the Catholic faith. One article of their alliance forbade any of the confederates to transport provisions to the Catholic cantons. Arms were in consequence taken up on both sides, and a bloody contest ensued. Ulrich Zuingle, the father of the Reformation in Switzerland, marched with the troops of the Protestant party, and fell, bravely fighting with them "the battles of the Lord," on the 11th of Oct., 1531! Did he, in this particular respect, give any evidence of that apostolic spirit, which D'Aubigné ascribes to him? Did ever an apostle of the primitive and genuine stamp die on the field of battle, while seeking the lives of his fellow mortals? He was, moreover, as superstitious, as he was fierce. The historians of his life tell us, that a little before the battle he was stricken with sad foreboding by the appearance of a comet, which he viewed as portending direful disasters to Zurich, and as announcing his own coming death. Our historian of the Reformation, though chary of the character of Zuingle as an apostle, furnishes us with a little incident which marks the warlike spirit of the Swiss reformer. "In Zurich itself," he says, "a few worthless persons, instigated to mischief by foreign agency, made an attack on Zuingle in the middle of the night, throwing stones at his house, breaking the windows, and calling aloud for the red-haired Uli, the vulture of Glaris'—so that Zuingle started from his sleep, and caught up his sword. The action is characteristic of the man."* Zuingle was at Zurich, what Luther was at Wittenberg. Each claimed the precedency in the career of the Reformation. Mr. Hallam thus notices their respective claims: "It has been disputed between the advocates of these leaders to which the priority in the race of reform belongs. Zuingle himself declares, that in 1516, before he had heard of Luther, he began to preach the gospel at Zurich, and to warn the people against relying upon human authority. But that is rather ambiguous, and hardly enough to substantiate his claim. . . . . Like Luther, he had the support of the temporal magistrates, the council of * Vol. iii, p. 275. VOL. I.-15 Zurich. Upon the whole, they proceeded so nearly with equal steps, and were so connected with each other, that it seems difficult to award either any honor of precedence."* We shall have occasion hereafter to refer at some length to the bitter controversy which raged between these two boasted apostles, the germ of which may perhaps be discovered in this early partisan struggle for precedence. They taught contradictory doctrines: one warmly defended, the other as warmly denied the real presence of Christ in the holy Euchar ist. Were they both guided by the spirit of God? Can the Holy Spirit inspire contradictory systems of belief? If God was with Luther, He certainly was not with Zuingle; if he was with Zuingle, He certainly could not be with Luther. God is the God of order, and not of confusion; and truth is one and indivisible, not manifold and contradictory. By the way, what a pity it is that D'Aubigné, while lauding the Swiss reformer to the skies could not settle the important previous question which had so sadly puzzled Zuingle:whether the spirit which appeared to him in his sleep, and suggested the text of Scripture by which he might disprove the real presence, was really black or white? How very gently he touches on this passage in the history of his favorite! He merely gives vent to his surprise, by a note of admiration, that this circumstance should have "given rise to the assertion that the doctrine promulgated by the reformer was delivered to him by the devil! Did not the reformer's own account of the vision of the nature of which he was certainly the most competent witness-give rise to the suspicion, which afterwards grew into an assertion? And did not his brother reformers openly make the embarrassing charge? * History of Literature, sup. cit. vol. i, p. 163–4. He cites Gerdes, Histor. Evang. Reform. i, 103. +D'Aubigné, iii, 272-3. Ater fuerit an albus, nihil memini, somnium enim narro: Whether it was black or white, I remember nothing, as I relate a drearn."-Why relate the dream at all, unless he attached some importance to it, as conveying some indication or augury of his mission? Ibid. RIOTS AND COMMOTIONS. 171 Zurich was the first city of Switzerland which was favored with the new gospel. Our author treats in great detail* of the circumstances which attended its first introduction; as well as of the preliminary discussions, commotions, and riots, which were its early harbingers. We will present a few specimens of this truculent spirit. Leo Juda, one of the precursors of the new gospel, arrived in Zurich "about the end of 1522, to take the duty of pastor of St. Peter's church." Soon after his arrival, being at church, he rudely interrupted an Augustinian monk who was preaching. "Reverend father Prior,' exclaimed Leo, 'listen to me for an instant; and you, my dear fellow-citizens, keep your seats-I will speak as becomes a Christian:' and he proceeded to show the unscriptural character of the teaching he had just been listening to. A great disturbance ensued in the church. Instantly several persons angrily attacked the 'little priest' from Einsidlen (Zuingle). Zuingle, repairing to the council, presented himself before them, and requested permission to give an account of his doctrine, in presence of the bishop's deputies; and the council, desiring to terminate the dissensions, convoked a conference for the 29th of January. The news spread rapidly throughout Switzerland."+ After having given a very lengthy account of the conference, which, as might have been anticipated, terminated in nothing, our author thus manifests his joy at the brightening prospects of the gospel. "Every thing was moving forward at Zurich; men's minds were becoming more enlightened their hearts more steadfast. The Reformation was gaining strength. Zurich was a fortress, in which the new doctrine had entrenched itself, and from within whose inclosure it was ready to pour itself abroad over the whole confederation."+ Our historian proceeds to tell us how the "Reformation gained strength," and how "the new doctrine entrenched * D'Aubigné, vol. iii, p. 238, seqq. + Ibid., p. 239. ‡ Ibid., p. 254. itself in the fortress;" to say nothing of the "enlightenment," of which we will treat hereafter. The "enlightened" council of Zurich decided in favor of the reformed doctrines, and resorted to force in order to suppress the ancient worship. Only think of a town council, composed of fat aldermen and stupid burgomasters, pronouncing definitively on articles of faith! In reading of their high-handed proceedings, we are forcibly reminded of the wonderful achievements, in a somewhat different field, of the far-famed Dutch governors and burgomasters of New Amsterdam, as fully set forth by Irving in his inimitable History of New York. The one is about as grotesque as the other. They of Zurich did not, however, belong to the class of Walter, the Doubter: they were perhaps too well satisfied with their superior wisdom and knowledge to entertain a doubt! Let us trace some of the further proceedings of this enlightened board of councilmen at Zurich. "Nor did the council stop here. The relics, which had given occasion to so many superstitions, were honorably interred. And then, on the further requisition of the three (reformed) pastors, an edict was issued, decreeing that, inasmuch as God alone ought to be honored, the images should be removed from all the churches of the Canton, and their ornaments applied to the relief of the poor. Accordingly twelve counselors--one for each tribe-the three pastors, and the city architect, with some smiths, carpenters, and masons, visited the several churches; and, having first closed the doors, took down the crosses, obliterated the paintings (the Vandals!), whitewashed the walls, and carried away the images, to the great joy of the faithful (!) who regarded this proceeding, Bullinger tells us, as a glorious act of homage to the true God." In some of the country parishes, the ornaments of the churches were committed to the flames, "to the greater honor and glory of God." Soon after this the organs were suppressed, on account of their connection with many "superstitious observances, and a new form of baptism was established from which every thing unscriptural was carefully excluded."* * D'Aubigné, vol. iii, p. 257–8. What enlightenment, and marvelous taste for music and the fine arts! "The triumph of the Reformation," our author continues, "threw a joyful radiance over the last hours of the burgomaster Roush and his colleague. They had lived long enough; and they both died within a few days after the restoration of a purer (!) mode of worship."*—And such a triumph!! Before we proceed to show by what means this purer mode of worship was established at Zurich, we will give, from our historian, an instance of one out of many of the scenes of riot and conflagration enacted by the faithful children of the Reformation. The passage details the proceedings of a party, which went out on a foraging excursion with the pious bailiff Wirth. "The rabble, meanwhile, finding themselves in the neighborhood of the convent of Ittingen, occupied by a community of Carthusians, who were generally believed (by the faithful) to have encouraged the bailiff Amberg in his tyranny, entered the building and took possession of the refectory. They immediately gave themselves up to excess, and a scene of riot ensued. In vain did Wirth entreat them to quit the place; he was in danger of personal ill-treatment among them. His son Adrian had remained outside of the monastery: John entered it, but shocked by what he beheld within, came out immediately. The inebriated peasants proceeded to pillage the cellars and granaries, to break the furniture to pieces, and to burn the books.”† This is D'Aubigné's statement of the affair: but the deputies of the Cantons found the Wirths guilty, and pronounced sentence of death on them. Our author views them as martyrs, and tells us,‡ in great detail, how cruelly they were "mocked," how they were "faithful unto death," and how intrepidly the "father and son" ascended the scaffold! His whole account is truly affecting. The Reformation is welcome to such martyrs as these! He exclaims: "Now at length blood had been spilt-innocent blood. Switzerland and the Reformation were baptized with the blood of the martyrs. The great enemy of the gospel D'Aubigné, vol. iii, p. 257-8. + Ibid., p. 264-5. Ibid., p. 266, seqq. |