Footnotes To Chapter Ninth:
After this the negotiations were prosecuted vigorously on all sides. The commander-in-chief, with a numerous guard, went over to the leaders of the Five Cantons; a second meeting was held the next day and a treaty of peace concluded, of which the following are the chief articles: The Reformation shall be guaranteed in Zurich and all her immediate dependencies, as well as in those parts of the Territories, where it has already been received; yet all those, who may wish to return to the mass, or to prove by a new vote, which is the prevailing party, shall be at liberty to do so. Church property was to be divided according to the census. Zurich pledged herself to abstain from any further intervention, where she had no claim to rule. The Christian Buergerrecht and the first Landfriede were abrogated. The few remaining articles were devoted to damages, or the restitution of property, which had been seized. During the formation of the treaty the name of "Confederates" was once more heard. And now, after its conclusion, the deputies dismounted from their horses and knelt down in prayer. Then Captain Escher stepped up to the schultheiss Golder and the bailiffs of the Five Cantons, and offered his hand to each of them. Tears stood in every eye. They gave each other their canteens to drink from, took a friendly leave and returned to their respective camps.
But then a hard destiny, fines, punishments, the oppression of soldiers, quartered upon them, and a partial loss of their rights, were looked for by the inhabitants of Rapperschweil, the people in Caster and the free bailiwicks, and especially the cities of Bremgarten and Mellingen. Zurich had attempted to do what she could, at least for the latter, and invited them, through Rudolph Stoll, to send deputies to her negotiation with the Five Cantons. They refused to do it, relying on the protection promised by the Bernese, a part of whose forces were yet lying in their neighborhood. But these retired, as soon as the Catholics turned against them with serious purpose, and prepared for action, after the conclusion of the peace with Zurich. Urgently and sadly did the two cities beg the Bernese not to leave them helpless--to make some proposals at least in their behalf. The schultheiss Mutschli rode to Aarau after the commander Diessbach. He could remember, he there said to him, that it was only with reluctance, and after repeated orders from Zurich and Bern, that Bremgarten had prohibited the sale of provisions to the Five Cantons--that the vengeance of the enemy was sure, and their destruction very probable. Thus also spoke the people of Mellingen, as well as those of the free bailiwicks. "We do not treat you in this manner willingly," answered Diessbach, "but under the pressure of necessity. Act according to circumstances; Bern must take care of her own rights." Then Mutschli turned away with the words: "Jeremiah, the prophet, has spoken: 'Cursed be he who trusts in an arm of flesh!' This has been fulfilled to us this day. You cast us off in our misery. How can we then ever respect your claims? God in Heaven judge between us!" Once more they came to Zurich with prayers for succor, and immediately five deputies were dispatched to the Catholics at Muri, to intercede in their behalf. "You shall ride night and day," so they were instructed, "and not give over till the oppression of the people is removed, and you have obtained peace for them." But the Five Cantons remained inexorable, and the best that Zurich could do for her forsaken allies was to open her own gates for the reception of the most needy. Richly did one of these fugitives repay her for that act of kindness. In Henry Bullinger, the canton found the most worthy successor of her reformer. His talent, his mildness of character, his wise limitation of himself to what belonged directly to his calling, appeased the wide-spread discontent with the clergy, especially those from abroad, to whose instigations the late confusion and disaster were attributed; whilst on the other hand, his ample stores of knowledge, his unshaken firmness, where duty was concerned, and his unwearied zeal maintained the freedom of the Gospel and the cause of the Reformation, as far as could be in the midst of the general exhaustion. Meanwhile there was no hindrance to the return of the old estate to the limits of the canton and outside of it. Numerous altars were restored. The Catholic church and her priests awoke to renewed activity. Into the desolate cells of St. Gall, Muri, Einsiedeln, Wettingen, Rheinau, Katharinenthal, Hermatschweil and Gnadenthal marched back their exiled, or fugitive occupants, and in the feeling of victory, arose to new and stronger power. And now, what does this history teach? What does it teach every succeeding generation? That in all centuries wisdom and mildness, as well as rashness and violence, are the same. The former are a blessing to the nations, full of light and warmth; the latter only lead to unfruitful reactions. Whatever the Reformers did and said for the liberty of the Gospel has remained and borne rich fruits. All attempts on the other hand, to help this liberty to a triumph, in the way of violence, have only wrought injury. So, too, in our times, no good is to be hoped for from any party, whether under civil or ecclesiastical form, the inspiring soul of which is not the divine breath of love. The stronger the independence of the individual and the power of national feeling rise along with the everywhere growing freedom of the press, that engine of reformation in the hands of the Almighty, the more indispensable does it become for those who would lead others, to win them over by conscientious persuasion. But he alone can produce any permanent impression, who along with the free, true and loving word unites the power of his own example. Thinkers, indeed, might be willing to listen to the former, but the latter, speaks more clearly than any mere doctrine ever can, to the very heart of the people. Henceforward, naked power can establish nothing. No longer can the strong mind (and this is the character of the coming age) rule the world; only the strong and good will be able to show, how God rules it; but the princes and nations, who recognize this the soonest, shall become the wisest, and they also will attain the greatest power.
FOOTNOTES TO CHAPTER NINTH:
Footnote 1 The author did not think it necessary to give here all the particulars of the battle. A fuller description of it may be found in his larger work: "Geschichte der Eidgenossen wæhrend der Zeiten der Kirchentrennung." II. 373, ff. Gelzer has a still more circumstantial account in a special work, "Die Schlacht bei Cappel." Zurich, Schultheiss. 1831. But the most accurate, including the minutest details, even to the names of all who were killed, and everything that could be collected from contemporaneous reports, is contained in Bullinger's Chronicles, which were published a few years ago.
Footnote 2 On the contrary, in the civil wars between the two religious parties during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the Bernese "put their skins in danger," whilst the Zurichers did not; though with just as little success, at least in the first.