one of the champions of the Reformation. Although during the last year he had not enjoyed his usual health, he did not remit his wonted diligence in the performance of his duties until he was overcome by the vehemence of his disorder. When he was compelled to lie down, he warned his friends that his disease was mortal, and thenceforward ardently longed for the day of his departure into celestial light. Nor was he dependent on the consolation of others, but was the first to administer comfort, especially to those friends who surrounded him. Simon Grynæus, who was present, carefully wrote down this farewell address, which the illustrious Ecolampadius delivered to the assembled Clergy.

"The Lord is at hand, he cometh and now taketh me away; knowing this, I have invited you hither, anxious to be gratified by the sight of you, my dearest friends. Enjoying a true composure in the Lord, I receive a blessed consolation. What shall I say then in this my last farewell to you, O servants of Christ! whom the same love towards our Lord, the same desire, the same doctrine, have joined in one. From the truths of the Bible alone can the light be obtained to guide our steps unto salvation in the kingdom of God. Despair of life, fear of death, with all doubt and error shall then flee away. This, this alone, my brethren, is the duty we should now perform, constantly and faithfully to press forward in that good road on which we have set out, and to preserve in purity the doctrine of the

Bible, conforming our lives, in all things, to the true word of God; and he who is Omnipotent, even Christ our Lord, he who watches over all things for our good, shall order all other events to our advantage. He will protect the members of his church. Come, then, Oh my brethren, and may our lights, so shine that God the Father may be glorified in us. Let the name of Christ become illustrious, and shine forth in the light of life and the sincerity of faith. Entertain a truly Christian love toward each other. Spend your whole life as though under the eye of Almighty God. In vain do you endeavour to inculcate piety in words alone: if you especially desire to overthrow Satan and to turn this world unto Christ our Lord, you must manifest the truth in the light of life, and in an unfeigned and celestial frame of spirit. Oh my brethren, how dark the clouds now rising above the horizon, how gloomy the tempest which now broods around us, how great the impiety and falling away of our fellow creatures! But it is our duty, my brethren, to stand firm and to endure unto the end. The Lord himself will prosper the work of his own hands. Oh that I were permitted to encounter those dangers, I would sacrifice my life for the truth!"

Such were his dying words on subjects relating to the common good: concerning himself he thus farther discoursed. "I shall no longer be disturbed by the wickedness of those who maliciously impute to me the sin of corrupting the truth. By the grace

of God, with a good conscience I can now present myself before the tribunal of the Almighty. It will then be manifest that we have not drawn aside the church to heresy. Of those tenets we have entertained I leave you to be our witnesses, and for myself do now confirm them by this my dying testimony." This faithful servant of Jesus prepared no will, because having previously distributed all, he had now not any thing to leave to others. On the next day he desired that his children might be brought before him, and placed in his sight. Taking them by the hand, he laid his hand on each, and although from the tenderness of their age they could understand but little, for the eldest was only three years old, he said, "come my Eusebius, and you my Irenius, and you my Alethea, pledges of my love, may you each love God your Father." The mother assenting for her children, turning to her and their kinsfolk he said, "I this day place you under a solemn obligation that you exert yourselves to make my children what I myself do wish that they become, pious, peaceful, and the followers of truth." When his friends had pledged themselves to an observance of his request, he desired them to lead away the children from before him. That night was his last. Ten brethren of the college came to see him. Enquiring of an intimate friend who came into his room what news he brought, and receiving for answer that he could not communicate any, he replied, "I will tell you something new." "What is it?" said he; he replied, "In a

short time I shall be with Christ, my Lord."

As

the day dawned, so the hour of this good man's departure approached. His last words were those which distinctly, though with a panting breath, he expressed for the remission of his sins; using that beautiful prayer of David, in the 51st Psalm, "Have mercy upon me, O God, after thy great goodness," &c. Surrounded by his friends, he repeated the Psalm entire from beginning to end. After he had rested a little and recovered his breath, rousing himself, he said, "Save me, O Christ, my Saviour ! !” With these words he commended his soul to Christ. A little while after, with great tranquillity, he expired in the faith *.

ULRICUS ZUINGLIUS.

Died 1531, aged 44-8.

And when he falls writes vici on his shield.

THE Martin Luther of Switzerland; who, as preacher at the famous convent of Einsiedlin, ventured to introduce those rational notions of religion, which were entertained by the reformers. He assisted Haller and others in the work of reformation in the city and canton of Berne, and other places in Switzerland. Ecolampadius on the part of Zurich, and Eckius on the part of the Roman Catholic cantons, having failed

Adami Vitæ Theol. fol. 26,

in the endeavour to bring about a reconciliation, Zuinglius, on the 11th of October, 1531, with his fellowcitizens, went out armed and on horse-back; not as a captain of war, but as a faithful pastor, who, in extreme danger, would not desert those whose faith he had built up. Fourteen days before he thus went out, he said twice, "I know, I know what must happen. All things are so arranged that I shall be taken away *."

The Zurichers being defeated, Zuinglius was found by some Roman Catholics, breathing, and was asked whether he would not expiate his past faults by a confession. Feigning to be dead, he answered nothing. These two Catholics did not know Zuinglius, but another coming up, recognized him, and inflicted a fatal wound. His body was burned by a public decree +.

The last words of the dying Zuinglius were, "This is no great evil: they are able to kill the body, but they cannot injure the soul †.”

In the course of this work, I shall frequently refer to the authority of Melchior Adam, rector of a college at Heidelberg, and author of the lives of illustrious men who flourished in Germany and Flanders during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. We learn from him the following details respecting the last hours of Zuinglius. Those who returned from

* Freheri Theatrum, fol. 106.

+ Surius, fol, 212.

Myconius in Vita ejus. Hofmanni lex.