discord; at least not without previously communicating to the chapter the subjects which they proposed to discuss. Zwingle avowed his determination not to comply with this order; declaring that, agreeably to the decree of the sovereign council, and the oath which he had taken, he was resolved to preach the word of God without restriction: and the resolution which he manifested appears to have prevented any further attempt to fetter him. The monks, on the other hand, pleaded to be authorized to preach any doctrine drawn from Aquinas and Scotus: but this was refused them; and the whole happily ended in the renewal of the order, that nothing should be introduced into the pulpit which could not be clearly proved from the written word of God.1 A. D. 1522. Zwingle. These transactions drew from Zwingle several Publicapublications. In the beginning of July, he, in tions of the name of himself and his brethren, addressed to the members of the Helvetic Confederation at large, a "Pious and Friendly Exhortation," entreating them "not to obstruct the preaching of the gospel, or discountenance the marriage of the clergy." In this work he explains the nature of the gospel; represents its great necessity generally, as alone discovering the way of salvation, and supplying to sinful and suffering mankind the consolation of which they stand in need; and its special necessity at that time, and in that country, where it had been long buried in oblivion. He then shews that this salutary doctrine is to be drawn from the scriptures alone; and points out in what manner faithful teachers are to be distinguished from false ones. "He who, neglecting XV. CHAP. his private interest, spares neither pains nor labour to cause the will of God to be known and revered, to bring sinners to repentance, and to give consolation to the afflicted, is undoubtedly in unison with Christ. But, when you see teachers daily presenting to the veneration of the people new saints, whose favour must be gained by offerings; and when the same teachers continually hold forth the extent of the sacerdotal power, and the authority of the pope; you may believe that they think much more of their own profit, than of the care of the souls entrusted to them." He then asserts that the gospel was making progress so that no human power could stay its course: and he concludes this part of his address with avowing the purpose and hope of himself and his associates, to publish it to their countrymen in a way against which no just exception could be taken. Then, adverting to the scandalous lives of the ecclesiastics as one great prejudice to the cause of religion, he proceeds to plead against the prohibition of marriage to the clergy—a comparatively modern device, designed to aggrandise the church by breaking the ties which should attach the ministers of religion to their country, rendering them strangers to the domestic affections, and thus concentrating all their zeal upon the interests of the particular body to which they belonged; and, at the same time, a force upon nature, productive of unbounded licentiousnessof which the cantons had shewn themselves so sensible, that "in some of them the priests were required to keep concubines, and every where that practice was permitted for money." 1 1 Zwing. Op. fo. 110-119. Ru. i. 122-124. Hess, 130-138. 1 66 A. D. 1522. At the same time he addressed a "Supplication from certain Swiss Ministers to the Bishop of Constance," which had the same Swiss objects, and was to the same purport. It is It is Reformers. remarkable as bearing the signatures of eleven of the zealous advocates of reformation in Switzerland-some of whose names here meet us for the first time. They are as follows: "Balthasar Trachsel, minister of Art, in the canton of Schweitz; George Chalybæus, or Stéhelin, minister of Weiningen, in the Common Bailliages; Werner Steiner, priest;" Leo Jude, minister of Einsidlin; Erasmus Fabricius, or Schmidt, canon of Zuric and Zug; Simon Stumpf, minister of Hongg; Jodocus (or Justus) Kilchmeyer, canon of Lucerne; Ulric Pistor, minister of Uster, in the Common Bailliages; Caspar Megander, or Grossman, chaplain to the Hospital at Zuric; John Faber, or Schmidt, chaplain in the principal church of Zuric; and Ulric Zwingle."-Both these pieces were written from Einsidlin, during a visit which their author made to his friend Leo Jude at this place of his own former residence.-To affix their names to such an address to their diocesan, whose hostility to their views had been publicly manifested, required more boldness than some of the clergy possessed, who yet were heartily friendly to the object. Zimmerman, canon of Lucerne, before mentioned, is said to have excused himself to Zwingle, with tears in his eyes.2 About six weeks after appeared a work of Zwingle's Zwingle's, which has obtained more celebrity- Archeteles. his "Archeteles," or the Beginning and the End Zuing. Op. i. fo. 120-123. to the names from Ruchat, i. 125. I have made the additions CHAP. XV. Zwingle and Luther. in other words, a summary of the main points at issue between the reformers and their opponents. This work also is addressed to the bishop of Constance, and is an answer, paragraph by paragraph, to that prelate's late mandate to the chapter of Zuric. The author however is no stranger to the courtesy, or policy, of considering that document as not the bishop's own work; but as proceeding from unprincipled advisers : in effect, it would seem, from Faber. While he treats the bishop therefore with at least all due respect, he spares neither the mandate nor its assumed authors. The Archeteles, says Gerdes, "exhibits a true picture of the Zwinglian reformation-very different from what it has been represented by many writers." It was highly esteemed, not only in Switzerland, but in foreign countries, as proving the author to be "mighty in the scriptures," and one who united an intrepid courage with true Christian moderation.1 It is the same work from which we have, in the preceding chapter, given the author's own account of his preaching at Zuric, from the time of his first settlement in that city. On reading over, however, these three works of Zwingle's, I must confess that I feel somewhat the defect which Dr. Milner has noticed in his writings as compared with those of Luther.2 A fine, elevated, and intrepid spirit pervades them; they are free from that coarseness which often offends us in Luther; they nobly assert the exclusive authority and sufficiency of scripture, and shew a mind rich in the knowledge of the sacred writings; they maintain the true principles of the gospel; but it is not with an equal Zuing. Op. i. fo. 124–144. Ru. i. 118. Gerd. i. 273-277. 2 Milner, v. 531, 540. (1132, 1141.) degree of that warm personal feeling of their inestimable worth and indispensable necessity, which ever appears in all that Luther wrote. Christ as our teacher, and our deliverer from the dominion of sin, is more prominent than Christ as our atonement and righteousness. The doctrine of justification by faith alone is there but it does not so pervade the frame, as the life's blood of the whole system-the source of warmth, and strength, and comfort, and of all vitality—as we see it to do that of the illustrious Saxon. This difference is, no doubt, to be traced, not so much to any discrepancy of sentiment between them, as to the paths in which they had respectively been led with reference to mental conflict and temptation : and accordingly I apprehend we shall find that Zwingle, as he went forward, became more thoroughly evangelical both in his views and his feelings; as every spirituallyminded Christian will do, in proportion to his advancement in self-knowledge and in the knowledge of God.' A. D. 1522. of Zwingle. After this preference given to Luther on one Prayer most essential point, it may be some compensation to transcribe a portion of the devout and beautiful prayer with which Zwingle closes the last of his three works here noticed." On thee therefore I call, O blessed Lord, to perform the work which thou hast begun, unto the day of thy coming. If I have ever built up any thing erroneously, do thou throw it down. If I have laid any other foundation than thyself, do thou subvert it. Let thy flock, taught and imbued with thy Spirit, come to know that it can never 1 See Milner, v. 540. (1141-2.) We read nothing of Zwingle like what is recorded of Luther, ib. iv. 419. (398-9.) -But compare below, iii. 194-215. |