Protestantism in Switzerland - James Aitken Wylie

These were without uniform, and insufficiently
armed. The council had appointed Zwingli to be
war-chaplain. He well knew the hazards of the
post, but he did not shirk them. He pressed Anna,
his wife, to his bruised and bleeding heart; tore
himself from his children, and with dimmed eyes
but a resolute brow went forth to mount his horse,
which stood ready at the door. He vaulted into the
saddle, but scarcely had he; touched it when the
animal reared, and began to retreat backwards. "He
will never return," said the spectators, who saw in
this another inauspicious omen.[3]
The little army passed out of the gates about
eleven of the forenoon. Anna followed her husband
with her eyes so long as he was visible. He was
seen to fall behind his troop for a few minutes, and
those who were near him distinctly heard him
breathing out his heart in prayer, and committing
himself and the Church to God. The soldiers
climbed the Albis. On arriving at "The Beech-tree"
on its summit they halted, and some proposed that
they' should here wait for reinforcements. "Hear ye
not the sound of the cannon beneath us?" said
157