ese sermons. The city was
won.

But the canton yet remained. "Zwingli has the advantage in the
protection of the government and the city," they cried. "Those, who are
best able to contend with him, have been exiled, or not permitted to
appear. Had it been otherwise, he must have yielded." Many honest,
well-meaning people believed this; and the following petition, sent
into the government, seems to have sprung from such a belief:
"Honorable, wise, gracious Lords, we are indeed free to confess, that
you have trouble and labor on our account, and on the other hand, that
we are daily involved in great anxiety. Now, we are willing to suffer,
and call upon God to help you and us to peace, which can indeed be
brought about, if Your Worships propose a public conference, and invite
other people to it; let them be those, who have been cast out because
of this business, and others also. Then, whatever is established from
the Word of God, to that we pledge you our bodies and our lives, our
honor and our goods. But if indeed you wish an answer from us, it can
be nothing else, than the public confession, that we have not grace
from God to talk with Master Ulric, so that he can understand us, or
ability to speak straight from the heart.

"Therefore, we pray you, gracious Lords, to permit one or two men at
our cost to enter your city with a sufficient assurance of a safe
return, since they durst not travel every road for the sake of the
Divine Word, because Master Ulric himself has not hitherto shown them
much favor. These shall point out on our behalf all the Scriptures, so
that every man may thoroughly perceive whether he has been right or
wrong in his views of them. Oh God! we desire nothing else than truth
and righteousness, in which by the grace of God we wish to continue
till death. Then, as we have always declared to you, gracious Lords,
we will pledge our bodies and lives to Your Worships and to the Word of
God and Divine righteousness, gracious Lords! Let the matter, for God's
sake, come before a public conference, as in the case of images and the
mass. Believe us truly; we wish to do what is right. May God help us
thereto! We hope and know that the truth of the Divine Word will come
clearly to light, and Your Worships will be content with us. Give us,
therefore, for the sake of God and his mercy, a favorable answer."

Upon this, Zwingli himself requested the government to institute a
public conference, and the order for i