new leader, a spiritual Charlemagne, not a dead statue as of Charlemagne in the tower, but a living herald of eternal truth, appeared and began his great work of reforming the Church. U CHURCH OF THE REFORMED. LRICH ZWINGLI came to Zurich in the latter part of 1518, and on New Year's day, 1519, he entered on his duties at the cathedral. With him there came a New Year. to Zurich, a New Year of Evangelical light and truth, a New Year that has lasted ever since in that city, as it led it to break from the trammels of the papacy. His first sermon was the key to all that followed. "It is to Christ I wish to guide you, to Christ the true spring of salvation." He announced that he would preach on the Gospel of Matthew, verse by verse. Such preaching had never been heard in Zurich, for the Bible had been little used by their priests, who confined themselves in preaching mainly to stories of the saints. Zwingli brought them back to the Bible, that was his great boon to them. Great was the delight of many at his preaching, as their souls were, now for the first time, fed; but great also was the opposition and hatred of others. The market place at Zurich was not far from the cathedral on the north side of the Limmat river. To accommodate the country people, who came to market and who wanted to hear the new Gospel, Zwingli also preached in the cathedral on Fridays, the market-day. The country people then carried this new Gospel throughout the canton, so that the canton received it as well as the city. But his labors became so severe that his health broke down and he went away to the baths. About fifty miles southeast of Zurich is a famous watering place, Ragatz Pfaffers, situated at the mouth of a narrow gorge in the mountains, down which flows the brawling Tamina. Here he was recuperating when the news came that the awful plague had broken out at Zurich. Like a faithful shepherd, he at once went back to his suffering flock. He was most faithful in his ministrations and caught the plague, which brought him to the borders of the grave. Indeed the rumor had already gone forth that he had died. But his life was providentially spared,―spared for great purposes so as to complete the reformation. His illness, however, greatly deepened his spirituality and better prepared him for his work. During this illness he wrote his first hymn: *Some of his biographers, especially his later ones, place his conversion at this time. |