Johann Jakob Hottinger

“ Thus, Zwingli's labors in Zurich began to stir up base elements, along with what were truly noble and pure. People, who were lacking in means to rise, and often justly low in public esteem, now called out likewise for change, so that their old incapacity, or their old sins, might be forgotten. The deeper the agitation, the more they hoped to gain. Then already Grebel was numbered among them; the better spirit had wholly forsaken him. Others of a like stamp clustered around him. To stand with Zwingli they would have needed purer morals, more labor of the mind, and above all self-denial. ”

“ With this resolve, under this shield, Zwingli began the practice of his calling, not at all anxious about the judgments of men, nor troubled at the remarks of the multitude. In him ruled the ardent spirit of vigorous youth, averse to every thing that smacked of devotional hypocrisy, full of life and mirth, sometimes verging even on wantonness, and yet so earnest, where the affairs of science, so profound, where those of faith, and so conscientious, where those of the congregation entrusted to his care, were concerned, or those of his country, in whose welfare and honor his heart was bound up. ”

“ I am a good shepherd; a good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep; so I also give my body and life and soul for my sheep, my body to the tower and my life to the sword, or fire, or the wine-press, where it will be pressed out of the flesh as the blood of Christ on the cross. I am a beginner of baptism and the bread of the Lord, along with my chosen brethren, Conrad Grebel and Felix Manz. Therefore, the Pope with all his followers is a thief and a murderer; in like manner, Luther with all his followers is a thief and a murderer ”

“ Without them, Zurich was no longer able to carry on the war. The favorable moment had passed. Time had been given to the Five Cantons to gather and strengthen their army. The sight of their collective force raised the courage of individuals. In numbers they were not inferior to the Zurichers; surpassed them rather. And then, they beheld an abundance of provisions in the Zurichan camp, whilst in theirs, and at home in their vallies, want and famine prevailed, on account of the prohibition against importation. The assurance of this accessible and needful booty whetted their thirst for combat. ”

“ If we and ours were to suffer such scandal, shame, contempt, blasphemy and arrogance any longer, we would stand recreant before God and the world. Wherefore, for the honor of religion and truth and the glory of God's Holy Name, we are forced, by the aid of Heaven, to put down such crime and tyranny, compelled to take vengeance; and so much and so far as God gives us power, grace and strength, will we chastise you by the edge of the sword and no longer abide such haughty oppression and constraint ”

“ What became of them, when their leaders quarrelled, when under the mask of science, ambition arose, and like Icarus, would soar with waxen pinions toward the sun? Human science is one thing; wisdom, kindled by the breath of God, another; and that is love. I see this love forsaking even the most learned, and in its stead appear indifference toward God; contempt of authority, a trampling upon law and judgment, a life of ungovernable passion. Exert your utmost strength, honored teacher, to prevent it from vanishing altogether. ”

“ In the heart of man there lies a world full of rest and peace, full of blessed love, full of confidence in eternal duration and a God of power to uphold and protect; and this gives us the victory over all the darkness and plagues of earth. It speaks in living tones in the innocent child. To children, said Christ, belongs the kingdom of heaven. With growing years, with the birth of self-consciousness guilt comes to life, earlier in this one, later in that one, but once to all. It is the inheritance of earth. ”

“ Whatever may befall me, I, already marked out as a victim, look for every thing evil from the clergy and the laity. I only pray Christ for courage to bear all with a manly heart, and that he may crush or strengthen me, his laborer, as may seem good to him, and, should I even fall under excommunication, I will think of Hilary, that learned and holy man, who was banished from Gaul to the deserts of Africa, and of Lucius, who was driven from the Roman See, and afterwards brought back with honor. I will not liken myself to such men, who though greater than I, still endured the greatest evils. ”

“ To no common abilities he had joined industry and a thirst for learning in his earlier youth, and knew how to gain the good-will of Zwingli and Vadianus. Many letters bear witness of the friendly relations in which he stood toward both; but his character gradually became worse, and he could not escape the never-failing consequences of debauchery. Not the body only, but the spirit also, sinks under them. Peace vanishes from the soul; insight into the sphere of duty and the relations of life grows dim. ”

“ Perhaps (for who can fathom the ways of Providence?) the adherents of the above-named principles will yet again reach out the hand of friendship to each other. Then will begin the last, severest battle; but the Gospel must triumph, for the Church of Christ, under her one, Divine Head, perpetually revealing himself in history and the power of love, is founded upon a rock; then also will all human order be custom refined by science and ennobled by art and nature, a unity in substance, with endless diversity in form--the adversary of all revolutions. ”

“ We live in the firm and assured hope, that you, our dear subjects, will be equally concerned with us about the above-named scandal, abuse, contempt and despising of our faith and of the Divine Word, and other injuries done us, contrary to the federal compact and the Landfriede, and that you will honestly and fairly fulfill, as a loyal people, the offers and promises you have made us; moreover, do not doubt that we, your lords and rulers, will act toward you in all honor, friendship, fidelity, love and kindness, and not forsake you in the hour of need ”

“ Is the tyrant chosen by no one? Has he inherited the kingdom? I do not know what reason such kingdoms have to spare him; for suppose the born-king is a child or a fool, still they must take him as their lord. But how can he rule? It must follow, that he is not, according to the common proverb of a king's son, either a fool or a king, but both together, a fool and a king. Moreover, the kingdom must be governed by other wise ones. ”

“ Of this Zwingli had been fully persuaded by his zealous study of the Holy Scriptures. Hew naturally the idea rose in his mind, to make this trial before the people themselves, who had hitherto been bound in the fetters of a religion, which addressed them only by authority, instead of before councils exclusively composed of clergymen and lords! Still it was a great venture. The weakened eye, when suddenly brought forth from the darkness, is blinded even by the purest light; the healthy one alone can endure the splendor of the sun. ”

“ The priests lived like other men, members of families, and did not stand over the people, but among them and with them. But monasticism and celibacy rest upon the principle, that the senses are to be feared, which, like all fear, except the fear of God, is inwardly untrue. This principle is also unchristian. Christianity does not teach us to fear our senses, but to watch over them, use them and honor them; for "the body is the temple of the Holy Ghost." Christianity admits no death, not even that of the body--no impersonality. Only a rude, broken covering of earth remains behind. ”

“ And who will deny that, in times when the will of the strong would endure no restraint, when bloody revenge was thought to be a duty, and when iron bodies, broken by no excess, added deeds of violence to deeds of violence, a milder spirit was awakened in the walls of the cloister, and that pride was humbled there, and self-will subdued?--that in the God's peace, which protected its environs, the mechanic, as well as the peasant, found labor and encouragement? ”

“ One of these, Pindar, is thus described by Zwingli at a later period: "He is the prince of poets. He has a true, holy, incorruptible mind. Every expression, that he uses, be it ever so common, he makes noble. No one can either give to him or take from him without injury. In him is found a worthy, powerful representation of antiquity. It lives again before our eyes. His poetry flows like a clear stream; all is noble, charming, perfect. ”

“ Oh God! we desire nothing else than truth and righteousness, in which by the grace of God we wish to continue till death. Then, as we have always declared to you, gracious Lords, we will pledge our bodies and lives to Your Worships and to the Word of God and Divine righteousness, gracious Lords! Let the matter, for God's sake, come before a public conference, as in the case of images and the mass. Believe us truly; we wish to do what is right. May God help us thereto! We hope and know that the truth of the Divine Word will come clearly to light, and Your Worships will be content with us. ”

“ There is no doubt that Christianity teaches us to bear and suffer; no doubt that it says: "Whosoever shall smite thee on the right cheek, turn to him the other also," and "whosoever shall compel thee to go with him one mile, go with him twain;" no doubt that it teaches the duty of submission to rulers, and has no sympathy with rebellion and self-aid, by resort to arms; yet far more strongly and impressively does this same Christianity speak to magistrates and rulers, and tell them? that men are not born lords and slaves, but brethren, and that they are the greatest who are the servants of all. ”

“ It is surprising that centuries ago any one should think, as it delights in thinking; it honors the noble of former times as its spiritual kindred; but let it beware of pride, for if he were to rise again amid the means, the experience, the knowledge of this age, he would soon hasten in advance of it also, as they ever do, who regard not that, which one generation of men style truth, but the eternal fundamental truth of all ages; who have not pious feeling alone--not wisdom alone ”

“ In spite of every entreaty, to protect at least the Zurichan frontier, the army of Bern retreated to Bremgarten." "Why do you hesitate to follow?" said the ensign Hugi of Solothurn. "You shut your eyes on your own necessities, as your fathers before you in the old Zurich war. As they, so you are at variance; as they, so you have lost the hearts of your Confederate brethren; you have no power to make further resistance, and yet you will not give way."
And in fact the government did not consider it just then consistent with honor and duty. ”

“ Has not every government its own right and custom in the making of legacies? Who meddles with the appointment of heirs? Who wishes to act falsely here? You have falsified more than any one else; for you have tampered with last wills, so that that has been given to you, which belonged to other lawful heirs, and you have done it by your parables and false doctrines.7 Thus what the people have as a civil right, you claim as a divine right.... See, here we find the real forgers of wills, who have foisted in their avarice, by pretending that it was kindly done for the salvation of souls. ”

“ Now, and in this way alone, does growth in true knowledge begin. With it disunion, discord is no longer possible; all discord, even that which is internal, springs from want of knowledge. The error is most lamentable, when Feeling fears the Understanding, and the Understanding hates Feeling. This it is, which can lead to war for religion. No war for religion is permitted to end with the overthrow of one of these. God will not have it so; for he has created Feeling and Understanding as immortal, mutually completing sisters. Did Zwingli not know this? ”

“ As the truth of the Gospel was sacred to him, so the spirit of love lived in him, that spirit of the Holy Scriptures, which is eternal, whilst the letter bears the stamp of the age from which it came--the character of the men, by whom it was written; that spirit makes alive, whilst the letter kills. ”