07.03.2019 Views

In Switzerland from 1516 to 1525 - James Aitken Wylie

  • No tags were found...

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

was won. "Christ waxed strong everywhere in<br />

these mountains," writes Salandrinus <strong>to</strong> Zwingli,<br />

"like the tender grass in spring."<br />

Nor did the reform find here its limits.<br />

Napoleon had not yet cut a path across these<br />

glacier-crowned mountains for his cannon <strong>to</strong> pass<br />

in<strong>to</strong> Italy, but the Gospel, without waiting for the<br />

picks and blasting agencies of the conqueror <strong>to</strong><br />

open its path, climbed these mighty steeps and <strong>to</strong>ok<br />

possession of the Grisons, the ancient Rhaetia. The<br />

bishop fled <strong>to</strong> the Tyrol; religious liberty was<br />

proclaimed in the terri<strong>to</strong>ry; the Protestant faith <strong>to</strong>ok<br />

root, and here where are placed the sources of<br />

those waters which, rushing down the mountains'<br />

sides, form rivers in the valleys below, were<br />

opened fountains of living waters. From the crest<br />

of the Alps, where it had now seated itself, the<br />

Gospel may be said <strong>to</strong> have looked down upon<br />

Italy. Not yet, however, was that land <strong>to</strong> be given<br />

<strong>to</strong> it.<br />

It is interesting <strong>to</strong> think that the light spread on<br />

the east as far as <strong>to</strong> Constance and its lake, where a<br />

137

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!