st venerable usages, which without the aid of the Holy Ghost
could not possibly have endured so long, for Gamaliel once said: If the
work be of God, it will stand. Then he reminded the Council that
outside of the Church no one can be saved, and as though he had not
talked enough, he came back once more to ceremonies. At last he
concluded with a neat peroration and rose up to retire along with his
companions.

"Sir Suffragan--said I, (I, peasant, ought to have used 'Gracious
Lord')--may it please you and your associates to stay, till I have
justified myself in my own name and in that of my colleagues? He
replied--We have no commission to dispute. I do not intend to dispute
but to utter publicly and freely what I have hitherto taught in
presence of these honest men, before you, learned scholars and
ambassadors present with a commission from the bishop, so that it will
be deemed the more worthy of belief if you yourself are obliged to find
it true; if not, then let the contrary happen. We have not--said the
saffragan--spoken against you, hence there is no need of your
vindication. You have indeed kept back my name; but your speech was
none the less aimed at me. As the combatant in the water said to his
antagonist, you say to me: My blow is not aimed at you, it is aimed at
the fish. For this reason you were not to use my name, because you
could thus charge me, who am called Zwingli, with the greatest crime in
the safest manner. Whilst we were contending in this style, the
burgomaster Roist tried to induce the deputies from Constance to give
us a hearing. The saffragan answered, that he knew very well whither
this thing would lead; that Ulric Zwingli was too violent and rude, so
that he could not meddle with him honorably and keep the path of
moderation. By what then--I asked--have I ever injured you? Or
according to what law must I, an innocent man, zealous for the cause of
Christ, be so heavily and bitterly assaulted, and yet not be allowed to
defend myself? Indeed--or do I deceive myself? I would have ventured to
hope, that the Bishop of Constance, though opposition to the pure
doctrines of the Gospel had found foothold elsewhere, before he took
the words of others instead of mine, would make himself acquainted with
the whole affair, especially through you, whom he has now chosen as his
legates on account of your learning. What would you do if in your
absence I would turn to the Council and refuse to hear you as judges?