waiting,
like their Divine Exemplar. He who labors in His service, before whom
"a thousand years are as one day," full of unshaken trusty leaves it to
Him, to fix the time when His harvest shall be ripe. To-day the seed
falls among thorns; to-morrow it drops into a fertile soil, and in the
end fruit, sixty and a hundred-fold, will not be wanting. But then a
laborer in this kingdom, since it often has to do with the wants and
wishes of governments, or the peculiarities of states, will be drawn by
necessity to take part in secular affairs, to exert a direct influence
upon political life; yet he durst not swerve from those fundamental
principles, which must guide his course; he cannot sacrifice the higher
calling to the lower. That in the bosom of the Reformer, along with the
peaceful review of all his labors and sufferings for evangelical
liberty, such a consciousness may have awakened, in the last year of
his life, some regret in regard to certain events in his political
career, is quite probable from the deep seriousness and melancholy,
which we observe in him at this period, as well as from the fervor with
which he cast himself into the arms of the Supreme Disposer of all
human destinies. He was not at all angry, when reminded of the duty of
forbearance and love, whenever he perceived that the exhortation came
from a heart that wished him well. To the end of his life he continued
on friendly terms with Valentine Tschudi, his successor in Glarus, who,
though cherishing all honor toward his former beloved teacher, did not
approve of his frequent rough manner of proceeding, and without fear
reminded him of the patience and mildness required by the Gospel. At
this very time, when Zwingli was powerfully urging the use of
compulsory measures against the Five Cantons, Tschudi wrote to him:
"There is an old proverb, dearest teacher, 'So many heads, so many
minds.' If from this source discord often arises about trifles, need we
wonder, should it become yet more violent, where the most important
matters are concerned? In a time, when the most learned are at their
wits' end, I do not believe, like many others, that we should fan their
passions into a general blaze by always accusing our enemies, but that
the more care should be taken, lest we slide from the common foundation
of our faith--love. Here only can we stand firm; all else is wavering,
dependent on accidental circumstances, as all earthly things are. I
cannot understand,