Jesus; being the last words he was heard to speak: Those present in the room praying, continued to pray till he had surrendered his spirit to his Creator; which he did most willingly and chearfully, on the first day of December, 1531, and in the forty-ninth year of his age; and was buried, with every mark of respect and concern, in the same city. He was of a meek and quiet disposition, in the undertaking of any business; he was very circumspect; nor was any thing more pleasing to him, than to spend his time in reading and commenting. He left the following works behind him.

19.

1. Annotations on Genesis. 2. On Job. 3. On Isaiah. 4. Jeremiah. 5. Ezekiel. 6. Daniel. 7. Hosea. 8. Amos. 9. Jonah. 10. Micah, chap. ii. 11. On the three last prophets. 12. On the Psalms. 13. Matthew. 14. Romans. 15. Hebrews. 16. 1 Epistle of John. 17. Of the genuine sense of these words, Hoc est corpus meum. 18. An exhortation to the reading of God's word. Of the dignity of the eucharist. 20. Of the joy of the resurrection. 21. A speech to the senate of Basil. 22. A catechism. 23. Annotations on Chrysostom. 24. Enchiridion to the Greek tongue. 25. Against Anabaptists. 26. Annotations on the Acts of the apostles, and epistles to the Corinthians. 27. Of alms-deeds. 28. Against Julian the apostate. 29. Of true faith in Christ. 30. Of the praises of Cyprian. 31. Of the life of Moses. 32. Against usury.

His learning and doctrine were such, that even cardinal Sadolet, on hearing the news of his death, wished that he could lawfully grieve for the loss of him. He was succeeded by Oswaldus Myconius. Sleidan says, that his grief upon the death of Zuinglius, whom he loved extremely, heightened his disorder, and hastened his end. Verheiden says, that there was scarce ever such an instance of cordial friendship, as subsisted between these two great men.

ULRICUS ZUINGLIUS,

THE REFORMER OF SWITZERLAND.

LRICUS ZUINGLIUS, the famous Reformer of this country, was of a good parentage, and born on the first of January, 1487, at Wildehausen in the county

of

of Tockenburg, which is a distinct republic, in alliance with the Switzers, or Helvetic body. He was sent to Basil, when he was ten years of age, to receive the first rudiments of his learning; and from thence he went to Bern, where he was taught Greek and Hebrew under Henry Lupulus. He studied philosophy at Vienna, and divinity at Basil, where he was made doctor in 1505, about which time he heard Thomas Wittenbach preach, that the death of Christ is the only price of our redemption, and that indulgences were but a device of the pope: And the next year he began to preach with such good success, that he was elected pastor of Glaris, the chief town in the canton of that name. He continued there till 1516, when the reputation which he had acquired by his sermons occasioned him to be called to the Hermitage, a place famous for pilgrimages to the Virgin Mary.

It is reported, that Zuinglius, about this time, had a remarkable conference with cardinal Matthew, bishop of Syon, in the allied country of Valais, concerning the abuses which had crept into the church, and the way to work a Reformation. He had before read the conclusions of the famous Picus of Mirandula, which had gone far to determine his judgment. He then had heard nothing of Luther.

He was soon after invited to Zurick, the capital of that canton, to undertake the principal charge of that city, and to preach the word of God among the inhabitants. The method which he followed in his sermons, was to explain a text of holy scripture; and he began with the gospel of St Matthew.

About the year 1517, Martin Luther, professor of Wittenberg in Saxony, had entered into a dispute against the custom of selling indulgences by the pope, who condemned Luther But he appealed to a council, and went on writing against the errors of the church of Rome.

Zuinglius shewed himself at first very favourable to Luther, and recommended his books to his auditors, though he would not preach them himself. Samson, a franciscan of Milan, was sent by the pope, as general visitor of his order, to publish indulgences at Zurick. He preached, according to the usual manner, that the pope had granted an absolute pardon of sins to such as purchased those indulgences, and that they might thereby infallibly deliver souls out of purgatory. Zuinglius followed the example of Luther, by declaiming powerfully against this franciscan, and against the indulgences. Hugh, bishop of Con

stance

stance believed, that Zuinglius was displeased only with the abuse, and exhorted him to proceed under his patronage : But Zuinglius went farther, and solicited that prelate, as also the papal legate in Switzerland, to favour the doctrine that he intended to settle, which he called evangelical truth. They refused his proposals; and he opposed the popish ceremonies from the year 1519, to 1523, when he found an opportunity of establishing his own doctrine, and of abolishing the superstition of Rome.

Erasmus was displeased at the violent quarrels which arose about the Lord's Supper among the Reformers, the Zuinglians and the Lutherans; for, in those days Zuinglius and his adherents were the only men who talked reasonably upon that subject. He informed the president of the court at Mechlin, in 1522, that the Spirit of Reformation increased in Switzerland, where there were two hundred thousand who abhorred the see of Rome. Erasmus was not mistaken in this, as the Reformation in Switzerland soon afterwards shewed.

The Switzers had rendered themselves a very formidable nation, and their bravery was admired in all the European states. Francis I. king of France purchased their friendship with a great sum of money in 1515: And, in 1521, concluded a treaty with the Switzers, by which he was at liberty to levy any number of Swiss troops, from six to sixteen thousand, without asking the consent of the magistrates. The canton of Zurick refused to enter into this treaty; because Zuinglius, who was in great esteem there, represented that the suffering a foreign prince to raise troops in this manner, was, in effect, selling the blood of their allies and children.

Zuinglius conducted the Reformation in Switzerland with as much progress as Luther conducted that in Saxony; though he carried himself with more moderation and prudence. He propounded his doctrine in his sermons, which he preached four years successively in Zurick, and thereby prepared the minds of the people for its reception: But he would not attempt to make any alterations in the divine worship, without the concurrence of the magistrates, and he caused an assembly to be called for that purpose by the senate of Zurick, on the twenty-ninth of January, 1523, that the differences among preachers in matters of religion might be composed.

The assembly met upon the day appointed, when a great number of the clergy appeared, and the bishop of Constance sent three deputies, among whom was John Fa

ber,

ber, his chief vicar. The consul opened the conference by declaring, that the sermons of Zuinglius had raised so many disputes in their city, that the senate thought it the best way to allay these differences by appointing a conference before the council of two hundred, to which all the clergy both of the city and country had been summoned. Zuinglius replied, "That the light of the gospel "had been obscured, and almost extinguished, by human "traditions: But that several eminent men had lately "endeavoured to restore it, by preaching the word of "God to the people in its purity. That he was one of "that number; and, like them, had been treated as an "heretic and seducer; though he had, for five years past, "taught only what was contained in the holy scripture. "That it was for this reason he had desired to give an "account of his doctrine before the senate of Zurick, and "the bishop of Constance. That he thanked the senate " for granting him this favour; and that he had drawn his "doctrines into sixty-seven propositions, which he was "fully persuaded were agreeable to the gospel: And he "was ready to answer for himself, if any person would accuse him of error or heresy."

The doctrines contained in those sixty-seven propositions, may be reduced to these following articles. That the gospel is the only rule of faith. The church is the communion of saints. We ought to acknowledge no other head of the church but Jesus Christ. All traditions should be rejected. There is no other sacrifice but that of Jesus Christ upon the cross: And the mass is no sacrifice, but a commemoration of the sacrifice of Christ. We have need of no other intercessor with God than Jesus Christ. All sorts of meat may be eaten at all times. The habits of monks smell of hypocrisy. Marriage is allowed to all men, and no man is obliged to make a vow of chastity, nor are priests at all obliged to live unmarried. Excommunication ought not to be inflicted by the bishop alone, but by the whole church; and notorious offenders only ought to be excommunicated. The power which the pope and bishops assume to themselves, is a piece of pride that has no foundation in the scripture. God alone can forgive sins: For confession of sin to a priest, is only to beg his ghostly advice; and works of satisfaction proceed from human tradition. The scripture does not teach us, that there is such a place as purgatory. The character which the sacraments are said to impress, is of a modern invention. The scripture acknowledges

none