Devay, highly appreciated and recommended, was settled in the capital of Hungary. As pastor at Buda, which is united by a bridge to Pesth, so that the two cities are virtually but one, he put forth all his energy in diffusing there the principles of the Reformation by his discourses, his writings, and his deeds. As the saints played an important part in the religion of the country, he showed in one of his works the nothingness of their invocation.[557] He composed fifty-two theses in which, after confuting his opponents, he set forth clearly the essence of a real Christian reformation, or, as he used to say, _the rudiments of salvation_.[558] Unfortunately he had not at this time a printing-press at his service, Hungary being much behindhand in this respect. He therefore made numerous copies of his writings, as used to be done before Gutenberg’s invention. At the same time he preached with power. He appeared wherever he saw that any conquest was to be made. At his word many turned to the Gospel, and among them some eminent men. Devay was not alone in his endeavors to spread Christian life in the Hungarian Church. Anthony Transylvanus was preaching the Gospel at Kaschau and in the surrounding districts, Basil Radan at Debreczin, Andrew Fischer and Bartholomew Bogner at Zipsen, Michael Siklosy and Stephen Kopacsy in the comitat of Zemplin. Leonard Stoeckel and Lawrence Quendel, who had studied at Wittenberg at the same time as Devay, soon propagated the evangelical faith in other places. The Reformation was thus quite peacefully, without great struggles or great show, making the conquest of Hungary. The Gospel was not spreading there with the roar of torrents, as it did in the places where Luther, Farel, and Knox spoke; but its waters flowed smoothly. They did not fall rushing and foaming from the mountains, but they came forth imperceptibly from the ground. It was a conquest without clash of cymbals and trumpets, made by brave scouts. Reform often began with men of the lower ranks. Some humble evangelist would proclaim in a small town the words of eternal life, and many hearts joyfully received them. There were exceptions, however, to the calm of which we speak, and the life of the greatest reformer of these lands presents to us tragical situations such as abound in the history of the Reformation.