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The Guardian.

VOL. XXXV.

JANUARY, 1884.

NEW YEAR'S HYMN.

Beneath the moonlight and the snow
Lies dead my latest year;
The winter winds are wailing low
Its dirges in my ear.

I grieve not with the moaning wind,
As if a loss befell;

Before me, even as behind,

God is, and all is well!

His light shines on me from above,
His low voice speaks within-
The patience of immortal love
Outwearying mortal sin.

Not mindless of the growing years,
Of care and loss and pain,
My eyes are wet with thankful tears
For blessings which remain.

Be near me in mine hours of need,
To soothe, to cheer, or warn,
And down these slopes of sunset lead,
As up the hills of morn!

-J. G. Whittier.

ULRIC ZWINGLI.

BY THE EDITOR.

In the obscure Swiss village of Wildhaus, at the foot of the Alps, there stands an ancient wooden tenement which is annually visited by many travelers. There is nothing specially attractive in the appearance of this stormbeaten structure; but it is reverenced as the birth-place of a man whose memory is held in affectionate remembrance by millions of Christians. Four hundred years have passed since that man was born; there have been innumerable changes in church and state; but even now the authorities of the Reformed Church in Europe and America recommend the celebration of his birthday as a proper occasion for the renewed

NO. 1.

appreciation of the truths for which he lived and died. This, we believe, can best be done by relating some of the incidents of his life. He was a pure and righteous champion of the faith, and his career will bear the closest scrutiny.

Ulric Zwingli was born on the 1st of January, 1484. He was the son of pious parents, Ulric Zwingli, the "Amman," or judge, of the district of Toggenburg, and his wife Margaret, whose maiden name was Meili. The family was comparatively wealthy, and enjoyed the respect of the community. The father and mother each had a brother who held a prominent position in the church, and naturally desired that at least one of their children should choose the same vocation.

Ulric was the youngest of ten children. At an early age it became evident that he was gifted with extraordinary talents. When stories of Swiss heroism were related in his father's house they fell like sparks upon his spirit and left it glowing with patriotic enthusiasm. Even more profound was the impression made upon his mind by the magnificent scenery of his birthplace. At an early age he accompanied his brothers to the Alpine pastures where the grandeur of the mountains on which he gazed kindled his imagination and awakened his devotion. "I have often thought in my simplicity," wrote his friend Oswald Myconius, in later years," that on these heights, so near to heaven, he (Zwingli) assumed something heavenly and divine. When the thunder rolls along the mountains and the deep abysses are filled with its reverberations, we seem to hear anew the voice of God, saying: 'I am the Almighty God: walk in my presence with reverence and fear.' Then with the dawn of

morning the glaciers glow with rosy light so that an ocean of fire rolls over the mountain tops, the Lord of Hosts appears to stand upon the high places of the earth; as though the hem of His garment glorified the mountains, while we hear the words that were spoken to the prophet Isaiah: 'Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Sabaoth. All the earth is full of Thy glory!""

When Ulric had reached his ninth year his father resolved to place him in the care of his brother Bartholomew, who was dean of the church in Wesen. It seems to have been understood from the beginning that the boy should study for the priesthood; and for this purpose. educational advantages were abundantly provided. He was a natural musician and learned to play on all the instruments which were then known. Under the care of the celebrated classical scholar Lupulus he learned to speak Latin, to use his own expression," better than his mother tongue." The study of Greek he pursued, in later years, with great enthusiasm, not only because it enabled him to become familiar with the grandest literature in the world but especially as a means of becoming familiar with the true meaning of the Sacred Scriptures. In this way Zwingli became at an early age a splendid classical scholar. He spent two years in the University of Vienna, devoting his time especially to the study of philosophy. One of his fellow students, it is known, was John Mayer von Enk, who subsequently became the principal Roman Catholic opponent of Luther, and was popularly known as " Dr. Eck.", After his return from Vienna Zwingli became a teacher at the Latin school in Basel, and at the same time attended lectures in the university. Here there was a celebrated teacher, named Thomas Wyttenbach, who gathered around him a company of young men whom he delighted to lead away from the arid deserts of scholasticism to the green pastures of the word of God. In one of his lectures he said: " The time is at hand when the ancient faith shall be restored according to the word of God. Indulgences are a Roman deception, and the death of Christ is the only ransom for our sins." Among his students, besides Zwingli, were Leo Juda, Capito, and

others who subsequently took a prominent part in the Reformation. These young men studied the Scriptures with enthusiasm; and it is said that Zwingli made a copy of the greater part of the Greek New Testament and then committed it to memory.

In 1506 Zwingli received the degree of Master of Arts. In those days it was customary to use this title in direct address, so that we read of Master Philip Melancthon and Master John Calvin; but Zwingli refused to permit his friends to address him in this way, saying, "One is your Master, even Christ."

There can be no doubt, we think, that Zwingli's life was always pure and devout. It has, indeed, been asserted, on the ground of a memorial which in later life he addressed to the bishop of Constance, that by his own confession he had once been a wicked man. That document is no longer extant, but it is known that he wrote it in the name of many priests, who protested against the prevailing corruptions of the church. If then, he said, "we have lived shamefully," he did not necessarily apply these words to his own conduct, but rather to that of the priesthood in general, whose mouth-piece he was on this occasion. Speaking of his own life he says in one of his treatises: "I confess that I am a great sinner in the sight of God, but I never lived disgracefully, and no one has ever had occasion to reprove me for crime. God granted me from my earliest boyhood to take the greatest pleasure in the study of the mysteries of nature and of grace."

From 1506 to 1516 Zwingli was pastor of the church at Glarus, and as such was twice required to accompany the Swiss troops on warlike expeditions to Italy. There he received impressions which greatly influenced his subsequent career. In those days the Swiss cantons furnished armies of mercenaries who fought for the side which paid the highest wages. By visiting distant countries and becoming familiar with rapine and slaughter, these soldiers acquired vices of which they would never have heard in their native valleys. Zwingli became convinced that this mercenary system was the curse of Switzerland, and determined to contend against it with all

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