This took place, according to Varillas, in 1524, and the Senate commanded all the ecclesiastics of Zurich to attend. Zuinglius first read his Theses, and explained them without meeting with any interruption; he then asked if any one had any reply to make; the VicarGeneral answered, that a great deal of what he set forth was an absurdity. Zuinglius replied in his defence. The Vicar-General answered that he was sent by his bishop neither to dispute nor give decisions, that it was a Council alone should decide, and then was silent; the other ecclesiastics were asked if they had anything to say; they followed the Vicar-General's example, and were silent also; the Senate, therefore, gave the palm of victory to Zuinglius, and made a Decree, that thenceforward the pure Gospel (according to Zuinglius) should be preached in all Zurich, that no more notice should be taken of traditions, and that the Mass and the adoration of the Eucharist should be abolished (6). This decree was opposed by the other Cantons, and in the year 1526 another public disputation was held in Swiss Baden (7), between Zuinglius and Ecolampadius, on the one side, and Ecchius and some others, on the Catholic side, in which the arguments of Ecchius were so convincing, that by a formal Decree, the Swiss recognized the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, the invocation of saints, and veneration of sacred images, and purgatory, and condemned the doctrine of Luther and Zuinglius.

54. In the year 1528, Zuinglius sold his prebend, and married, shamelessly asserting that he had not sufficient confidence in himself to resist the vice of incontinence (8), and in the same year the Canton of Berne united with Zurich in embracing his doctrine. Basle, Schaffhausen, St. Gall, and three others, soon followed this example; Lucerne, Switz, Zug, Uri, and Underwalden, remained Catholic, and were soon after obliged to go to war with the heretical cantons, for the following reason (9). The Catholic party deposed two officers who embraced the Zuinglian doctrines; they were received by the Zuinglians, who provided them with places, and through revenge, prevented the merchants who supplied the Catholic cantons with corn, as they do not produce enough for their own consumption, from passing through their territories. The Catholics complained of this, as an infraction of the Confederation League, but were told they were only treated as they deserved, for insulting the new religion. Eight thousand Catholics took the field in October, 1532; fifteen hundred of the Zurich troops were entrenched outside the city; the Catholics assaulted them in that position and put them to flight. Twenty thousand of the Zurich troops then marched out to attack the Catholics, and Zuinglius, against the advice of his friends, insisted on marching

(8) Varill. l. 7,

(6) Varill. t. 1, l. 5, p. 214. (7) Gotti, c. 109, s. 2, n. 11. p. 304; Hermant, c. 237; Nat. Alex. c. 19, art. 12, s. 3, n. 2. p. 354; Gotti, loc. cit. n. 13.

(9) Varill. Z. 8,

at their head. The Catholics, with their small number, would have no chance against this army in the open field, so they posted themselves in a narrow pass; they were here assaulted by the Zuinglians, and victory was for some time doubtful, till Zuinglius, while valiantly leading on his troops, was struck to the earth; his followers, thinking he was killed, immediately took to flight, and were pursued by the Catholics with great slaughter, who are said to have killed five thousand Zuinglians, with only the loss of fifteen on their own side (10). Zuinglius was found by two Catholics, who did not know him, among a heap of the slain, prostrate on his face, but still breathing; they asked him if he wished for a confessor, but got no answer; another now came up, who immediately killed him, and told their commanders; by their orders he was quartered and burned, and some of his followers collected his ashes, and kept it as a relic (11). He was killed on the 11th of October, 1532, in the forty-fourth year of his age, according to Hermant, but Natalis, Gotti, and Van Ranst, say he was forty years old. The war was not yet ended; five other battles were fought, and the Catholics were always victorious; peace was at length concluded, on condition that each canton should freely profess its own religion, and thus, with few interruptions, it has continued to the present day (12). Before I dismiss this subject, I will mention a few words of a sermon, or letter, of his, to Francis I. of France, in which he speaks of the glory that Kings are to expect in heaven: "There,"

you

he says, 66 you will see the Redeemer and the redeemed; there will behold Abel, Noe, Abraham, Isaac; there you will see Hercules, Theseus, Numa, the Catos, the Scipios, &c." This was the language of this new Church Reformer after his apostacy; he places, along with Christ and the holy patriarchs, in heaven, the idolaters, and the Pagan gods. Bossuet, in his History of the Variations (13), gives a large extract from this letter.

SEC. III.-ECOLAMPADIUS; BUCER; PETER MARTYR.

55. Ecolampadius. 56. Bucer. 57. Peter Martyr.

55. JOHN ECOLAMPADIUS, a faithful follower of Zuinglius, was a Greek linguist, and held the situation of tutor to the Prince Palatine's children; his friends injudiciously importuned him to become a monk, so he entered into the Order of St. Brigit, and made his profession (1); but we may judge of his intentions, when we are told that he said: "If I make six hundred vows, I will not observe one of them, unless I like it." "Why," says Florimund (2), “should we wonder at his leaving the cloister, when such were his sentiments on entering it? In a few years he laid aside the cowl, and

p. 318.

(10) Varill. t. 1, l. 4, p. 355. (11) Nat. Alex. loc. cit.; Gotti, n. 13, & Van Ranst, (12) Varill. loc. cit. p. 358, & seq. (13) Bossuet, Hist. de Variat. l. 2, (1) Nat. Alex. t. 19, s. 3, n. 3. (2) Florimund in Synopsi. l. 2, c. 8, n. 9.

n. 19.

married, as he said, by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, and became a follower of Zuinglius, who appointed him Superintendent of Basle (3). He followed Zuinglius's doctrine regarding the Real Presence, but not his explanation of est by significat (see N. 48), as he explained the text, "this is my body," by "this is the figure of my body" (4). How strange that not one of the new apostles of the Gospel could agree with the other! He died in the year 1532, at the age of forty-nine, only a month after Zuinglius's death, to him a source of the most poignant grief. Luther said he was found dead in his bed, strangled by the devil, a generally received opinion at that time, according to Noel Alexander; others say he died of an ulcer in the os sacrum; the general opinion, however, is, that he was found dead in his bed. Many writers, Varillas says (5), tell us that he several times attempted to take away his own life, and that he poisoned himself. Cardinal Gotti quotes others (6), who assert, that a short time previous to his death, he was heard to exclaim: "Alas, I shall soon be in hell;" and also that, just before his death, he said: "I, uncertain and fluctuating in the Faith, have to give an account before the Tribunal of God, and see whether my doctrine is true or false" (7). Foolish man, he had the Church, the pillar and the ground of truth, which condemned his doctrine, and he wished to have it tried at that Tribunal, where, if he found it false (as it was), there would be no remedy to ward off eternal perdition.

56. Martin Bucer was the son of a poor Jew in Strasbourg, who left him, at his death, on the world without any one to look to him, and only seven years of age. He was taken in by the Dominicans to serve Mass and assist the servants of the Convent; but finding him endowed with great talents, they gave him the habit of the Order, and put him to study (8). He soon became a great proficient in sacred and profane literature, and received Holy Orders, Cardinal Gotti says (9), without being baptized. He was so taken with Luther's doctrine on celibacy, that he apostatized, and not only married once, but three times successively, saying, that as a divorce was allowed to the Jews on account of the hardness of their hearts, it was also permitted to Christians of an extraordinary temperament (10). To the errors of Luther he added others: First.-That Baptism is necessary as a positive precept, but that it is not necessary for salvation. Second.-That there is no Church which does not err in morals and faith. Third.--That before we are justified by God we sin in every good work we do, but that after our justification the good we perform we do through necessity. Fourth.That some are so formed by God for the marriage state, that they cannot be forbidden to marry. Fifth.-That usury is not contrary

(3) Gotti, loc. cit. n. 15. p. 356. (6) Gotti, n. 17. s. 4; Varil. t. 1, l. 8, p. 363.

(4) Gotti, n. 16, & Nat. Alex. loc. cit. (5) Varill. 7. 8, (7) Gotti, c. 109, s. 2, in fine. (8) Gotti, t. 2, c. 109, (9) Gotti, loc. cit. n. 1. (10) Varil. loc. cit.

to the Divine command. Sixth.-He admitted the Presence of Christ in the Holy Sacrament, but said it was not real, but took place solely by faith. On this account he passed over to the sect of the Sacramentarians, and quarrelled with Luther, and it was in defence of that sect he wrote his dialogue, "Arbogastus" (11). He was selected by the Landgrave as the most likely person to unite the Zuinglians and Lutherans; but though he held many confer ences, he never could succeed, for Luther never would give up the Real Presence of Christ in the Sacrament. He left Strasbourg, where he lived and taught a long time, and in 1549, in the reign of Edward VI., went to England to join Peter Vermigli, commonly called Peter Martyr, who, two years previously, was appointed Professor of Theology in Oxford. He had not been three years England when he died, at the age of sixty-one, in Cambridge, in 1551; and Cardinal Gotti says (12), he was tormented with remorse of conscience in his last moments. His bones were exhumed and burned, by order of Queen Mary, in 1556.

in

57. The other celebrated disciple of Zuinglius who, especially in England, endeavoured to disseminate his errors, was Peter Vermigli, a Florentine, commonly called Peter Martyr. He was born in

Florence, in 1500, of a noble, but reduced family. His mother, who was acquainted with the Latin language, taught him till he was eighteen years of age, when, according to some authors, he took the Carthusian habit, but the general opinion is, that he became a Canon Regular (13) of St. Augustin, in the Monastery of Fiesole. In his novitiate he gave indications of great talent, and was, after his profession, sent to Padua, where he was taught Greek, Hebrew, and Philosophy. He thence went to Bologna to study theology, and returned with a great stock of learning (14). He next turned his attention to the pulpit, and preached several Lents in the principal cities of Italy. While preaching in the Cathedral of Naples, he had the misfortune to become acquainted with a Spanish lawyer of the name of Valdes, who, by reading Luther's and Calvin's works, became infected with their heresies, and fearing to be discovered in Spain, where the stake awaited him, went to Germany, but the climate not agreeing with him, he came to Naples, and contracted a friendship with Peter Martyr, and then made him a Sacramentarian. As soon as he tasted the poison himself he began to communicate it to others who used to meet him in a church. This had not gone on long when he was charged with his errors before the Nuncio, and immediately called to Rome. His brethren in religion, with whom he always lived on the best terms, and who certainly believed him innocent, took up his defence most warmly, and he was most fully acquitted and dismissed. From Rome he (11) Gotti, loc. cit. n. 2, 3; Varil. t. 1, 7. 8, p. 364. (13) Gotti, loc. cit. n. 5. (14) Varillas, t. 2, l. 17, p. 106; Vermigli.

(12) Varil. 7. 11, p. 297. Dizion. Port. alla parola

went to Lucca, where he thought he could establish a Zuinglian congregation, with less risk to himself than in Naples, and he succeeded so far, that among others he made four proselytes among the Professors of the University. They were in a little while discovered and obliged to fly to the Protestant Cantons of Switzerland, where they soon became ministers. Peter being discovered also, and not knowing where to fly, turned his steps likewise to Switzerland, hoping that his disciples there would procure a Professorship for him. He went first to Zurich, and afterwards to Basle; but as he wished to make himself the master of all, he met but a cool reception in either place. He then went to Bucer, in Strasbourg, who received every heretic, and procured him immediately a Professorship of Theology. He remained there till called to England, where he went with a nun he married, and was received with great honour in London, and was appointed to a Chair in Oxford, with double the salary that was promised to him. He returned to Strasbourg, in 1553, and finally went to teach his blasphemies in Zurich, where he died in 1562, loaded with fruits of perdition, for besides the many years he taught his errors in all these places, he composed and left after him also a number of works to sustain them (15).

ARTICLE III.

THE HERESIES OF CALVIN.

SEC. II. THE BEGINNING AND PROGRESS OF THE HERESY OF CALVIN.

58. Birth and Studies of Calvin. 59. He begins to broach his Heresy; they seek to imprison him, and he makes his Escape through a Window. 60. He commences to disseminate his Impieties in Angouleme. 61. He goes to Germany to see Bucer, and meets Erasmus. 62. He returns to France, makes some Followers, and introduces the "Supper;" he afterwards goes to Basle, and finishes his "Instructions." 63. He goes to Italy, but is obliged to fly; arrives in Geneva, and is made Master of Theology. 64. He is embarrassed there. 65. He flies from Geneva, and returns to Germany, where he marries a Widow. 66. He returns to Geneva, and is put at the Head of the Republic; the impious Works he publishes there; his Dispute with Bolsec. 67. He causes Michael Servetus to be burned alive. 68. Unhappy End of the Calvinistic Mission to Brazil. 69. Seditions and Disturbances in France on Calvin's

Account; Conference of Poissy. 70. Melancholy Death of Calvin. 71. His personal Qualities and depraved Manners.

58. JOHN CALVIN was born on the 10th of July, 1509, in Noyon, in the ancient province of Picardy, some say he was born in Bourg de Pont; but the almost universal opinion is, that he was born in the city itself, and Varillas (1) says that the house in which he first saw the light was afterwards razed to the ground by the people, and that a person who subsequently rebuilt it was hanged at the door. He was the third son of Gerard Caudin (he afterwards changed his

(15) Varillas, l. 17, p. 106; Berti, Hist. sec. 16, c. 3; Van Ranst, sec. 16, p. 391; Dizion. Portat. loc. cit. (1) Varillas, Istor. della Rel. t. 1, l. 12, p. 450.