[466] Er war ein kurzer Mann. Füsslin Beyträge. iv. 44. [467] Ut post abitum Leonis, monachis aliquid legam. Zw. Epp. 253. One day, not long after his arrival, as he was in the church of which he had been appointed pastor, he heard an Augustine monk asserting forcibly that man is able of himself to satisfy the righteousness of God. "Reverend father prior," said Leo, "listen to me for an instant; and you, my dear citizens, keep still; I will speak as becomes a Christian." He then proved to the people the falseness of the doctrine to which he had been listening.[468] Upon this a great disturbance arose in the church; and immediately several persons angrily fell upon "the little priest" from Einsidlen. Zwingle appeared before the great council, requiring permission to give an account of his doctrine in the presence of the deputies of the bishop; and the council, desirous of putting an end to these disturbances, convened a conference for the 29th of January 1523. The news spread rapidly through the whole of Switzerland. His adversaries exclaimed in their vexation: "A _diet_ of vagabonds is to be held at Zurich; all the beggars from the highways will be there." [468] J. J. Hottinger, Helv. Kirch. Gesch. iii. 605. Zwingle, desiring to prepare for the struggle, published sixty-seven theses. The mountaineer of the Tockenburg boldly assailed the pope in the eyes of all Switzerland. "All those (said he) who maintain that the Gospel is nothing without the confirmation of the Church, blaspheme God. "Jesus Christ is the only way of salvation for all those who have been, who are, or who shall be. "All Christians are Christ's brethren, and brethren of one another, and they have no father upon earth: thus orders, sects, and parties fall to the ground. "We should not constrain those who will not acknowledge their error, unless they disturb the public peace by their seditious behaviour." Such were some of Zwingle's propositions. [Sidenote: THE DISPUTATION OF JANUARY.] Early in the morning of Thursday the 29th of January, more than six hundred persons had collected in the hall of the Great Council at Zurich. Citizens and strangers, scholars, men of rank and the clergy, had responded to the call of the council. "What will be the end of all this?" asked they of one another.[469] No one ventured to reply; but the attention, emotion, and agitation prevailing in this assembly, clearly manifested that they were expecting some extraordinary result. [469] Ein grosses Verwunderen, was doch uss der Sach werden wollte. Bullinger Chronik. i. 97.