ithout
great pain. It is fast coming to a rupture also in the German
bailiwicks. Thither they send, either haughty and avaricious _vogts_,
or those of loose character, who rob, break every thing to pieces, and
so behave that every one grows tired of them, and if a separation does
not take place, the general indignation will in the end be transferred
to the _vogts_ of the cities also; for already have several of the
latter been imprisoned for following their shameful example. These
riotous fellows drink, gamble and live with lewd women, to the great
scandal of honest people. In short, if we be not divided from them, or
their power be not so diminished, that they must stand in dread of
Zurich and Bern, then surely a schism will be created among the
cantons, as terrible as that between the Guelfs and Ghibelines in
Italy. _Summa summarum_: He, who cannot be master shall be a miserable
slave. This is written down hastily, in order that both cities may see
what is the most pressing want of the time, and the more bravely lay
hand to the work. No one should indicate the author, but say: God grant
grace!"

God indeed does grant grace to every thing, which, out of a pure
knowledge of it, happens according to his will, and falls back upon it.
And God did grant grace to every manly, true, loving word of the
Reformer, uttered in behalf of spiritual freedom, to the unmasking of
hypocrisy and abominable priestcraft--grace to every thing that he did
and suffered, to bring back faith in the Word of God to the only
foundation, upon which it rests unshaken, purity of heart and will, and
the personal experience of the blessing, which springs from all truly
evangelical conduct. For this Zurich thanks him, and is bound so to do,
as long as she exists. But God is also just. No departure from the
right path can be long continued without injurious consequences, and
least of all in the strongest and most highly gifted. The deviation
from those plans, perhaps the greatest error of his life, and all that
was done in the spirit of them--the servant of the Gospel, which
requires kindness, patient correction of a straying brother, and in
civil life the sacred observance of treaties, he and Zurich must mourn
over.

FOOTNOTES TO CHAPTER EIGHTH:

Footnote 1: The image of St. Fridolin, in the cantonal seal of
Glarus.

Footnote 2: Belief, at the command of the church, even without
personal conviction.

Footnote 3: Luther's Works by Pfitzer. p. 7