the poor of that congregation, which paid the tithe to the Chapter. But affairs had already come to such a pass, that even well-meant and judicious changes, if not immediately carried out, no longer gave satisfaction. A wild zeal for innovation also found vent in frequent brutish expressions and disorderly scenes. If unpopular canons or chaplains appeared at mass in the church, they were publicly derided; their chronicles were stolen; leaves were torn from a guide-book for the celebration of festivals put up in the choir, and then scattered at the door of the provost's house; and one night the stocks and gallows, emblems of the temporal jurisdiction of the monastery were partly destroyed and partly erected in a different place. By others the lamps in the Church of the Virgin were broken, and the oil spilled, whilst they mutually sprinkled themselves with the holy water. Similar things happened in St. Peter's Church. In the country, a priest even ventured to read mass in slippers and red breeches. They began to call pictures idols, and the examples of the kings and prophets of the East, who contended against the idolatry of their age in every possible way, were arrayed as worthy of imitation before the imaginations of fanatics, who grew more excited, especially as they became acquainted with the Old Testament. A production, composed in this spirit by Lewis Hætzer, under the title of "Decree of God, as to how we ought to deal with Images," was at that time widely circulated. From this disposition of mind proceeded an event, which attracted attention and aroused indignation throughout the Confederacy, and prepared trouble for the government in Zurich. Directly before the city, in Stadelhofen, there stood on a pedestal of stone, an immense image of the Savior on the Cross, carved out of wood. It was put up by one family, as a monument of devotion, and was now under the care of a miller dwelling in the neighborhood. Many passers-by still did reverence to it. This was a source of great provocation to a number of enthusiasts, who afterwards went over to the Anabaptists, and especially to Nicholas Hottinger, a shoemaker by trade, a man not without culture, possessed of some property, versed in the Scriptures and of a decided character, which, in connection with his natural eloquence, gave him great influence over his associates. It is told of him, that he offered a bucket of wine to the hospital, if he would be allowed to destroy the images and votive paintings in the Water Church; and that he intended to give a banquet in honor of Zwingli at Lindenhof, amid a large assembly of country-people. He had often rebuked the possessor of the crucifix for not casting away the object of idolatry; he had even done it in presence of members of the Council, so that the man at last declared he was tired of the business, and though he would never do such a thing himself, Hottinger had the privilege of doing it, as soon as he had made over to him his right to