troops to the different parties in quarrels which belonged not to them, as decided his own future conduct, and through his means produced a renunciation of the practice on the part of several of the cantons.1 A. D. 1516. Einsidlin. It was soon after his return from his second Abbey of Italian expedition, that Zwingle received an invitation which removed him to a new and somewhat extraordinary scene of labour. In the canton of Schweitz there exists a rich and magnificent foundation of the Benedictines, which was then, and is even to the present day, the grand resort of superstition in Switzerland. This is the abbey of Einsidlin, or of "our Lady of the Hermitage." It may be called, says Ruchat, the Ephesian Diana,' or "the Loretto of Switzerland." It is asserted that when, about the end of the tenth or the beginning of the eleventh century, the bishop of Constance, the abbot of S. Gallen, and other dignitaries, were about to consecrate this convent, they were forbidden to proceed by a supernatural voice, declaring that God himself had already consecrated it; or, as other versions of the story give it, that the Redeemer, assisted by a choir of angels, fathers, and martyrs, had performed the service in person," according to the rites of the Roman church;" and, as a proof of the fact, had left the print of the fingers of his right hand miraculously impressed upon a stone. This stone continued to be the object of adoration till the year 1802, when a part of the chapel was destroyed. In commemoration of the extraordinary event thus recorded, a festival, styled "the Angels' Consecration," was observed once in seven years, to the time when Archdeacon Coxe visited the 1 Hess, 25-50. XIV. CHAP. place, about fifty years ago, and probably is observed to the present day. The great object of attraction, however, was and is a miraculous image of the Virgin, by which unnumbered cures are said to be performed, and to which in consequence crowds of pilgrims resort from all quarters, to pay their devotions and present their offerings, and to receive that "full remission of all their sins, both guilt and punishment," which an inscription, supported by the figure of an angel, assures them is thus to be found. Dr. Coxe tells us that he himself saw " several hundreds, in groups of different numbers," approach the place, and that some of them "consisted of a whole parish, attended by their spiritual pastor." "It is computed," he says, "that, upon the most moderate calculation, their number amounts yearly to a hundred thousand." Such is popery, even in the present hour, where it is dominant; and that in a free country, surrounded by an enlightened population, and within sight of protestant establishments! The Administrator and the Abbot. The administrator of the abbey, the guardian I presume of its temporalities, at this time was Theobald baron Geroldseck, and the abbot, (by office a prince of the empire,) Conrad of Rechenberg. The former was a zealous patron of men of learning and piety; and the latter a man averse to superstition; who had so little opinion of the sacrifice of the mass, that, when urged by the visitors of the convent to celebrate it, he replied, "If Jesus Christ is really present in the host, I am unworthy to look upon him, much less to offer him in sacrifice to the Father: and, if he is not there present, wo unto me if I present bread to the people as the object of 'Coxe, Letter 7. Hess, 50-55. A. D. 1516. becomes their worship, instead of God!" These distinguished persons, influenced by the fame of Zwingle's zeal and learning, invited him to Zwingle accept the office of minister of the abbey minister of church. Zwingle did not hesitate to accept the Abbey the call, as it presented to him the prospect of Church. extended usefulness among the multitudes of persons who visited the place from all parts, and at the same time would afford him peculiar advantages for prosecuting his studies, by the aid of the library, and in conjunction with the learned inmates of the house. Accordingly he removed thither in the autumn of the year 1516; to the great regret of the citizens of Glaris, who insisted on his continuing to draw his accustomed salary from them for two years, in the hope that he might be induced to return.3 The fame of Zwingle, and the character of the administrator, drew a number of learned men to Einsidlin. Zwingle contracted an intimate His friendship with Francis Zingk, Michael Sander, and John Echslin. The first of these was a chaplain of the apostolic see, and a man of great learning and piety. The last of the three afterwards suffered severe persecution in the cause of the reformation. These persons united with Zwingle in the diligent study of the learned languages, and of the fathers, (whose works were then in the course of publication at Basle,) of the writings of Reuchlin, or Capnio, the reviver of Hebrew literature, and of Erasmus.5 He kept up also a regular cor- and corres 1 Scultetus, 24. from Bullinger. 2 "A large and magnificent building." Coxe. 3 Mycon. Ru. i. 8-11. Gerd. i. 104. 4 Below, p. 496, 500. 5 Mycon. Ruchat. i. 11. Hess. Ruchat adds to the list associates, pondents. CHAP. XIV. His preach ing at respondence with Wolfgang Fabricius Capito (then of Basle,) and Caspar Hedio-men whose names are famous in the history of the reformation; as well as with Erasmus, Beatus Rhenanus, Glareanus, John Faber, grand vicar of the bishop of Constance, and many others. The letters of these learned men are full of commendations of his knowledge, and of the services which he rendered to the church. They bear unequivocal testimony, therefore, to the general estimation which he had been able to conciliate, and to the hopes which were entertained from him: though they would have led us to suspect that he had not yet so far committed himself, as the facts about to be recorded shew him to have done during his residence at Einsidlin. But suspicion was not yet fully awake; and men, whose talents and character supported them, might as yet go further, without exciting alarm, than they could do after a revolt had actually taken place. The politic court of Rome would allow considerable latitude to eminent men, provided they still recognized its supremacy. Striking accounts are given of Zwingle's Einsidlin. preaching in his present extraordinary situaof Zwingle associates at Einsidlin, Leo Jude, whom he makes his curate there. But it would seem that Leo succeeded, and not assisted, Zwingle in the church of the abbey. Gerd. i. 107. Beausobre, i. 260 (b). 1 Hess, from J. J. Hottinger. J. H. Hottinger, vi. 244, &c. dwells largely on the renown of Zwingle, and the eulogiums bestowed upon him from all quarters.-The first of the correspondents above mentioned (Capito) writes to Bullinger: "Before Luther had emerged into the light, Zwingle and I held communications together, even while my friend lived at the Hermitage, (Einsidlin,) concerning casting the pope down from his eminence." Gerd. i. 103. Still this was only contemplation, not action. tion, and of the degree of reform which, 'Ruchat, i. 41-43. A. D. 1516. |