Relying on this spirit, which still survived, at least among a portion of the people even in the other Catholic cantons, a full statement was drawn up, to be laid by envoys before the Councils, and if permitted, before the general assemblies (landgemeinen) of the Five Cantons. "No doubt," so it ran, "there is still, dear Confederates, many a good honest man among you, who may justly consider what injury, reproach and danger to us all and our common fatherland must spring from such an alliance, and into whose hands and power we will fall—those namely, who have never favored, but always hated us, and even taught their children to hate us from the cradle. Indeed, many a dwelling will become desolate, if they, who began this, persevere in their undertaking. But how can they do it, when we, on our part, yet desire to remain your true and faithful Confederates; to adhere to our treaties and oaths with you, and to prove to you our friendship, love and duty without stint of life or property? And since many and various slanders, about our two cities Zurich and Bern, have circulated among you, as though they had made a special agreement to arm themselves against you with artillery, guns, ships, marchings and other warlike devices, placed the bell over you and used foul words to your disparagement; O do not lend a ready ear to such fables! for indeed such a thing has never entered our heart or mind, much less have we ever attempted to do it."

The reception of the embassy was of a more friendly character in Schwyz, and that before a full meeting of the general assembly. They heard the message calmly. A written answer was promised and given not without cordiality. This, however, may have been partly due to the secretary.

The event in Zug was not quite so peaceful. Open discord reigned among the counselors, a majority of whom were zealous advocates of the alliance. Admission to the general assembly (landsgemeine) was not granted to the deputies. We are told in their report: "They pretended they had an excitable population, and were concerned lest our presence would create great confusion; for they were much more passionate and intolerant in the assemblies than the councils." In Altorf a difference was made between Zurich and Bern; between the decided cantons and those that were more accommodating.—The former were thanked; the latter, and Zurich especially, were charged with interfering in matters of faith, where they had no business so to do. Of the new faith, they said: "Would to God it were buried!" Then an attempt was made, as had been done before by Schwyz, to maintain it as a principle in the government of the Common Territories, that even in ecclesiastical affairs the majority of votes among the ruling cantons should decide. Of all the points at issue this was the most difficult. Over it the strife continually broke out anew.—Proudly and piously spoke the Luzerners: They would follow their forefathers in everything, in adherence to the Federal Compact, and in love, but only when it did not deviate from the faith. Seditious persons now try to undermine this, as once the serpent sneaked around our first parents in Paradise. From such poison they would preserve their children and children's children. They had been prompted to do what they now did, in the face of censure, by the intrigues, embassies and negotiations of other cantons among themselves, in the territories as well as with foreigners, the defiance with which their just complaints had been met and the arming of the Zurichers. In Obwalden a very hostile disposition at last revealed itself. Here a bitterness of spirit had been left behind by the unsuccessful inroad into the Haslithal, which was essentially increased by the claims of Bern for indemnification, the sojourn of fugitive Oberlanders and the execution of Hans im Sand, who had enjoyed special favor in Obwalden. With all their efforts the mediating cantons had not yet been able to restore peace, but only to prevent the outbreak of a second war. The deputies of Obwalden and those of the Reformed cities still gave each other short words and exchanged sullen looks, when they met at the Federal Diet. But in Sarnen the most unfriendly reception awaited the embassy of the Confederates. Only the envoys of those cantons, which had not yet spoken out decidedly for the Reformation, were treated with a certain moderation, and notified that the sharp language, which must be used, had but a partial reference to them. Then the Federal Compact was revoked with all apostates from the true faith, and pity expressed that it had not been done before. They and the other Forest Cantons were the true, old Confederates, they had won the prize of liberty, they had admitted the rest of the cantons into the Confederacy. Why should these now wish to be their masters? But the Emperor, Austria, France, Savoy and Wallis (Valais) will indeed help them to prevent it. A written answer was refused. On the other hand they got a sight of the escutcheons of Zurich, Bern and Basel painted on a gallows in the house of the secretary of state (landschreiber) and when they complained of it, the excuse was, it meant nothing,—a foolish fellow had daubed it there.

Great was the exasperation at this news, particularly in Zurich. Now openly and earnestly they set about arming themselves, refused peace beforehand without the humiliation of Obwalden, and called upon Bern by letters and an embassy not to make the least abatement in its unsettled grievances against that district, but rather to insist with redoubled zeal on satisfaction and the fullest indemnity. Indeed, Zwingli wished to go yet further. He had expressly desired, in the Privy Council, by which all the more important business of state was again disposed of, that no peace would be concluded with Obwalden, if she would not renounce all pensions, abandon the alliance with Austria and give up all the bailiwicks for a term of office. But Bern was by no means so ready for war. In the Council, jealousy or mere political shyness of the often hasty interference of Zurich, appears to have given new animation to the party opposed to her. "We are," wrote Haller to Zwingli, "as unsound as ever in our government; and though we now at Easter possess the Small and Great Councils, yet we are fearful that nothing good will be done here, because all those, who have hitherto shown themselves hostile to the word of God, are returning to power, and if that happen, then you may expect nothing else from us, than that nothing good will be undertaken." Under seal of the strictest silence he communicated to him the fact, that in eight days at furthest no more than a crown would be found remaining in the public treasury. "If the Oberlanders knew this," he added, "do you suppose they would leave us unmolested?" It appears also, when Zurich became still more urgent, and earnestly declared she would not suffer it, but prevent it by force of arms, if necessary, that the new landvogt of Baden, an Unterwaldner, entered the city on horseback about the time of the election of public officers, and an embassy from Bern with prayers for more peaceful deliberation and more moderate councils, uttered the assurance that she was less inclined than ever to such a course. "In the opinion of my Lords," said its spokesman, "it would be better yet to prevent by friendliness an unpleasant issue. They are not willing to begin war before they know more certainly the disposition of their people, who are ready for an outbreak, now when the sun shines, but when it rains, their courage falls. A part of our peasantry have concluded a formal treaty with their neighbors of Luzern not to injure one another. We would not compel them to do so. You know very well that the Word of God enjoins nothing else but peace and quiet. True, dear Confederates and Christian townsmen of Zurich, you yourselves at first desired to accomplish everything by kindness. Indeed, faith cannot be administered at the point of the spear and halberd. And then remember, the Emperor has not so much to do, that if we attempt anything, he cannot march out against us. Then we have the Wallisers (people of the canton of Valais) with us, who are waiting, and if we would undertake anything with the Confederates, they would march homo again in an hour, even if they had to leave their beds; and who could hinder them? Lastly, there is the negotiation with the Duke of Savoy not yet settled, and we know not where we are. Therefore, we pray you, for the sake of Christ's passion, not to be so violent."

But this language availed nothing; for on the same day dreadful tidings arrived. Jacob Kaiser, surnamed the Locksmith of Utznach, the place of his birth, had a benefice and settlement given him at Neftenbach, in the canton of Zurich. Now he received a call as a preacher to Oberkirch, in Gaster. Before he resigned his former charge, he sometimes visited his new parish. Being much hated by the Schwyzers, because when pastor at the Ufnau he had declared himself strongly opposed to image-worship, the bailiff (vogt) in Utznach, which was under the dominion of Schwyz and Glarus, caused him to be apprehended, as he journeyed through, and brought to Schwyz.[2] This was done in pursuance of an order, which all the bailiffs of the Five Cantons had received, to keep an eye on innovating preachers in the Territories, and seize them, and hand them over to justice. Like an earlier victim in Schwyz, another in the Thurgau, and three preachers delivered to the Bishop at M[oe]rsburg, by Catholic bailiffs of that place, Kaiser was condemned to die at the stake. In vain did Zurich intercede for him; in vain did she write more earnest letters; in vain did she send the treasurer Edlebach to Schwyz. On the day of his execution the Schwyzers answered: "The territory of Utznach belongs not to you it is a property bought by us and our Confederates of Glarus. For what we do there you have no right to call us to account. And if the parson is so dear to you as you say in your letter, then you should have kept him at home, and not suffered him to come among our people. This would have been most agreeable to us, and certainly much better for him." Such scorn and the flames of the faggot were decisive. War was determined on.

FOOTNOTES TO CHAPTER SIXTH:

Footnote 1: It is printed at large in Escher and Hottinger, fuer Schweizerische Geschichte und Landeskunde. Bd. II. S. 263 ff.

Footnote 2: So it is expressed in the verbal process of the Privy Council; that he was once pastor at Schwerzenbach in Greifensee, Bullinger informs us.



CHAPTER SEVENTH.

FIRST CAMPAIGN. ZWINGLI AND LUTHER.

Two primal forces live and move in man, the one more in this individual, the other more in that one; they both spring from above: Feeling and Understanding. Original, childlike Feeling is the inner law; but it does not know itself. The awakening Understanding seeks the law, but finds it not; for around them and between them settle the mist of earth, the smoke and vapors of passion. Power is needed to work their way up out of the mist; a celestial sun to scatter it. That sun is Love. In Love, as well as in Power, God has revealed himself. Only in the loving act, in revelation, are Feeling and Understanding able to find each other, to understand each other, and then also first to understand themselves. Now, and in this way alone, does growth in true knowledge begin. With it disunion, discord is no longer possible; all discord, even that which is internal, springs from want of knowledge. The error is most lamentable, when Feeling fears the Understanding, and the Understanding hates Feeling. This it is, which can lead to war for religion. No war for religion is permitted to end with the overthrow of one of these. God will not have it so; for he has created Feeling and Understanding as immortal, mutually completing sisters. Did Zwingli not know this? Was he perchance a man of a one-sided understanding, imprisoned in mist, who sought knowledge in his own strength, but for this very reason was never able to discover the truth? Did he desire to subject Feeling to the Understanding, to subdue faith to the yoke of the letter—of the letter, which men invented to express their thoughts, whilst the Spirit, who proceeds from the Father, does not reveal himself in words made of letters, but in the Word of Love, the loving act? They tried it, who came after him, who were not able to comprehend him; but they have been shamefully wrecked with their ever swelling formulas of confession. The church of Zurich under Zwingli, and then under the antistes Klingler (1688-1713)—what a sad contrast! Yet here is not the place to speak of it.

Faith, that feeling of the Divine will, of the Divine revelation, transformed into knowledge, had struck its roots as deep into the nature of Zwingli as into that of Luther. Who can doubt it, when he reads thus in his Explanation of the Christian Faith, as preached by him, which in the year of his death was dedicated to the King of France: "Faith must be the source of our works. If it go before, then the work is acceptable to God. If it be wanting, then all that is done, is false, and hence not only displeasing to God, but an abomination. Therefore Paul says: 'Everything, which is not of faith is sin.' Now faith comes only from the Spirit of God; hence they, who have faith, look to the will of God as to a perfect rule. For this reason, not only those works, which are done contrary to the law of God, are blameable, but those also which are done without regard to it. Whatever is done thus without the law, i.e. with no regard to the Word and will of God, is also not done of faith; what is not done of faith is sin, and sin God abhors. Thus it comes, that even if any one performs a work which God has commanded, giving alms, for example, but without faith,[1] such a work is not pleasing to God; for when we go back to the source from whence the almsgiving springs, which is not done of faith, then we find that it has proceeded either from vain-glory, or a desire to receive more in return, or from some other bad motive. And who is not convinced that such a work is unacceptable to God?"[2]

After such expressions of the Reformer every one will be readily convinced, that Zwingli wished to create no controversy, to achieve no victory of the understanding, which only regulates and analyzes, at the expense of pious feeling.[3] That war, which can only be called religious, because the parties themselves very wrongly believed they served religion thereby, was not allowed by Christianity, as it came from the hands of its founder, not by the Church established by Him, not by the unity of this Church, unity in her Master and Exampler abiding yet in the Gospel and the hearts of all true believers. It was actually of a political more than of a religious nature; for a Church which exercises temporal authority, whose heads rule over land and people, set up compulsory dogmas of faith and deliver to judgment those, who do not submit to them, is also a political, a worldly power. Or ought we regard the nuncios, who drive along in carriages drawn by four horses, to be received by the thunder of cannon, as apostles, when Christ would send them forth, staff in hand, without money, without change of raiment?

Proceeding from this stand-point, Zwingli saw in the war, which he himself undoubtedly advised, only a political conflict. On the one side appeared to him, imbued as he was with the idea of a purely spiritual kingdom of God and Christ, a worldly power defending itself not by the lawful, yea, necessary weapons of science and sound judgment, but by anathemas and the flames of the faggot, and on the other, those who wished to attain and defend liberty, without which neither a religion of the heart nor of the head, nor a faith matured to conviction by the agreement of both, was possible. With this feeling he wrote to his friend in Bern: "The peace, about which many now talk so much, is war; the war, which I wish, peace. There can be no security either for the truth, or her worshippers, till the ground-pillars of tyranny be overthrown. Do not lose confidence in me, because I must say this. With God's help I will prove myself worthy of it." But, even if the question, according to the judgment of the Reformer, was fairly one of an external, political nature, when logically carried out, it would take the form of opinion in some, or of principle in others. Yet never will such questions be solved by weapons of iron. The blind iron usually wounds the principle for which it was drawn out, and its defender first. "Put up thy sword in its sheath," said Christ to Peter, "for they, who take the sword, shall perish by the sword;" and for Zwingli it was a prophetic word. Only for material interests, lying equally before the eyes of all the world; only when the duty of fighting against the violation of national treaties or human laws, or else for upholding them, does true policy take up the sword, and in this respect the statesmanship of Bern seems more prudent; yea, more in harmony with the Federal Compact, than that of Zurich. But there are moments in the lives of nations, when prudence will no longer avail, and energetic action, even passionate endeavor, becomes a necessity. In such cases each one has to appeal to his own conviction of duty, and his justification lies in his willingness to sacrifice himself therefor. Over the corpse of the noble victim, the censuring voice of posterity is silent.

He, who accompanies the Reformer with undiminished sympathy along his path, which from this time forth becomes more and more slippery, will find the truth of what has been said. The grand achievement, which he desired, perhaps rather anticipated—the formation of a strong league in the midst of Europe, controlling extremes; a league of concord, and yet of the free developement of individual members in their peculiar customs and forms of government; united by the spiritual bond of a common faith, of a common submission to the Gospel, embraced with a pure mind and carried out in practice; satisfying the understanding and contenting the heart; one in its aim of worshipping God; diverse in its mode, according to the usage and wants of the country; tolerating philosophical as little as dogmatical dictators; repudiating alike the Propaganda and the Jesuits; a league whose members are not exclusive like Jews, but helpful like Christians—the nineteenth century can see it realized, if in its free presses a manly openness is able to triumph over wholesale robbery and keep down human devilishness, as well as the spirit of hypocrisy.

On the 1st of June, a secret council was held in Zurich, to consider the outrage of the Schwyzers. Some wished to prohibit the exportation of provisions, others to revoke the treaties, and a third party to declare war without delay. The last course was adopted by the Great Council on the 3d of June, and the tidings sent to Schwyz in the following language: "Our greeting first! Pious, circumspect, wise, should our good friends and faithful, dear Confederates be! Your haughty and defiant letter we have received and considered, and though you accuse us therein of not keeping covenant with you, we think we have done it as faithfully and better than you have heretofore; than you, who have persecuted, unjustly punished, given into other hands, violently and unrighteously dragged beyond the jurisdiction and laws, which belonged to us as well as you, miserably tortured and killed many an honest man merely for asserting his faith and maintaining the honor of God, by which we and our people, who are pious, honest Christians, if God will, have also been greatly and severely injured, reviled and shamefully abused, as to our honor and old, praiseworthy customs; ill-treated in a wanton manner without cause, surrounded, beaten, defied, and a pious priest under our protection, whom it became us to save, pounced upon beyond your jurisdiction, carried off in a scornful, unjust fashion, before God and to our great displeasure, burned to death for adhering to God's Word, since you had no other charge against him. Because now you have always suffered such outrages and injuries to pass by without punishment, because you have despised all our warnings and embassies, publicly transgressing in many instances the Articles of Confederation, and because we see that no justice can be hoped for from you, we are obliged, in order to rescue and maintain the Divine truth, its honor and ours, to chastise you for such wantonness, injustice and violence with our own hand, in the strength of God, and intend also, with as much strength and grace as God gives us, to take vengeance on you without mercy. But we have warned you of it and kept our honor. Thus you can understand the motives of our action; you yourselves desired nothing else, since you have provoked us to this course by your violence and gross injustice." In consequence of the threatened passage of the bailiff (vogt) of Unterwalden that way to Baden, Bern was written to: That the friendly exhortation to moderate measures had come too late. They had certain intelligence that Unterwalden intended to escort her landvogt to Baden with an armed force. Bern must not permit this according to her own solemn declaration. And she is there strongly besought to join the Zurichers, now promptly rising in self-defence.

But Bern, for some time back, had been endeavoring, principally through Luzern, to bring Unterwalden into a more peaceful humor. She had not yet put any troops under arms, and had received information from the Five Cantons that they too would not be the first to do it. Hans Edlebach, who was sent to Lenzburg, to hasten the march of the expected contingent, had to suffer bitter reproaches from the landvogt and the Bernese residing there: Was it prudent to begin war during such a famine? Was it like a Confederate, not to suffer the law first to take its course? Was it fair dealing toward Bern, to rise up against every warning, and without giving her notice beforehand? Zurich may now bring to an end alone what she has commenced alone. To this the Zurichers wrote in reply: "We would sooner have expected death, than that your aid should have failed us up to this time; what guilt will rest upon you, if calamity overtake us?" But Zurich was in no wise hindered by this delay, and the declaration of the Bernese immediately following, that though they would now march out, it was only for the support of their ally and not to encourage the war. One division of troops was sent to Bremgarten and Muri: another placed at the west end of the lake to hold Schwyz in check, whilst another marched under Jacob Werdmueller to the country lying around Rapperschweil, so that the Toggenburgers, the people of Gaster, and the evangelical portion of the Glarners might be encouraged to join them. To his countrymen of Toggenburg Zwingli was particularly favorable. "Dear comrade," he wrote to his friend Werdmueller, "I hope the Toggenburgers will not fail, yet hasten to communicate with the town-clerk of Lechstensteg; for a general assembly to consult about affairs was held on Wednesday, the 9th day of June. Take care and keep the advice secret. If you act against Toggenburg, you must not speak of taking possession of the country, for they will not suffer such a thing, having some time since made themselves free by their military power." Less consideration was shown toward the Thurgau. Lavater, the bailiff (vogt) of Kyburg received orders to occupy the territory for Zurich, with the reservation of the rights of Glarus, and notify the inhabitants that the Five Cantons would be allowed no share in the government without their own consent, which was an open violation of existing treaties, and founded on the right of conquest. The chief force, consisting of 4,000 picked men, well armed and provided with numerous guns, marched under George Berger to the borders of Zug. Berger had served in Italy with honor. He maintained severe discipline in the army. Idle women, who usually followed the Swiss expeditions in great crowds, were not suffered here. On the other hand, in spite of the scarcity just then prevailing, an abundant stock of provisions was furnished; a good spirit prevailed among the soldiery. It was a long time since Zurich had displayed such power. From the steps of the senate-house the burgomaster Walder exhorted the departing troops to discipline and a fearless defence. Commander Schmied was appointed army-chaplain. Without a summons from the government Zwingli rode along, a halberd on his shoulder. The report of the outbreak, Zurich's declaration of war, communicated to the Four Cantons by Schwyz, set them also in motion. Flying appeals went out at the same time from Zug. First, volunteers hastened thither; then came the militia of Schwyz, of Uri, of Unterwalden—the latter well armed and particularly eager for war. Messengers were despatched to Waldshut and Feldkirch for Austrian aid.

The Zurichers halted at Cappel. A declaration of war was also made against the Five Cantons. It resembled that against Schwyz, but with an additional reference to the doings of the Unterwaldners and to the Austrian alliance. On the morning of the 9th it was sent to Zug, and directly after the Zurichan force, strengthened by new accessions, took up the line of march. They had not yet crossed the boundaries of the canton, when the landamman AEbli came up against them from Baar. He was a man of irreproachable character, a leader of the people in his canton, esteemed and beloved by the Confederates, trained in the school of life, keeping in view the wants of the present, but both by education and disposition unfitted for scientific and religious controversy. As related by Bullinger, who was an eye-witness, this man begged "the Lords of Zurich with tearful eyes; begged them as strongly as he could, for God's sake and that of the whole Confederacy, to stay quiet where they were without actual operations and approach, till he would return again in the course of a few hours; for he had good hopes, by the aid of other honorable, honest people, who also were in a fair way to separate, with the help of God's grace, to make an honorable peace, which would redound to the good of the Confederacy; besides, great bloodshed would be avoided and no poor widows and orphans made; for this, he trusted in the Holy Gospel, which teaches us peace, love and unity. Moreover, he had also found a moderate, friendly opinion in the Five Cantons, that it would be a great calamity, if one Confederate would wretchedly kill the other, when their forefathers so often and closely pledged together their persons, property and blood; and a like opinion existed here among those, who had suffered much pain and injury in war. We ought not, said he, grant such pleasure to the foes and enemies of our common country. He, therefore, most earnestly plead only for some hours to do his best to prevent the sad dismemberment of the Confederacy."

Discordant views prevailed amongst the Zurichers. Yet the majority were won over by this true-hearted, patriotic speech. After a short deliberation, the leaders declared themselves ready to halt, and a courier was dispatched to Zurich for instructions. But Zwingli approached the landamman, who had formerly been one of his most intimate friends in Glarus, with the words: "Dear amman, thou wilt be obliged to account to God for this peace. Now, whilst our enemies are in our power and unprepared you give them good words. Thou believest them, and holdest back. Hereafter, when they are prepared, they will not make peace with us; who then will separate us?" "Dear comrade," replied the amman, "I trust in God. He will make all right. Act always for the best."

The brief truce, which now followed, was diligently used by both parties. The Catholics brought together their chief force in the country of Baar. Auxiliaries from Wallis (Valais), Livinen and the valley of the Esch joined them. Their little army swelled to eight thousand. That of the Zurichers was strengthened from the Thurgau and St. Gall. A third just as important, that of the Bernese aided by Basel, Biel and Muehlhausen, under the schultheiss Von Diesbach, had reached Bremgarten. Full thirty thousand men, unlike in view and disposition, stood under arms. The Confederate policy was in the camp of the Bernese. "We will attack the aggressor," said they, "wherever he comes from. We will suffer no war, till all lawful remedies are exhausted." They had written the same to Zurich, where hurrying envoys from Glarus, Appenzel, the Three Cantons, Solothurn and Freiburg arrived every hour with plans for a settlement of the difficulties. Bern had also convoked at Aarau, a Diet for the whole Confederacy. Even from Strasburg the Mayor Sturm had come as a mediator. A spirit of peace began to pervade the opposing camps. Besides, many were anxious to return home. They thought of their agricultural labor, which in the month of June was particularly needful. The necessity for shedding blood had not yet stirred the feelings of the multitude. Neighbors of the different confessions still held intercourse with each other. The out-posts had agreed not to injure each other; one party looked on the peaceful sports of the other at the ring and the hurling of stones. That beautiful feature of old Swiss cordiality was manifested, when milk was brought from one side, bread from the other, and the hostile warriors, with jokes over the limits to be guarded, ate the common food from one vessel. It drew an exclamation of surprise from the Mayor of Strasburg, who witnessed it.

According to old usage, when the militia had marched out, the Council of Zurich gave over to the commons-at-war (kriegsgemeine) the instruction of the negotiators at the Diet in Aarau. There was one man particularly to whom this was little pleasing, who apprehended evil results—Ulric Zwingli. Should all the fruits of his earnest endeavor, all the hopes for evangelical freedom, involved in this breach, be lost? He feared a too ready compliance. "Gracious, loving Lords," he wrote, "our messengers come in again this moment. I observe indeed how the matter stands. They now give good words, and pray and beg. But do not be misled, and regard no wry faces, but command us, beforehand, to act with earnestness, not to surrender our advantage, but to accept only a solid peace; for no one can give better words than these people, and when we are out of the field, they will return in one month and attack us. For God's sake act boldly. By my life, I desire not to mislead you, nor give way myself. One cannot write everything. Stand fast in God. Yield nothing to wry faces, till the right is established. God be with you. In haste, in haste!"

After this he did his utmost in the camp at Cappel, so that the treasurer, Rudolph Thumeisen, the deputy to Aarau, was instructed to demand positively, liberty to preach the Gospel everywhere in the Territories, the abrogation of the Alliance with Austria, the abjuration of all pensions and the punishment of those, who would propogate and dispense them, the costs of the war and indemnification for the children of the martyred Jacob Kaiser. Meanwhile in Aarau the continuance of the armistice only was determined on, and the prosecution of the negotiations by arbitrators in the vicinity of the camps transferred to Steinhausen, in the canton of Zug.

It had been previously said, that the commons-at-war (landsgemeinden) should themselves hear the complaints and arguments of the opposing parties. The leaders and deputies of the army of the Five Cantons made the beginning in the camp of the Zurichers. An eye-witness, Kessler of St. Gall, has given the following graphic picture of the event. It is here told in his own words: "Now, at the request of the Five Cantons, it was appointed, that, on the next Monday, a committee should come over from their camp into ours, in order to interrogate each other as well as the friendly arbitrators. So a high scaffolding was raised upon barrels in the field before Cappel. On this was placed the banner of Zurich, with all the ensigns and officers then encamped at Cappel, and around the scaffolding stood the common soldiers. After the committee of the Five Cantons, thirty in number, had been conducted over by the Zurichan trumpeter, the umpires approached; one rose after the other on the scaffold, speaking to the array and exhorting them to hold fast the purpose to submit on both sides to a friendly and moderate treaty of peace, seeing not only the sorrow, the misery and the great damage and ruin, that must accrue to us from this present misunderstanding, if it should come to the shedding of blood; but on the other hand, also, the great joy that would arise among our foreign hereditary enemies; and that nothing else can at last result from it, but that we, weakened by our own discord, will be the more easily conquered and ruled by those enemies, for whom, when united, we were always strong enough. Besides, the great dislike of the people of Germany and other countries, during our campaigns there, must be considered; and if our poor widows and orphans are left, what scanty crusts of bread will be doled out to them. Therefore, we implore you, for God's sake, to make peace with each other like faithful, pious Confederates, who, in times past, have fought and suffered so much together. Hereupon, Captain Escher of Zurich stood forward, and disclosed in general and special to the deputies of the Five Cantons the cause and articles of the war now declared against them, reviewing with sharp words their unkind, shameful and scandalous doings so long persisted in, but which could henceforth be no longer endured or suffered, consistently with justice and honor. After this, the deputies, gentlemen and captains of the Five Cantons rose up; among the first schultheiss Hug of Luzern; and each gave answer to the articles and the accusation touching his Lords. Nevertheless, something should be done. They desired that every effort should be made to bring about a lasting peace, lest, as was before said by the arbitrators, we might be compelled to murder and destroy each other. But so far as might be, they desired a just settlement, promising to abide thereby. Then it was proposed to retire a little out of the crowd to a particular spot; and the captains and the commons conferred among themselves, and decided that a committee of the same number as theirs should be sent into the camp of the Five Cantons, to disclose to the common soldiery, the business, which had not yet reached them. There were present also Master Ulric Zwingli, Master Conrad Schmied, the Commander, chosen preachers from the city and canton of Zurich, men wholly inclined to purge the Confederacy from all unfairness, unrighteousness and pride, and restore piety and honor. When his turn came, Master Ulric spake very plainly, that they who were there might understand, declaring that the cold apology of the Five Cantons and their appeals to the law, which before this had been little regarded by them, reminded him of condemned criminals, who when led to punishment cried out for justice, in order to prolong their lives. Then he spoke of the sin, the danger and the injury springing from the pensions, undeservedly taken from kings and princes, countries and people, and addressed the aforementioned schultheiss, Hug, by name: It is well known what he is and has been for years, and whence he has been enriched by so many thousand crowns; they are earnestly exhorted to put it away, else peace, quiet and unity would never be seen in the Confederacy."

With milder words Escher sought to allay the rising discontent of the deputies of the Five Cantons, who, after a notice that the leaders of the Zurichers should remember to appear also before their commons-at-war, withdrew and were honorably conducted out of the camp.

Rain in torrents, as it fell abundantly during this summer, poured down on the following day, the fifteenth of June. The overflowing of the Loretz prevented any meeting. On the sixteenth, with clearing skies and glad sunshine, fifteen of the most prominent Zurichers, to whom several people from the country were added, rode over into the camp of the Five Cantons.

Here also, as with the Zurichers, the reception took place amid warlike display and the thunder of cannon. The leaders affirmed that more than 12,000 men were under arms. They stood well drawn up; defiance in every face. The Unterwaldners were particularly well armed, partly with bows and partly in heavy coats of mail. Hans Escher opened the discussion, glad of the opportunity to represent in its true light the misapprehended cause of Zurich before so large an assembly of Confederates. First, he read aloud a detailed list of grievances, published by the government itself. "All this," he then continued, "we would have borne for the sake of the common peace, but when your rulers concluded an alliance with yon power, which your own forefathers have always considered their most dangerous enemy, and which is now, perhaps more than ever, ours, how could we keep quiet any longer? Still, we were not the first to march out. The Unterwaldners took up arms before, to place their vogt in Baden. Our troops, when they came to Muri, found a meal prepared for them. Yet we do not wish to deal in mutual crimination to our own injury, but rather to favor the liberty, which we have inherited from our fathers, or what is the welfare of all, according to the Gospel to which we adhere, the restoration of the old Confederate pledges, which, as we ask them from you, we are also willing and ready to give to our Confederates." The country-people supported the speech of the citizen. Upon many of the hearers the impression was evidently good, for a general belief prevailed among the Catholics, that the country-people of Zurich had only submitted to the Reformation with reluctance. Others, on the contrary, thought the grievances in the paper of the Zurich Council exaggerated. "When have we refused you justice?" said they. "How often have you appealed to us in vain?"—"Yes," rejoined the treasurer Funk, an active young man, and one of Zwingli's warmest adherents—"we know your ways of doing justice. That unhappy pastor made an appeal and you referred him to the executioner." The rash word was spoken. "Funk! you had better been silent," one of his companions called out to him. A fearful tumult arose; the troops put themselves in motion. The more considerate warned the Zurichers to retire without delay, and secured them by a detailed escort.

The negotiation continued in Steinhausen and the Zurichan camp. The issue lay in the hands of the Bernese. Without them, Zurich was no longer able to carry on the war. The favorable moment had passed. Time had been given to the Five Cantons to gather and strengthen their army. The sight of their collective force raised the courage of individuals. In numbers they were not inferior to the Zurichers; surpassed them rather. And then, they beheld an abundance of provisions in the Zurichan camp, whilst in theirs, and at home in their vallies, want and famine prevailed, on account of the prohibition against importation. The assurance of this accessible and needful booty whetted their thirst for combat. To know that the power of deciding lay with the present leaders of the Bernese, made the prospect intolerable to Zwingli. He found in the schultheiss Diesbach, their general, a lukewarm friend of the Reformation, and in him and most of the others advocates, rather than opposers, of pension-taking. The latter practice found such special favor among the Bernese Counsellors, that even Nicholas Manuel, otherwise one of the most powerful heads of the Evangelical party, declared before the assembly of the Zurichan leaders in the camp at Cappel, that Zwingli's demand on the Five Cantons for the abolition of pensions need expect no support from Bern. This drew angry words from the Reformer: "Well then! we can put the question to the whole commons-at-war; we can also send an embassy to Bern herself, to learn how the city and canton think. I know it and can prove it by writings, which I promise to produce, that that people, as well as ours, abhor pensions. Who maintain them? Some great families, who live by them."—"It will come to this," replied Hans Escher, "we must first put questions everywhere; the councils of leaders are no longer of any account; one has just as much to say as another; squire and knight, common man and captain; now, let all, for my sake, cry out at once; then at least we will be done with the matter; if we ourselves cannot strike because of discord, then let the others strike." Zwingli confessed that he had gone too far, and smothered his chagrin. He had hoped for a victory of principles, but now saw only the possibility of a temporary compromise, achieved by political arts. The men, from whom there was nothing to hope in support of the Reformation, in one canton, and everything to fear in regard to the others, stood at the helm and saw their power continually secured by foreign influence and foreign gold. He beheld the times coming, when the old Adam would again awaken in Zurich herself. Earlier or later, the seed sown, so he foreboded, must be again stifled and the tender fruit sunk under the rank growth of sprouting weeds.

Meanwhile the arbitrators in Steinhausen did all they could, and when Bern used just as decided language against the Five Cantons as against Zurich, then a treaty was formed, with which the statesmen of the latter canton said they would be satisfied. First of all, the Territories were to be left to their own free choice in matters of religion; to declare for one system or the other. The alliance with King Ferdinand was to be abolished and its documents annihilated. Doctor Murner was to be arraigned before the Confederates in Baden, to answer for defamation of Zurich and Bern. These were the chief articles. What the Five Cantons should pay as costs of the war, and indemnification to the surviving family of Jacob Kaiser, was left to the arbitrators to determine afterward. But Zurich and Bern were expressly empowered, if the conditions binding on the Five Cantons were not fulfilled, to continue the interdict against the exportation of provisions, until they would comply. It was simply uttered as a wish that the Five Cantons would also abolish pensions.

The leaders of the armies communicated the rough draft of the treaty to their several governments. In Bern it was received with universal joy. "We permit you," wrote the government to her members in the field, "to omit, in the affair of the Unterwaldners, whatever might waken strife anew, be it so far only as is consistent with our honor. It is hoped, being now again united, as was necessary, we will be able to bestow a glance on our foreign enemies. Henceforth no more strangers, be they Burgundians, Netherlanders, Austrians, Lorrainers or others should be allowed to threaten our borders with impunity. We should, after the manner of our fathers, defend ourselves. Sound the Five Cantons and tell us, if they would refuse to arm." Just this, meanwhile, was the most difficult point. Under various pretexts they tried to put off the delivery of the deeds of the Austrian alliance. Then Zurich ordered those of her militia, who were already prepared for a return home, to stay, and called back others, who had marched off. The arbitrators begged. The Bernese threatened; the Banneret, Peter im Haag, said: "If the document be not produced immediately, we will fetch it in procession." At last, on the 25th of June, about 2 o'clock in the night, it was brought to Cappel. What further happened, is related by Thomas Platter, an eye-witness, in these words: "As every one was now up, they came together into a room, and the amman of Glarus took the document; for he had all along been the chief umpire. He gave it to a scribe to open; it was terribly broad and long; the like I have never seen, and I think it had nine seals on it; one large one, that was golden. Then the scribe began and read a long preface of titles, such as one reads on the square at Basel, on St. John's day; after that, the Five Cantons, also, under the titles by which they are known. They had made a league. Then the amman struck his hand upon the document and said: 'It is enough.' Then one behind me, who was doubtless a Zuricher, cried out: 'Read the thing through, that we may hear how traitorously they would have dealt with us.' The amman turned to him and spake: 'How read it through? You must hack me into little pieces first, before I will suffer it.' Therewith he laid the document together and said: 'You are alas! without this, too highly exasperated against each other; take a little knife, first cut off the seals, and then slit the parchment into long strips, give it to the scribe in a little cap, that he may throw it into the fire.' What became of the seals I do not know."

Joyfully the Zurichers marched to their homes; Zwingli with anxiety in his heart. He gave utterance to it in the following verses, which he also set to music:

Now mount the chariot, O Lord, We know not where to go. Thy hand must now uplift the sword And smite the haughty foe.

God, for thy honor and our land Blast Satan's progeny, And teach thy faithful flock to stand Ever more firm in Thee.

To bitter strife, O put an end! And waken love anew; Kind hearts to parted brethren send, Old feelings warm and true.

The Landfriede (General Peace) was concluded; quiet appeared to be restored in the Confederacy. Then a foreign country laid claim to the Swiss Reformer. In the spring of 1529, the majority of the princes and cities, assembled at the Imperial Diet in Spire, endeavored to check the progress of the Reformation in Germany, by stringent resolutions. Conflicting doctrines in regard to the Lord's Supper especially, should not be allowed. No more ecclesiastical innovations were to be permitted until approved at an ecumenical council. The states of the Empire, which were already inclined to the Gospel, entered protests against this compulsory act, and received thence the name of Protestants. The most active of these Protestants was the landgrave Philip of Hesse. Resolved to carry through the rising opposition, even against the Emperor himself if necessary, he directed his chief attention to the maintenance and establishment of concord among the Protesters themselves. Although the Confederates, from the nature of their special compacts (buende) and their struggles after national independence, had actually more and more torn lose from connection with the German Empire, they were still always formally counted as belonging to it,—indeed, said so themselves, whenever it suited their advantage. But, just before the election of the then reigning Emperor, the Diet, in the name of the collective cantons, wrote a complimentary letter to the Electoral Princes, under cover of the privilege due to them as members of the Empire. Now also the resolutions of the Imperial Diet were communicated by the Emperor, and a demand made upon them for their execution. It is easy to imagine that the Protestant Princes would strive likewise to gain them over to their party. Philip of Hesse especially, looked toward Zurich and Zwingli. Early in April, he had addressed him from Spire. He desired a personal interview. At the same time it might serve to heal the dispute between the Saxon and Swiss Reformers, which had taken a disagreeable turn, and contributed more than anything else to make the cause of the Gospel suspicious in the eyes of the Catholics, yea, even hateful to them. The chief obstacle in the way of an understanding lay in the manner of seeking it—by a general formula, a declaration drawn up in words, though the Gospel itself did not contain such a thing. Few in that age had the sound judgment of the later landgrave William of Hesse, who, in the year 1566, wrote to Bullinger: "What Christ, the Chief Schoolmaster, has not seen fit to explain, we men should not undertake to explain for ourselves." That Christ, offering himself up in love, would continue to live in all the members of his church to the remotest ages, and so declared at the last breaking of bread and pouring out of wine in the circle of his disciples, must be clear to every reader of the Gospel. Whether and how he continues to live in them, deeds only can show: the confession of the heart, not that of the lips, which Christ himself does not require of us.

But when, in spite of this, such a thing was required, it was necessarily apprehended in a plainer sense by some of the Reformers, and in a more profound one by others, according to the individual peculiarities; at the same time it was regarded as more free or more binding according to the spirit of the nations and the governments, which they represented. This will best appear from the history viewed in its connection.

It has already been intimated in this work that the mass, in view of its significance and determining power, forms the ground-work of the cultus, or form of worship in the Catholic Church. Yet Catholic writers themselves have admitted and publicly expressed it, that, long before the Reformation, dangerous ideas concerning the mass prevailed among the people, which, fostered designedly by the clergy, and even by the Popes, led to great abuses, being employed, through the founding of masses for souls, to entice immense sums of money from pious superstition. We may suppose, that the Reformers turned their attention chiefly to these abuses, and first of all were obliged to attain for themselves a right view of the design of the Lord's Supper. According to the doctrine of the Catholic Church, the bread and wine were changed, by the consecration of the priest, into the real body and blood of Christ, so that thus, by the transaction of the mass, the personal Christ was once more sacrificed, as it were, and in this way the redemption of mankind by the sufferings and death of Christ dwelling in mass, was, in a certain measure, daily renewed, for the salvation of all the living, or even the departed, for whom mass was founded.

This mode of representation was unanimously rejected by the Reformers; but in order to prove it invalid, they had to resort to explaining the words of the Gospel, and here they began to diverge more and more from each other. We all know, that Christ simply expressed himself thus: "Take, eat; this is my body, broken for you; do this in remembrance of me;" that after supper he also took the cup, saying: "This cup is the New Testament in my blood; as oft as ye drink of it, do it in remembrance of me." Zwingli, with his searching glance, his methods of examination, strengthened by the study of the lively, vigorous authors of antiquity, his penetration into the spirit of language and his dislike to everything contrary to the course of nature, ordained by God himself, soon arrived at a mere allegorical exposition of these words, and understood by the expression, This is, simply, This signifies. But he did not entertain this view alone. Before he ventured to utter it publicly, a Dutch jurist, Cornelius Horn, had actually done it. Zwingli caused his work to be printed in Switzerland, and promoted its circulation. In the Conference at Zurich touching the mass, he for the first time came out openly as an advocate of this view; but he did not satisfy the bulk of his hearers. The not unlearned under-clerk, Joachim am Gruet, opposed him, even attacked him, in a second Conference before the Councils and scholars, with tolerable success, and availed himself of the objection, against the reference of the Reformer to a multitude of Scripture passages, where Christ in parables likewise made use of the word "is," plainly instead of "signifies," that they were only parables, whilst the Supper was a transaction so solemn, that such an arbitrary, audacious mode of interpretation could in no wise be admitted. How Zwingli was at first embarrassed by this objection, and how he afterward succeeded in refuting it, he may tell us in his own language.

"Undoubtedly," says he in one of his works,[4] "no easy task was before me, namely, to cite an example for my mode of interpretation, derived from no parable. I began to think over it, to look for it everywhere; in vain! I could find nothing. The 13th of April was at hand;[5] I tell the truth; (willingly would I keep silent, for I well know many will make a mock of it; but it is God's finger; my conscience constrains me to speak), early in the morning, before the break of day, I dreamed that I, yet full of chagrin, was once more attacked in battle with the under-clerk, and so beaten that I could discover no way of escape, and my tongue refused to do its office. This anguish tormented me in an incredible manner, as such things do in dreams, during the deceitful night. (I wish to tell it only as a dream, although it concerns me much; although that is important enough for me; which I have learned, thanks be to God! through whose power alone anything is possible). As by the stroke of an enchanter's wand, I saw a comforter stand before me, (whether he was white or black, I cannot say; I relate a dream). 'Wherefore, thou awkward one,' he asks, 'dost thou not oppose him with the passage in the twelfth chapter of the second book of Moses? It is the Lord's passover.' I awoke, sprang out of bed, looked at the passage, thought over it and preached from it in the morning before the congregation, and, as I hope with sufficient power. The sermon swept the mists from the eyes of all those, who, on account of the above-mentioned difficulty, had not been able to obtain a clear view, and three days after, on the festival of the resurrection, such a passover of the Lord was celebrated, as I have never yet seen, and the number of those, who hankered after the flesh-pots of Egypt was less than any one would have ventured to hope."

In the beginning, Luther also had looked at this mode of interpretation, but discovered in the bias of his mind greater difficulties, to which others of an external nature were added. As early as the year 1524, he had written to the "Christians at Strassburg:" "This I confess—if any one had been able to assure me five years ago that there was nothing in the Sacrament but bread and wine, he would have done me the greatest service. I then endured such a severe temptation and so struggled and writhed, that I would willingly have been delivered, for I plainly saw that by it I could have dealt the heaviest blow against the Papacy; but I am fast and cannot get out. The text is too powerful here and will not suffer itself to be wrested of its meaning by words." The thing, which had especially awakened his dislike to the Zwinglian view, and which he does not here tell us, was the circumstance, that, before Zwingli had yet expressed himself publicly in regard to the Lord's Supper, Doctor Carlstadt had come out in Saxony with a still bolder interpretation, by which he attempted to break up the connection of Christ's own words of institution in such a way, that half of them lost all their meaning. In a violent work, that met with approval in many places, he then spread abroad this interpretation. This Carlstadt was to Luther a glowingly-hated stone of offence, which everywhere laid in his way. Whilst Luther was in the Wartburg, he had headed the furious image-stormers in Wittemberg. He now made his home in Orlamuend, where he supplanted the preacher, disregarded all the ordinances of the Elector, and excited the people to such a degree, that when Luther went into the country, at the command of the Prince, to restore order, he was pelted with dirt and stones, and pursued with the cry: "Drive off, in the name of a thousand devils, and break your neck!" Deprived of his situation, after such doings, Carlstadt went to Strassburg, and then to Switzerland. Meanwhile, his writings were forbidden by the Council at Strassburg. Zwingli, on the other hand, declared this to be unjust, because Carlstadt's writings contained neither godless nor fanatical errors. Henceforth Luther began to transfer his hatred against Carlstadt more and more to Zwingli, although the latter, in his work, "On true and false Religion," only excused Carlstadt's interpretation, but in no wise approved, rather assailed it; and when [OE]colampadius also issued his treatise on the Lord's Supper, Luther came out openly in the most passionate letters against the Swiss Reformers. "For myself," says he, in one of them, "I confess, that I do not think Zwingli a Christian with all his doctrines, for he holds and teaches no part of the Christian faith rightly, and has become seven times worse than when he was a Papist, according to Christ's judgment: 'The last state of that man shall be worse than the first.' I make such a confession, that I may be without blame before God and the world, because I have no share in Zwingli's doctrines, nor will have to all eternity!"[6]

To allay this strife was the task which the landgrave Philip of Hesse, proposed to himself. This Prince, then in his twenty-fifth year, a man of scientific culture, an indefatigable ruler, beloved by his people and feared by his more powerful neighbors, on account of his decided and enterprising character, was the soul of the Protestant party. To the Elector of Saxony, who, possessed of more prudence and timidity, stood along with him at its head, he wrote: "Rather would I give up body and life, land and people, than abandon God and his Word." At his court lived Duke Ulric, of Wuertemberg, an exile, driven from his country by the Emperor, and the Swabian League, but undaunted, eager for war, and continually busied with plans for recovering his princely seat. At an earlier period he had spent some time in Switzerland and became personally acquainted with Zwingli, and through him the landgrave was also brought into connection with the Reformer. Thinking clearly and feeling dearly; imbued also with the spirit of the Holy Scriptures, he thought, if stubbornness did not prevent it, a mutual understanding was yet possible, and resolved to spare no pains in order to attain it. Zwingli and [OE]colampadius willingly consented to his proposal of a Conference. They only wished it to be held in Strassburg, because Zwingli especially despaired of receiving permission from the Zurich Council for the dangerous journey to Marburg, the residence of the landgrave, and so long an absence. The consent of the Saxons was more difficult to obtain. Melancthon from timidity, and because he did not wish to break fully with the Catholics, reconciliation with whom he thought yet possible, and Luther from dislike avoided the Conference; the former even privately requested the Elector not to permit them to go. "It is not well," he said, "for the landgrave to have much to do with the Zwinglians; he has taken, moreover, a greater liking to them, than is necessary; for the matter has come to such a point, that acute people, like the landgrave, regard it with the deepest interest, and the understanding seizes readily upon what it comprehends, especially if men of learning, who can give the matter from Holy Scripture, are inclined that way, and we know that many scholars now adhere to Zwingli."

It is clear that the Swiss were regarded by the Saxons as radical stormers, unprincipled innovators, who, amid their mountains and their republican affairs had forgotten all respect for law and order. "I am sick;" wrote Melanchton to one friend, "an indescribable anguish of soul torments me; I can scarcely breathe. Thou knowest wherefore. The Elbe has fearfully overflowed its banks. Even in Hesse I saw a great stone torn out of the side-walk of a church by the might of the floods, as though done by the contrivances of art. Still other signs happen. Christ defend us!" and to another: "Rather would I die, than live to see this Zwinglian affair pollute our just cause." Luther spoke thus against the landgrave himself: "I know well what the devil is after. God grant I may be no prophet; for if it were not a false trick, but a real purpose among them to seek peace, they would not attempt it in such a glorious fashion through great and mighty princes; for we, by God's grace, are not so savage and wild, that they could not long ago have tendered to us, as they yet can, the humble endeavors for peace, of which they boast; but I know that I will not basely give way to them. I cannot; because I am so fully persuaded that they err, and are themselves, moreover, unsettled in their opinions." At last, Melanchton made the proposal to invite some Papists to the Conference as witnesses, though in fact rather to pave the way for their final consent; and for a long while yet, both he and Luther wished to have [OE]colampadius as an opponent, and protested against the appearance of Zwingli.

But such spectres were not visible to the landgrave Philip. He was one of those princes, who, conscious of their own power and of love to their people, by whom in turn they are beloved, can look without fear even on republican affairs; a man in whom faith lived, and who without hesitation, therefore, suffered the spirit to live; and, acting thus, hoped, with youthful assurance, to calm down the violent combatants by his influence, if he could only get a personal interview with them. This appears best from his own words: "Dear Master Erhard," so he wrote some years after this period, to another of the zealots in the Eucharistic controversy, the Wuertemberg preacher, Erhard Schnepf, "I hear that you will not leave Blarer (preacher at Constance) unmolested in the confession, with which Luther and Philip (Melanchton) are still satisfied, but press upon him with sophistical language, and have made many persons anxious lest you would break down more than you build up, which I myself do not yet accuse you of, but should it happen, it will grieve many a pious man. Hence, it is my prayer, that you will proceed gently; be no disputer of words, but a promoter of faith, love and good works, and not, as the old proverb says, 'raise a spoon and break a bowl;' for you might have a zeal, when you have reached a sure understanding, to press it upon others and yet not reach the heart; and besides, to speak humanly, do great injury to the Gospel; as, for example, many pious people might be brought thereby to persecution and ruin, when the matter was not even worth talking about. Therefore proceed wisely, that you may not become a partaker of such blood and such destruction. It will not do to plunge thus into matters. The Apostles acted prudently; they did not thus reject people for trifling errors. I point this out to you, as one, who heartily desires you to treat of things, that will promote the cause of the Gospel, unity, and love also. Understand yourself, and do not go further than God allows. Let not the old Adam lord it over the new. You have not been preaching long. It is needful to exhort you. Adieu."

Guided by such a noble endeavor to restore harmony among the Protestants, he pursued his mark with unwearied zeal, and obtained the consent of the Elector of Saxony, (who now required his learned men to attend the Conference), and at length that also of Luther and Melanchton, who, under date of July 8th, 1529, wrote to him as follows: "Since Your Princely Grace has received our two letters, and still insist upon our coming to Marburg, in the confident hope that concord will result from it, we wish with a cheerful and ready mind to contribute our part thereto, and by God's grace, if sound and well, will appear at Marburg on the day appointed. The Father of all mercy and unity grant His spirit that we may come together not in vain—for profit and not injury. Amen. Christ be Your Princely Grace's Governor and Guide!"

Zwingli also, when Philip had repeated the invitation to Marburg and pledged himself for the security of the journey, set out. He ventured to say nothing to the government; had even entreated the landgrave to confine his request to the Privy Council. On the first day after his departure, he began a letter to the Council, in which he apologises for not communicating the request to them, and says in addition: "It was not done with any intention to slight your Worships, but in order to discharge my duties with greater fidelity to you, since I foresaw you would not grant me permission, because of the interest you take in my welfare; for the distance by the route we go is 60 miles,[7] and the place strange to us on account of its religion, though secure enough, being in the territory of the landgrave, and the learned there all hostile to us, and our number is only three. So also friends, in whom we could confide, are few, from Zurich until very far down the Rhine. Yet it would not be right for me to remain away, since by this the whole plan would be frustrated, and many excellent men of the opposition brought thither on a fruitless journey. Then it would be interpreted, as if we were afraid of a friendly conference. Therefore, I pray your Worships, in the most humble manner, not to take my going off amiss, for I was loth to hear others despise you; and remember too that my staying away might result in injury to the truth and the disparagement of your good name. Otherwise you may hope in God, that we, by His aid, will give a faithful, undaunted support to the truth and bring no scandal on our church." He then apologized likewise for the departure of Collin, the professor of the Greek language, whom he had taken with him asked, since Basel had granted a member of the Council to [OE]colampadius, that the same might be done for his assistance; and nominated the treasurer, Ulric Funk, on account of his cleverness and knowledge of the Latin language, who, as soon as he had received permission, hastened to join him. Immediately after his departure from Zurich, his enemies crept out of their hiding-places. Nonsensical reports were circulated. "He has run away with a party of rogues," said some; the "Devil has carried him off," said others. In Basel they met [OE]colampadius and the deputy of the Council, Rudolph Frei. The plan was, that from thence he should proceed along with [OE]colampadius by water to Strassburg. He asked for a moderate advance of money; because riding "on a hired horse cost a great deal," he would be obliged to buy one at Strassburg, which would leave him little for the expenses of the journey, and then, being compelled to borrow, would "become a laughing-stock." "To my wife," he concluded, "let Master Stall tell as much of the matter as a woman ought to know, for when I left her, I said no more than that I was going to Basel on business." In Basel, where he tarried nearly two weeks, he preached to a great concourse of people. The time was also employed by him in political negotiation. This imperial city desired then admission into the Christian Buergerrecht on the same terms as Constance. The mayor, Sturm, likewise invited to the Conference by the landgrave, along with Bucer and Hedio, was an experienced statesman, and not without influence at the Imperial Diet. He had connections in France. Reports had been received concerning the reconciliation of the Emperor with the Pope, against whom he had been carrying on war, and his arrival in Italy and the general sweeping measures toward the Protestants, to be apprehended from this combination of spiritual and temporal power. They were communicated confidentially to the Zurichers. Some of them Zwingli wrote down. The most important he sent to the Privy Council with the postscript: "This comes from the real cabinet of art." "Were it not wicked," he again wrote from Strassburg, "we might encourage the Venetians to withstand them so boldly, that the Emperor would be finished in Italy, and not able to escape over the mountains." On the 18th of September they left the city and, by a circuitous route, which they had to choose for safety, reached Marburg on the 29th. The day after, the Saxon scholars, Luther, Melanchton, Justus Jonas, from Wittemberg, and several others, made their appearance. From Nuremberg, came Andrew Osiander; from Swabian Halle, John Brenz; from Augsburg, Stephen Agricola; all likewise invited by the landgrave. In an humble letter, signed "Your Princely Grace's obedient servant and poor little worm," Carlstadt also begged for admission, but received a polite refusal. The entire company was lodged in the castle. A Latin poem written by Professor Curicius conjured them to begin the Conference with such calmness, and prosecute it with such dignity, that the world may know the Spirit of God had presided over it.

Strangers from various countries had arrived in considerable numbers; but no one received admittance, except those who were invited; the Duke of Wuertemberg, the Count of Fuerstenberg, several courtiers, the professors of the University and the Hessian preachers. Zwingli's request, that the proceedings should be written down by secretaries under oath, and the Latin language used, was declined by the landgrave; likewise the wish of Luther and Melanchton, for the aid of respectable Papists. Immediately after his arrival, Luther had received a visit of courtesy from [OE]colampadius, Bucer and Hedio; Zwingli remained without a greeting from the side of his opponents. Justus Jonas studied physiognomy and manners. He pretended "to see in Zwingli a certain tincture of rustic arrogance; in [OE]colampadius a wonderfully mild nature; in Hedio, no less humanity and liberal culture; in Bucer, under the mantle of sagacity and penetration, fox-like cunning."

On the 20th of September, the landgrave first joined his guests at the supper-table. Here he expressed the wish that on the following morning Luther would hold a special conversation with [OE]colampadius and Zwingli with Melanchton. He hoped by thus placing a vehement character over against a gentle one in each case, to render the after approach of the chief combatants more easy perhaps. The Saxons were the complainants. They accused the Swiss of errors in various points. But everything soon gave way to the doctrine of the Lord's Supper. For three hours Luther tried his fortune with [OE]colampadius, and Melanchton with Zwingli for six. Agreement continued impossible. Yet Luther sent the news in a letter, that the conflict had been carried on in separate chambers, in a friendly tone.

On the morning of the 2d of October, at six o'clock, the discussion began in the presence of from 50 to 60 persons, invited or admitted, in the Hall of the Knights. At a special table, opposite to Zwingli and [OE]colampadius, sat Luther and Melanchton; in their immediate neighborhood, the landgrave, surrounded by his courtiers; the others rather behind. Feige, the chancellor of state, opened the Conference in the name of the Prince, with an address. After unfolding the pure, successful, grand beginning of the Reformation, he then continued: "but now, some of the leaders themselves, animated by a schismatic spirit, have hurried on too rashly, and been so far misled, that they, who were bound ever to remain faithful at the head of the cause, and, by their common power and mutual support, sweep away every vestige of error, have now not only deserted their post, but even attacked each other, to the great joy and delight of the enemy. Therefore, if they cannot find sufficient reasons for concord in the Gospel itself, and their duty to promote the welfare of the Church they ought not to give their bitterest enemies occasion to rejoice and exhibit so sad a spectacle of disunion. His Princely Grace wishes to prescribe neither aim nor measure to this Conference; but would remind the members, that wherever similar transactions have taken place, men of true learning, even if they had written somewhat roughly and severely against each other before, had then laid aside wrath and bitterness, so the unlearned might the better perceive, that they sought truth and love more than a mere defence of their own opinions with sharp and quick words. Those who now take this course, cannot fail to win praise and thanks, whilst the others, who do not like unity, but obstinately persist in a delusion once embraced, from which all heresies spring, will thereby give an undoubted proof, that the Holy Spirit does not reign in their hearts, and has never been among them with his gifts. His Princely Grace hopes that the present Conference will have a happier termination, and closes with the gracious desire, that the very learned Masters will understand and receive all this in the best spirit." On their side thanks were now given to the landgrave for his trouble, and a promise made, to carry on the discussion without any bitterness, in a respectful and friendly manner; but, although unity should be sought with the most ardent zeal, this at the same time could not be effected at the expense of divine and revealed truth, and Christ's words would be preferred before all others.

After this, the discussion was commenced by Luther's writing on the table with chalk, these words in the Latin language: "Hoc est corpus meum" (This is my body). With great mildness and learning [OE]colampadius now unfolded his view, which Luther, however, in spite of every challenge, refused to contradict, falling back always upon the verbal expression. "Beloved sirs," said he, "as long as these words stand, I cannot really get over them, but must confess and believe, that the body of Christ is there."—Springing up, Zwingli asked: "Is He indeed there, Doctor, corporeally there? There also in the sacrament, is He daily broken anew? In what then do you differ from the Papists?" The scene became more lively; Luther's replies more bitter. He complained that Zwingli wished to trip him, to give his words wantonly another meaning than he had intended. The latter controlled himself somewhat, brought up passages of Scripture for explanation, came forward with remarks on the grammar, with interpretations of the Church Fathers and carried the discussion even into the sphere of philosophy and physics. In no way did Luther permit himself to be caught; turned back always to the letter, and declared, that he would do it; that we durst not in this case deviate therefrom, because the Lord had so expressed himself; and unconditional faith must transcend all doubt; and "if the Lord God placed crab-apples before me and commanded me to take and eat, I durst not ask, wherefore?" "God commands us to eat neither dirt nor crab-apples," said Zwingli.—When it came to such sharp words, the landgrave interposed somewhat, or one of the others present, [OE]colampadius occasionally relieving his friend, and Melanchthon Luther. For two whole days the discussion lasted, with a diminishing prospect of agreement. The Saxons were evidently irritated by Zwingli's unconstrained behavior and bold language. He gave them plainly to understand, that he feared in Luther a sort of new Pope. "I will not have it," once dropped from the lips of the latter, "Must you then have everything just as you wish?" asked Zwingli.

It had become clear to the landgrave that a mutual understanding was impossible, and still more clear, when the Mayor of Strassburg rose up with a complaint, that Luther had also charged the preachers of his city with teaching error. This accusation should not be permitted to lie against them; he could not return home with such news. Bucer and Hedio themselves desired Luther to speak out decidedly, and prove wherein they taught falsely; but he would not do it, nor testify that they were true pastors. "I am," said he, "neither your lord nor your judge; you wish neither me nor my doctrines; our spirit and yours do not accord; therefore I will give you no testimonial. You also do not need it, for you boast everywhere, you have learned nothing from us. This, moreover, every man can see for himself, and we would not have such disciples."

"No!" exclaimed the landgrave with warmth, "you shall not separate in such a fashion, my Lords. You must draw up certain points, acceptable to both, and give them your common signature, so that an evidence, at least, of your external agreement is at hand, if that which is internal cannot be reached. Confer among yourselves how and as long as you please; but before this I cannot suffer you to depart." The theologians came together, and on the 4th of October produced fifteen articles on the chief doctrines, which were signed by Luther, Melanchton, Jonas, Osiander, Brenz, and Agricola, on the one side, and [OE]colampadius, Zwingli, Bucer and Hedio on the other. The last words of it ran thus: "and although we have not been able now to agree, as to whether the true body and blood of Christ are corporeally present in the bread and wine, yet one party ought to exercise Christian charity toward the other, as far as each conscience can possible allow it, and both parties ought to beseech Almighty God fervently, to lead us by His Spirit to a right understanding. Amen."

In conclusion, the landgrave exhorted them to part as brethren. "Then Zwingli said," as Bullinger narrates, "there were no people on earth, with whom he would rather be united than the Wittenbergers, and he would cheerfully acknowledge Luther and his friends as brethren. [OE]colampadius, Bucer and Hedio had also the same feeling; but Luther was by no means willing to acknowledge them as brethren in return, and said: It took him by surprise, that they would call him brother, whose doctrine on the sacrament they esteemed false; they could not themselves think much of their own." In regard to the same event, he wrote to Jacob Probst of Bremen: "They promised with many words, they would yield this much to us, that the person of Christ was really, though spiritually, present in the Holy Supper, if we would only esteem them worthy of the name of brother, and in this way feign a reconciliation. Zwingli begged it with tears in his eyes before the landgrave and all present, whilst he added: 'There are no men with whom I would rather be united than with the Wittenbergers.' With the greatest zeal and as urgently as possible they endeavored to appear in harmony with us and never could endure my saying: 'You have another spirit than we.' As often as they heard it they were inflamed. Finally, we granted so much, that it might stand at the conclusion of the article, not indeed that we were brethren, but that we would not withdraw from them our love, which is due even to an enemy. So now, the shame rests on them, that they would not receive the name of brother and must separate as heretics; meanwhile we agreed, in our controversial writings, no more to make war on each other, in the hope that the Lord would open their hearts. Thou canst tell this confidentially. As a preacher of Christ, who is the Truth, I write the truth. By it thou canst quietly oppose all liars and disturbers. They behaved toward us with incredible humanity and compliance. But, as it now appears, all was show, in order to bring about a hypocritical concord and make us the partners of their errors. O how cunning Satan is! But Christ is still wiser. He has preserved us. I am no longer surprised, if they lie shamelessly. I see that they could not do otherwise, and am glad of it; for they have reached this point under the guidance of Satan, that they betray themselves not merely by their secret intrigues, but openly before all the world."

Sad of heart, the landgrave left Marburg before Luther and Melanchton. Since concord was not to be restored among the theologians, it became so much the more necessary to secure a closer connection of the governments. He held various consultations on this subject with Zwingli, Sturm and several of their associates. The political consequences flowing from the Conference, will be detailed in the next chapter; concerning those of a religious and scientific nature, this much may be yet said:

The enemies of the combatants alone derived gain from it. Their hatred against the Reformation appeared now to be wholly justified. "Here you have," said they, "the effects, when children tear loose from the Everlasting Mother. They now turn against themselves the intellectual weapons, so highly bepraised, which they have used against us. What others are left for them against us, save those of iron?" Now, to these neither Luther nor Melanchton would have recourse. But Zwingli tried it, and—fell. The Reformation seemed about to go backward. Paralyzing formulas took the place of the living Gospel: first, the Augsburg Confession; then, the Helvetic, and for others again, the XXXIX Articles of the Episcopal Church of England. Protestant Popes rose up beside the Catholic, who, from this time forth, wore his triple crown with greater security. It is true, indeed, that Zwingli also handed in a confession of faith at the Imperial Diet, but only in defence, not to force it upon others. He expressly said, in the letter to the Emperor, which accompanied it: "I alone deliver it, without encroaching on the rights of my people." According to his view the Gospel only is unassailable. Whatever of true or false man adds to the interpretation of the Divine law, he does it on his own responsibility. With this view tolerance and love, as well as progressive science, are possible; all others lead to stiffness and intolerance, and such was the result then on all sides. Or is it perchance an evangelical spirit, which breathes in Calvin's article: "That the heretic should be punished with death," and in the funeral pile of Servetus? Were the rack-chambers of Queen Elizabeth[8] much more Christian than the dragonades of Louis XIV., and did Ireland live more happily under the yoke of a High Church forced upon her, than Spain under the Inquisition? Were the persecutions begun at the Synod of Dort, justified by the anathemas, with which the Council of Trent disgraced itself?

All have erred. Instead of kindling new passions, the call of our age goes forth, to unite rather in a common acknowledgment of sin. This is the confession in which all can again find themselves; but the Gospel is the light that shows the way to reconciliation. What is there yet to hinder it? Two enemies, and in two verses a spirited poet (Goethe) has thus portrayed them:

Thou must reign through victory, Or a servant kneel and lose, Suffering or triumph choose, Th' anvil or the hammer be.

This is the one; the principle of the absolutist, in a spiritual or worldly mantle; and the other, the principle of the demagogue in the Jacobin's cap, as well as in the Jesuit's garb, forms the counter-part:

'Tis foolish to wait for improvement in fools; Ye children of prudence, make them your tools.

Of such wisdom the Gospel knows nothing; it demands fraternal assistance and love, and does not permit rank without humility, requiring from those, who stand in the highest places, subordination under God. Perhaps (for who can fathom the ways of Providence?) the adherents of the above-named principles will yet again reach out the hand of friendship to each other. Then will begin the last, severest battle; but the Gospel must triumph, for the Church of Christ, under her one, Divine Head, perpetually revealing himself in history and the power of love, is founded upon a rock; then also will all human order be custom refined by science and ennobled by art and nature, a unity in substance, with endless diversity in form—the adversary of all revolutions.