ich on the 21st of
March, 1524. The deputy of Schaffhausen, not being authorized to make
special complaint, withdrew from the others, who then made a report, of
which the following is the substance: With pain, we see the increase of
the new, unchristian Lutheran religion in the Confederacy; with pain,
that Zurich abets the mischief. It is clear as day, that disorders only
spring from it. Hence, the _landvogt_ of Baden has been hindered from
throwing several criminals into prison, at Weiningen, where the supreme
court of the duchy sits; at a fire there the peasants laid hold of
sword and spear instead of water-buckets; at Stammheim they insulted
the crucifix and images; at Elggau, a pious clergyman, who remonstrated
with the pastor, was obliged to flee the church and the parish; at
Kuessnacht the tithe has been refused to the Cloister of Engelberg, and
at Waedenschweil the steward of the Knights of St. John has been abused.
The _landvogt_ of Zurich circulates Lutheran books in the free
bailiwicks; a parson has said at Rifferschweil that it is all one to
baptize a man or a block of wood; the priests take wives, and the monks
and nuns abandon the convents. No longer can this be borne, and we pray
Zurich to maintain the old treaties and customs, and then we will
cheerfully aid in rooting out real abuses, the shameful trade in
benefices, the selling of indulgences and the scandalous lives of the
clergy.

Things important and unimportant, true and false, were mingled in this
report. A written answer was required. In this it was easy to show,
that to give information in regard to the scenes at Weiningen belonged
altogether to the lower courts at that place; that the affair at
Stammheim was disapproved of, would be looked into and corrected; that
the priest, who had interrupted the pastor at Elggau in an insulting
manner, whilst preaching would be indebted to their protection for a
safe return to his home; that Kuessnacht had not refused the tithe to
Engelberg, and that the pastor at Rafferschweil had not said that of
which he had been accused. But, in order to justify herself on other
points, it was necessary to enter more deeply into the views of faith
prevalent at Zurich, which was not to be done by a diplomatic
communication through the Secretary of State, but by Zwingli himself,
publicly. This disposed the deputies of the confederates, who on other
accounts were displeased with the Reformer, to an unfavorable reception
of