eir duties as civil rulers.

The peasant war was scarcely ended, when Luther married Catharine
Bora; and, as she was a nun, and he was a monk, the marriage gave
universal scandal. But this marriage, which proved happy, was the
signal of new reforms. Luther now emancipated himself from his
monastic fetters, and lifted up his voice against the whole monastic
system. Eight years had elapsed since he preached against indulgences.
During these eight years, reform had been gradual, and had now
advanced to the extreme limit it ever reached during the life of the
reformer.

But, in another quarter, it sprang up with new force, and was carried
to an extent not favored in Germany. It was in Switzerland that the
greatest approximation was made to the forms, if not to the spirit, of
primitive Christianity.

[Sidenote: Ulric Zwingle.]

The great hero of this Swiss movement was Ulric Zwingle, the most
interesting of all the reformers. He was born in 1484, and educated
amid the mountains of his picturesque country, and, like Erasmus,
Reuchlin, Luther, and Melancthon, had no aristocratic claims, except
to the nobility of nature. But, though poor, he was well educated, and
was a master of the scholastic philosophy and of all the learning of
his age. Like Luther, he was passionately fond of music, and played
the lute, the harp, the violin, the flute and the dulcimer. There was
no more joyous spirit in all Switzerland than his. Every one loved his
society, and honored his attainments, and admired his genius. Like
Luther and Erasmus, he was disgusted with scholasticism, and regretted
the time he had devoted to its study. He was ordained in 1506, by the
bishop of Constance, and was settled in Zurich in 1518. At first, his
life did not differ from that which the clergy generally led, being
one of dissipation and pleasure. But he was studious, and became well
acquainted with the fathers, and with the original Greek. Only
gradually did light dawn upon him, and this in consequence of his
study of the Scriptures, not in consequence of Luther's preaching. He
had no tempests to withstand, such as shook the soul of the Saxon
monk. Nor had he ever devoted himself with the same ardor to the
established church. Nor was he so much interested on doctrinal points
of faith. But he saw with equal clearness the corruptions of the
church, and preached with equal zeal against indulgences and the
usurpations of the popes. The reformation of morals was the