History of the Reformation in the Sixteenth Century
Chapter 98 : O n.o.ble army of the sainted host, Take pity on our doleful plight; Our cousin, our il

O n.o.ble army of the sainted host, Take pity on our doleful plight; Our cousin, our ill.u.s.trious boast, From life, alas, has taken flight.

Expence we grudge not; cheerfully we'll pay For priests, monks, and nuns, in costly array: Yea, one hundred crowns we'll freely devote If thereby exemption may surely be bought From purgatory, that dread scourge, With which our frightened souls they urge.[856]

[856] Kein kosten soll uns dauern dran, Wo wir Monch und Priester mogen ha'n, Und sollt'es kosten hundert kronen....

(Bern. Mausol., iv, Wirz, K. Gesch., i, p. 383.)

The SACRISTAN, breaking off from the band surrounding the pope, and running hastily to CURATE ROBERT EVER-MORE--

Something to drink, Master Curate, I crave; A farmer of note now goes to his grave.

THE CURATE.

One!--nay you must tell me of ten: My thirst will ne'er be quenched till then.

Life flourishes when mortals die,[857]

For death to me brings jollity.

[857] Je mehr, je besser! Kamen doch noch Zehn! (Ibid.)

THE SACRISTAN.

Ah! could it shorten mankind's breath!

I'd ring a merry peal for death!

No other trade succeeds so well As tolling out life's parting knell.

THE CURATE.

But does the bell of death the portals draw Of heaven's wide gate? I cannot, may not say; What boots it? to my house it brings Both fish and flesh, and all good things.

THE CURATE'S NIECE.[858]

Tis well: I, too, anon will claim my share.

This day this soul must pay to me my fare-- A robe, white, red, and green, a flowered damas, A pretty kerchief likewise for my eyes at ma.s.s.

[858] The German is _Pfaffenmetze_--a term more expressive, but not so becoming.

[Sidenote: THE CARNIVAL AT BERNE.]

Cardinal HIGH-PRIDE adorned with a red hat, and close by the pope:--

If death brought us no heritage, Would we cause die in flower of age, On battle-plain, Such heaps of slain, Roused by intrigue, by envy fired?[859]

Yes, Rome with Christian blood grows fat!

Therefore I hoist this scarlet hat, To tell the trophies thus acquired.

[859] Wenn mir nicht war' mit Todten wohl, So lag nicht mancher Acker, voll, ac.

(Bern. Mausol. iv, Wirz, K. Gesch. 1. 3.)

BISHOP WOLF-BELLY.

In papal rites I'll live and die, And clothe me in silk embroidery; In foray or chace I'll take my pleasure, And eat and drink in ample measure; Had I been priest in days of yore, A peasant's dress I then had wore.[860]

We once were shepherds, but now we reign kings, For a shepherd I'll pa.s.s 'mong the lambkins poor things....

[860] Wenn es stund, wie im Anfang der Kilchen, Ich truge vielleicht grobes Tuch und Zwilchen. (Ibid.)

A VOICE.

When? When shall this be?

BISHOP.

When the wool of the flock shall be gathered by me.

We truly are wolves, yet we're shepherds of sheep, They must feed us, or death is the best they shall reap.

His Holiness forbids to marry; This yoke the wisest ne'er could carry-- But then! when priests do cross the score, The scandal only swells my store, And makes my train extend the more.

Nought I refuse, e'en farthings tell, A monied priest may have a belle.

Four florins a-year will wipe it away; Does an infant appear?--again he must pay.

On two thousand florins I reckon each year, Were they chaste, I should starve on a pittance I fear.[861]

Then hail to the pope; on my knees I adore And swear in his faith to live evermore; His church I'll defend, and till death I avow, He alone is the G.o.d before whom I will bow.

[861] The German is very strong.

So bin Ich auf gut Deutsch ein Hurenwirth, etc. (Ibid.)

[Sidenote: THE CARNIVAL AT BERNE.]

THE POPE.

The people now at length believe That priests can all their sins reprieve At pleasure--that to them is given Full power to shut or open heaven.

Preach loudly, every high decree, Of him, the conclave's majesty.

Then, we are kings, the laity slaves: But if the gospel standard waves We're lost; for no where does it say, Make sacrifice, let priests have pay.

The gospel course for us would be, To live and die in poverty.

Instead of steeds to mark my state, And chariots on my sons to wait, A paltry a.s.s must needs supply[862]

A seat for sacred majesty.

No, I cannot take such legacy, I'll thunder at such temerity; Let us but will--the world will nod, And nations adore us as G.o.d.

Slighting their rights I mount my throne, And part.i.tion the world among my own; Vile laity must keep far aloof, Nor dare to enter our blest roof, To touch our tribute, or our gold.

Holy water e'en let them hold.

[862] Wir mochten fast kaum Eselein ha'n. (Bern Mausol. iv, Wirz, K.

Gesch. i, 383.)

We will not continue this literal translation of Manuel's drama. The agony of the clergy on learning the efforts of the Reformers, and their rage against those who threaten to interfere with their irregularities, are painted in lively colours. The dissolute manners of which this piece gave so vivid a representation were too common not to strike the spectator with the truth of the picture. The people were excited. Many jibes were heard as they retired from the play in the street of La Croix; but some who took the matter more seriously, spoke of Christian liberty and papal despotism, and contrasted the simplicity of the gospel with the pomp of Rome. The contempt of the people was soon displayed in the public streets. On Ash Wednesday, the indulgences were promenaded through the town amid satirical songs. In Berne, and throughout Switzerland a severe blow had been given to the ancient edifice of the papacy.

[Sidenote: WALTER KLARER. JAMES BURKLI.]

Sometime after this representation, another comedy was acted at Berne, but there was no fiction in it. The clergy, council, and corporation had a.s.sembled in front of the Upper Gate, waiting for the skull of St.

Anne, which the famous knight, Albert of Stein, had gone to fetch from Lyons. At length Stein appeared, holding the holy relic wrapt in a covering of silk. As it pa.s.sed, the Bishop of Lausanne knelt down before it. This precious skull, the skull of the Virgin's mother, is carried in procession to the church of the Dominicans, and, amid the ringing of bells, enters the church, where it is placed with great solemnity on the altar consecrated to it, behind a splendid grating.

But amid all this joy, a letter arrives from the abbot of the convent of Lyon, where the relics of the saint were deposited, intimating that what the monks had sold to the knight was a profane bone taken at random from the burying ground. The trick thus played off on the ill.u.s.trious city of Berne filled its citizens with deep indignation.

The Reformation was making progress in other parts of Switzerland. In 1521, Walter Klarer, a young man of Appenzel, returned to his native canton from the university of Paris. Luther's writings fell into his hands, and, in 1522, he preached the evangelical doctrine with all the ardour of a young convert. An innkeeper, named Rausberg, a wealthy and pious man, and a member of the council of Appenzel, opened his house to all the friends of truth. Bartholomew Berweger, a famous captain, who had fought for Julius II and for Leo X, having at this time returned from Rome, began forthwith to persecute the evangelical ministers. One day, however, remembering how much vice he had seen at Rome, he began to read the Bible, and to attend the sermons of the new preachers; his eyes were opened, and he embraced the gospel. Seeing that the crowds could not be contained in the churches, he proposed that they should preach in the fields and the public squares, and, notwithstanding of keen opposition, the hills, meadows, and mountains of Appenzel, thenceforward often echoed with the glad tidings of salvation.

[Sidenote: MURDER AND ADULTERY.]