former and Zwingli, in chief, were not at all inclined to be
satisfied with what was done. They saw increasing danger in the
continued postponement of all active interference. His sermons became
warlike. Help must be extended to the oppressed in the Five Cantons;
the multitude of those, who desired the freedom of the Gospel, but from
whom it was withheld in the most unjust and violent manner, against the
plain meaning of the _Landfriede_. "There is no longer any safety,"
said Zwingli in the pulpit, "till the Reformation is thoroughly carried
out. Its enemies would long ago have given way, had we only banished
from our own midst all lukewarm, indifferent persons, and all secret
traitors. Against these we must now proceed with untiring zeal and
unfaltering purpose, even in the cities of the _Buergerrecht_. Our
allies must be brought to support us in this, and not drag us down with
them into the abyss through their culpable negligence." A deputation
was now sent thither, composed of members of the Council, who visited
Bern, Basel, Schaffhausen and St. Gall, and communicated an enlarged
list of grievances, the warnings that had arrived from abroad, and a
review of the conduct of the Five Cantons in the affair with the tyrant
of Musso, in which they were accused of breach of covenant and a desire
to bring about the ruin and destruction of the city of Zurich, as well
as the dismemberment of a glorious Confederacy. "We can no longer, in
any way, keep quiet and yet justify ourselves before our own people. We
can, may, and will no longer let the matter drop, but undertake
everything, which the high and serious nature of the case demands,
everything which may be needful for the maintenance of Divine truth,
and the deliverance of all who adhere to the same." The answers of the
collective cities were asked for with all possible dispatch.

They arrived after a few days. Bern wrote in a grave and moderate tone;
she greatly deplored the continued disturbances of the peace; yet,
"since matters had come so far, and out of regard to their dangerous
course," she prayed Zurich for this time to use no violence against the
Five Cantons, but remain quiet till the next _Buergertag_ (diet of the
cities) in Aarau; to which she had summoned her, Basel, Schaffhausen,
St. Gall, Biel and Constance. She said also, she was now compelled to
declared positively, that if her Confederates and Christian co-burghers
of Zurich should ever employ any actual fo