covered himself; but at length he received a wound in the throat, from a spear, which he supposed mortal; when, sinking down on his knees, he exclaimed, in the spirit of a true Christian hero, "Is this to be esteemed a calamity? They can kill the body, but the soul they cannot touch." When the soldiers came to strip the slain, he was found yet alive, lying on his back, with his hands clasped together, and his eyes lifted up to heaven. He was asked if he wished a confessor to be sent for; then, if he would invoke the Virgin: and, on his declining both, he was instantly despatched. When the body was discovered to be that of Zuinglius, it was condemned by a military tribunal to be cut in quarters, and then burned to ashes: which barbarous but impotent sentence, with other indignities, was accordingly carried into execution.-Some days before the expedition, while a general agitation prevailed, he had said publicly," I know to what all this tends, as far as I am concerned: it is to remove me from the world." Scultetus observes, that the defeat was ascribed to treachery by such as regarded only second causes, but that they who looked higher thought that the reformed Swiss had become much too self-confident, and needed to be humbled. Even Ecolampadius seems to have relied unduly on "the power of the cities engaged in the support of the evangelical cause; and he is thought to have alluded to what he had said on that subject, when he wrote to his friends at Ulm, after the defeat, in these words: "It is not the least advantage which we derive, that our minds are humbled, and we are taught to rely, not on an arm of flesh, but on the living God." Musculus also anticipates A. D. 1531. CHAP. II. 1 like chastisement, and for like causes, to the German protestants. Writing from Augsburg to Berne, a few days after this defeat of the Swiss, he says: "The Swiss have sinned in letting out their troops for hire for any wars which call for them, even the most impious ones. This is acknowledged by good men : but how small is the number of those who repent of the sin! But, if it were the good pleasure of God to visit for this offence, with whom should he begin, rather than, as his practice is, with his own people? 2-Germany also, which is stored with the spoils of many nations, must learn the truth of the prophet's words, Wo to thee that spoilest! shalt not thou also be spoiled ?....What will follow ? If the Lord shall chastise Germany, as I doubt not he will, who, think you, shall first feel the lash? Our people (the protestants) continually boast of the power of the princes, and cities, and I know not what, that support their cause; but, how displeasing to God this is, religious minds well know.....The impiety and vice of the papists are indeed enormous, and they will, no doubt, feel the avenging hand of God: but we also have been guilty, and continue to be guilty, of things which call for divine chastisement; and we do not repent of them in the manner those ought to do, who have known divine truth, and experienced the goodness of God." 3-So soon does man, even man not altogether a stranger to the influence of God's Spirit, go astray! So much especially does he need to be admonished, and by a voice louder than that of words alone, to walk humbly with his God; "not to be high-minded but fear!" Robertson ii. 189. 2 1 Pet. iv. 17. 3 Scultet. 172-174. Melch. Ad. in Vit. Zuingl. 17, 18. .A. D.. 1531. and of padius. Dec. 1, 1531. We shall find but too much to confirm these representations of Musculus's concerning the Germans; and, though chastisement was for some time delayed, yet his anticipations respecting it ere long received a striking fulfilment. The death of Zuinglius took place on the eleventh of October, 1531, in the forty-fourth year of his age; and it was followed on the first of December by that of his intimate friend and fellow-labourer Ecolampadius of Basle, Ecolamwho was only five years older. His end was supposed to be hastened by grief for the loss which he himself, and the churches at large, had sustained by the death of Zuinglius. He was an eminently learned and peaceable, yet zealous and highly useful character, and the chief instrument of the reformation at Basle. In a letter written to some ministers at Ulm, three weeks after the death of his friend, he expresses how much he was affected by that event: but, he says, "I well know the faith which those men (Zuinglius and some others who had fallen with him) "reposed in God; so that no ill could befall them: but, when I think of the false statements, and wrong inferences, with which the minds of the simple are assailed, and which cannot be counteracted, this afflicts me most deeply."-He was fifteen days confined to his bed; during which time he constantly pronounced that his disease would prove mortal, and "with his whole soul longed for his transition to the light of heaven." "He waited not for consolation from others, but administered it to all who approached him." He made no will, having nothing to leave; though his parents had been people of good substance; but, addressing his three children by name, (who, however, were too young to understand 11. CHAP. him,) he bade them "love God as their father:" and, turning to his wife, and her mother, and other relations, "conjured them to train up his children in piety, peaceableness, and integrity." But the best memorial we have of his closing scene is his address to his brother-ministers, and the elders of the church. "Ye see," said he, "that the Lord is at hand, and just about to remove me from you. I wished, therefore, to call you together, and to satisfy my soul, with my beloved brethren, in true joy and consolation in the Lord. What then shall I say to you in this my last farewell, ye servants of Christ, united with me in the same love to our common Lord, the same pursuit, the same doctrine ?-Salvation is procured for us by Christ: to him we owe our confidence of attaining the kingdom of God, the sure instruction we enjoy, and clear light for our feet. All sadness, all fear of life or death, all doubt and wavering ought to be far removed from us. This only remains, that, as we long ago commenced, so should we go on constantly and faithfully to tread in Christ's steps; first in unsullied purity of doctrine, and next in a life in all things conformed to the living word of God. As to the rest, the Lord Christ, who is mighty and ever watchful, will defend his church. Well then, brethren, let our light so shine before men that God our Father may be glorified in us. Let the name of Christ be rendered illustrious by your life and conversation: live in love one with another: pass your whole lives as in the sight of God. In vain is piety inculcated by words only the light of a holy life, a heavenly temper of mind, is necessary, if we would confound Satan, and be the instruments of converting the world to God.-Oh, brethren, what clouds arise, what storms gather; what estrangement A. D. .231. |