Protestantism in Switzerland - James Aitken Wylie

Five Cantons - that is to say, the party which lives
by pensions and mercenary service – should gain
the upper hand. All has been of no avail. Even now
you elect to the council men who covet this bloodmoney.
I will no longer be responsible for the
mischief that I cannot prevent; I therefore desire
my dismissal."[3] He took his departure with tears
in his eyes.
Thus was the pilot leaving the ship at the
moment the storm was about to strike it. The
councilors were seized with dismay. Their former
reverence and affection for their magnanimous and
devoted leader revived. They named a deputation
to wait on him and beg him to withdraw his
resignation. Zwingli took three days to consider
what course he should pursue. These were days of
earnest prayer. At length he reappeared in the
council, his eyes dimmed, and his face bearing
traces of the conflict through which he had passed.
"I will stay with you," said he, "and I will labor for
the safety of the State – until death."
For a moment the union and courage of Zurich
147