e
straight, RADIATE ON EVERY SIDE, AND BEND TO ALL THE WANTS OF OUR
BRETHREN. You have abolished the mass, in conformity, you say, to
Scripture. You were right to get rid of it. But how did you accomplish
that work? What order--what decency did you observe? You should have
offered up fervent prayers to God, and obtained the sanction of the
legal authorities for what you proposed doing; then might every man have
acknowledged that the work was in accordance with God's will.

"The mass is, I own, a bad thing. God is opposed to it, but let no one
be torn from it by force. We must leave the matter in God's hands. His
word must act, and not we. We have the right to speak; we have _not_
the right to act. LET US PREACH; THE REST BELONGS TO GOD. Our first
object must be to win men's hearts, and to do this we must preach the
Gospel. God does more by His word alone than by the united strength of
all the world. God lays hold upon the heart, and when that is taken all
is gained. See how Saint Paul acted. Arriving at Athens, he found
altars raised to false gods. He did not touch one; but, proceeding to
the market-place, he explained to the people that their gods were
senseless idols. His words took possession of their hearts. Their
idols fell without Paul having raised his hand.

"I will preach, discuss, and write, but I will constrain none, for faith
is a voluntary act. Observe what has been done: I stood up against the
Pope, indulgences and other abominations, but without violence or
tumults. I put forward God's Word. I preached and wrote. This was all
I did. Yet while I slept or gossiped with my friends, the Word that I
had preached overthrew Popery, so that not the most powerful prince nor
emperor could have done it so much harm. What would have been the
result had I appealed to force? Ruin and desolation would have ensued.
The whole of Germany would have been deluged with blood. I therefore
kept quiet and let the Word run through the world alone. `What, think
you,' Satan says, when he sees men resorting to violence to propagate
the Gospel, as he sits calmly, with folded arms, malignant looks, and
frightful grin? `Ah, how wise these madmen are to play my game!' But
when he sees the Word running and contending alone on the battle-field,
then he is troubled, his knees knock together, and he shudders and
faints with fear."

Speaking of the Lord's Supper, his remarks are of great importance. "It
is no