uther say, as he began his journey to Worms; "And, if there were
as many devils there, as tiles on the houses, I will yet go," and
see him step forth courageously before the wrathful monarch and the
empire;--indeed we might almost wish that Zwingli had not declined the
challenge to battle, nor given his enemies occasion to triumph, and cry
out to all the world that he did not dare to defend his own cause.
[OE]colampadius, who, sent by his government, had appeared there with
unflinching courage, wrote to him from Baden: "Elsewhere than here, on
the field of battle, we cannot meet these our opponents with befitting
energy. Mere writing is not sufficient. Thou wilt expose thyself to
danger, as is the case with us all. Yet perhaps thou knowest more than
I. Do as thou thinkest best for the Gospel of Christ, to whom our life,
as much or as little of it as still remains, alone belongs."

Not for one moment did Zwingli falter in the path, which he had marked
out for himself. Though his faith continued firm and strong till the
hour of his death, still there lay also in his character a spirit of
worldly prudence, which rendered intolerable the thought of becoming a
sacrifice to the craft of his opponents, who, instead of honoring his
courage, would rather perhaps have laughed at him as a credulous dupe,
in their joy over the success of their unworthy plan. The author of
this work will neither justify, nor blame him on this account. His duty
is, to present a faithful picture of the great man, leaving the reader
to form his own judgment. But let us hear a few passages touching this
point, from a long letter of his to the government of Bern, which had
urged Zurich to accept the invitation to take part in the Conference:
"I beseech you, wise and pious Lords, in the most pressing manner, to
have my answer to your letter, which was sent to my Lords, but had
reference to myself, read aloud and weighed with earnest and mature
consideration; for I am not all opposed to, but in favor of a
disputation. It is only the place that I cannot abide, and these are my
reasons: No place stands open to me, since the cantons of Luzern, Uri,
Schwytz, Unterwalden and Zug have the supremacy; for the aforenamed
cantons have called me a heretic, summoned me to appear before them,
rejected my doctrines, burnt my books and reviled me without any
hearing whatever. It is a manifest pre-judgment. They themselves
confess, that the disputation was only planned, in