^^^^^^^Hl 1,; I'M;: ^^^BS M i'i 0'H 'ih i' . ' i ', i FROM THE LIBRARY OF REV. LOUIS FITZGERALD BENSON. D. D. BEQUEATHED BY HIM TO THE LIBRARY OF PRINCETON THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY Diriaioa Section SOC, HISTOEY ©frniaii Bef0nnelt Cl)iirfl). ■JOHN SAHTAnr. THE CRICINJIL BTEJCHHOLTZ nl^AYE [^oEol .P 7 THE ( "^ MAR 9A 1932 HISTOllY ^lication, however, to study, he soon qualified himself for the new duties he was called to perform. Having resigned the charge of the York congrega- tion, Mr. Mayer, in obedience to the call of Synod, moved his family to Carlisle, and in May, 1825, com- menced operations in the Seminary. The number of students the first session was only five, but there was a gradual increase from year to year. The friends of the institution rejoiced in the prospect which was now opened to the church for something like an adequate supply of ministers to cultivate her waste places, and to promote her various interests. The professor was popular, and discharged his duties with great fidelity. But the infant institution was but poorly endowed; and this, in connection with other circumstances, which need not be mentioned here, often proved very embar- rassing to the incumbent of the theological chair, and indeed to the Synod itself. At length it was deemed advisable to remove the Seminary from Carlisle; and accordingly, at the meeting of Synod, in Lebanon, September, 1829, it was determined to take it to York, whither it was removed shortly after. During the same year, (1829,) the college of the Reformed Dutch Church, located at New Brunswick, New Jersey, con- ferred on Mr. Mayer the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity. The Seminary being now located in a more congenial LIFE OF REV. DR. MAYER. 7 atmosphere, and less embarrassed than at Carlisle, the students increased very fast, and things assumed a much more promising aspect. A second professor in the Seminary, Rev. Mr. Young, was elected, and a classical school was established, under the direction of Dr. Rauch, which, in the course of a few years, was changed by a State charter into Marshall College. The first president of this institution was the lamented Rauch. He was also elected as second professor in the Theological Seminary, after the death of Mr. Young. During all these changes. Dr. Mayer remained steadfast at his post, until the fall of 1835, when the Synod, at its meeting in Chambersburg that year, determined to re- move her institutions to Mercersburg, and permanently locate them at that place. Not choosing to follow the Seminary to its place of final destination, chiefly on ac- count of feeble health, he resigned his professorship and remained at York. But in the fall of 1838, at the meet- ing of the Synod in Lancaster, he was again pressingly invited to take charge of the important situation made vacant by his own resignation. This invitation he ac- cepted— with the understanding, however, that the appointment should be considered only temporary. And such it was. In October, of the following year, at the meeting of the General Synod in Philadelphia, Dr. Mayer again tendered his resignation, which was ac- cepted. From that time to the day of his death he continued to reside in York, and was engaged, as far as his feeble health would permit, in preparing several important works for the press. GENERAL ESTIMATE OF HIS CHARACTER AND ABILITIES. As a preacher, Dr. Mayer was learned, able, and faithful. His sermons were well studied. He ahvays 8 LIFE OF REV. DR. MAYER. considered it due to his congregration, as well as to himself, that his preparation lor the pulpit should be the best he could make. In the early part of his ministry, it was his custom to write and commit his sermons to memory ; but in later years, his discourses were studied and preached "without being first written. His preaching generally was plain and practical, solemn and impressive. In the delivery of his sermons he was measured, earnest, and always very serious. His style was clear, chaste, popular, — often argumentative, and sometimes powerful. Possessing a remarkably clear and correct mind, he was peculiarly happy in his explancdions of the Bible, and in setting forth the true sense of Scripture. He had a taste for lecturing, and his expositions of the sacred text were generally very clear, forcible, and able. The writer remembers, that when he was a student at the Seminary in York, a noted Universalist preacher, Mr. T. F., from the eastward, visi- ted the place, and preached several sermons in the court- house, to large audiences. As some appeared to be carried away with the new and strange doctrine, which Mr. F. set forth in a most eloquent and attractive style, the students of the Seminary requested their professor to deliver a discourse in the Reformed Church, on the subject of universal salvation. He cheerfully com- plied, and selected as his text the parable of the tares, and so ably and convincingly did he discuss the subject, that Mr. F. himself seemed half convinced of the truth. On leaving the Church, he remarked to a friend of the writer, that that was the most clear and forcible ex- position of the parable he had ever heard, and pro- nounced the discourse one of uncommon ability and power. The few who at first appeared somewhat taken with the novelties of Universalism were now re-esta- blished in their faith, and Mr. F. did not fail to take LIFE OF REV. DR. MAYER. 9 the first stage that left for Philadelphia. So higli an opinion, also, had the Rev. Dr. Cathcart, of York, of the abilities of Dr. Mayer, as an expounder of the sacred volume, — for many years himself one of the most able lecturers on the Bible in the Presbyterian Church, — that, after preaching, as he did occasionally on Sabbath afternoon, to a country congregation some fifteen miles distant, he would return home to attend Dr. M.'s lecture, in the Reformed Church at night, on the holy Scriptures. This venerable and learned divine once observed to a friend, that he considered Dr. Mayer one of the ablest theologians in this country ; and this was the judgment of one who knew him long and in- timately, and who was therefore well qualified to form a correct opinion of his learning and abilities. Dr. Mayer was indeed " mighty in the Scriptures," and it might be expected, therefore, that his preaching would be of no ordinary character. But he was as faithful as he was able. He never shunned to "declare the whole counsel of God." Regarding himself as an ambassador for God, in Christ's stead, and feeling the tremendous responsibility of his high and holy oflice, " he lifted up his voice, cried aloud, and spared not." To saint and sinner, he preached as one who felt he must give account, and as one on whose faithfulness depended, in a very great measure, the salvation of those who heard him. The weight of precious souls was upon him, and he labored prayerfully and diligently, both in season and out of season, that they might be saved. As a 2mstor, Dr. Mayer is said to have been unsur- '• passed. There were none more tender, more affec- tionate,— none who better understood how to direct the penitent; to encourage the believer; to reclaim the wanderer ; to impart comfort to the tempted, the be- reaved, the afilicted, and to build up the Christian in 10 LIFE OF REV. DR. MAYER. the faith and knowledge of the Gospel. His own soul had felt so much of the preciousness of Christ and his great salvation, that he well knew how to impart to others the blessed consolations of Christianity. One who had himself, in his early experience, drunk so deeply of the cup of sorrow, and who had, in the hour of anguish and day of trouble, found peace in believing, and comfort in reposing himself on the bosom of Jesus, might well be supposed to be acquainted with the sources of relief, and to understand how to open the broad and deep channels of spiritual consolation to the broken-hearted and distressed. " He was," — says one who knew him long and well, and who was once a lead- ing elder in one of his congregations, but now a promi- nent pastor in the Reformed Church, — " He was always gi'eatly admired and much beloved as a pastor. In the discharge of the various duties of the pastoral office, none could surpass Mm. In the sick-chamber, and in the house of mourning, and in the afflicted family circle, there were none more welcome, none more useful." Feeble health and other causes often prevented him from giving such attention to pastoral visitation as he desired to give; yet still he performed a large amount of pastoral labor, in visiting the sick, in instructing the young, in comforting and edifying his flock, and in giving attention to the various and important interests of his charge. As a professor, Dr. Mayer was eminently competent. For some thirteen years, he was professor of Theology in the Seminary of the Reformed Church ; and during a part of that time he also gave instruction in the Hebrew language and Church History. And it will be conceded on all sides, that he discharged the duties of that high and responsible office with great ability and fidelity. Dr. Mayer, like many distinguished men LIFE OF REV. DR. M-W^ER. 11 of our country, was chiefly indebted to his own un- tiring industry for his ripe scholarship. He was an excellent linguist, and his acquaintance with various systems of philosophy and theology, both in this country and in Europe — in Germany especially — was very extensive. His mind was peculiarly adapted to the study of biblical antiquities, hermeneutics, exe- gesis, and didatic, polemic, and pastoral theology. In these studies he excelled — particularly theology. Few, perhaps, could surpass him in sermonizing, and in preparing or dictating sJceletons of sermons. Possessing a thoroughly disciplined and very accurate mind, and apparently at home in every department of the Holy Scriptures — conversant with the various scopes of the sacred authors, and the meaning to be attached to the words they used — it was comparatively an easy thing for him to dictate a good skeleton from the im- pulse of the occasion. If a skeleton prepared and read by a student did not please him, he would remodel it at once; and if it were too far out of the way, he would lay it aside altogether, and dictate another for him at the time. It was the custom of the class to write down the skeletons thus dictated, and in this way many of them have been preserved. To his class he always seemed well prepared on the recitation, and per- fectly at home on all the subjects claiming attention. He " studied to show himself approved unto God, a workman that needed not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." On subjects connected with personal piety he would frequently speak to the students, and embraced every fitting opportunity to give them counsel, and to urge upon them the import- ance of a prayerful and holy life. Dr. Mayer was known as a scholar, zvriter, and author. He was a close and earnest student; a deep 12 LIFE OF REV. DR. MAYER. and correct thinker; a ripe and finished theological scholar, and a clear and extensive writer. For a long time, he edited, with great acceptance, the Magazine and Messenger of the German Reformed Church, and oc- casionally furnished very ably written articles for some of the leading theological reviews at the North. Among his published works are those on the Sin against the Holy Ghost, and Lectures on Bcriptiiral Subjects; and among his unpublished manuscripts there is an exten- sive treatise on Theology, another on Hermeneutics and Exegesis, and his History of the German Reformed Church, — the first volume of which is now given to the public. But it is peculiarly pleasant to contemplate Dr. Mayer in the light of a Christian. In early life he sought and found the Saviour, He entered into a solemn covenant with the Lord, to obey his will and to be his faithful and willing servant for ever. He un- alterably dedicated himself to his service, and througli- out life he was a most consistent and exemplary Christian. Free from all ostentation and pride, from all vanity and lightness of manner, he walked humbly and prayerfully before the Lord, and endeavored to perfect holiness in the fear of God. During an inti- mate acquaintance with him of eighteen years, the writer never knew him to indulge in any light-minded- ness, or in any trifling behaviour whatever. He was indeed remarkable for his correct Christian deportment, and for his holy walk and conversation. Religion with him was not merely a name ; it entered deeply into all his thoughts and feelings — subdued and controlled his will — swayed his judgment, and gave tone and character to all his words and actions. His piety was of a serious, modest, retiring character, — yet withal it was earnest and decided. He seemed to live in God and God in LIFE OF REV. DR. MAYER. 13 him. The doctrines of grace, of free grace, were always delightfully jDrecious doctrines to him, and he loved to speak about them and to dwell upon them. The righteousness of Christ was his righteousness. He felt that Jesus had died for him, and could truly say— "Jesus, my Shepherd, Husband, Friend, My Prophet, Priest, and King, My Lord, my Life, my Way, my End, Accept the praise I bring." With St. Paul, he gloried in the cross of Christ, and in that only. In puhlic life, Dr. Mayer was prominent, and shared largely in the respect and confidence of all who knew him. He was honored again and again with important appointments and stations, and for many years was a leading member of the Synod of his Church. He had great influence in the Church, and he did not fail to exert it in behalf of her institutions, and in the promo- tion of her best interests. To the cause of Christ, in general, he was strongly attached ; and the friends of religion everywhere found in him a ready and able advocate of all good things. With a mind deeply imbued with the spirit of his divine Lord, and a heart warmed and swayed by his love, he took an active part in promoting genuine revivals of religion, and in building up the interests of Christ's kingdom in the world. In all his private relations, also, he exhibited those virtues and graces which adorn the Christian character and life. As to his personal appearance, Dr. Mayer was of medium size. He did not measure more than five feet eight inches in height, and his frame was slender and erect. His forehead was very high, and indicated great intellectual strength, as may be seen by an examina- 14 LIFE OF REV. DR. MATER. tion of the engraving prefixed to this memoir. His eye was very keen and penetrating, and his whole appear- ance commanded reverence and respect. In his dress, he was plain and very neat. His utterance was easy, but not rapid, and his gait rather slow. He was very regular in his habits, and remarkably systematic and precise in what he did. In all things he was a man of order, and observed great regularity and punctuality in all his business transactions. In his intercourse with others, he was gentlemanly and kind. His manners were always pleasant and agreeable, though somewhat reserved in the company of strangers. Dr. Mayer was twice married ; the first time, during his residence at Shepherdstown ; the second time, during his residence at Carlisle. By his first marriage he had six children, three of whom are living, and one of them, a son, John L. Mayer, Esq., is an eminent lawyer, in York. By his second marriage he had no children. His first wife Avas Catherine Line, the daughter of the late John Line, of Shepherdstown; and his second wife was Mary Smith, of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, who survives him. HIS illness and death. Dr. Mayer did not enjoy good health for many years. He was always, indeed, more or less feeble in bodily vigor; and yet, as a preacher, pastor, professor, and author, he accomphshed a great deal. Like Baxter and others, affliction did not prevent him from being abundant in labors. But, for the last several years of his life, he was not able to accomplish much, on account of his fast-declining health. During the summer of 1849, the dysentery prevailed in York, in the form of an epidemic, and among others whom it attacked was LIFE OF REV. DR. MAYER. 15 the subject of this notice. The disease, from the first, was violent, baffling the best medical skill, and leaving little or no hope for his recovery. Kind friends tele- graphed the writer of his illness, and he hastened to his bedside, to bid him a last adieu. He found him in fierce conflict with the last enemy, and rapidly sinking into his cold embrace. The power of sight, of hearing, and of utterance had failed him, and his physicians said he could not survive till morning. His pulse beat fainter and fainter, and, ere the sun arose, the great and good man had passed away. That which remained was cold and mortal. He died, surrounded by his family and friends, on the 25th of August, 1849, aged sixty-six years, four months, and twenty-nine days. On Monday afternoon, the 27th of August, his remains were followed to the grave by a large concourse of people, and were interred in the cemetery adjoining the Reformed Church in York, and near the grave of the lamented Cares. An address was delivered, on the mournful occasion, by the writer, and prayers off'ered by the Rev. Mr. Emerson, of the Presbyterian Church. The announcement of the death of one so well and so favorably known awakened feelings of deep sorrow and profound regret throughout the whole Church. All felt that a great, and good, and very useful man in Israel had faUen, and that, too, before some of his most important labors on earth were finished. The Master called him home much sooner than the Church had hoped. But even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight. THE HISTORY OF THE §mum txdmiA Cjitirrjj, IN ITS ORIGIN AND PROGRESS. INTRODUCTION. The title Reformed Church, in its most comprehensive sense, designates all those professing Christians, who, em- bracing the general system of doctrine which was taught by the Reformers, have rejected Luther's theory of a corporeal presence of Christ in the elements of the Lord's supper, and hold, in this particular, the belief of Zwingle, or that of Calvin. These Christians constitute several distinct com- munities, each of which has its particular bond of union, and diflfers from every other in some peculiarities which are sometimes of no little importance. They agree in few things about which they differ from Luther and his folloAvers, except in their view of the Lord's supper. These communities are therefore so many distinct churches, and, instead of calling them the Reformed Church, we must call them the Reformed Churches. The title Reformed was first assumed in France, by those who separated from the Romish communion, and was adoj^ted from them by their brethren in Switzerland, Germany, Hoi land, &c. In England, it is used to denote all the churches which have embraced the doctrines of the Reformation, and thus includes the Lutheran. On the continent, it is the b2 3 17 18 HISTORY OF THE distinctive title of those Protestant communities whicli are not Lutheran, exclusive of Socinians and Anabaptists. The French Protestants were, by their adversaries, called Huguenots. The derivation of this term is somewhat un- certain. It is, however, very probable that it originated in 'a corrupt French pronunciation of the German word JEidgenoss, softened into Mdgenott, and then corrupted into Suquenot. The word Eidgenoss, in its plural JEidgenossen, signifying confederates, or rather j^artaJcers of the oath, was ori finally the designation of the thirty-three Swiss confede- rates, who, in the night of the seventh of November, 1307, bound themselves by a solemn oath to defend the liberties of their country against the Emperor Albert I. It became, subsequently, the distinctive title of the confederated can- tons which were parties to a perpetual league for the com- mon defence and safety, and, in common parlance, was used to denote the people of those cantons individually. In Germany, the Reformed were denominated, by their opponents, Zwinglians and Calvinists, and, in derision, Sac- ramentarians. English writers speak of the two principal Protestant denominations on the continent as the Lutheran church and the Calvinistic church. This, however, is an erroneous distinction. The Reformed churches on the con- tinent are not all Calvinistic. In some parts of Crermany they never received Calvin's doctrine of unconditional elec- tion and reprobation ; and the writer is not aware that it is, at this time, made a term of communion anywhere in the Reformed church of that country. This doctrine, which constitutes the principal feature of the system to which the name Calvinism is given, was taught in the Christian church long before Calvin, has always had adherents Avho were not in connection Avith the Reformed church, and was held by Luther, Melancthon, &c. themselves. The term Zwinglians, is equally inappropriate. Zwingle held some opinions, both in doctrine and church-government, which were at no time generally received in the Reformed church, and in some of which he had few followers even in his own country. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 19 As members of the Reforaied church ^ve are not pledged to receive and defend the system either of Calvin or of Zwingle, or of any other man, except so far as it is in accord- ance with the Holy Scriptures. We acknowledge no master on earth : one is our master, even Christ. To his authority we submit with humble and cheerful acquiescence : we sit at his feet in the character of learners, and receive his in- structions as the teaching of God. He only is the Lord of conscience, and only his decision can limit the right of pri- vate judgment, and the freedom of inquiry. The memory of those great men who were instrumental in restoring the light of truth and the blessings of religious liberty, is justly held in high veneration, and their faults are forgotten in the grate- ful remembrance of the benefits which they have conferred ; but we do not forget that they were fallible men, and that God never could design to liberate us from the domination of one earthly master that we might be subjected to that of another. The principal divisions of the Reformed church are the Helvetic or Swiss Reformed, the German Reformed, the French Reformed, the Dutch Reformed, and the English Reformed. The Waldenses and the Bohemian brethren are of the Reformed persuasion ; and there are also many Re- formed churches in Hungary, Poland, Transylvania, and other countries of Europe. The Reformed churches of Swit- zerland and of Crermany may be taken as one, and comprised under the general designation of German Reformed, inas- much as they use the same language, and dijGfer in nothing that is of importance. The English Reformed church is subdivided into the Epis- copal, the Presbyterian, and the Congregational or Indepen- dent, which have embraced different theories of church-govern- ment. Dr. Mosheim, in his Ecclesiastical History, speaking of the state of the Reformed church in the eighteenth century, says, " The church of England is now the chief and leading branchof that great community that goes under the denomina- tion of the Reformed church." He means the established 20 HISTORY OF THE church oiJEnglmid, which is the Episcopal. This representation differs widely from the impressions which are common in this country. It is imagined here, that the two great English churches, the Episcopal and the Presbyterian, must corre- spond to the two great German churches, the Lutheran and the Reformed ; and it is common to speak of the Episcopal church as the English Lutheran, and of the German Re- formed as the German Presbyterian. This is an error which ouo'ht to be avoided. The Episcopal church, which disallows the ordination of all other churches that are not governed by bishops, and, so far as the rigid party in it are concerned, does not allow that they are Christian churches at all, differs more from the Lutheran church than the Lutheran differs from any other of the Reformed churches. Though the Presby- terian church and the German Reformed are both members of the same family, they are not one and the same member, any more than is the Episcopal or the Congregational. The difference of language is not the only difference, nor the most important one, subsisting between them. The German Re- formed church is governed by Elders and Deacons,* both of which are elected for limited periods ; the Presbyterian church is governed by Elders only, and these are chosen and or- dained for life. The Reformed church observes the festivals of Christmas, Good-Friday, Easter, Ascension, and Whit- suntide, in commemoration of the birth, the passion, the resurrection, and the ascension of Christ, and of the descent of the Holy Ghost upon the Apostles ; the Presbyterian re- jects all holy-days, except the Lord's day, on the ground that all others are of human appointment, and thus disallows the principle, which other Christians hold, that the church itself may set apart sacred seasons for the purpose of particularly commemorating the great leading facts of the Christian his- tory, and contemplating the manifestations which they give of the riches of divine grace in our redemption. The German Reformed church, like the Lutheran, considers the Lord's * In Switzerland it has neither lay-elders nor deacons. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 21 day a sacred season, set apart for the performance of the ordinary public worship of God, and deriving all its sacredness from the service to which it is appointed ; the Presbyterian regards the day as intrinsically holy. Presbyterians consider it the sabbath enjoined by the fourth commandment, but modified by our Lord as to the day and the penalty of its violation, and derive its sanctity from the fact that the seventh day is the day of God's resting from all his work. The Reformed church admits the use of a liturgy in the worship of God and the administration of the sacraments ; the Pres- byterian rejects all set forms in its sacred ministrations, as inconsistent with the spirituality and the freedom of Christian worship. The Presbyterian church is strictly Calvinistic in her creed, and pronounces Arminianism, and all approaches to it, heresy, which it refuses to tolerate in its communion ; the German Reformed church indulges greater liberty of con- science to her members, and cherishes equally the Calvinist and the Arminian in her bosom. There is, therefore, as much difference, and of as much importance, between, the German Reformed church and the Presbyterian church, as there is between any two other Protestant churches, except, in some respects, the Episcopalian ; and it is consequently a great mistake to imagine that the languages which they use consti- tute all the difference between them. The terms Episcopal, or Episcopalian, Presbyterian, and Congregational, have respect to the form of church-govern- ment in the several churches to which these designations are respectively given. Episcopal, from the Greek JEjnscopos, a bishop, denotes a government of the church by bishops, in the modern sense of this title. In this sense the bishop is the head of a diocess, and has under his jurisdiction two other orders of inferior clergy, namely, the order of priests, and, below this, the order of deacons. Each of these orders has its appropriate functions, and all are subject to the bishop's directions. Presbyterian, from the Greek Preshyteros, an elder, designates a government of the church by elders. (These are preaching elders or ministers of the word, and ruling 22 HISTORY OF THE elders.) They constitute the several judicatories by which the church is governed, which are essentially the Session and the Presbytery. The session consists of the minister and the elders of a particular congregation. It manages the internal concerns of the congregation ; but an appeal may be taken from its decision to the Presbytery. A Presbytery is com- posed of the minister and an elder from each of the congre- gations within certain bounds: it administers the external relations of the congregations within its bounds, and has an appellate jurisdiction in matters of internal interest. A Sy- nod is an assemblage of several Presbyteries. The General Assembly is a delegated body composed of the representatives of all the Presbyteries, and deriving all its authority from them. An appeal can be taken from the Presbytery to the Synod, and from the Synod to the General Assembly, which is the court of final judicature : but neither the Synod nor the Assembly is essential to Presbyterianism. Congregational denotes a form of government which considers each particular congregatioa a perfect and independent community within itself. " Every Christian society formed upon the congrega- tional plan is strictly independent of every other religious society." It transacts all its own affairs, decides every ques- tion without appeal, and acknowledges no binding authority in the decisions of any number of congregations acting by delegates in an associated capacity. The German Reformed church differs from all these. She is essentially Presbyterian in her church-government, as she holds the principle of the parity of all ordained ministers ; but the form of her government is not in all respects the same . as that of the Presbyterian church ; neither do her judica- tories possess the same coercive power. The Dutch Reformed church is, in this respect, more like the Presbyterian ; the German Reformed more like the Lutheran. " The nature and constitution of the Reformed church," says Dr. Mosheim, " which was formerly denominated by its adversaries after its founders Zwingle and Calvin, is entirely different from all other ecclesiastical communities. Every GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 28 other Christian church has some common centre of union, and its members are connected together by some common bond of doctrine and discipline. But this is far from being the case of the Reformed church, whose several branches are neither united by the same system of doctrine, nor by the same mode of worship, nor yet by the same form of government. It is farther to be observed, that this church does not require from its ministers either uniformity in their private sentiments, or in their public doctrine; but permits them to explain in dif- ferent ways several doctrines of no small- moment, provided that the great and fundamental principles of Christianity, and the practical precepts of that divine religion, be maintained in their original purity. This great community, therefore, may be properly considered as an ecclesiastical body composed of several churches, that vary, more or less, from each other in their form and constitution ; but which arc preserved, how- ever, from anarchy and schisms, by a general spirit of equity and toleration, that runs through the whole system, and ren- ders variety of opinion contjfstent with fraternal union." "This indeed," the same author continues, "was not the original state and constitution of the Reformed church, but was the result of a certain combination of events and circum- stances, that threw it, by a sort of necessity, into this ambi- guous form. The doctors of Sivitzerlajid, from whom it derived its origin, and Calvin, who was one of its principal founders, employed all their credit, and exerted their most vigo- rous efforts, in order to reduce all the churches which em- braced their sentiments, under one rule of faith, and the same form of ecclesiastical government. And, although they con- sidered the Lutherans as their brethren, yet they showed no marks of indulgence to those who openly favored the opinions of Luther concerning the EucJiarist, the Person of Christ, Predestination, and other matters that were connected with these doctrines ; nor would they permit the other Protestant churches, that embraced their communion, to deviate from their example in this respect. A new scene, hoAvever, which was exhibited in Britain, contributed much to enlarge this 24 HISTORY OF THE narrow and contracted system of clmrcli communion. For when the violent contest concerning the form of ecclesiastical government, and the nature and number of those rites and ceremonies that were proper to be admitted into the public worship, arose, between the abettors of Episcopacy and the Puritans, it was judged necessary to extend the borders of the Reformed church, and rank in the class of its true mem- bers even those who departed, in some respects, from the ecclesiastical polity and doctrines established at Geneva. This spirit of toleration and indulgence grew still more for- bearino- and comprehensive after the famous Synod of Dort. For, though the sentiments and doctrines of the Arminians were condemned in that numerous assembly, yet they gained ground privately, and insinuated themselves into the minds of many. The church of England, under the reign of Charles I., publicly renounced the opinions of Calvin relating to the divine decrees, and made several tttempts to model its doc- trines and institutions after the laws, tenets, and customs that were observed by the prinjitive Christians. On the other hand, several Lutheran co jgregations in Crermany en- tertained a strong propensity to the doctrines and discipline of the church of Creneva ; though they were restrained from declaring themselves fully and openly on this head, by their apprehensions of forfeiting the privileges they derived from their adherence to the Confession of Augsburg. The French refugees also, who had long been accustomed to a moderate way of thinking in religious matters, and whose national turn led them to a certain freedom of inquiry, being dispersed abroad in all parts of the Protestant world, rendered them- selves so agreeable by their wit and eloquence, that their exam- ple excited a kind of emulation in favor of religious liberty. All these circumstances, accompanied with others whose influ- ence was less palpable, though equally real, instilled, by de- grees, such a spirit of lenity and forbearance into the minds of Protestants, that at this day, all Christians, if we except Roman Catholics, Socinians, Quakers, and Anabaptists, may claim a place among the members of the Reformed church. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 25 It is true, great reluctance was discovered by many against this comprehensive scheme of church-communion ; and, even in the times in which we live, the ancient and less charitable manner of proceeding hath several patrons, who would be glad to see the doctrines and institutions of Calvin universally adopted, and rigorously observed. The number, however, of these rigid doctors is not very great, nor is their influence considerable. And it may be affirmed with truth, that, both in point of number and authority, they are much inferior to the friends of moderation, who reduce within a narrow com- pass the fundamental doctrines of Christianity on the belief of which salvation depends, exercise forbearance and fraternal charity towards those who explain certain doctrines in a man- ner peculiar to themselves, and desire to see the enclosure (if I may use that expression) of the Reformed church rendered as large and comprehensive as possible." What this learned writer says of the Reformed church col- lectively is not equally applicable to all the several commu- nities that are comprehended in it, nor of all the same com- munities in every period of their existence. These different communities have but little connection with one another ; and their agreement on those points in which they differ from the Roman Catholics, or from the Lutherans, cannot prevent their disagreement about some other things which, in their estimation, are of equal or of greater moment : nei- ther can it wholly prevent the indulgence of those feelings which controversy among themselves has a tendency to excite and to nourish. But, upon the whole, and as applied to the Reformed church in general, the author's remarks are just ; and as far as they are just, they do it great honor. It is only to be regretted that they are not applicable without^ modification, or without exception : for nothing, certainly, can be more in unison with the spirit of the Gospel, and with the mind of its divine author, than that, as we cannot all agree about every shade of doctrine and of worship, we should agree to differ without an interruption of fraternal harmony and of Christian love. C 4 26 HISTORY OF THE The remark of Dr. Moshcim, that the Reformed showed no marks of indulgence to those who openly favored the sen- timents of Luther concerning the eucharist, the person of Christ, or predestination, implies that Luther did not hold the doctrine of predestination, and that it was exclusively a doc- trine of the Reformed church. This is incorrect. Luther held the doctrine of predestination as rigidly as Zwingle or Calvin. There was no controversy on this point between the reformers, nor between the two churches for some time after Luther's death. In departing from this doctrine, the Lu- theran church became a follower, not of Luther, but of INIelanc- thon, who himself had been, for many years, a strenuous predestinarian. Another remark, that the church of England, under the reign of Charles L, publicly renounced the doctrine of Calvin concerning the divine decrees, is also inaccurate. " Though many members of that church, with Archbishop Laud at their head, taught the doctrines of Arminius, and propagated them in that reign, there was no public act of the church by which it renounced the sentiments of Calvin, and adopted those of Arminius."* A complete separate history of the Reformed church has not yet been published. It was undertaken by Abraham Schultet, of the Palatinate, and brought down as far as his own time, in his Annales Evangelii Renovati, the greater part of which is lost. Among the works which have appeared in this department of literature, are the following : Histoire de la Religion des Eglises Reformdes depuis Jesus Christ jusq'a present, par Mons. J. Basnage. 2 vols. 4to, 1721. " This work is not a regular history of the Reformed church, but is designed only to show that the peculiar doc- trines of this church were not new, but Avere taught and pro- fessed in the earliest ages of Christianity." Histoire Ecclesiastique des Eglises Reformdes au Royaume de France, depuis I'an 1521, jusq'en I'ann^e 1563. 3 vols. * Maclaine's Mosheim. GEKMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 27 8vo. By Theodore Beza, the successox' of Calvin at Geneva, and N. Galassius. Histoh'e de I'Edit de Nantes. By L. Benoist, preacher of the Walloon church, in Delft, 5 vols. 4to. This work em- braces the whole Reformed church from 1520 to 1586. J. H. Hettinger Historia Ecclesiastica, Part IX. — J. J. Hettinger's Helvetische Kirchen-Geschichte, 3 vols. 4to. Theil III., which brings the history of the Swiss church to the year 1700. — Abraham Ruchat Histoire de la Reformation de la Swisse, 6 vols. 12mo. i Neuere Helvetische Kirchen-Geschichte von der Reforma- tion biss auf unsere Zeit, von Ludwig Wirz ; fortgesetzt von Melchior Kirchhofer, 2 vols. Svo. 1816-19. This is the fourth and fifth volume of a larger work entitled Helvetische Kirchen-Geschichte, von Lud. "Wirz, in 5 vols. The history is brought only to the year 1522. Ursprung, Gang, and Folgen der von Ulrich Zwingli in Zurich bewirkten Glaubens-Verbesserung und Reformation. Von Solomon Hess, Zurich, 1819, 4to. Schicksale der Protestanten in Frankreich, von Ram- bach, 2 vols. 8vo., Halle 1795. Historische Nachricht von dem ersten Anfang der Evan- gelish Reformirten Kirche in Brandenburg und Preussen, &c. Von D. H. Hering. Besides these, many other Avorks containing portions of the history of the Reformed church in Great Britain, the Nether- lands, and the several German states, have been published. A brief general account of the Reformed church is contained in the several works of general ecclesiastical history which have been written ; and many notices of it are interspersed in the civil history of the several countries in which it is pro- fessed. THE STATE OF THE CHURCH PRIOR TO \t lUfarmation, About the time of the Reformation the state of the church and of religion presented to the pious and thoughtful observer a melancholy and discouraging aspect ; not for any want of external pomp and splendor in the established Avorship, or in the form and condition of the hierarchy ; but for the almost total absence of Christian knowledge, piety, and virtue. Cor- ruptions of the most repulsive character prevailed amongst all classes of men, both of the clergy and the people, not ex- cepting the high dignitaries of the church, nor its supreme head himself, who bore the title of " The Holy Father," and was esteemed the Vicegerent of God on earth. When Leo X. succeeded to the Papal see, the Roman church had attained to that lofty height of power and of glory to which Gregory VH. had labored so assiduously to elevate it, but which he had scarcely hoped to reach. Under the reign of his prede- cessor, Julius II., the council of J'isa, which had been called by the Emperor and the King of France, for the purpose of reforming the church, and of setting bounds to the arrogance of the lordly pontiffs, was given to the winds ; and another council assembled in the Lateran by Julius himself, and numerously attended from all parts oi Europe, ■w?^^ submissive at his feet, and ready to decree whatever he might choose to dictate. Leo saw the greater part of the Christian world bowed down under the Papal yoke ; and emboldened by the almost universal acquiescence in his high pretensions, and the awe which his mysterious power inspired, resolved to suffer no restrictions, and to govern the church agreeably 28 GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 29 to his own pleasure. Scarcely did any venture to declare themselves openly against him. The followers of Huss and of Jerome of Prague were subdued, and dared to speak their sentiments only in whispers among themselves. The Waldenses in the valleys of Piedmont were well-nigh exter- minated : the few that remained lived in the greatest poverty, disheartened by their weakness, and hoped only to preserve to their posterity, in the obscure corner which remained to them, the precious truth which was their own consolation in their distress. If any lifted up their voice and cried against the disorders of the church and the corruptions that prevailed in high places, the pope could look down upon them from his high eminence in proud derision, and laugh to scorn their feeble and vain attempts to make an impression upon his throne, or to interfere with his purpose of ambition or of pleasure. In the western church the temporal power was chiefly in the hands of Austria and France^ and the rulers of these formidable empires, in their fierce contests with one another, vied with each other for the friendship of the pope, as often as they needed it, leaving neither flatteries nor favors untried to secure his alliance. He was, indeed, often the master-spirit who inveigled them into his plans. Three cen- turies earlier, Gregory VII. beheld the German Emperor prostrate before him as an imploring penitent; and that emperor's son and successor could only obtain upon his knees another pope's permission, after five years' delay, to bury the corpse of his father who had died under the haughty prelate's ban! The pope claimed authority from heaven to dispose of states and kingdoms at his pleasure, to dissolve the obligation of oaths and of solemn treaties, to lay whole countries under an interdict, — shutting up their churches, suspending all the ministrations of religion, and forbidding the burial of the dead, — to forgive sins or to retain them, to open the gate of heaven or to shut it, to deliver souls from the horrible pains of purgatory or to leave them there, and to bind the con- sciences of all men by his decisions in matters of faith and c2 30 HISTORY OF THE practice. A numerous body of clergy, in every Christian country, were prepared to second these arrogant pretensions. Every part of Christendom abounded with priests and monks who, forbidden by the laws of the church to enter into the bonds of wedlock, could not legally become heads of families, and sustain the relations of husband and father. They had, therefore, no domestic duties to perform, no families to pro- vide for, and no interest apart from that of their order, and were unconnected, as far as it was possible, with the com- munity in which they lived. The personal interest of each was identified with that of the body to which he belonged, and of the pope, as the common head, whose will governed and whose power protected them. The holy father used them, not to instruct the people in the knowledge of God and to edify them unto eternal life by their ministry, but for another purpose which he valued more : for the purpose of putting the whole Christian world under his feet, and keeping it there. They were found in every court, in every public institution, and in every family ; they were there as the confessors and spiritual guides both of the people and of their rulers, and as the ministers and emissaries of the pope ; and by the con- fessions which they exacted, and which they represented as essential to salvation, they possessed themselves of the secrets of every heart, and subjected every individual to their power. The clergy were possessed of immense wealth, which had accumulated in the lapse of ages, by the endowment of churches and monasteries, through the mistaken piety of the times. About one-half of the landed estates were in their hands : they rolled in wealth while the people were poor, and indulged in voluptuous living while their flocks were left to want. They were free from ordinary taxation, and exempted from the jurisdiction of the civil rulers. For violations of the laws of the state, as well as for transgressions of the laws of the church, they were amenable to none but the ecclesi- astical courts : and by these they were usually treated with the utmost lenity for civil offences, however severely they might be punished for sins against the church. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 31 The manners of the sacred order, with here and there an honorable exception, were deplorably corrupt. Few of the popes themselves, notwithstanding their high-sounding title of 3Iost Holy, could claim an exemption from this charge ; and many of them were examples of most abandoned vicious- ness. "Alexander VI., who occupied the chair of St. Peter at the beginning of the sixteenth century, was a wretch," says Mosheim, " whom humanity disowns, and who is rather to be considered as a monster than as a man ; whose deeds excite horror, and whose enormities place him among the most exe- crable tyrants of ancient times. His successor, Julius II., dishonored the pontificate with the most odious list of vices ; to which we may add the most savage ferocity, the most auda- cious arrogance, the most despotic vehemence of temper, and the most extravagant and frantic passion for war and blood- shed." \Leo X., who presided in the papal see at the com- mencement of the Reformation, was, indeed, of a milder dis- position than his predecessors, a man of learning, and a patron of learned men ; but he was equally indifferent to the interests of true piety, devoted himself to pleasure and the pursuits of ambition, and, like all that had preceded him, made the opu- lence and grandeur of the Roman see the paramount object of his care. It had become essential, indeed, to the stability and glory of the pontificate, that a pope should be sagacious, firm, and bold, rather than honest and pure. Adrian VI., the successor of Leo, was rewarded with hatred, opposition, and an early death, for his sincere attempts at a reformation of the church, and his honest confession of its necessity in his letter to the German diet ; and with reference to him Pala- vicini, quoted by Gieseler, says, "It is found by experience that not only the Roman pontificate, but even the government of an ordinary religious order, however simple an^ rigid its rule may be, is better administered by one who is endowed with moderate honesty joined with superior sagacity, than by one possessing holiness united with moderate sagacity. For which reason, in order that sanctity itself may be maintained 32 HISTORY OP THE among the people, it is not so much holiness as sagacity that is important."* " The licentious example of the pontiffs," says Mosheim, "were imitated in the lives and manners of the subordinate rulers and ministers of the church. The greatest part of the bishops and canons passed their days in dissolute mirth and luxury, and squandered away, in the gratification of their lusts and passions, the wealth that had been set apart for religious and charitable purposes. Nor were they less tyrannical than voluptuous : for the most despotic princes never treated their vassals with more rigor and severity, than these ghostly rulers employed toward those who were under their jurisdiction." The monastic orders were in no respect better than the secular clergy. "They did not take the least pains," says the same author, " to preserve any remains of even the exter- nal air of decency and religion that used to distinguish them in former times. The Benedictine and the other monkish fraternities, who were invested with the privilege of possessing certain lands and revenues, broke through all restraint, made the worst possible use of their opulence, and, forgetful of the gravity of their character and of the laws of their order, rushed headlong into the shameless practice of vice, in all its various kinds and degrees. On the other hand, the mendicant orders, and especially those who followed the rule of St. Domi- nic and St. Francis, though they were not carried away with the torrent of licentiousness that was overwhelming the church, yet they lost their credit in a different way; for their rustic impudence, their ridiculous superstitions, their ignorance, cruelty, and brutish manners, alienated from them the minds of the people, and diminished their reputation from day to day. They had the most barbarous aversion to the arts and sciences, and expressed a like abhorrence of certain eminent and learned men, who endeavored to open the paths of science to the studious youth, recommended the culture of the mind, and attacked the barbarism of the age in their writino;s and their discourse." * Gieseler's Lchrbucli der Kirch, Gescli. Bd. 3, Th. 1, s. 118 n. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 33 It was very natural that this decline of virtue in the clergy should be followed by the loss of public esteem, and that by such vices they should become infamous and contemptible, not only in the estimation of the wise and good, but in the judgment even of the multitude. The people, however, dis- tinguished between the institutions of religion and their unwor- thy incumbents; and while they looked upon the latter with abhorrence, they still regarded the former with the utmost veneration. They were conscious still of their need of religion to give peace to their troubled minds ; but what that religion was which they needed, they knew not : ignorant of its nature, they mistook for it the external forms to which they had been accustomed, and expected from these a saving effect. But these forms were in the power of the clergy, and inseparable from their ministrations ; confessions could not be made, abso- lutions could not be given, masses could not be said, nor could any of the ceremonies of religion be rightly performed without the priest ; the priest, therefore, held in his hands the keys of heaven and hell ; and without him there Avas no salvation. Hence these profligate ecclesiastics were still chosen as father confessors and spiritual guides, by people of all classes, who confessed their sins to them, received absolution from them, and paid them to say masses for their souls, and for the souls of their friends in purgatory ; and such was the superstitious veneration for the monastic institution, notwithstanding the scandalous lives of the monks, that persons even of the higher ranks, and those of princely dignity, hoped to secure their salvation by ending their days in a convent ; and others, tor- tured by a guilty conscience, when they felt the approach of death, put on the habit of a monk, that they might die in it, and thus have a safe passage to heaven ! The state of religious knowledge among the clergy was as deplorable as their morals. The Eible was to them a strange book. When Luther arose in Crermany, there was none among the theological doctors that could dispute with him on scriptural grounds; and when the magistrates oi Beni had invited the bishops of that country to participate in a religious 5 34 HISTORY OF THE discussion in their city, either in person or by their learned divines, these dignitaries declined the invitation, and the bishop of Lausanne assigned as a reason, that he had no ecclesiastics -who were so conversant with the Scriptures as to be able to investigate religious questions.* The teachers of religion knew almost nothing of the doctrine of Christ and his apostles. It sometimes occurred even that a priest did' not know the apostles' creed, and there was a necessity of enjoin- ing upon bishops the duty of seeing that a priest should at least be familiar with that symbol.f "The public worship of God," says Mosheim, "was now no more than a pompous round of external ceremonies, the greatest part of which were insignificant and senseless, and much more adapted to dazzle the eyes than to touch the heart. The number of those who were at all qualified to administer in- struction to the people was not very considerable ; and their discourses, which contained little else than fictitious reports, miracles and prodigies, insipid fables, wretched quibbles, and illiterate jargon, deceived the multitude instead of instructing them. Several of these discourses are yet extant, which it is impossible to read without the highest indignation and con- tempt. Those who, on account of their gravity of manners, or their supposed superiority in point of wisdom and know- ledge, held the most distinguished rank among these vain declaimers, had a commonplace set of subjects allotted to them, on which they were constantly exercising the force of their lungs and the power of their eloquence. These subjects were, the power of the holy mother church, and the obligation of obedience to her decision ; the virtues and merits of the saints, and their credit in the court of heaven ; the dignity, glory, and love of the blessed'virgin ; the efficacy of relics ; the duty of adorning churches and endowing monasteries ; the necessity of good works to salvation, as that phrase was understood ; the intolerable burnings of purgatory, and the utility of indulgences. Such were the subjects that employed * Schroeck's Kirch. Gesch. seit der Reformation, Bd. 2, s. 147. ■j- Neudecker's Lexicon der Kirch. Gesch. Art. Geistlichkeit. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 85 tlic zeal and labors of the most eminent doctors of this cen- tury: and they were, indeed, the only subjects that could tend to fill the coffers of good old mother church and advance her temporal interests." None, it seems, thought of preach- ing Christ as the only ground of a sinner's hope ; none taught the doctrines of atonement by his death, of faith in him, of the forgiveness of sins by the free grace of God, of regeneration by the Holy Spirit, and of the necessity of internal holiness, as the divine oracles contain them. Preachers who inculcated these doctrines would, indeed, have edified their hearers and promoted the cause of true piety and virtue among the people ; but they would have been very unprofitable servants to the church and the papacy, whose object was the stability of their power and the increase of their wealth. Such being the character of the ministry in the church, the state of religion and morals among the people could not be otherwise than extremely wretched. The grossest ignorance of religion, the vilest superstition, and the most disgusting immoralities prevailed among all classes and orders of men. True Christian piety had no existence, or was to be found only in obscure retirements, blended, wherever it appeared, with more or less of the superstition of the age. The clergy showed no disposition to effect a change of this lamentable state of things. Destitute of true piety themselves, ignorant of its nature and value, and intent only on their own aggran- dizement, and the gratification of their passions, they saw their interest rather in countenancing the reign of ignorance, superstition, and vice, than in resisting it : "For the prudence of the church had easily foreseen," says Mosheim, " that the trafiic in indulgences could not but suffer from a diminution of the vices and crimes of mankind ; and that, in proportion as virtue gained an ascendant upon the manners of the multi- tude, the profits arising from expiations, satisfactions, and such like ecclesiastical contrivances, must necessarily cease." The character of a good Christian, drawn by St. Eligius, or Eloi, bishop of Noyon in France^ in the seventh century, will shoAv what was the idea of Christian piety which the people 86 HISTORY OF THE were taught to entertain, and the model after which they were exhorted to aspire, in his time : and there was no improve- ment upon this conception at the period of the Reformation : "He is a good Christian," says Eligius, "who comes fre- quently to church, and presents the oblation which is ofifered to God upon the altar ; who does not taste of his fruits until he has first offered a part to God ; who, as often as the sacred festivals approach, lives chastely for some days previously, even with his own wife, that he may come to the altar of the Lord with a safe conscience ; who, finally, can repeat the creed, or the Lord's prayer. Redeem your souls from punish- ment while you have the means in your power ; offer to the church oblations and tythes ; light candles in holy places as you can afford; — come more frequently to church; humbly entreat the patronage of the saints ; — which being observed, you may come safely before the tribunal of the Eternal on the day of judgment, and say. Give, Lord, because we have given."* If such was the instruction of a bishop, and a saint, whom the church of Rome honors with religious veneration, that of the common order of the priesthood was surely no bet- ter ; and the piety of the people would doubtless not exceed the standard which so holy a spiritual father proposed as the full measure of Christian virtue. The condition of the church was therefore as wretched as human depravity, unchecked by the light of true Christianity, could make it. In this miserable state of things, however, the moral sensibilities of human nature, though seriously dimi- nished, were not obliterated or destroyed. Enough was still left to apprize mankind that the manners of the times were not in accordance with the will of God ; that there was wrong and sin in the universal corruption of morals, and, especially, in the vices and tyranny of the clergy ; and the necessity of a change for the better was everywhere acknowledged, and a speedy reformation loudly demanded. But none seemed to know where to find the root of the evil. A reformation was * Mosheim's Eccles. History, cent. vii. cli. 3, note x. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 37 desired by the people and by their rulers, as they expressed themselves, in the head and in the members; by which they understood a reform in the lives and manners of the pope and his clergy ; but few thought of a reformation of the doctrine and worship of the church, and of the constitution and form of her ministry. The church was esteemed infallible ; the pope was acknowledged as her visible head and the vicegerent of Christ upon earth, and the title of the clergy to the authority and the prerogatives which they enjoyed was scarcely ques- tioned. Those, therefore, who demanded a reformation, had no thought of disturbing the faith or the ceremonies which the church had sarnctioned, nor of changing the established hie- rarchy, but wished only to have the disgusting scandals of clerical iniquity purged away, the pride, insolence, avarice, ambition, and lewdness of the clergy restrained, the insup- portable yoke of their tyranny broken, and a faithful per- formance of their sacred functions secured. Neither did they think of undertaking this reformation themselves : they sought it from the pope and the superior clergy, or from a general council, to whom alone, it was conceded, the right belonged to sit in judgment upon the sacred order, and who alone would express the judgment of the infallible church. At a later period, when the light had begun to shine amidst the darkness, the true source of all the evil that oppressed the church was seen ; but even Luther did not see it, when he first arose to bear testimony against the abuse of indulgences. A reformation of the church was demanded in vain, as lonsr as it was expected from her spiritual rulers, whose interest required that things should remain as they were, and who hated nothing so much as a change. Little was to be expected from the secular powers, whose mutual jealousies, inflamed still more by papal intrigues, would have prevented harmonious action in such a cause, if they had been, in other respects, qualified for the task. The prospect seemed even more hope- less, if a reformation were attempted by an individual, who could lay no claim to authority and a power of coercion. Wickliffe had labored in vain ; IIuss and Jerome, of Prague^ 38 HISTORY OF THE had perished at the stake ; the Waldenses were crushed ; and all who had dared to rise up against the papal throne, had been broken to pieces as with a rod of iron. "Entrenched, therefore, within their strong holds," says Mosheim, "the pontiffs looked upon their own authority, and the peace of the church, as beyond the reach of danger, and treated with in- difference the threats and invectives of their enemies. Armed, moreover, with power to punish, and abundantly furnished with the means of rewarding in the most alluring manner, they were ready, on every commotion, to crush the obstinate, and to gain over the mercenary to their cause." But the papal hierarchy had now reached its maximum ; the days of its glory were numbered, and the time of its humilia- tion was at hand. Its terrific power was in reality based upon nothing but public opinion, which itself was founded in error : the opinion, namely, that the church is infallible ; that it is hers to interpret the Scripture and to determine articles of faith ; that the pope is divinely constituted her visible head and the vicar of Christ ; and that the clergy are the church, and express her judgment in a general council. If the public mind were enlightened, and these opinions were seen to be erroneous and false, the entire fabric would fall and crumble to pieces: and the time of the dawning of light upon the world was now come. The main causes that introduced the Keformation, acting upon minds that felt deeply the necessity of a change, were the revival of learning about the close of the fifteenth century, the discovery of the art of printing, the use of the vernacular tongue in books, and the rise, about the same time, in different countries of Europe, of men of genius, and of independent minds, who thought for themselves, and dared to utter aloud what they thought. Among these men we may reckon John "Wesselius, Hieronimus Savanarola, John Picus, Prince of Mirandola, John Reuchlin, Desiderius Erasmus, Ulric von Hutten, Thomas Wittenbach, and the reformers themselves. When from these sources light began to arise, and to diffuse itself over every subject of human interest, it could not be GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 39 wholly excluded from religion. Great care and vigilance were employed by the hierarchy to guard that subject, Avhere their interests were affected, against what they chose to represent as an unhallowed curiosity and impious boldness. The doctors of the Sorbonnc, or theological faculty in the university of Paris, advised the French king, Francis L, to suppress the art of printing in his dominions ; and the monks of Crermany declared that German books would pave the way for heresy and every species of error.* But the papacy had taken care, even before this late period, by the introduction of the inquisition, that tribunal which it called the holy office, to curb the freedom of thought, and to terrify men's minds into a silent acquiescence in the decisions of the church. This infernal tribunal was established in every country whose rulers could be induced to subject their people to its horrible tyranny ; and it was now justly looked to as the most efficient means, wherever it could be employed, to protect the corruptions of the chui-ch from an exposure to the hated light. But the jealous hierarchy did not stop here : resolved to shut up every avenue through which the light might enter, they strictly forbade the people, under the dreaded penalty of heresy, to read those books which might have a tendency to open their eyes upon the errors and abuses of the church. They had long since deprived them of the Holy Scriptures, having forbidden the laity, except by a special license from their bishop, which the bishop knew how to withhold, to read the Bible in the vernacular tongue, the only tongue which the people understood ; alleging, as a reason, that, if the sacred volume were accessible to all, it Avould cease to be regarded with proper reverence, and such as were unlearned and unstable would wrest its doctrines to their own destruction. And as there was equal danger from the reading of many other books, that militated more or less against the interests of the papacy, all these were equally prohibited, and their titles entered into a catalogue entitled Index Eximrgatorius. This celebrated * Henke Kirch. Gesch. Bd. iiL p. 28. 40 HISTORY OF THE Index consists of two parts ; viz., the Index Uhrorum j^rohihi- torum, containing a list of the books which were wholly pro- hibited ; and the Index Uhrorum eximrgandorum, being a list of such as were to be carefully examined, and purged of all offensive passages, before permission should be given to read them. The former includes all the writings of reputed here- tics ; in the latter were contained the works of writers who were not denounced as heretics, but who had, unfortunately, sometimes written with more freedom than was now consistent with the church's safety. Father Paul Sarpi, who was him- self a Catholic, says, in his history of the council of Trent, " The inquisition went so far, that it made a catalogue of sixty- two printers, and prohibited all books printed by them, of whatever author, art, or idiom ; with an addition of more weight, that is, and books printed by such printers as have printed books of heretics ; so that there scarcely remained a book to read."* This was, indeed, going to the root of the apprehended mischief; and so far as these measures could be carried into effect, they could not easily fail of being success- ful in keeping the people in perfect ignorance of whatever it was not the interest of the church that they should know, and thus securing their complete subjection to their spiritual rulers. They could not, however, be employed everywhere, or every- where carried into full effect : and where the light was per- mitted to enter, and men's minds were left free to examine for themselves, and to indulge their convictions, there the hierarchy fell. The Keformation is among the most important events which history has recorded. Its influence was not confined to religion, but extended to all the great interests of mankind, and produced a most beneficent change, both in the character and the condition of the people, in all the countries over which it was permitted to spread. It delivered them from a most odious, and debasing, and soul-destroying tyranny, restored the freedom of thought, that precious property of a rational * Hist, of the Council of Trent, b. vi. p. 463. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 41 nature, gave a new impulse to intellectual activity, and brought the energies of the mind to act, in their native vigor, in every field of discovery, and upon every subject of human knowledge. As the Reformation itself was the offspring of returning lite- rature and science, so it became, in its turn, a most powerful auxiliary in their farther advancement. They can flourish only where freedom of investigation on all subjects is es- tablished ; and they languish and decay where thought is enslaved, and compelled to follow in the path where supersti- tion, or bigotry, or other forms of selfishness lead the way. Hitherto the claims of the church, and the lordly domination of the priesthood, had held the minds of men in a cruel bond- age, compared with which the condition of a slave is freedom': in his case the body is bound, while his thoughts and his con- victions are free ; but here, an inexorable power had enslaved the soul, and drawn its chains and raised its barriers around every faculty of the mind. " The Reformation," says a popu- lar author, "rent asunder these bonds, and cast down these barriers to the free circulation of thought: where she pre- vailed, nothing was interdicted, but those productions which would be offensive to public morals and decency. Is there need of any thing more than a remembrance of those chains, those barriers, that barbarism, which would still have continued long to confine and oppress the world, in order to show, in the full blaze of its light, the powerful co-operation of the Re- formation in the furtherance and spread of mental culture and illumination ? When she had prepared the way, men could boldly discuss the most sacred interests, and speak as men of human things. ' Subject thyself to the decision of the church,' said the adherent of Eome. 'Examine,' said the Protestant, *and submit only to thy convictions.' The former demanded implicit faith : the latter teaches, with the apostle, to prove all things, and to hold fast that which is good."* The proposition. That the Bible is the only rule of faith and practice in the church of O-od, is the fundamental principle of * Villars Darstellungen der Reformation, p. 161. i>2 6 42 HISTORY OF THE the Reformation. " That Christians are not bound by any doctrines which are not supported by the clear words of Jesus Christ, the apostles, and the prophets ; that no man, and no assembly of teachers have authority to prescribe new articles of faith, or have a claim to infallibility in matters of religion ; that liberty of conscience, and the right to investigate religious truth, are not the prerogatives of any particular order, but belong to every believer, whether of the clergy or the laity ; that all those who, setting aside the doctrines and command- ments of men, receive the doctrine of Jesus Christ and his apostles in faith, cheerfully put their trust therein, and live conformably to it, of whatever party or name they may be, constitute the Catholic, Christian church ; that the true church of Christ subsists wherever the pure word of God is preached, the sacraments are administered agreeably to Christ's institu- tion, and Christian discipline is observed : — these were the principles in which all Protestants were agreed. Such an authority, so firm and independent of man, said they, there must be in the Christian church : otherwise the church would be without a foundation, or a connection of parts ; since hu- man teachers often contradict one another, and philosophy changes her views and her principles with every age. What the popes, or councils, or single ecclesiastics have prescribed, as articles of faith, beside the teaching of the Holy Scripture, is human invention, and can aiford neither safety nor tran- quillity to the conscience."* When it was argued, that private interpreters of the Scriptures are not agreed about their mean- ing, and that a multitude of conflicting interpretations of the same passage are given, and the question was asked, Who shall determine the true sense of the Scriptures amidst this variety of opinions ? the reformers answered, " Not the pope ; not a council ; not the fathers ; but the Scripture itself, by collating one passage with another." In the public disputation at Zu- rich, in 1523, the vicar of the bishop of Constance, John Faber, appealed to the universities of Paris, Cologne, and * J. G. MuUer's Reliquien, Th. iii. p. 62. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 43 Freyhurg. Zwingle replied, " I admit no judge but the divine Scripture, as it has spoken and declared by the spirit of God : before you overturn one article of the Scripture, the earth must be dissolved; for it is God's word." The council of Zurich declared, in 1524, " That the free word of God, and the conscience of man, is not to be bound by any council, but is to rule over, judge, and rightly inform all men : it is the duty of all men to hearken to what the word of God says to them ; but the word of God is not to hearken to what men say to it."* Luther took the same ground, and maintained it in the face of every danger. His only reason for refusing to retract what he had written, when he stood before the diet of Worms, was this one : " It is the word of God, and my con- science." The conscience is a sanctuary into which God alone has a right to enter. All human attempts to force it are as profane as they are tyrannical : and the authors of such vio- lations prove nothing by their attempts but their ignorance of the religion about which they profess to be zealous, or their hypocrisy and wickedness. * J. G. Muller's Keliquien, TIi. iii. pp. 66-70. THE HISTORY llrformrh CJiiirrlr in Imitjerlanb, FROM THE BIKTH OF ZWINGLE TO THE TRIUMPH OP THE GOSPEL IN ZURICH IN 1525. BOOK I. CHAPTER I. STATE OF SWITZERLAND— BIRTH AND EDUCATION OF ZWINGLE. Switzerland, or the Confederacy, [Die Eidgenossenscliaft,) as it was called by its patriotic citizens, was an established free state in the earliest times of the sixteenth century, although its independence had not yet been acknowledged by the Aus- trian emperors. It was composed of thirteen cantons, namely, Zurich, Bern, Lucern, Uri, 8chiveitz, Unterwalden, Zug, Gflarus, Freyhurg, Soleure, Basel, Scliaffhausen and Apjjen- zell. These were independent states, each of which not only managed its own internal affairs as it pleased, but might even form alliances with neighboring states, wage war, and make treaties of peace. But for the common defence and safety, they were united in a confederation, which was represented by a diet composed of the delegates of the several cantons. In the diet, every canton had one vote. The acts of this deliberative assembly were, however, only advisory, and did not obligate the several cantons without their own consent. Beside the thirteen cantons, there were also other free states that had been, at different times, admitted into the confederacy as allies, or, as they were called in German, zugewandte ; and U GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 45 others in alliance with one or more of the cantons. Of these were the county of Valais, the three leagues of the Grisons, the abbey of St. Gf-all, the free cities of jSt. Crall, Bienne or Biel, 3fuJilhausen in Alsace, Rothiveil in Suahia, and the principality of Neuf-chatel. And there were, moreover, a number of territories and cities or towns that were subject to one or more of the cantons, but were provided with their own internal governments ; as, for example, the counties of Toggen- hurg, Rheinthal, Thurgau, &c., the cities of Wesen, Utznachj Rapperscliiveil, &c. Of all the countries of Europe, there was none, probably, at the commencement of the sixteenth century, more sincerely devoted to the pope than Switzerland. In general, the Swiss were so zealously affected toward the holy see, and regarded with so much reverence whatever the pope decreed respecting religion, the clergy, or the ceremonies of the church, that a defection from him, or even an impressive contradiction to any of his commands, was hardly to be less expected among any other people. Conscientiously scrupulous about the smallest matters, the several cantons had, in the early part of the fifteenth century, purchased from the pope a license to use a milk diet during the fasts ; and in 1497, the canton of Bern petitioned the vicar of the bishop of Lausanne for a confirma- tion of this favor to some of their parishes. The two cantons of Zurich and Bern were still more strongly attached to the holy see than any others of their fellow confederates. In Zurich the papal nuncio had his residence; and his court spared neither flatteries, nor offices, nor presents to rivet the friendship of this canton. A citizen of Zurich was honored with the command of the pope's body-guard ; and the Zurich- ians continued to grant troops to Leo X. when all the other cantons refused a compliance with his request. Bern de- meaned itself more humbly still. When Alexander VI., in 1502, proclaimed an after-jubilee, with the indulgences per- taining to it, and cardinal Raymund had twice solicited the cantons to authorize the proclamation in their dominions, Bern was the only one that consented ; and when the emperor, 46 HISTORY OF THE Frederick III., refused to CDnfirm their privileges, the Bernese turned from him to the pope, and alleged, as their reason, that the emperor himself derived his authority from the vicegerent of Christ. ' But, although the popes ruled in Sivitzerland with almost unbounded sway, there were not wanting discontents, and even loud complaints, which arose on account of the troubles of secular governments that were created by popish intrigues, and, more frequently, against the avarice and licentiousness of the clergy. In 1477, the canton of Bern complained to the bishop of Lausanne of the dissolute lives of his clergy, repre- senting that they were most scandalously voluptuous and unchaste, and would the less endure the restraints of the civil ordinances because they were so leniently dealt with by the spiritual court. Similar complaints were preferred, in 1500, by the governments of Bern and Freyhurg against the monks of Crranson. Charges of this kind, with particular specifica- tions of gross scandals, continued to be urged : and it seemed that the clergy of all ranks were encouraged, by the devout- ness of the people, to transgress all the bounds of decency in this country more impudently than elsewhere. But, while the people looked with abhorrence upon these disorders, they did not suspect that the religion, which so depraved a clergy taught, might itself be corrupt ; and they continued, therefore, to regard all its institutions with profound veneration.* The most luminous spot in Szvitzerland wSiS the city oi Basel It contained a university, the only one in the country, founded in 1460, and was the stated or occasional residence of a num- ber of learned men, distinguished equally by their talents and their attainments in literature. Here Thomas Wittenbach, of Bienne, taught theology since 1505, and imparted to his pupils many of the views in religion which were afterwards exhibited by the reformers. Here Wolfgang Fabricius Capito was the cathedral preacher from 1512 to 1520, a man of the * Schroeck's Kirch. Gesch. seit der Reformation, vol. i. p. 23, vol. ii. p. 104, &c. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 47 same spirit as Wittenbach. Here Erasmus, of Rotterdam, published his editions of the Greek Testament, and other works. To these illustrious men we may add Beatus Rhenanus, Hen^icus Glareanus, Conrad Pellicanus, Oswald Myconius, and William Nesen of Grlarus ; all of whom enjoyed a shining reputation in the Avorld of letters, and honored this city more or less with their presence.* The Reformed church, as distinguished from the papal, is essentially the primitive Christian church, in her doctrines, sacraments, ministry and worship. After groaning for ages under a perpetually increasing mass of earthly and corrupting additions, she owes her deliverance, under God, to that reform- ation of which Ulric Zwingle and his fellow-laborers were the honored instruments. Zurich, in the canton of the same name, is commonly considered the birthplace of that event ; and its date, the first day of January, 1519, the day on which Zwingle preached his celebrated introductory sermon in the cathedral of that city, and declared that he would expound the word of God, and make it alone the basis of his instruc- tions, regardless of human inventions. The commencement of Zwingle's reforming efforts was, indeed, several years earlier, but his public announcement of his purpose to reform was made on that day. That introductory sermon was the com- mencement of a series of expository discourses on the Holy Scriptures, and of a system of operations in the city and canton of Zurich, by which a ferment was produced that eventuated, after a struggle of six years, in the complete downfall of popery, by the abolition of the mass in that canton. It was a sermon of unusual power. The preacher's exhibitions of truth went to the heart. Both his doctrine and his manner were new. He urged what he said in a manner which showed how deeply he felt both the truth and the importance of his doctrine. The chief men of the state, whom the insipid legendary tales of the priests and monks had disgusted with the service of the church, now felt a new interest in the gospel, 1 * Gieseler's Lehrb. der Kirch. Gesch. vol. iii. th. 1, p. 130. 48 HISTORY OF THE and became his assiduous hearers. " God be thanked," said they, " this is an apostolic preacher. This man tells us how the truth is : instead of human fripperies, he preaches the pure gospel faithfully." , BIRTH AND EDUCATION OF ZWINGLE. The chief of the Swiss reformers, and the founder of the Helvetic Reformed church, was Ulric Zwingle, — in German, Huldreich ZAvingli. He was born in Wildhaus, one of the highest mountain villages, in the county of ToJcenburg, now included in the canton of St. Gfall, on the first of January, 1484. He was the sixth of eight sons.* His father, Hul- dreich Zwingli, was the amman, or magistrate of the village, and bore the reputation of a scrupulously upright man. Both of his parents were descended from an honorable line of an- cestors. A decision of the abbot of St. Crall, lord of Token- hurg, having disjoined Wildhaus from Crams, the mother- church, and constituted it a separate parish, the parishioners elected Zwingle's uncle, Bartholomew Zwingli, as their first pastor, who presided over this parish until 1487, when he was translated to Wesen, and appointed dean of the chapter. His maternal uncle, Johannes Meili, was abbot of the convent of Fishingen, in Thu7'gau, from 1510 to 1523. Beside his seven brothers, he had one sister, who became the wife of Leonhard Tremp, a zealous friend of the Reformation in Bern. From the first opening of his mind, Zwingle gave such indi- cations of talent of a high order, that he was, in his early youth, destined by his parents to a learned profession. He was placed under the care of his uncle in Wesen, whose piety and afi"ection constituted him a safe and useful guardian to the tender ward. Here Zwingle received the instructions of a schoolmaster, under whose direction he progressed with so much rapidity, that it soon became expedient to place him under a higher grade of discipline. This development of * According to Schuler ; but, according to S. Voegelin, the third. See Voegelin's Jahrtafel von Zwingli's Leben. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 49 extraordinary capacity determined both the father and uncle to make every possible exertion to furnish the promising chiki witli all the requisite opportunities for his future education. In the tenth year of his age, he was sent to the Theodore school, in Basel, which was then under the care of Gregorius Bingli, a learned and amiable teacher, who was equally distin- guished by his literary qualifications and his winning mildness in the treatment of his pupils. The speedy progress of the lad in the studies of this primary school secured to him, in a peculiar manner, the affection of his teacher, who, in a short time, sent him home to his father and uncle with the warmest commendations, and advised them to place him at an institu- tion where he could be furnished with higher instructions than his own school could afford. He was now sent to the Latin school of Henry Lupulus, in Ber^i. Lupulus had acquired reputation as a poet, and was the first who opened a school for classical education in Sioitzerland. Under his direction, Zwingle formed an acquaintance with the great models of an- cient Rome in history, eloquence and poetry, gathered from them the rich stores of antiquity, and formed his own taste, his judgment, and his style of composition. Lupulus was a bigoted papist, but ultimately became a zealous friend and promoter of the reformation. He outlived his pupil, and honored his memory with a fivefold epitaph in verse.* After spending two years in these studies in Bern, Zwingle removed to the university of Vienna, where he spent two other years in forming an acquaintance with the philosophy which then reigned in the schools. "It was happy for him," says Schuler, " that he did not apply himself to this study until he had been exercised six years under eminent teachers in acquiring a knowledge of languages, and had formed an ac- quaintance with the masterpieces of Rome, by which he was secured against the loss of his common sense in those cobwebs of scholastic systems, which were then called philosophy." This philosophy was, however, a part of a learned education^ * J. M. Schuler's Huldreich Zwingli, p. 1-12. E 7 50 HISTORY OF THE and an acquaintance with its knotty questions, its captious distinctions, and its perplexing labyrinths, was esteemed a necessary qualification for a public disputer. But Zwingle did not confine his attention to these arid and withering studies, in which a mind like his could not have found much enjoyment. He attended, also, to astronomy and physics, and did not omit the prosecution of his favorite classics. About the year 1,501, or 1502, he was called home by his father. But the desire of farther intellectual culture soon took him again to Basel, where, uniting the office of teaching with the labor of study, he procured by the latter the means of pursuing the former, and thus relieved his father from the burden of continued expense. Though but eighteen years of age, and a stranger, he was appointed teacher of the school of St. Martin in Basel, where he gave instruction in languages. At the same time he improved his knowledge of philosophy, and his acquaintance with the treasures of Roman literature ; but when Thomas Wittenbach came to Basel, near the close of 1505, as professor of tl^eology in that university, Zwingle attended his theological instructions, and abandoned the bar- ren waste of a false and profitless philosophy : and here he formed his cordial and lasting intimacy with Leo Juda, a kindred spirit, who Avas his fellow student.* Wittenbach was an original thinker, endowed with an acute and penetrating mind, and furnished with all the learning which was attainable in that age. He may be justly con- sidered as having sown the first seed of evangelical truth in the minds of his pupils. Leo Juda says of him, in his intro- duction to Zwingle's annotations on the New Testament, "He was singularly practiced in every species of knowledge, and, un account of his various learning, was regarded by the most learned men of this age as a wonder and an astonish- ment, and as some phoenix rising from its ashes. Under his instructions, both Zwingle and I, pursuing our studies in Basel at one and the same time, about the year 1505, were formed, * Schuler's Huldreicli Zwingli, p. 14, &c. I GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 51 not only in elegant literature, in -which he was excellently skilled, but also in the truth of the gospel. For as that man, > beside a surpassing eloquence, possessed an acute genius, he foresaw and surmised many things which were afterwards first published by others ; for example, respecting popish indul- gences, and other things, by which the Roman pontiff set a foolish world mad during so many ages. From this man we have drawn all that we possess of solid learning, and all this we owe to him."* Rudolph Guallther, Zwingle's son-in-law, speaks thus of him, in his preface to the first part of the homi- lies on Matthew : " He not only restored the study of useful learning and the liberal arts, but also condemned openly many points of the popish doctrines concerning sacraments, indul- gences, and monastic vows, and used to tell the young men that the time was not far distant when the scholastic theology must be abolished, and the ancient doctrine of the church, taught by the orthodox fathers and the Holy Scriptures, restored, "f Zwingle himself says, in his explanation of his eighteenth thesis, that he had learned from Wittenbach that the doctrine of indulgences was a fraud and imposture ; and in his Arnica Exegesis ad LutJierum, the death of Christ was the only ground of the remission of sins : solam Christi mor- tem pretium esse reniissionis peccatoruni-X Wittenbach came to Basel from the university of Tuebingcn, where Reuchlin had kindled an enthusiasm for ancient litera- ture, and Pellicanus w\is then explaining the Holy Scriptures, and the acute Gabriel Biel, the last of the scholastic divines, taught and vindicated his thorny system. In Basel be began to teach a purer theology, and to expose some of the corrup- tions of religion. He docs not appear, however, to have addressed his new doctrines to the people, but to have con- fined them to the precincts of the university and the circle of his friends ; and much of what he said was spoken in confi- dence to his pupils. Zwingle entertained for him the utmost * Gieseler's Lehrl). &c., vol. iii. part 1, p. 131. t Ibid. J Ibid. 52 HISTORY OF THE affection and reverence to the end of his life, maintained a correspondence with him, and was often strengthened by his counsels in the times of his own conflicts. It was at this time also that ZAvingle formed his acquaint- iinco and confidential friendship with Capito, who, in 1504, obtained here the honorary degree of doctor in theology : " a man," says Schuler, "who united the utmost freedom of thought with a mild toleration, and joined a forbearing pru- dence with an ardent zeal for truth and a fearless profession and furtherance of it."* CHAPTER 11. ZWINGLE'S MINISTRY IN GLARUS, FROM 1506 TO 1516. ZwiNGLE spent four years in Basel, in the double capacity of teacher and student. Although he had obtained the hono- rai'y degree of magister, he had not yet been ordained to the priesthood. Nevertheless, the congregation of Gflarus, the capital of the canton of the same name, elected him to preside over their parish in the place of their recently deceased pastor, Johannes Stucki. It is probable that he was recommended to them by his uncle, the pastor of Wesen, which city was, of ancient times, the market of the Glareans. His election was a triumph of liberty over the usurpations of the pope, who had attempted to deprive the people of the right of choosing their own minister ; for, immediately after the death of the aged pastor, a certain Henry Goeldli, of a distinguished family in Zurich, who already possessed several livings, ap- peared with a popish certificate of appointment to the parish, and claimed the ofiice and emoluments of the pastorate. The congregation, however, insisted upon their rights, and, passing * Schuler, &c., p. 23. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 53 by the creature of the pope, chose Zw-ingle to the vacant living. He gladly accepted the appointment, and, having now received his ordination to the priesthood from the bishop of Constance, repaired to his new situation toward the close of the year 1506. His duties here were many and onerous; for, beside the capital, his charge included three other parishes, and comprised nearly a third part of the canton. Goeldli, in the mean time, continued to urge his claims to the revenues of the benefice, on the ground of papal authority, and relin- quished them only in consideration of an annual pension.* What idea Zwingle entertained of the pastoral office, ap- pears from the course he marked out for himself, and steadily pursued. "He becomes a priest," says Myconius, "and now, contrary to the usual way of priests, he yields himself wholly to his studies, especially to that of theology. Now he first rightly apprehends how much he, who is intrusted with the instruction of the people in divine truth, ought himself to know ; how he ought himself, before all things, to be furnished with theological knowledge, and then to possess eloquence also, that he may be enabled to exhibit every thing both truly and profitably, agreeably to the capacities of his hearers. To these studies he applied himself with a diligence of which there had been no previous example in many years ; as also none, even of the best speakers of our times, was so complete a master of oratory. He was, however, not in Cicero's manner: he would not express himself exactly in accordance with the rules of the ancients, but freely, in the manner best suited to his times, and to the people within his sphere of action : and thus he succeeded with us, as did Tully with those of his own times." " He wrought his learned acquisitions," says Schuler, " into lucid instructions, intelligible and useful to the people, and from his public discourses always returned to his studies. His principle, at this time already, was: Theology must be draivn from the Holy Scriptures : not from human systems that are, or profess to he, built ujjon them. The Holy Scrip- * Schuler, &c., p. 28, e2 54 HISTORY OF THE tures were therefore daily liis unintermitted study. At an early period, his scriptural attainments were a subject of admiration, and procured for him the praise of a perfect inter- preter. But this did not beguile him to entertain the same opinion himself: though he might satisfy others, to himself he never was satisfactory. lie perceived that a perfect ac- quaintance with the sense and the spirit of the sacred oracles could be obtained only by a perfect knowledge of their ori- ginal languages. Wherefore, disregarding the difficulties that pressed him, he applied himself with ardor to the study of the Greek language. Without an instructor, with the translations and the defective lexicons only of that period, and, during a long time, even without a very manageable grammar, he nevertheless mastered it. Such was his devotion, that he wrote, in 1513, ' Nothing can again withdraw me from the study of Greek.' " His ardent zeal for scriptural knowledge appears from the fact that he wrote out a copy of all the epistles of Paul in the Greek text, and committed them to memory.* He copied also the other books of the New Testament, and finally those of the Old Testament.f With the reading of the Scriptures he united prayer for divine guidance and illumination, t]jiat he might be enabled to apprehend the true sense of the divine word, and to propound it profitably to the people in his ministry. But he was far from the vain conceit that prayer would supersede his other exertions, and a knowledge of the truth would be communicated by immediate inspiration without study. He investigated the sense of the inspired word, independently of human authority, explaining obscure passages by such as were clear, and used, with discriminating * This was completed in May, 1517, consequently, after Ms settlement in Einsiedeln. The manuscript was presented to the library of Zurich in 1563, by Anna Zwingle, the last of the Reformer's descendants. It consists of forty-three sheets, in pocket form, with large margins, which are filled with notes in a Tery small hand, and waS designed as a pocket volume ; the first printed editions being in folio. f Schuler, &c.> p. 3k GERMAN llEPORMED CHURCH. 55 care, the labors of commentators. He read the Greek and Latin fathers, Origen, Chrysostom, Jerome, Ambrose, and especially, Augustin. The last he admired for the boldness of his genius, his fervid eloquence, and his knowledge of human nature, and loved still more, because in him he found his own favorite doctrines of faith and redemption, so directly opposite to the popish doctrine of indulgences, and so harmo- nious with the instructions of his beloved teacher Wittenbach. The remarks of the fathers, and especially the annotations of Erasmus, he wrote upon the margin of his Greek text, or of the Vulgate. By this method of reading the fathers, he dis- covered their variations from one another and from them- selves, their frequent contradictions, and their mistakes in the interpretation of the Bible. His veneration for them sunk, and he felt that there could be but one master, even Christ, from whom there ought to be no appeal. This sentiment was strengthened when he read the scholastic divines, and when he compared the religion of his own times with the Christianity of the primitive ages, to which he was conducted by the study of ecclesiastical history. The light thus rose upon his mind, and opened to his vision new fields of thought and of spiritual activity, and showed to him both the necessity of a Reforma- tion, and what it was that ought to be reformed. Neither was he afraid to read the works of reputed heretics. Among these were the writings of Ratramus, Gottschalk, Peter Waldo, John Wickliffe, John Huss, and Johannes Picus prince oi Mirandola. "In orthodox writers," said he, " I mark the tares ; in heretics, the useful plants : and in all, I find both the one kind and the other." His maxim was: Truth, by tuhomsoever uttered, comes from Gfod ; and he was therefore disposed to seek it in every accessible source, and to embrace it wherever found. With the study of the Bible, and of theological writers, he joined that of the Greek and Latin classics ; for, as he traced the origin of all moral and religious truth to God, he believed that in them also were to be found revelations of God to man. He used them for illustration, and to learn from them the 56 HISTORY OF THE richness of divine mercy, which was not confined, during so many ages, to a single nation, but manifested itself also, in some measure, to the Gentile world, and shined in its dark- ness like the stars that twinkle through the night. These fine-wrought models of genius, moreover, not only furnished his mind with copious stores of materials for every useful pur- pose, improved his judgment, and refined his taste, but pre- served him also from vanity and self-gratulation on account of any productions of his own. He was an enthusiastic ad- mirer of classic antiquity, perhaps too much so, and read with avidity whatever he could procure of its literature. Among his favorites were Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, and Seneca ; Vale- rius Maximus he committed to memory, and Pindar he placed next to the sacred poets.* By such a freedom in the course of his reading and study, and by his silence on the topics which gave so much occupation to the common crowd of priests and preaching monks, Zwingle incurred the displeasure of many of his clerical brethren, who suspected his orthodoxy, and wished to make him suspected by others. During all this time, he did not openly attack the errors and abuses of popery, but contented himself with pre- senting to the people the practical doctrines of the Bible, and communicating his sentiments on other points in private to his intimate friends. The dissatisfaction of zealous Papists was not based so much upon what he did say, as upon what he did not say. He said nothing about the saints, the efficacy of the holy relics, the merit of pilgrimages, the glory and intercession of the virgin, and things of that sort. Myconius says of his ministry : " In the mean time, he so promulgated the grace of the gospel, that he made no mention, or very sparingly, of the abuses of the church of Rome. He wished the truth, when known, to do its own work in the hearts of the hearers ; for truth being perceived and understood, we easily discover what is false. The times, however, did not then permit him to act otherwise ; for, amidst such an untowardness and wickedness * Sclmler, &c., p. 31, &c. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 57 of men, it was more likely that the truth would perish, than that the abuses of religion would be removed."* Indeed, during his ministry in Glarus, and especially in the earlier part of it, he still entertained a profound veneration for the church and the papacy, and regarded the military succors granted to the pope by the Swiss cantons as a dutiful protection of the holy see. This appears from his narrative of his first campaign in Italy, written in 1512, in which he styles the church the common mother of Christian believers, and the pope the most blessed vicar of Christ, and imputes the design of Lewis XII. of France, to create an antipope, to the instigation of an evil demon, t Before the year 1516 he was not properly a reformer, but in a course of preparation for that office. There were errors and abuses which he did not yet see, and others which he saw but imperfectly ; and what he discerned with clearness he did not yet venture, on account of the infelicity of the times, to say openly. Hence, when he preached in Crlarus, in 1522, he told his hearers that he had formerly taught them many human commandments, but now admonished them to adhere exclusively to the word of God.| Zwingle's first efi'orts were directed to a political and moral reformation of his country. He attacked, with great force and severity, the prevailing and pernicious vices of the times, and especially the practice of accepting pensions from foreign princes for political subserviency, and of serving in their armies as mercenaries, in wars in which their own country had no interest and no concern. He regarded this practice as the fountain of the vice and wretchedness which inundated the country, and as a bar, while it continued, to a reformation of religion: "For he saw," says Myconius, "that there would only then be room for the heavenly doctrine, when this foun- , tain of all evils should be stopped. "§ "We do not assent to this opinion ; and Zwingle himself learned by experience that * Myconius in Gieseler's Lehrb. vol. iii. p. 1, p. 136. f Gieseler, &c., p. 134. X Ibid, p. 13G. § Gieseler's Lehrb. &c., p. 134. 58 HISTORY OF THE he had begun at the wrong end. It was, however, extremely easy, in his situation, to be deceived in such a case. The Swiss were a warlike people, skilful in the use of arms, renowned for great achievements in the field, and fond of what the world esteems glory. When they had no enemy of their own to contend with, they entered eagerly into the military service of other nations, and fought the battles of foreign princes in foreign lands, Avhere it often happened that bands of Swiss fought in contending armies on opposite sides. The cantons, either collectively or singly, furnished a given number of troops for a certain consideration in money, or some other equivalent ; and private men also, the pensioners of foreign rulers, either openly or secretly, enlisted bodies of men, and led them away to join the armies of their employers. Military enthusiasm, the promise of rich rewards, and the prospect of plunder, prepared multitudes, especially of the gay and thoughtless youth, to engage in these enterprises. Men were thus taken away from useful labor at home, and, if they returned, after one or more campaigns, brought with them vices unknown before, and habits that disqualified them for any peaceful occupation and any useful purpose. Their trade was fighting, the shedding of blood was their sport, and sensual indulgence their enjoyment. The fields, the flocks, the useful arts were neglected, and fell into decay, and the country was overrun by an idle and worthless population, who Avere fitted only to disturb and harass the virtuous citizen. The emperors of the house of Austria, the kings oi France, and the pope, the holy father, were the rulers in whose service the Swiss warriors were most frequently enlisted, and in whose battles their blood was most profusely shed. During a long period, upper Italy, particularly the duchy of Milan, was afflicted with wars, and in a state of , the utmost disorder. The emperor, the king of France, and the native duke, Lewis Sforza, contended for the possession of this beau- tiful country. The duke had perfidiously made himself master of the duchy, but the French king, Lewis XIL, had taken him prisoner, and subjected the country to his own power. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 59 Subsequently the pope, the emperor, the king of France^ and Ferdinand of Arragon united their armies in the league of Cambray against the republic of Venice^ with the design of dissolving its constitution and partitioning its territories among themselves. The last days of this once powerful state seemed to have arrived ; but the mutual faithlessness of all the allied parties saved it from destruction. The pope, Julius II., now resolved to expel the French from Italy, and to place Maximilian, the son of Lewis Sforza, upon the ducal throne. For this purpose he sought the aid of the Swiss, and, in 1510, effected a treaty of alliance for the term of five years. In his negotiations with them, he employed the agency of Matthew (or Matthias) Shinner, bishop of /Sion.^ Shinner was the son of poor parents, but rose by his talents and a concurrence of fortunate events to the episcopal dignity. He was ambitious, warlike, eloquent, polished, and crafty ; of libe- ral sentiments, but of loose morals. His aspiring mind saw in each successive elevation only a stepping-place to higher dignities, and hoped one day to arrive at the highest. The king of France having refused to pay the large sum demanded by him as the price of his services, with the remark, That one man was surely too dear at such a price, Shinner took offence at this pleasantry, and espoused the party of the pope, with a determination to make his importance felt by the French king. Julius II. soon discovered his value, and by a profu- sion of flattei'ies gained him entirely to his interests. Shinner performed the business assigned him, and was rewarded by the pope with a cardinal's hat, which new dignity prepared him to look with increased expectation to the papacy, as the con- summation of his wishes ; and he now sought, by the offers of gold and splendid promises of preferment, to attach to the pope and to himself every man of weight and influence in the confederacy. Shinner formed an acquaintance with Zwingle, as one whose talents, learning and eloquence qualified him to exert a power- * Called also bishop of Vallais, or Wallis, and bishop of Sitten. 60 HISTORY OF THE ful influence upon the people of Crlanis ; and it was, doubt- less, through his recommendation that the pope granted to Zwingle a pension of fifty guilders, the same which he gave to many other distinguished and influential men. The reformer acknowledges the fact in his writings, and in a manner which, at the same time, is a proof of the uprightness of his character : " I confess my sin," said he, " before God and all men. Before the year 1516, I still held fast to the pope's supremacy, and thought it right to take money from him ; though I always told the Roman agents, in plain terms, when they exhorted me to preach nothing that would militate against the pope, that they must not entertain the slightest hope that I would abate even a word of the truth for the sake of their money ; and they might, therefore, take it again, if it were their plea- sure. I speak before God, the judge of all men, when I say that I received no other pension or reward from any prince or lord whatsoever, and never was, in any way, a hireling."* The pension was, nevertheless, continued. Zwingle's ofi'er to resign it, in 1517, was not accepted ; but, in 1520, he refused absolutely to receive it any longer. The cardinal continued still to treat him with great kindness and respect, and, to the end of his life, remained his sincere and ardent friend. In 1511, the war broke out in all its fury between France and the pope, who was supported by Venice and Spain ; and, in April, 1512, the papal army was routed at Ravenna, with terrible slaughter, by the French, under Gaston de Foix. Lewis XII. had, previous to the battle, negociated with the confederates for an auxiliary force of several thousand men, and these had demanded prodigious sums for their services ; but after this signal victory, his ambassadors turned away contemptuously, and broke off the negotiation. Enraged by this affront, the Swiss repaired in crowds to the papal banners ; and the holy father, to inflame the enthusiasm of the faithful, proclaimed a grand indulgence in Zurich for sinners of all sorts. Every sin was expiated with money, and the sums * Schuler, &c., p. 79; Zwingli's Ausleg. der Sclilussreden, art. 37. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 61 which ■were thus I'aised were applied to the hire of mercenaries for the effusion of blood. After the dreadful disaster at Ravenna, which overspread all Italy with consternation and terror, cardinal Shinner was despatched into Switzerland, to represent to the confederates the necessity of immediate succors to the suffering church, and to urge upon them the performance of their engagements by the treaty of alliance. Moved by his eloquence, fired by fanatical zeal for the see of St. Peter and the safety of the afflicted church, and filled with revenge against France, not less than twenty thousand men, of the choicest infantry, were under arms and prepared to march in the space of six days. At Verona, in Italy, cardinal Shinner received them with great pomp, and with much solemnity presented the presents of the holy father. These were a consecrated ducal hat, with an image of the Holy Ghost in the form of a dove, made of gold, and ornamented with pearls upon its crown, and a con- secrated golden sword adorned with precious stones. These costly gifts from the father of the faithful, presented with imposing ceremonies, and joined with every hallowed recollec- tion, kindled the enthusiasm of the Swiss warriors into a higher flame, and urged them to deeds of greater daring than their native valor would have inspired. Feeling themselves invincible, they sought the enemy, and pressed onward with an ardor and an impetuosity which nothing could resist : the French were everywhere beaten and compelled to abandon their conquests, and the victors returned in triumph, covered \vith renown, and laden with rewards and the spoils of war. The pope was delivered, and, in grateful acknowledgment of his indebtedness, he honored the confederates with the title oi Protectors of tJie Liberty of the Church.'^ Two other expeditions were undertaken, in 1513 and 1515. In the former, they achieved the splendid victory of Novarra over a greatly superior French army ; but, defrauded by their * The canton of Bern continued in tlie interest of France, and took no part in tliis expedition. F 62 HISTORY OF THE leaders of their portion of the spoils, a mutiny arose, all discipline ceased, and the troops, dispersing themselves over the country, exacted a forced compensation for their services by levying contributions upon the people whom they had saved by their valor. The victory of Novarra was dearly bought, and its tarnished glory was no equivalent for the blood which it had cost. A general excitement now arose, throughout the greater part of Switzerland, against the corruption which pre- vailed in high places, the treachery of military chiefs, and the traffic in the blood of the citizens, by rulers who were bought with gold to the interests of foreign powers, and were callous to the miseries of their own people. The storm raged with a violence that threatened to overwhelm the guilty with merited ruin ; but the wily traitors bent before it, soothed the enraged citizens with promises, and — betrayed them again.* Pope Leo X., the successor of Julius, sought to gain the cantons by flattering missives. He lamented with parental tenderness over the slaughter of the recent battle, assured the people of his paternal love, showed, in the discomfiture of the French, how ill they must fare who do not fight on the side of the church, and exhorted them to be faithful in the observance of the subsisting treaty of alliance. The brief addressed to the canton of Grlarus, was sent to Zwingle by the pope's legate, Ennius Philonardius, bishop of Veroli, to be by him presented to the council, with the expectation that such attention to him would move him to use his personal influence to procure for it a favorable reception. In the mean time, French emissaries, and pensioners of France, did not omit to further, in every practicable way, the interests of their master. Glarics, also, had its crown-eaters, as those were called who were in French pay and received their bribes from the crown of France. In 1515, Francis I., the successor of Louis XII., entered Itali/, for the conquest of Milan, with an army more formidable than any that had preceded it. At the base of the mountains * Schuler, &c., p. 79-93. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 63 that separate Trance and Piedmont^ a Swiss army, from all the cantons, awaited his coming ; but they were without union or concert, and commanded, in part, by treacherous leaders. The king, discovering these facts, fanned the flame of discord by his emissaries, and bought over the faithless chiefs with gold and alluring promises. The Swiss army was broken into fragments ; the troops of most of the cantons concluded a separate peace at G-alera, and withdrew, regardless of their brethren ; the rest resolved to maintain their fidelity to the duke, for whose protection they were solemnly pledged. Only those of Uri, Sclnveitz, Glanis, and Unterivalden remained ; and these, enraged at the perfidy of the chiefs who had brought dishonor upon the national character by their base desertion, and urged by cardinal Shinner to redeem their ancient glory, determined, notwithstanding the fearful odds, to give battle to the crafty foe. They bore down upon the enemy, in the plain of 3Iarignano, with daring impetuosity, and were met with dreadful effect by the superior force of the French, in a conflict of two days' continuance. When the troops of Zurich, led by the burgomaster, Marcus Roust, learned, contrary to their expectation, that their countrymen were engaged, they returned and joined in the sanguinary battle. But, though, on the first day, the confederates re- tained possession of the field, the enemy, being reinforced, on the next day attacked in their turn, and routed them with terrible slaughter. Above five thousand Swiss warriors were left in their blood upon the field, and, among these, the noblest and bravest in the land.* The tidings of this bloody overthrow, and of the perfidy and treason of a part of the army, soon spread through all the cantons, and created in all a loud and deep lamentation for the slain, and an indignation as loud and as deep against the betrayers of their country's honor. The governments of Zu- rich and of other cantons were threatened with vengeance by * Schuler, &c., p. 154. Other accounts say 10,000. See Encyc. Ameri cana, art. Francis I., and Edinburgh Encyc, art. France. 64 HISTORY OF THE the people, and some of the offenders fell as victims to their just indignation; though, as Schuler says, not exactly the most guilty, inasmuch as these happened to be the most powerful. The heaviest odium fell upon the abbot of St. Gall, who not only sold his vassals to fight the battles of a foreign prince and received the price of their blood, but, when they were fallen in battle, entered upon their fiefs, and exacted from the afflicted widows and orphans the reliefs which were customary upon the death of the head of the family, by taking away the best articles of their property. But, as a spiritual lord, he was above the reach of popular vengeance ; for no one would dare to incur the papal ban, by doing violence to the sacred person of a prelate of the church. The practice of enlisting in foreign military service, never- theless continued ; and while, from some of the cantons, they repaired to the standard of France, from others they went to join themselves to that of the emperor. At Freyhurg, in the canton of the same name, the French ambassador threw hand- fuls of crowns among the people, as a lure to enlistment, say- ing, " Does not this silver sound better than the sweet words of the emperor ?" That such things were permitted by the goverment of a free state, is a proof of the deplorable state of morals in the community, and the base venality of its rulers. According to the ancient custom of the cantons, the pastor of the principal church was chaplain to the army when it took the field. Zwingle was therefore obliged by his office, as chief pastor in the canton, to accompany the troops of Glarus in their expeditions into Italy, when they marched under the orders of their own rulers. S. Voegelin and others, after Bullinger, represent him as being with the troops in all the three expeditions which took place during his ministry in G-larus ; according to Schuler and others, he was with them only in the first and third.* His second expedition is pre- » S. Voegelin's Jahrtafel zur Lebensgeschichte Zwingli's, anno 1513-1515. Schuler's Huldi-eich Zwingli, p. 80, 95, and note 82. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 65 sumed, because the established custom required it ; the first and third are attested by direct evidence. He composed a narrative in Latin of the events of his first campaign in 1512 addressed to his friend Vadianus, of St. Gall, under the title, De gestis inter Gf-allos et Helvetios ad Ravennam, Paviam, aliisque locis, relatio H. Zivinglii ; from which, as we observed before, he still appears warmly attached to the pope and the church of Rome. In his last campaign, in 1515, observing the dissensions and venality of the chiefs, and the licentious- ness of the soldiers, he exerted all the power of his reason and eloquence to impress upon them the necessity of union, and the duty of preserving unsullied both their own reputa- tion and the honor of their country ; and when he failed of success in these efibrts, and saw the danger to which the rem- nant of the army was exposed, he endeavored, in all the zeal of an ardent patriotism, to restrain the troops from the rash- ness to which a reckless valor, inflamed by excited passions, impelled them. But all was in vain: their destiny was fixed; and he was doomed to witness the heart-rending scene of the slaughter of his countrymen in the murderous battle which ensued.* It was during these campaigns that Zwingle learned to know the perfidious arts of princes, and of the pope himself, the vices with which the Swiss soldier became infected in Italy, the venality of his countrymen, the villany of party-leaders, the dissensions of the cantons, and the universal depravation of morals among all classes in the community : it was in these campaigns that he witnessed the corrupting effect of a military life, and saw the horrors of war in its savage ferocity : and it was here that he learned to see most clearly the necessity of a reformation, and that he could not but feel himself called to devote his own strength to that salutary end. On his return to his parish, he therefore raised his voice still more in impassioned warnings against the corruptions of the times, and * An account of this campaign was written by Werner Steiner, amman of Zug, who was an eye-witness. f2 9 66 HISTORY OF THE treated with particular severity the nefarious practice of those who accepted bribes in the form of pensions from foreign rulers, and lent their influence to corrupt the martial spirit of the citizens, and to engage them, by the promise of rewards and the prospect of plunder, in wars with which their country had no concern; in which they fought without an object worthy of a noble mind, and too often either met an untimely death, or contracted vices that rendered them worthless and wretched. He set forth in a strong light the ruinous conse- quences of this practice, exposed the wickedness of those who pursued or countenanced it, and showed how the obligations of religion, the love of country, and the common welfare demanded a reformation. His rebukes were severe, but united with dig- nity and tenderness ; and they produced an impression which it was not easy either to avoid or to resist, where a spark of patriotic feeling or a sense of virtue remained that could be kindled into a flame. His acknowledged talents, learning and patriotism, his good conduct in his Italian campaigns, and the fulfilment of his warning predictions of the disasters that must result from the disorders in the army, procured for him the respect and love of every upright citizen. This encouraged him the more to utter salutary truth, and to press it home to the conscience and the heart: and his zeal was the more fixed, and his eloquence glowed the more, when he beheld the deep affliction that filled so many dwellings, and heard the tones of lamentation and grief for the dead, and the execrations that mingled with them against the authors of their bereavement, which arose from the hearts of widows and orphans made deso- late, of parents mourning over their children, and of brethren weeping in distress for the fate of their brethren. Zwingle had, before this time, between the years 1510 and 1514, composed two poetic allegories, the one entitled, The LabyrintJi, the other. Concerning an Ox and some other Ani- mals, in which he depicted the abuses and consequent miseries of his country, and pointed out the means of her redemption : but the evil had now attained too great a magnitude and power for this delicate method of instruction, the necessity of a GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 67 speedy reformation was too urgent, and his heart was too full of patriotic sympathy, to be confined to gentle admonition ; and he therefore now raised his voice like a trumpet, to pro- claim to his people their sins, and to call them to repentance and amendment. No enemies at first ventured to contradict and resist him publicly ; because this would have brought him out publicly in his defence, and would have turned a torrent of indignation upon them, while the feelings of the community were lively and strong in his favor. Enemies there were, who hated him the more because they were the men whose iniquity and base- ness he had exposed, and whose sores he had pressed with such unsparing severity. But they knew that truth and jus- tice were on his side ; and they dreaded nothing so much as to have that truth and justice brought to bear upon them per- sonally, by one who was so able to treat them according to their merits, and were glad if responsibility for their guilt were left undefined in the common mass of sinners. They did not venture, therefore, to put themselves forward as marks for his rebuke, by a public opposition ; but they chose the safer way of plotting his destruction, by circulating private slander, and whispering it wherever they found listening ears and congenial hearts, until they had formed a party strong enough to give them courage and boldness for a public de- nunciation. They found willing listeners in sufficient num- bers ; men who loved corruption because they were corrupt. These were the dissolute, the idlers, discharged mercenaries, who had returned from their warfare, laden with plunder and A^ces, and delighting in licentiousness ; pensioners, whose bu- siness was to serve their masters, men who were paid to fur- nish recruits for alien armies ; traitors, who were ever ready to sell their country for gold ; political partisans, whose ruling passion was covetousness, who sought their own aggrandize- ment, the possession of power and influence, and the acquisi- tion of wealth, reckless of truth and of right, of religion and of God ; depraved citizens, who loved the dissoluteness of a camp-life, and hoped to enrich themselves by licensed plunder. 68 HISTOKT OF THE or took pleasure in deeds of daring and the shedding of blood : in a word, all -whose works were evil, and who, there- fore, loved darkness rather than light. Such were a large portion of the countrymen of Zwingle in those wretched times, when the name Confederate was beginning to be a reproach and a by-word in the mouths of virtuous strangers, and Switzerland began to be looked upon as a nursery of avarice and ferociousness, where every thing was bought and sold, and instruments could always be obtained for every kind of war, and every kind of desolation. When these conspirators understood one another, and were united in a common plot to destroy a p:reat and good man by sapping the foundation of his greatness, there was no shaft which they could not aim at him in secret, no slander to which they could not give cir- culation, and no art which they could not employ to give an appearance of truth and of patriotic intention to their accusa- tions. They avowed themselves the friends of the people, the advocates of their liberty, and the guardians of their in- terests. The people, said they, have a right to choose for themselves, to enjoy their pleasure, to engage in military enterprises when and where they please ; to restrict them, was an invasion of their liberty and of their martial spirit which was not to be borne. They lauded the valor of the Swiss soldier and the glory of his achievements, spoke of their ancient triumphs and their recent victories, and dwelt upon the honors and the spoils that still invited them. They aflFected a concern for religion, and insinuated suspicions of Zwingle's orthodoxy. He read the books of heretics ; he did not praise the holy relics, nor the miracles of the saints, nor pilgrimages to holy places, and things of that sort. There is some heresy, they averred, where these signs appear ; and Zwingle is, therefore, a dangerous guide in religion, as well as hostile to the interest and the fame of the people in tem- poral things. By such arts these selfish demagogues unsettled the confidence of the people in their purest patriot, circum- scribed his influence, frustrated his benevolent designs, and too often filled his cup with bitterness. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 69 But it was chiefly bj a foreign influence that this noble- minded patriot's benevolent exertions in Crlarus were defeated. No foreign prince was more desirous of gaining over the Swiss cantons to his interests, or made greater exertions for that object, than the French king, Francis I. He spared neither flatteries nor money to secure his influence among the people, and to attach them to his person ; and there was, consequently, not only a French party in all the cantons, but, in most of them, a growing party, which, increasing daily in numbers and in boldness, soon governed their counsels and their policy. This party was, of course, opposed to the reforms which Zwingle was endeavoring to introduce ; and, as he remained firm, and remitted nothing of his zeal, or his testimony, he was himself subjected to their hatred and persecution. The virtuous and patriotic part of the citizens continued to sustain him ; but his adversaries Avere able to carry every measure by a majority of votes in the landrath, or council. ' Scarcely had the lamentation over the disaster of 3Iarig- nano ceased to fall upon the ear, when the king of France began to negotiate for a body of auxiliaries, on the basis of the treaty of Gralera, the same by which he had engaged the greater part of the cantons, previous to that fatal battle, to abandon the duke of 3Iilan. The same cantons were easily gained, and, doubtless, by the same potent spell, the charm of gold. In several others, of which Crlarus was one, opposing parties contended some time, but finally yielded their consent. The five cantons of Zurich, Scliaffhausen, Basel, Uri, and Schweitz, preserved their fidelity and their honor. The am- bassadors of the emperor Maximilian expostulated with the confederates with great earnestness, entreating them not to stain their reputation by lending their aid to a prince who had so recently brought upon them the calamity which had filled their country with mourning, and while the blood of their slaughtered fellow-citizens was still unavenged. Their argu- ments were successful for the present ; an army of ten thou- sand men marched into Itali/, under the orders of the duke, for the recovery of Milan, but, without accomplishing the 70 HISTORY OF THE object of the expedition, thej returned in a destitute and pitiable condition. On the other part, the French king did not slumber : he employed every means of persuasion to maintain his interests, and to bring over the divided cantons : and he did so with success. In vain did the cantons who remained faithful to the duke exclaim against such a connec- tion : the soldiers who had served in the armies of France returned to their homes enriched with presents in arms, cloth- ing, and money, and ridiculed the poverty and disappointment of those of the adverse party ; and Bern received a French subsidy of two hundred thousand crowns, which was brought into the city with the sound of trumpets and every circum- stance of pomp and display. Such arguments weighed more in the judgment of the vulgar and of their depraved leaders, than all the considerations of virtue, patriotism, and honor. At length, the emperor having made peace with France, and the influence of foreign corruption having ceased for a time, the five faithful cantons persuaded the rest, in 1516, to unite with them in a simple treaty of perpetual peace with France, instead of the treaty of Galera, by which they were become allies of that power ; and thus the source of so many miseries to the con- federates was stopped for the present.* . But before these events, Zwingle had removed the scene of his labors to Mnsiedein, in the canton of Schweitz. His situation in Cflarus had become extremely embarrassing when the political state of that canton had assumed its new com- plexion, and his enemies were become the ruling party. If he continued to preach as before, they might charge him with sedition, and arrest him by the civil arm. To recede would - have been a dereliction of duty against which his moral feel- ings revolted. The necessity of transferring his labor to some other place was therefore evident; and the invitation from Mnsiedein being given in this conjuncture, he might justly reo-ard it as an indication that he should remove to that situation, agreeably to the Lord's direction : If thet/ persecute * Schuler, &c., p. 218-22L GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 71 you in one city^ flee ye to another. The peaceful retirement of this field of labor, the liberal sentiments of the abbot of the convent, the leisure it would afford for the prosecution of his studies, and the opportunities it would furnish, at certain seasons, to address his instructions to the multitudes of pil- grims who resorted thither from all parts of Sivitzerland and the neighboring countries ; these were considerations which, added to the state of things in Crkirus, could make the change as desirable as it was expedient.* During these times, and especially in his Italian campaigns, Zwingle had opportunities to learn the state of the church by actual observation, not only at home, but abroad, and near its fountain-head ; and to contrast it with what he read in his New Testament, and with what he had learned from the sacred volume, and from the writings of the fathers of the primitive church. It was in Rome, at the seat of the holy father, that Luther expected to see religion in all its vigor, and in all its loveliness ; and it was in Home that his religious feelings received their most violent shock, Avhen he saw what religion was there ; what it was both in the people and in the priesthood, from the highest dignitaries of the church down to the lowest ecclesiastic ; when he saw with what levity the holiest parts of divine worship were performed, and what ignorance, and profaneness, and beastly vice disgraced the sacred order; and when he heard himself ridiculed for his devoutness in the office of the mass and in prayer. If Luther, in his short visit to Italy, in 1510, saw enough to afflict him with the deepest mortification and pain for the corruption of the church, how must the mind of Zwingle have been affected, who witnessed the same things at a riper age, and in his long and repeated abode in those dissolute coun- tries ? "Without doubt," says Schuler, "his cultivated mind, his truly pious disposition was more and more vexed and fretted by the prevalent disorder. For it showed itself every where ; in the general ignorance of the priests, who could * Schuler, &c., p. 221, &c. 72 HISTORY OF THE scarcely read, and to whom the Bible was an unknown book ; in the absurdity and ridiculousness of the established doctrines and usages ; in the sermons, that were filled with insane legen- dary fables and scholastic whims ; in the utter listlessness of the people during their holiest exercises ; in the voluptuous- ness of the rich monks, and the impudence of the mendicants, &c. What Italy itself exhibited of the state of religion and of the church, is told by two unsuspicious witnesses. Bcllar- mine, the zealous defender of the papacy, says, ' Several years before the rise of the Lutheran and Calvinistic heresies, according to the testimony of cotemporary authors, there remained almost no concern about ecclesiastical order, and moral discipline had well-nigh disappeared ; there was no theological learning, no reverence for divine things, yea, almost no religion.' In accordance with this is the description of the state of the church by the honest historian Mezerai : 'The heads of the. church,' says he, ' no longer gave them- selves any concern about church-discipline ; the vices and excesses of the clergy reached the highest pinnacle ; they "were become so visible and notorious that they stirred up the hatred and contempt of all nations. We blush to make men- tion of the usury and extortion, the debauchery, and the universal immorality of the priests of these times ; the licen- tiousness and profligacy of the monks, the pride and pomp of the prelates, and their scandalous indolence, ignorance, and superstition. I confess, this scandal w^as not new. The bar- barism and stupidity of the earlier centuries had, in some measure, veiled their vices ; but now, in the dawn of science and learning, these stains appeared the more strikingly : and as uneducated sinners could not endure the dazzling light, the learned treated them with no forbearance, made them ridicu- lous, and exposed their nakedness and shame to all the world. " Beside the brutish stupidity of the inferior priests, and of the people, Zwingle saw, indeed, in the great, especially in the higher clergy, and at the papal court, examples of a love of science and of the fine arts, a species of illumination before wluch blind superstition disappeared ; it gave light to the eye GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 73 for the perception of sensual beauty, and allured to a more refined voluptuousness : but it shed no light upon the mind to discern what is eternal and holy. With a specious culture was joined a cheerless infidelity, a flagitious mockery of every thing holy and divine, a self-destruction in unbelief and vice. It was a love of the fine arts and of science, a patronizing of erudition, that instantly turned into mortal hatred and furious persecution, as soon as an attempt was made to apply them to the reformation of faith and life, to the illumination and culture of the people, and thus to tread too near the hierarchy and its abuses."* When Zwingle compared this state of things in the church with the doctrine of Christ which he read in the New Testa- ment, he saw that the church as well as the state needed a thorough reformation ; he saw that the religion of the Bible and the religion of the chu^h were wholly different things ; that a prodigious mass of human fictions had been accumu- lated