A Sketch of Ulrich Zwingli’s Life as Related to Education
A Sketch of Ulrich Zwingli’s Life as Related to Education
Switzerland, which is about one-third as large as the state of New York, has been the scene of many remarkable events in history. The ancients called the country Helvetia and the inhabitants were called Helvetii. They belonged to the Celtic race and were conquered by Marius and later, by Caesar. In the sixth century of our era the Franks subdued Helvetia, and from 1273 to 1291 Rudolph I., German Emperor, ruled over the territory, which was then called Higher Germany. August 1, 1291, ushered in the Swiss Confederation. All these are significant events, but the dawn of the Reformation in Switzerland overshadows them all, in far-reaching results. The Swiss Confederation has taught the world lessons of civil liberty; but the Reformation, begun so early in Switzerland, has taught the world lessons of religious liberty, which perpetuates civil liberty and frees the human spirit from the shackles of sin and death.
In the Providence of God, Ulrich Zwingli was called to be the pioneer and leader of the Reformation in Switzerland. He was the third son of his father, whose name was also Ulrich, and was born on New Year's Day, in the year 1484, near the mountain village Wildhaus, located in eastern Switzerland, near the source of the Thur, a tributary of the Rhine, and about twenty miles south of Lake Constance. If a traveler were to start at Basel and go a little south of east, in a straight line, for about forty-five miles, he would reach Zurich; and by continuing on the same line, about forty miles further, he would reach Wildhaus.
Young Ulrich inherited a strong constitution and an active, penetrating mind from his hardy and intelligent parents. His father, though a plain, simple mountaineer, had the honor of being elected magistrate of the parish. Ulrich learned many lessons from the book of nature, before he enjoyed the advantages of a school. The clear, bracing mountain air imparted vigor to his body and stimulated his mind to great activity. The majestic Alps, the beautiful pines, the tender grass, the lovely flowers, the wild animals, the grazing herds, and the yodel of the happy peasants taught him lessons of the true, the beautiful, and the good, which had their effect in molding his character and in shaping his career. The huge, solid rocks which the first confederates beheld on all sides, foreshadowed to them the stability of the confederacy; the Alpine peaks which surrounded Zwingli in his early youth, afterwards became to him the fingers of nature pointing to heaven, the sparkling springs were emblematic of the water of life, and the pure air was indicative of the pure Gospel truth freely offered to all mankind.
When Zwingli was eight years old, he was sent to his uncle, Bartholomew Zwingli, at Wesen, about twelve miles southwest of Wildhaus, in order to attend school. Having been instructed somewhat in the Scriptures by his grandmother and being eager to learn, young Ulrich made good use of his time in the primitive little school at Wesen. It may have been in his uncle's house, as many teachers of children in those days went from place to place, to teach in private houses. His uncle who was the village priest, no doubt did much to encourage him, and helped him in his studies.
The subjects studied in the elementary schools of that time were music, grammar, and probably writing. The grammar included some reading and orthography. Books were very scarce and not adapted to the wants of children, as printing had been introduced into Swiss towns only about fifteen years before this time. Most of the teaching was oral and very imperfect. The children had to repeat what the master told them and if they did not remember it, when it was again called for, they were often severely punished. Young Ulrich found it an easy matter to make rapid progress. Indeed, at the end of the second year, he had made so much progress, particularly in music, that his uncle thought it best to send him to a higher school, where he would have teachers who could teach him what he did not already know.
This picture of elementary schools, though gloomy, is much brighter than the one drawn by a good historian in referring to the educational status of the same canton two centuries prior to this time, when he says: "Of all the monks in the convent of St. Gall there was but one who could read and write."
In conversation with Ulrich's parents his uncle expressed a desire to have the boy sent to his friend, George Binzli, master of St. Theodore School, at Basel. This city had become a seat of learning through the founding of its University, in the year 1459. The existing schools were improved thereby and others were established. Ulrich could not go to the University, but he was well prepared to enter St. Theodore School. Accordingly, no time was lost, and Ulrich was sent to Basel in 1494, where he remained three years, studying Latin, music, and dialectics.
It was quite a trial for a lad of ten years to be sent to a school located down in the broad valley of the Rhine and so far from his elevated mountain home. The journey over the mountains and across the valleys seemed long, but it was nevertheless undertaken because Bartholomew Zwingli had full confidence in Binzli and believed that he would do justice to his nephew, in every study. Binzli took a special interest in his pupil from the beginning. Ulrich was studious, and the religious influence of his home as well as that of his uncle at Wesen, had already so fostered in him such a sense of duty that he soon adapted himself to the situation and entered with zeal upon the course of study in the new school. His talent for music was developed so rapidly that he delighted his companions and became a leader among them. In debate, which was a very popular exercise in the universities and which had even found its way into the schools, he soon exhibited wonderful power; and before the end of the third year, he became a peer to those who were older than he was. Master Binzli, though strongly attached to Ulrich, decided that another school should be selected for him. Having arrived at the age of thirteen years, Ulrich was able to pursue higher studies than those which he pursued in St. Theodore School.
After consultation with his parents, his uncle assisted young Zwingli to enter the school of Henry Woelflin, also called Lupulus, at Bern, which was fully as far from home as Basel. The latter city had few attractions for the young mountaineer, as it lies in an open plain, where the protection of rocky walls and high peaks was wanting; Bern presented the windings of the Aar to young Zwingli's eye, as Basel did the beautiful Rhine, and although built in a wide valley, the snow-capped mountains could be seen so well from Bern that he doubtless felt as though he were nearer home than at Basel.
Henry Woelflin was a learned man and had traveled in Palestine, Greece, and Rome. Thoroughly versed in the ancient classics and in history, and, withal, a poet of no mean rank, he was well prepared to found "the first academy of learned languages in Switzerland," or according to Myconius, the first Swiss humanistic institution.
Young Zwingli here found food for his vigorous mind and entered zealously upon the study of the Latin classics, in which he became so proficient that he tried to imitate the Latin poets. His poetical turn of mind was here brought to light and his skill in music became so great that he could play upon any instrument then in use. He sang well and exhibited wonderful powers of speech. He learned to speak Latin in a more finished style than that of his native Swiss dialect. Never afterwards did the love for classical literature grow cold in Zwingli's active life.
The Dominican monks, charmed by Zwingli's ability as a musician, tried to induce him to join their order. It seems that he wrote to his father, in regard to the matter, who at once called him home, in order to save him from the terrors of the monastery. Thus Zwingli studied at Bern, from 1497 to the latter part of the year 1499, preparing himself for entering a university.
According to the advice of his uncle, Zwingli was sent to the University of Vienna, where he was matriculated in the year 1500. The journey was at least four times as long as the one he had just made, but Zwingli was now sixteen years old and a long journey would be inspiring to him. The prospect of attending the University of Vienna, a flourishing institution having a history extending over a period of 135 years cheered his heart and made him feel that his desire for knowledge would be satisfied.
At this institution Zwingli was associated with students whose intellectual attainments were quite congenial to him. The names of some of them were afterwards recorded in history. One of his associates was later on known as Doctor Eck, the greatest Catholic theologian of Germany and a powerful opponent to Luther. Another bore the name of Glarean, from Glarus, his Swiss home; he afterwards became professor at the University of Basel and kept boarding students, among whom, in all probability, was Gerald Meyer, Zwingli's step-son. Zwingli, in the introduction to the little treatise on education dedicated to Gerald, speaks of the teacher of the latter as "our Glarean."
The studies which Zwingli pursued were mathematics, natural history, the Roman classics, poetry and music. He could build well on what he had learned under his great teacher Woelflin, at Bern. The father of Zwingli called him home in the year 1502, thus limiting his time at the University of Vienna to two years. The rich store of knowledge which Zwingli now possessed could not be utilized at Wildhaus, and, at the same time, his capacity and desire to learn were such that he could not stay at home; accordingly, he went back to Basel in the same year, but this time to be matriculated at the University. He had left Basel at the age of thirteen; he returned when he was eighteen years old. His age and scholarship now- fitted him to teach at St. Martin's School, while attending lectures in philosophy at the University. He taught Latin with great success at St. Martin's School and his wonderful skill in music delighted his companions and set many of them to cultivating their talent for music. He studied the philosophy and the theology of his time more to refute the arguments of their expounders in later years than for any other purpose.
In the year 1505 the great theologian Wittenbach was called to Basel. He attacked the doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church and showed so clearly the rule of faith, by the word of God, that Zwingli, whose heart was prepared for the seed, became a disciple of Wittenbach and thus entered upon the study of theology in real earnest. He there laid the foundation for the great work of the Reformation, in which he played so active a part. Having rejected scholasticism, he turned to humanism for educational ideals and being convinced that error was demoralizing the Romish Church, he sought pure religious truth in the Bible.
In the year 1504, the University conferred upon Zwingli the degree of Bachelor of Arts. After two years of further study, he received the degree of Master of Arts, but he made no use of it and even said in regard to it, "One is our Master, even Christ."
His father and his uncle were relieved from contributing to his support during these four years spent at Basel, as Zwingli was enabled to support himself with the salary received at St. Martin's School.
Zwingli's student-life closed at institutions of learning, only to be continued to his death, in his profession as a minister of the Gospel. Before leaving Basel, he was called to the parish at Glarus, seven miles south of Wesen, where he had first attended school. How the young priest of twenty-two must have compared his last studies with his first, when he was a boy of eight years! He had grown very much more in mind than in body. He had been a student fourteen years, and quoting his words, "on no occasion has discipline been exercised upon me, yet I acknowledge that I am a great sinner before God." The American educator would sum up Zwingli's school-days thus : Two years in the primary school, at Wesen; three years in the grammar school, at Basel; three years in the academy, at Bern; four years of undergraduate study, two at the University of Vienna and two at the University of Basel; and two years of graduate study at the latter University.
Zwingli gave time enough to higher education to become a good scholar; but his educational career had, in a certain sense, only begun. At Glarus, in addition to the duties which he performed as pastor, he founded a Latin School, which he conducted with signal success. His younger brother James was one of his pupils. Some of those who made the most progress he sent to Vienna, others to Basel.
The study of the Roman classics was continued, with all the work that he did as pastor and master of a school. Cicero, Caesar, Sallust, Livy, Suetonius, Pliny, Seneca, and Tacitus were his Roman companions and the critical study of their thoughts was his delight. He took much pains to become a good public speaker and studied for this purpose the masterpieces of eloquence. He once said: "A man must know two things above all others, namely, God and how to speak."
More than all else he studied the Bible to find therein the rule of life, so that he might the more faithfully carry out the resolution he had made when he came to Glarus, namely, "I shall be true and upright towards God and man in every circumstance of life into which the hand of the Lord may place me."
Glarus, the place where, it is said, slates were first used in a school, was never forgotten by a few Swiss scholars who studied in Zwingli's Latin School. He had introduced into his school the modern notion of sympathy between teacher and pupil, and his pupils became quite proficient in the Latin classics. Such a school deserves a paragraph in the history of education. Aegidius Tschudi, who afterwards made his mark as a Swiss historian, wrote to Zwingli from Basel: "Help me that I may be recalled to you, for with no one would I desire so much to live as with you." Valentine Tschudi, a cousin of Aegidius, wrote: "How could I ever cease thanking you for your great kindness! As often as I returned home, and in a special manner quite recently when I lay sick of a fever for four days, also when I forgot my books at Basel, you invited me to come to you, but I feared in my timidity, that I might become a burden to you; and you encouraged me, offered me your books, your help and services. To me, also, your benevolence to all students overflowed, and that, too, not in a general way, but with studious regard to my circumstances and necessities your treasures of learning were at my disposal."
We are not told how long this Latin School was under Zwingli's direction. Several times during his ten years of service at Glarus, he was called away long enough to close the Latin School or to place it in the hands of other persons. We do know, however, that he was not satisfied with all the research that he made in the Roman classics; for in the year 1513, he began the study of Greek without the aid of a teacher. He succeeded so well that he could soon read Greek authors with ease. He once remarked that Greek had become as easy for him as conversing with a friend. In the course of time he read Hesiod, Homer, Pindar, Thucydides, Demosthenes, Plato, and Aristotle. In later years he also wrote explanatory notes on Homer and Pindar. The latter seems to have been one of his favorite authors. "According to my conviction," said he, "no other Greek writer serves so valuable a purpose to throw light upon the Holy Scriptures as this one. Antiquity, as every other period, has peculiarities which can only be understood, by familiar intercourse with the ancients themselves. Pindar resembles that sacred period, not only in his language but also in the direction of his thought and in his inmost being." Above all else, he desired to read the New Testament in Greek, in order to obtain better and clearer views of the truth. He even copied all the epistles of St. Paul in Greek, in order that he might carry them with him and commit them to memory. In the same manner, he afterwards copied other portions of the Bible.
Before leaving Giants, Zwingli became intensely interested in reforms, in matters of religion. In the year 1514, he met the learned Erasmus, the humble Myconius, and the eloquent Oecolampadius, at Basel. The light thrown upon reforms in religion by these men so filled Zwingli's mind with zeal for the truth that his students and his friends at home were delighted with his preaching.
In the year 1516, this wonderful student of Bible truth and classic writers was called to Einsiedeln, about sixteen miles to the northwest, Valentine Tschudi, his former pupil in the Latin School, becoming his successor to Glarus. Zwingli had now become an attractive and eloquent speaker, as well as a finished scholar and zealous reformer. The superstitious practices at Einsiedeln furnished him an opportunity to make use of his wonderful talents. He fearlessly attacked the advocates of Romish errors and preached reform to large and attentive audiences. Perhaps no other man could have so impressed his hearers as to cause nuns to return to their parents and pilgrims to turn away from the sacred shrine in despair, or to Jesus as their only Savior. Two years seemed to suffice to prepare Zwingli for a new field of activity, to which we must follow him in order to complete his remarkable educational career.
Called to Zurich, in the year 1518, Zwingli was better prepared than ever before to expose the errors of Rome. Having begun in the year 1516 to preach the pure Gospel, he had now become a powerful exponent of the truth as it is in Christ Jesus, and his persevering study of oratory gave his cheerful manner and his convincing arguments an attractiveness that drew crowds to hear his sermons, which, during the first four years of his pastorate at Zurich, covered the subject matter of seven books in the New Testament. The Reformation was progressing rapidly at Zurich.
During this time Zwingli began the study of Hebrew under the direction of Andrew Boeschenstein, who had come to Zurich and offered to teach Hebrew to any who wished to study it. In the fifth year of Zwingli's pastorate at Zurich, he explained the value of the Hebrew language to every student of the Bible, in his short treatise on Christian education. No one was more faithful in the study of Hebrew and no one made more progress than Zwingli; the linguistic power which he already possessed enabled him to overcome the difficulties of the Hebrew language and to discover its genius, in a remarkably short time. He soon read the Old Testament with great satisfaction, because the Hebrew text conveyed to his mind clearer notions of the truth. Zwingli's wonderful perseverance in the study of languages, at a time when he might have been content with the meagre attainments of most parish priests, ought to awaken admiration for him in the mind of every student of to-day, and should make him zealous to excel in linguistic study, according to the demands of the present age.
In order to understand how it came about that Zwingli wrote on Christian education, it becomes necessary to refer to his social life at Zurich, and to the habits of the youth at that time.
Anna Reinhardt, a plain and unassuming girl, yet talented, amiable, and spotless in character was married, in 1504, to John Meyer von Knonau, a nobleman near Zurich. His father was so displeased with him for having been unwilling to marry a maiden selected for him from the ranks of the nobility that he would have nothing whatever to do with John and his amiable wife. In the course of time John Meyer enlisted in the Italian military service, as many other Swiss did at that time, and in 1517 he died. The sad widow felt that she was forsaken with her little son Gerald, who was then eight years old, and her two daughters younger than he. She lived in the town of Zurich, making her living as well as she could. One day she went to market, where her father-in-law Meyer saw little Gerald playing about the market. He was struck with the appearance of the little boy and after inquiring who the handsome little fellow was, Mr. Meyer was told that the boy was his grandchild. This touched the old man's heart and he at once received the lonely widow Anna as a member of his family.
In the year 1518, Mr. Meyer died, but it seems that he had provided for Anna in such a way that she was comfortably situated in her own house, and her children, as Zwingli afterwards once said, "had wealth enough." Anna Meyer now lived for her children, leading them in the path of virtue and providing for their education.
At about the same time when Anna Meyer lost her father-in-law, Zwingli came to Zurich and he happened to reside in a house adjoining Anna Meyer's home. She became one of the first and most attentive listeners to his preaching. Her beautiful character must have made a good impression upon his mind, from the beginning. Her devotion to the proper training of her children must have led Zwingli to see in her a model mother. Gerald once came to Zwingli's house, on an errand. The conversation which followed caused Zwingli to admire the boy and to help him, later, in his studies. In 1521, when Gerald was twelve years old, Zwingli sent him to Basel, where he was at first taught by Jacob Nepos and afterwards by Glarean, Zwingli's friend. Gerald learned Latin so well that in the same year, he wrote Zwingli a letter in Latin that would be equal to twenty-five lines of the average text on Cicero's orations.
Although Gerald seemed to have inherited something of his father's wild disposition and did not always escape discipline, he still treasured up the religious truth received from his mother and from Zwingli, thereby laying the foundation for that noble manhood which prompted him to remain true to God and his country, till he fell with Zwingli on the field of battle.
Early in 1522, Anna Meyer was married to Zwingli, privately, according to a custom then coming into vogue among the clergy, in order not to excite the wrath of the enemies of the Reformation. She was then thirty-seven years old, a year younger than Zwingli. Zurich was soon prepared for public marriage of the clergy, however; so that on the second of April, 1524, Zwingli's marriage was celebrated, publicly, to the joy of his numerous friends. The following year, Zurich actually passed laws relating to marriage, conformably to Zwingli's private and public marriage.
Gerald Meyer, having returned from Basel, after two years of study, now met Zwingli, not only as a father in the faith but as his father by marriage. The bonds of attachment thus formed induced Zwingli all the more to have Gerald's highest welfare at heart. During the summer of 1523 Gerald, then a lad of fourteen, spent some time at the hot baths in the mountains and returned to Zurich before Zwingli had time to get a present ready for him, according to the custom at that time.
Zwingli, to protect the sprightly Gerald from the pernicious influence of reckless companions and to reform the training of youth and the conduct of the young in society, had planned a treatise on Christian education, some time prior to this, but he had failed to find time to write it. The return from the bath furnished an occasion which Zwingli could not pass by unimproved; consequently, he took the time to write in Latin, for the young student of the classics, the instructive and edifying treatise on Christian education and dedicated it to him, on the first day of August.
This short treatise exhibits, in a remarkable degree, Zwingli's keen insight into the intellectual, moral, and religious needs of youth. Though short, it was worth more to Gerald than a present of gold and precious stones, because its influence upon his character could not fail to be lasting. Zwingli clearly marked out the way in which Gerald should walk and how he should prepare to walk therein. He laid down as much of science and art, in his course, as the teachers in those days could teach, and the study of religion and morals was emphasized in keeping with the evangelical spirit of the great reformer. The culture which Gerald was to receive from following Zwingli's teaching reached out into nearly all the avenues of life. Although no principles of education are categorically laid down, the treatise breathes them throughout, in the study and practice recommended.
The Rev. K. Fulda, editor of the reprint of the South-German edition of 1524, declares the latter to be the first Protestant treatise on pedagogy. He makes no mention of the Latin edition of 1523, which is still earlier and therefore in no sense an imitation, but an original protestant production. Truly, this modest treatise, to which an otherwise excellent French history of pedagogy makes a one-sided reference, by mentioning only certain elements of secular education contained therein, deserves a place of high honor in Christian pedagogical literature.
In support of this opinion, we quote from Moerikofer: "It is too serious and thoughtful a production to be regarded only as a friendly message on a social occasion Zwingli knew well that the wild disposition of the Swiss youth was fostered by the corrupt civil life of that time and that through love of close application to study, honest labor, and noble aspirations a better time must come. Scarcely was any other man so well prepared as he to work for this end; hence, Christian earnestness, humanistic wisdom, and training for contact with the world are united in a beautiful, harmonious whole …It is a safe philosophy of life, emanating from a thoroughly trained and experienced man, whose heart was filled with the abiding joys of a higher life in the light of the Holy Gospel." No one will thus appreciate the reading of the treatise, however, who does not fully imagine himself carried back to Zwingli's time, so as to see, mentally, the crude, unscientific methods of pedagogy, fettered by the shackles of scholasticism. Then, too, Zwingli's style is often loose and sometimes lacks method; he wrote in too many languages, and he was too busily engaged to rewrite or even review what he had hastily written. Zwingli never wrote books for pecuniary gain, for he never accepted money to write a book.
Head-master Niessli of the Carolinum, named after Charles the Great, who had granted letters for an ecclesiastical foundation, at Zurich, was removed by death and Zwingli was elected as his successor, April 14, 1525. This institution had declined as a gymnasium, with the churches of the city, on account of the idleness and corruption of the religious and educational leaders; hence Zwingli sought to reform the Carolinum as well as the churches, as a necessary part of the great work of the Reformation.1
Accordingly, on the 19th of June, in the same year, he substituted for the choir-service what he called "prophecy," according to 1 Cor. 14, thus engrafting upon the Carolinum a higher institution which transformed it into a remarkably practical school of theology, ancient languages, and elementary science. It is here that Zwingli accomplished his greatest work, as an educator. The school was in session every weekday, Friday excepted, and was opened at 7 o'clock in the morning, in the summer, and at 8 o'clock, in the winter. A month's vacation was granted three times a year. The course of study centered on the Bible. The first hour, i. e. the "prophecy" proper, was given to exegesis, with some elements of systematic and practical theology to meet the wants of the Reformation. The second hour consisted of a divine service, in which the people of the city took part with the students, among whom were also town-parsons, predicants, canons, and chaplains. Here the same Scriptures were treated again, but so simplified that the people could understand them; and we may add that the students themselves not only obtained a clearer knowledge from this repetition but they also learned, in a most practical manner, how to present the truth in their future charges. Friday was market-day, and the people from the country came to hear the preaching, which was largely intended for their special benefit. The afternoon of each school-day was devoted to the study of the languages and elementary science.
The first professor chosen to assist Zwingli was Ceporin, a Greek and Hebrew scholar of great merit. He was elected, June 5, 1525, but he had been teaching at Zurich, in 1522, and later, at Basel, where his Greek grammar was printed. At the Carolinum, he filled the chair of professor of Hebrew, but only till December 20th of the same year, when he died from over-exertion, at the age of 26. In March, the following spring, the learned Pellican became his successor. Jacob Ammann was, at the same time, elected professor of Latin and Rudolph Collin, professor of Greek. Megander, Leo Jud, and Myconius also assisted Zwingli. Myconius, however, taught at the Frauenminster School, but he conducted an exercise in New Testament exegesis there, every afternoon at three o'clock, which crowds of the laity and students attended, whereas Zwingli had charge of Old Testament exegesis, at the Carolinum, besides being its head and also the pastor of a congregation.
The call of Pellican includes the salary to be paid him, which was to be equal to Zwingli's, namely, sixty to seventy florins and lodging.
The "prophecy," or theological department proper, was conducted as follows: Zwingli offered a prayer to the effect that God might enlighten every mind and make each one to understand rightly his Word. Then followed the reading of a portion of Scripture from the Vulgate, by a scholar, with comments by Megander; the same verses were then read in Hebrew and explained critically, doctrinally, and practically, in Latin, by Pellican; thereafter, Zwingli compared both texts with the Septuagint and further explained and applied the text, practically; finally, Leo Jud turned the last text and its applications into good German. If something better was revealed to anyone else, the speaker gave him the privilege of making it known.
The languages seem to have been taught by memorizing and constant speaking. A student present, in August, says: "At six o'clock in the morning, the first book of Virgil's Aeneid is read. All those verses of Virgil must be memorized. The second lesson is on Cicero's letters to his friends, the best of which must also be memorized. These are the morning lessons. Then we read Homer, compose letters, and write a poem."
If one could see all the obstacles put in Zwingli's way, as well as the natural circumstances of his time, the establishment of this wonderful school of theology would appear all the more astonishing. Most men would have been content with zealous preaching, but Zwingli's activity extended even beyond the limits of teaching and preaching. He also wrote a number of books, carried on an extensive correspondence, and defended the cause of reform in public debate. In 1528, it required discussions lasting nineteen days, at Bern, to establish the Reformation there.
It is impossible to understand how Zwingli could do all these things, and do them so well, until we know the secret of his success. Zwingli had exceptional intellectual ability and worked speedily, systematically, and incessantly; besides all this, he possessed herculean powers of endurance. On one occasion, he aided the reformers in their debate, at Baden, fourteen miles northwest of Zurich, by sending messengers, every night, with letters expressing his views; and so busily was he then engaged, that he did not go to bed at all, for six weeks. His iron constitution and his quick, penetrating intellect enabled him to accomplish a work that is grander and more enduring than the much admired snow-capped Alps that pierce the clouds and tower up into the clear, blue sky. As early as 1514, Erasmus said that he expected Zwingli to raise his country to a higher plane of learning and morals, along with like-minded men of other nations. How much higher he could have raised it, had he not been cut down, in the midst of his labors, October n, 1531, on the cruel battle-field of Cappel!
The hero died and all reformers wept,
The loss to them was great and fierce the strife;
But greater was the gain to him
that slept,
For he had gone to reap eternal life.