Schaff - History of the Christian Church Vol. 8 - Media Sabda Org

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public service was the Zwingli oration in the University, Jan. 7, 1884,
protested against the sword, and left the committee on the monument. Dr.
Konrad Ferdinand Meyer, the poet of the occasion, changed the sword of
Zwingli, with poetic ingenuity, into the sword of Vokinger, by which he
was slain. f302 Antistes Finsler, in his oration, gave the sword a double
meaning, as in the case of Paul, who is likewise represented with the
sword, namely, the sword by which he was slain, and the sword of the
spirit with which he still is fighting; while at the same time it distinguishes
Zwingli from Luther, and shows him as the patriot and statesman.
The whole celebration—the orderly enthusiasm of the people, the festive
addresses of representative men of Church and State, the illumination of
the city and the villages around the beautiful lake—bore eloquent witness
to the fact that Zwingli has impressed his image indelibly upon the memory
of German Switzerland. Although his descendants are at present about
equally divided between orthodox conservatives and rationalistic
“reformers” (as they call themselves), they forgot their quarrels on that
day, and cordially united in tributes to the abiding merits of him who,
whatever were his faults, has emancipated the greater part of Switzerland
from the tyranny of popery, and led them to the fresh fountain of the
teaching and example of Christ. f303