will be led to God, than by me and others, whose measure God makes greater or smaller, as he will. Nevertheless I will bear no name but that of my captain, Christ, whose soldier I am, who will give me office and pay as much as seems to him good. Now, I hope, every body will understand, why I do not wish to be nicknamed Lutheran; although I esteem Luther as highly as any man living." He proved by his actions that he spoke the truth, for when the Papal Bull of excommunication against Luther was already sent out, though not yet made known, he strove as far as it was in his power, first by representations to the acting attorney of the Legate in Zurich, and afterwards, by an anonymous publication, to hinder it as much as possible. So Zwingli stood then, acknowledging the high merit of the Saxon Reformer, supporting him, at his side; but now let us turn back to his national career. The destructive influence of foreign mercenary service and pensions on the character of the people was no less visible in Zurich than in other States of the Confederacy, and the number of families, who were able to resist the charms of gold, displayed freely on all sides, was small, especially in the city. Indeed, the councils and people had, in the year 1513, executed a solemn oath against "Wages and Bribes," as it was called, and two years later, at the rumor of a high-handed breach of it, the people of the lakes rose up and by threats produced the flight of some of the bribed, and the dismissal and punishment of others; but the oath was taken on one day, uproar followed on the second, and then new transgressions on the third. When Zwingli came to Zurich, a suspicion, that had more or less foundation, rested on some of the first men in the government. This was increased by the notorious intrigues of the many foreign embassies, who were present, and their followers also not seldom helped on the demoralization of the city. In Bern the state of morals was better than in Zurich. "The Bernese"--wrote Sebastian Wagner to Zwingli--"appear to me not so morally corrupt as our people of Zurich. Their dress and their manners have a certain air of ancient Swiss simplicity." Bullinger also says, "Before the preaching of the Gospel Zurich was almost like Corinth in Greece. Much lewdness and frivolity prevailed, because diets were held there and many strangers flocked in, where the embassies of lords and princes were staying." George Mangolt of Constance tells us that he heard Zwingli himself say from the pulpit in the year 1520, that on a former visit to Zurich "he found so much wickedness there, that he silently resolved never to become a pastor in that city and prayed God to prevent it," and some years later, when reform began to gain ground, one of his friends, Anthony Dublet, wrote to him from Leyden, "I cannot tell you, what joy possessed me, what comfort stole into my heart, when I heard, that the first state of the Confederacy, your men of Zurich,