in arcgulis obmnrmurcnt. Ibid. 123. 



THE CORDELIERS' CHURCH. 285 

see if we cannot kill some, or at least catch them and put 
them into a cage." 

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. 

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."* The burgo- 
master Roust, the town-clerk of Mangoldt, with Funck and 
Jaekli, 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 unimport- 
ant alarms. 

The Cordeliers' Church was to serve as the place of con- 
ference. Tillmann, the city architect, had made arrangements 
according to a plan furnished by Zwingle.-}- A large plat- 
form 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 
CEcolampadias, 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. 

The first act was to publish the regulations of the confer- 
ence. " 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, 

* Creseit Domino gloria, mihi animus in hac pugna. Zw. Epp. Va 
diano. 

t Tillmannus urbig architectus locum juxta tuam deformationem ope- 
rabit. Ibid. ii. 123. 



OPENING OF THE CONFERENCE. 

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 can- 
not walk together. There were present about three hundred 
and fifty Swiss and German ecclesiastics. 

On Tuesday, 7th January 1528, the burgomaster Vadian 
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 fer- 
vour a confession of sins. 

This being ended, the first thesis was read. It ran thus : 
" The holy Christian Church, of which Christ is the sole 
head, is born of the Word of God, abideth in it, and listen- 
eth 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 Zwingliari ; a third, a Carlstadtian ; a fourth an CEco- 

lampadist ; a fifth, an Anabaptist "f 

BUCER. " Whosoever preaches Jesus as the only Saviour, 
we recognise as our brother. Neither Luther, nor Zwingle, 
nor (Ecolampadius, 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 per- 
mits 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 ! * Church of Berne, hold fast to the teaching 

* Danim fromme Christen ! Zur Schrift, zur Sckrift ! Acta Zw. ii. 92. 
t So called by their opponents. 



A PRIEST CONVERTED AT THE ALTAR. 287 

of Him who said, Come unto me, and not, Come unto my 
vicar ! " 

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 under- 
take to carry them both to the stake." 

On Sunday the 19th of January, the day on which the 
doctrine of the mass was attacked, Zwingle, desirous of apt- 
ing 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 at 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 vest- 
ments, 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 give up everything 
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,* and it was regarded as an import- 
ant 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. 

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

* Das lachet menklich und ward durch die gantzcn Stadt kundt. 
Bulling, i. 436. In this and other quotations, we preserve the orthogra- 
phy of the times. 



288 ST. VINCENTS DAY. 

Vincent, the patron of the city. The disputation that had 
been continued 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."* 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 ; in- 
cense 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. 

In the evening it was the custom for the canons to chant 
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 step 
was heard. It was the Butchers' Company that, at this 
moment so fatal to Rome, desired to support it. They ad- 
vanced, carrying small fir-trees and green branches, for the 
decoration of their chapel. In the midst of them was a 

* 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 his- 
torians and official documents leave no room for doubt on this point. 
Stettler, in his Chronicle, pars ii. 6, ad annum 1528, details these pro- 
ceedings as in the text. 



A STRANGE ARGUMENT. 289 

foreign priest, behind whom walked a few poor scholars. 
The priest officiated ; the sweet voices of the scholars sup- 
plied the place of the mute organ, and the butchers retired 
proud of their victory. 

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 reason- 
ings of Zwingle, (Ecolampadius, 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;* 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 
on baptism and other subjects terminated the conference. 

The two councils decreed that the mass should be abo- 
lished, 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 ia the streets 
(as Luther informs us) : -J- 

By the Word at length we're saved 
From a God in a mortar brayed. 

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 

* Nos tencmur obedire diabolo. J. J. Hottinger, iii. 405. 
f Pueri in plateis cantant : se esse a Deo pisto liberates. L. Epp. iii. 
290. 



290 NECESSITY OF REFORM. 

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.* " What 
times ! what manners !" exclaimed many Romanists ; " what 
culpable neglect ! How easy Avould 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^. " -j- 

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 demi- 
gods 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. 

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 frag- 
ments still encumbered here and there the porches and 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 
vinciturfortuna. Cornelius Scipio, after the disaster at Cannae, 
having learnt that the generals surviving the slaughter 
meditated quitting Italy, entered the senate-house, although 

* History of Berne, by Tillier, iii. 257. 

+ Si studiorum quam scortorum nostri episcopi amantiores essent. 
Ruchat, i. 576. Letter of J. de Minister, priest at Soleure. 



ZWINGLE'S SERMON. 291 

not yet of senatorial age, and drawing his sword, constrained 
the affrighted chiefs to swear that they would not abandon 
Rome. Citizens of Berne, to you I address the same de- 
mand : do not abandon Jesus Christ." 

We may easily imagine the effect produced on the people 
by such words, pronounced with Zwingle's energetic elo- 
quence. 

Then, turning towards the fragments that lay near him : 
" Behold," said he, " behold these idols ! Behold them con- 
quered, mute, and shattered before us ! These corpses must 
be dragged to the shambles, and the gold you have spent 
upon such 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.* 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?" 

"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." 

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 am- 
nesty ?"f 

* Hie liit einer, dem ist's houpt ab, dem andern ein arm, &c. Zw. 
Opp. ii. 2-28. 
t Da der Konig aller Konige Haller, by Kirchb.ofer, p. 439. 



292 EDICT OF REFORM. 

The Romish cantons, exasperated at the result of the dis- 
cussion, 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.* 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.-j- 

The Roman-catholic party did not dissemble the check 
they had received. " Our cause is falling," said the friends 
of Rome4 " 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. Alas! alas! the greater party has 
vanquished the better."|| 

The Council of Berne, desirous of separating from the 
pope, relied upon the people. On the 30th January, mes- 
sengers 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 de- 
fend the two councils in all they should undertake for the 
good of the State or of the Church. 

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."<f[ 

* Mit iren Spyessen fur den hauffen. Bull. Chr. i. 439. 
f Zwingel triumphator et imperator gloriosus. L. Epp. iii. 290. 
J Rnuut res nostrso. Letter of the priest J. de Muller, an eyewitness 
of the discussion. Ruchat, i. 575. 
Doctior tamen haec bellua est quam putabam. Ibid. 
|| Vicitque pars major meliorem. Ibid. 
t Bull. Chron. L 4G6. 



WAS THE REFORMATION POLITICAL ? 293 

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 length 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 in- 
fluential 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.* 

At Berne, as elsewhere, it was neither a learned, nor a 
democratic, nor a sectarian spirit that gave birth to the Re- 
formation. 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 separating distinctly 
from the false allies that had presented themselves, rejecting 
an incredulous learning by elevating the study of the classics, 
checking all demagogic anarchy by upholding the principles 
of true liberty, and repudiating 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 

* Hundeshagen, Conflikte der Bernischen Kirche, p. 22. 



294 THE REFORM ACCEPTED BY THE PEOPLE. 

Reformation have been elevated, while those which have 
combated it have been lowered. 



CHAPTER III. 

The Reform accepted by the People Faith, Purity, and Charity First 
Evangelical Communion Bernese Proposition to the Diet Cavern, 
and Head of Beatus Threatening Storm from the Mountains Revolt 
Confusion in Berne Unterwalden crosses the Brunig Energy of 
Berne Victory Political Advantages. 

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 youth- 
ful herdsman. 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."* 

* Da tregt ein Gbtz den andern in das fhiiwr. Bull. Chron. ii. 1. A 
roan whose business it was to shear the flocks, and who had been nick- 
named Gbtz-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. 



FAITH, PURITY, AND CHARITY. 295 

The images and the mass had disappeared from this vast 
canton. " A great cry resounded far and wide," writes 
Bullinger.* 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 Grindewald, the malcon- 
tents 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. 

The wishes of the canton being thus manifested, Berne 
completed the Reformation. All excesses in gambling, 
drinking, and dancing, and all unbecoming dress, were for- 
bidden by proclamation. The houses of ill-fame were 
destroyed, and their wretched inhabitants expelled from the 
city.f A consistory was appointed to watch over the 
public morals. 

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 Konigsfield 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 pro- 
perty of the convents to our own advantage;" and they 
kept their word. The poor were clothed with the priests' 
garments ; the orphans 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.^ Thus it was that the State, 
as it has been continually asserted, grew rich with the spoils 
of the Church ! At the same time they invited from Zurich 
the ministers Hofmeister, Megander, and Rhellican, to 
spread throughout the canton the knowledge of the classics 
and of the Holy Scriptures. 

* Das wyt und breit em gross geschrey und wnnder gepar. Bull. 
Chron. ii. 1. 

J- J. J- Hottinger, iii. 414. 

Hoc unum tibi dico secretissime. Haller to Zwingle, 21et January 
1530. 



296 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 com- 
munion. 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;* 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 Hofmeister, 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 !"-j- 

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, inhabit- 
ing 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 the pious people, "could we but see old Switzerland 
revive with its ancient virtues !" 

There was soon a powerful reaction. The annual renewal 
of the magistracy 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 Reforma- 
tion 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 

* Relucet enim in illorum vestitu et habitu nescio quid veteris illiua 
Helvetise simplicitatis. Hofmeister to Zwingle. Zw. Epp. ii. 167. 

t Ea res magnam epera mihi injecit de illia lucrandis qui hactenu 
ftieruut male morigeri verbo. Ibid. ' 



CAVERN, AND HEAD OF BEATUS. 297 

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 Thun 
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 pilgrims 
resorted thither 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 here- 
after remain in a land of heretics. The abbot of the cele- 
brated 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 the 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 Inter- 
laken. 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. 

The Reformation had triumphed in Berne ; but a storm 
was gathering unperceived in the mountains, which threat- 
ened 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 toad 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 

VOL. IV. 14 



298 THREATENING STORM FROM THE MOUNTAINS. 

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 (Unter- 
walden) 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 preci- 
ous 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 con- 
vent in affright ceded all his rights to Berne for the sum of 
one hundred thousand florins;* and a bailiff accompanied 
by several councillors, went and took possession of the mon- 
astery. A report was soon spread that they were about to 
transfer all the property of the convent to Berne ; and on 
the 21st April bands of men from Grindelwald, Lauter- 
brunnen, Ringelberg, Brienz, and other places, crossed the 
lake, or issued from their lofty valleys, and taking forcible 
possession of the cloister, swore they would go even to Berne 
in quest of the goods which the citizens had dared to take 
from them. 

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 -{ having been 
convoked, it decided by a majority of forty voices for the re- 
establishment of the mass. The pastor Jae'kli was immedi- 
ately 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 



* Totum regnum suum tradiderunt in manus magistratus nostri. 
Haller to Zwingle, 31st March. 

t The assembly of all the people. 



REVOLT CONFUSION IN BERNE. 299 

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 Renter, 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 Inter- 
laken. All the malcontents assembled there on the 22d 
October, and swore, with hands upraised to heaven, boldly 
to defend their rights and liberty. 

The republic was in great 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.* Seditious meetings took place every 
day,f 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 gathering the 
vintage, and folding their arms, in the presence of this great 
danger, they waited until a Messiah should descend from 
heaven (says a reformer) to save the republic.^ The 
ministers pointed out the danger, forewarned and conjured 
them ; but they all turned a deaf ear. " Christ languishes 
in Berne," said Haller, " and appears nigh perishing." The 
people were in commotion : they assembled, made speeches, 
murmured, and shed tears ! Everywhere in all their 

* Audisti nimirijm quam se apparent Austriaci ad bellum, adversua 
quos ignoratur. Suspicantur quidam in Helvetios. (Ecol. to Zw. Epp. 
ii. 161. 

f Seditiosorum concursus sunt quotidian!. Zw. Epp. ii. 227 

4. None, nunc suum Messiam advenisse sperantes. Ibid. 

Ita languet Christus apud nos. Ibid. 



300 UNTERWALDEN CROSSES THE BRUNIG. 

tumultuous meetings might be heard this complaint of 
Manuel on Papists and the Papacy : * 

With rage our foes their hateful threats denounce, 
Because, Lord, we love Thee best of all ; 
Because at sight of Thee the idols fall ; 

And war and bloodshed, shuddering, we renounce. 

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 ?-{- If Christ withdraw 
himself, we shall all perish." 

TheSe fears were on the point of being realized. The 
smaller cantons claimed to have the power of interfering hi 
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, with gloomy and threatening 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.}: This was the first violation of the 
national peace for many a year. Uniting at Hasli with the 
men of Brienz, this little army crossed the lake, passed 
under the cascades of Giesbach, 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 rebel- 
lious 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 Unter- 
walden were proudly brandishing their swords on the banks 
of the lake of Thun. 

* Dass wir hand d' Gotzen geworfen hin. Hymn and Prayer, 
f Quid hscc inter tot et tantos venatores robustos. Zw. Epp. ii. 223. 
J A celebrated hermit who prevented a civil war in Switzerland ia 
1481. 



ENERGY OP BERNE. 301 

Thus were the federal alliances trodden under foot by 
those very persons who aspired to the name of conservatives. 
Berne had the 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 inter- 
vention of Untcrwalden, the restoration of the mass, and the 
fiery violence of the peasants.* 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 indivi- 
duals. " 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. 

Scarcely had the Bernese government acted thus ener- 
getically, 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 Untersecn, 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 evacu- 
ated 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.f The day being arrived, the 

* Quam missam reducem aut violentiam villanorum pati. Haller to 
Zwingle, 26th October. 

f Tradition says that it was on the spot where the hotel of Interlaken 
now stands. 



302 VICTORY. 

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 moun- 
tains, filled the insurgents with terror. They thought it the 
signal of their death. But the avoyer only intended to show 
that they jrere 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."* 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 the surrounding torrents, as 
they pour from the mountain-tops their multitudinous and 
foaming waters. 

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 en- 
danger 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 

* Bernenses pro sua dignitate nodum hunc, quemadmodum Alexander 
Macedo, Gordium dissectari. Zw. Epp. ii. 243. 



REFORMATION OF SAINT GALL. 303 

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 then was verified the ancient and remarkable saying, 
so often repeated by the friends and enemies of that power- 
ful republic " God is become a citizen of Berne." 



CHAPTER IV. 

Reformation of St. Gall Nuns of St. Catherine Reformation of Glaria, 
Berne, Appenzell, the Grisons, Schaffhausen, and the Rhine District 
A Popish Miracle Obstacles in Basle Zeal of the Citizens GEcolam- 
padius marries Witticism of Erasmus First Action Half Measiues 
Petition of the Reformed. 

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. 

Vadian, 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 re- 
ceived in exchange ; thus, like Mary, pouring their precious 
ointment on the head of Christ.* 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 

* War gemiinzet und den Arinen ausgetheilt. J. J. Hottinger, iii. 
415. St. Matthew xxvi. 7. 



304 REFORMATION OF CLARIS. 

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 super- 
stitions, shameful frauds, and the ironical laughter of a 
whole nation. 

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 cate- 
chist, 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 em- 
braced the Reform, but thirty others preferred exile.* On 
the 5th February 1528, a numerous synod framed the con- 
stitution of the church of St. Gall. 

The struggle was more violent at Glaris. The seeds of 
the Gospel truth, which Zwingle had scattered there, pros- 
pered 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 Lands- 
gemeinde 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, Elm, and 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 disputa- 
tion with him in the church, the latte^ instead of discussing, 

Arx. Gesch. St. Gall, U. 529. J. J. Hottinger, 416. Mullet ; Hot- 

tingcr, ii. 91. 



WESEN, APPENZELL, THE ORISONS. 305 

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. 

At Wesen, where Schwytz exercised sovereignty con- 
jointly with Glaris, the deputies of the former canton threat- 
ened 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 Elec- 
tors, 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 Ap- 
penzell became finally divided into two little sections, the 
one Romanist and the other Reformed. 

In the Grisons religious liberty was proclaimed; the 
parishes had the election of tfreir 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 
14* 



306 SCHAFFHAUSEN -A POPISH M1EACLE. 

nation that by its courage reminds us of the ancient Tuscans, 
and by its candour of the ancient Swiss." * 

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 tem- 
poral 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 dis- 
tricts 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.-[- Even while running away, Popery 
worked its miracles. 

Thus were the popular superstitions overthrown in Swit- 
zerland, 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 make 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 waa reformed ; Berne had just become so : Basle 
still remained, before the great cities of the Confederation 

* Gens animo veteres Tuscos referens, candore yeterea Helvetica. 
Zsv. Epp. t J- J- Hottinger. iii. 426. 



OBSTACLES IN BASLE ZEAL OF THE CITIZENS. 307 

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. 

For six years the Gospel had been preached in Basle. The 
meek and pious CEcolampadius was always waiting for hap- 
pier times. " The darkness," said he, " is about to retire 
before the rays of truth."* But his expectation was vain. 
A triple aristocracy the superior clergy, the nobles, and the 
university checked the free expansion of Christian convic- 
tions. It was the middle classes who were destined to effect 
the triumph of the Reformation in Basle.-}- Unhappily the 
popular wave invades nothing without tossing up some foul 
scum. 

It is true that the Gospel had many friends in the councils : 
but being men of a middle party, they tacked backwards and 
forwards like Erasmus, instead of sailing straight to the port. 
They ordered " the pure preaching of the Word of God ;" but 
stipulated at the same time that it should be " without 
Lutheranism." The aged and pious Bishop Utenheim, who 
was living in retirement at Bruntrut, tottered daily into the 
church, supported by two domestics, to celebrate mass with 
a broken voice. Gandelsheim, an enemy of the Reformation, 
succeeded him erelong ; and on the 23d September, followed 
by many exiles and with a train of forty horses, he made his 
triumphal entry into Basle, proposing to restore everything 
to its ancient footing. This made CEcolampadius write in 
alarm to Zwingle : " Our cause hangs upon a thread." 

But in the citizens the Reform found a compensation for 
the disdain of the great, and for the terrors inspired by the 
new bishop. They organized repasts for fifty and a hundred 
guests each; CEcolampadius and his colleagues took their 
seats at these tables with the people, where energetic accla- 
mations and reiterated cheers greeted the work of the Refor- 
mation. In a short time even the council appeared to incline 
to the side of the Gospel. Twenty feast-days were retrenched, 

* Sperabam enim. tenebras veritatis radio cessuras taudem. Zw. Epp. 
ii. 136. 

t Major pars civitatis quae toto corde dolet tantis nos dissidiis laborare. 
Ibid. 36. 



308 (ECOLAMPADIUS MARRIES. 

and the priests were permitted to refuse celebrating the mass. 
" It is aU over with Rome," was now the cry. But (Eco- 
lampadius, shaking his head, replied ; " I am afraid that, by 
wishing to sit on two stools, Basle will at last fall to the 
ground."* 

This was at the period of his return from the discussion at 
Berne. He arrived in time to close the eyes of his pious 
mother; and then the reformer found himself alone, suc- 
cumbing under the weight of public and domestic cares ; for 
his house was like an inn for all fugitive Christians. " I 
shall marry a Monica/'f he had often said, " or else I shall 
remain a bachelor." He thought he had now discovered the 
" Christian sister" of whom he was in search. This was 
Wilibrandis, daughter of one of the Emperor Maximilian's 
knights, and widow of a master of arts named Keller, a 
woman already proved by many trials. He married her, 
saying : " I look to the ordinances of God, and not to the 
scowling faces of men." This did not prevent the sly Eras- 
mus from exclaiming : " Luther's affair is called a tragedy, 
but I maintain it is a comedy, for each act of the drama ends 
in a wedding." This witticism has been often repeated. 
For a long time it was the fashion to account for the Refor- 
mation by the desire of the princes for the church-property, 
and of the priests for marriage. This vulgar method is now 
stigmatized by the best Roman controversialists as " a proof 
of a singularly narrow mind. The Reformation originated," 
add they, " in a true and Christian, although unenlightened 
zeal."t 

The return of CEcolampadius had still more important 
consequences for Basle than it had for himself. The dis- 
cussion at Berne caused a great sensation there. " Berne, 
the powerful Berne, is reforming 1" was passed from mouth 
to mouth. " How, then !" said the people one to another, 

* Vereorque ne dum semper utraque sella sedere relit, utraque extru- 
datur aliquando. Zvr. Epp. ii. 157. 

f The name of St. Augustine's mother. 

J See Mohler's Symbolik, both in the preface and in the body of the 
work. This is one of the most important writings produced by Rome 
since the time of Bossuet. 



FfBST ACTION HALF-MEASURES. 309 

" the fierce Bear has come out of his den he is groping 

ahout for the rays of the sun and Basle, the city of 

learning Basle, the adopted city of Erasmus and of (Eco- 
lampadius, remains in darkness 1" 

On Good Friday (10th April 1528), without the know- 
ledge of the council and CEcolampadius, five workmen of the 
Spinner's Company entered the church of St. Martin, which 
was that of the reformer, and where the mass was already 
abolished, and carried away all the " idols." On Easter 
Monday, after the evening sermon, thirty-four citizens re- 
moved all the images from the church of the Augustines. 

This was going too far. Were they desirous, then, of 
drawing Basle and its councils from that just medium in 
which they had till this moment so wisely halted ? The 
council met hastily on Tuesday morning, and sent the five 
men to prison ; but, on the intercession of the burghers, they 
were released, and the images suppressed in five other 
churches. These half-measures sufficed for a time. 

On a sudden the flame burst out anew with greater 
violence. Sermons were preached at St. Martin's and St. 
Leonard's against the abominations of the cathedral ; and at 
the cathedral the reformers were called " heretics, knaves, 
and profligates."* The papists celebrated mass upon mass. 
The burgomaster Meyer, a friend of the Reform, had with 
him the majority of the people ; the burgomaster Meltinger, 
an intrepid leader of the partisans of Rome, prevailed in the 
councils : a collision became inevitable. " The fatal hour 
aporoaches," says CEcolampadius, " terrible for the enemies 
ofGod!"f 

On Wednesday the 23d December, two days before Christ- 
mas, three hundred citizens from all the companies, pious 
and worthy men, assembled in the hall of the Gardeners' 
Company, and there drew up a petition to the senate. Dur- 
ing this time the friends of popery, who resided for the most 
part in Little Basle and the suburb of St. Paul, took up 
arms, and brandished their swords and lances against the 
reformed citizens at the very moment that the latter were 

* Ketzer, schelmen, und buben. Bulling, ii. 36. 

+ Maturutur fatalis bora et tremenda hostibus Dei. Zw. Epp. ii. 213. 



310 PETITION OF THE REFORMED CRISIS IK BASLE. 

bearing their petition to the council, and endeavoured, al- 
though ineffectually, to bar their road. Meltinger haughtily 
refused to receive the petition, and charged the burghers, on 
the faith of their civic oath, to return to their homes. The 
burgomaster Meyer, however, took the address, and the 
senate ordered it to be read. 

" Honoured, wise, and gracious Lords," it ran, " we, your 
dutiful fellow-citizens of the companies, address you as well- 
beloved fathers, whom we are ready to obey at the cost of 
our goods and of our lives. Take God's glory to heart ; 
restore peace to the city ; and oblige all the pope's preachers 
to discuss freely with the ministers. If the mass be true, we 
desire to have it in our churches ; but if it is an abomination 
before God, why, through love for the priests, should we 
draw down His terrible anger upon ourselves and upon our 
children?" 

Thus spoke the citizens of Basle. There was nothing 
revolutionary either in their language or iu their proceed- 
ings. They desired what was right with decision, but also 
with calmness. All might still proceed with order and de- 
corum. But here begins a new period : the vessel of reform 
is about to enter the port, but not until it has passed through 
violent storms. 



CHAPTER V. 

Crisis in Basle Half-measures rejected Reformed Propositions A 
Night of Terror Idols broken in the Cathedral The Hour of Mad- 
ness Idols broken in all the Churches Reform legalized Erasmus 
in Basle A great Transformation Revolution and Reformation. 

THE bishop's partisans first departed from the legal course. 
Filled with terror on learning that mediators were expected 
from Zurich and Berne, they ran into the city, crying that 
an Austrian army was coming to their aid, and collected 
stones in their houses. The reformed did the same. The 



HALF-MEASURES REJECTED. 811 

disturbance increased hourly, and in the night of the 25th 
December the Papists met under arms : priests with arque- 
buse in hand were numbered among their ranks. 

Scarcely had the reformed learnt this, when some of them 
running hastily from house to house, knocked at the doors 
and awoke their friends, who, starting out of bed, seized 
their muskets and repaired to the Gardeners' Hall, the ren- 
dezvous of their party. They soon amounted to three 
thousand. 

Both parties passed the night under arms. At every 
moment a civil war, and what is worse, " a war of hearths," 
might break out. It was at last agreed that each party 
should nominate delegates to treat with the senate on this 
matter. The reformed chose thirty men of respectability, 
courage, faith, and experience, who took up their quarters 
at the Gardeners' Hall. The partisans of the ancient faith 
chose also a commission, but less numerous and less re- 
spectable : their station was at the Fishmongers' Hall. The 
council was constantly sitting. All the gates of the city, 
except two, were closed ; strong guards were posted in every 
quarter. Deputies from Lucerne, TJri, Schaffhausen, Zug, 
Schwytz, Mulhausen, and Strasburg, arrived successively. 
The agitation and tumult increased from hour to hour. 

It was necessary to put an end to so violent a crisis. The 
senate, faithful to its ideas of half-measures, decreed that 
the priests should continue to celebrate the mass ; but that 
all, priests and ministers, should preach the Word of God, 
and for this purpose should meet once a- week to confer 
upon the Holy Scriptures. They then called the Lutherans 
together in the Franciscan church, and the Papists in that 
belonging to the Dominicans. The senate first repaired to 
the former church, where they found two thousand five 
hundred citizens assembled. The secretary had hardly read 
the ordinance before a great agitation arose. " That shall 
not be," cried one of the people.* " We will not put up with 
the mass, not even a single one !" exclaimed another ; and all 
repeated, " No mass, no mass, we will die sooner I "{ 

* Quidam e plebe clamitabat : Hoc non fiet ! Zw. Epp. ii. 255. 
t Nos plane ea nou feremus, aut moriemur wanes, Ibid. 



312 BEF01UIED PROPOSITIONS. 

The senate having next visited the Dominican church, all 
the Romanists, to the number of six hundred, among whom 
were many foreign servants, cried out : " We are ready to 
sacrifice our lives for the mass. We swear it, we swear 
it ! " repeated they with uplifted hands. " If they reject the 
mass to arms ! to arms !"* 

The senate withdrew more embarrassed than ever. 

The two parties were again assembled three days after. 
CEcolampadius was in the pulpit. " Be meek and tract- 
able," said he; and he preached with such unction that 
many were ready to burst into tears.-}- The assembly of- 
fered up prayers, and then decreed that it would accept a 
new ordinance, by virtue of which, fifteen days after Pente- 
cost, there should be a public disputation, in which no 
arguments should be employed but such as were drawn 
from the Word of God: after this a general vote should 
take place upon the mass, that the majority should decide 
the question, and that in the meanwhile the mass should 
be celebrated in three churches only ; it being however 
understood, that nothing should be taught there that was in 
opposition to the the Holy Scriptures. 

The Romanist minority rejected these propositions : 
" Basle," said they, " is not like Berne and Zurich. Its 
revenues are derived in great measure from countries op- 
posed to the Reformation ! " The priests having refused to 
resort to the weekly conferences, they were suspended ; and 
during a fortnight there was neither sermon nor mass at the 
cathedral, or in the churches of St. Ulric, St. Peter, and St. 
Theodore. 

Those who remained faithful to Rome resolved upon an 
intrepid defence. Meltinger placed Sebastian Muller in 
the pulpit at St. Peter's, from which he had been inter- 
dicted, and this hot-headed priest vented such abusive 
sarcasms against the Reform, that several of the evangeli- 
cals, who were listening to the sermon, were insulted and 
nearly torn in pieces. 

* At altera pars minitabat praelia si missam rejicerent. Zw. Epp. ii. 255. 
f Ut nemo non commoreretur et profecto fere mihi lacrymas excussis- 
set. Ibid. 



A KIGHT OF TERROR. 3J3 

It was necessary to arouse Basle from this nightmare, 
and strike a decisive blow. " Let us remember our liberty," 
said the reformed citizens, " and what we owe to the glory 
of Christ, to public justice, and to our posterity." * They 
then demanded that the enemies of the Reformation, friends 
and relations of the priests, who were the cause of all 
these delays and of all these troubles, should no longer sit 
in the councils until peace was re-established. This was the 
8th February. The council notified that they would return 
an answer on the morrow. 

At six o'clock in the evening, twelve hundred citizens 
were assembled in the corn-market. They began to fear 
that the delay required by the senate concealed some evil 
design. " We must have a reply this very night," they 
said. The senate was convoked in great haste. 

From that period affairs assumed a more threatening 
attitude in Basle. Strong guards were posted by the 
burghers in the halls of the different guilds; armed men 
patrolled the city, and bivouacked in the public places, to 
anticipate the machinations of their adversaries ;-{- the chains 
were stretched across the. streets ; torches were lighted, and 
resinous trees, whose flickering light scattered the darkness, 
were placed at intervals through the town ; six pieces 
of artillery were planted before the town-hall ; and the gates 
of the city, as well as the arsenal and the ramparts, were 
occupied. Basle was in a state of siege. 

There was no longer any hope for the Romish party. 
The burgomaster, Meltinger, an intrepid soldier and one of 
the heroes of Marignan, where he had led eight hundred men 
into battle, lost courage. In the darkness he gained the 
banks of the Rhine with his son-in-law, the councillor 
Eglof d'Offenburgh, embarked unnoticed in a small boat, 
and rapidly descended the stream amid the fogs of the 
night4 Other members of the council escaped in a similar 
manner. 

* Cogitans qnid glorise Christi, quid justitise publicse, quidquse posteri- 
tati suse deberet. CEcol. Zurich MS. 

f Ne quid forte ab adversariis insidiarum strueretur. Ibid. 
t Clam consccnsa navieula fuga, nescio scnatu, elapsus est. Ibid. 



314 THE IDOLS BROKEN IN THE CATHEDRAL. 

This gave rise to new alarms. " Let us beware of their 
secret manoeuvres," said the people. " Perhaps they are 
gone to fetch the Austrians, with whom they have so often 
threatened us!" The affrighted citizens collected arms from 
every quarter, and at break of day they had two thousand 
men on foot. The beams of the rising sun fell on this 
resolute but calm assembly. 

It was midday. The senate had come to no decision: 
the impatience of the burghers could be restrained no longer. 
Forty men were detached to visit the posts. As this patrol 
was passing the cathedral, they entered it, and one of the 
citizens, impelled by curiosity, opened a closet with his 
halberd, in which some images had been hidden. One of 
them fell out, and was broken into a thousand pieces against 
the stone pavement.* The sight of these fragments power- 
fully moved the spectators, who began throwing down one 
after another all the images that were concealed in this 
place. None of them offered any resistance : heads, feet, 
and hands all were heaped in confusion before the halber- 
diers. " I am much surprised," said Erasmus, " that they 
performed no miracle to save themselves; formerly the 
saints worked frequent prodigies for much smaller offences." f 
Some priests ran to the spot, and the patrol withdrew. 

A rumour, however, having spread that a disturbance 
had taken place in this church, three hundred men came to 
the support of the forty. " Why," said they, " should we 
spare the idols that light up the flames of discord ?" The 
priests in alarm had closed the gates of the sanctuary, drawn 
the bolts, raised barricades, and prepared everything for 
maintaining a siege. But the townspeople, whose patience 
had been exhausted by the delays of the council, dashed 
against one of the doors of the church : it yielded to their 
blows, and they rushed into the cathedral. The hour of 
madness had arrived. These men were no longer recogniz- 
able, as they brandished their swords, rattled their pikes, 
and uttered formidable cries : were they Goths, or fervent 

* Cum halpardis quasi per ludum aperirent armarium idolorum, un- 
umque idolum educerent. CEcol. Zurich MS. 
t Erasm. Opp. p. 201. 



THE HOCK OF MADNESS. 315 

worshippers of God, animated by the zeal which in times of 
yore inflamed the prophets and the kings of Israel ? How- 
ever that may have been, these proceedings were disorderly, 
since public authority alone can interfere in public reforms. 
Images, altars, pictures all were thrown down and de- 
stroyed. The priests who had fled into the vestry, and there 
concealed themselves, trembled in every limb at the terrible 
noise made by the fall of their holy decorations. The work 
of destruction was completed without one of them venturing 
to save the objects of his worship, or to make the slightest 
remonstrance. The people next piled up the fragments in 
the squares and set fire to them ; and during the chilly 
night the armed burghers stood round and warmed them- 
selves at the crackling flame.* 

The senate collected in amazement, and desired to inter- 
pose their authority and appease the tumult ; but they might 
as well have striven to command the winds. The enthusi- 
astic citizens replied to their magistrates in these haughty 
words : " What you have not been able to effect in three 
years, we will complete in one hour." { 

In truth the anger of the people was no longer confined 
to the cathedral. They respected all kinds of private pro- 
perty :J but they attacked the Churches of St. Peter, St. 
Ulric, St. Alban, and of the Dominicans ; and in all these 
temples " the idols " fell under the blows of these good citi- 
zens of Basle, who were inflamed by an extraordinary zeal. 
Already they were making preparations to cross the bridge 
and enter Little Basle, which was devoted to the cause of 
popery, when the alarmed inhabitants begged to be allowed 
to remove the images themselves, and with heavy hearts 
they hastily carried them into~the upper chambers of the 
church, whence they hoped to be able after a time to restore 
them to their old position. 

They did not stop at these energetic demonstrations ; the 
most excited talked of going to the town-hall, and of con- 

* Ligtiis imagiuum usi sunt vigiles, pro arcendo frigore nocturne. 
Zurich MS. 

t De quo vos per triennium deliberastis, nihil efficientes, noa ultra 
boram omnem absolvemus. (Ecol. Capitoni, Basle MS. 

J Nulli enim vel obolum abstulerunt. Ibid. 



316 THE REFORM LEGALIZED. 

straining the senate to accede to the wishes of the people ; 
but the good sense of the majority treated these brawlers as 
they deserved, and checked their guilty thoughts. 

The senators now perceived the necessity of giving a legal 
character to this popular movement, and of thus changing a 
tumultuous revolution into a durable reformation.* Demo- 
cracy and the Gospel were thus established simultaneously in 
Basle. The senate, after an hours deliberation, granted that 
in future the burghers should participate in the election of the 
two councils ; that from this day the mass and images 
should be abolished throughout all the canton, and that in 
every deliberation which concerned the glory of God or the 
good of the state the opinion of the guilds should be taken. 
The people, delighted at having obtained these conditions, 
which secured their political and religious liberty, returned 
joyful to their houses. It was now the close of day.f 

On the morrow, Ash-Wednesday, it was intended to distri- 
bute the ruins of the altars and other ornaments of the church 
among the poor, to serve them for firewood. But these un- 
happy creatures, in their eagerness for the fragments, having 
begun to dispute about them, great piles were constructed in 
the cathedral close and set on fire. " The idols," said some wags, 
"are really keeping their Ash-Wednesday to-day!" The 
friends of popery turned away their horror-stricken eyes from 
this sacrilegious sight, says (Ecolampadius, and shed tears 
of blood. " Thus severely did they treat the idols," continues 
the reformer, " and the mass died of grief in consequence." J 
On the following Sunday hymns in German were sung at 
every church ; and on the 18th February a general amnesty 
was published. Everything was changed in Basle. The 
last had become first, and the first last. While (Ecolampa- 
dius, who a -few years before had entered the city as a 
stranger, without resources and without power, found him- 
self raised to the first station in the Church, Erasmus, dis- 
turbed in the quiet study whence during so long a period he 

* Cedendum plebi. GEcol. Capitoni, Basle MS. 

f His conditionibus plebs laeta domum rediit, sub ipsum noctis crepus- 
culum. Ibid. Zurich MS. 
J Ita sseriium eat in idola, ac missa prse dolore expiraTit. Ibid. 



ERASMUS IN BASLE. 317 

had issued his absolute commands to the world of letters, 
saw himself compelled to descend into the arena. But this 
king of the schools had no desire to lay down his sceptre 
before the sovereign people. For a long time he used to 
turn aside his head when he met his friend (Ecolampadius. 
Besides, he feared by remaining at Basle to compromise 
himself with his protectors. " The torrent," said he, " which 
was hidden underground has burst forth with violence, and 
committed frightful ravages.* My life is in danger : (Eco- 
lampadius possesses all the churches. People are continu- 
ally bawling in my ears ; I am besieged with letters, carica- 
tures, and pamphlets. It is all over : I am resolved to 
leave Basle. Only shall I or shall I not depart by stealth ? 
The one is more becoming, the other more secure." 

Wishing as much as possible to make his honour and his 
prudence agree, Erasmus desired the boatman with whom 
he was to descend the Rhine to depart from an unfrequented 
spot. This was opposed by the senate, and the timid philo- 
sopher was compelled to enter the boat as it lay near the 
bridge, at that time covered with a crowd of people. He 
floated down the river, sadly bade adieu to the city he had 
so much loved, and retired to Friburg in Brisgau with 
several other learned men. 

New professors were invited to fill the vacant chairs in 
the university, and in particular Oswald Myconius, Phrygio, 
Sebastian Munster, and Simon Grynseus. At the same time 
was published an ecclesiastical order and confession of faith, 
one of the most precious documents of this epoch. 

Thus had a great transformation been effected without 
the loss of a single drop of blood. Popery had fallen in 
Basle in despite of the secular and spiritual power. " The 
wedge of the Lord," says (Ecolampadius, " has split this 
hard knot." f 

"We cannot, however, help acknowledging that the Basle 
Reformation may afford ground for some objections. Luther 

* Basilica torrens quid^m. qni sub terra labebatur, subito erumpens, 
&c. Err. Epp. ad Pirkheimer, July 1539. 
f Malo nodo suus cuneua obvenit. CEcol. Capit. 



318 REVOLUTION AND REFORMATION. 

had opposed himself to the power of the many. " When 
the people prick up their ears, do not whistle too loud. It 
is better to suffer at the hand of one tyrant, that is to say, 
of a king, than of a thousand tyrants, that is to say, of the 
people." On this account the German Reformer has been 
reproached for acknowledging no other policy than servilism. 

Perhaps when the Swiss Reformation is canvassed, a con- 
trary objection will be made against it, and the Reform at 
Basle in particular, will be looked upon as a revolution. 

The Reformation must of necessity bear the stamp of the 
country in which it is accomplished : it will be monarchical 
in Germany, republican in Switzerland. Nevertheless, in 
religion as in politics, there is a great difference between 
reformation and revolution. 

In no sphere does Christianity desire either despotism, 
servitude, stagnation, retrogression, or death. But while 
looking for progress, it seeks to accomplish it by reformation 
and not by revolution. 

Reformation works by the power of the "Word, of doctrine, 
cultivation, and truth; while revolution, or rather revolt, 
operates by the power of riot, of the sword, and of the club. 

Christianity proceeds by the inner man, and charters 
themselves, if they stand alone, cannot satisfy it. No doubt 
political constitutions are one of the blessings of our age ; 
but it is not sufficient for these securities to be committed to 
parchment ; they must be written in the heart, and guaran- 
teed by the manners of the people. 

Such were the principles of the Swiss Reformers ; such 
were those of the Reform at Basle, and by these it is dis- 
tinguished from a revolution. 

There were, it is true, some excesses. Never perhaps has 
a reformation been accomplished among men without some 
mixture of revolution. But it was doctrines, however, that 
were in question at Basle: these doctrines had acted 
powerfully on the moral convictions and on the lives of the 
people; the movement had taken place within before it 
showed itself without. But more than this : the Reformation 
was not satisfied with taking away ; it gave more than it 



AREL'S COMMISSION. 319 

took; and, far from confining itself to the work of destruc- 
tion, it scattered rich blessings over all the people.* 



CHAPTER VI. 

larel's Commission Farel at Lausanne and Morat Neufchatel Farel 
preaches at Serriere Enters Neufchatel -Sermon The Monks 
Farel's Preaching Popery in Neufchatel Canons and Monks unite 
Farel at Morat and in the Vully Reformation of the Bishopric of 
Basle Farel again in Neufchatel Placards The Hospital Chapel 
Civil Power invoked by the Romanists. 

THE recoil of the discussion at Berne had overthrown 
Popery in a considerable part of German Switzerland. It 
was also felt in many of the churches of French Switzerland, 
lying at the foot of the Jura, or scattered amid the pine- 
forests of its elevated valleys, and which up to this time had 
shown the most absolute devotion to the Roman pontiff. 

Farel, seeing the Gospel established in the places where 
the Rhone mingles its sandy waters with the crystal Leman, 
turned his eyes to another quarter. He was supported by 
Berne. This state, which possessed jointly with Friburg 
, the bailiwicks of Morat, Orbe, and Granson, and which had 
alliances with Lausanne, Avenches, Payerne, Neufchatel, and 
Geneva, saw that both its interest and its duty alike called 
it to have the Gospel preached to its allies and subjects. 
Farel was empowered to carry it among them, provided he 
obtained the consent of the respective governments. 

One day, therefore, journeying towards Morat, Farel 
arrived and preached the Gospel at the foot of those towers 
and battlements that had been attacked at three different 
periods by the armies of Conrad the Salic, Rodolph of 
Hapsburg, and Charles the Bold. Erelong the friends of 
the Reform amounted to a great number. A general vote 
having nevertheless declared in favour of the Pope, Farel 
proceeded to Lausanne. 

* Hagenbach, Vorlesungen, ii. 125, 200. 



320 FAREL AT LAUSANNE. 

He was at first driven away by the bishop and the clergy, 
but soon reappeared provided with a letter from the lords of 
Berne. " We send him to you," said their excellencies to 
the authorities of the city, " to defend his own cause and 
ours. Allow him to preach the Word of God, and beware 
that you touch not a hair of his head." 

There was great confusion in the councils. Placed 
between Berne and the bishop, what could they do ? The 
Council of Twenty-four, finding the matter very serious, 
convoked the Council of Sixty; and this body excusing 
itself, they convoked the Council of Two Hundred, on the 
14th November 1529. But these in their turn referred the 
business to the Smaller Council. No one would have any- 
thing to do with it. The inhabitants of Lausanne, it is true, 
complained loudly of the holy members of their chapters, 
whose lives (they said) were one long train of excesses ; but 
when their eyes turned on the austere countenance of 
Reform, they were still more terrified. Besides, how de- 
prive Lausanne of her bishop, her court, and her dignitaries? 
What ! no more pilgrims in the churches, no more suitors 
in the ecclesiastical courts, no more purchasers in the 
markets, or boon companions in the taverns ! The widowed 
and desolate Lausanne would no longer behold the noisy 
throng of people, that were at once her wealth and her 
glory ! Better far a disorder that enriches, than a reform that 
impoverishes ! Farel was compelled to depart a second time. 

He returned to Morat, and soon the Word gained over 
the hearts of the people. On feast-days, the roads from 
Payerne and Avenches were covered with merry bands, who 
laughingly said to one another, " Let us go to Morat and 
hear the preachers !" and exhorted each other slily, as they 
went along the road, " not to fall into the nets of the 
heretics." But at night, all was changed. Grasped by the 
strong hand of truth, these very people returned, some in 
deep thought, others discussing with animation the doctrines 
they had heard. The fire was sparkling throughout all this 
district, and spreading in every direction its long rays of 
light. This was enough for Farel: he required new con- 
quests. 



NEUFCHATEL. 381 

At a short distance from Morat lay one of the strongholds 
of Popery the earldom of Neufchatel. Joan of Hochberg, 
who had inherited this principality from her ancestors, had 
married, in 1504, Louis of Orleans, duke of Longueville. 
This French nobleman having supported the King of France 
in 1512, in a war against the Swiss, the cantons had taken 
possession of Neufchatel, but had restored it to his widow 
in 1529. 

Few countries could have presented greater difficulties to 
the daring reformer. The Princess of Longuevillc, residing 
in France in the suite of Francis I., a woman of courtly 
habits, vain, extravagant, always in debt, and thinking of 
Neufchatel only as a farm that should bring her in a large 
revenue, was devoted to the Pope and Popery. Twelve 
canons with several priests and chaplains formed a powerful 
clergy, at whose head was the provost Oliver of Hochberg, 
natural brother to the princess. Auxiliaries full of zeal 
flanked this main army. On the one side there was the 
abbey of the Premonstrantes of Fontaine-Andre, three 
quarters of a league beyond the town, the monks of which, 
after having in the twelfth century cleared the ground with 
their own hands,* had gradually become powerful lords 
and, on the other side, the Benedictines of the Island of St 
John, whose abbot, having been deposed by the Bernese, 
had taken refuge, burning with hatred and vengeance, in his 
priory at Corceiles. 

The people of Neufchatel had a great respect for ancient 
rights, and it was easy to take advantage of this state of 
feeling, considering the general ignorance, to maintain the 
innovations of Popery. The canons improved the oppor- 
tunity. For the instructions of the Gospel they substituted 
pomps and shows. The church, situated on a steep rock, 
was filled with altars, chapels, and images of saints; and 
religion, descending from this sanctuary, ran up and down 
the streets, and was travestied in dramas and mysteries, 
mingled with indulgences, miracles, and debauchery. -{ 

The soldiers of Neufchatel, however, who had made the 

* Propriis manibus. Hist, of Neufchatel, by F. de Chambrier, p. IS. 
f Memoires sur 1'Eglise collegiale de Neufchatel, p. 240. 
VOL. IV. 15 



322 FAREL PREACHES AT SERRIERE. 

campaign of 1529 with the Bernese army, brought back to 
their homes the liveliest enthusiasm for the evangelical 
cause. It was at this period that a frail boat, quitting the 
southern bank of the lake, on the side opposite Morat, and 
carrying a Frenchman of mean appearance, steered towards 
the Neufchatel shore. Farel, for it was he, had learnt that 
the village of Serriere, situated at the gates of Neufchatel, 
depended as to spiritualities on the evangelical city of Bienne, 
and that Emer Beynon, the priest of the place, " had some 
liking for the Gospel." The plan of his campaign was im- 
mediately drawn up. He appeared before parson Emer, who 
received him with joy ; but what could be done ? for Farel had 
been interdicted from preaching in any church whatever in 
the earldom. The poor priest thought to reconcile every- 
thing by permitting Farel to mount on a stone in the ceme- 
tery, and thus preach to the people, turning his back upon 
the church.* 

A great disturbance arose in Neufchatel. On one side 
the government, the canons, and the priests, cried, " Heresy !" 
but on the other, " some inhabitants of Neufchatel, to whom 
God had given a knowledge of the truth,"-}- flocked to Serriere. 
In a short time these last could not contain themselves: 
" Come," said they to Farel, " and preach to us in the town." 

This was at the beginning of December. They entered 
by the gate of the castle, and leaving the church on the hill 
to the left, they passed in front of the canons' houses, and 
descended to the narrow streets inhabited by the citizens. 
On reaching the market-cross, Farel ascended a platform and 
addressed the crowd, which gathered together from all the 
neighbourhood, weavers, vine-dressers, husbandmen, a 
worthy race, possessing more feeling than imagination. 
The preacher's exterior was grave, his discourse energetic, 
his voice like thunder : his eyes, his features, his gestures, 
all showed him a man of intrepidity. The citizens, accus- 
tomed to run about the streets after the mountebanks, were 

* M. de Perrot, ex-pastor of Serriere, and author of a work entitled 
" L'Eglise et la Reformation," haa shown me the stone on which Farel 
stood. 

t " Aucuus de Neufchatel, auxquels Dieu avaient donne connoissance 
d la yerite," &c. Choupard MS. 



THE MONKS FAREI,'s PREACHING. 323 

touched by his powerful language. " Farel preached a ser- 
mon of such great efficacy," says a manuscript, " that he 
gained over much people."* 

Some monks, however, Avith shaven crownsf glided among 
his hearers, seeking to excite them against the heretical 
minister. " Let us beat out his brains," said some. " Duck 
him, duck him !" cried others, advancing to throw Farel into 
a fountain, which may still be seen near the spot where he 
preached. But the reformer stood firm. 

This first preaching was succeeded by others. To this 
Gospel missionary every place was a church ; every stone, 
every bench, every platform was a pulpit. Already the cut- 
ting winds and the snows of December should have kept the 
Neufchatelans around their firesides ; " the canons made a 
vigorous defence ;" J and in every quarter " the shorn crowns" 
were in agitation, supplicating, menacing, shouting, and 
threatening, but all was useless. No sooner did this man of 
small stature rise up in any place, with his pale yet sunburnt 
complexion, with red and uncombed beard, with sparkling 
eye and expressive mouth, than the monks' labour was lost : 
the people collected around him, for it was the Word of God 
that fell from his lips. All eyes were fixed on him : with 
open mouth and attentive ears they hung upon his words. || 
And scarcely did he begin to speak, when Oh 1 wonderful 
work of God ! he himself exclaims this multitude believed 
as if it had but one soul. 

The Word of God carried the town, as it were, at the first 
assault ; and throwing down the devices Rome had taken 
ages to compose, established itself in triumph on the ruins 
of human traditions. Farel saw in imagination Jesus 
Christ himself walking in spirit through the midst of this 
crowd, opening the eyes of the blind, softening the hard 

heart, and working miracles^]" so that scarcely had he 

returned to his humble residence before he wrote to his 

* Quoted in the Choupard MS. 

t Rasorum remoramenta. Farellus Molano, Neufchatel MS. 

J Contra tyrannica prsecepta. Ibid. 

Ad Terbum festinarent. Ibid. 

|| Avide audientes. Ibid. 

If Quid Christus in suis egerit. Ibid. 



324 POPERY IN NEUFCHATKI.. 

friends with a heart full of emotion : " Render thanks with 
me to the Father of mercies, in that he has shown his favour 
to those bowed down hy a weighty tyranny ;" and falling on 
his knees, he worshipped God.* 

But during this time what were the adherents of the pope 
doing in Neufchatel ? 

The canons, members of the General Audiences, of which 
they formed the first estate, treated both priests and laymen 
with intolerable haughtiness. Laying the burden of their 
offices on poor curates, they publicly kept dissolute women, 
clothed them sumptuously, endowed their children by public 
acts, fought in the church, haunted the streets by night, or 
went into a foreign country to enjoy in secret the produce of 
their avarice and of their intrigues. Some poor lepers placed 
in a house near the city were maintained by the produce of 
certain offerings. The rich canons, in the midst of their 
banquets, dared take away the bread of charity from these 
unhappy wretches. 

The Abbey of Fontaine-Andre was at a little distance 
from the town. Now the canons of Neufchatel and the 
monks of Fontaine were at open war. These hostile powers, 
encamped on their two hills, disputed each other's property, 
wrested away each other's privileges, launched at one an- 
other the coarsest insults, and even came to blows. " De- 
baucher of women ! " said the canons to the Abbot of 
Fontaine-Andre', who returned the compliment in the same 
coin. It is the Reformation which, through faith, has re- 
established the moral law in Christendom, a law that 
Popery had trodden under foot. 

For a long time these conventual wars had disturbed the 
country. On a sudden they ceased. A strange event was 
passing in Neufchatel, the "Word of God was preached 
there. The canons, seized with affright in the midst of their 
disorders, looked down from their lofty dwellings on this 
new movement. The report reached Fontaine- Andre. The 
monks and priests suspended their orgies and their quarrels. 



* Gratias ergo, Fratres, mecum agite Patri misericordiarum, quod sit 
propitius gravi pressis tirannide. Far. Mol. Neufchatel MS. 



THE CANONS AND MONKS UNITE. 325 

The heathen sensualism that had invaded the Church was 
put to the rout ; Christian spiritualism had reappeared. 

Immediately the monks and canons, so long at war, em- 
brace and unite against the reformer. " We imist save 
religion," said they, meaning their tithes, banquets, scandals, 
and privileges. Not one of them could oppose a doctrine to 
the doctrine preached by Farel : to insult him was their sole 
weapon. At Corcelles, however, they went farther. As the 
minister was proclaiming the Gospel near the priory, the 
monks fell upon him: in the midst of them was the prior 
Rodolph de Benoit, storming, exciting, and striving to aug- 
ment the tempest. He even had a dagger in his hand, ac- 
cording to one writer.* Farel escaped with difficulty. 

This was not enough. Popery, as it has always done, 
had recourse to the civil power. The canons, the abbot, 
and the prior, solicited the governor George de Rive at the 
same time. Farel stood firm. " The glory of Jesus Christ," 
said he, " and the lively affection his sheep bear to his 
"Word, constrain me to endure sufferings greater than tongue 
can describe." -j- Erelong, however, he was compelled to 
yield. Farel again crossed the lake ; but this passage was 
very different from the former. The fire was kindled ! On 
the 22d December he was at Morat ; and shortly after at 
Aigle. 

He was recalled thence. On the 7th January, religion 
was put to the vote at Morat, and the majority was in 
favour of the Gospel. But the Romish minority, supported 
by Friburg, immediately undertook to recover its ancient 
position by insults and bad treatment. " Farel ! Farel ! " 
cried the reformed party 4 

A few days after this, Farel, accompanied by a Bernese 
messenger, scaled that magnificent amphitheatre of moun- 
tains above Vevay, whence the eye plunges into the waters 
of the Leman ; and soon he crossed the estates of Count 
John of Gruyere, who was in the habit of saying, "We 

* Rosselet in Annotat. Farel Leben von Kirchofer. 
f At levia facit omnia Christus, added he. Farel to Dumoulin, 15th 
December. Neufchatel MS. 
Choupard MS. Chambrier, Hist, do Neufchatel, p. 293. 



326 FABEL IN MORAT AND THE VULLY. 

must burn this French Luther !"* Scarcely had Farel 
reached the heights of Saint Martin de Vaud,-{- when he 
saw the vicar of the place with two priests running to meet 
him. "Heretic! devil!" cried they. But the knight, 
through fear of Berne, remained behind his walls, and Farel 
passed on. 

The reformer, not allowing himself to be stopped by the 
necessity of defending himself in Morat, or by the inclemency 
of the season, immediately carried the Gospel to those beauti- 
ful hills that soar between the smiling waters of lakes Morat 
and Neufchatel into the villages of the Vully. This ma- 
noeuvre was crowned with the most complete success. On 
the 15th February four deputies from the Vully came to 
Morat to demand permission to embrace the Reform, which 
was immediately granted them. " Let our ministers preach 
the Gospel," said their excellencies of Berne to the Friburg- 
ers, " and we will let your priests play their monkey tricks. 
We desire to force no man."J The Reform restored freedom 
of will to the Christian people. It was about this time that 
Farel wrote his beautiful letter " To all lords, people, and 
pastors," which we have so often quoted. 

The indefatigable reformer now went forward to new con- 
quests. A chain of rocks separates the Juran valley of 
Erguel, already evangelized by Farel, from the country of 
the ancient Rauraci, and a passage cut through the rock 
serves as a communication between the two districts. It 
was the end of April when Farel, passing through the 
Pierre-Pertuis,\\ descended to the village of Tavannes, and 
entered the church just as the priest was saying mass. 
Farel went into the pulpit : the astonished priest stopped, 
the minister filled his hearers with emotion, and seemed to 
them an angel come down from heaven. Immediately the 
images and the altars fell, and " the poor priest who was 

* Missive of Berne to the Count of Gruyere, 5th and 16th January 
1530. 

t To the left of the modern road from Vevay to Friburg. 

J Missive of Berne, Choupard MS. 

A tons seigneurs, peuples, et pasteurs. See above, Vol. III. 
book xii. 

U Petra Pertusa. 



FARKL AGAIN IN NEUFCHATEL, PLACARDS. 32Y 

chanting the mass could not finish it."* To put down 
Popery had required less time than the priest had spent at 
the altar. 

A great part of the bishopric of Basle was in a few weeks 
gained over to the Reformation. 

During this time the Gospel was fermenting in Neufchatel. 
The young men who had marched with Berne to deliver 
Geneva from the attacks of Savoy, recounted in their jovial 
meetings the exploits of the campaign, and related how the 
soldiers of Berne, feeling cold, had taken the images from 
the Dominican church at Geneva, saying : " Idols of wood 
are of no use but to make a fire with in winter." 

Farel re-appeared in Neufchatel. -{- Being master of the 
lower part of the town, he raised his eyes to the lofty rocks 
on which soared the cathedral and the castle. The best plan, 
thought he, is to bring these proud priests down to us. One 
morning his young friends spread themselves in the streets, 
and posted up large placards bearing these words : " All 
those who say mass are robbers, murderers, and seducers of 
the people. $ Great was the uproar in Neufchatel. The 
canons summoned their people, called together the clerks, 
and marching at the head of a large troop, armed with swords 
and clubs, descended into the town, tore down the sacrilegi- 
ous placards, and cited Farel before the tribunal as a slan- 
derer, demanding ten thousand crowns damages. 

The two parties appeared in court, and this was all that 
Farel desired. " I confess the fact," said he, " but I am 
justified in what I have done. Where are there to be found 
more horrible murderers than these seducers who sell para- 
dise, and thus nullify the merits of our Lord Jesus Christ ? I 
will prove my assertion by the Gospel." And he prepared to 
open it, when the canons, flushed with anger, cried out: " The 
common law of Neufchatel, and not the Gospel, is in question 
hereJ Where are the witnesses ?" But Farel, constantly re- 
verting to that fearful assertion, proved by the Word of God 

* Done le pauvre pretre qui chantoit sa mease ne la peut pas achever. 
Old MS. quoted in the Choupard MS. 

f Farellus suo more magua fortitudine jam-jam agit. Megander to 
Zwingle, 6th Aug. 1530. 

t De Cbambrier, Hist, de Neufchatel, i. 293. 



328 THE HOSPITAL CHAPEL. 

that the canons were really guilty of murder and robbery, 
To plead such a cause was to ruin Popery. The court of 
Neufchatel, that had never heard a similar case, resolved 
according to ancient custom to lay it before the council of 
Besanon,* which not daring to pronounce the first estate of 
the General Audiences guilty of murder and robbery, referre:! 
the matter to the emperor and to a general council. Bad 
causes gain nothing by making a disturbance. 

At every step they wished to drive him back, Farel made 
one in advance. The streets and the houses were still his 
temple. One day when the people of Neufchatel were around 
him, " Why," cried they, " should not the Word of God be 
proclaimed in a church ? " They then hurried Farel along with 
them, opened the doors of the Hospital Chapel, set the minis- 
ter in the pulpit, and a numerous crowd stood silent before 
him. " In like manner as Jesus Christ, appearing in a state 
of poverty and humility, was born in a stable at Bethlehem," 
said the reformer ; " fio this hospital, this abode of the sick 
and of the poor, is to-day become his birthplace in the town 
of Neufchatel." Then feeling ill at ease in the presence of 
the painted and carved figures that decorated the chapel, he 
laid his hands on these objects of idolatry, removed them, 
and broke them in pieces. -J- 

Popery, which anger had blinded, now took a step that it 
undoubtedly had a right to take, but which destroyed it : it 
had recourse to the secular arm, and the governor sent a 
deputation to the Bernese council, praying the removal of 
Farel and his companions. 

But almost at the same time deputies from the towns- 
people arrived at Berne. " Did not these hands bear arms 
at Interlaken and at Bremgarten to STipport your Eeforma- 
tion?" said they, " and will you abandon us in ours ?" 

Berne hesitated. A public calamity was at that time fill- 
ing the whole city with mourning. One of the most illustri- 
ous citizens of the republic, the Banneret of Weingarten, 
attacked by the plague, was expiring amid the tears of his 
sons and of his fellow-citizens. Being informed of the ar- 
rival of the Neufchatelans, he rallied his waning strength : 
* Prendre les cntraives. + Choupard MS. 



VALANGIN GUILLEMETTE DE VEROY.- 329 

" Go," said he, " and beg the senate in ray name to ask for 
a general assembly of the people of Neufchatel for Sunday 
next."* This message of the dying banneret decided the 
council. 

The deputies from Berne arrived in Neufchatel on the 7th 
August. Farel thought that during the debates he had time 
to make a new conquest, and quitted the city. His zeal can 
be compared only to St. Paul's. His body was small and 
feeble, but his activity was wholly apostolic: danger and 
bad treatment wasted him every day, but he had within him 
a divine power that rendered him victorious. 



CHAPTER VII. 

Valangin Guillemette do Vergy Farel goes to the Val de Ruz The 
Mass interrupted Farel dragged to the River Farel in Prison 
Apostles and Reformers compared Farel preaching at Neufchatel 
Installed in the Cathedral A Whirlwind sweeps over the People The 
Idols destroyed Interposition of the Governor Triumph of the Re- 
formed. 

AT the distance of a league from Neufchatel, beyond the 
mountain, extends the Val de Ruz, and near its entrance, in 
a precipitous situation, where roars an impetuous torrent 
surrounded by steep crags, stands the town of Valangin. An 
old castle, built on a rock, raises its vast walls into the air, 
overlooking the humble dwellings of the townspeople, and 
extending its jurisdiction over five valleys of these lofty and 
severe mountains, at that time covered with forests of pine, 
but now peopled by the most active industry.-}- 

In this castle dwelt Guillemette de Vergy, dowager- 
countess of Valangin, strongly attached to the Romish reli~ 
gion and full of respect for the memory of her husband. 
A hundred priests had chanted high mass at the count's 

" Wingarterus iste infeotu.s peste apud senatum nostrum, pia legatione. 
Megander to Zwingle. 

t Here are situated Chaux de Fonds, Locle, &c. 
15* 



330 FAREL GOES TO THE VAL DE RUZ. 

burial ; when many penitent young women had been married, 
and large alms distributed; the curate of Lode had been 
sent to Jerusalem, and Guillemette herself had made a pil- 
grimage for the repose of the soul of her departed lord. 

Sometimes, however, the Countess of Gruyere and other 
ladies would come and visit the widow of Vergy, who assem- 
bled in the castle a number of young lords. The fife and 
tambourine re-echoed under its vaulted roofs, chattering 
groups collected in the immense embrasures of its Gothic 
windows, and merry dances followed hard upon a long silence 
and gloomy devotion.* There was but one sentiment that 
never left Guillemette this was her hatred against the Re- 
formation, in which she was warmly seconded by her intend- 
ant, the Sieur of Bellegarde. 

Guillemette and the priests had in fact reason to tremble. 
The 15th August was a great Romish festival Our Lady 
of August, or the Assumption, which all the faithful of the 
Val de Ruz were preparing to keep. This was the very 
day Farel selected. Animated by the fire and courage of 
Elijah, he set out for Valangin, and a young man, his 
fellow-countryman, and, as it would appear, a distant rela- 
tion, Anthony Boyve, an ardent Christian and a man of 
decided character, accompanied him.-]- The two missionaries 
climbed the mountain, plunged into the pine forest, and 
then descending again into the valley, traversed Valangiu, 
where the vicinity of the castle did not give them much en- 
couragement to pause, and arrived at a village, probably 
Boudevilliers, proposing to preach the Gospel there.J 

Already on all sides the people were thronging to the 
church ; Farel and his companion entered also with a small 
number of the inhabitants who had heard him at Neufchatel. 
The reformer immediately ascended the pulpit, and the 

Chambrier, Hist, de Neufchatel, p. 276. 

t Annals of Boyve and a family MS. This family has since given 
several pastors to the Church of Neufchatel. 

J There are two original manuscripts (both quoted in the Choupard 
MS.) which give an account of this transaction. One says that Farel 
preached at Valangin, the other indicates a village near Valangin. 
Ruchat has adopted the former version ; I think the latter preferable. 
The second MS. appears to me older and more correct than the first. 



THE MASS INTERRUPTED. 331 

priest prepared to celebrate mass. The combat began. 
While Farel was preaching Jesus Christ and his promises, 
the priest and the choir were chanting the missal. The 
solemn moment approached : the ineffable transubstantiation 
was about to take place : the priest pronounced the sacred 
words over the elements. At this instant the people hesi- 
tate no longer; ancient habits, an irresistible influence, 
draw them towards the altar ; the preacher is deserted ; the 
kneeling crowd has recovered its old worship ; Rome is 

triumphant Suddenly a young man springs from the 

throng, traverses the choir, rushes to the altar, snatches 
the host from the hands of the priest, and cries, as he turns 
towards the people : " This is not the God whom you 
should worship. He is above, in heaven, in the majesty 
of the Father, and not, as you believe, in the hands of a 
priest." * This man was Anthony Boyve. 

Such a daring act at first produced the desired effect. 
The mass was interrupted, the chanting ceased, and the 
crowd, as if struck by a supernatural intervention, remained 
eilent and motionless. Farel, who was still in the pulpit, 
immediately took advantage of this calm, and proclaimed 
that Christ " whom the heaven must receive until the times 
of restitution of all things." { Upon this the priests and 
choristers with their adherents rushed to the towers, ran 
up into the belfry, and sounded the tocsin. 

These means succeeded: a crowd was collected, and if 
Farel had not retired, his death and Boyve's would have 
been inevitable. " But God," says the chronicle, " delivered 
them." They crossed the interval that separates Boude- 
villiers from Valangin, and drew near the steep gorges of 
the torrent of the Seyon. But how traverse that town, 
which the tocsin had already alarmed ? 

Leaving Chaumont and its dark forests to the left, these 
two heralds of the Gospel took a narrow path that wound 
beneath the castle: they were stealing cautiously along, 
when suddenly a shower of stones assailed them, and at the 
same time a score of individuals, priests, men, and women, 
armed with clubs, fell furiously upon them. " The priests 
* Choupard MS t Acts iii, 21. 



332 FAREL DRAGGED TO THE RIVER. 

had not the gout either in their feet or arms," says a 
chronicler ; " the ministers were so beaten, that they nearly 
lost their lives." * 

Madame de Vergy, who descended to the terrace, far from 
moderating the anger of the priests, cried out : " Drown 
them drown them ! throw them into the Seyon these 
Lutheran dogs, who have despised the host !"f In fact, the 
priests were beginning to drag the two heretics towards the 
bridge. Never was Farel nearer death. 

On a sudden, from behind the last rock that hides Valan- 
gin in the direction of the mountain, there appeared " certain 
good persons of the Val de Ruz, coming from Neufchatel " $ 
and descending into the valley. " What are you doing ?" 
asked they of the priests, with the intention no doubt of 
saving Farel ; " put them rather in a place of safety, that 
they may answer for their proceedings ? Would you deprive 
yourselves of the only means in your power of discovering 
those infected by the poison of heresy ?" 

The priests left off at these words, and conducted the 
prisoners to the castle. As they were passing before a little 
chapel, which contained an image of the virgin, "Kneel 
down," said they to Farel and Boyve, showing them the 
statue; "prostrate yourselves before Our Lady!" "Farel 
began to admonish them : " Worship one God alone in 
spirit and in truth," said he to them, " and not dumb images 
without life or power." But they, continues the chronicle, 
" greatly vexed at his words and his firmness, inflicted on 
him so many blows, that he was covered with blood, which 
even spirted on the walls of the chapel. For a long time 
after the traces of it might still be seen." 

They resumed their march they entered the town they 

* Les pretres n'avoient pas la goutte aux pieds et aux bras, et ils les 
battirent tellement que peu s'en fallut qu'ils ne perdissent la vie. Chou- 
pard MS. 

f A 1'eau ! a 1'eau ! jettez les dans le Seyon cos chiens de Lutherieus 
qui ont meprise le bon Dieu ! Ibid. J Ibid. 

Choupard MS. Mais eux, rudement faches de ses propos et con- 
stance, lui donnerent tant do coups, qu'ils le mirent tout en sang, jusques 
la que son sang jaillissoit sur les murailles de la chapelle. On en voyoit 
long temps apres encore les marques. 



PAREL IN PRISON. 333 

climbed the steep road that led to the esplanade where 
Guillemette de Vergy and her attendants waited for the 
' Lutherans ;" so that, continues the chronicle, " from beat- 
ing them thus continually, they were conducted all covered 
with filth and blood to the prisons, and let down almost 
lifeless into the dungeon (croton) of the castle of Valangin." 
Thus had Paul at Lystra been stoned by the Jews, drawn 
out of the city, and left for dead.* The apostles and the 
reformers preached the same doctrine and suffered the same 
treatment. 

It may perhaps be said, that Farel andvBoyve were too 
violent in their attack ; but the Church of the Middle Ages, 
which had fallen back into the legal spirit of Judaism, and into 
all the corruptions that flow from it, needed an energetic oppo- 
sition to lead it again to the principle of grace. Augustine 
and St. Paul reappeared in the Church of the sixteenth cen- 
tury ; and when we read of Boy ve rushing in great emotion 
on those who were about to worship the bread of the mass, 
may we not recall to mind the action of St. Paul, rending 
his clothes, and running in among the people, who were 
desirous of worshipping " men of like passions with them- 
selves ?" f 

Farel and Boyve, thrust into the dungeons of the castle, 
could, like Paul and Silas in the prison at Philippi, " sing 
praises unto God." Messire de Bellegarde, ever ready to 
persecute the Gospel, was preparing for them a cruel end, 
when some townsmen of Neufchatel arrived to claim them. 
Madame de Valangin dared not refuse, and at the demand 
of the Bernese even instituted an inquiry, " to put a good 
face on the matter," says a manuscript. " Nevertheless the 
priest who had beaten Farel most, never after failed to eat 
daily at the lady's table, by way of recompense."^: But 
this was of little consequence : the seed of truth had been 
sown in the Val de Ruz. 

At Neufchatel the Bernese supported the evangelical citi- 
zens. The governor, whose resources were exhausted, sent 
deputies to the princess, " begging her to cross the mountains, 
* Acts xiv. 19. t Ibid. 14. Choupard MS. 



334 FAREL PREACHING AT NEUFCHATEL. 

to appease her people, who were in terrible trouble in con- 
sequence of this Lutheran religion." * 

Meantime the ferment increased. The townspeople prayed 
the canons to give up the mass : they refused ; whereupon 
the citizens presented them their reasons in writing, and 
begged them to discuss the question with Farel. Still the 
same refusal I " But, for goodness' sake, speak either for or 
against !" It was all of no use ! 

On Sunday, the 23d of October, Farel, who had returned 
to Neufchatel, was preaching at the hospital. He knew that 
the magistrates of the city had deliberated on the expediency 
of consecrating the cathedral itself to the evangelical wor- 
ship. " What then," said he, " will you not pay as much 
honour to the Gospel as the other party does to the mass ? 

And if this superstitious act is celebrated in the high 

church, shall not the Gospel be proclaimed there also?" 
At these words all his hearers arose. "To the church!" 
cried they ; " to the church !" Impetuous men are desirous 
of putting their hands to the work, to accomplish what the 
prudence of the burgesses had proposed.-}- They leave the 
hospital, and take Farel with them. They climb the steep 
street of the castle: in vain would the canons and their 
frightened followers stop the crowd : they force a passage. 
Convinced that they are advancing for God's glory, nothing 
can check them. Insults and shouts assail them from every 
side, but in the name of the truth they are defending, they 
proceed : they open the gates of the Church of our Lady ; 
they enter, and here a fresh struggle begins. The canons 
and their friends assembled around the pulpit endeavour to 
stop Farel ; but all is useless. They have not to deal with 
a band of rioters. God has pronounced in his Word, and 

* Letter from the Governor to the Princess. 

f This is the conclusion 1 draw from various papers, and in particular 
from the report of the meeting held at Neufchatel by the Bernese depu- 
ties, in which the heads of the burgesses declare, that it appeared to them 
a very good matter to take down the altars, &c. Hitherto only one phasis 
of this action has been seen, the popular movement ; and the other, 
namely, the legal resolution of the magistrates of the city, appears to 
have been overlooked. 



A WHIRLWIND SWEEPS OVER THE PEOPLE. 336 

the magistrates themselves have passed a definitive resolu- 
tion. The townspeople advance, therefore, against the 
sacerdotal coterie ; they form a close battalion, in the centre 
of which they place the reformer. They succeed in making 
their way through the opposing crowd, ard at last place the 
minister in the pulpit without any harm befalling him.* 

Immediately all is calm within the church and without j 
even the adversaries are silent, and Farel delivers " one of 
the most effective sermons he had hitherto preached." Their 
eyes are opened ; their emotion increases ; their hearts are 
melted ; the most obstinate appear converted ; and from every 
part of the old church these cries resound : " We will follow 
the evangelical religion, both we and our children, and in it 
will we live and die." -J- 

Suddenly a whirlwind, as it were, sweeps over this multi- 
tude, and stirs it up like a vast sea. Farel's hearers desire 
to imitate the pious King Josiah.J " If we take away these 
idols from before our eyes, will it not be aiding us," said 
they, " in taking them from our own hearts ? Once these 
idols broken, how many souls among our fellow-citizens, 
now disturbed and hesitating, will be decided by this striking 
manifestation of the truth ! We must save them as it were 
by fire." 

This latter motive decided them, and then began a scene 
that filled the Romanists with horror, and which must, 
according to them, bring down the terrible judgment of God 
on the city. 

The very spot where this took place would seem to add to 
its solemnity. To the north, the castle-walls rise above the 
pointed crags of the gloomy but picturesque valley of the 
Seyon, and the mountain in front of the castle presents to 
the observer's eye little more than bare rocks, vines, and 
black firs. But to the south, beneath the terrace on which 
this tumultuous scene was passing, lay the wide and tran- 
quil waters of the lake, with its fertile and picturesque 
shores ; and in the distance the continuous summits of the 
higher Alps, with their dazzling snows, their immense gla- 

* Choupard MS. + Ibid. J 2 Chron. xxxiv. 7. Choupard MS. 



336 THE IDOLS DESTROYED. 

ciers, and gigantic peaks, stretch far away before the enrap- 
tured eye. 

On this platform the people of Neufchatel were in commo- 
tion, paying little attention to these noble scenes of nature. 
The governor, whose castle adjoined the church, was com- 
pelled to remain an idle spectator of the excesses that he 
could not prevent ; he was content to leave us a description 
of them. " These daring fellows," says he, " seize mattocks, 
hatchets, and hammers, and thus march against the images 
of the saints." They advance they strike the statues and 
the altars they dash them to pieces. The figures carved 
in the fourteenth century by the " imagers " of Count Louis 
are not spared ; and scarcely do the statues of the counts 
themselves, which were mistaken for idols, escape destruc- 
tion. The townspeople collect all these fragments of an 
idolatrous worship ; they carry them out of the church, and 
throw them from the top of the rock. The paintings meet 
with no better treatment. " It is the devil," thought they 
with the early Christians, " who taught the world this art of 
statues, images, and all sorts of likenesses."* They tear 
out the eyes in the pictures of the saints, and cut off their 
noses. The crucifix itself is thrown down, for this wooden 
figure usurps the homage that Jesus Christ claims in the 
heart. One image, the most venerated of all, still remains : 
it is our Lady of Mercy, which Mary of Savoy had presented 
to the collegiate church ; but Our Lady herself is not spared. 
A hand more daring than the rest strikes it, as in the fourth 
century the colossal statue of Serapis was struck,-}- " They 
have even bored out the eyes of Our Lady of Mercy, which 
the departed lady your mother had caused to be made," 
wrote the governor to the Duchess of Longueville. 

The reformed went still further : they seized the patens 
in which lay the corpus Domini, and flung them from the 
top of the rock into the torrent ; after which, being desirous 
of showing that the consecrated wafers are mere bread, and 
not God himself, they distributed them one to another and 

* Diabolum sseculo intulisse artifices statuarum et imaginum et o inn is 
generis simulacrorum. Tertullian, de idolatria, cap. 3. 
t Socrates v. 16 



INTERPOSITION OF THE GOVERNOR. 337 

ate them At this sight the canons and chaplains could 

no longer remain quiet. A cry of horror was heard ; they 
ran up with their adherents, and opposed force to force. At 
length began the struggle that had been so much dreaded. 

The provost Oliver of Hochberg, the canons Simon of 
Neufchatel and Pontus of Soleilant, all three members of 
the privy council, had repaired hastily to the castle, as well 
as the other councillors of the princess. Until this moment 
they had remained silent spectators of the scene ; but when 
they saw the two parties coming to blows, they ordered 
all " the supporters of the evangelical doctrine" to appear 
before the governor. This was like trying to chain the 
winds. Besides, why should the reformers stop? They 
were not acting without legitimate authority.* " Tell the 
governor," re plied the townspeople haughtily, "that in the con- 
cerns of God and of our souls he has no command over us."-j- 

George de Rive then discovered that his authority failed 
against a power superior to his own. He must yield, and 
save at least some remnants. He hastened therefore to 
remove the images that still remained, and to shut them up in 
secret chambers. The citizens of Neufchatel allowed him to 
execute this measure. " Save your gods," thought they, 
" preserve them under strong bars, lest perchance a robber 
should deprive you of the objects of your adoration ! " | By 
degrees the tumult died away, the popular torrent returned 
within its channel, and a short time after, in commemoration 
of this great day, these words were inscribed on a pillar of 
the church : 

L'AN 1530, LE 23 OCTOBRE, FUT OTEE ET ABATTUE L'IDOLATRIE 
DE CEANT PAR LES BOURGEOIS. 

An immense revolution had been effected. Doubtless 

* " Par les quatre du dit Neufchatel," by the Four (the municipal 
authorities) of the said Neufchatel, remarks the priest Besancenet. See 
also the recess of the council held at Neufchatel by MM. of Berne, 4th 
November 1530. 

T The Governor's letter to the Princess. 

J Cur vos sub validissimis clavibus, ingentibusque sub claustris con- 
servatis, no forte fur aliquis irreptat I Arnobius contra geutes, vi. 257. 

On the 23d of October l, r >30, idolatry was overthrown and removed 
from this church by the citizens. 



338 TRIUMPH OF THE REFORM. 

it would have been better if the images had been taken 
away and the Gospel substituted in their place with calm- 
ness, as at Zurich 5 but we must take into consideration the 
difficulties that so profound and contested a change brings 
with it, and make allowance for the inexperience and excesses 
inseparable from a first explosion. He who should see in 
this revolution its excesses only, would betray a singularly 
narrow mind. It is the Gospel that triumphed on the 
esplanade of the castle. It was no longer a few pictures or 
legends that were to speak to the imagination of the Neuf- 
chatelans : the revelation of Christ and of the apostles, 
as it had been preserved in the Holy Scriptures, was restored 
to them. In place of the mysteries, symbols, and miracles 
of Popery, the Reformation brought them sublime tenets, 
powerful doctrines, holy and eternal truths. Instead of a 
mass, void of God, and filled with human puerilities, it 
restored to them the Supper of our Lord Jesus Christ, his 
invisible yet real and mighty presence, his promises giving 
peace to the soul, and his Spirit, which changes the heart, 
and is a sure pledge of a glorious resurrection. All is gain 
in such an exchange. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

The Romanists demand a Ballot The Bernese in fayour of the Re- 
form Both Parties come to the Poll The Prudhommes of Neufchatel 
Proposed Delay The Romanists grasp the Sword The Voting- 
Majority for Reform Protestantism perpetual The Image of Saint 
John A Miracle Retreat of the Canons Popery and the Gospel. 

THE governor and his trusty friends had not, however, 
lost all hope. " It is only a minority," said they at the 
castle, "which has taken part in the destruction of the 
images ; the majority of the nation still obeys the ancient 
doctrine." M. de Rive had yet to learn that if, in a popular move- 
ment, the minority only appears, it is in some cases because 
the majority, being of the same mind with it, prefers leaving 



THE ROMANISTS DEMAND A BALLOT. 339 

the action to others. However that may be, the governor, 
thinking himself upon sure ground, resolved to put the 
preservation of the mass to the vote. If the majority were 
doubtful, the combined influence of the government and 
clergy would make it incline to the side of Rome. The 
friends of the Reformation perceiving this trick, and feeling 
the necessity of securing the integrity of the votes, demanded 
the presence of Bernese commissioners. This was at first 
refused. But Neufchatel, divided into two hostile parties, 
might at any time see her streets run blood : De Rive 
therefore called Berne to his aid. 

Anthony Noll and Sulpice Archer, both members of the 
council, with Jacques Tribolet, bailiff of the Isle of St. John, 
all three devoted to the Reform, made their entry into 
Neufchatel on the 4th November, an eventful day for 
the principality, and one which would decide its reformation. 
The deputies proceeded to the castle, where they spoke with 
great haughtiness.* " Their excellencies of Berne," said 
they to the governor, " are much astonished that you 
should oppose the true and pure Word of God. Desist 
immediately, or else your state and lordship may suffer 
for it." f 

George de Rive was amazed ; he had thought to summon 
helpers, and he had found masters. He made, however, an 
attempt to escape from the strait in which he was caught. 
The Roman-catholic cantons of Lucerne, Friburg, and 
Soleure, were also allies of the state. The governor insinu- 
ated to the Bernese deputies, that he might well claim their 
intervention. At these words the deputies indignantly 
arose, and declared to M. de Rive, that if he did so, he 
might be the cause of his sovereign's losing Neufchatel. 
The governor saw the impossibility of escaping from the net 
into which he had fallen. There remained no alternative 
but submission, and to watch the current of events which it 
was impossible for him to direct. 

It was not thus with the canons and the nobles. Not 
considering themselves beaten, they surrounded the Bernese ; 

* Trois ambassadeurs qui me tinrent assez gros et rudes propos. The 
Governor to the Princess. + Ibid. 



340 BOTH 1'ARTIES COME TO THE POLL. 

and mingling religion and politics, as is their wont in 
similar cases, endeavoured to shake them. " Do you not 
see," said they, " that unless we support the spiritual power, 
we shall compromise the civil power ? The surest bulwark 
of the throne is the altar! These men, whose defenders 
you have become, are but a handful of mischief-makers : 
the majority are for the mass !" " Turn which way you 
like," replied one of the stubborn Bernese, " even though 
the majority should be on your side, still you must go that 
way ; never will our lordships abandon the defenders of the 
evangelical faith."* 

The people assembled at the castle for the definitive vote. 
The destiny of Neufchatel was about to be decided. On one 
hand were crowded around the governor the privy council, 
the canons, and the most zealous of the Romanists ; on the 
other were to be seen the fcyir aldermen, the town-council, 
and a great number of the citizens, gravely ascending 
the steep avenue leading to the government-house, and 
drawing up in front of their adversaries. On both sides 
there was the same attachment to their faith and the same 
decision; but around the canons were many anxious minds, 
troubled hearts, and downcast eyes, while the friends of the 
Reform advanced with uplifted heads, firm looks, and hearts 
full of hope. 

George de Rive, wishing to gain over their minds, began 
to address them. He described the violence with which the 
reformed had broken the images and thrown down the altars; 
" And yet," continued he, " who founded this church ? It 
was the princess's predecessors, and not the citizens. For 
which reason, I demand that all those who have violently 
infringed our sovereign's authority, be obliged to restore 
what they have taken away, so that the holy mass and the 
canonical hours may be celebrated anew."f 

Upon this the prudhommcs of Neufchatel advanced. They 
were not a troop of young and giddy persons, as the Papists 
had pretended; they were grave citizens, whose liberties 

* Chambrier, Hist, de Neufchatel, p. 296. The Governor's letter. 
Quand bien le plus sera des votres, si passerez YOUS par Id, &c. 
+ Choupard MS. ; Reces du MM. de Berne. 



PROPOSED DELAY. 341 

were guaranteed, and who had weighed what they had to 
say. " By the illumination of the Holy Ghost," replied 
they, " and by the holy doctrines of the Gospel, which are 
taught us in the pure Word of God, we will show that the 
mass is an abuse, without any utility, and which conduces 
much more to the damnation than to the salvation of souls. 
And we are ready to prove, that by taking away the altars, 
we have done nothing that was not right and acceptable to 
God."* 

Thus the two parties met face to face with " great hatred 
and division," says the Bernese report. The arbitrators 
consulted together. The governor persisted, feeling that this 
movement would decide the future. A few votes would 
suffice for the triumph of Rome, and he reckoned on gaining 
them by his assurance. " You should understand," said he, 
" that the majority of this town, men and women, adhere 
firmly to the ancient faith. The others are hot-headed 
young soldiers, vain of their persons, and puffed up with the 
new doctrine."-}- " Well ! " replied the Bernese deputies, " to 
prevent all mischief, let us settle this difference by the plu- 
rality of suffrages, in accordance with the treaty of peace 
made at Bremgarten between the cantons." 

This was what the reformed desired. " The vote ! the 
vote !" cried they according to the expression consecrated to 
such cases.J But the lord of Prangins and the priests, who 
had desired it when they were alone, shrunk back in the 
presence of Berne. " We ask for time," said they. If the 
reformed allowed themselves to be cheated by these dilatory 
measures, all was over. When once the Bernese had 
quitted Neufchatel, the governor and the clergy would easily 
have the upperhaud. They therefore remained firm. " No, 
no!" said they, "now! no delay! not a day! not an 
hour !" But the governor, in the face of a proceeding that 
would decide the legal fall of Popery, trembled, and obsti- 

" Choupard MS. ; Reces du MM. de Berne. 

+ Devez entendre que la pluspart de cette ville, hommes et femmes, 
tiennent fermement a 1'ancienne foi. Les autres sont jeunes gens do 
guerre, forts de leurs personnes, remplis de la. nourelle doctrine, ayanti 
le feu a la tcte. Ibid. 

t Le plus, the majority. 



342 THE ROMANISTS GRASP THE SWOBD. 

nately opposed the cries of the people. The magistrates 
were already indignant, the burghers murmured, and the 
most violent looked at their swords. " They were resolved 
to compel us, sword in hand," wrote the governor to the 
princess. A fresh storm was gathering over Neufchatel. 
Yet a few more minutes' resistance, and it would burst forth 
upon the church, the town, and the castle, destroying not 
only statues, images, and altars, but " there would have re- 
mained dead men," said the lord of Rive.* He gave way in 
trouble and affright. 

At the news of this concession, the partisans of Rome 
saw all their danger. They conferred, they concerted their 
measures, and in an instant their resolution was taken : they 
were resolved to fight.-J- " My lord," said they, turning to 
M. de Rive, and touching the hilt of their swords, " all of us 
who adhere to the holy Sacrament are resolved to die 
martyrs for our holy faith.":}: This demonstration did not 
escape the notice of the young soldiers who had returned 
from the Genevese war. One minute more and the swords 
would have been drawn, and the platform changed into a 
battlefield. 

Monseigneur de Prangins, more wily than orthodox, 
shuddered at the thought. " I cannot suffer it," said he to 
the most violent of his party ; " such an enterprise would 
forfeit my mistress's state and lordship." " I consent," said 
he to the Bernese, " to take the votes, with reserve never- 
theless of the sovereignty, rights, and lordship of Madame." 
" And we," replied the townspeople, " with the reserve of 
our liberties and privileges." 

The Romanists, seeing the political power they had in- 
voked now failing them, felt that all was lost. They will 
save their honour at least in this great shipwreck ; they will 
subscribe their names, that posterity may know who had 
remained faithful to Rome. These proud supporters of the 
hierarchy advanced towards the governor ; tears coursed 
down tbsir rough cheeks, betraying thus their stifled anger. 
They wrote their signatures as witnesses at the foot of the 
solemn testament that Popery was now drawing up in 

" The Governor's letter to the Princess, -f- Ibid. $ Ibid. Ibid. 



THE VOTING. 343 

Neufchatel, in the presence of the Bernese deputies. They 
then asked, with tears in their eyes, " that the names and 
surnames of the good and of the perverse should be written 
in perpetual memory, and declared that they were still good 
and faithful burghers of Madame, and would do her service 
unto death!"* 

The reformed burgesses were convinced that it was only 
by frankly bearing testimony to their religious convictions 
that they could discharge their duty before God, their 
sovereign, and their fellow-citizens. So that the Catholics 
had scarcely protested their fidelity towards their lady, when, 
turning towards the governor, the reformed cried out : " We 
say the same in every other thing in which it shall please 
our Mistress to command us, save and except the evangelical 
faith, in which we will live and die."-j- 

Everything was then prepared for taking the votes. The 
Church of Our Lady was opened, and the two parties ad- 
vanced between the shattered altars, torn pictures, mutilated 
statues, and all those ruins of Popery, which clearly foretold 
to its partisans the last and irrevocable defeat it was about 
to undergo. The three lords of Berne took their station 
beside the governor as arbitrators of the proceedings and 
presidents of the assembly, and the voting began. 

George de Rive, notwithstanding the despondency of his 
friends, was not altogether without hope. All the partisans 
of the ancient worship in Neufchatel had been forewarned ; 
and but a few days previously the reformed themselves, by 
refusing a poll, had acknowledged the numerical superiority 
of their adversaries. But the friends of the Gospel in Neuf- 
chatel had a courage and a hope that seemed to repose on a 
firmer basis. Were they not the victorious party, and could 
they be vanquished in the midst of their triumph ? 

The two parties, however, moved forward, confounded 

* Alors iceux dirent en pleurant que les noms et les surnoms des bons 
et des pervers fussent ecrits en perpetuelle memoire, et qu'ils protestoient 
etre bons et fideles bourgeois de Madame, et lui faire service jusqu'a la 
mart. 

t Governor's letter. Nous disons le semblable en touts autre chose ou 
il plaira a Madame nous commander, sauf et reserve icelle foi evange- 
lique, dans laquelle nous voulons vivre et mourir. 



344 PROTESTANTISM PEKPETUAL. 

with one another, and each man gave his vote in silence. 
They counted each other : the result appeared uncertain ; 
fear froze each party by turns. At length the majority 
seemed to declare itself ; they took out the votes, the 
result was proclaimed. A majority of eighteen voices gave 
the victory to the Reformation, and the last blow to the 
Papacy ! 

The Bernese lords immediately hastened to profit by this 
advantage. " Live henceforth," said they, " in good under- 
standing with one another ; let the mass be no longer cele- 
brated ; let no injury be done to the priests ; and pay to 
your Lady, or to whomsoever they may be justly due, all 
tithes, quit-rent, cense, and revenues." These different 
points were proclaimed by the assembly, and a report was 
immediately drawn up, to which the deputies, the governors, 
and the magistrates of the city of Neufchatel affixed their re- 
spective seals.* 

Farel did not appear in all this business : one might 
have said that the reformer was not at Neufchatel : the 
citizens appealed only to the Word of God; and the governor 
himself, in his long report to the princess, does not once 
mention him. It was the apostles of our Lord, St. Peter, 
St. John, St. Paul, and St. James, who by their divine 
writings re-established the true foundations of the Church 
in the midst of the -people of Neufchatel. The Word of 
God was the law of the prudhommes. In vain will the 
Roman Church say, " But these very Scriptures, it is 
I who give them to you ; you cannot therefore believe in 
them without believing in me." It is not from the Church 
of Rome that the Piotestant Church receives the Bible. 
Protestantism has always existed in the Church. It has 
existed alone in every place where men have been en- 
gaged in the study of the Holy Scriptures, of their Divine 
origin, of their interpretation, and in their dissemination. 
The Protestantism of the sixteenth century received the 
Bible from the. Protestantism of every age. When Rome 
speaks of the hierarchy, she is on her own ground : as soon 

* Reces de MM. de Berne, MS. Et que 1'on paie a Madame ou a qui 
il sera dfl iustemeut dimes, cens, routes et revenus. 



THE IMAGE OP ST. JOHN. 345 

as she speaks of the Scriptures, she is on ours. If Farel had 
been put forward in Neufchatel, he would not perhaps have 
been able to stand against the pope ; but the Word of Christ 
alone was concerned, and Rome must fall before Jesus. 

Thus terminated, by a mutual contract, that day at first 
so threatening. If the reformed had sacrificed any of their 
convictions to a false peace, disorder would have been per- 
petuated in Neufchatel. A bold manifestation of the truth, 
and the inevitable shocks that accompanied it, far from de- 
stroying society, preserved it. This manifestation is the 
wind that lifts the vessel from the rocks and brings it into 
the harbour. 

The Lord of Prangins felt that, between fellow-citizens, 
" it is better to touch one another, even if it be by collision, 
than to avoid each other continually." The free explanation 
that had taken place had rendered the opposition of the two 
parties less irrkating. " I give my promise," said the 
governor, " to undertake nothing against the vote of this 
day, for I am myself a witness that it has been honest, up- 
right, without danger, and without coercion."* 

It was necessary to dispose of the spoils of the vanquished 
party: the governor opened the castle to them. Thither 
were transported the relics, the ornaments of the altars, the 
church papers, and even the organ ; and the mass, expelled 
from the city, was there mournfully chanted every day. 

All the ornaments, however, did not take this ro"ad. Some 
days after, as two citizens, named Fauche and Sauge, were 
going out together to their vineyards, they passed a little 
chapel, in which the latter had set up a wooden figure of 
St. John. He said to his companion, " There is an image 
I shall heat my stove with to-morrow." And, in fact, as he 
returned, he carried away the saint and laid it down in front 
of his house. 

The next morning he took the image and put it on the 
fire. Immediately a horrible explosion spread dismay through 
this humble family. The trembling Fauche doubted not that 
it was a miracle of the saint, and hastened to return to the 

" Ungefahrlich, ungezwungen, aufrecbt und redlich. Berne to the 
Governor, 17th Dec. 1530. 

VOL. IV. 16 



846 A MIRACLE RETREAT OF THE CANONS. 

mass. In vain did his neighbour Sauge protest to him upon 
oath that, during the night, he had made a hole in the statue, 
filled it with gunpowder, and closed it up again. Fauche 
would listen to nothing, and resolved to flee from the ven- 
geance of the saints. He went and settled with his family 
at Morteau in Franche Comte.* Such are the miracles upon 
which the divinity of Rome reposes ! 

By degrees everything became settled : some of the canons, 
as Jacques Baillod, William de Pury, and Benedict Cham- 
brier, embraced the Reformation. Others were recommended 
by the governor to the priory of Metiers, in the Val de 
Travers ; and, in the middle of November, at the time when 
the winds began to rage among the mountains, several 
canons, surrounded by a few singing-boys, sad relics of the 
ancient, powerful, rich, voluptuous, and haughty chapter of 
Neufchatel, painfully climbed the gorges of the Jura, and 
went to conceal in these lofty and picturesque valleys the 
disgrace of a defeat, which their long disorders and their 
insupportable tyranny had but too justly provoked. 

During this time the new worship was organized. In 
room of the high-altar were substituted two marble tables to 
receive the bread and wine; and the Word of God was 
preached from a pulpit stripped of every ornament. The 
pre-eminence of the Word, which characterizes the evangeli- 
cal worship, replaced in the church of Neufchatel the pre- 
eminence of the sacrament, which characterizes Popery. 
Towards the end of the second century, Rome, that ancient 
metropolis of all religions, after having welcomed the Chris- 
tian worship in its primitive purity, had gradually trans- 
formed it into mysteries ; a magic power had been ascribed 
to certain forms; and the reign of the sacrifice offered by 
the priest had succeeded to the reign of the Word of God. 
The preaching of Farel had restored the Word to the rights 
which belonged to it; and those vaulted roofs, which the 
piety of Count Ulric II. had, on his return from Jerusalem, 
dedicated to the worship of the Virgin, served at last, after 
four centuries, to nourish the faithful, as in the time of the 
apostles, " in the words of faith and of good doctrine." -J- 
* Boyre Annals, MS. 1 1 Tim. iv. 6, 



REACTION PREPARING. 347 



CHAPTER IX. 

Reaction preparing Failure of the Plot Farel in Valangin and near 
the Lake De Bely at Fontaine Farel's Sufferings Marcourt at 
Valangin Disgraceful Expedient Vengeance The Reform establish- 
edFrench Switzerland characterized Gathering Tempest. 

THE convention, drawn up under the mediation of Berne, 
stipulated that " the change should take place only in the 
city and parish of Neufchatel." Must the rest of the country 
remain in darkness ? This was not Farel's wish, and the 
zeal of the citizens, in its first fervour, effectually seconded 
him. They visited the surrounding villages, exhorting some, 
combating others. Those who were compelled to labour 
with their hands during the day went thither at night. 
" Now, I am informed," writes the governor to the princess, 
" that they are working at a reformation night and day." 

George de Rive, in alarm, convoked the magistrates of all 
the districts in the earldom. These good folks believed that 
their consciences, as well as their places, depended upon 
Madame de Longueville. Affrighted at the thought of freely 
receiving a new conviction from the Word of God, they were 
quite ready to accept it from the countess as they would a 
new impost ; a sad helotism, in which religion springs from 
the soil, instead of descending from heaven ! " We desire 
to live and die under the protection of our lady," said the 
magistrates to the Lord of Rive, " without changing the 
ancient faith, until it be so ordered ~by her"* Rome, even 
after her fall, could not receive a deeper insult. 

These assurances of fidelity and the absence of the Bernese 
restored De Rive's confidence, and he secretly prepared a 
reaction among the nobles and the lower classes. There is 
in every historical catastrophe, in the fall of great establish- 
ments, and in the spectacle of their ruins, something which 

* Choupard MS. Nous voulons vivre et mourir sous la protection de 
Madame, sans changer 1'ancienne foi, jutgu' a ce gue par elle en soit 
ordonni. 



848 FAILURE OF THE PLOT. 

excites and improves the mind. This was what happened 
at the period in question. Some were more zealous for 
Popery after its fall than in its day of power. The clergy 
gliding into the houses said mass to a few friends mysteriously 
called together around a temporary altar* If a child was 
born, the priest noiselessly arrived, breathed on the infant, 
made the sign of the cross on its forehead and breast, and 
baptized it according to the Roman ritual.* Thus they 
were rebuilding in secret what had been overthrown in the 
light of day. At length a counter-revolution was agreed 
upon ; and Christmas-day was selected for the restoration of 
Roman-catholicism. While the Christians' songs of joy 
should be rising to heaven, the partisans of Rome were to 
rush into the church, expel the heretical assembly, overthrow 
the pulpit and the holy table, restore the images, and cele- 
brate the mass in triumph. Such was the plan of the Neuf- 
chatelan vespers.-j- 

The plot got wind. Deputies from Berne arrived at 
Neufchatel on the very eve of the festival. " You must see 
to this," said they to the governor: " if the reformed are 
attacked, we, their co-burghers, will protect them with all 
our power." The conspirators laid down their arms, and the 
Christmas hymns were not disturbed. 

This signal deliverance augmented the devotion and zeal 
of the friends of the Gospel. Already Emer Beynon of Ser- 
riere, where Farel had one day landed from a small boat, 
ascending the pulpit, had said to his parishioners : " If I 
have been a good priest, I desire by the grace of God to be 
a still better pastor." It was necessary for these words to 
be heard from every pnlpit. Farel recommenced a career of 
labours, fatigues, and struggles, which the actions of the 
apostles and missionaries alone can equal. 

Towards the end of the year 1530, he crossed the moun- 
tain in the middle of winter, entered the church of Valangin, 
went into the pulpit, and began to preach at the very mo- 
ment that Guillemette de Vergy was coming to mass. She 
endeavoured to shut the reformer's mouth, but in vain, and 

* Berne to Neufchatel, 17th December. See vol. I. p. 145 bot. 

+ Berne to the Governor, 23d December. 



FAREL IN VALANGIN DE BELY AT FONTAINE. 349 

the aged and noble dowager retired precipitately saying : 
" I do not think this is according to the old Gospels; 
if there are any new ones that encourage it, I am quite 
amazed."* The people of Valangin embraced the Gospel. 
The affrighted lieutenant ran to Neufchatel, thence to Berne, 
and on the llth February 1531 laid his complaint before 
the council ; but all was useless. " Why," said their excel- 
lencies of Berne to him, " why should you disturb the 
water of the river ? let it flow freely on." 

Farel immediately turned to the parishes on the slopes 
between the lake and Mount Jura. At Corcelles a fanatic 
crowd, well armed and led on by the curate of Neufchatel, 
rushed into the church where the minister was preaching, 
and he did not escape without a wound. At Bevay, the 
abbot John of Livron and his monks collected a numerous 
body of friends, surrounded the church, and having thus 
completed the blockade, entered the building, dragged the 
minister from the pulpit, and drove him out with blows and 
insults. Each time he reappeared, they pursued him as far 
as Auvernier with stones and gun-shots. 

While Farel was thus preaching in the plain, he sent one 
of his brethren into the valley ; it was John de Be'ly, a man 
of good family from Crest in Dauphiny. Beyond Valangin, 
at a little distance from Fontaine, on the left side of the 
road to Cernier, was a stone that remains to this day. Here 
in the open ah-, as if in a magnificent temple, this herald of 
the Gospel began to proclaim salvation by grace. -J- Before 
him stretched the declivity of Chaumont, dotted with the 
pretty villages of Fenin, Villars, Sole, and Savagnier, and 
beyond, where the mountains fell away, might be seen the 
distant and picturesque chain of the Alps. The most zeal- 
ous of his hearers entreated him to enter the church. He 
did so ; but suddenly the priest and his curate " arrived 



Chambrier, Hist, de Neufchatel et Valangin, p. 299. Je ne croispas 
que ce soit selon les vieux evangiles ; s'il y en a de nouveaux qui fassent 
cela faire, j'en suis esbahie. 

t It does not appear that Bely could haye stood and preached on this 
etone, as is generally said, unless what now remains is but a fragment of 
the original. 



850 FABEL'S SUFFERINGS MARCOURT AT VALANCHN. 

with great noise." They proceeded to the pulpit, dragged 
Bely down ; and then turning to the women and young per- 
sons of the place, " excited them to beat him and drive him 
away."* 

John de Bely returned to Neufchatel, hooted and bruised, 
like his friend after the affair at Valangin ; but these evan- 
gelists followed the traces of the Apostle Paul, whom neither 
whips nor scourges could arrest.f De Bely often returned 
to Fontaine. The mass was abolished erelong in this vil- 
lage ; Be'ly was its pastor for twenty-seven years ; his de- 
scendants have more than once exercised the ministry there, 
and now they form the most numerous family of agricultu- 
rists in the place. 

Farel, after evangelizing the shores of the lake to the 
south of Neufchatel, had gone to the north and preached at 
St. Blaise. The populace, stirred up by the priests and the 
lieutenant, had fallen upon him, and Farel escaped from 
their hands, severely beaten, spitting blood, and scarcely to 
be recognised. His friends had thrown him hurriedly into 
a boat, and conveyed him to Morat, where his wounds de- 
tained him for some time. J 

At the report of this violence the reformed Neufchatelans 
felt their blood boil. If the lieutenant, the priest, and his 
flock have bruised the body of Christ's servant, which is 
truly the altar of the living God, why should they spare 
dead idols? Immediately they rush to St. Blaise, throw 
down the images, and do the same at the abbey of Fontaine- 
Andre*, a sanctuary of the ancient worship. 

The images still existed at Valangin, but their last hour 
was about to strike. A Frenchman, Anthony Marcourt, 
had been nominated pastor of Neufchatel. Treading in 
Farel's footsteps, he repaired with a few of the citizens to 
Valangin on the 14th June, a great holiday in that town. 
Scarcely had they arrived when a numerous crowd pressed 

* MS. AA. in the Choupard MS. f 2 Cor. xi. 24, 25. 

De Perrot : L'Eglise et la Reformation, ii. 233. 

This incident is generally attributed to Farel, but Choupard, follow- 
ing an older manuscript, says, le ministre de Neufchatel, by which title he 
always means Marcourt, and never Farel. 



DISGRACEFUL EXPEDIENT VENGEANCE. 351 

around the minister, listening to his words. The canons, 
who were on the watch in their houses, and Madame de 
Vergy and M. de Bellegarde from their towers, sought how 
they could make a diversion against this heretical preach- 
ing ? They could not employ force because of Berne. They 
had recourse to a brutal expedient, worthy of the darkest 
days of Popery, and which, by insulting the minister, might 
divert (they imagined) the attention of the people, and 
change it into shouts and laughter. A canon,* assisted by 
the countess's ^coachman, went to the stables and took thence 
two animals, which they led to the spot where Marcourt was 
preaching. We will throw a veil over this scene : it is one 
of those disgraceful subjects that the pen of history refuses 
to transcribe, f But never did punishment follow closer 
upon crime. The conscience of the hearers was aroused at 
the sight of this infamous spectacle. The torrent, that such 
a proceeding was intended to check, rushed out of its chan- 
nel. The indignant people, undertaking the defence of that 
religion which their opponents had wished to insult, entered 
the church like an avenging wave ; the ancient windows 
were broken, the shields of the lords were demolished, the 
relics scattered about, the books torn, the images thrown 
down, and the altar overturned. But this was not enough : 
the popular wave, after sweeping out the church, flowed 
back again, and dashed against the canons' houses. Their 
inhabitants fled in consternation into the forests, and every- 
thing was destroyed in their dwellings. 

Guillemette de Vergy and M. de Bellegarde, agitated and 
trembling behind their battlements, repented, but too late, 
of their monstrous expedient. They were the only ones 
who had not yet felt the popular vengeance. Their restless 
eyes watched the motions of the indignant townspeople. 
The work is completed: the last house is sacked! The 
burghers consult together. horror ! they turn towards 
the castle, they ascend the hill, they draw near. Is then 

* Some historians say " the coachman of the countess ;" but Choupard, 
on three different occasions, writes a canon. The latter is no doubt mote 
revolting ; but there is nothing incredible in it. 

t De equo admissario loquitur qui equam init. 



352 THE BEFORM ESTABLISHED. 

the abode of the noble counts of Arberg about to be laid 
waste ? But no ! " We come," said the delegates standing 
near the gate of the castle, " we are come to demand justice 
for the outrage committed against religion and its minister." 
They are permitted to enter, and the trembling countess 
orders the poor wretches to be punished who had acted 
solely by her orders. But at the same time she sends de- 
puties to Berne, complaining of the " great insults that had 
been offered her." * Berne declared that the reformed 
should pay for the damage ; but that the countess should 
grant them the free exercise of their worship. Jacques 
Veluzat, a native of Champagne, was the first pastor of 
Valangin. A little later we shall see new struggles at the 
foot of Mount Jura. 

Thus was the Reformation established at Valangin, as it 
had been at Neufchatel : the two capitals of these moun- 
tains were gained to the Gospel. Erelong it received a 
legal sanction. Francis, marquis of Rothelin, son of the 
Duchess of Longueville, arrived in the principality in March 
1531, with the intention of playing on this small theatre the 
part of a Francis I. But he soon found out that there are 
revolutions which an irresistible hand has accomplished, and 
that must be submitted to. Rothelin excluded from the 
estates of the earldom the canons who had hitherto formed 
the first power, and replaced them by four bannerets and 
four burgesses. Then, availing himself of the principle that 
all abandoned property falls to the state, he laid his hands 
upon their rich heritage, and proclaimed freedom of con- 
science throughout the whole country. All the necessary 
forms having been observed with Madame, the politic M. de 
Rive became reformed also. Such was the support Rome 
received from the state, to which she had looked for her 
deliverance. 

A great energy characterized the Reformation of French 
Switzerland; and this is shown by the events we have just 
witnessed. Men have attributed to Farel this distinctive 
feature of his work ; but no man has ever created his own 

* Curate of Bezanoenet's Chronicle. Dos grands vitnpferes qu'on lu> 
avait faits. 



FRENCH SWITZERLAND CHARACTERIZED. 353 

times ; it is always, on the contrary, the times that create 
the man. The greater the epoch, the less do individualities 
prevail in it. All the good contained in the events we have 
just related came from that Almighty Spirit, of which the 
strongest men are but weak instruments. All the evil pro- 
ceeded from the character of the people ; and, indeed, it was 
almost always Popery that began these scenes of violence. 
Fare! submitted to the influence of his times, rather than 
the times received his. A great man may be the personifi- 
cation and the type of the epoch for which God destines 
him : he is never its creator. 

But it is time to quit the Jura and its beautiful valleys, 
brightened by the vernal sun, to direct our steps towards the 
Alps of German Switzerland, along which thick clouds and 
horrible tempests are gathering. The free and courageous 
people, who dwell there below the eternal glaciers, or on the 
smiling banks of the lakes, daily assume a fiercer aspect, 
and the collision threatens to be sudden, violent, and terrible. 
We have just been witnessing a glorious conquest: a 
dreadful catastrophe awaits us. 



16* 



BOOK XVI. 

SWITZEBLAND CATASTROPHE. 1528 1531. 

CHAPTER I. 

Two great Lessons Christian Warfare Zwingle, Pastor, Statesman, and 
General His noble Character Persecutions Swiss Catholics seek 
an Alliance with Austria Great Dissatisfaction Deputation to the 
Forest Cantons Zwingle's Proposal Moderation of Berne Keysert 
Martyrdom Zwingle and War Zwingle's Error. 

IT was the will of God that at the very gates of his revived 
Church there should be two great examples to serve as les- 
sons for future generations. Luther and the German Refor- 
mation, declining the aid of the temporal power, rejecting 
the force of arms, and looking for victory only in the confes- 
sion of the truth, were destined to see their faith crowned 
with the most brilliant success ; while Zwingle and the Swiss 
Reformation, stretching out their hands to the mighty ones 
of the earth, and grasping the sword, were fated to witness 
a horrible, cruel, and bloody catastrophe fall upon the Word 
of God a catastrophe which threatened to engulf the evan- 
gelical cause in the most furious whirlpool. God is a jealous 
God, and gives not his glory to another ; he claims to per- 
form his own work himself, and to attain his ends sets other 
springs in motion than those of a skilful diplomacy. 

We are far from forgetting that we are called upon to 
relate facts and not to discuss theories ; but there is a prin- 
ciple which the history we are narrating sets forth in capital 
letters: it is that professed in the Gospel, where it says: 
THE WEAPONS OP OUR WARFARE ARE NOT CARNAL, BUT MIGHTY 
THROUGH GOD ! In maintaining this truth we do not place 
ourselves on the ground of any particular school, but on that 
of universal conscience and of the Word of God. 



CHRISTIAN WARFARE. 355 

Of all carnal support that religion can invoke, there is 
none more injurious to it than arms and diplomacy. The 
latter throws it into tortuous ways; the former hurries it 
into paths of bloodshed ; and religion, from whose brow has 
been torn the double wreath of truth and meekness, presents 
but a degraded and humiliated countenance that no person 
can, that no person desires to recognise. 

It was the very extension of the Reform in Switzerland 
that exposed it to the dangers under which it sunk. So 
long as it was concentrated at Zurich, it continued a religieus 
matter ; but when it had gained Berne, Basle, Schaffhausen, 
St. Gall, Glaris, Appenzell, and numerous bailiwicks, it 
formed inter-cantonal relations; and here was the error 
and misfortune while the connexion should have taken 
place between church and church, it was formed between 
state and state. 

As soon as spiritual and political matters became mingled 
together, the latter took the upperhand. Zwingle erelong 
thought it his duty to examine not only doctrinal, but also 
federal questions ; and the illustrious reformer might be seen, 
unconscious of the snares beneath his feet, precipitating 
himself into a course strewn with rocks, at the end of which 
a cruel death awaited him. 

The primitive Swiss cantons had resigned the right of 
forming new alliances without the consent of all ; but Zurich 
and Berne had reserved the power. Zwingle thought him- 
self therefore quite at liberty to promote an alliance with the 
evangelical states. Constance was the first city that gave 
her adhesion. But this Christian co-burghery, which might 
become the germ of a new confederation, Immediately raised 
up numerous adversaries against Zwingle, even among the 
partisans of the Reformation. 

There was yet time : Zwingle might withdraw from public 
affairs, and occupy himself entirely with those of the Gospel 
But no one in Zurich had, like him, that application to 
labour, that correct, keen, and sure eye, so necessary for 
politicians. If he retired, the vessel of the state would be 
left without a pilot. Besides, he was convinced that political 
acts alone could save the Reform. He resolved, therefore, 



856 ZWINOLE, PASTOR, STATESMAN, AND GENERAL. 

to be at one and the same time the man of the State and of 
the Church. The registers prove that in his later years he 
took part in the most important deliberations ; and he was 
commissioned by the councils of his canton to write letters, 
compose proclamations, and draw up opinions. Already, 
before the dispute with Berne, looking upon war as possible, 
he had traced out a very detailed plan of defence, the manu- 
script of which is still in existence.* In 1528 he did still 
more ; he showed in a remarkable paper, how the republic 
should act with regard to the empire, France, and other 
European states, and with respect to the several cantons and 
bailiwicks. Then, as if he had grown gray at the head of 
the Helvetic troops (and it is but just to remark that he had 
long lived among soldiers), he explained the advantages 
there would be in surprising the enemy ; and described even 
the nature of the arms, and the manner of employing them. 
In truth, an important revolution was then taking place in 
the art of war. The pastor of Zurich is at once the head of 
the state and general of the army : this double this triple 
part of the reformer was the ruin of the Reformation and of 
himself. Undoubtedly we must make allowances for the 
men of this age, who, being accustomed to see Rome wield 
two swords for so many centuries, did not understand that 
they must take up one and leave the other. We must 
admire the strength of that superior genius, "which, while 
pursuing a political course, in which the greatest minds 
would have been absorbed, ceased not however to display au 
indefatigable activity as pastor, preacher, divine, and author. 
We must acknowledge that the republican education of 
Zwingle had taught him to confound his country with his 
religion, and that there was in this great man enough to fill 
up many lives. We must appreciate that indomitable courage 
which, relying upon justice, feared not, at a time when Zurich 
had but one or two weak cities for allies, to confront the re- 
doubtable forces of the empire and of the confederation ; 
but we should also see in the great and terrible lesson that 
God gave him, a precept for all times and for every nation ; 

* Escher et Hottinger, Archives ii. 263. 



PERSECUTIONS. 357 

and finally, understand what is so often forgotten, " that the 
kingdom of Christ is not of this world." 

The Roman-catholic cantons, on hearing of the new alli- 
ances of the reformed, felt a violent indignation. William 
of Diesbach, deputy from Berne at the diet, was forced to 
submit to the keenest reproaches. The sitting, for a while 
interrupted, was resumed immediately after his departure. 
" They may try to patch up the old faith," said the Bernese, 
as he withdrew, " it cannot, however, last any longer."* In 
truth, they patched away with all their might, but with a 
sharp and envenomed needle that drew blood. Joseph Am 
Berg of Schwytz and Jacques Stocker of Zug, bailiffs of 
Thurgovia, behaved with cruelty towards all who were 
attached to the Gospel. They enforced against them fines, 
imprisonment, torture, the scourge, confiscation, and banish- 
ment : they cut out the ministers' tongues, beheaded them, 
or condemned them to be burnt.-}- At the same time they 
took away the Bibles and all the evangelical books ; and if 
any poor Lutherans, fleeing from Austria, crossed the Rhine 
and that low valley where its calm waters flow between the 
Alps of the Tyrol and of Appenzell, if these poor creatures, 
tracked by the lansquenets, came to seek a refuge in Swit- 
zerland, they were cruelly given up to their persecutors. 

The heavier lay the hands of the bailiffs on Thurgovia 
and the Rheinthal, the greater conquests did the Gospel 
make. The Bishop of Constance wrote to the Five Cantons, 
that if they did not act with firmness, all the country would 
embrace the Reform. In consequence of this, the cantons 
convoked at Frauenfeld all the prelates, nobles, judges, and 
persons of note in the district ; and a second meeting taking 
place six days after (6th December 1528) at Weinfeld, 
deputies from Berne and Zurich entreated the assembly to 
consider the honour of God above all things, and in no 
respect to care for the threats of the world4 A great 
agitation followed upon this discourse. At last a majority 

* Mogen sie blatzen am alien Glauben. Hottinger, Zwingli, p. 389. 
+ Die Zungen geschlitzt, mit dem Schwerdt richten und verbraant. 
Ball. ii. 31. 
J Die Eer Gottes, uwer Seelen Heil. Bulling. Chron. ii. 28. 



358 SWISS CATHOLICS SEEK FOR AN ALLIANCE WITH AUSTRIA. 

called for the preaching of the Word of God ; the people 
came to the same decision ; and the Rheinthal, as well as 
Bremgarten, followed this example. 

What was to be done? The flood had become hourly 
more encroaching. Must then the Forest Cantons open their 
valleys to it at last ? Religious antipathies put an end to 
national antipathies ; and these proud mountaineers, direct- 
ing their looks beyond the Rhine, thought of invoking the 
succour of Austria, which they had vanquished at Morgarten 
and at Sempach.* The fanatical German party that had 
crushed the jevolted Swabian peasants was all-powerful on 
the frontiers. Letters were exchanged ; messengers passed 
to and fro across the river ; at last they took advantage of a 
wedding in high rank that was to take place at Feldkirch in 
Swabia, six leagues from Appenzell. On the 16th February 
1529, the marriage-party, forming a brilliant cavalcade, in 
the midst of which the deputies of the Five Cantons were 
concealed, made their entry into Feldkirch, and Am Berg 
had an immediate interview with the Austrian governor. 
" The power of the enemies of our ancient faith has so in- 
creased," said the Swiss, " that the friends of the Church can 
resist them no longer. We therefore turn our eyes to that 
illustrious prince who has saved in Germany the faith of our 
fathers." 

This alliance was so very unnatural, that the Austrians 
had some difficulty in believing it to be sincere. "Take 
hostages," said the Waldstettes, " write the articles of the 
treaty with your own hands ; command and we will obey !" 
"Very good!" replied the Austrians; "in two months 
you will find us again at Waldshut, and we will let you 
know our conditions." 

A rumour of these negotiations which spread abroad ex- 
cited great dissatisfaction, even in the partisans of Rome. 
In no place did it burst out with greater force than in the 
council of Zug. The opposing parties were violently agi- 
tated ; they stamped their feet, they started from their seats, 
and were nearly coming to blows ; but hatred prevailed over 
patriotism. The deputies of the Forest Cantons appeared 
* Bulling. Chron. ii. 48. 



DEPUTATION TO THE FOREST CANTONS. 359 

at Waldshut ; they suspended the arms of their cantons by 
the side of those of the oppressors of Switzerland ; decorated 
their hats with peacocks' feathers (the badge of Austria), 
and laughed, drank, and chattered with the Imperialists. 
This strange alliance was at last concluded.* " Whoever 
shall form new sects among the people," it ran,, " shall be 
punished with death; and, if need be, with the help of 
Austria. This power, in case of emergency, shall send into 
Switzerland six thousand foot soldiers, and four hundred 
horse, with all requisite artillery. If necessary, the reformed 
cantons shall be blockaded, and all provisions intercepted." 
To the Romish cantons, then, belongs the initiative of this 
measure so much decried. Finally, Austria guaranteed to 
the Waldstettes the possession, not only of the common 
bailiwicks, but of all the conquests that might be made on 
the left bank of the Rhine. 

Dejection and consternation immediately pervaded all 
Switzerland. This national complaint, which Bullinger has 
preserved, was sung in every direction : 

Wail, Helvetians, wail, 

For the peacock's plume of prida 
To the forest cantons' savage bull 

In friendship is allied. 

All the cantons not included in this alliance, with the ex- 
ception of Friburg, assembled in diet at Zurich, and resolved 
to send a deputation to their mountain confederates, with a 
view to reconciliation. The deputation, admitted at Schwytz 
in the presence of the people, was able to execute its mission 
without tumult. At Zug there was a cry of " No sermon ! 
no sermon !" At Altorf the answer was : " Would to God 
that your new faith was buried for ever !" At Lucerne they 
received this haughty reply : " We shall know how to de- 
fend ourselves, our children, and our children's children, from 
the poison of your rebellious priests." It was at Unter- 
walden that the deputation met with the worst reception. 
" We declare our alliance at an end," said they. " It is we, 
it is the other Waldstettes who are the real Swiss. We 
graciously admitted you into our confederation, and now yon 
' Bullinger gives the treaty at full length. Chron. ii. 49-59. 



360 ZWINGLE'S PROPOSAL MODERATION OP BERNE. 

claim to become our masters ! The emperor, Austria, 
France, Savoy, and Valais will assist us 1 " The deputies 
retired in astonishment, shuddering as they passed before 
the house of the secretary of state, where they saw the arms 
of Zurich, Berne, Basle, and Strasburg hanging from a lofty 
gibbet. 

The deputation had scarcely returned to Zurich and made 
their report, when men's minds were inflamed. Zwingle 
proposed to grant no peace to Uuterwalden, if it would not 
renounce foreign service, the alliance with Austria, and the 
government of the common bailiwicks. " No ! no 1" said 
Berne, that had just stifled a civil war in its own canton, " let 
us not be so hasty. When the rays of the sun shine forth, 
each one wishes to set out ; but as soon as it begins to rain, 
every man loses heart ! The Word of God enjoins peace. 
It is not with pikes and lances that faith is made to enter 
the heart. For this reason, in the name of our Lord's 
sufferings, we entreat you to moderate your anger." 

This Christian exhortation would have succeeded, if the 
fearful news that reached Zurich, on the very day when the 
Bernese delivered their moderate speech, had not rendered 
it unavailing. 

On Saturday the 22d May, Jacques Keyser, a pastor 
and father of a family in the neighbourhood of the Greif- 
fensee, after coasting the fertile shores of this little lake, 
crossed the rich pastures of the bailiwick of Gruningen, 
passed near the Teutonic house of Bubikon and the convent 
of Ruti, and reached that simple and wild district bathed 
by the upper part of Lake Zurich. Making his way to 
Oberkirk, a parish in the Gaster district, between the two 
lakes of Zurich" and Wallenstadt, of which he had been 
nominated pastor, and where he was to preach on the mor- 
row, he crossed on foot the lengthened and rounded flanks of 
the Buchberg, fronting the picturesque heights of the Ammon. 
He was confidently advancing into those woods which for 
many weeks he had often traversed without obstruction, 
when he was suddenly seized by six men, posted there 
to surprise him, and carried off to Schwytz. " The bailiffs," 
said they to the magistrates, " have ordered all innovating 



ZWINGLE AND WAB. 861 

ministers to be brought before the tribunals: here is one 
that we bring you." Although Zurich and Glaris inter- 
posed ; although the government o.f Gaster, where Keyset 
had been taken, did not then belong to Schwytz ; the lands- 
gemeinde desired a victim, and on the 29th May they con- 
demned the minister to be burnt alive. On being informed 
of his sentence, Keyser burst into tears.* But when the 
hour of execution arrived, he walked cheerfully to death, 
freely confessed his faith, and gave thanks to the Lord even 
with his latest breath. " Go and tell them at Zurich how 
he thanks us !" said one of the Schwytz magistrates, with a 
sarcastic smile, to the Zurich deputies. Thus had a fresh 
martyr fallen under the hands of that formidable power that 
is " drunk with the blood of the saints." -j- 

The cup was full. The flames of Keyser's pile became 
the signal of war. Exasperated Zurich uttered a cry that 
resounded through all the confederation. Zwingle above 
all called for energetic measures. Everywhere, in the 
streets, in the councils, and even in the pulpits, he sur- 
passed in daring even the most valiant captains. He spoke 
at Zurich, he wrote to Berne. " Let us be firm, and fear 
not to take up arms," said he. * This peace, which some 
desire so much, is not peace, but war : while the war that 
we call for is not war but peace.:): We thirst for no man's 
blood, but we will clip the wings of the oligarchy. If we 
shun it, the truth of the Gospel and the ministers' lives will 
never be secure among us." 

Thus spoke Zwingle. In every part of Europe he beheld 
the mighty ones of the earth aiding one another to stifle the 
reviving animation of the Church; and he thought that 
without some decisive and energetic movement, Christianity, 
overwhelmed by so many blows, would soon fall back 
into its ancient slavery. Luther under similar circum- 
stances arrested the swords ready to be crossed, and de- 
manded that the Word of God alone should appear on the 
^ 

* Weiuet hafftig. Bull. ii. 149. + Rev. xvii. 6. 

Bellum cui nos instamus, pax est, non bellum. Vita Zwinglii, pet 
O. Myconium. 

Oligarchic nervi snccidantur. Ibid. 



362 ZWINGLE'S ERROR. 

field of battle. Zwingle thought not thus. In his opinion 
war was not revolt, for Switzerland had no master. " Un- 
doubtedly," said he, " we must trust in God alone : but 
when He gives us a just cause, we must also know how to 
defend it, and like Joshua and Gideon, shed blood in behalf 
of our country and our God." 

If we adopt the principles of justice which govern the 
rulers of nations, the advice of Zwingle was judicious and 
irreproachable. It was the duty of the Swiss magistrates 
to defend the oppressed against the oppressor. But is n'ot 
such language, which might have been suitable in the miruth 
of a magistrate, blamable in a minister of Christ ? Perhaps 
Zwingle forgot his quality of pastor, and considered him- 
self only as a citizen, consulted by his fellow-citizens; 
perhaps he wished to defend Switzerland, and not the Church, 
by his counsels ; but it is a question if he ought ever to have 
forgotten the Church and his ministry. We think we may 
go even further ; and while granting all that may be urged 
in favour of the contrary supposition, we may deny that the 
secular power ought ever to interfere with the sword to pro- 
tect the faith. 

To accomplish his designs, the reformer needed even in 
Zurich the greatest unity. But there were many men in 
that city devoted to interests and superstitions which were 
opposed to him. " How long," he had exclaimed in the 
pulpit on the 1st December 1528, " how long will you sup- 
port in the council these unbelievers, these impious men, 
who oppose the Word of God ?" * They had decided upon 
purging the council, as required by the reformer ; they had 
examined the citizens individually ; and then had excluded 
all the hostile members. 

* Den rath reinigen. Fiissli BeytrSge, iv. 91. 



FBEE PREACHING OF THE GOSPEL IN SWITZERLAND. 363 



CHAPTER H. 

Free Preaching of the Gospel in Switzerland Zwingle supports the 
common Bailiwicks War Zwingle joins the Army The Zurich 
Army threatens Zug The Landammau Aebli Bernese Interposition 
Zwingle's Opposition Swiss Cordiality Order in the Zurich Camp 
A Conference Peace restored Austrian Treaty torn Zwingle's 
Hymn Nuns of Saint Catherine. 

ON Saturday the 15th June 1529, seven days after Keyser's 
martyrdom, all Zurich was in commotion. The moment 
was come when Unterwalden should send a governor to the 
common bailiwicks ; and the images, having been burnt in 
those districts, Unterwalden had sworn to take a signal 
revenge.* Thus the consternation had become- general. 
" Keyser's pile," thought they, " will be rekindled in all our 
villages." Many of the inhabitants flocked to Zurich, and 
on their alarmed and agitated features, one might, in imagi- 
nation, have seen reflected the flames that had just consumed 
the martyr. 

These unhappy people found a powerful advocate in 
Zwingle. The reformer imagined that he had at last at- 
tained the object he never ceased to pursue the free preach- 
ing of the Gospel in Switzerland. To inflict a final blow 
would, in his idea, suffice to bring this enterprise to a favour- 
able issue. " Greedy pensioners," said Zwingle to the 
Zurichers, " profit by the ignorance of the mountaineers to 
stir up these simple souls against the friends of the Gospel. 
Let us therefore be severe upon these haughty chiefs. The 
mildness of the lamb would only serve to render the wolf 
more ferocious.-]- Let us propose to the Five Cantons to 
allow the free preaching of the Word of the Lord, to renounce 
their wicked alliances, and to punish the abettors f foreign 

* Den gotzen brand, an inen mitt der Hand zu rachen. Bull. Chron, 
ii. 193. 
+ Lupus lenitate agni, magis magisque vorax fit. Zw. Epp. ii. 296. 



364 ZWINGLB SUPPORTS THE COMMON BAILIWICKS. 

service. As for the mass, idols, rites, and superstitions, let 
no one be forced to abandon them. It is for the Word of 
God alone to scatter with its powerful breath all this idle 
dust.* Be firm, noble lords, and in despite of certain black 
horses, as black at Zurich as they are at Lucerne,-}- but whose 
malice will never succeed in overturning the chariot of Re- 
form, we shall clear this difficult pass, and arrive at the unity 
of Switzerland and at unity of faith." Thus Zwingle, while 
calling for force against political abuses, asked only liberty 
for the Gospel; but he desired a prompt intervention, in 
order that this liberty might be secured to it. CEcolampadius 
thought the same : " It is not a time for delay," said he ; " it 
is not a time for parsimony and pusillanimity ! So long as 
the venom shall not be utterly removed from this adder in 
our bosoms we shall be exposed to the greatest dangers.";}: 

The council of Zurich, led away by the reformer, promised 
the bailiwicks to support religious liberty among them ; and 
no sooner had they learnt that Anthony ab Acker of Unter- 
walden was proceeding to Baden with an army, than they 
ordered five hundred men to set out for Bremgarten with 
four pieces of artillery. This was the 5th June, and on the 
same evening the standard of Zurich waved over the convent 
of Mouri. 

The war of religion had begun. The horn of the Wald- 
stettes re-echoed afar in the mountains : men were arming 
in every direction, and messengers were sent off in haste to 
invoke the assistance of the Valais and of Austria. Three 
days later (Tuesday the 8th June), six hundred Zurichers, 
under the command of Jacques Werdmiiller, set out for 
Rapperschwyl and the district of Gaster ; and, on the mor- 
row, four thousand men repaired to Cappel, under the com- 
mand of the valiant Captain George Berguer, to whom Con- 
rad Schmidt, pastor of Kussnacht, had been appointed 
chaplain. " We do not wish you to go to the war," said 
Burgomaster Roust to Zwingle ; " for the pope, the Arch- 

* Dei verbum enim hos pulveres omnes facile flatu suo disperget. Zw. 
Epp. ii. 296. 

+ The Pensioners. Exceptis aliquot nigris equis. Ibid. 298. 
Venenum a domestico illo colubro. Ibid. 



WAR ZWINQLE JOINS THE ARMY. 365 

duke Ferdinand, the Romish cantons, the bishops, the abbots, 
and the prelates, hate you mortally. Stay with the council : 
we have need of you." " No 1" replied Zwingle, who was 
unwilling to confide so important an enterprise to any one ; 
" when my brethren expose their lives I will not remain 
quietly at home by my fireside. Besides, the army also 
requires a watchful eye, that looks continually around it." 
Then, taking down his glittering halberd, which he had car- 
ried (as they say) at Marignan, and placing it on his shoulder, 
the reformer mounted his horse and set out with the army.* 
The walls, towers, and battlements were covered with a crowd 
of old men, children, and women, among whom was Anna, 
Zwingle's wife. 

Zurich had called for the' aid of Berne ; but that city, 
whose inhabitants showed little disposition for a religious 
war, and which besides was not pleased at seeing the in- 
creasing influence of Zurich, replied, " Since Zurich has 
begun the war without us, let her finish it in like manner." 
The evangelical states were disunited at the very moment of 
struggle. 

The Romish cantons did not act thus. It was Zug that 
issued the first summons ; and the men of Uri, of Schwytz, 
and of Unterwalden had immediately begun to march. On 
the 8th June, the great banner floated before the townhouse 
of Lucerne, and on the next day the army set out to the 
sound of the antique horns that Lucerne pretended to have 
received from the Emperor Charlemagne. 

On the 10th June, the Zurichers, who were posted at 
Cappel, sent a herald at daybreak to Zug, who was com- 
missioned, according to custom, to denounce to the Five 
Cantons the rupture of the alliance. Immediately Zug was 
filled with cries and alarm. This canton, the smallest in 
Switzerland, not having yet received all the confederate con- 
tingents, was not in a condition to defend itself. The people 
ran to and fro, sent off" messengers, and hastily prepared for 
battle ; the warriors fitted on their armour, the women shed 
tears, and the children shrieked. 

* Sondern sass auf ein Ross, und f iihrte eine hubsche Helparten auf den 
Acbseln. Fussli Beytr. ir. 103. 



366 MEDIATION OF THE LANDAMMAN AEBLI. 

Already the first division of the Zurich army, amounting 
to two thousand men, under the command of William Tho- 
ming, and stationed near the frontier below Cappel, was 
preparing to march, when they observed, in the direction of 
Baar, a horseman pressing the flanks of his steed, and 
galloping up as fast as the mountain which he had to ascend 
would permit. It was Aebli, landamman of Glaris. " The 
Five Cantons are prepared," said he, as he arrived, " but I 
have prevailed upon them to halt, if you will do the same. 
For this reason I entreat my lords and the people of Zurich, 
for the love of God and the safety of the confederation, to 
suspend their march at the present moment." As he uttered 
these words, the brave Helvetian shed tears.* " In a few 
hours," continued he, " I shall be back again. I hope, with 
God's grace, to obtain an honourable peace, and to prevent 
our cottages from being filled with widows and orphans." 

Aebli was known to be an honourable man, friendly to 
the Gospel, and opposed to foreign service : his words, 
therefore, moved the Zurich captains, who resolved to halt. 
Zwingle alone, motionless and uneasy, beheld in his friend's 
intervention the machinations of the adversary. Austria, 
occupied in repelling the Turks, and unable to succour the 
Five Cantons, had exhorted them to peace. This, in 
Zwingle's opinion, was the cause of the propositions brought 
to them by the Landamman of Glaris. So at the moment 
Aebli turned round to return to Zug,-j- Zwingle, approaching 
him, said with earnestness, " Gossip landamman, you will 
render to God an account of all this. Our adversaries are 
caught in a sack : and hence they give you sweet words. 
By and by they will fall upon us unawares, and there will 
be none to deliver us." Prophetic words, whose fulfilment 
went beyond all foresight ! " Dear gossip ! " replied the 
landamman, " I have confidence in God that all will go 
well. Let each one do his best." And he departed. 

The army, instead of advancing upon Zug, now began to 
erect tents along the edge of the forest and the brink of the 

* Das redt er mitt weynenden Ougeu. Bull. ii. 169. 
t Alls nun der Amman wiederumm zu den 5 orten ryten wollt. BuL 
Chron. ii. 170. Zwingle was godfather to one of Aebli's children. 



BERNESE INTERPOSITION ZWINGLfi's OPPOSITION. 367 

torrent, a few paces from the sentinels of the Five Cantons ; 
while Zwingle, seated in his tent, silent, sad, and in deep 
thought, anticipated some distressing news from hour to 
hour. 

He had not long to wait. The deputies of the Zurich 
council came to give reality to his fears. Berne, maintain- 
ing the character that it had so often filled as representative 
of the federal policy, declared that if Zurich or the cantons 
would not make peace, they would find means to compel 
them : this state at the same time convoked a diet at Arau, 
and sent five thousand men into the field, under the command 
of Sebastian Diesbach. Zwingle was struck with conster- 
nation. 

Aebli's message, supported by that of Berne, was sent 
back by the council to the army ; for, according to the 
principles of the time, "wherever the banner waves, there 
is Zurich." " Let us not be staggered," cried the reformer, 
ever decided and firm ; " our destiny depends upon our 
courage ; to-day they beg and entreat, and in a month, 
when we have laid down our arms, they will crush us. Let 
us stand firm in God. Before all things, let us be just : 
peace will come after that." But Zwingle, transformed to a 
statesman, began to lose the influence which he had gained 
as a servant of God. Many could not understand him, and 
asked if what they had heard Avas really the language of a 
minister of the Lord. " Ah !" said one of his friends, who 
perhaps knew him best, Oswald Myconius, " Zwingle cer- 
tainly was an intrepid man in the midst of danger ; but he 
always had a horror of blood, even of that of his most deadly 
enemies. The freedom of his country, the virtues of our 
forefathers, and, above all, the glory of Christ, were the sole 
end of all his designs.* I speak the truth, as if in the pre- 
sence of God," adds he. 

While Zurich was sending deputies to Arau, the two 
armies received reinforcements. The men of Thurgovia 
and St. Gall joined their banners to that of Zurich : the 
Valaisans and the men of St. Gothard united with the 

Libertas patriae, yirtutes avitae, et imprimis gloria Christi. Osw, Myo. 
De vita Zw. 



368 SWISS CORDIALITY. 

Romanist cantons. The advanced posts were in sight of 
each other at Thun, Leematt, and Goldesbrunnen, on the 
delightful slopes of the Albis. 

Never, perhaps, did Swiss cordiality shine forth brighter 
with its ancient lustre. The soldiers called to one another 
in a friendly manner, and shook hands, styling themselves 
confederates and brothers. " We shall not fight," said they. 
" A storm is passing over our heads, but we will pray to 
God, and he will preserve us from every harm." Scarcity 
afflicted the army of the Five Cantons, while abundance 
reigned in the camp of Zurich.* Some young famishing 
Waldstettes one day passed the outposts: the Zurichers 
made them prisoners, conducted them to the camp, and then 
sent them back laden with provisions, with still greater 
good-nature than wafc shown by Henry IV. at the siege of 
Paris. At another time, some warriors of the Five Cantons, 
having placed a bucket filled with milk on the frontier-line, 
cried out to the Zurichers that they had no bread. The latter 
came down immediately, and cut their bread into the enemies' 
milk, upon which the soldiers of the two parties began with 
jokes to eat out of the same dish some on this side, some 
on that. The Zurichers were delighted that, notwithstand- 
ing the prohibition of their priests, the Waldstettes ate with 
heretics. When one of the troop took a morsel that was on 
the side of his adversaries, the latter sportively struck him 
with their spoons, and said : " Do not cross the frontier ! " 
Thus did these good Helvetians make war upon one another; 
and hence it was that the Burgomaster Sturm of Strasburg, 
one of the mediators, exclaimed : " You confederates are 
a singular people ! When you are disunited, you live still 
in harmony with one another, and your ancient friendship 
never slumbers." -j- 

The most perfect order reigned in the camp of Zurich. 
Every day Zwingle, the commander Schmidt, Zink abbot of 
Cappel, or some other minister, preached among the soldiers. 
No oath or dispute was heard ; all disorderly women were 

* A measure of corn was sold for a florin, and one of wine for a half- 
batz, about three half-pence. Bull. Chron. ii. 182. 
f Wenn ihr schon uneins sind, so sind ir eius. Ibid. 183. 



A CONFERENCE. 369 

turned out of the camp ; prayers were offered up before and 
after every meal ; and each man obeyed his chiefs. There 
were no dice, no cards, no games calculated to excite quarrels; 
but psalms, hymns, national songs, bodily exercise, wrestling, 
or pitching the stone, were the military recreations of the 
Zurichers.* The spirit that animated the reformer had 
passed into the army. 

The assembly at Arau, transported to Steinhausen in the 
neighbourhood of the two camps, decreed that each army 
should hear the complaints of the opposite party. The re- 
ception of the deputies of the Five Cantons by the Zurichers 
was tolerably calm ; it was not so in the other camp. 

On the loth June, fifty Zurichers, surrounded by a crowd 
of peasants, proceeded on horseback to the Waldstettes. 
The sound of the trumpet, the roll of the drum, and repeated 
salvos of artillery announced their arrival. Nearly twelve 
thousand men of the smaller cantons, in good order, with 
uplifted heads and arrogant looks, were under arms. Escher 
of Zurich spoke first, and many persons from the rural dis- 
tricts enumerated their grievances after him, which the 
Waldstettes thought exaggerated. "When have we ever 
refused you the federal right?" asked they. "Yes, yes!" 
replied Funk, Zwingle's friend ; " we know how you exercise 
it. That pastor (Keyser) appealed to it, and you referred him 
to the executioner 1" " Funk, you would have done better 
to have held your tongue," said one of his friends. But the 
words had slipped out : a dreadful tumult suddenly arose ; 
all the army of the Waldstettes was in agitation ; the most 
prudent begged the Zurichers to retire promptly, and pro- 
tected their departure. 

At length the treaty was concluded on the 26th June 
1529. Zwingle did not obtain all he desired. Instead of 
the free preaching of the Word of God, the treaty stipulated 
only liberty of conscience; it declared that the common 
bailiwicks should pronounce for or against the Reform by a 
majority of votes. Without decreeing the abolition of foreign 
pensions, it was recommended to the Romish cantons to 

* Sondern sang, sprang, wurf und Stiess die Steine. Fussli Beyt. iv, 
108 

VOL. IV. 17 



370 AUSTRIAN TREATY TORN. 

renounce the alliance formed with Austria ; the Five Can- 
tons were to pay the expenses of the war, Murner to retract 
his insulting words, and an indemnity was secured to Key- 
ser's family.* 

An incontrovertible success had just crowned the warlike 
demonstration of Zurich. The Five Cantons felt it. Gloomy, 
irritated, silently champing the bit that had been placed in 
their mouths, their chiefs could not decide upon giving up 
the deed of their alliance with Austria. Zurich immediately 
recalled her troops, the mediators redoubled their solicita- 
tions, and the Bernese exclaimed : " If you do not deliver 
up this document, we will ourselves go in procession and 
tear it from your archives." At last it was brought to 
Cappel on the 26th June, two hours after midnight. All 
the army was drawn out at eleven in the forenoon, and they 
began to read the treaty. The Zurichers looked with aston- 
ishment at its breadth and excessive length, and the nine 
seals which had been affixed, one of which was in gold. But 
scarcely had a few words been read, when Aebli, snatching 
the parchment, cried out : " Enough, enough ! " " Read 
it, read it I" said the Zurichers ; " we desire to learn their 
treason!" But the Bailiff of Glaris replied boldly: "I 
would rather be cut in a thousand pieces than permit it." 
Then dashing his knife into the parchment, he cut it in 
pieces in the presence of Zwingle and the soldiers,-j- and 
threw the fragments to the secretary, who committed them 
to the flames. " The paper was not Swiss," says Bullinger, 
with sublime simplicity. 

The banners were immediately struck. The men of Un- 
terwalden retired in anger; those of Schywtz swore they 
would for ever preserve their ancient faith ; while the troops 
of Zurich returned in triumph to their homes. But the 
most opposite thoughts agitated Zwingle's mind. " I hope," 
said he, doing violence to his feelings, " that we bring back 
an honourable peace to our dwellings. It was not to shed 

* Supra, p. 277. The treaty is given entire in Bullinger, ii. 185, and 
Ruchat, ii. 

t TabellaB fcederis a prsetore Pagi Glaronensis gladio concisse et deletes, 
id quod ipse vidi. Zw. Epp. ii. 81 0. 



ZWINGLE'S HYMN. 371 

blood that we set out.* God has* once again shown the 
great ones of the earth that they can do nothing against 
us." Whenever he gave way to his natural disposition, a 
very different order of thoughts took possession of his mind. 
He was seen walking apart in deep dejection, and antici- 
pating the most gloomy future. In vain did the people 
surround him with joyful shouts. " This peace," said he, 
" which you consider a triumph, you will soon repent of, 
striking your breasts." It was at this time that, venting 
his sorrow, he composed, as he was descending the Albis, a 
celebrated hymn often repeated to the sound of music in the 
fields of Switzerland, among the burghers of the confederate 
cities, and even in the palaces of kings. The hymns of 
Luther and of Zwingle play the same part in the German 
and Swiss Reformation as the Psalms in that of France. 

Do thou direct thy chariot, Lord, 

And guide it at thy will ; 
Without thy aid our strength is vain, t 

And useless all our skill. 
Look down upon thy saints brought low, 
And prostrate laid beneath the foe. 

Beloved Pastor, who hast saved 

Our souls from death and sin, 
Uplift thy voice, awake thy sheep 

That slumbering lie within 
Thy fold, and curb with thy right hand, 
The rage of Satan's furious band. 

Send down thy peace, and banish strife, 

Let bitterness depart ; 
Kevive the spirit of the past 

In every Switzer's heart : 
Then shall thy Church for ever sing 
The praises of her heavenly King. 

An edict, published in the name of the confederates, 
ordered the revival everywhere of the old friendship and 
brotherly concord ; but decrees are powerless to work such 
miracles. 

This treaty of peace was nevertheless favourable to the 
Reform. Undoubtedly it met with a violent opposition in 

* Cum non cwdem factum profecti sumus. Zw. Epp. ii. 310. 



372 CONQUESTS OF EEFOBM. 

some places. The nuns of the vale of St. Catherine in 
Thurgovia, deserted by their priests and excited by some 
noblemen beyond the Rhine, who styled them in their letters, 
" Chivalrous women of the house of God," sang mass them- 
selves, and appointed one of their number preacher to the 
convent. Certain deputies from the protestant cantons 
having had an interview with, them, the abbess and three 
of the nuns secretly crossed the river by night, carrying 
with them the papers of the monastery and the ornaments 
of the church. But such isolated resistance as this was un- 
availing. Already in 1529 Zwingle was able to hold a 
synod in Thurgovia, which organized the church there, and 
decreed that the property of the convents should be conse- 
crated to the instruction of pious young men in sacred 
learning. Thus concord and peace seemed at last to be re- 
established in the confederation. 



CHAPTER III. 

Conquests of Reform in Schaffhauscn and Zurzack Reform in Claris 
To-day the Cowl, To-morrow the Reverse Italian Bailiwicks The 
Monk of Como Egidio's Hope for Italy Call of the Monk of Locarno 
Hopes of reforming Italy The Monks of Wettingen Abbey of 
Saint Gall Kilian Kouffi Saint Gall recovers its Liberty The Re- 
form in Soleure Miracle of Saint Ours Popery triumphs The 
Grisons invaded by the Spaniards Address of the Ministers to the 
Romish Cantons God's Word the Means of Unity (Ecolampadius 
for spiritual Influence Autonomy of the Church. 

WHENEVER a conqueror abandons himself to his triumph, in 
that very confidence he often finds destruction. Zurich and 
Zwingle were to exemplify this mournful lesson of history. 
Taking advantage of the national peace, they redoubled their 
exertions for the triumph of the Gospel. This was a legiti- 
mate zeal, but it was not always wisely directed. To attain 
the unity of Switzerland by unity of faith was the object of 
the Zurichers ; but they forgot that, by desiring to force on 



IN SCHAFFHAUSEN AND ZUEZACK. 373 

a unity, it is broken to pieces, and that freedom is the only 
medium in which contrary elements can be dissolved, and 
a salutary union established. While Rome aims at unity 
by anathemas, imprisonment, and the stake, Christian truth 
demands unity through liberty. And let us not fear that 
liberty, expanding each individuality beyond measure, will 
produce by this means an infinite multiplicity. While we 
urge every mind to attach itself to the Word of God, we give 
it up to a power capable of restoring its diverging opinions 
to a wholesome unity. 

Zwingle at first signalized his victory by legitimate con- 
quests. He advanced with courage. "His eye and his 
arm were everywhere." " A few wretched mischief-makers," 
says Salat, a Romanist chronicler, "penetrating into the 
Five Cantons, troubled men's souls, distributed their frippery, 
scattered everywhere little poems, tracts, and testaments, 
and were continually repeating that the people ought not to 
believe the priests."* This was not all : while the Reform 
was destined to be confined around the lake of the Wald- 
stettes to a few fruitless efforts, it made brilliant conquests 
among the cantons, the allies and subjects of Switzerland ; 
and all the blows there inflicted on the Papacy re-echoed 
among the lofty valleys of the primitive cantons, and filled 
them with affright. Nowhere had Popery shown itself more 
determined than in the Swiss mountains. A mixture of 
Romish despotism and Helvetian roughness existed there. 
Rome was resolved to conquer all Switzerland, and yet she 
beheld her most important positions successively wrested 
from her. 

On the 29th September 1529, the citizens of Schaffhausen 
removed the "great God"-j- from the cathedral, to the deep 
regret of a small number of devotees whom the Roman 
worship still counted in this city ; then they abolished the 
mass, and stretched out their hands to Zurich and to Berne. 

At Zurzack, near the confluence of the Rhine and the 
Aar, at the moment when the priest of the place, a man 

* Die sectischen haltend vil elends Hiidel volk gefunden, &c. Salat, 
Chron. 
t Le bon Dieu, probably the patron saint. W. 



374 KEFOKM IN GLARIS. 

devoted to the ancient worship, was preaching with zeal, a 
person named Tiifel (devil), raising his head, observed to 
him : " Sir, you are heaping insults on good men, and load- 
ing the pope and the saints of the Eoman calendar with 
honour; pray where do we find that in the Holy Scrip- 
tures ? " This question, put in a serious tone of voice, raised 
a sly smile on many faces, and the congregation with their 
eyes fixed on the pulpit awaited the reply. The priest in 
astonishment and at his wit's end, answered with a trem- 
bling voice : " Devil is thy name ; thou actest like the devil, 
and thou art the devil ! For this reason I will have nothing 
to do with thee." He then hastily left the pulpit, and ran 
away as if Satan himself had been behind him. Immedi- 
ately the images were torn down, and the mass abolished. 
The Eoman-catholics sought to console themselves by re- 
peating everywhere : " At Zurzack it was the devil who in- 
troduced the Reformation."* 

The priests and warriors of the Forest Cantons beheld the 
overthrow of the Romish faith in countries that lay nearer 
to them. In the canton of Glaris, whence by the steep 
passes of the Klaus and the Pragel,-}- the Reform might 
suddenly fall upon Uri and Schwytz, two men met face to 
face. At Mollis, Fridolin Brunner who questioned himself 
every day by what means he could advance the cause of 
Christ,^ attacked the abuses of the Church with the energy 
of his friend Zwingle, and endeavoured to spread among the 
people, who were passionately fond of war, the peace and 
charity of the Gospel. At Glaris, on the contrary, Valen- 
tine Tschudi studied with all the circumspection of his friend 
Erasmus to preserve a just medium between Rome and the 
Reform. And although, in consequence of Fridolin's preach- 
ing, the doctrines of purgatory, indulgences, meritorious 
works, and intercession of the saints, were looked at by the 

That der Tiiffel den ersteii Angriff. 

f This is the road by which the army of Suwaroff escaped in 1799. 

J Nam quotidie cogitare soleo quanam re Christianum adjuvem pro- 
fcctuni. Zw. Epp. ii. 13, 

Audeo ego intrepide omnem ecclesiae abusum et omnia humana pr- 
oopta in enunciatione verbi Dei damnare. Ibid. 



TO-DAY THE COWL TO-MORROW THE REVERSE. 375 

Glaronais as mere follies and fables,* they still believed with 
Tschudi that the body and blood of Christ were substantially 
in the bread of the Lord's Supper. 

At the same time a movement in opposition to the Re- 
form was taking place in that high and savage valley, where 
the Linth, roaring at the foot of vast rocks with jagged crests 
enormous citadels which seem built in the air, bathes 
the villages of Schwanden and Ruti with its waters. The 
Roman-catholics, alarmed at the progress of the Gospel, and 
wishing to save these mountains at least, had scattered with 
liberal hands the money they derived from their foreign pen- 
sions ; and from that time violent hostility divided old friends, 
and men who appeared to have been won over to the Gospel 
basely sought for a pretext to conceal a disgraceful flight.f 
" Peter | and I," wrote Rasdorfer, pastor of uti, in despair, 
"are labouring in the vineyard, but alas! the grapes we 
gather are not employed for the sacrifice, and the very birds 
do not eat them. We fish, but after having toiled all night, 
we find that we have only caught leeches. Alas ! we are 
casting pearls before dogs, and roses before swine !" The 
spirit of revolt against the Gospel soon descended from these 
valleys with the noisy waters of the Linth as far as Glaris 
and Mollis. " The council, as if it had been composed only 
of silly women, shifted its sails every day," said Rasdorfer ;|| 
" one day it will have the cowl, on the next it will not."^f 
Glaris, like a leaf carried along on the bosom of one of its 
torrents, and which the waves and eddies drive in different 
directions, wavered, wheeled about, and was nearly swal- 
lowed up. 

But this crisis came to an end : the Gospel suddenly re- 
gained strength, and on Easter Monday 1530, a general 

* Nugas esse et fabulas. Zw. Epp. ii. 13. 

f Jam sere convicti palinodiam canunt. Ibid. 292. 

J Pierre Rumelin, pastor of Schwanden. 

Tota enim nocte piscantes, sanguisugas, aspendios cepimus. Zw. 
Epp. ii. 13. Rasdorfer evidently alludes to what Pliny says of a kind of 
vine termed Aspendios: E diverse aspendios, damnata aris. Ferunt 
earn nee ab alite ulla attingi. Hist. Nat. lib. xiv. cap. xviii. 22. 

|| Vertit vela indies senatus noster muliercularum more. Ibid. 

TJ Vult jam cucullum, post non vult. Ibid. That is, at one time it re- 
cognises, at another rejects, the Abbot of Saint Gall. 



376 ITALIAN BAILIWICKS. 

assembly of the people " put the mass and the altars to the 
vote." A powerful party that relied upon the Five Cantons 
vainly opposed the Reform. It was proclaimed, and its van- 
quished and disconcerted enemies were forced to content 
themselves, says Bullinger, with mysteriously concealing a 
few idols, which they reserved for better days. 

In the rn.eanwh.ile, the Reform advanced in the exterior 
RJiodes of Appenzell,* and in the district of Sargans. But 
what most exasperated the cantons that remained faithful to 
the Romish doctrines, was to see it pass the Alps and appear 
in Italy, in those beautiful districts round Lake Maggiore, 
where, near the embouchure of the Maggia, within the walls 
of Locarno, in the midst of laurels, pomegranates, and cy- 
presses, flourished the noble families of Orelli, Muralto, Ma- 
goria, and Duni, and where floated since 1512 the sovereign 
standard of the cantons. " What!" said the Waldstettes, 
" is it not enough that Zurich and Zwingle infest Switzer- 
land! They have the impudence to carry their pretended 
reform even into Italy, even into the country of the pope !" 

Great irregularities prevailed there among the clergy: 
" Whoever wishes to be damned must become a priest," was 
a common saying. -J- But the Gospel succeeded in making 
its way even into that district. A monk of Como, Egidio a 
Porta, who had taken the cowl in 1511, against the wishes 
of his family,^ struggled for years in the Augustine convent, 
and nowhere found peace for his soul. Motionless, envi- 
roned, as it appeared to him, with profound night, he cried 
aloud : " Lord, what wilt thou that I should do?" Erelong 
the monk of Como thought he heard these words in his 
heart : " Go to Ulrich Zwingle and he will tell thee." He 
rose trembling with emotion. " It is you," wrote he to 
Zwingle immediately, " but no 1 it is not you, it is God who, 
through you, will deliver me from the nets of the hunters." 

* See Benedict Noll's Letter to Swingle, Epp. ii. 635. 

f St. Chorles Barromeo, archbishop of Milan, suppressed somewhat 
later several convents in this district : " Monialium non dicam collegia, 
sed amantium contubernia," said he. Die evangel Gem. in Locarno von 
F. Meyer, i. 109. 

J Subduxi memet a parent um patrocinio, cucullumque nigrum ex anjmo 
Buscepi. Zw. Epp. i. 448. 



THE MONK OP COMO. 877 

" Translate the New Testament into Italian," replied Zwingle; 
" I will undertake to get it printed at Zurich." This is what 
the Reform did for Italy more than three centuries ago. 

Egidio therefore remained. He commenced translating 
the Gospel ; but at one time he had to heg for the convent, 
at another to repeat his " hours," and then to accompany 
one of the fathers on his journeys.* Everything that sur- 
rounded him increased his distress. He saw his country 
reduced to the greatest misery by desolating wars, men 
formerly rich, holding out their hands for alms, crowds of 
women driven by want to the most shameful degradation. 
He imagined that a great political deliverance could alone 
bring about the religious independence of his fellow-country- 
men. 

On a sudden he thought that this happy hour was arrived. 
He perceived a band of Lutheran lansquenets descending the 
Alps. Their serried phalanxes, their threatening looks, were 
directed towards the banks of the Tiber. At their head 
marched Freundsberg, wearing a chain of gold around his 
neck, and saying : " If I reach Rome I will make use of it 
to hang the pope." " God wills to save us," wrote Egidio 
to Zwingle : " write to the constable ;-j- entreat him to deliver 
the people over whom he rules, to take from the shaven 
crowns, whose God is their belly, the wealth which renders 
them so proud, and to distribute it among the people who 
are dying of hunger. Then let each one preach without fear 
the pure Word of the Lord. The strength of Antichrist is 
near its fall 1" 

Thus, about the end of 1526, Egidio already dreamt of the 
Reformation of Italy. From that time his letters cease : the 
monk disappeared. There can be no doubt that the arm of 
Rome was able to reach him, and that, like so many others, 
he was plunged into the gloomy dungeon of some convent. 

In the spring of 1530, a new epoch commenced for the 
Italian bailiwicks. Zurich appointed Jacques Werdmuller 

* Confratres nonnulli viri certe et pietate et eruditione nequaquam con- 
temptibiles. Zw. Epp. i. 533. 

f Bourbon, who commanded in Italy on behalf of the emperor. Supra, 
book xiii. p. 15. 

17* 



378 THE MONK OP LOCAKNO. 

bailiff of Locarno ; he was a grave man, respected by all, and 
who even in 1524 had kissed the feet of the pope ; he had 
since then been won over to the Gospel, and had sat down 
at the feet of the Saviour.* " Go," said Zurich, " and bear 
yourself like a Christian, and in all that concerns the Word 
of God conform to the ordinances." Werdmiiller met with 
nothing but darkness in every quarter. Yet, in the midst of 
this gloom, a feeble glimmering seemed to issue from a con- 
vent situated on the delightful shores of Lake Maggiore. 
Among the Carmelites at Locarno was a monk named Fon- 
tana, skilled in the Holy Scriptures, and animated with the 
same spirit that had enlightened the monk of Como. The 
doctrine of salvation, " without money and without price," 
which God proclaims in the Gospel, filled him with love and 
joy. " As long as I live," said he, I will preach upon the 
Epistles of St. Paul; " f for it was particularly in these epistles 
that he had found the truth. Two monks, of whose names 
we are ignorant, shared his sentiments. Fontana wrote a 
letter " to all the Church of Christ in Germany," which was 
forwarded to Zwingle. We may imagine we hear that man 
of Macedonia, who appeared in a vision to Paul in the night, 
calling him to Europe, and saying, " Come over and help 
us."J " 0, trusty and well-beloved of Christ Jesus," cried 
the monk of Locarno to Germany, " remember Lazarus, the 
beggar, in the Gospel, remember that humble Canaanitish 
woman, longing for the crumbs that fell from the Lord's 
table ! hungry as David, I have recourse to the shew-bread 
placed upon the altar. A poor traveller devoured by thirst, 
I rush to the springs of living water. Plunged in darkness, 
bathed in tears, we cry to you who know the mysteries of 
God to send us by the hands of the munificent J. Werd- 
miiller all the writings of the divine Zwingle, of the famous 
Luther, of the skilful Melancthon, of the mild (Ecolampadius, 
of the ingenious Pomeranus, of the learned Lambert, of the 
elegant Brentz, of the penetrating Bucer, of the studious Leo, 

* Luke x. 39. 

t Se dum viral eatis de Epistolis Pauli concionaturum esse. Zw. 
Epp. ii. 497. J Acts xvi. 9. 

Debilia et infirmus apud pisciuam, salutem mei et patriae toto mentia 
affectu citissimc expecto. Hcttinger, sseeul. 16, pars 2, p. 619. 



HOPES OF REFORMING ITALY. 379 

of the vigilant Hiitten, and of the other illustrious doctors, 
if there ^are any more. Excellent princes, pivots of the 
Church, our holy mother, make haste to deliver from the 
slavery of Babylon a city of Lombardy that has not yet 
known the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We are but three who 
have combined together to fight on behalf of the truth ;* but 
it was beneath the blows of a small body of men, chosen by 
God, and not by the thousands of Gideon, that Midian fell. 
Who knows if, from a small spark, God may not cause a 
great conflagration?" 

Thus three men on the banks of the Maggia hoped at 
that time to reform Italy. They uttered a call to which, 
for three centuries, the evangelical world has not replied. 
Zurich, however, in these days of its strength and of its 
faith, displayed a holy boldness, and dared extend her here- 
tical arms beyond the Alps. Hence, Uri, Schwytz, Unter- 
walden, and all the Romanists of Switzerland gave vent to 
loud and terrible threats, swearing to arrest even in Zurich 
itself the course of these presumptuous invasions. 

But the Zurichers did not confine themselves to this : they 
gave the confederates more serious cause of fear by waging 
incessant war against the convents, those centres of ultra- 
montane fanaticism. The extensive monastery of Wettingen, 
around which roll the waters of the Limmat, and which, by 
its proximity to Zurich, was exposed more than any other 
to the breath of reform, was in violent commotion. On the 
23d August 1529, a great change took place ; the monks 
ceased to sing mass ; they cut off each other's beards, not 
without shedding a few tears ; they laid down their frocks 
and their hoods, and clothed themselves in becoming secular 
dresses.-}- Then, in astonishment at this metamorphosis, 
they listened devoutly to the sermon which Sebastian Benli 
of Zurich came and preached to them, and erelong employed 
themselves in propagating the Gospel, and in singing psalms 
in German. Thus Wettingen fell into the current of that 
river which seemed to be everywhere reviving the confedera- 

* Confederati conjunctique in expeditionem veritatis tres tantum nu 
mero sumus. Hottingor saffcul. 16, pars 2, p. 620. 
t Bekleitend sich in erbare gameine Landskleyder. Bull. Chron. ii. 21 



380 ABBEY OF ST. GALL. 

tion. The cloister, ceasing to be a house for gaming, glut- 
tony, and drunkenness, was changed into a school. Two 
monks alone in all the monastery remained faithful to the 
cowl. 

The commander of Mulinen, without troubling himself 
about the threats of the Romish cantons, earnestly pressed 
the commandery of St. John at Hitzkirch towards the 
Reformation. The question was put to the vote, and the 
majority declared in favour of the Word of God. " Ah !" 
said the commander, " I have been long pushing behind the 
chariot."* On the 4th September the commandery was 
reformed. It was the same with that of Wadenswyl, with 
the convent of Pfeffers, and others besides. Even at Mury 
the majority declared for the Gospel ; but the minority pre- 
vailed through the support of the Five Cantons.f A new 
triumph, and one of greater value, was destined to indemnify 
the reform, and to raise the indignation of the Waldstettes 
to the highest pitch. 

The Abbot of St. Gall, by his wealth, by the number of 
his subjects, and the influence which he exercised in Swit- 
zerland, was one of the most formidable adversaries of the 
Gospel. In 1529, therefore, at the moment when the army 
of Zurich took the field against the Five Cantons, the Abbot 
Francis of Geisberg, in alarm and at the brink of death, 
caused himself to be hastily removed into the strong castle 
of Rohrschach, not thinking himself secure except within its 
walls. Four days after this, the illustrious Vadian, burgo- 
master of St. Gall, entered the convent, and announced the 
intention of the people to resume the use of their cathedral- 
church, and to remove the images. The monks were 
astonished at such audacity, and having in vain protested 
and cried for help, put their most precious effects in a place 
of safety, and fled to Einsidlen. 

Among these was Kilian Kouffi, head-steward of the 
abbey, a cunning and active monk, and, like Zwingle, a 
native of the Tockenburg. Knowing how important it was 

* Diu me in hoc curru promovendo laborasse, priusquam tarn long* 
processit. Zw. Epp. ii. 334. 
t Das das minder must das meer sin. Bull. ii. 241. 



KILIAN KOUPFI. 381 

to find a successor to the abbot, before the news of his death 
was bruited abroad, he came to an understanding with those 
who waited on the prelate ; and the latter dying on Tuesday 
in Holy Week, the meals were carried as usual into his 
chamber, and with downcast eyes and low voice the attend- 
ants answered every inquiry about his health. While this 
farce was. going on round a dead body, the monks who had 
assembled at Einsidlen repaired in all haste to Rapperschwyl, 
in the territory of St. Gall, and there elected Kilian, who 
had so skilfully managed the affair. The new abbot went 
immediately to Rohrschach, and on Good Friday he there 
proclaimed his own election and the death of his predecessor. 
Zurich and Glaris declared they would not recognise him, 
unle'ss he could prove by the Holy Scriptures that a monkish 
life was in conformity with the Gospel. " We are ready to 
protect the house of God," said they ; " and for this reason 
we require that it be consecrated anew to the Lord. But 
we do not forget that it is our duty also to protect the 
people. The free Church of Christ should raise its head in 
the bosom of a free people." At the same time the ministers 
of St. Gall published forty-two theses, in which they asserted 
that convents were not " houses of God, but houses of the 
devil."* The abbot, supported by Lucerne and Schwytz, 
which with Zurich and Glaris exercised sovereign power in 
St. Gall, replied that he could not dispute about rights 
which he held from kings and emperors. , The two natives 
of the Tockenburg, Zwingle and Kilian, were thus strug- 
gling around St. Gall, the one claiming the people for the 
abbey, and the other the abbey for the people. The army 
of Zurich having approached Wyl, Kilian seized upon the 
treasures and muniments of the convent, and fled precipi- 
tately beyond the Rhine. As soon as peace was concluded, 
the crafty monk put on a secular dress, and crept mysteri- 
ously as far as Einsidlen, whence on a sudden he made all 
Switzerland re-echo with his cries. Zurich in conjunction 
with Glaris replied by publishing a constitution, according 
to which a governor, "confirmed in the evangelical faith," 
should preside over the district, with a council of twelve 
" Thesis 8. Bull. ii. 115. 



382 ST. GALL RECOVERS ITS LIBERTY. 

members, while the election of pastors was left to the 
parishes.* Not long afterwards, the abbot, expelled and a 
fugitive, while crossing a river near Bregentz, fell from his 
horse, got entangled in his frock, and was drowned. Of the 
two combatants from the Tockenburg, it was Zwingle who 
gained the victory. 

The convent was put up to sale, and was purchased by 
the town of St. Gall, " with the exception," says Bullinger, 
" of a detached building, called Hell, where the monks were 
left who had not embraced the Reform."f The time having 
arrived when the governor sent by Zurich was to give place 
to one from Lucerne, the people of St. Gall called upon the 
latter to swear to their constitution. " A governor has 
never been known," replied he, " to make an oath to pea- 
sants; it is the peasants who should make oath to the 
governor!" Upon this he retired: the Zurich governor 
remained, and the indignation of the Five Cantons against 
Zurich, which so daringly assisted the people of St. Gall in 
recovering their ancient liberties, rose to the highest par- 
oxysm of anger. 

A few victories, however, consoled in some degree the 
partisans of Rome. Soleure was for a long time one of the 
most contested battle-fields. The citizens and the learned 
were in favour of Reform : the patricians and canons for 
Popery. Philip Grotz of Zug was preaching the Gospel 
there, and the council desiring to compel him to say mass, 
one hundred of the reformed appeared in the hall of assem- 
bly on the 13th September 1529, and with energy called for 
liberty of conscience. As Zurich and Berne supported this 
demand, their prayer was granted. 

Upon this the most fanatical of the Roman-catholics, ex- 
asperated at the concession, closed the gates of the city, 
pointed the guns, and made a show of expelling the friends 
of the Reform. The council prepared to punish these agita- 
tors, when the reformed, willing to set an example of Christian 

* Die Pfarer soil den Gmeinden irs gfallcns zu crkiessen Zugestelt syn 
Bull. ii. 268. 

t Alein was ein gebuw die Hell genampt, das Hess man den Munchen 
blyten. Ibid. 271. 



MIRACLE OF ST. OURS. 383 

moderation, declared they would forgive them.* The Great 
Council then published throughout the canton that the 
dominion of conscience belonging to God alone, and faith 
being the free gift of His grace, each one might follow the 
religion which he thought best. Thirty-four parishes de- 
clared for the Reformation, and only two for the mass. 
Almost all the rural districts were in favour of the Gospel , 
but the majority in the city sided with the pope.-{- Haller, 
whom the reformed of Soleure had sent for, arrived, and it 
was a day of triumph for them. It was in the middle of 
winter : " To-day," ironically observed one of the evangeli- 
cal Christians, "the patron saint (St. Ours) will sweat!" 
And in truth oh ! wonderful ! drops of moisture fell from 
the holy image ! It was simply a little holy water that had 
frozen and then thawed. But the Romanists would listen 
to no raillery on so illustrious a prodigy, which may remind 
us of the blood of St. Januarius at Naples. All the city 
resounded with piteous cries, the bells were tolled, a 
general procession moved through the streets, and high 
mass was sung in honour of the heavenly prince who had 
shown in so marvellous a manner the pangs he felt for his 
dearly beloved. " It is the fat minister of Berne (Haller) 
who is the cause of the saint's alarm," said the devout old 
women. One of them declared that she would thrust a 
knife into his body ; and certain Roman-catholics threatened 
to go to the Cordeliers' church and murder the pastors who 
preached there. Upon this the reformed rushed to that 
church and demanded a public discussion : two hundred of 
their adversaries posted themselves at the same time in the 
church of St. Ours and refused all inquiry. Neither of the 
two -parties was willing to be the first to abandon the camp 
in which it was entrenched. The senate, wishing to clear 
the two churches thus in a manner transformed into citadels, 
announced that at Martinmas, L e. nine months later, a 
public disputation should take place. But as the reformed 
found the delay too long, both parties remained for a whole 

* Ruchat, ii. 139. 

+ Major pars agri abolita superstitione a parte nostra stat. Major et 
potior pars urbis a papistis. Zw. Epp. ii. 489. 



384 POPERY TRIUMPHS. 

week more under arms. Commerce was interrupted, the 
public offices were closed, messengers ran to and fro, 
arrangements were proposed ; but the people were so stiff- 
necked,* that no one would give way. The city was in a 
state of siege. At last all were agreed about the discussion, 
and the ministers committed four theses to writing, which 
the canons immediately attempted to refute. 

Nevertheless they judged it a still better plan to elude 
them. Nothing alarmed the Romanists so much as a disputa- 
tion. " What need have we of any ?" said they. " Do not 
the writings of the two. parties declare their sentiments?" 
The conference was, therefore, put off until the following 
year. Many of the reformed, indignant at these delays, 
imprudently quitted the city ; and the councils, charmed at 
this result, which they were far from expecting, hastily 
declared that the people should be free in the canton, but 
that in the city no one should attack the mass. From that 
time the reformed were compelled every Sunday to leave 
Soleure and repair to the village of Zuchswyl to hear the 
Word of God. Thus Popery, defeated in so many places, 
triumphed in Soleure. 

Zurich and the other reformed cantons attentively watched 
these successes of their adversaries, and lent a fearful ear to 
the threats of the Roman-catholics, who were continually 
announcing the intervention of the emperor; when on a 
sudden a report was heard that nine hundred Spaniards had 
entered the Grisons ; that they were led by the Chatelain of 
Musso, recently invested with the title of marquis by Charles 
the Fifth ; that the chatelain's brother-in-law, Didier d'mbs, 
was also marching against the Swiss at the head of three 
thousand imperial lansquenets ; and that the emperor him- 
self was ready to support them with all his forces. The 
Grisons uttered a cry of alarm. The Waldstettes remained 
motionless ; but all the reformed cantons assembled their 
troops, and eleven thousand men began their march.-{- The 
emperor and the Duke of Milan having soon after declared 
that they would not support the chatelain, this adventurer 

* Tarn dune cervicis populus est. Zw. Epp. ii. 489. 
+ Bull. Chron. ii. 357. 



THE ORISONS INVADED BY THE SPANIARDS. 385 

beheld his castle rased to the ground, and was compelled tc 
retire to the banks of the Sesia, giving guarantees of future 
tranquillity; while the Swiss soldiers returned to their 
homes, fired with indignation against the Five Cantons, who 
by their inactivity had infringed the federal alliance.* " Our 
prompt and energetic resistance," said they, " has undoubt- 
edly baffled their perfidious designs ; but the reaction is only 
adjourned. Although the parchment of the Austrian 
alliance has been torn in pieces, the alliance itself still exists. 
The truth has freed us, but soon the imperial lansquenets 
will come and try to place us again under the yoke of 
slavery." 

Thus in consequence of so many violent shocks, the two 
parties that divided Switzerland had attained the highest 
degree of irritation. The gulf that separated them widened 
daily. The clouds the forerunners of the tempest drove 
swiftly along the mountains, and gathered threateningly above 
the valleys. Under these circumstances Zwingle and his 
friends thought it their duty to raise their voices, and if possible 
to avert the storm. In like manner Nicholas de Flue had in 
former days thrown himself between the hostile parties. 

On the 5th September 1530, the principal ministers of 
Zurich, Berne, Basle, and Strasburg, GGcolampadius, Capito, 
Megander, Leo Juda, and Myconius, were assembled at 
Zurich in Zwingle's house. Desirous of taking a solemn 
step with the Five Cantons, they drew up an address that 
was presented to the Confederates at the meeting of the 
diet at Baden. However unfavourable the deputies were, 
as a body, to these heretical ministers, they nevertheless 
listened to this epistle, but not without signs of impatience 
and weariness.-i- " You are aware, gracious lords, that con- 
cord increases the power of states, and that discord over- 
throws them.:}: You are yourselves a proof of the first of 
these truths. Setting out from a small beginning, you 
have, by a good understanding one with another, arrived at 

* Ward ein grosser Unwill wieder sie. Bull. Chron. ii. 361. 
+ Lecta eet epistola uostra in comitiis Badensibus. CEcol. to Bucer. 
28th December 1530. 
Z Wie mit einhelligkeit kleine Ding gross werdend. Zw. Opp. ii. 78. 



386 GOD S WORD, THE MEANS OP UNITY. 

a great end. May God condescend to prevent you also 
from giving a striking proof of the second ! Whence comes 
disunion, if not from selfishness ? and how can we destroy 
this fatal passion, except by receiving from God the love of 
the common weal? For this reason we conjure you to 
allow the Word of God to be freely preached among you, as 
did your pious ancestors. When has there ever existed a 
government, even among the heathens, which saw not that 
the hand of God alone upholds a nation? Do not two 
drops of quicksilver unite so soon as you remove that 
which separates them ? Away then with that which separ- 
ates you from our cities, that is, the absence of the Word 
of God; and immediately the Almighty will unite us, as 
our fathers were united. Then placed in your mountains, 
as in the centre of Christendom, you will be an example to 
*t, its protection and its refuge; and after having passed 
through this vale of tears, being the terror of the wicked 
and the consolation of the faithful, you will at last be 
established in eternal happiness." 

Thus frankly did these men of God address their brothers, 
the Waldstettes. But their voice was -not attended to. 
" The ministers' sermon is rather long," * said some of the 
deputies yawning and stretching their arms, while others 
pretended to find in it new cause of complaint against the 
cities. 

This proceeding of the ministers was useless : the Wald- 
stettes rejected the Word of God, which they had been 
entreated to admit ; they rejected the hands that were ex- 
tended towards them in the name of Jesus Christ. They 
called for the pope and not for the Gospel. All hope of re- 
conciliation appeared lost. 

Some persons, however, had at that time a glimpse of 
what might have saved Switzerland and the Reformation, 
the autonomy (self-government) of the Church, and its 
independence of political interests. Had they been wise 
enough to decline the secular power to secure the triumph of 
the Gospel, it is probable that harmony might have been 

* Libellum supplicem ad quinque pagos breviorcm vollent. Zw. Epp. 
ii. 511. Fastidiunt tarn sancta. CEcol. 



CECOLAMPAUIUS FOB SPIRITUAL INFLUENCE. 387 

gradually established in the Helvetic cantons, and that 
the Gospel would have conquered by its Divine strength. 
The power of the Word of God presented chances of success 
that were not afforded by pikes and muskets. The energy 
of faith, the influence of charity, would have proved a 
securer protection to Christians against the burning piles of 
the Waldstettes than diplomatists and men-at-arms. None 
of the reformers understood this so clearly as CEcolam- 
padius. His handsome countenance, the serenity of his 
features, the mild expression of his eyes, his long and vener- 
able beard, the spirituality of his expression, a certain 
dignity that inspired confidence and respect, gave him rather 
the air of an apostle than of a reformer. It was the power 
of the inner word that he particularly extolled ; perhaps he 
even went too far in spiritualism. But, however that may 
be, if any man could have saved Reform from the misfor- 
tunes that were about to befall it that man was he. In 
separating from the Papacy, he desired not to set up the 
magistracy in its stead. " The magistrate who should take 
away from the churches the authority that belongs to them," 
wrote he to Zwingle, " would be more intolerable than 
Antichrist himself (i. e. the pope)." * " The hand of the 
magistrate strikes with the sword, but the hand of Christ 
heals. Christ has not said, If thy brother will not hear thee, 
tell it to the magistrate, but tell it to the Church. The 
functions of the State are distinct from those of the Church. 
The State is free to do many things which the purity of the 
Gospel condemns." { (Ecolampadius saw how important it 
was that his convictions should prevail among the reformed. 
This man, so mild and so spiritual, feared not to stand forth 
boldly in defence of doctrines then so novel. He expounded 
them before a synodal assembly, and next developed them 
before the senate of Basle.J It is a strange circumstance 
that these ideas, for a moment at least, were acceptable to 

* Intolerabilior enim Antichristo ipso magistratus, qui Ecclesiis auc- 
toritatem suam adimit. Zw. Epp. ii. 510. 

} Ipsorum functio alia est et ecclesiastica, multaque ferre ot facere 
potest qua} puritas evangelica non agnoscit. Ibid. 

J Orationis mea quam, fratrum nomine, coram seiiatu habui. Ibid. 



388 AUTONOMY OP THE CHURCH. 

Zwingle ;* but they displeased an assembly of the brethren 
to whom he communicated them ; the politic Bucer above all 
feared that this independence of the Church would in some 
measure check the exercise of the civil power. -f- The exer- 
tions of (Ecolampadius to constitute the Church were not, 
however, entirely unsuccessful. In February 1531, a diet 
of four reformed cantons (Basle, Zurich, Berne, and St. 
Gall), was held at Basle, in which it was agreed, that when- 
ever any difficulty should arise with regard to doctrine or 
worship, an assemby of divines and laymen should be con- 
voked, which should examine what the "Word of God said 
On the mattei'4 This resolution, by giving greater unity to 
the renovated Church, gave it also fresh strength. 



CHAPTER IV. 

Zwingle and the Christian State Zwingle's double Part Zwingle and 
Luther in Relation to Politics Philip of Hesse and the Free Cities 
Projected Union between Zwingle and Luther Zwingle's political 
Action Project of Alliance against the Emperor Zwingle advocates 
active Resistance He destines the Imperial Crown for Philip Faults 
of the Reformation Embassy to Venice Giddiness of the Reforma- 
tionProjected Alliance with France Zwingle's Plan of Alliance 
Approaching Ruin Slanders in the Five Cantons Violence Myste- 
rious Paper Berne and Basle vote for Peace General Diet at Baden 
Evangelical Diet at Zurich Political Reformation of Switzerland 
Activity of Zurich. 

BUT it was too late to tread in this path which would have 
prevented so many disasters. The Reformation had already 
entered with all her sails set upon the stormy ocean of poli- 
tics, and terrible misfortunes were gathering over her. The 
impulse communicated to the Reform came from another 
than (Ecolampadius. Zwingle's proud and piercing eyes, 

* Ut mini magis ac magis arridet. Zw. Epp. ii. 51 8. 
} Ut uon impediat alicubi magistratum Christianum. Bucer. to Zw. 
p. 836. J J. J. Hottinger, iii. 554. 



ZWTNGLE AND THE CHRISTIAN STATE. 389 

his harsh features, his bold step, all proclaimed in him a 
resolute mind and the man of action. Nurtured in the 
exploits of the heroes of antiquity, he threw himself, to save 
Reform, in the footsteps of Demosthenes and Cato, rather than 
in those of St. John and St. Paul. His prompt and penetrating 
look's were turned to the right and to the left, to the cabinets 
of kings and the councils of the people, whilst they should 
have been directed solely to God. We have already seen, 
that as early as 1527, Zwingle, observing how all the powers 
were rising against the Reformation, had conceived the plan 
of a co-burghery or Christian State,* which should unite all 
the friends of the Word of God in one holy and powerful 
league. This was so much the easier as Zwingle's reforma- 
tion had won over Strasburg, Augsburg, Ulm, Reutlingen, 
Lindau, Memmingen, and other towns of Upper Germany. 
Constance in December 1527, Berne in June 1528, St. Gall 
in November of the same year, Bienne in January 1529, 
Mulhausen in February, Basle in March, Schaffhausen in Sep- 
tember, and Strasburg in December, entered into this alliance. 
This political phasis of Zwingle's character is in the eyes of 
some persons his highest claim to glory ; we do not hesitate 
to acknowledge it as his greatest fault. The reformeri 
deserting the paths of the apostles, allowed himself to be 
led astray by the perverse example of Popery. The primi- 
tive Church never opposed their persecutors but with the 
sentiments derived from the Gospel of peace. Faith was 
the only sword by which it vanquished the mighty ones of 
the earth. Zwingle felt clearly that by entering into the 
ways of worldly politicians, he was leaving those of a mini- 
ster of Christ ; he therefore sought to justify himself. " No 
doubt, it is not by human strength," said he, " it is by the 
strength of God alone that the Word of the Lord should be 
upheld. But God often makes use of men as instruments 
to succour men. Let us therefore unite, and from the sources 
of the Rhine to Strasburg let us form but one people and 
one alliance."-)- 

* Civitas Christiana. 

f Dass von oben hinab hie dises Rhyns, bis gen Strasbourg ein Volk 
und Bundniss wiirde. Zw. Op. ii. 28. 



390 ZWINGLE'S DOUBLE PART. 

Zwingle played two parts at once he was a reformer and 
a magistrate. But these are two characters that ought not 
more to be united than those of a minister and of a soldier. 
We will not altogether blame the soldiers and the magis- 
trates ; in forming leagues and drawing the sword, even for 
the sake of religion, they act according to their point of 
view, although it is not the same as ours ; but we must 
decidedly blame the Christian minister who becomes a diplo- 
matist or a general. 

In October 1529, as we have already observed, Zwingle 
repaired to Marburg, whither he had been invited by Philip 
of Hesse ; and while neither of them had been able to come 
to an understanding with Luther, the landgrave and the 
Swiss reformer, animated by the same bold and enterprising 
spirit, soon agreed together. 

The two reformers differed not less in their political than 
in their religious system. Luther, brought up in the cloister 
and in monastic submission, was imbued in youth with the 
writings of the fathers of the Church ; Zwingle, on the other 
hand, reared in the midst of Swiss liberty, had, during those 
early years which decide the course of all the rest, imbibed 
the history of the ancient republics. Thus, while Luther 
was in favour of a passive obedience, Zwingle advocated 
resistance against tyrants. 

These two men were the faithful representatives of their 
respective nations. In the north of Germany, the princes 
and nobility were the essential part of the nation, and the 
people strangers to all political liberty had only to obey. 
Thus, at the epoch of the Reformation they were content to 
follow the voice of their doctors and chiefs. In Switzerland, 
in the south of Germany, and on the Rhine, on the con- 
trary, many cities, after long and violent struggles, had won 
civil liberty ; and hence we find in almost every place the 
people taking a decided part in the Reform of the Church. 
There was good in this ; but evil was close at hand. The 
reformers, themselves men of the people, who dared not act 
upon princes, might be tempted to hurry away the people. 
It was easier for the Reformation to unite with republics 
than with kings. This facility nearly proved its ruin. 



PHILIP OP HESSE AND THE FREE CITIES. 391 

The Gospel was thus to learn that its alliance is in 
heaven. 

There was, however, one prince with whom the reformed 
party of the free states desired to be in union : this was 
Philip of Hesse. It was he who in great measure prompted 
Zwingle's warlike projects. Zwingle desired to make him 
some return, and to introduce his new friend into the evan- 
gelical league. But Berne, watchful to avert anything that 
might irritate the emperor and its ancient confederates, re- 
jected this proposal, and thus excited a lively discontent in 
the " Christian State."" What I" cried they, " do the Ber- 
nese refuse an alliance that would be honourable for us, 
acceptable to Jesus Christ, and terrible to our adversaries?"* 
" The Bear," said the high-spirited Zwingle, " is jealous of 
the Lion (Zurich) ; but there will be an end to all these 
artifices, and victory will remain with the bold." It would 
appear, indeed, according to a letter in cipher, that the Ber- 
nese at last sided with Zwingle, requiring only that this alli- 
ance with a prince of the empire should not be made public.-{- 

Still (Ecolampadius had not given way, and his meekness 
contended, although modestly, with the boldness of his im- 
petuous friend. He was convinced that faith was destined 
to triumph only by the cordial union of all believers. A 
valuable relief occurred to reanimate his exertions. The 
deputies of the Christian co-burghery having assembled at 
Basle in 1530, the envoys from Strasburg; endeavoured to 
reconcile Luther and Zwingle. (Ecolampadius wrote to 
Zwingle on the subject, begging him to hasten to Basle,J 
and not show himself too unyielding. " To say that the 
body and blood of Christ are really in the Lord's Supper, may 
appear to many too hard an expression," said he, " but is it 
not softened, when it is added spiritually and not bodily ?" 

* Ipsis et nobis honestius, ob religionis et caritatis causam, Christo 
gratius, ob conjunctas vires utilius, hostibusque terribilius. Zw. Epp. 
ii. 481. 

+ Tantum recusayerunt aperte agere. Ibid. 487. This cipher 3 ap- 
pears to indicate the Bernese. 

J Si potes, mox advola. Zw. Epp. ii. 547. 

Christi corpus et sangninem adesse vero in coena fortasse cuipiam 
durius sonat, Bed mitigatur dum adjungitur animo non corpora. Ibid. 



892 ZWTNOLE'S POLITICAL ACTION. 

Zwingle was immovable. "It is to flatter Luther that 
you hold such language, and not to defend the truth.* 
Edere est credere ."-{- Nevertheless there were men present at 
the meeting, who were resolved upon energetic measures. 
Brotherly love was on the eve of triumphing : peace was to 
be obtained by union. The Elector of Saxony himself pro- 
posed a concord of all evangelical Christians, to which the 
Swiss cities were invited by the landgrave to accede. A 
report spread that Luther and Zwingle were about to make 
the same confession of faith. Zwingle, calling to mind the 
early professions of the Saxon reformer, said one day at 
table before many witnesses, that Luther would not think so 
erroneously about the Eucharist, if he were not misled by 
Melancthon4 The union of the whole of the Reformation 
seemed about to be concluded : it would have vanquished 
by its own weapons. But Luther soon proved that Zwingle 
was mistaken in his expectations. He required a written 
engagement by which Zwingle and (Ecolampadius should 
adhere to his sentiments, and the negotiations were broken 
off in consequence. Concord having failed, there remained 
nothing but war. (Ecolampadius must be silent, and Zwingle 
must act. 

And in truth from that hour Zwingle advanced more and 
more along that fatal path into which he was led by his 
character, his patriotism, and his early habits. Stunned by 
so many violent shocks, attacked by his enemies and by his 
brethren, he staggered, and his head grew dizzy. From this 
period the reformer almost entirely disappears, and we see 
in his place the politician, the great citizen, who beholding 
a formidable coalition preparing its chains for every nation, 
stands up energetically against it. The emperor had just 
formed a close alliance with the pope. If his deadly schemes 
were not opposed it would be all over, in Zwingle's opinion, 
with the Reformation, with religious and political liberty, 

* Hsec omnia fieri pro Luthero neque pro veritate propugnandi causa. 
Zw. Epp. ii. 550. 

f To eat is to believe. Ibid. 

t Memini dudum Tiguri te dicentem cum convivio me exciperes, Lu- 
therum non adeo perperam de Euch.ari.stia sentire, nisi quod Melancthon 
ex alio eum cogeret. Ibid. 562. 



HIS PROJECT OF ALLIANCE AGAINST THE EMPEROR. 393 

and even with the confederation itself. " The emperor," 
said he, " is stirring up friend against friend, enemy against 
enemy : and then he endeavours to raise out of this confusion 
the glory of the Papacy, and, above all, his own power. He 
excites the Chatelain of Musso against the Grisons Duke 
George of Saxony against Duke John the Bishop of Con- 
stance against the city the Duke of Savoy against Berne 
the Five Cantons against Zurich and the, bishops of the 
Rhine against the landgrave; then, when the confusion 
shall have become general, he will fall upon Germany, will 
offer himself as a mediator, and ensnare princes and cities by 
fine speeches, until he has them all under his feet. Alas ! 
what discord, what disasters, under the pretence of re-esta- 
blishing the empire and restoring religion !"* Zwingle went 
farther. The reformer of a small town in Switzerland, rising 
to the most astonishing political conceptions, called for a 
European alliance against such fatal designs. The son of a 
peasant of the Tockenburg held up his head against the heir 
of so many crowns. " That man must either be a traitor or 
a coward," wrote he to a senator of Constance, " who is con- 
tent to stretch and yawn, when he ought to be collecting 
men and arms on every side, to convince the emperor that 
in vain he strives to re-establish the Romish faith, to enslave 
the free cities, and to subdue the Helvetians.^ He showed 
us only six months ago how he would proceed. To-day he 
will take one city in hand, to-morrow another and so, step 
by step, until they are all reduced. Then their arms will be 
taken away, their treasures, their machines of war, and all 

their power Arouse Lindau and all your neighbours; if 

they do not awake, public liberty will perish under the pre- 
text of religion. We must place no confidence in the friend- 
ship of tyrants. Demosthenes teaches us that there is 
nothing so hateful in their eyes as rqv ruv KOMUV tiM&tfmt^. 
The emperor with one hand offers us bread, but in the other 

* Quro dissidia, quas turbas, quse mala, quas clades ! Zw. Epp. ii. 429. 

+ Romanam fidcm restituere, urbes liberas capere, Helvetica in ordinem 
cogere. Ibid. March 1530. 

J " The freedom of cities." These words are in Greek in the ori- 
ginal. 

VOL. IV. 18 



394 HE ADVOCATES ACTIVE KESISTANCE. 

he conceals a stone."* And a few months later Zwingle 
wrote to his friends in Constance : " Be bold ; fear not the 
schemes of Charles. The razor will cut him who is sharp- 
ening it."-r 

Away, then, with delay ! Should they wait until Charles 
the Fifth claimed the ancient castle of Hapsburg? The 
papacy and the empire, it was said at Zurich, are so con- 
founded together,^ that one cannot exist or perish without 
the other. Whoever rejects Popery should reject the empire, 
and whoever rejects the emperor should reject the pope. 

It appears that Zwingle's thoughts even went beyond a 
simple resistance. When once the Gospel had ceased to be 
his principal study, there was nothing that could arrest him. 
" A single individual," said he, " must not take it into his 
head to dethrone i tyrant ; this would be a revolt, and the 
kingdom of God commands peace, righteousness, and joy. 
But if a whole people with common accord, or if the majo- 
rity at least, rejects him, without committing any excess, it 
is God himself who acts." Charles V. was at that time a 
tyrant in Zwingle's eyes; and the reformer hoped that 
Europe, awakening at length from its long slumber, would 
be the hand of God to hurl him from his throne. 

Never since the time of Demosthenes and of the two Catos 
had the world seen a more energetic resistance to the power 
of its oppressors. Zwingle in a political point of view is one 
of the greatest characters of modern times : we must pay 
him this honour, which is, perhaps, for a minister of God, 
the greatest reproach. Everything was prepared in his mind 
to bring about a revolution that would have changed the 
history of Europe. He knew what he desired to substitute 
in place of the power he wished to overthrow. He had 
already cast his eyes upon the prince who was to wear the 
imperial crown instead of Charles. It was his friend the 



* Caesar altera manu panem ostentat, altera lapidem celat. Zw. Epp. 
March 1530. 

t Incidet in cotem aliquando novacula. Ibid. 544. 

J Bapst und Keyserthumen habend sich dermassen in einandern geflickt. 
Bull. ii. 343. 

So ist es mit Gott. Zw. Opp. 



DESTINES THE IMPERIAL CROWN FOR PHILIP. 395 

landgrave. " Most gracious prince," wrote he on the 2d 
November 1529, " if I write to you as a child to a father, it 
is because I hope that God has chosen you for great events 
I dare think, but I dare not speak of them* How- 
ever, we must bell the cat at last.-]- All that I can do 

with my feeble means to manifest the truth, to save the 
universal Church, to augment your power and the power of 
those who love God with God's help, I will do." Thus was 
this great man led astray. It is the will of God that there 
be spots even in those who shine brightest in the eyes of the 
world, and tiiat only one upon earth shall say " Which 
of you convinceth me of sin?" We are now viewing the 
faults of the Reformation: they arise from the union of 
religion with politics. I could not take upon myself to pass 
them by ; the recollection of the errors of our predecessors is 
perhaps the most useful legacy they have bequeathed to us. 

It appears that already at Marburg Zwingle and the land- 
grave had drawn out the first sketch of a general alliance 
against Charles V. The landgrave had undertaken to bring 
over the princes, Zwingle the free cities of Southern Germany 
and Switzerland. He went still further, and formed a plan 
of gaining over to this league the republics of Italy the 
powerful Venice at least that she might detain the emperor 
beyond the Alps, and prevent him from leading all his forces 
into Germany. Zwingle, who had earnestly pleaded against 
all foreign alliances, and proclaimed on so many occasions 
that the only ally of the Swiss should be the arm of the Al- 
mighty, began now to look around for what he had con- 
demned, and thus prepared the way for the terrible judgment 
that was about to strike his family, his country, and his 
Church. 

He had hardly returned from Marburg, and had made no 
official communication to the Great Council, when he obtained 
from the senate the nomination of an ambassador to Venice. 
Great men, after their first success, easily imagine that they 

* Spero Deum te ad magnag res quas quwlem cogitate sed non diccro 

licet. Zw. Epp. ii. 666. 

t Sed fieri non potest quin tintinnabulum aliquando feli adncctatur 
Ibid. 



396 -EMBASSY TO VENICE. 

can do every thing. It was not a statesman who was charged 
with this mission, but one of Zwingle's friends, who had 
accompanied him into Germany, to the court of the future 
chief of the new empire the Greek professor, Rodolph Collins, 
a bold and skilful man, and who knew Italian. Thus the 
Reform stretched its hands to the Doge and the Procurator 
of St. Marc. The Bible was not enough for it it must have 
the Golden Book : never did a greater humiliation befall 
God's work. The opinion which Protestants then entertained 
of Venice may, however, partly excuse Zwingle. There was 
in that city more independence of the pope, more freedom of 
thought, than in all the rest of Italy. Luther himself about 
this time wrote to Gabriel Zwilling, pastor at Torgau: 
" With what joy do I learn what you write to me concern- 
ing the Venetians. God be praised and glorified, for that 
they have received his Word!"* 

Collins was admitted, on the 26th December, to an audience 
with the doge and senate, who looked with an air of as- 
tonishment at this schoolmaster, this strange ambassador, 
without attendants, and without parade. They could not 
even understand his credentials, in so singular a style were 
they drawn up, and Collins was forced to explain their 
meaning. " I am come to you," said he, " in the name of 
the council of Zurich and of the cities of the Christian co- 
burghery free cities like Venice, and to which common in- 
terests should unite you. The power of the emperor is for- 
midable to republics ; he is aiming at a universal monarchy 
in Europe; if he succeeds, all the free states will perish. 
We must therefore check him."-}- The doge replied that the 
republic had just concluded an alliance with the emperor, 
and betrayed the distrust that so mysterious a mission ex- 
cited in the Venetian senate. But afterwards, in a private 
conference,^: the doge, wishing to preserve a retreat on both 
sides, added, that Venice gratefully received the message 

* Laetus audio do Venetis quaa scribis, quod verbum Dei receperint, 
Deo gratia ac gloria. 7th March 1528. L. Epp. iii. 289. 

+ Formidandam rebus-publicis potentiam Csesaris, quae omiiino ad 
Europae monarchiam vergit. Zw. Epp. ii. 445. 

Postea privatini alia respondisse. Ibid. 



PROJECTED ALLIANCE WITH FRANCE. 397 

from Zurich, and that a Venetian regiment, armed and paid 
by the republic itself, should be always ready to support the 
evangelical Swiss. The chancellor, covered with his purple 
robe, attended Collins to the door, and, at the very gates of 
the ducal palace, confirmed the promise of support. The 
moment the Reformation passed the magnificent porticos of 
St. Marc it was seized with giddiness ; it could but stagger 
onwards to the abyss. They dismissed poor Collins by 
placing in his hands a present of twenty crowns. The ru- 
mour of these negotiations soon spread abroad, and the less 
suspicious, Capito for example, shook their heads, and could 
see in this pretended agreement nothing but the accustomed 
perfidy of Venice.* 

This was not enough. The cause of the Reform was fated 
to drink the cup of degradation to the very dregs. Zwingle, 
seeing that his adversaries in the empire increased daily in 
numbers and in power, gradually lost his ancient aversion 
for France ; and, although there was now a greater obstacle 
than before between him and Francis I., the blood of his 
brethren shed by that monarch, he showed himself favour-- 
ably disposed to a union that he had once so forcibly con- 
demned. 

Lambert Maigret, a French general, who appears to have 
had some leaning to the Gospel which is a slight excuse 
for Zwingle entered into correspondence with the reformer, 
giving him to understand that the secret designs of Charles 
V. called for an alliance between the King of France and 
the Swiss republics. " Apply yourself," said this diplomatist 
to him in 1530, " to a work so agreeable to our Creator, 
and which, by God's grace, will be very easy to your mighti- 
ness."-}- Zwingle was at first astonished at these overtures. 
" The King of France," thought he, " cannot know which 
way to turn." | Twice he took no heed of this prayer ; but 

* Perfidiam adrersus Csesarem, fidem videri volunt. Capito, Zw. Epp. 
ii. 445. 

f Operi Creator! nostro acceptissimo, Domination! tuae facillimo, media 
gratia Dei. Zw. Epp. ii. 413. 

J Regem admodum desesperare et inopem concilii esse, ut nesciat quo 
se vertat. Ibid. 414 



398 ZWINGLE'S PLAN OF ALLIANCE. 

the envoy of Francis I. insisted that the reformer should 
communicate to him a plan of alliance. At the third at- 
tempt of the ambassador, the simple child of the Tocken- 
burg mountains could no longer resist his advances. If 
Charles V. must fall, it cannot be without French assistance ; 
and why should not the Reformation contract an alliance 
with Francis I., the object of which would be to establish a 
power in the empire that should in its turn oblige the king 
to tolerate the Reform in his own dominions ? Everything 
seemed to meet the wishes of Zwingle ; the fall of the tyrant 
was at hand, and he would drag the pope along with him. 
He communicated the general's overtures to the secret council, 
and Collins set out, commissioned to bear the required pro- 
ject to the French ambassador.* " In ancient times," it 
ran, " no kings or people ever resisted the Roman empire 
with such firmness as those of France and Switzerland. 
Let us not degenerate from the virtues of our ancestors. 
His most Christian Majesty all whose wishes are that the 
purity of the Gospel may remain undefiled-f engages 
therefore to conclude an alliance with the Christian co- 
burghery that shall be in accordance with the Divine law, 
and that shall be submitted to the censure of the evan- 
gelical theologians of Switzerland." Then followed an out- 
line of the different articles of the treaty. 

Lanzerant, another of the king's envoys, replied the same 
day (27th Feburary) to this astonishing project of alliance 
about to be concluded between the reformed Swiss and the 
persecutor of the French reformed, under reserve of the 

censure of the theologians This was not what France 

desired : it was Lombardy, and not the Gospel that the king 
wanted. For that purpose, he needed the support of all the 
Swiss. But an alliance which ranged the Roman-catholic 
cantons against him, would not suit him. Being satisfied, 
therefore, for the present with knowing the sentiments of 
Zurich, the French envoys began to look coolly upon tha 

* Bis negavi, at tertio misi, non sine conscientia Probulatarum. Zw. 
Epp. ii. 422. 

+ Nihil enim BDqni esse in votis Christianissimi R#is, atquo ut Evan- 
gelii puritas illibata permaneat. Ibid. 417. 



APPROACHING RUIN. 399 

reformers' scheme. " The matters you have submitted to us 
are admirably drawn up," said Lanzerant to the Swiss 
commissioner, " but I can scarcely understand them, no 

doubt because of the weakness of my mind "We must not 

put any seed into the ground, unless the soil be properly 
prepared for it." 

Thus, the Reform acquired nothing but shame from these 
propositions. Since it had forgotten these precepts of the 
Word of God : " Be ye not unequally yoked together with 
unbelievers !"* how could it fail to meet with striking re- 
verses ? Already, Zwingle's friends began to abandon him. 
The landgrave, who had pushed him into this diplomatic 
career, drew towards Luther, and sought to check the Swiss 
reformer, particularly after this saying of Erasmus had 
sounded in the ears of the great : " They ask us to open 

our gates, crying aloud the Gospel! the Gospel! Raise 

the cloak, and under its mysterious folds you will find de- 
mocracy." 

While the Reform, by its culpable proceedings, was calling 
down the chastisement of Heaven, the Five Cantons, that 
were to be the instruments of its punishment, accelerated 
with all their might those fatal days of anger and of ven- 
geance. They were irritated at the progress of the Gospel 
throughout the confederation, while the peace they had 
signed became every day more irksome to them. " We 
shall have no repose," said they, " until we have broken 
these bonds and regained our former liberty ."-f- A general 
diet was convoked at Baden for the 8th January 1531. 
The Five Cantons then declared that if justice was not 
done to their grievances, particularly with respect to the 
abbey of St. Gall, they would no more appear in diet. 
" Confederates of Glaris, Schaffhausen, Friburg, Soleure, 
and Appenzell," cried they, " aid us in making our ancient 
alliances respected, or we will ourselves contrive the means 
of checking this guilty violence ; and may the Holy Trinity 
assist us in this work !"J 

* 2 Cor. vi. 14. 

+ Nitt ruwen bias sy der banden ledig. Bull. ii. 324. 

% Darzu helfo uns die helig dryfaltikeit. Ibid, 330. 



400 VIOLENCE. 

They did not confine themselves to threats. The treaty 
of peace had expressly forbidden all insulting language 
" for fear," it said, " that by insults and~calumnies, discord 
should again be excited, and greater troubles than the former 
should arise." Thus was concealed in the treaty itself the 
spark whence the conflagration was to proceed. In fact, to 
restrain the rude tongues of the Waldstettes Avas impossible 
Two Zurichers, the aged prior Ravensbuhler, and the pen- 
sioner Gaspard Godli, who had been compelled to renounce, 
the one his convent, and the other his pension, especially 
aroused the anger of the people against their native city. 
They used to say everywhere in these valleys, and with im- 
punity, that the Zurichers were heretics ; that there was 
not one of them who did not indulge in unnatural sins, and 
who was not a robber at the very least ;* that Zwingle was 
a thief, a murderer, and an arch-heretic ; and that, on one oc- 
casion at Paris (where he had never been), he had committed 
a horrible offence, in which Leo Juda had been his pander.-}- 
" I shall have no rest," said a pensioner, " until I have 
thrust my sword up to the hilt in the heart of this impious 
wretch." Old commanders of troops, who were feared by all 
on account of their unruly character ; the satellites who 
followed in their train ; insolent young people, sons of the 
first persons in the state, who thought everything lawful 
against miserable preachers and their stupid flocks ; priests 
inflamed with hatred, and treading in the footsteps of these 
old captains and giddy young men, who seemed to take the 
pulpit of a church for the bench of a pot-house : all poured 
torrents of insults on the Reform and its adherents. " The 
townspeople," exclaimed with one accord these drunken 
soldiers and fanatic priests, " are heretics, soul-stealers, 
conscience-slayers, and Zwingle that horrible man, who 
commits infamous sins is the Lutheran God"$ 

They went still further. Passing from words to deeds, 
the Five Cantons persecuted the poor people among them 

* Es were kein Zurycher er ha'tte chuy und merchen gehygt. Bull. ii. 
336. 

f Alls der zu Parys em Esel gehygt ; und habe imm Leo Jud densol- 
ben gehept. Ibid. J Der lutherischen Gott. Ibid. 337. 



MYSTERIOUS PAPER. 401 

who loved the Word of God, flung them into prison, im- 
posed fines upon them, brutally tormented them, and merci- 
lessly expelled them from their country. The people of 
Schwytz did even worse. Not fearing to announce their 
sinister designs, they appeared at a landsgemeinde wearing 
pine-branches in their hats, in sign of war, and no one 
opposed them. " The Abbot of St. Gall," said they, " is a 
prince of the empire, and holds his investiture from the 
emperor. Do they imagine that Charles V. will not avenge 
him ?" " Have not these heretics," said others, " dared to 
form a Christian fraternity, as if old Switzerland was a 
heathen country ?" Secret councils were continually held in 
one place or another.* New alliances were sought with the 
Valais, the pope, and the emperor f blamable alliances, no 
doubt, but such as they might at least justify by the pro- 
verb : " Birds of a feather go together ;" which Zurich and 
Venice could not say. 

The Valaisans at first refused their support: they pre- 
ferred remaining neuter ; but on a sudden their fanaticism 
was inflamed. A sheet of paper was found on an altar 
such at least was the report circulated in their valleys in 
which Zurich and Berne were accused of preaching that to 
commit an offence against nature is a smaller crime than to 
hear mass ! { Who had placed this mysterious paper on the 

altar? Came it from man? Did it fall from heaven? 

They know not ; but however that might be, it was copied, 
circulated, and read everywhere ; and the effects of this 
fable, invented by some villain, says Zwingle, was such 
that Valais immediately granted the support it had at first 
refused. The Waldstettes, proud of their strength, then 
closed their ranks ; their fierce eyes menaced the heretical 
cantons ; and the winds bore from their mountains to their 
neighbours of the towns a formidable clang of arms. 

At the sight of these alarming manifestations the evan- 

* Radtschlagtend und tagentend heymlich T. c. Bull. ii. 336. 

+ Niiwe friindschaften, by den Walliseren, dem Bapst, und dea 
Keysserischen. Ibid. 

J Ut si quis rem obscaenam cum jumento sive bove habeat, minua 
peccare quam si missam inaudiat. Zw. Epp. p. 610. 

Perfidorum ac sceleratorum homiuum commentum. Ibid. 
18* 



402 BERNE AND BASLE VOTE FOR PEACE. 

gelical cities were in commotion. They first assembled at 
Basle in February 1531, then at Zurich in March. "What 
is to be done ?" said the deputies from Zurich, after setting 
forth their grievances ; " how can we punish these infamous 
calumnies, and force these threatening arms to fall ?" " We 
understand," replied Berne, " that you would have recourse 
to violence ; but think of these secret and formidable alli- 
ances that are forming with the pope, the emperor, the 
King of France, with so many princes, in a word with all 
the priests' party, to accelerate our ruin ; think on the in- 
nocence of so many pious souls in the Five Cantons, who 
deplore these perfidious machinations ; think how easy it 
is to begin a war, but that no one can tell when it will 
end." * Sad foreboding ! which a catastrophe, beyond all 
human foresight, accomplished but too soon. " Let us there- 
fore send a deputation to the Five Cantons," continued 
Berne ; " let us call upon them to punish these infamous 
calumnies in accordance with the treaty ; and if they refuse, 
let us break off all intercourse with them." " What will be 
the use of this mission ?" asked Basle. " Do we not know 
the brutality of this people ? And is it not to be feared that 
the rough treatment to which our deputies will be exposed, 
may make the matter worse? Let us rather convoke a 
general diet." Schaffhausen and St. Gall having concurred 
in this opinion, Berne stAnmoned a diet at Baden for the 
10th April, at which deputies from all the cantons were 
assembled. 

Many of the principal men among the Waldstettes dis- 
approved of the violence of the retired soldiers and of the 
monks. They saw that these continually repeated insults 
would injure their cause. " The insults of which you com- 
plain," said they to the diet, " afflict us no less than you. 
We shall know how to punish them, and we have already 
done so. But there are violent men on both sides. The 
other day a man of Basle having met on the highroad a 
person who was coming from Berne, and having learnt that 
he was going to Lucerne : ' To go from Berne to Lucerne,' 
exclaimed he, ' is passing from a father to an arrant knave !' " 
* Aber gin end und ussgang mochte nieman bald wiissen. Bull. ii. 346. 



EVANGELICAL DIET AT ZURICH. 403 

The mediating cantons invited the two parties to banish 
every cause of discord. 

But the war of the Chatelain of Musso having then 
broken out, Zwingle and Zurich, who saw in it the first 
act of a vast conspiracy, destined to stifle the Reform in 
every place, called their allies together. " We must waver 
no longer," said Zwingle ; " the rupture of the alliance on 
the part of the Five Cantons, and the unheard-of insults 
with which they load us, impose upon us the obligation of 
marching against our enemies,* before the emperor, who is 
still detained by the Turks, shall have expelled the land- 
grave, seized upon Strasburg, and subjugated even our- 
selves." All the blood of the ancient Swiss seemed to boil 
in this man's veins ; and while Uri, Schwytz, and Unter- 
walden basely kissed the hand of Austria, this Zuricher the 
greatest Helvetian of the age faithful to the memory of old 
Switzerland, but not so to still holier traditions, followed in 
the glorious steps of Stauffacher and Winkelried. 

The warlike tone of Zurich alarmed its confederates. 
Basle proposed a summons, and then, in case of refusal, the 
rupture of the alliance. Schaffhausen and St. Gall were 
frightened even at this step : " The mountaineers, so proud, 
indomitable, and exasperated," said they, " will accept with 
joy the dissolution of the confederation, and then shall we 
be more advanced ? " Such was the posture of affairs, when, 
to the great astonishment of all, deputies from Uri and 
Schwytz made their appearance. They were coldly re- 
ceived ; the cup of honour was not offered to them ; and 
they had to walk, according to their own account, in the 
midst of the insulting cries of the people. They unsuccessfully 
endeavoured to excuse their conduct. " We have long been 
waiting, was the cold reply of the diet, " to see your actions 
and your words agree." f -The men of Schwytz and of Uri 
returned in sadness to their homes ; and the assembly broke 
up, full of sorrow and distress. 

Zwingle beheld with pain the deputies of the evangelical 
towns separating without having come to any decision. He 

* Sy gwaltig ze iiberziehen. Bull. ii. 366. 

t Und wortt und werk mit einandern gangen werind. Ibid. 867. 



404 POLITICAL REFORMATION OF SWITZERLAND. 

no longer desired only a reformation of the Church ; he wished 
for a transformation in the confederacy ; and it was this 
latter reform that he now was preaching from the pulpit, ac- 
cording to what we learn from Bullinger.* He was not the 
only person who desired it. For a long time the inhabitants 
of the most populous and powerful towns of Switzerland had 
complained that the Waldstettes, whose contingent of men 
and money was much below theirs, had an equal share in 
the deliberations of the diet, and in the fruits of their vic- 
tories. This had been the cause of division after the Bur- 
gundian war. The Five Cantons, by means of their ad- 
herents, had the majority. Now Zwingie thought that the 
reins of Switzerland should be placed in the hands of the 
great cities, and, above all, in those of the powerful cantoris 
of Berne and Zurich. New times, in his opinion, called for 
new forms. It was not sufficient to dismiss from every 
public office the pensioners of foreign princes, and substi- 
tute pious men in their place ; the federal compact must be 
remodelled, and settled upon a more equitable basis. A 
national constituent assembly would doubtless have re- 
sponded to his wishes. These discourses, which were 
rather those of a tribune of the people than of a minister of 
Jesus Christ, hastened on the terrible catastrophe. 

And indeed the animated words of the patriot reformer 
passed from the church where they had been delivered into 
the councils and the halls of the guilds, into the streets and 
the fields. The burning words that fell from this man's lips 
kindled the hearts of his fellow-citizens. The electric spark, 
escaping with noise and commotion, was felt even in the 
most distant cottage. The ancient traditions of wisdom and 
prudence seemed forgotten. Public opinion declared itself 
energetically. On the 29th and 30th April, a number of 
horsemen rode hastily out of Zurich ; they were envoys from 
the council, commissioned to remind all the allied cities of 
the encroachment of the Five Cantons, and to call for a 
prompt and definitive decision. Ileaching their several 



* Tranggar hafftig uffeine gemeine Reformation gemeiner Eydgeno- 
ehaft. Bull. ii. 368. 



ACTIVITY OF ZURICH. 405 

destinations, the messengers recapitulated the grievances.* 
" Take care," said they in conclusion ; " great dangers aro 
impending over all of us. The emperor and King Ferdi- 
nand are making vast preparations ; they are about to enter 
Switzerland with large sums of money, and with a numer- 
ous army." 

Zurich joined actions to words. Tliis state, being resolved 
to make every exertion to establish the free preaching of the 
Gospel in those bailiwicks where it shared the sovereignty 
with the Roman-catholic cantons, desired to interfere by 
force wherever negotiations could not prevail. The federal 
rights, it must be confessed, were trampled under foot at St. 
Gall, in Thurgovia, in the Rheinthal; and Zurich substi- 
tuted arbitrary decisions in their place, that excited the in- 
dignation of the Waldstettes to the highest degree. Thus 
the number of enemies to the Reform kept increasing ; the 
tone of the Five Cantons became daily more threatening, 
and the inhabitants of the canton of Zurich, whom their 
business called into the mountains, were loaded with insults, 
and sometimes badly treated. These violent proceedings 
excited in turn the anger of the reformed cantons. Zwingle 
traversed Thurgovia, St. Gall, and the Tockenburg, every- 
where organizing synods, taking part in their proceedings, 
and preaching before excited and enthusiastic crowds. In 
all parts he met with confidence and respect. At St. Gall 
an immense crowd assembled under his windows, and a con- 
cert of voices and instruments expressed the public grati- 
tude in harmonious songs. " Let us not abandon ourselves," 
he repeated continually, " and all will go well." It was re- 
solved that a meeting should be held at Arau on the 12th 
May, to deliberate on a posture of affairs that daily became 
more critical. This meeting was to be the beginning of 
sorrows. 

* They are to be found in Bulliuger, ii. 368-376. 



406 DIET OF ARA.U. 



CHAPTER V. 

Diet of Arau Helvetic Unity Berne proposes to close the Markets 
Opposition of Zurich Proposition agreed to and published Zwingle's 
War Sermon Blockade of the Waldstettes No Bread, no Wine, no 
Salt Indignation of the Forest Cantons The Roads blockaded 
Processions Cry of Despair France tries to conciliate Diet at Brem- 
garten Hope The Cantons inflexible The Strength of Zurich 
broken Discontent Zwingle's false Position Zwingle demands his 
Dismission The Council remonstrate He remains Zwingle at Brem- 
garten Zwingle's Farewell to Bullinger Zwingle's Agony The 
Forest Cantons reject all Conciliation^ Frightful Omens The Comet 
Zwingle's Tranquillity. 

ZWINGLE'S scheme with regard to the establishment of a new 
Helvetian constitution did not prevail in the diet of Arau. 
Perhaps it was thought better to see the result of the crisis. 
Perhaps a more Christian, a more federal view the hope of 
procuring the unity of Switzerland by unity of faith 
occupied men's minds more than the pre-eminence of the 
cities. In truth, if a certain number of cantons remained 
with the pope, the unity of the confederation was destroyed, 
it might be for ever. But if all -the confederation was 
brought over to the same faith, the ancient Helvetic unity 
would be established on the strongest and surest foundation. 
Now was the time for acting or never ; and there must be 
no fear of employing a violent remedy to restore the whole 
body to health. 

Nevertheless, the allies shrank back at the thought of 
restoring religious liberty or political unity by means of 
arms ; and to escape from the difficulties in which the con- 
federation was placed, they sought a middle course between 
war and peace. "There is no doubt," said the deputies 
from Berne, " that the behaviour of the cantons with regard 
to the Word of God fully authorizes an armed intervention ; 
but the perils that threaten us on the side of Italy and the 
empire the danger x of arousing the lion from his slumber 
the general want and misery that afflict our people the 



BERNE PROPOSES TO CLOSE THE MARKETS. 407 

rich harvests that will soon coyer our fields, and which the 
war would infallibly destroy the great number of pious 
men among the Waldstettes, and whose innocent blood 
would flow along with that of the guilty : all these motives 
enjoin us to leave the sword in the scabbard. Let us rather 
close our markets against the Five Cantons ; let us refuse 
them corn, salt, wine, steel, and iron ; we shall thus impart 
authority to the friends of peace among them, and innocent 
blood will be spared."* The meeting separated forthwith to 
carry this intermediate proposition to the different evangeli- 
cal cantons; and on the 15th May again assembled at 
Zurich. 

Convinced that the means apparently the. most violent 
were nevertheless both the surest and the most humane, 
Zurich resisted the Bernese proposition with all its might. 
" By accepting this proposition," said they, " we sacrifice 
the advantages that we now possess, and we give the Five 
Cantons time to arm themselves, and to fall upon us first. 
Let us take care that the emperor does not then assail us on 
one side, while our ancient confederates attack us on the 
other ; a just war is not in opposition to the Word of God ; 
but this is contrary to it taking the bread from the mouths 
of the innocent as well as the guilty ; straitening by hunger 
the sick, the aged, pregnant women, children, and all who 
arc deeply afflicted by the injustice of the Waldstettes.-}- 
We should beware of exciting by this means the anger of 
the poor, and transforming into enemies many who at the 
present time are our friends and our brothers !" 

We must acknowledge that this language, which was 
Zwingle's, contained much truth. But the other cantons, 
and Berne in particular, were immovable. " When we have 
once shed the blood of our brothers," said they, " we shall 
never be able to restore life to those who have lost it ; while, 
from the moment the Waldstettes have given us satisfaction, 
we shall be able to put an end to all these severe measures. 
We are resolved not to begin the war." There were no 

* Und dadurch unshuldiez Bliit erspart mirde. Bull. ii. 383. 
f Kranke, altc, shwangere wyber, kinder und sunst betrubte. Ibid. 
384. 



408 PBOPOSITION AGREED TO AND PUBLISHED. 

means of running counter to such a declaration. The 
Zurichers consented to refuse supplies to the Waldstettes ; 
but it was with hearts full of anguish, as if they had foreseen 
all that this deplorable measure would cost them.* It was 
agreed that the severe step that was now about to be taken 
should not be suspended except by common consent, and 
that, as* it would create great exasperation, each one 
should hold himself prepared to repel the attacks of the 
enemy. Zurich and Berne were commissioned to notify this 
determination to the Five Cantons ; and Zurich, discharging 
its task with promptitude, immediately forwarded an order , 
to every bailiwick to suspend all communication with the 
"Waldstettes, commanding them at the same time to abstain 
from ill-usage and hostile language. Thus the Reformation, 
becoming imprudently mixed up with political combinations, 
marched from fault 'to fault; it pretended to preach the 
Gospel to the poor, and was now about to refuse them 
bread ! 

On the Sunday following it was Whitsunday the re- 
solution was published from the pulpits. Zwingle walked 
towards his, where an immense crowd was waiting for him. 
The piercing eye of this great man easily discovered the 
dangers of the measure in a political point of view, and his 
Christian heart deeply felt all its cruelty. His soul was 
overburdened, his eyes downcast. If at this moment the 
true character of a minister of the Gospel had awoke within 
him ; if Zwingle with his powerful voice had called on the 
people to humiliation before God, to forgiveness of trespasses, 
and to prayer ; safety might yet have dawned on " broken- 
hearted" Switzerland. But it was not so. More and more 
the Christian disappears in the reformer, and the citizen 
alone remains ; but in that character he soars far above all, 
and his policy is undoubtedly the most skilful. He saw 
clearly that every delay may ruin Zurich ; and after having 
made his way through the congregation, and closed the book 
of the Prince of Peace, he hesitated not to attack the resolu- 
tion which he had just communicated to the people, and on 
the very festival of the Holy Ghost to preach war. " He 
* Schmcrzlich mid kummersacblich. Bull. ; i. 386. 



ZWINGLE'S WAR SERMON. 409 

who fears not to call his adversary a criminal," said he in 
his usual forcible language, " must be ready to follow the 
word with a blow.* If he does not strike, he will be 
stricken. Men of Zurich ! you deny food to the Five Can- 
tons, as to evil doers ; well 1 let the blow follow the threat, 
rather than reduce poor innocent creatures to starvation. 
If, by not taking the offensive, you appear to believe that 
there is not sufficient reason for punishing the Waldstettes, 
and yet you refuse them food and drink, you will force them 
by this line of conduct to take up arms, to raise their hands, 
and to inflict punishment upon you. This is the fate that 
awaits you." 

These words of the eloquent reformer moved the whole 
assembly. Zwingle's politic mind already so influenced and 
misled all the people, that there were few souls Christian 
enough to feel how strange it was, that on the very day 
when they were celebrating the outpouring of the Spirit of 
peace and love upon the Christian Church, the mouth of a 
minister of God should utter a provocation to war. They 
looked at this sermon only in a political point of view : " It 
is a seditious discourse ; it is an excitement to civil war !" 
said some. " No," replied others, " it is the language that 
the safety of the state requires !" All Zurich was agitated. 
" Zurich has too much fire," said Berne. " Berne has too 
much cunning," replied Zurich.-}- Zwingle's gloomy prophecy 
was too soon to be fulfilled I 

No sooner had the reformed cantons communicated this 
pitiless decree to the Waldstettes than they hastened its exe- 
cution ; and Zurich showed the greatest strictness respect- 
ing it. Not only the markets of Zurich and of Berne, but 
also those of the free bailiwicks of St. Gall, of the Tocken- 
burg, of the district of Sargans and of the valley of the Rhine, 
a country partly under the sovereignty of the Waldstettes, 
were shut against the Five Cantons. A formidable power 
had suddenly encompassed with barrenness, famine, and 
death the noble founders of Helvetian liberty. Uri, Schwytz, 

* Das er wortt und faust mitt einander gan lasse. Bull. ii. 388. 

t It was Zwingle who thug characterized the two cities : 
Bern : klage Zurich ware zu hitzig ; 
Zurich : Bern ware zu witzig. - Stettler. 



410 BLOCKADE OF THE WALDSTETTES. 

Unterwalden, Zug, and Lucerne, were, as it seemed, in the 
midst of a vast desert. Their own subjects, thought they at 
least, the communes that have taken the oath of allegiance 
to them, 'would range themselves on their side ! But no ; 
Bremgarten, and even Mellingen, refused all succour. Their 
last hope was in Wesen and the Gastal. Neither Berne nor 
Zurich had anything to do there ; Schwytz and Glaris alone 
ruled over them ; but the power of their enemies had pene- 
trated everywhere. A majority of thirteen votes had de- 
clared in favour of Zurich at the landsgemeinde of Glaris ; 
and Glaris closed the gates of Wesen and of the Gastal 
against Schwytz. In vain did Berne itself cry out : " How 
can you compel subjects to refuse supplies to their lords ? " 
In vain did Schwytz raise its voice in indignation ; Zurich 
immediately sent to Wesen gunpowder and bullets. It was 
upon Zurich, therefore, that fell all the odium of a measure 
which that city had at first so earnestly combated. At Arau, 
at Bremgarten, at Mellingen, in the free bailiwicks, were 
several carriages laden with provisions for the Waldstettes. 
They were stopped, unloaded, and upset: with them barri- 
cades were erected on the roads leading to Lucerne, Schwytz, 
and Zug. Already a year of dearth had made provisions 
scarce in the Five Cantons ; already had a frightful epide- 
mic, the Sweating Sickness, scattered everywhere despond- 
ency and death : but now the hand of man was joined to the 
hand of God ; the evil increased, and the poor inhabitants of 
these mountains beheld unheard-of calamities approach with 
hasty steps. No more bread for their children no more 
wine to revive their exhausted strength no more salt for 
their flocks and herds ! Everything failed them that man 
requires for subsistence.* One could not see such things, 
and be a man, without feeling his heart wrung. In the con- 
federate cities, and out of Switzerland, numerous voices were 
raised against this implacable measure. What good can re- 
sult from it ? Did not St. Paul write to the Romans : " If 
thine enemy hunger, feed him ; if he thirst, give him drink : 
for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head?"-}- 

* Deshalb sy bald grosseu mangel erlittend an allern dem das der 
Mensh gelaben soil. Bull. ii. 596. f Ibid. Romans xii. 20 



INDIGNATION OF THE FOREST CANTONS. 411 

And when the magistrates wished to convince certain refrac- 
tory communes of the utility of the measure : " We desire 
no religious war," cried they. " If the Waldstettes will not 
believe in God, let them stick to the devil!" 

But it was especially in the Five Cantons that earnest 
complaints were heard. The most pacific individuals, and 
even the secret partisans of the Reform, seeing famine invade 
their habitations, felt the deepest indignation. The enemies 
of Zurich skilfully took advantage of this disposition ; they 
fostered these murmurs ; and soon the cry of anger and dis- 
tress re-echoed from all the mountains. In vain did Berne 
represent to the Waldstettes that it is more cruel to refuse 
men the nourishment of the soul than to cut off that of the 
body: " God," replied these mountaineers in their despair, 
" God causes the fruits of the earth to grow freely for all 
men !"* They were not content with groaning in their cot- 
.tages, and venting their indignation in the councils ; they 
filled all Switzerland with complaints and menaces. -{- " They 
wish to employ famine to tear us from our ancient faith ; 
they wish to deprive our wives and our children of bread, 
that they may take from us the liberty \ve derive from our 
forefathers. When did such things ever take place in the 
bosom of the confederation ? Did we not see, in the last war, 
the confederates with arms in their hands, and who were 
ready to draw the sword, eating together from the same 
dish ? They tear in pieces old friendships they trample our 
ancient manners under foot they violate treaties they 

break alliances We invoke the charters of our ancestors. 

Help! help! Wise men of our people, give us your ad- 
vice, and all you who know how to handle the sling and the 
sword, come and maintain with us the sacred possessions, 
for which our fathers, delivered from the yoke of the stranger, 
united their arms and their hearts." 

At the same time the Five Cantons sent into Alsace, Bris- 
gau, and Swabia, to obtain salt, wine, and bread ; but the 
administration of the cities was implacable ; the orders were 
everywhere given and everywhere strictly executed. Zurich 

* Hartmann von Hallwyll to Albert of Mulinen, 7th August. 
r Klagtend sich allent hallen wyt und breit. Bull. ii. 397. 



412 PROCESSIONS CRY OP DESPAIR. 

and the other allied cantons intercepted all communication, 
and sent back to Germany the supplies that had been for- 
warded to their brethren. The Five Cantons were like a 
vast fortress, all the issues from which are closely guarded 
by watchful sentinels. The afflicted Waldstettes, on behold- 
ing themselves alone with famine between their lakes and 
their mountains, had recourse to the observances of their 
worship. All sports, dances, and every kind of amusement 
were interdicted ;* prayers were directed to be offered up ; 
and long processions covered the roads of Einsidlen and other 
resorts of pilgrims. They assumed the belt, and staff, and 
arms of the brotherhood to which they each belonged ; each 
man carried a chaplet in his hands, and repeated paternos- 
ters; the mountains and the valleys re-echoed with their 
plaintive hymns. But the Waldstettes did still more : they 
grasped their swords they sharpened the points of their 
halberds they brandished their weapons in the direction of 
Zurich and of Berne, and exclaimed with rage : " They block 
up their roads, but we will open them with our right arms ! " f 
No one replied to this cry of despair ; but there is a just 
Judge in heaven to whom vengeance belongs, and who will 
soon reply in a terrible manner, by punishing those mis- 
guided persons, who, forgetful of Christian mercy, and mak- 
ing an impious mixture of political and religious matters, 
pretend to secure the triumph of the Gospel by famine and 
by armed men. 

Some attempts, however, were made to arrange matters ; 
but these very efforts proved a great humiliation for Swit- 
zerland and for the Eeform. It was not the ministers of the 
Gospel, it was France more than once an occasion of dis- 
cord to Switzerland that offered to restore peace. Every 
proceeding calculated to increase its influence among the 
cantons was of service to its policy. On the 14th May, 
Maigret and Dangertin (the latter of whom had received the 
Gospel truth, and consequently did not dare return to 

* StelVtent ab spielen, Tanzcn. Tschudi der Capeller krieg, 1531. This 
MS. is attributed to Egidius Tschudi, who must have written it in 1533, 
in favour of the Five Cantons, and was printed in the " Helvetia," vol. ii 
165. 

t Trowtend auch die Straassen uff zu thun mit gwalt. Bull. ii. 397. 



DIET AT BREMGARTEN HOPE. 413 

France),* after some allusions to the spirit which Zurich 
had shown in this affair a spirit little in accordance with 
the Gospel said to the council : " The king our master has 
sent you two gentlemen to consult on the means of preserv- 
ing concord among you. If war and tumult invade Swit- 
zerland, all the society of the Helvetians will be destroyed, f 
and whichever party is the conqueror, he will be as much 
ruined as the other." Zurich having replied that if the Five 
Cantons would allow the free preaching of the Word of God, 
the reconciliation wouUl be easy, the French secretly sounded 
the Waldstettes, whose answer was : " We will never permit 
the preaching of the Word of God as the people of Zurich 
understand it."| 

These more or less Interested exertions of the foreigners 
having failed, a general diet became the only chance of 
safety that remained for Switzerland. One was accordingly 
.convoked at Bremgarten. It was opened in presence of 
deputies from France, from the Duke of Milan, from the 
Countess of Neufchatel, from the Grisons, Valais, Thurgovia, 
and the district of Sargans ; and met on five different occa- 
sions, on the 14th and 20th June, on the 9th July, and 
the 10th and 23d August. The chronicler Bullinger, who 
was pastor of Bremgarten, delivered an oration at the open- 
ing, in which he earnestly exhorted the confederates to union 
and peace. 

A gleam of hope for a moment cheered Switzerland. The 
blockade had become less strict ; friendship and good neigh- 
bourhood had prevailed in many places over the decrees of 
the state. Unusual roads had been opened across the 
wildest mountains to convey supplies to the Waldstettes. 
Provisions were concealed in bales of merchandise ; and 
while Lucerne imprisoned and tortured its own citizens, who 
were found with the pamphlets of the Zurichers, Berne 
punished but slightly the peasants who had been discovered 

* Ep. Rugeri ad Bulling., 12th November 1560. 

( Universa societas Helvetiorum dilabetur, si tumultus et bellum inter 
earn eruperit. Zw. Epp. ii. 604. 

Responderunt verbi Dei predicationcm non laturos, quomodo nos 
intelligamus. Ibid. 607. 

Warf sie in Gefangniss. Bull. iii. 30. 



414 THE FIVE CANTONS INFLEXIBLE. 

bearing food for Unterwalden and Lucerne ; and Glaris shut 
its eyes on the frequent violation of its orders. The voice of 
charity, that had been momentarily stifled, pleaded with 
fresh energy the cause of their .confederates before the re- 
formed cantons. 

But the Five Cantons were inflexible. " We will not 
listen to any proposition before the raising of the blockade," 
said they. " We will not raise it," replied Berne and 
Zurich, " before the Gospel is allowed to be freely preached, 
not only in the common bailiwicks, but also in the Five 
Cantons." This was undoubtedly going too far, even accord- 
ing to the natural law and the principles of the confederation. 
The councils of Zurich might consider it their duty to have 
recourse to war for maintaining liberty of conscience in the 
common bailiwicks ; but it was unjust it was a usurpation, 
to constrain the Five Cantons in a matter that concerned 
their own territory. Nevertheless the mediators succeeded, 
not without much trouble, in drawing up a plan of concilia- 
tion that seemed to harmonize with the wishes of both 
parties. The conference was broken up, and this project 
was hastily transmitted to the different states for their 
ratification. 

The diet met again a few days after ; but the Five Can- 
tons persisted in their demand, without yielding in any one 
paint. In vain did Zurich and Berne represent to them, 
that, by persecuting the reformed, the cantons violated the 
treaty of peace; in vain did the mediators exhaust their 
strength in warnings and entreaties. The parties appeared 
at one time to approximate, and then on a sudden they were 
more distant and more irritated than ever. The Waldstettes 
at last broke up the third conference by declaring, that far 
from opposing the evangelical truth, they would maintain it, 
as it had been taught by the Redeemer, by his holy apostles, 
by the four doctors, and by their holy mother, the Church 
a declaration that seemed a bitter irony to the deputies from 
Zurich and Berne. Nevertheless Berne, turning towards 
Zurich as they were separating, observed : " Beware of too 
much violence, even should they attack you !" 

This exhortation was unnecessary. The strength of 



STRENGTH OF ZURICH BROKEN DISCONTENT. 415 

Zurich had passed away. The first appearance of the Re- 
formation and of the reformers had been greeted with joy. 
The people, who groaned under a twofold slavery, believed 
they saw the dawn of liberty. But their minds, abandoned 
for ages to superstition and ignorance, being unable imme- 
diately to realize the hopes they had conceived, a spirit of 
discontent soon spread among the masses. The change by 
which Zwingle, ceasing to be a man of the Gospel, became 
the man of the State, took away from the people the enthu- 
siasm necessary to resist the terrible attacks they would 
have to sustain. The enemies of the Reform had a fair 
chance against it, so soon as its friends abandoned the posi- 
tion that gave them strength. Besides, Christians could not 
have recourse to famine and to war to secure the triumph 
of the Gospel, without their consciences becoming troubled. 
The Zurichers " walked not in the Spirit, but in the flesh ; 
now, the works of the flesh are hatred, variance, emulations, 
wrath, strife, seditions"* The danger without was increas- 
ing, while within, hope, union, and courage were far from 
being augmented : men saw on the contrary the gradual 
disappearance of that harmony and lively faith which had 
been the strength of the Reform. The Reformation had 
grasped the sword, and that very sword pierced its heart. 

Occasions of discord were multiplied in Zurich. By the 
advice of Zwingle, the number of nobles was diminished in 
the two councils, because of their opposition to the Gospel ; 
and this measure spread discontent among the most honour- 
able families of the canton. The millers and bakers were 
placed under certain regulations, which the dearth rendered 
necessary, and a great part of the townspeople attributed 
this proceeding to the sermons of the reformer, and became 
irritated against him. Rodolph Lavater, bailiff of Kibourg, 
was appointed captain-general, and the officers who were of 
longer standing than he were offended. Many who had 
been formerly the most distinguished by their zeal for the 
Reform, now openly opposed the cause they had supported. 
The ardour with which the ministers of peace demanded war 
spread in every quarter a smothered dissatisfaction, and 
* Galatians v. 19, 20. 



416 ZWINGLE'S FALSE POSITION. 

many persons gave vent to their indignation. This unna- 
tural confusion of Church and State, which had corrupted 
Christianity after the age of Constantino, was hurrying on 
the ruin of the Reformation. The majority of the Great 
Council, ever ready to adopt important and salutary resolu- 
tions, was destroyed. The old magistrates, who were still 
at the head of affairs, allowed themselves to be carried away 
by feelings of jealousy against men whose non-official influ- 
ence prevailed over theirs. All those who hated the doctrine 
of the Gospel, whether from love of the world or from love 
to the pope, boldly raised their heads in Zurich. The par- 
tisans of the monks, the friends of foreign service, the mal- 
contents of every class, coalesced in pointing out Zwingle as 
the author of all the sufferings of the people. 

Zwingle was heart-broken. He saw that Zurich and the 
Reformation were hastening to their ruin, and he could not 
check them. How could he do so, since, without suspecting 
it, he had been the principal accomplice in these disasters ? 
What was to be done ? Should the pilot remain in the ship 
which he is no longer permitted to save ? There was but 
one means of safety for Zurich and for Zwingle. He should 
have retired from the political stage, and fallen back on that 
kingdom which is not of this world ; he should, like Moses, 
have kept his hands and his heart night and day raised to- 
wards heaven, and energetically preached repentance, faith, 
and peace. But religious and political matters were united 
in the mind of this great man by such old and dear ties, that 
it was impossible for him to distinguish their line of separa- 
tion. This confusion had become his dominant idea ; the 
Christian and the citizen were for him one and the same 
character ; and hence it resulted, that all resources of the 
state even cannons and arquebuses were to be placed at 
the service of the Truth. When one peculiar idea thus seizes 
upon a man, we see a false conscience formed within him, 
which approves of many things condemned by the Word of 
the Lord. 

This was now Zwingle's condition. War appeared to him 
legitimate and desirable ; and if that was refused, he had 
only to withdraw from public life : he was for everything or 



HE DEMANDS 111S DISMISSION. 417 

nothing. He therefore, on the 26th July, appeared before 
the Great Council with dimmed eyes and disconsolate heart: 
" For eleven years," said he, " I have been preaching the 
Gospel among you, and have warned you faithfully and pa- 
ternally of the woes that are hanging over you ; but no 
attention has been paid to my words ; the friends of foreign 
alliances, the enemies of the Gospel, are elected to the coun- 
cil, and while you refuse to follow my advice, I am made 
responsible for every misfortune. I cannot accept such a 
position, and I ask for my dismission." The reformer retired 
bathed in tears. 

The council shuddered as they heard these words. All the 
old feelings of respect which they had so long entertained for 
Zwingle were revived ; to lose him now was to ruin Zurich. 
The burgomaster and the other magistrates received orders 
to persuade him to recall his fatal resolution. The conference 
took place on the same day ; Zwingle asked time for con- 
sideration. For three days and three nights he sought the 
road that he should follow. Seeing the dark storm that 
was collecting from all quarters, he considered whether he 
ought to quit Zurich and seek refuge on the lofty hills of the 
Tockenburg, where he had been reared, at a time when his 
country and his Church were on the point of being assailed 
and beaten down by their enemies, like corn by the hail- 
storm. He groaned and cried to the Lord. He would have 
put away the cup of bitterness that was presented to his 
soul, but could not gather up the resolution. At length the 
sacrifice was accomplished, and the victim was placed shud- 
dering upon the altar. Three days after the first conference, 
Zwingle reappeared in the council : " I will stay with you," 
said he, " and I will labour for the public safety until 
death !" 

From this moment he displayed new zeal. On the one 
hand, he endeavoured to revive harmony and courage in 
Zurich ; on the other, he set about arousing and exciting 
the allied cities to increase and concentrate all the forces of 
the Reformation. Faithful to the political vocation he im- 
agined to have received from God himself persuaded that 
it was in the doubts and want of energy of the Bernese that 

10 



418 ZWIXGLE AT EKEMGARTEN. 

he must look for the cause of all the evil, the reformer repaired 
to Bremgarten with Collins and Steiner, during the fourth con- 
ference of the diet, although he incurred great danger in the 
attempt. He arrived secretly by night, and having entered 
the house of his friend and disciple, Bullinger, he invited the 
deputies of Berne ( J. J. de Watteville and Im Hag) to meet 
him there with the greatest secrecy, and prayed them in the 
most solemn tone earnestly to reflect upon the dangers of the 
Reform. " I fear," said he, " that in consequence of our un- 
belief, this business will not succeed. By refusing supplies to 
the Five Cantons, we have begun a work that will be fatal to 
us. What is to be done ? Withdraw the prohibition ? The 
cantons will then be more insolent and haughty than ever. 
Enforce it? They will take the offensive, and if their 
attack succeed you will behold our fields red with the blood 
of the believers, the doctrine of truth cast down, the Church 
of Christ laid waste, all social relations overthrown, our ad- 
versaries more hardened and irritated against the Gospel, 
and crowds of priests and monks again filling our rural dis- 
tricts, streets, and temples And yet," added Zwingle, 

after a few instants of emotion and silence, " that also will 
have an end." The Bernese were filled with agitation by 
the solemn* voice of the reformer. " We see," replied they, 
" all that is to be feared for our common cause, and we 
will employ every care to prevent such great disasters." 
" I who write these things was present and heard them," 
adds Bullinger.* 

It was feared that if the presence of Zwingle at Bremgarten 
became known to the deputies of the Five Cantons, they 
would not restrain their violence. During this nocturnal 
conference three of the town-councillors were stationed as 
sentinels in front of Bullinger's house. Before daybreak, 
the reformer and his two friends, accompanied by Bullinger 
and the three councillors, passed through the deserted streets 
leading to the gate on the road to Zurich. Three different 
times Zwingle took leave of Bullinger, who was erelong to 
be his successor. His mind was filled with a presentiment 

* These words are in Latin : Hsec ipse, qui hrcc scribo, ab illis audivi, 
praesens colloquio. Bui. iii. 49. 



ZWINQLE'S FAREWELL TO BULLINGER. 419 

of his approaching death; he could not tear himself from 
that young friend whose face he was never to see again ; he 
blessed him amidst floods of tears. " my dear Henry I" 
said he, " may God protect you ! Be faithful to our Lord 
Jesus Christ and to his Church." At length they separated ; 
but at that very moment, says Bullinger, a mysterious per- 
sonage, clad in a robe as white as snow, suddenly appeared, 
and after frightening the soldiers who guarded the gate, 
plunged suddenly into the water, and vanished. Bullinger, 
Zwingle, and their friends did not perceive it; Bullinger 
himself sought for it all around, but to no purpose ;* still the 
sentinels persisted in the reality of this frightful apparition. 
Bullinger in great agitation returned in darkness and in 
silence to his house. His mind involuntarily compared the 
departure of Zwingle and the white phantom ; and he shud- 
dered at the frightful omen which the thought of this spectre 
impressed upon his mind. 

Sufferings of another kind pursued Zwingle to Zurich. 
He had thought that by consenting to remain at the head of 
affairs, he would recover all his ancient influence. But he 
was deceived : the people desired to see him there, and yet 
they would not follow him. The Zurichcrs daily became 
more and more indisposed towards the war which they had 
at first demanded, and identified themselves with the passive 
system of Berne. Zwingle remained for some tune stupified 
and motionless before this inert mass, which his most vigor- 
ous exertions could not move, iiat soon discovering in tr/ery 
quarter of the horizon the prophetic signs, precursors of the 
storm about to burst upon the ship ot which he \va.s the 
pilot, he uttered cries of anguish, and showed the signal of 
distress. " I see," exclaimed he one day to the people from 
the pulpit, whither he had gone to give utterance to his 
gloomy forebodings, " I see that the most faithful warnings 
cannot save you ; you will not punish the pensioners o( the 

foreigner They have too firm a support among us I A 

chain is prepared behold it entire it unrolls link after link, 
soon will 4hey bind me to it, and more than one pious 

Zuricher with me It is against me, they are enraged! I 

* Ein menschen in cin schneeweissen Kleid. Bull. iii. 4&, ' 



420 ZWINGLE'S AGONY. 

am ready ; I submit to the Lord's will. But these people 

shall never be my masters As for thee, Zurich, they 

will give thee thy reward ; they will strike thee on the head. 
Thou wiliest it. Thou refusest to punish them ; well ! it is 
they who will punish thee.* But God will not the less 
preserve his Word, and their haughtiness shall come to an 
end." Such was Zwingle's cry of agony ; but the immobility 
of death alone replied. The hearts of the Zurichers were so 
hardened that the sharpest arrows of the reformer could not 
pierce them, and they fell at his feet blunted and useless. 

But events were pressing on, and justified all his fears. 
The Five Cantons had rejected every proposition that had 
been made to them. " Why do you talk of punishing a few 
wrongs ?" they had replied to the mediators ; " it is a ques- 
tion of quite another kind. Do you not require that we 
should receive back among us the heretics whom we have 
banished, and tolerate no other priests than those who preach 
conformably to the Word of God? We know what that 
means. No no we will not abandon the religion of our 
fathers; and if we must see our wives and our children 
deprived of food, our hands will know how to conquer what 
is refused to us : to that we pledge our bodies our goods 
our lives." It was with this threatening language that the 
deputies quitted the diet of Bremgarten. They had proudly 
shaken the folds of their mantles, and war had fallen from 
them. 

The terror was general, and the alarmed citizens beheld 
everywhere frightful portents, terrific signs, apparently fore- 
boding the most horrible events. It was not only the white 
phantom that had appeared at Bremgarten at Zwingle's side : 
the most fearful omens, passing from mouth to mouth, filled 
the people with the most gloomy presentiments. The history 
of these phenomena, however strange it may appear, cha- 
racterizes the period of which we write. We do not create 
the times : it is our simple duty to paint them as they really 
were. 

On the 26th July, a widow chancing to be alone before 
her house, in the village of Castelenschloss, suddenly beheld 

* Straat'en willt sy nitt, des wcrden sy dich straafen. Bull. iii. 52. 



FRIGHTFUL OMENS. 421 

a frightful spectacle blood springing from the earth all 

around her.* She rushed in alarm into the cottage but, 

oh horrible ! blood is flowing everywhere from the wainscot 
and from the stones ;{ it falls in a stream from a basin on 
a shelf, and even the child's cradle overflows with it. The 
woman imagines that the invisible hand of an- assassin has 
been at work, and rushes in distraction out of doors, crying 
murder ! murder !| The villagers and the monks of a neigh- 
bouring convent assemble at the noise they succeed in partly 
effacing the bloody stains ; but a little later in the day, the 
other inhabitants of the house, sitting down in terror to eat 
their evening meal under the projecting eaves, suddenly dis- 
cover blood bubbling up in a pond blood flowing from the 
loft blood covering all the walls of the house. Blood 
blood everywhere blood ! The bailiff of Schenkenberg and 
the pastor of Dalheim arrive inquire into the matter and 
immediately report it to the lords of Berne and to Zwingle. 

Scarcely had this horrible recital the particulars of 
which are faithfully preserved in Latin and in German 
rilled all minds with the idea of a horrible butchery, than in 
the western quarter of the heavens there appeared a frightful 
comet, whose immense train of a pale yellow colour turned 
towards the south. At the time of its setting, this appari- 
tion shone in the sky like the fire of a furnace.|| One night 
on the loth August as it would appear^ Zwingle and 
George Miiller, formerly abbot of Wettingen, being together 
in the cemetery of the cathedral, both fixed their eyes 
upon this terrific meteor. " This ominous globe," said 

* Ante et post earn purus sanguis ita acriter ex dura terra effluxit, ut 
ex vena incisa. Zw. Epp. ii. 627. 

t Sed etiam sanguis ex terra, 1 ignis, et lapidibus effluxit. Zw. Epp. 
ii. 627. 

J Ut eadem excurreret csedem clamitans. Ibid. 

Ein gar eschrocklicher comet. Bull. ii. 46. It was Halley's comet, 
that returns about every 76 years. It appeared last in 1835. 

|| Wie ein fhuwr in einer ess. Ibid. Perhaps Bullinger alludes in 
this way to the phenomenon remarked by Appian, astronomer to Charles 
V., who observed this comet at Iiigolstadt, and who says that the tail 
disappeared as the nucleus approached the horizon. In 1456, its appear- 
ance had already excited great terror. 

U Cometam jam tribus noctibns viderunt apnd nos alii, ego una tantum, 
puto 15 Augusti. Zw. Epp. p. 634. 



422 THE COMET. 

Zwingle, " is come to light the path that leads to my grave. 
It will be at the cost of my life and of many good men with 
me. Although I am rather shortsighted, I foresee great 
calamities in the future.* The truth and the Church will 
mourn ; but Christ will never forsake us." It was not 
only at Zurich that this flaming star spread consternation. 
Vadian being one night on an eminence in the neighbour- 
hood of St. Gall, surrounded by his friends and disciples, 
after having explained to them the names of the stars and 
the miracles of the Creator, stopped before this comet, which 
denounced the anger of God ; and the famous Theophrastus 
declared that it foreboded not only great bloodshed, but most 
especially the death of learned and illustrious men. This 
mysterious phenomenon prolonged its frightful visitation 
until the 3d September. 

When once the noise of these omens was spread abroad, 
men could no longer contain themselves. Their imagina- 
tions were excited ; they heaped fright upon fright : each 
place had its terrors. Two banners waving in the clouds 
had been seen on the mountain of the Brunig ; at Zug a 
buckler had appeared in the heavens ; on the banks of the 
Reuss, reiterated explosions were heard during the night ; 
on the lake of the Four Cantons, ships with aerial comba- 
tants careered about in every direction. War war ; 
blood blood ! these were the general cries. 

In the midst of all this agitation, Zwingle alone seemed 
tranquil. He rejected none of these presentiments, but 
contemplated them with calmness. " A heart that fears 
God," said he, " cares not for the threats of the world. To 
forward the designs of God, whatever may happen, this is 
his task. A carrier who has a long road to go must malte 
up his mind to wear his waggon and his gear during the 
journey. If he carry his merchandise to the appointed spot, 
that is enough for him. We are the waggon and the gear 
of God. There is not one of the articles that is not worn, 
twisted, or broken ; but our great Driver will not the less 
accomplish by our means his vast designs. Is it not to 
those who fall upon the field of battle that the noblest 

* Ego cseculus non unam calamitatem expecto. Zw. Epp. p. 626. 



ZWINGLE'S TRANQUILLITY. 423 

crown belongs? Take courage, then, in the midst of all 
these dangers, through which the cause of Jesus Christ 
must pass. Be of good cheer ! although we should never 
bore below see its triumphs with our own eyes. The Judge 
of the combat beholds us, and it is he who confers the 
crown. Others will enjoy upon earth the fruits of our 
labours ; while we, already in heaven, shall enjoy an eternal 
reward." * 

Thus spoke Zwingle, as he advanced calmly towards the 
threatening noise of the tempest, which, by it3 repeated 
flashes and sudden explosions, foreboded death. 



CHAPTER VI. 

The Five Cantons decide for War Deceitful Calm Fatal Inactivity- 
Zurich forewarned Banner of Lucerne planted Manifesto The 
Bailiwicks pillaged The Monastery of Cappel Letter Infatuation 
of Zurich -New Warnings The War begins The Tocsin A fearful 
Night The War - Banner and Army of Zurich Zwingle's Departure 
Zwingle's Horse Anna Zwingle. 

THE Five Cantons, assembled in diet at Lucerne, appeared 
full of determination, and war was decided upon. " We 
will call upon the cities to respect our alliances," said they, 
' and if they refuse, we will enter the common bailiwicks 
by force to procure provisions, and unite our banners in 
Zug to attack the enemy." The Waldstettes were not 
alone. The nuncio, being solicited by his Lucerne friends, 
had required that auxiliary troops, paid by the pope, should 
be put in motion towards Switzerland, and he announced 
their near arrival. 

These resolutions carried terror into Switzerland ; the 
mediating cantons met again at Arau, and drew up a plan 
',hat should leave the religious question just as it had 
been settled by the treaty of 1529. Deputies immediately 

* Zw. Opp. Comment, in Jeremiam. This work was composed the very 
fear of Zwingle's death. 



424 DECEITFUL CALM. 

bore these propositions to the different councils. Lucerne 
haughtily rejected them. " Tell those who sent you," was 
the reply, " that we do not acknowledge them as our school- 
masters. We would rather die than yield the least thing to 
thv. prejudice of our faith." The mediators returned to Arau, 
trembling and discouraged. This useless attempt increased 
the disagreement among the reformed, and gave the Wald- 
stettes still greater confidence. Zurich, so decided for the 
reception of the Gospel, now became daily more irresolute 1 
The members of the council distrusted each other ; the people 
felt no interest in this war ; and Zwingle, notwithstanding 
his unshaken faith in the justice of his cause, had no hops 
for the struggle that was about to take place. Berne, on 
its side, did not cease to entreat Zurich to avoid precipitation. 
" Do not let us expose ourselves to the reproach of too much 
haste, as in 1529," was the general remark in Zurich. " We 
have sure friends in the midst of the Waldstettes ; let us 
wait until they announce to us, as they have promised, some 
real danger." 

It was soon heaeved that these temporizers were right. 
In fact the alarming news ceased. That constant rumour of 
war, which incessantly came from the Waldstettes, discon- 
tinued. There were no more alarms no more fears ! De- 
ceitful omen ! Over the mountains and valleys of Switzer- 
land hangs that gloomy and mysterious silence, the fore- 
runner of the tempest. 

Whilst they were sleeping at Zurich, the Waldstettes 
were preparing to conquer their rights by force of arms. 
The chiefs, closely united to each other by common interests 
and dangers, found a powerful support in the indignation of 
the people. In a diet of the Five Cantons, held at Brunnen 
on the banks of the Lake of Lucerne, opposite Grutli, the 
alliances of the confederation were read ; and the deputies, 
having been summoned to declare by their votes whether 
they thought the war just and lawful, all hands were raised 
with a shudder. Immediately the Waldstettes had prepared 
their attack with the profoundest mystery. All the passes 
had been guarded all communication between Zurich and 
the Five Cantons had been rendered impossible. The friends 



FATAL INACTIVITY. 425 

upon whom the Zurichers had reckoned on the banks of the 
Lakes Lucerne and Zug, and who had promised them in- 
telligence, were like prisoners in their mountains. The 
terrible avalanche was about to slip from the icy summits 
of the mountain, and to roll into the valleys, even to the 
gates of Zurich, overthrowing everything in its passage, 
without the least forewarning of its fall. The mediators 
had returned discouraged to their cantons. A spirit of im- 
prudence and of error sad forerunner of the fall of re- 
publics as well as of kings had spread over the whole city 
of Zurich. The council had at first given orders to call out 
the militia ; then,.deceived by the silence of the Waldstettes, 
it had imprudently revoked the decree, and Lavater, the 
commander of the army, had retired in discontent to Rybourg, 
and indignantly thrown far from him that sword which they 
had commanded him to leave in the scabbard. Thus the 
winds were about to be unchained from the mountains ; the 
waters of the great deep, aroused by a terrible earthquake, 
were about to open ; and yet the vessel of the state, sadly 
abandoned, sported up and down with indifference over a 
frightful gulf, its yards struck, its sails loose and motion- 
less without compass or crew without pilot, watch, or 
helm. 

Whatever were the exertions of the Waldstettes, they 
could not entirely stifle the rumour of war, which from 
chalet to chalet called all their citizens to arms. God per- 
mitted a cry of alarm a siugle one, it is true to resound 
in the ears of the people of Zurich. On the 4th October, a 
little boy, who knew not what he was doing, succeeded in 
crossing the frontier of Zug, and presented himself with two 
loaves at the gate of the reformed monastery of Cappel, 
situated in the farthest limits of the canton of Zurich. He 
was led to the abbot, to whom the child gave the loaves 
without saying a word. The. superior, with whom there 
chanced to be at that time a councillor from Zurich, Henry 
Peyer, sent by his government, turned pale at the sight. 
" If the Five Cantons intend entering by force of arms into 
the free bailiwicks," had said these two Zurichers to one of 
their friends in Zug, " you will send your son to us with one 
19=" 



426 ZURICH FOREWARNED. 

loaf; but you will give him two if they are marching at 
once upon the bailiwicks and upon Zurich." The abbot and 
the councillor wrote with all speed to Zurich. " Be upon 
your guard ! take up arms," said they ; but no credit was 
attached to this information. The council were at that time 
occupied in taking measures to prevent the supplies that 
had arrived from Alsace from entering the cantons. Zwingle 
himself, who had never ceased to announce war, did not 
believe it. " These pensioners are really clever fellows," 
said the reformer. "Their preparations may be after all 
nothing but a French manoeuvre."* 

He was deceived 'they were a reality. Four days were 
to accomplish the ruin of Zurich. Let us retrace in succes- 
sion the history of these disastrous moments. 

On Sunday, 8th October, a messenger appeared at Zurich, 
and demanded, in the name of the Five Cantons, letters of 
perpetual alliance.-}- The majority saw in this step nothing 
but a trick ; but Zwingle began to discern the thunderbolt 
in the black cloud that was drawing near. He was in the 
pulpit : it was the last time he was destined to appear in it ; 
and as if he had seen the formidable spectre of Rome rise 
frightfully above the Alps, calling upon him and upon his 
people to abandon the faith : " No no !" cried he, " never 
will I deny my Redeemer !" 

At the same moment a messenger arrived in haste from 
Mulinen, commander of the Knights-hospitallers of St. John 
at Hitzkylch. " On Friday, 6th October," said he to the 
councils of Zurich, " the people of Lucerne planted their 
banner in the Great Square.:): Two men that I sent to 
Lucerne have been thrown into prison. To-morrow morn- 
ing, Monday, 9th October, the Five Cantons will enter the 
bailiwicks. Already the country-people, frightened and 
fugitive, are running to us in crowds." " It is an idle 
slory," said the councils. Nevertheless they recalled the 

* Dise ire Rustung mochte woll eine franzosische prattik sein. Bull, 
iii. 86. 

+ Die ewige Bund abgefordert. J. J. Hottinger, iii. 577. According 
to Bullinger, this did not take place until Monday. 

J Ire paner in den Brunnen gesteckt. Bull. iii. 86. 

Ein gepb'ch und progerey und unt darauff setzend. Ibid. 



MANIFESTO THE BAILIWICKS PILLAGED. 427 

commander-in-chief Lavater, who sent off a trusty maw, 
nephew of James Winckler, with orders to repair to Cappel, 
and if possible as far as Zug, to reconnoitre the arrange- 
ments of the cantons. 

The Waldstettes were in reality assembling round the 
banner of Lucerne. The people of this canton ; the men of 
Schwytz, Uri, Zug, and Unterwalden ; refugees from Zurich 
and Berne, with a few Italians, formed the main body of the 
army, which had been raised to invade the free bailiwicks. 
Two manifestoes were published one addressed to the 
cantons, the other to foreign princes and nations. 

The Five Cantons energetically set forth the attacks made 
upon the treaties, the discord sown throughout the confeder- 
ation, and finally the refusal to sell them provisions a re- 
fusal whose only aim was (according to them) to excite the 
people against the magistrates, and to establish the Reform 
by force. " It is not true," added they, " that as they are 
continually crying out we oppose the preaching of the 
truth and the reading of the Bible. As obedient members 
of the Church, we desire to receive all that our holy mother 
receives. But we reject the books and the innovations of 
Zwingle and his companions."* 

Hardly had the messengers charged with these manifestoes 
departed, before the first division of the army began to march, 
and arrived in the evening in the free bailiwicks. The 
soldiers having entered the deserted churches, and seen the 
images of the saints removed and the altars broken, their 
anger was kindled ; they spread like a torrent over the whole 
country, pillaged everything they met with, and were parti- 
cularly enraged against the houses of the pastors, where 
they destroyed the furniture with oaths and maledictions. 
At the same time the division that was to form the main 
army marched upon Zug, thence to move upon Zurich. 

Cappel, at three leagues from Zurich, and about a league 
from Zug, was the first place they would reach in the Zurich 
territory, after crossing the frontier of the Five Cantons. 
Near the Albis, between two hills of similar height, the 

* Als wir vertruwen Gott und der Welt antwnrt zu geben. Bull. itt. 
101. 



THE MONASTERY OF CAFPEL LETTER. 

Granges on the north, and the Ifelsberg on the south, in the 
midst of delightful pastures, stood the ancient and wealthy 
convent of the Cistercians, in whose church were the tombs 
of many ancient and noble families of these districts. The 
Abbot Wolfgang Joner, a just and pious man, a great friend 
ot the arts and letters, and a distinguished preacher, had re- 
formed his convent in 1527. Full of compassion, rieh in 
good works, particularly towards the poor of the canton of 
Zug and the free bailiwicks, he was held in great honour 
throughout the whole country.* He predicted what would 
be the termination of the war ; yet as soon as danger ap- 
proached, he spared no labour to serve his country. 

It was on Sunday night that the abbot received positive 
intelligence of the preparations at Zug. He paced up and 
down his cell with hasty steps ; sleep fled from his eyes ; he 
drew near his lamp, and addressing his intimate friend, 
Peter Simmler, who succeeded him, and who was then re- 
siding at Kylchberg, a village on the borders of the lake, 
and about a league from the town, he hastily wrote these 
words : " The great anxiety and trouble which agitate me 
prevent me from busying myself with the management of 
the house, and induce me to write to you all that is prepar- 
ing. The time is come the scourge of God appears.-j- 

After many journeys and inquiries, we have learnt that 

the Five Cantons will march to-day (Monday) to seize upon 
Hitzkylch, while the main army assembles its banners at 
Baar, between Zug and Cappel. Those from the valley of 
the Adige and the Italians will arrive to-day or to-morrow." 
This letter, through some unforeseen circumstance, did not 
reach Zurich till the evening. 

Meanwhile the messenger whom Lavater had sent the 
nephew of J. Winckler creeping on his belly, gliding un- 
perceived past the sentinels, and clinging to the shrubs that 
overhung the precipices, had succeeded in making his way 
where no road had been cleared. On arriving near Zug, he 
had discovered with alarm the banner and the militia hastening 

* That airmen luten vil guts und by aller Erbarkeit in grossern 

ansahen. Bull. iii. 151. 
fr Die Zyt iet hie, das die rut gottes sich wil erzeigen. Ibid. 87. 



INFATUATION OF ZURICH NEW WARNINGS. 429 

from all sides at beat of drum : then traversing again these 
unknown passes, he had returned to Zurich with this infor- 
mation.* 

It was high time that the bandage should fall from the 
eyes of the Zurichers ; but the delusion was to endure until 
the end. The council which was called together met in 
small number. " The Five Cantons," said they, " are mak- 
ing a little noise to frighten us, and to make us raise the 
blockade."-j- The council, however, decided on sending Col- 
onel Rodolph Dumysen and Ulrich Funck to Cappel, to see 
what was going on ; and each one, tranquillized by this un- 
meaning step, retired to rest. 

They did not slumber long. Every hour brought fresh 
messengers of alarm to Zurich. " The banners of four can- 
tons are assembled at Zug," said they. " They are only 
waiting for Uri. The people of the free bailiwicks are flock- 
ing to Cappel, and demanding arms Help! help!" 

Before the break of day the council was again assembled, 
and it ordered the convocation of the Two Hundred. An 
old man, whose hair had grown gray on the battle-field and 
in the council of the state the banneret John Schweitzer 
raising his head enfeebled by age, and darting the last beam, 
as it were, from his eyes, exclaimed, " Now at this very 
moment, in God's name, send an advanced-guard to Cappel, 
and .let the army, promptly collecting round the banner, fol- 
low it immediately." He said no more ; but the charm was 
not yet broken. " The peasants of the free bailiwicks," said 
some, " we know to be hasty, and easily carried away. 
They make the matter greater than it really is. The wisest 
plan is to wait for the report of the councillors." In Zurich 
there was no longer either arm to defend or head to advise. 

It was seven in the morning, and the assembly was still 
sitting, when Rodolph Gwerb, pastor of Rifferschwyl, near 
Cappel, arrived in haste. " The people of the lordship oi 
Knonau," said he, "are crowding round the convent, and 
loudly calling for chiefs and for aid. The enemy is approach- 
ing. Will our lords of Zurich (say they) abandon them- 

* Naben den Wachten, durch umw'ag mid gestrupp. Bull. iii. 87. 
t Sy machteud aleiu cin geprog. Ibid. 103. 



430 THE WAR BEGINS. 

selves, and us with them ? Do they wish to give us up to 
slaughter?" The pastor, who had witnessed these mourn- 
ful scenes, spoke with animation. The councillors, whose 
infatuation was to be prolonged to the last, were offended at 
his message. " They want to make us act imprudently," 
replied they, turning in their arm-chairs. 

They had scarcely ceased speaking before a new messenger 
appeared, wearing on his features the marks of the greatest 
terror : it was Schwytzer, landlord of the " Beech Tree " on 
Mount Albis. " My lords Dumysen and Funck," said he, 
" have sent me to you with all speed to announce to the 
council that the Five Cantons have seized upon Hitzkylch, 
and that they are now collecting all their troops at Baar. 
My lords remain in the bailiwicks to aid the frightened 
inhabitants." 

This time the most confident turned pale. Terror, so long 
restrained, passed like a flash of lightning through every 
heart.* Hitzkylch was in the power of the enemy, and the 
war was begun. 

It was resolved to expedite to Cappel a flying camp of six 
hundred men with six guns ; but the command was intrusted 
to George Godli, whose brother was in the army of the Five 
Cantons, and he was enjoined to keep on the defensive. 
Godli and his troops had just left the city, when the captain- 
general Lavater, summoning into the hall of the Smaller 
Council the old banneret Schweitzer, William Ton'ng, cap- 
tain of the arquebusiers, J. Dennikon, captain of the artillery, 
Zvvingle, and some others, said to them, " Let us deliberate 
promptly on the means of saving the canton and the city. 
Let the tocsin immediately call out all the citizens." The 
captain-general feared that the councils would shrink at this 
proceeding, and he wished to raise the landsturm by the 
simple advice of the chiefs of the army and of Zvvingle. 
" We cannot take it upon ourselves," said they ; " the two 
councils are still sitting ; let us lay this proposition before 
them." They hastened towards the place of meeting ; but, 
fatal mischance! there were only a few members of the 
Smaller Council on the benches. " The consent of the Two 
* Dieser Bottschaft erschrack menklich ilbel. Bull. ill. 104. 



THE TOCSIN A FEARFUL NIGHT. 431 

Hundred is necessary," said they. Again a new delay, and 
the enemy were on their march. Two hours after noon the 
Great Council met again, but only to make long and useless 
speeches.* At length the resolution was taken, and at seven 
in the evening the tocsin began to sound in all the country 
districts. Treason united with this dilatoriness, and persons 
who pretended to be envoys from Zurich stopped the land- 
sturm in many places, as being contrary to the opinion of the 
council. A great number of citizens went to sleep again. 

It was a fearful night. The thick darkness a violent 
storm the alarm-bell ringing from every steeple the people 
running to arms the noise of swords and guns the sound 
of trumpets and of drums, combined with the roaring of the 
tempest, the distrust, discontent, and even treason, which 
spread affliction in every quarter the sobs of women and of 
children the cries which accompanied many a heart-rending 
adieu an earthquake which occurred about nine o'clock at 
night, as if nature herself had shuddered at the blood that 
was about to be spilt, and which violently shook the moun- 
tains and the valleys :f all increased the terrors of this fatal 
night, a night to be followed by a still more fatal day. 

While these events were passing, the Zurichers encamped 
on the heights of Cappel to the number of about one thousand 
men, fixed their eyes on Zug and upon the lake, attentively 
watching every movement. On a sudden, a little before 
night, they perceived a few barks filled with soldiers coming 
from the side of Arth, and rowing across the lake towards 
Zug. Their number increases one boat follows another 
soon they distinctly hear the bellowing of the Bull (the horn) 
of Uri,| and discern the banner. The barks draw near Zug; 
they are moored to the shore, which is lined with an immense 
crowd. The warriors of Uri and the arquebusiers of the 
Adige spring up and leap on shore, where they are received 
with acclamations, and take up their quarters for the. night : 

* Ward so vil und lang darin geradschlagt. Bull. iii. 104. 

J- Em startrer Erdbidem, der das Land, auch Berg und Thai gwaltig- 
lich ershiitt. Tschudi, Helvetia, ii. 186. 

Vil schiffen uff Zug faren, und hort man luyen den Uri Stier. 
Bull. iii. 109. 



432 THE WAR. 

behold tta enemies assembled ! The council are informed 
with all speed. 

The agitation was still greater at Zurich than at Cappel : 
the confusion was increased by uncertainty. The enemy 
attacking them on different sides at once, they knew not 
where to carry assistance. Two hours after midnight five 
hundred men with four guns quitted the city for Bremgarten, 
and three or four hundred men with five guns for Waden- 
schwyl. They turned to the right and to the left, while the 
enemy was in front. 

Alarmed at its own weakness, the council resolved to 
apply without delay to the cities of the Christian co-burghery. 
" As this revolt," wrote they, " has no other origin than the 
Word of God, we entreat you once twice thrice, as loudly, 
as seriously, as firmly, and as earnestly, as our ancient alli- 
ances and our Christian co-burghery permit and command 
us to do to set forth without delay with all your forces. 
Haste ! haste ! haste 1 Act as promptly as possible* the 
danger is yours as well as ours." Thus spake Zurich ; but 
it was already too late. 

At break of day the banner was raised before the town- 
house; instead of flaunting proudly in the wind, it hung 
drooping down the staff a sad omen that filled many minds 
with fear. Lavater took up his station under this standard; 
but a long period elapsed before a few hundred soldiers could 
be got together.-]- In the square and in all the city disorder 
and confusion prevailed. The troops, fatigued by a hasty 
march or by long waiting, were faint and discouraged. 

At ten o'clock, only 700 men were under arms. The 
selfish, the lukewarm, the friends of Rome and of the foreign 
pensioners, had remained at home. A few old men who had 
more courage than strength several members of the two 
councils who were devoted to the holy cause of God's Word 
many ministers of the Church who desired to live and die 
with the Reform the boldest of the townspeople and a cer- 
tain number of peasants, especially those from the neigh- 
bourhood of the city such were the defenders who, wanting 

* Ylentz, ylentz, ylentz, uffs aller sclmellist. Bull. iii. 110. 
T Sammlet sick docli das volck gmachsam. Ibid. 112. 



ZWINGLB'S DEPARTURE. 433 

that moral force so necessary for victory, incompletely 
armed, and without uniform, crowded in disorder around the 
banner of Zurich. 

The army should have numbered at least 4000 men ; they 
waited still ; the usual oath had not been administered ; and 
yet courier after courier arrived, breathless and in disorder, 
announcing the terrible danger that threatened Zurich. All 
this disorderly crowd was violently agitated they no longer 
waited for the commands of their chiefs, and many without 
taking the oath rushed through the gates. About 200 men 
thus set out in confusion. All those who remained prepared 
to depart. 

Zwingle was now seen issuing from a house before which 
a caparisoned horse was stamping impatiently : it was his 
own. His look was firm, but dimmed by sorrow. He 
parted from his wife, his chijdren, and his numerous friends, 
without deceiving himself, and with a bruised heart.* He 
observed the thick waterspout, which, driven by a terrible 
wind, advanced whirling towards him. Alas ! he had him- 
self called up this hurricane by quitting the atmosphere of 
the Gospel of peace, and throwing himself into the midst o( 
political passions. He was convinced that he would be its 
first victim. Fifteen days before the attack of the Wald- 
stettes, he had said from the pulpit : " I know the meaning 
of all this : I am the person specially pointed at. All this 
comes to pass in order that I may die."f The council 
according to an ancient custom, had called upon him to 
accompany the army as its chaplain. Zwingle did not hesi- 
tate. He prepared himself without surprise and without 
anger, with the calmness of a Christian who places himself 
confidently in the hands of his God. If the cause of Reform 
was doomed to perish, he was ready to perish with it. Sur- 
rounded by his weeping wife and friends by his children 
who clung to his garments to detain him, he quitted that 
house where he had tasted so much happiness. At the 
moment that his hand was upon his horse, just as he was 
about to mount, the animal violently started back several 

* Anna Rheinhard par G. Meyer of Kr.onau, and Bull. iii. 33. 

+ Ut ego tollar fiunt orania. De vita et obita Zwinglii, Mycomua. 



434 ZWINGLE'S HORSE. 

paces, and when he was at last in the saddle, it refused for a 
time to move, rearing and prancing backwards, like that 
horse which the greatest captain of modern times had 
mounted as he was about to cross the Nicmen. Many in 
Zurich at that time thought with the soldier of the Grand 
Army when he saw Napoleon on the ground : " It is a bad 
omen ! a Roman would go back !"* Zwingle having at last 
mastered his horse, gave the reins, applied the spur, started 
forward, and disappeared. 

At eleven o'clock the flag was struck, and all who re- 
mained in the square about 500 men began their march 
along with it. The greater part were torn with difficulty 
from the arms of their families, and walked sad and silent, 
as if they were going to the scaffold instead of battle. There 
was no order no plan ; the men were isolated and scattered, 
some running before, some after the colours, their extreme 
confusion presenting a fearful appearance ;f so much so, 
that those who remained behind the women, the children, 
and the old men, filled with gloomy forebodings, beat their 
breasts as they saw them pass, and many years after, the 
remembrance of this day of tumult and sadness drew this 
groan from Oswald Myconius: "Whenever I recall it to 
mind, it is as if a sword pierced my heart." Zwingle, armed 
according to the usage of the chaplains of the confederation, 
rode mournfully behind this distracted multitude. Myconius, 
when he saw him, was nigh fainting.}: Zwingle disappeared, 
and Oswald remained behind to weep. 

He did not shed tears alone ; in all quarters were heard 
lamentations, and every house was changed into a house of 
prayer. In the midst of this universal sorrow, one woman 
remained silent ; her only cry was a bitter heart, her only 
language the mild and suppliant eye of faith :~this was 
Anna, Zwingle's wife. She had seen her husband depart 

* Segur : Hist, de Napoleon et de la Grande Annee, i. 142. 

t Nullus ordo, nulla consilia t nullae mentes, tanta animorum dissonan- 
tia, tarn horrenda f'acies ante et post signa sparsim currentium homimiui. 
De vita et ob. Zwinglii. 

Quern ut vidi repeiitino dolore cordis vix consistebam. Ibid. 

Mauebamus non certe sine jngibus suspiriis, non sine precibus ad 
Deum. Ibid. 



THE SCENE OF WAR. 435 

her son, her brother, a great number of intimate friends and 
near relations, whose approaching death she foreboded. But 
her soul, strong as that of her husband, offered to God the 
sacrifice of her holiest affections. Gradually the defenders 
of Zurich precipitated their march, and the tumult died 
away in the distance. 



CHAPTER VII. 

The Scene of War The Enemy at Zug Declaration of War Council 
Army of the Forest Cantons appears The first Gun fired Zwingle's 
Gravity and Sorrow Zurich Army ascending the Albis Halt and 
Council at the Beech Tree- They quicken their March Jauch's Re- 
connaissance His Appeal Ambuscade. 

THIS night, which was so stormy in Zurich, had not been 
calmer among the inhabitants of Cappel. They had received 
the most alarming reports one after another. It was neces- 
sary to take up a position that would allow the troops 
assembled round the convent to resist the enemy's attack 
until the arrival of the reinforcements that were expected 
from the city. They cast their eyes on a small hill, which 
lying to the north towards Zurich, and traversed by the 
highroad, presented an uneven but sufficiently extensive 
surface. A deep ditch that surrounded it on three sides 
defended the approaches ; but a small bridge,, that was the 
only issue on the side of Zurich, rendered a precipitate 
retreat very dangerous. On the south-west was a wood of 
beech-trees ; on the south, in the direction of Zug, was the 
highroad and a marshy valley. " Lead us to the Granges," 
cried all the soldiers. They were conducted thither. The 
artillery was stationed near some ruins. The line of battle 
was drawn up on the side of the monastery and of Zug, and 
sentinels were placed at the foot of the slope. 

Meantime, the signal was given at Zug and Baar; the 
drums beat : the soldiers of the Five Cantons took up their 
arms. A universal feeling of joy animated them. The 



436 THE ENEMY AT ZUG. 

churches were opened, the bells rang, and the serried ranks 
of the cantons entered the cathedral of St. Oswald, where 
mass was celebrated and the Host offered up for the sins of 
the people. All the army began their march at nine o'clock, 
with banners flying. The avoyer John Golder commanded 
the contingent of Lucerne 5 the landamman James Trogucr, 
that of Uri ; the landamman Rychmuth, a mortal enemy of 
the Reformation, that of Schwytz ; the landamman Zellger, 
that of Unterwalden; and Oswald Dooss that of Zug. 
Eight thousand men marched in order of battle: all the 
picked men of the Five Cantons were there. Fresh and 
active after a quiet night, and having only one short league 
to cross before reaching the enemy, these haughty Wald- 
stettes advanced with a firm and regular step under the 
command of their chiefs. 

On reaching the common meadow of Zug, they halted to 
take the oath : every hand was upraised to heaven, and all 
swore to avenge themselves. They were about to resume 
their march, when some aged men made signs to them to 
stop. " Comrades," said they, " we have long offended God. 
Our blasphemies, our oaths, our wars, our revenge, our 
pride, our drunkenness, our adulteries, the gold of the 
stranger to whom our hands have been extended, and all 
the disorders in which we have indulged, have so provoked 
his anger, that if he should punish us to-day, we should 
only receive the desert of our crimes." The emotion of the 
chiefs had passed into the ranks. All the army bent the 
knee in the midst of the plain ; deep silence prevailed, and 
every soldier, with bended head, crossed himself devoutly, 
and repeated in a low voice five paters, as many arcs, and 
the credo. One might have said that they were for a time 
in the midst of a vast and stilly desert. Suddenly the noise 
of an immense crowd was again heard. The army rose up. 
" Soldiers," said the captains, " you know the cause of this 
war. Bear your wives and your children continually before 
your eyes." 

Then the chief usher (grand sautier] of Lucerne, wearing 
the colours of the canton, approached the chiefs of the iv *ny : 
they placed in his hands the declaration of war, datf ' on 



DECLARATION OF WAR COUNCIL. 437 

that very day, and sealed with the arms of Zug. He then 
set off on horseback, preceded by a trumpeter, to carry this 
paper to the commander of the Zurichers. 

It was eleven in the morning. The Zurichers soon dis- 
covered the enemy's army, and cast a sorrowful glance on 
the small force they were able to oppose to it. Every 
minute the danger increased. All bent their knees, their 
eyes were raised to heaven, and every Zuricher uttered a cry 
from the bottom of his heart, praying for deliverance from 
God. As soon as the prayer was ended, they got ready for 
battle. There were at that time about twelve hundred men 
under arms. 

At noon the trumpet of the Five Cantons sounded not far 
from the advanced posts. Godli, having collected the mem- 
bers of the two councils- who happened to be with the army, 
as well as the commissioned and non-commissioned officers, 
and having ranged them in a circle, ordered the secretary 
Rheinhard to read the declaration of which the Sautier of 
Lucerne was the bearer. After the reading, Godli opened a 
council of war. " We are few in number, and the forces of 
our adversaries are great," said Landolt, bailiff of Marpac, 
" but I will here await the enemy in the name of God." 
" Wait ! " cried the captain of the halberdiers, Rodolph Zigler ; 
" impossible ! let us rather take advantage of the ditch that 
cuts the road to effect our retreat, and let us everywhere 
raise a leve'e en masse" This was in truth the only means 
of safety. But Rudi Gallmann, considering every step back- 
wards as an act of cowardice, cried out, stamping his feet 
forcibly on ihe earth, and casting a fiery glance around him, 
" Here here shall be my grave !"* " It is now too late to 
retire with honour," said other officers. " This day is in the 
hands of God. Let us suffer whatever he lays upon us." 
It was put to the vote. 

The members of the council had scarcely raised their 
hands in token of assent, when a great noise was heard 
around them. "The captain ! the captain !" cried a soldier 
from the outposts who arrived in haste. " Silence, silence !" 
replied the ushers driving him back ; " they are holding a 
* Da, da mus min Kirchhof sin. Bull. tii. 118. 



438 ARMY OK THE CANTONS APPEARS. 

council!" " It is no longer time to hold a council," replied 
the soldier. "Conduct me immediately to the captain." 

"Our sentinels arc falling back," cried he with an 

agitated voice, as he arrived before Gudli. " The enemy is 
there they arc advancing through the forest with all their 
forces and with great tumult." He had not ceased *pcak- 
ing before the sentinels, who were in truth retiring on all 
sides, ran up, and the army of the Five Cantons was soon 
seen climbing the slope of Ifelsberg in face of the Granges, 
and pointing their guns. The leaders of the Waldstcttes 
were examining the positiou, and seeking to discover by 
what means their army could reach that of Zurich. The 
Zurichers were asking themselves the same question. The 
nature of the ground prevented the Waldstettes from passing 
below the convent, but they could arrive by another quarter. 
Ulrich Cruder, under-bailiffof Huscn in the canton of -Zurich, 
fixed his anxious look on the beech-wood. " It is thence 
that the enemy will fall upon us!" "Axes axes!" im- 
mediately cried several voices : " let us cut down the 
trees !"* Godli, the abbot, and several others were opposed 
to this: " If we stop up the wood, by throwing down the 
trees, we shall ourselves be unable to work our guns in that 
direction," said they. " Well ! at least let us place some 
arqucbusiers in that quarter." " We are already so small a 
number," replied the captain, " that it will be imprudent to 
divide the forces." Neither wisdom nor courage were to save 
Zurich. They once more invoked the help of God, and 
waited in expectation. 

At one o'clock the Five Cantons fired the first gun : the 
ball passing over the convent fell below the Granges; a 
second passed over the line of battle ; a third struck a hedge 
close to the ruins. The Zurichers, seeing the battle was 
begun, replied with courage ; but the slowness and awk- 
wardness with which the artillery was served in those days 
prevented any great loss being inflicted on either side. 
When the enemy perceived this, they ordered their advanced 
guard to descend from Ifelsberg and to reach the Granges 

* Ettliche schriiweud nach Achsen das man das Waldi verhallte. 
Bull. iii. 118. 



ZWINGLE S GRAVITY AND SORROW. 439 

through the meadow ; and soon the whole army of the can- 
tons advanced in this direction, but with difficulty and over 
bad roads. Some arquebusiers of Zurich came and an- 
nounced the disorder of the cantons. " Brave Zurichers," 
cried Rudi Gallmann, " if we attack them now, it is all over 
with them." At these words some of the soldiers prepared 
to enter the wood on the left, to fall upon the disheartened 
Waldstettes. But Godli perceiving this movement, cried out : 
" Where are you going ? do you not know that we have 
agreed not to separate ? " He then ordered the skirmishers 
to be recalled, so that the wood remained entirely open to 
the enemy. They were satisfied with discharging a few ran- 
dom shots from time to time to prevent the cantons from 
establishing themselves there. The firing of the artillery 
continued until three o'clock, and announced far and wide, 
even to Bremgarten and Zurich, that the battle had begun. 

In the meanwhile the great banner of Zurich and all 
those who surrounded it, among whom was Zwingle, came ad- 
vancing in disorder towards the Albis. For a year past the 
gaiety of the reformer had entirely disappeared : he was 
grave, melancholy, easily moved, having a weight on his 
heart that seemed to crush it. Often would he throw him- 
self weeping at the feet of his Master, and seek in prayer 
the strength of which he stood in need. No one had ever 
observed in him any irritation ; on the contrary, he had 
received with mildness the counsels that had been offered, 
and had remained tenderly attached to men whose convic- 
tions were not the same as his own. He was now advancing 
mournfully along the road to Cappel ; and John Maaler of 
Winterthour, who was riding a few paces behind him, heard 
his groans and sighs, intermingled with fervent prayers. If 
any one spoke to him, he was found firm and strong in the 
peace that proceeds from faith ; but he did not conceal his 
conviction that he should never see his family or church 
again. Thus advanced the forces of Zurich. A woful march ! 
resembling rather a funeral procession than an army going 
to battle. 

As they approached they saw express after express gal- 



440 ZURICH ARMY ASCENDING THE ALBIS. 

loping along the road from Cappel, begging the Zurichers to 
hasten to the defence of their brothers.* 

At Adliswyl, having passed the bridge under which flow 
the impetuous waters of the Sihl, and traversed the village 
through the midst of women, children, and old men, who, 
standing before their cottages, looked with sadness on this 
disorderly troop, they began to ascend the Alois. They 
were about half-way from Cappel when the first cannon- 
shot was heard. They stop, they listen : a second, a third 

succeeds There is no longer any doubt. The glory, 

the very existence of the republic are endangered, and they 
are not present to defend it ! The blood curdles in their 
veins. On a sudden they arouse, and each one begins to 
run to the support of his brothers. But the road over the 
Albis was much steeper than it is in our days. The badly 
harnessed artillery could not ascend it ; the old men and 
citizens, little habituated to marching, and covered with 
weighty armour, advanced with difficulty : and yet they 
formed the greater portion of the troops. They were seen 
stopping one after another, panting and exhausted, along the 
sides of the road near the thickets and ravines of the Albis, 
leaning against a beech or an ash tree, and looking with 
dispirited eyes to the summit of the mountain covered with 
thick pines. 

They resumed their march, however ; the horsemen and 
the most intrepid of the foot-soldiers hastened onwards, and 
having reached the " Beech Tree," on the top of the moun- 
tain, halted to take counsel. 

What ti prospect then extended before their eyes ! Zurich, 
the lake and its smiling shores those orchards, those fertile 
fields, those vine-clad hills, almost the whole of the canton. 
Alas ! soon, perhaps, to be devastated by the forest-bands. 

Scarcely had these noble-minded men begun to deliberate, 
when fresh messengers from Cappel appeared before them, 
exclaiming, " Hasten forwards !" At these words many 
of the Zurichers prepared to gallop towards the encrny.f 

* Dan ein Manung uff die ander, von Cappel kamm. Bull. iii. 113. 
f Uft' rosseu hoftig ylitend zum augriff. Ibid. 



HALT AND COUNCIL AT*THE BEECH TREE. 441 

Toning, the captain of the arquebusiers, stopt them. " My 
good friends," cried he to them, " against such great forces 
what can we do alone ? Let us wait here until our people 
are assembled, and then let us fall upon the enemy with the 
whole army."" Yes, if we had an army," bitterly replied 
the captain-general, who, in despair of saving the republic, 
thought only of dying with glory ; " but we have only a 
banner and no soldiers." " How can we stay calmly upon 
these heights," said Zwinglc, " while we hear the shots that 
are fired at our fellow-citizens? In the name of God I will 
march towards my brother warriors, prepared to die in 
order to save them." * " And I too," added the aged ban- 
neret Schweitzer. " As for you," continued he, turning with 
a contemptuous look towards Toning, " wait till you are a 
little recovered." " I am quite as much refreshed as you," 
replied Toning, the colour mantling on his face, " and you 
shall soon see whether I cannot fight." All hastened their 
steps towards the field of battle. 

The descent was rapid; they plunged into the woods, 
passed through the village of Husen,' and at length arrived 
near the Granges. It was three o'clock when the banner 
crossed the narrow bridge that led thither ; and there were 
so few soldiers round it that every one trembled as he be- 
held this venerated standard thus exposed to the attacks of 
so formidable an enemy. The army of the Cantons was at 
that moment deploying before the eyes of the new-comers. 
Zwingle gazed upon this terrible spectacle. Behold, then, 
these phalanxes of soldiers ! a few minutes more, and the 
labours of eleven years will be destroyed perhaps for ever !... 

A citizen of Zurich, one Leonard Bourkhard, who was ill- 
disposed" towards the reformer, said to him in a harsh tone, 
" Well, Master Ulrich, what do you say about this business ? 
Are the radishes salt enough?... who will eat them now ?''{- 
" I," replied Zwingle, " and many a brave man who is here 
in the hands of God ; for we are his in life and in death." 
" And I too I will help to eat them," resumed Bourkhard 

* Ich will raclit, in den namen Gotts, zu den biderben luten und willig 
mitt und under inen sterben. Bull. iii. 123. 
t Sind die Ruben gesaltzen ? wer will sie ausessn. J. J. Hott. iii. 383. 

vnr.. iv. 20 



442 JAUCH'S RECONNAISSANCE. 

immediately, ashamed of his brutality, " I will risk iny life 
for them." And he did so, and many others with him, adds 
the chronicle. 

It was four o'clock; the sun was sinking rapidly; the 
Waldstettes did not advance, and the Zurichers began to 
think that the attack would be put off till the morrow. In 
fact, the chiefs of the Five Cantons seeing the great banner 
of Zurich arrive, the night near at hand, and the impossibility 
of crossing under the fire of the Zurichers the marsh and the 
ditch that separated the combatants, were looking for a place 
in which their troops might pass the night. " If at this 
moment any mediators had appeared," says Bullinger, " their 
proposals would have been accepted." 

The soldiers, observing the hesitation of their chiefs, began 
to murmur loudly. " The big ones abandon us," said one. 
" The captains fear to bite the fox's tail," said another. 
" Not to attack them," cried they all, "is to ruin our cause." 
During this time a daring man was preparing the skilful 
manoeuvre that was to decide the fate of the day. A warrior 
of Uri, John Jauch, formerly bailiff of Sargans, a good marks- 
man and experienced soldier, having taken a few men with 
him, moved towards the right of the army of the Five Can- 
tons, crept into the midst of the clump of beech-trees that, 
by forming a semicircle to the east, unite the hill of Ifelsberg 
to that of the Granges,* found the wood empty, arrived to 
within a few paces of the Zurichers, and there, hidden behind 
the trees, remarked unperceived the smallness of their num- 
bers, and their want of caution. Then, stealthily retiring, 
he went to the chiefs at the very moment the discontent was 
on the point of bursting out. " Now is the time to attack 
the enemy," cried he. " Dear gossip," replied Troguer, captain- 
in-chief of Uri, " you do not mean to say that we should set 
to work at so late an hour ; besides, the men are preparing 
their quarters, and everybody knows what it cost our fathers 
at Naples and Marignan for having commenced the attack 
a little before night. And then it is Innocent's day, and our 

* This wood no longer connects the two hills. The present pastor of 
Cappel told me that when first he went into that district the wood was 
much more extensive than it is at present. 



J AUdl's APPEAL. 443 

ancestors have never given battle on a feast-day."* u Don't 
think about the Innocents of the calendar," replied Jauch, 
" but let us rather remember the innocents that we have left 
in our cottages." Gaspard Gbdli of Zurich, brother of the 
commander of the Granges, added his entreaties to those of 
the warrior of Uri. " We must either beat the Zurichers to- 
night," said he, " or be beaten by them to-morrow. Take 
your choice." 

All was unavailing; the chiefs were inflexible, and the 
army prepared to take up its quarters. Upon this the 
warrior of Uri, understanding like his fellow-countryman 
Tell that great evils require great remedies, drew his sword 
and cried: " Let all true confederates follow me."-J- Then 
hastily leaping to his saddle, he spurred his hoise into the 
forest ;J and immediately arquebusiers, soldiers from the 
Adige, and many other warriors of the Five Cantons, espe- 
cially from Unterwalden in all about 300 men, rushed into 
the wood after him. At this sight Jauch no longer doubted 
of the victory of the Waldstettes. He dismounted and fell 
upon his knees, " for," says Tschudi, " he was a man who 
feared God." All his followers did the same, and together 
invoked the aid of God, of his holy mother, and of all the 
heavenly host. They then advanced ; but soon the warrior of 
Uri, wishing to expose no one but himself, halted his troops, 
and glided from tree to tree to the verge of the wood. Ob- 
serving that the enemy was as incautious as ever, he rejoined 
his arquebusiers, led them stealthily forward, and posted 
them silently behind the trees of the forest, enjoining them 
to take their aim so as not to miss their men. During this 
time the chiefs of the Five Cantons, foreseeing that this rash 
man was about to bring on the action, decided against their 
will, and collected their soldiers around the banners. 

* Au einem solchen Tag Blut ze vergiessen. Tschudi, Helv. ii. 189. 

f Welche redlicher Eidgnossen wart sind, die louffind uns nach. BulL 
iii. 125. 

J Sass ylends wiederum uff sin Ross. Tschudi, Helv. ii, 191. 

Zertheilt die Hagken hinter die Baum im Wald in grosser Stille, 
Ibid. 



444 AMBUSCADE. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

Jnforeseen Change The whole Army advances Universal Disorder 
The Banneret's Death The Banner in Danger The Banner saved 
Terrible Slaughter Slaughter of the Pastors Zwingle's last Words 
Barbarity of the Victors The Furnace of Trial Zwingle's dying 
Moments Day after the Battle Homage and Outrage. 

THE Zurichers, fearing that the enemy '-would seize upon the 
road that led to their capital, were then directing part of their 
troops and their guns to a low hill by which it was com- 
manded. At the very moment that the invisible arquebusiers 
stationed among the beech-trees were* taking their aim, this 
detachment passed near the little wo6d. The deepest silence 
prevailed in this solitude : each one posted there picked out 
the man he desired to bring down, and JaUch exclaimed : 
" In the name of the Holy Trinity of God the Father, the 
Son, and the Holy Ghost of the Holy Mother of God, and 
of all the heavenly host fire!" At the word the deadly 
balls issued from the wood, and a murderous carnage in the 
ranks of Zurich followed this terrible discharge. The battle, 
which had begun four hours ago, and which had never ap- 
peared to be a serious attack, now underwent an unforeseen 
change. The sword was not again to be returned to the 
scabbard until it had been bathed in torrents of blood. Those 
of the Zurichers who had not fallen at this first discharge, 
lay flat on the ground, so that the balls passed over their 
heads ; but they soon sprang up, saying : " Shall we allow 
ourselves to be butchered ? No I let us rather attack the 
enemy !" Lavater seized a lance, and rushing into the fore- 
most rank exclaimed : " Soldiers, uphold the honour of God 
and of our lords, and behave like brave men !" Zwingle, 
silent and collected, like nature before the bursting of the 
tempest, was there also halberd in hand. " Master Ulrich," 
said Bernard Sprungli, " speak to the people and encourage 
them. " Warriors !" said Zwinglo, " fear nothing. If we 



THE WHOLE ARMY ADVANCES. 445 

are this day to be defeated, still our cause is good. Commend 
yourselves to God !" 

The Zurichers quickly turned the artillery they were 
dragging to another quarter, and pointed it against the 
wood ; but their bullets, instead of striking the enemj-, only 
reached the top of the trees, and tore off a few branches that 
fell upon the skirmishers.* 

Rychmuth, the landamman of Schwytz, came up at a 
gallop to recall the volunteers ; but seeing the battle begun, 
he ordered the whole army to advance. Immediately the 
five banners moved forward. 

But already Jauch's skirmishers, rushing from among the 
trees, had fallen impetuously upon the Zurichers, charging 
with their long and pointed halberds. " Heretics ! sacri- 
legists !" cried they, " we have you at last !" " Man-sellers, 
idolaters, impious papists!" replied the Zurichers, "is it 
really you ? " At first a shower of stones fell from both 
parties and wounded several ; immediately they came to close 
quarters. The resistance of the Zurichers was terrible.f 
Each struck with the sword or with the halberd : at last the 
soldiers of the Five Cantons were driven back in disorder. 
The Zurichers advanced, but in so doing lost the advantages 
of their position, and got entangled in the marsh. Some 
Roman-catholic historians pretend that this flight of their 
troops was a stratagem to draw the Zurichers into the 
snare.J 

In the mean time the army of the Five Cantons hastened 
through the wood. Burning with courage and with anger, 
they eagerly quickened their steps ; from the midst of the 
beech-trees there resounded a confused and savage noise a 
frightful murmur ; the ground shook ; one might have ima- 
gined that the forest was uttering a horrible roar, or that 
witches were holding their nocturnal revels in its dark 

* Denn das die Aest auf sie fielent. Tschudi, p. 182. 

f Der angriff war hart und wahrt der Wiederstand ein gute Wyl. 
Ibid. \92. 

J Catholici autem, positis insidiis, retrocesserunt, fugam simulantes. 
Cochlceus, Acta Luth. p. 214. 



446 UNIVERSAL DISO1UJEK. 

recesses.* In vain did the bravest of the Zurichers offer an 
intrepid resistance : the Waldstettes had the advantage in 
every quarter. " They are surrounding us," cried some. 
" Our men are fleeing," said others. A man from the canton 
of Zug, mingling with the Zurichers, and pretending to he 
of their party, exclaimed : " Fly, fly, brave Zurichers, you 
are betrayed!" Thus everything is against Zurich. Even 
the hand of Him who is the disposer of battles turned against 
this people. Thus was it also in times of old that God fre- 
quently chastised his own people of Israel by the Assyrian 
sword. A panic-terror seized upon the bravest, and the dis- 
order spread everywhere with frightful rapidity. 

In the mean while the aged Schweitzer had raised the 
great banner with a firm hand, and all the picked men of 
Zurich were drawn up around it ; but soon the*ir ranks were 
thinned. John Kammli, charged with the defence of the 
standard, having observed the small number of combatants 
that remained upon the field of battle, said to the banneret : 
u Let us lower the banner, my lord, and save it, for our 
people are flying shamefully." " Warriors, remain firm," 
replied the aged banneret, whom no danger had ever shaken. 
The disorder augmented the number of fugitives increased 
every minute ; the old man stood fast, amazed and immov- 
able as an aged oak beaten by a frightful hurricane. He 
received unflinchingly the blows that fell upon him, and 
alone resisted the terrible storm. Kamrnli seized him by the 
arm : " My lord," said he again, " lower the banner, or else 
we shall lose it: there is no more glory to be reaped here!" 
The banneret, who was already mortally wounded, exclaim- 
ed : " Alas ! must the city of Zurich be so punished !" Then, 
dragged off by Kammli, who held him by the arm, he re- 
treated as far as the ditch. The weight of years, and the 
wounds with which he was covered, did not permit him to 
cross it. He fell in the mire at the bottom, still holding the 
glorious standard, whose folds dropped on the other bank. 

The enemy ran up with loud shouts, being attracted by 

* DOT Boden erzittert ; und nit anders war, denn als ob der Wald lut 
bruelete. Tschudi, p. 123. 



THE BANNERET'S DEATH. 447 

the colours of Zurich, as the bull by the gladiator's flag. 
Kammli seeing this, unhesitatingly leapt to the bottom of 
the ditch, and laid hold of the stiff and dying hands of Ins 
chief, in 'order to preserve the precious ensign, which they 
tightly grasped. But it was in vain : the hands of the aged 
Schweitzer would not loose the standard. " My lord ban- 
neret ! " cried this faithful servant, " it is no longer in your 
power to defend it." The hands of the banneret, already 
stiffened in death, still refused ; upon which Kammli vio- 
lently tore away the sacred standard, leapt upon the other 
bank, and rushed with his treasure far from the steps of the 
enemy. The last Zurichers at this moment reached the 
ditch ; they fell one after another upon the expiring banneret, 
and thus hastened his death. 

Kammli, however, having received a wound from a gun- 
shot, his march was retarded, and soon the Waldstettes sur- 
rounded him with their swords. The Zuricher, holding the 
banner in one hand, and his sword in the other, defended 
himself bravely. One of the Waldstettes caught hold of the 
staff another seized the flag itself and tore it. Kammli 
with one blow of his sword cut down the former, and strik- 
ing around him, called out : " To the rescue, brave Zurich- 
ers ! save the honour and the banner of our lords." The 
assailants increased in number, and the warrior was about 
to fall, when Adam Nseff of Wollenwyd rushed up sword in 
hand, and the head of the Waldstette who had torn the 
colours rolled upon the plain, and his blood gushed out upon 
the flag of Zurich. Dumysen, member of the Smaller Coun- 
cil, supported Naff with his halberd, and both dealt such 
lusty blows, that they succeeded in disengaging the standard- 
bearer. He, although dangerously wounded, sprang for- 
ward, holding the blood-stained folds of the banner in one 
hand, which he carried off hastily, dragging the staff behind 
him. With fierce look and fiery eye, he thus passed, sword 
in hand, through the midst of friends and enemies : he crossed 
plains, woods, and marshes, everywhere leaving traces of his 
blood, which flowed from numerous wounds. Two of his 
enemies, one from Schwytz, the other from Zug were par- 
ticularly eager in his pursuit. u Heretic! villain!" cried 



448 THE BANNER SAVED. 

they, " surrender and give us the banner." " You shall 
have my life first," replied the Zuricher. Then the two hos- 
tile soldiers, who were embarrassed by their cuirasses, stop- 
ped a moment to take them off. Kammli took advantage of 
this to get in advance: he ran; Huber, Dumysen, and 
Dantzler of Naenikon were at his side. They all four thus 
arrived near Husen, half-way up the Albis. They had still 
to climb the steepest part of the mountain. Huber fell cov- 
ered with wounds. Dumysen, the colonel-general, who had 
fought as a private soldier, almost reached the church of 
Husen, and there he dropt lifeless : and two of his sons, in 
the flower of youth, soon lay stretched on the battle-field 
that had drunk their father's blood. Kamnii took a few 
steps farther; but halted erelong, exhausted and panting, 
near a hedge that he would have to clear, and discovered his 
two enemies and other Walclstettes running from all sides, 
like birds of prey, towards the wavering standard of Zurich. 
The strength of Kammli was sinking rapidly, his eyes grew 
dim, thick darkness surrounded him : a hand of lead fast- 
ened him to the ground. Then, mustering all his expiring 
strength, he flung the standard on the other side of the 
hedge, exclaiming : " Is there any brave Zuricher near me ? 
Let him preserve the banner and the honour of our lords ! 
As for me, I can do no more ! " Then casting a last look to 
heaven, he added : " May G od be my helper ! " He fell ex- 
hausted by this last effort. Dantzler, who came up, flung 
away his sword, sprung over the hedge, seized the banner, 
and cried, " With the aid of God, I will carry it off." He 
then rapidly climbed the Albis, and at last placed the an- 
cient standard of Zurich in safety. God, on whom these 
warriors fixed all their hopes, had heard their prayers, but 
the noblest blood of the republic had been spilt. 

The enemy were victorious at all points. The soldiers of 
the Five Cantons, and particularly those of Unterwalden ; 
long hardened in the wars of the Milanese, showed them- 
selves more merciless towards their confederates than they 
had ever been towards foreigners. At the beginning of the 
battle, Godli had taken flight, and soon after he quitted 
Zurich for ever. Lavater, the captain-general, after having 



TEKlUBLli SLAUGHTER. 449 

fought valiantly, had fallen into the ditch. He was dragged 
out by a soldier and escaped. 

The most distinguished men of Zurich fell one after an- 
other under the blows of the Waldstettes.* Rudi Gall- 
man found the glorious tomb he had wished for, and his two 
brothers stretched beside him left their father's house deso- 
late. Toning, captain of the arquebusiers, died for his 
country as he had foretold. All the pride of the population 
of Zurich, seven members of the Smaller Council, nineteen 
members of the Two Hundred, sixty-five citizens of the 
town, four hundred and seventeen from the rural districts : 
the father in the midst of his children, the son surrounded 
by his brothers, lay on the field. 

Gerold Meyer of Knonau, son of Anna Zwingle, at that 
time twenty-two years of age, and already a member of the 
council of Two Hundred, a husband and a father, had 
rushed into the foremost ranks with all the impetuosity of 
youth. " Surrender, and your life shall be spared," cried 
some of the warriors of the Five Cantons, who desired to 
save him. " It is better for me to die with honour than 
to yield with disgrace," replied the son of Anna, and imme- 
diately struck by a mortal blow, he fell and expired not far 
from the castle of his ancestors. 

The ministers were those who paid proportionally the 
greatest tribute on this bloody day. The sword that was at 
work on the heights of Cappel thirsted for their blood : 
twenty-five of them feii beneath its stroke. The Waldstettes 
trembled with rage whenever they discovered one of these 
heretical preachers, and sacrificed him with enthusiasm, as 
a chosen victim to the Virgin and the saints. There has, 
perhaps, never been any battle in which so many men of 
the Word of God have bitten the dust. Almost everywhere 
the pastors had marched at the head of their flocks. One 
might have said that Cappel was an assembly of Christian 
churches rather than an army of Swiss companies. The 
Abbot Joner, receiving a mortal wound near the ditch, 

* Optimi et docti viri, quos necessitas traxerat in commune periculum 
patriae et ecclesiae veritatisque defensandse, quam et sue sanguine redo- 
merunt. Pell. Vit. MS. p. 6. 

20* 



450 ZWINGLE'S LAST WORDS. 

expired in sight of his own monastery. The people of Zug, 
in pursuit of the enemy, uttered a cry of anguish as they 
passed his body, remembering all the good he had done 
them.* Schmidt of Kussnacht, stationed on the field of 
battle in the midst of his parishioners, fell surrounded by 
forty of their bodies, -j- Geroldsek, John Haller, and many 
other pastors, at the head of their flocks, suddenly met in a 
terrible and unforeseen manner the Lord -whom they had 
preached. 

But the death of one individual far surpassed all others. 
Zwingle was at the post of danger, the helmet on his 
head, the sword hanging at his side, the battle-axe in his 
hand. ^ Scarcely had the action begun, when, stooping to 
console a dying man, says J. J. Hottinger, a stone hurled 
by the vigorous arm of a "VValdstette struck him on the head 
and closed his lips. Yet Zwingle arose, when two other 
blows which hit him successively on the le"g, threw him 
down again. Twice more he stands up ; but a fourth time 
he receives a thrust from a lance, he staggers, and sinking 
beneath so many wounds, falls on his knees. Does not the 
darkness that is spreading around him announce a still 
thicker darkness that is about to cover the Church ? Zwingle 
turns away from such sad thoughts ; once more he uplifts 
that head which had been so bold, and gazing with calm eye 
upon the trickling blood, exclaims : " What matters this mis- 
fortune ? They may indeed kill the body, but they cannot 
kill the soul ! " || These were his last words. 

He had scarcely uttered them ere he fell backwards. 
There, under a tree (Zwingle's Pear-tree), in a meadow, he 
remained lying on his back, with clasped hands, and eyes 
upturned to heaven.^]" 

* Es klagtend inn insonders die Ziiger. Bull. iii. 151. 

t Uff der Walstett ward er funden, under und by sinen Kussnachern. 
Ibid. 147. 

J The chaplains of the Swiss troops still wear a sword. Zwingle did 
not make use of his arms. 

Hatt auch in den Schenklen zween Stiche. Tschudi, Helv. ii. 194. 

|| In genua prelapsum dixisse : " Ecquid hoc infortunii ? Age ! corpus 
quidem occidere possunt, auimam non.possunt." Osw. Myconius, Vit. 
Zw. 

T! Was er nach lebend, lag an dem Ruggen und hat seine beide hand 



BARBARITY OF THE VICTORS. 451 

While the bravest were pursuing the scattered soldiers of 
Zurich, the stragglers of the Five Cantons had pounced like 
hungry ravens on the field of battle. Torch in hand, these 
wretches prowled among the dead, casting looks of irritation 
around them, and lighting up the features of their expiring 
victims by the dull glimmering of these funereal torches. 
They turned over the bodies of the wounded and the dead ; 
they tortured and stripped them.* If they found any who 
were still sensible, they cried out, " Call upon the saints and 
confess to our priests ! " If the Zurichers, faithful to their 
creed, rejected these cruel invitations, these men, who were 
as cowardly as they were fanatical, pierced them with their 
lances, or dashed out their brains with the but-ends of their 
arquebuses. The Roman-catholic historian, Salat of Lu- 
cerne, makes a boast of this. " They were left to die like 
infidel dogs, or were slain with the sword or the spear, that 
they might go so much the quicker to the devil, with whose 
help they had fought so desperately." f If any of the soldiers 
of the Five Cantons recognised a Zuricher against whom 
they had any grudge 5 with dry eyes, disdainful mouth, and 
features changed by anger, they drew near the unhappy 
creature, writhing in the agonies of death, and said : " Well! 
has your heretical faith preserved you? Ah ha! it was 

pretty clearly seen to-day who had the true faith To-day 

we have dragged your Gospel in the mud, and you too, even 
you are covered with your own blood. God, the Virgin, and 
the saints have punished you." Scarcely had they uttered 
these words before they plunged their swords into their 
enemy's bosom. " Mass or death !" was their watchword. 

Thus triumphed the Waldstettes ; but the pious Zurichers 
who expired on the field of battle called to mind that they 
had for God one who has said : " If ye endure chastening, 
God dealeth with you as with sons ; for what son is he whom 

zamen gethan, wie die betenden, sach mit synem angen obsich in hymel. 
B. iii. 136. 

* Em gross pliinderen, ein ersuchen und usgiessen der todten und der 
wunden. Bull. iii. 135. 

t Damit sie desto eher zum Teufel, damit sie mit alien vieren fechtend, 
gefuhrt -wiirdend. Salat. 



452 THE FURNACE OF TKIAL. 

the father chasteneth not ?" " Though he slay me, yet will I 
trust in Aim." It is in the furnace of trial that the God of 
the Gospel conceals the pure gold of his most precious 
blessings. This punishment was necessary to turn aside 
the Church of Zurich from the "broad ways" of the world, 
and lead it back to the "narrow ways" of the Spirit and the 
life. In a political history, a defeat like that of Cappcl 
would be styled a great misfortune ; but in a history of the 
Church of Jesus Christ, such a blow, inflicted by the hand 
of the Father himself, ought rather to be called a great 
blessing. 

Meanwhile Zwingle lay extended under the tree, near the 
road by which the mass of the people was passing. The 
shouts of the victors, the groans of the dying, those flicker- 
ing torches borne from corpse to corpse, Zurich humbled, the 
cause of Reform lost, all cried aloud to him that God 
punishes his servants when they have recourse to the arm 
of man. If the German reformer had been able to approach 
Zwingle at this solemn moment, and pronounce those oft- 
repeated words : " Christians fight not with sword and 
arquebuse, but with sufferings and with the cross,"* 
Zwingle would have stretched out his dying hand, and 
said, " Amen ! " 

Two of the soldiers who were prowling over the field of 
battle, having come near the reformer without recognising 
him, " Do you wish for a priest to confess yourself?" asked 
they. Zwingle, without speaking (for he had not strength), 
made signs in the negative. " If you cannot speak," re- 
plied the soldiers, " at least think in thy heart of the Mother 
of God, and call upon the saints!" Zwingle again shook 
his head, and kept his eyes still fixed on heaven.-]- Upon 
this the irritated soldiers began to curse him. " No doubt," 
said they, " you are one of the heretics of the city!" One 
of them, being curious to know who it was, stooped down 
and turned Zwingle's head in the direction of a fire that had 

* Christen sind nicht die fur sich selbst mit dem Schwerdt oder Buch- 
sen streiten, sondern mit dem Kreuz und Leyden. Luth. Opp. 
^ Und sach uber sich in Hymcl. Bull. iii. 136. 



DAV AFTJSK THE BATTLE. 453 

been lighted near the spot.* The soldier immediately let 
him fall to the ground. " I think," said he, surprised and 
amazed, " I think it is Zwingle !" At this moment Captain 
Fockinger of Unterwalden, a veteran and a pensioner, 
drew near: he had heard the last words of the soldier. 
"Zwingle!" exclaimed he; "that vile heretic Zwingle! 
that rascal, that traitor!" Then raising his sword, so long 
sold to the stranger, he struck the dying Christian on the 
throat, exclaiming in a violent passion, "Die, obstinate 
heretic!" Yielding under this last blow, the reformer gave 
up the ghost : he was doomed to perish by the sword of a 
mercenary. " Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death 
of his saints." The soldiers ran to other victims. All did 
not show the same barbarity. The night was cold ; a thick 
hoar-frost covered the fields and the bodies of the dying. 
The protestant historian, Bullinger, informs us that some 
Waldstettes gently raised the wounded in their arms, bound 
up their wounds, and carried them to the fires lighted on 
the field of battle. " Ah !" cried they, " why have the Swiss 
thus slaughtered one another!" 

The main body of the army had remained on the field of 
battle near the standards. The soldiers conversed around 
the fires, interrupted from time to time by the cries of the 
dying. During this time the chiefs assembled in the con- 
vent sent messengers to carry the news of their signal 
victory to the confederate cantons, and to the Roman- 
catholic powers of Germany. 

At length the day appeared. The Waldstettes spread 
over the field of battle, running here and there, stopping, 
contemplating, struck with surprise at the sight of their 
most formidable enemies stretched lifeless on the plain ; but 
sometimes also shedding tears as they gazed on corpses 
which reminded them of old and sacred ties of friendship. 
At length they reached the pear-tree under which Zwingle 
lay dead, and an immense crowd collected around it. His 
countenance still beamed with expression and with life. 
* He has the look," said Bartholomew Stocker of Zug, who 
* Beym Fuwr besach. Tschudi, Helv. ii. 194. 



454 HOMAGE AND OUTRAGE. 

had loved him, " he has the look of a living rather than of 
a dead man.* Such was he when he kindled the people by 
the fire of his eloquence." All eyes were fixed upon the 
corpse. John Schonbrunner, formerly canon of Zurich, who 
had retired to Zug at the epoch of the Reformation, could 
not restrain his tears : " Whatever may have been thy creed," 
said he, " I know, Zwingle, that thou hast been a loyal con- 
federate ! May thy soul rest with God ! " 

But the pensioners of the foreigner, on whom Zwingle had 
never ceased to make war, required that the body of the 
heretic should be dismembered, and a portion sent to each of 
the Five Cantons. " Peace be to the dead ! and God alone 
be their judge !" exclaimed the avoyer Golder and the 
landamman Thoss of Zug. Cries of fury answered their 
appeal, and compelled them to retire. Immediately the 
drums beat to muster ; the dead body was tried, and it was 
decreed that it should be quartered for treason against the 
confederation, and then burnt for heresy. The executioner 
of Lucerne carried out the sentence. Flames consumed 
Zwingle's disjointed members ; the ashes of swine were 
mingled with his ; and a lawless multitude rushing upon his 
remains flung them to the four winds of heaven.-}- 

Zwingle was dead. A great light had been extinguished 
in the Church of God. Mighty by the "Word as were the 
other reformers, he had been more so than they in action ; 
but this very power had been his weakness, and he had 
fallen under the weight of his own strength. Zwingle was 
not forty-eight years old when he died. If the might of 
God always accompanied the might of man, what would he 
not have done for the Reformation in Switzerland, and even 
in the empire ! But he had wielded an arm that God had 
forbidden; the helmet had covered his head, and he had 
grasped the halberd. His more devoted friends were them- 
selves astonished, and exclaimed : " We know not what to 

* Nicht einem Todten sondern einem Lebenden gleich. Zwingli fur 
das Volk von J. J. Hottinger. 

t Tschudi Helvet. ii. 195. "Cadaver Zwinglii in quatuor paries 

Becatur, in ignem conjicitur, in cinerem resolvitur." Myc. de Vit. Zw. 



CONSTERNATION IN ZURICH. 455 

gay I a bishop in arms !"* The bolt had furrowed the 

cloud, the blow had reached the reformer, and his body was 
no more than a handful of dust in the palm of a soldier. 



CHAPTER IX. 

Consternation in Zurich Violence of the Populace Grief and Distress 
Zwingle is dead ! Funeral Oration Army of Zurich Another 
Reverse on the Goubel Inactivity of the Bernese Hopes and Plan of 
Charles V. End of the War Treaty of Peace. 

FRIGHTFUL darkness hung over Zurich during the night that 
followed the afflicting day of Cappel. It was seven in the 

evening when the first news of the disaster arrived 

Vague but alarming reports spread at first with the rapidity 
of lightning. It was known that a terrible blow had been 
inflicted, but not of what kind ; soon a few wounded men, 
who arrived from the field of battle, cleared up the frightful 
mystery. " Then," said Bullinger, whom we shall allow to 
speak, "there arose suddenly a loud and horrible cry of 
lamentation and tears, bewailing and groaning." The con- 
sternation was so much the greater because no one had 
expected such a disaster. " There is not enough for a break- 
fast," had said some haughty^ worldly men ; " With one blow 
we shall be masters of the Five Chalets" had said another ; 
and an old soldier added with disdainful sneer, " We shall 
soon have scattered these five dunghills." The Christian 
portion, convinced that Zurich was fighting in a good cause, 
had not doubted that victory would be on the side of truth. 

Thus their first stupefaction was succeeded by a violent 

outburst of rage. With blind fury the mob accused all their 
chiefs, and loaded with insults even those who had defended 
their country at the price of their blood. An immense crowd 
agitated, pale, and bewildered, filled all the streets of the 

* Ego nihil certe apud me possum statuere, maxime de Episcopo in 
armis. Zuickius Ecolampadio, 8th November 1531, Zurich MS. 



456 VIOLENCE OF THE POPULACE. 

city. They met, they questioned, and replied ; they ques- 
tioned again, and the answer could not be heard, for the 
shouts of the people interrupted or drowned the voice of the 
speakers. The councillors who had remained in Zurich 
repaired in haste to the town-hall. The people, who had 
already assambled there in crowds, looked on with threaten- 
ing eyes. Accusations of treason burst from every mouth, 
and the patricians were pointed out to the general indigna- 
tion. They must have victims. " Before going to fight 
against the enemy on the frontiers," said the mob, "we 
should defend ourselves against those who are within our 
walls." Sorrow and fear excited the minds of all. That 
savage instinct of the populace, which in great calamities 
leads them, like a wild beast, to thirst for blood, was vio- 
lently aroused. A hand from the midst of the crowd points 
out the council-hall, and a harsh and piercing voice exclaims : 
" Let us chop off the heads of some of the men who sit in 
these halls, and let their blood ascend to heaven, to beg for 
mercy in behalf of those whom they have slain." 

But this fury is nothing in comparison with that which 
broke out against the ministers, against Zwingle, and all 
those Christians who were the cause (say they) of the ruin of 
the country. Fortunately the sword of the Waldstettes had 
withdrawn them from the rage of their fellow-citizens; 
nevertheless, there still remained some who could pay for 
the others. Leo Juda, whom Zwingle's death was about to 
raise to the head of religious affairs, had scarcely recovered 
from a serious illness ; it was on him they rushed. They 
threatened, they pursued him ; a few worthy citizens carried 
him off and hid him in their houses. The rage of these 
madmen was not appeased : they continued shouting that 
atonement must be made for the slaughter at Cappel, by a 
still more frightful slaughter within the very walls of the 
city. But God placed a curb in the mouths of these infuriate 
beasts of prey, and subdued them. 

On a sudden, grief succeeded to rage, and sobs choked the 
utterance of the most furious. All those whose relatives had 
marched to Cappel, imagined that they were among the 
number of the victims. Old men, women, and children, 



ZWINGLE IS DEAD ! 457 

went forth in the darkness by the glimmering light of 
torches, with haggard eyes and hurried steps ; and as soon 
as some wounded man arrived, they questioned him with 
trembling voice about those whom they were seeking. Some 
replied : " I saw him fall close by my side." " He was sur- 
rounded by so many enemies," said others, " that there was 
no chance of safety for him."* At these words the distracted 
family dropt their torches, and filled the air with shrieks 
and groans. 

Anna Zwinglc had heard from her house the repeated dis- 
charges of artillery. As wife and mother, she had passed in 
expectation many long hours of anguish, offering fervent 
prayers to heaven. At length the most terrible accounts, 
one after another, burst upon her. 

In the midst of those whose cries of despair re-echoed 
along the road to Cappel, was Oswald Myconius, who in- 
quired with anxiety what had become of his friend. Soon 
he heard one of the unfortunate wretches who had escaped 
from the massacre, relating to those around him that Zwingle 

had fallen !-J- Zwingle is no more I Zwingle is dead ! The 

cry was repeated : it ran through Zurich with the rapidity 
of lightning, and at length reached the unhappy widow. 
Anna fell on her knees. But the loss of her husband was 
not enough : God had inflicted other blows. Messengers 
following each other at short intervals announced to her the 
death of her son Gerold of Knonau, of her brother the bailiff 
of Reinhard, of her son-in-law Antony Wirz, of John Lutschi 
the husband of her dear sister, as well as of all her most in- 
timate friends. This woman remained alone alone with 
her God ; alone with her young children, who, as they saw 
her tears, wept also, and threw themselves disconsolate into 
their mother's arms. 

On a sudden the alarm-bell rang. The council, distracted 
by the most contrary opinions, "had at last resolved to su x m- 

* Dermassen umbgaben mit Fygenden, dass kein Hoffnung der rcttung 
uberig. Bull. iii. 163. 

f- Ut igitur mane rideram exeuntem, ita sub noctem audio nuntiura, 
piiguatum quidem a enter, tameu infeliciter, et Zwinglium nobis periisse. 
Myc. Vit. Zw. 



458 FUNERAL ORATION 

mon all the citizens towards the Albis. But the sound of 
the tocsin re-echoing through the darkness, the lamentable 
stories of the wounded, and the distressful groans of bereaved 
families, still further increased the tumult. A numerous and 
disorderly troop of citizens rushed along the road to Cappel. 
Among them was the Valaisan, Thomas Plater. Here lie 
met with a man that had but one hand,* there with others 
who supported their wounded and bleeding heads with both 
hands ; further still was a soldier whose bowels protruded 
from his body. In front of these unhappy creatures peasants 
were walking with lighted torches, for the night was very 
dark. Plater wished to return ; but he could not, for senti- 
nels placed on the bridge over the Sihl allowed persons to 
quit Zurich, but permitted no one to re-enter. 

On the morrow the news of the disgraceful treatment of 
Zwingle's corpse aroused all the anger of Zurich ; and his 
friends, uplifting their tear-bedimmed eyes, exclaimed, " These 
men may fall upon his body ; they may kindle their piles, 

and brand his innocent life but he lives this invincible 

hero lives in eternity, and leaves behind him an immortal 
monument of glory that no flames can destroy.-}- God, for 
whose honour he has laboured, even at the price of his blood, 
will make his memory eternal." " And I," adds Leo Juda, 
" I, upon whom he has heaped so many blessings, will en- 
deavour, after so many others, to defend- his renown and to 
extol his virtues." Thus Zurich consecrated to Zwingle a 
funeral oration of tears and sighs, of gratitude and cries of 
anguish. Never was there a funeral speech more eloquent ! 

Zurich rallied her forces. John Steiner had collected on 
the Albis some scattered fragments of the army for the de- 
fence of the pass : they bivouacked around their fires on the 
summit of the mountain, and all were in disorder. Plater, 
benumbed with cold (it is himself who gives us the account), 
had drawn off his boots to warm his feet at the watchfire. 
On a sudden an alarm was given, the troop was hastily 

* Ettlich kamen. nation nur eine hand. Lebensbeschreibung Plateri, 
p. 297. 

t Vivit adhunc, ct zeternnm vivit fortissimus heros. Leonis Judae ox- 
'iort. ad Chr. Sect. Enchh-idio Psalm. Zwinglii praomissa. 



ARMY OP ZURICH. 459 

drawn up, and, while Plater was getting ready, a trumpeter ; 
who had escaped from the battle, seized his halberd. Plater 
took it back, and stationed himself in the ranks ; before him 
stood the trumpeter, without hat or shoes, and armed with a 
long pole. Such was the army of Zurich. 

The chief captain Lavater rejoined the army at daybreak. 
Gradually the allies came up; 1500 Orisons, under the 
orders of the captain-general Frey of Zurich, 1500 Thurgo- 
vians, 600 Tockenburgers, and other auxiliaries besides, soon 
formed an army of 12,000 men. All, even children, ran to 
arms. , The council gave orders that these young folks* 
should be sent back to share in the domestic duties with the 
women. 

Another reverse erelong augmented the desolation of the 
Reformed party. While the troops of Berne, Zurich, Basle, 
and Bienne, amounting to 24,000 men, were assembling at 
Bremgarten, the Five Cantons intrenched themselves at 
Baar, near Zug. But Zwingle was wanting to the Reformed 
army, and he would have been the only man capable of in- 
spiring them with courage. A gust of wind having thrown 
down a few fir-trees in the forests where the Zurichers were 
encamped, and caused the death of some of their soldiers, 
they failed not to see in this the signal of fresh reverses. 

Nevertheless, Frey called loudly for battle ; but the Ber- 
nese commandant Diesbach refused. Upon this the Zurich 
captain set off in the night of the 23d October at the head 
of 4000 men of Zurich, Schaff hausen, Basle, and St. Gall ; 
and, while the Bernese were sleeping quietly, he turned the 
Waldstettes, drove their outposts beyond the Sihl, and took 
his station on the heights that overlook the Goubel. His 
imprudent soldiers, believing victory to be certain, proudly 
waved their banners, and then sunk into a hrwy sleep. 
The "Waldstettes had observed all. On the 24th October, at 
two in the morning, by a bright moonlight, they quitted their 
camp in profound silence, leaving their fires burning, and 
wearing white shirts over their dresses that they might re- 
cognise one another in the obscurity. Their watchword was 
w Mary, the mother of God." They glided stealthily into a 

* Jungen fascls, young brood. Bull. Chr. iii. 176. 



460 INACTIVITY OF THE BERNESE. 

pine forest, near which the Reformed troops were encamped. 
The men stationed at the advanced guard of the Zurichers 
having perceived the enemy, ran up to the fires to arouse 
their friends, but they had scarcely reached the third fire 
before the Waldstettes appeared, uttering a frightful shout.* 
"Har...Har...Har...Har!... Where, are these impious here- 
tics? Har...Har...Har...Har!" The army of the cities at 

first made a vigorous resistance, and many of the white shirts 
fell covered with blood ; but this did not continue long. 
The bravest, with the valiant Frey at their head, having 
bitten the dust, the rout became general, and 800 men were 
left on the field of battle. 

In the midst of these afflictions the Bernese remained 
stubborn and motionless. Francis Kolb, who, notwith- 
standing his advanced age, had accompanied the Bernese 
contingent as chaplain, reproached in a sermon the negli- 
gence and cowardice of his party. " Your ancestors," said he, 
" would have swum across the Rhine, and you this little 
stream stops you ! They went to battle for a word, and 
you, even the Gospel cannot move. For us it only remains 
to commit our cause to God." Many -voices were raised 
against the imprudent old man, but others took up his 
defence ; and the captain, James May, being as indignant a's 
the aged chaplain at the delays of his fellow-citizens, drew his 
sword, and thrusting it into the folds of the Bernese banner, 
pricked the bear that was represented on it, and cried out 
in the presence of the whole army, " You knave, will you 
not show your claws ?" f But the bear remained motion- 
less. 

The whole of the Reformation was compromised. Scarcely 
had Ferdinand received intelligence of the death of the arch- 
heretic Zwingle, and of the defeat at Cappel, than with an 
exclamation of joy, he forwarded these good news to his 
brother the Emperor Charles the Fifth, saying, " this is the 
first of the victories destined to restore the faith." After 
the defeat at the Goubel, he wrote again, saying that if the 
emperor were not so near at hand, he would not hesitate, 

* Mit einem grossen grusamen geschrey. Bull. iii. 201. 
t Betz, Betz, willt dan nicht kretzen I Ibid. 215. 



HOPES AND PLAN OF CHARLES V. 461 

however weak he might be, to rush forward in person, 
sword in hand, to terminate so righteous an enterprise. 
" Remember," said he, "that you are the first prince in 
Christendom, and that you will never have a better oppor- 
tunity of covering yourself with glory. Assist the cantons 
with your troops ; the German sects will perish, when they 
are no longer supported by heretical Switzerland." * " The 
more I reflect," replied Charles, " the more I am pleased 
with your advice. The imperial dignity with which I am 
invested, the protection that I owe to Christendom and to 
public order, in a word, the safety of the house of Austria, 
everything appeals to me !" 

Already about two thousand Italian soldiers, sent by 
the pope and commanded by the Genoese De 1'Isola, had 
unfolded their seven standards, and united near Zug with 
the army of the Five Cantons. Auxiliary troops, diplomatic 
negotiations, and even missionaries to convert the heretics, 
were not spared. The Bishop of Veroli arrived in Switzer- 
land in order to bring back the Lutherans to the Roman 
faith by means of his friends and of his money. -{- The 
Roman politicians hailed the victory at Cappel as the signal 
of the restoration of the papal authority, not only in Switzer- 
land, but throughout the whole of Christendom.^: At last 
this presumptuous Reformation was about to be repressed. 
Instead of the great deliverance of which Zwingle had 
dreamt, the imperial eagle let loose by the Papacy was about 
to pounce on all Europe, and strangle it in its talons. The 
cause of liberty had perished on the Albis. 

But the hopes of the Papists were vain : the cause of the 
Gospel, although humbled at this moment, was destined 
finally to gain a glorious victory. A cloud may hide the 
sun for a time ; but the cloud passes and the sun reappears. 
Jesus Christ is afways the same, and the gates of hell may 

* Que se perdo deslar i camino para remediar las quiebras de nuestra 
fe y scr Va. Md. Senor de Allemana. Ferdinand to Charles V. llth 
November 1531. 

f Con proposita di rimover Lutheriani dalla loro mala opinione, con 
mezzo di alcuni suoi amici e con denari. Report of Basadonna, Arch- 
bishop of Venice. 

J Rauke, Dent-she Geschichte, iii. 867 



462 END OF THE WAR. 

triumph on the battle-field, but cannot prevail against his 
Church. 

Nevertheless everything seemed advancing towards a 
grand catastrophe. The Tockenburgers made peace and 
retired. The Thurgovians followed them; and next the 
people of Gaster. The evangelical army was thus gradually 
disbanded. The severity of the season was joined to these 
dissensions. Continual storms of wind and rain drove the 
soldiers to their homes. 

Upon this the Five Cantons with the undisciplined bands 
of the Italian general Isola threw themselves on the left 
bank of the Lake of Zurich. The alarm-bell was rung on 
every side ; the peasants retired in crowds into the city, with 
their weeping wives, their frightened children, and their 
cattle that filled the air with sullen lowings. A report 
too was circulated that the enemy intended laying siege to 
Zurich. The country-people in alarm declared that if the 
city refused to make terms, they would treat on their own 
account. 

The peace party prevailed in the council ; deputies were 
elected to negotiate. " Above all things, preserve the 
Gospel, and then our, honour, as far as may be possible ! " 
Such were their instructions. On the 16th November, the 
deputies from Zurich arrived in a meadow situated near the 
frontier, on the banks of the Sihl, in which the representa- 
tives of the Five Cantons awaited them. They proceeded 
to the deliberations. " In the name of the most honour- 
able, holy, and divine Trinity," began the treaty, " Firstly, 
we the people of Zurich bind ourselves and agree to leave 
our trusty and well-beloved confederates of the Five Cantons, 
their well-beloved co-burghers of the Valais, and all their 
adherents lay and ecclesiastic, in their true and indubitable 
Christian faith,* renouncing all evil intention, wiles, and 
stratagems. And, on our side, we of the Five Cantons, 
agree to leave our confederates of Zurich and their allies in 
possession of their faith." -j- At the same time, llapper- 

* By ihren wahren ungeawyfflten christenlichen glauhen. Tschudi, 
p. 247. 
f- By ihren Glauben. Ibid. 



TREATY OF PEACE. 463 

schwyl, Gaster, Wesen, Bremgarten, Mellmgen, and the 
common bailiwicks, were abandoned to the Five Cantons. 

Zurich had preserved its faith ; and that was all. The 
treaty having been read and approved of, the plenipoten- 
tiaries got off their horses, fell upon their knees and called 
upon the name of God.* Then the new captain-general of 
the Zurichers, Escher, a hasty and eloquent old man, rising 
up, said as he turned towards the "Waldstettes : " God be 
praised that I can again call you my well-beloved confeder- 
ates !" and approaching them, he shook hands successively 
with Golder, Hug, Troguer, Ryehmuth, Marquart, Zellger, 
and Thoss, the terrible victors at Cappel. All eyes were 
filled with tears.f Each took with trembling hand the 
bottle suspended at his side, and offered a draught to one oJ 
the chiefs of the opposite party. Shortly after a similar 
treaty was concluded with Berne. 



CHAPTER X. 

Restoration of Popery at Bremgarten and Rapperschwyl Priests and 
Monks everywhere Sorrow of CEcolampadius A tranquil Scene 
Peaceful Death of CEcolampadius Henry Bullinger at Zurich Con- 
trition and Exultation The great Lesson Conclusion. 

THE restoration of Popery immediately commenced in Swit- 
zerland, and Rome showed herself everywhere proud, exact- 
ing, and ambitious. 

After the battle of Cappel, the Romish minority at Glaris 
had resumed the upperhand. It marched with Schwytz 
against Wesen and the district of the Gaster. On the eve 
of the invasion, at midnight, twelve deputies came and threw 
themselves at the feet of the Schwytzer chiefs, who were 
satisfied with confiscating the national banners of these two 
districts, with suppressing their tribunals, annulling their 

* Knuwet mencklich wider und b'attet. Bull. iii. 253. 

t Und luffend ihnen alien die Augen uber. Tschudi, p. 245. 



464 RESTORATION OP POPERY. 

ancient liberties, and condemning some to banishment, and 
Others to pay a heavy fine. Next the mass, the altars, and 
images were everywhere re-established, and exist until the 
present day.* Such was the pardon of Schwytz ! 

It was especially on Bremgarten, Mellingen, and the free 
bailiwicks that the cantons proposed to inflict a terrible 
vengeance. Berne having recalled its army, Mutschli, the 
avoyer of Bremgarten, followed Diesbach as far as Arau. 
In vain did the former remind the Bernese that it was only 
according to the orders of Berne and Zurich that Bremgarten 
had blockaded the Five Cantons. " Bend to circumstances, 1 ' 
replied the general. On this the wretched Mutschli, turning 
away from the pitiless Bernese, exclaimed, " The prophet 
Jeremiah has well said, Cursed l>e he that trusteth in man .'" 
The Swiss and Italian bands entered furiously into these 
flourishing districts brandishing their weapons, inflicting 
heavy fines on all the inhabitants, compelling the Gospel 
ministers to flee, and restoring everywhere at the point of 
the sword, mass, idols, and altars. 

On the other side of the lake the misfortune was still 
greater. On the 18th November, while the Reformed of 
Rapperschwyl were sleeping peacefully in reliance on the 
treaties, an army from Schwytz silently passed the wooden 
bridge nearly 2000 feet long which crosses the lake, and was 
admitted into the city by the Romish party. On a sudden 
the Reformed awoke at the loud pealing of the bells, and the 
tumultuous voices of the Catholics : the greater part quitted 
the city. One of them, however, by name Michael Wohlge- 
muth, barricaded his house, placed arquebuses at every 
window, and repelled the attack. The exasperated enemy 
brought up some heavy pieces of artillery, besieged this ex- 
temporaneous citadel in regular form, and Wohlgemuth was 
soon taken and put to death in the midst of horrible tortures. 

Nowhere had the struggle been more violent than at 
Soleure ; the two parties were drawn up in battle-arraj on 
each side of the Aar, and the Romanists had already dis- 
charged one ball against the opposite bank, another was 
about to follow, when the avoyer "VVenge, throwing himself 
* Es wurdent mass, altar und gotzon vieder uff gericht. Bull. iii. 277. 



PRIESTS AND MONKS EVERYWHERE. 465 

on the mouth of the cannon, cried out earnestly : " Fellow- 
citizens, let there be no bloodshed, or else let me be your 
first victim !" The astonished multitude dropped their arms 
but seventy evangelical families were obliged to emigrate, 
and Soleure returned under the papal yoke. 

The deserted cells of St. Gall, Muri, Einsidlen, Wettingen, 
Rheinau, St. Catherine, Hermetschwyll and Guadenthall 
witnessed the triumphant return of Benedictines, Franciscans, 
Dominicans, and all the Romish militia ; priests and monks, 
intoxicated with their victory, overran country and town, 
and prepared for neAv conquests. 

The wind of adversity was blowing with fury : the evan- 
gelical churches fell one after another, like the pines in the 
forest whose fall before the battle of the Goubel had raised 
such gloomy presentiments. The Five Cantons, full of gra- 
titude to the Virgin, made a solemn pilgrimage to her temple 
at Einsidlen. The chaplains celebrated anew their mysteries 
in this desolated sanctuary ; the abbot, who had no monks, 
sent a number of youths into Swabia to be trained up in the 
rules of the order, and this famous chapel, which Zwingle's 
voice had converted into a sanctuary for the Word, became 
for Switzerland, what it has remained until this day, the 
centre of the power and of the intrigues of the Papacy. 

But this was not enough. At the very time that these 
flourishing churches were falling to the ground, the Reform 
witnessed the extinction of its brightest lights. A blow from 
a stone had slain the energetic Zwingle on the field of battle, 
and the rebound reached the pacific (Ecolampadius at Basle, 
in the midst of a life that was wholly evangelical. The death 
of his friend, the severe judgments with which they pursued 
his memory, the terror that had suddenly taken the place of 
the hopes he had entertained of the future all these sorrows 
rent the heart of CEcolampadius, and soon his head and his 
life inclined sadly to the tomb. " Alas'!" cried he, " that 
Zwingle, whom I have so long regarded as my right arm, 
has fallen under the blows of cruel enemies !"* He recovered, 
however, sufficient energy to defend the memory of his 

* Zwinglium nostrum, quern pro manu altera nuno multo tempore 
babui. Zurich MS. 

VOL. IV. 21 



4G6 SOREOW OF CECOLAMPADIUS. 

brother. " It was not," said he, " on the heads of the most 
guilty that the wrath of Pilate and the tower of Siloam fell. 
The judgment began in the house of God; our presumption 
has been punished ; let our trust be placed now on the Lord 
alone, and this will be an inestimable gain." CEcolampadius 
declined the call of Zurich to take the place of Zwingle. 
" My post is here," said he, as he looked upon Basle. 

He was not destined to hold it long. Illness fell upon him 
in addition to so many afflictions; the plague was in the 
city ; a violent inflammation attacked him,* and erelong a 
tranquil scene succeeded the tumult of Cappel. A peaceful 
death calmed the agitated hearts of the faithful, and replaced 
by sweet and heavenly emotions the terror and distress with 
which a horrible disaster had filled them. 

On hearing of the danger of OEcolampadius, all the city 
was plunged into mourning ; a crowd of men of every age 
and of every rank rushed to his house. " Rejoice," said the 
reformer with a meek look, " I am going to a place of 
everlasting joy." He then commemorated the death of our 
Lord with his wife, his relations, and domestics, who shed 
floods of tears. " This supper," said the dying man, " is a 
sign of my real faith in Jesus Christ my Redeemer." 

On the morrow he sent for his colleagues : " My brethren," 
said he, " the Lord is there ; he calls me away. Oh ! my 
brethren, what a black cloud is appearing on the horizon-^ 
what a tempest is approaching ! Be steadfast : the Lord 
will preserve his own." He then held out his hand, and all 
these faithful ministers clasped it with veneration. 

On the 23d November, he called his children around him, 
the eldest of whom was barely three years old. " Eusebius, 
Irene, Alethea," said he to them, as he took their little 
hands, " love God who is your Father." Their mother 
having promised for them, the children retired with the 
blessing of the dying servant of the Lord. The night that 
followed this scene was his last. All the pastors were 
around his bed : " What is the news ?" asked CEcolampadius 
of a friend who came in. " Nothing," was the reply. 

* Ater carbunculus quoTis carbunculo in domo Dei splendidiorem por- 
di Jit. J. J. Hottinger, iii, 634. 



PEACEFUL DEATH OF CECOLAMPADIUS. 467 

a Well," said the faithful disciple of Jesus, " I will tell you 
something new." His friends awaited in astonishment. 
" In a short time I shall be with the Lord Jesus." One of 
his friends now asking him if he was incommoded by the 
light, he replied, putting his hand on his heart : " There is 
light enough here." The day began to break ; he repeated 
in a feeble voice the 51st Psalm : Have mercy upon me, 
Lord, according to thy loving kindness. Then remaining 
silent, as if he wished to recover strength, he said, " Lord 
Jesus, help me 1" The ten pastors fell on their knees around 
his bed with uplifted hands ; at this moment the sun rose, 
and darted his earliest rays on a scene of sorrow so great 
and so afflicting with which the Church of God was again 
stricken.* 

The death of this servant of the Lord was like his life, 
full of light and peace. (Ecolampadius was in an especial 
degree the Christian spiritualist and biblical divine. The 
importance he attached to the study of the books of the Old 
Testament imprinted one of its most essential characters on 
the reformed theology.-}- Considered as a man of action, 
his moderation and meekness placed him in the second rank. 
Had he been able to exert more of this peaceful spirit over 
Zwingle, great misfortunes might perhaps have been avoided. 
But like all men of rneek disposition, his peaceful character 
yielded too much to the energetic will of the minister of 
Zurich ; and he thus renounced, in part at least, the legiti- 
mate influence that he might have exercised over the Re- 
former of Switzerland and of the Church. 

Zwingle and (Ecolampadius had fallen. There was a 
great void and great sorrow in the Church of Christ. Dis- 
sensions vanished before these two graves, and nothing 
could be seen but tears. Luther himself was moved. On 
receiving the news of these two deaths, he called to mind 

* De Joannis (Eeolampadis obitu, per Simonem Gryneum. Epp. CEcol. 
et Zwinglii, libri iv. 

t See his Commentaries on Isaiah (1525), 1st chapter ; on Ezekiel 
(1527) ; Haggai, Zachariah, Malachi (15'27) ; Daniel (1530) ; and the 
commentaries published after his death, with interpretations on Jeremiah, 
Ezekiel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, and the 1st and 2d chapters 
of Micah. 



468 BULLINGER AT ZURICH. 

the days he had passed with Zwingle and CEcolampadius at 
Marburg ; and the blow inflicted on him by their sudden 
decease was such, that many years after he said to Bullinger : 
" Their death filled me with such intense sorrow, that I was 
near dying myself."* 

The youthful Henry Bullinger, threatened with the scaffold, 
had been compelled to flee from Bremgarten, his native town, 
with his aged father, his colleagues, and sixty of the principal 
inhabitants, who abandoned their houses to be pillaged by 
the Waldstettes.-J- Three days after this, he was preaching 
in the cathedral of Zurich : " No ! Zwingle is not dead !" 
exclaimed Myconius ; " or, like the phffinix, he has risen 
again from his ashes." Bullinger was unanimously chosen 
to succeed the great Reformer. He adopted Zwingle's 
orphan children, Wilhelm, Regula, and Ulrich, and endea- 
Toured to supply the place of their father. This young man, 
scarcely twenty-eight years of age, and who presided forty 
years with wisdom and blessing over this church, was every- 
where greeted as the apostle of Switzerland.^ 

Yet as the sea roars long after the violent tempest has 
subsided, so the people of Zurich were still in commotion. 
Many were agitated from on high. They came to them- 
selves ; they acknowledged their error ; the weapons of their 
warfare had been carnal ; they were now of a contrite and 
humble spirit ; they arose and went to their Father and 
confessed their sin. In those days there was great mourn- 
ing in Zurich. Some, however, stood up with pride, 
protested by the mouth of their ministers against the work 
of the diplomatists, and boldly stigmatized the shameful 
compact. " If the shepherds sleep, the dogs must bark," 
exclaimed Leo Juda in the cathedral of Zurich. " My duty 
is to give warning of the evil they are about to do to my 
Master's house." 

Nothing could equal the sorrow of this city, except the 

* Do cujus morte dolorem concepi ita ut eorum casus me pene ex 

animaverit. L. Epp. v. 1 12. 

t Ne a quinque pagis aut obtruncarer aut comburerer. Bull, ad Mja 
November 1531. 

J Haller ad Bulling. 1536. 

Ich mus bcllen. Bull. iii. 321 



TOE GREAT LESSON. 469 

exultation of the Waldstettes. The noise of drums and fifes, 
the firing of guns, the ringing of bells, had long resounded 
on the banks of their lakes, and even to their highest 
valleys. Now the noise was less, but the effect greater. 
The Five Cantons, in close alliance with Friburg and 
Soleure, formed a perpetual league for the defence of the 
ancient Christian faith with the Bishop of Sion and the 
tithings of the Valais ; and henceforward carried their mea- 
sures in the federal affairs with boldness. But a deep convic- 
tion was formed at that period in the hearts of the Swiss 
Reformed. " Faith comes from God," said they ; " its suc- 
cess does not depend on the life or death of a man. Let our 
adversaries boast of our ruin, we will boast only in the 
Cross."* " God reigns," wrote Berne to Zurich, " and he 
will not permit the bark to founder." This conviction was 
of more avail than the victory of Cappel. 

Thus the Reformation, that had deviated from the right 
path, was driven back by the very violence of the assault 
into its primitive course, having no other power than the 
Word of God. An inconceivable infatuation had taken 
possession of the friends of the Bible. They had forgotten 
that our warfare is not carnal ; and had appealed to arms 
and to battle. But God reigns ; he punishes the churches 
and the people who turn aside from his ways. We have 
taken a few stones, and piled them as a monument on the 
battle-field of Cappel, in order to remind the Church of the 
great lesson which this terrible catastrophe teaches. As we 
bid farewell to this sad scene, we inscribe on these monu- 
mental stones, on the one side, these words from God's Book : 
" Some trust in chariots, and some in horses : but we will 
remember the name of the Lord our God. They are brought 
down and fallen : but we are risen and stand upright" And 
on the other, this declaration of the Head of the Church : 
" My kingdom is not of this world" If, from the ashes of 
the martyrs at Cappel, a voice could be heard, it would bo 
in these very words of the Bible that these noble confessors 
would address, after three centuries, the Christians of our 

* Gloriantibus adversariis in ruinam, nos in cruce gloriemur. Ad 
fEcolamp. 29th November 1531. Zurich MS. 



470 CONCLUSION'. 

days. That the Church has no other king than Jesus 
Christ ; that she ought not to meddle with the policy of the 
world, derive from it her inspiration, and call for its swords, 
its prisous, its treasures ; that she will conquer by the 
spiritual powers which God has deposited in her bosom, 
and, above all, by the reign of her adorable Head ; that she 
must not expect upon earth thrones and mortal triumphs ; 
but that her march resembles that of her King, from the 
manger to the cross, and from the cross to the crown : such 
is the lesson to be read on the blood-stained page that has 
crept into our simple and evangelical narrative.* 

But if God teaches his people great lessons, he also gives 
them great deliverances. The bolt had fallen from heaven. 
The Reformation seemed to be little better than a lifeless 
body cumbering the ground, and whose dissevered limbs 
were about to be reduced to ashes. But God raises up the 
dead. New and more glorious destinies were awaiting the 
Gospel of Jesus Christ at the foot of the Alps. At the 
south-western extremity of Switzerland, in a great valley 
which the white giant of the mountains points out from 
afar ; on the banks of the Leman lake, at the spot where the 
Rhone, clear and blue as the sky above it, rolls its majestic 
waters ; on a small hill that the foot of Caesar had once trod, 
and on which the steps of another conqueror, of a Gaul, of a 
Picardine,-}- were destined erelong to leave their ineffaceable 
and glorious traces, stood an ancient city, as yet covered 
with the dense shadows of Popery ; but which God was 
about to raise to be a beacon to the Church, and a bulwark 
to Christendom. 

* Zwingle's Pear Tree having perished, a rock has been placed over 
the spot where this illustrious reformer died ; and on it are engraved 
suitable inscriptions, different, however, from those in the text. 

t John Calvin of Novon. 



END OF VOLUME FOUETIL 



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