then exhorted him to recommend his soul to the Holy Virgin. A second sign of refusal enraged them. 'Die then, obstinate heretic!' cried one,

and pierced him with his sword."

"It was not till the next day that the body of the Reformer was found, and exposed to the view of the army. A former colleague of Zwingle's, who had left Zurich on account of the Reformation, was among the crowd. He gazed a long time upon him who had been his adversary, and at length said with emotion, 'Whatever may have been thy faith, I am sure that thou wast always sincere, and that thou lovedst thy country. May God take thy soul in mercy!'

“The soldiers did not share in this generous sentiment. Ignorant and bigoted, they rejoiced in the death of a man whom they hated as an enemy to their faith. They surrounded the bloody corpse in the most tumultuous manner. A cry was raised, 'Let us burn the heretic.' All applauded the proposal: in vain did their leaders remind the furious soldiery of the respect due to the dead; in vain did they exhort them not to irritate the Protestants, who might one day avenge the insult: all was useless. They seized the body; a tribunal named by acclamation, ordered that it should be burned, and the ashes be scattered to the winds; and the sentence was executed the same instant."

Thus, at the age of forty-seven years, did Ulrich Zwingle finish his course. His death was a source of triumph to the Catholics and a terrible blow to the Reformers. For a while after the loss of their great leader the Protestants were weak and discouraged. But truth had struck its roots too deep into the soil of Switzerland to be easily eradicated. The people had come to the light. The new doctrines had spread in every direction. A taste for liberty had been excited. And although the Reformation struggled in after times with many obstacles and experienced many vicissitudes, it may be truly said, that by the exertion of Zwingle and his friends, the power of the Romish Church was shaken and permanently weakened.

CHAPTER VIII.

LUTHER'S RETURN TO WITTEMBERG PROGRESS OF THE REFORMATION IN GERMANY-DIETS OF NUREMBERG- CONTROVERSY CONCERNING THE LORD'S

SUPPER-WAR OF THE PEASANTS-LUTHER'S MARRIAGE-LUTHER'S LETTERS. 1522-1524.

WE return again to Germany. Extensive revolutions of all kinds are attended by evils. Overzealous and ardent men spring up in times of excitement, who are anxious to push matters to extremes, and who cannot easily be kept within the bounds of prudence and moderation. Among the Reformers were some characters of this description, whose extravagances and want of judgment were an injury to the cause they espoused. To this class belonged Carolstadt, one of the professors in the University at Wittemberg, who, not content with the boldness already exhibited by his colleagues in their attack upon popery, took advantage of the absence of Luther, to tear down the images in the churches, and by other such actions to inflame the minds of the students and create disturbance. His zeal was unfortunately seconded by some fanatical mechanics. These men, pretending to the gift of immediate and special inspiration, and treating all learning and

study with contempt, obtained many followers among the idle and ignorant, while their wildness and turbulence gave great alarm to the better informed.

The moment Luther heard of this sad affair, he determined to quit his retirement, and resume his place in the city as a public teacher. He left Wartburg early in March, 1522, without the knowledge or consent of the Elector, and soon, by his preaching and decided conduct, put an end to the disorders occasioned by Carolstadt and his party. Having accomplished this work and restored quiet, he devoted himself with renewed diligence to his great undertaking, and, assisted by Melancthon and others, proceeded rapidly with his translation of the Bible. This noble publication, which was issued in parts, did more, probably, than any thing else, to open the eyes of the common people in Germany to the errors and corruptions of the Church of Rome.

From this period the Reformation was constantly gaining strength. Several important cities openly abandoned the old forms of worship, and many of the princes and noblemen began to waver in their attachment to papacy. This latter fact was more and more evident at each successive Diet. The desire for greater political freedom was combined with the desire for religious liberty, and some of the most important members of the Germanic

Confederacy showed a decided opposition to the aggressions and exactions of Rome. This hostile feeling was very apparent soon after the death of Leo X. in 1522. Adrian, who had formerly been a tutor to the Emperor, was unexpectedly raised to the papal throne. He was a man of honest purposes and good moral character; but, although not blind to the existing abuses, he was bigoted in his reverence for the Church. He was willing to make some changes in the papal system, but insisted upon the extermination of the Lutheran heresy. Accordingly, he sent a legate to the Diet then convened at Nuremberg, to complain of the little attention which had been paid to the Edict of Worms, and to urge the execution of the sentence which had been passed upon Luther; while at the same time, he instructed this agent to consult with the assembled princes as to the best method of removing the evils in the Church. The latter part of this message met with a very frank reception. Germany, the Diet assured the legate, had already suffered too much and too long from the oppression of Rome; the call for relief could not be safely neglected, and they recommended, that a general Council should be called to see what ought to be done. They likewise drew up a list of one hundred grievances, to which they begged him to ask the especial attention of his Holiness. The only notice which