of the sacrament, we are agreed that, like the Word, it was ordained by God in order to excite weak consciences to faith and love by the Holy Ghost. And though, at present, we are not agreed on the question whether the real body and blood of Christ are corporeally present in the bread and wine, yet both the interested parties will cherish more and more a truly Christian charity for one another, so far as conscience permits; and we will all earnestly implore the Lord to condescend by his Spirit to confirm us in sound doctrine."

All signed the articles, and the conference was closed. Zwingli preached at Marburg in the presence of the court, and his words received the cordial approval of the land-' grave. He then made his way back to Zürich, troubled on account of Luther's intolerance, but satisfied with what had been gained. He reached Zürich October 19th. On Sunday, the 24th, he gave his people an account of the conference, and explained the meaning of the articles which both parties had signed.

Another, though a different conflict, awaited Zwingli. The five Catholic cantons, in their opposition to the Protestant movement, entered into an alliance with Ferdinand of Austria, and those within their borders who favored the new movement were put to death. Zürich accordingly sought an alliance with Strasburg and the landgrave of Hesse. But there was a lack of union in effort on the part of the Protestants, and when, at length, the two parties came together on the field of battle, Zürich was left to confront the full strength of the enemy alone. The two armies met at Cappel, October 11, 1531. The day before had been a day of painful excitement in Zürich. Many who had hitherto been friendly to the cause of the Reformation now drew back as they saw the hour of trial approaching. On the morning of the battle confusion and disorder still reigned in the city. Couriers were constantly arriving from the front, urging haste; but the spirit of the people did not rise with the occasion. At eleven o'clock the march began, only five hundred of the citizens answering the call. In their rear rode Zwingli, having parted from his wife, children, and friends calmly, yet not without sor

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row, for he felt that he should not see them again. the middle of the afternoon the Zürichers joined their brethren, already pressed by the foe. Zwingli, who closely followed those engaged in the conflict, made no use of his weapons, and was one of the first to fall. At the beginning of the action, having stooped to minister to a dying soldier, he was struck by a stone from a sling. Another and another followed, and then he received a thrust from a lance. "What evil is this?" exclaimed Zwingli. "They can, indeed, kill the body, but they can not kill the soul;" and as he fell backward his eyes closed forever.

The men of Zürich were defeated. In the evening two soldiers, with torches, came to the spot where Zwingli lay. Life was not yet extinct; and when one of the soldiers asked if he wished to confess to a priest, Zwingli shook his head in token of refusal. The soldier then drew near to ascertain who the dying man was. Turning the head to the light he exclaimed, "I think it is Zwingli." "Zwingli!" said an officer, standing near, "that vile heretic, Zwingli!" Then, drawing his sword, and with the words, "Die, obstinate heretic," he dealt the reformer a death blow.

The next day the lifeless body was quartered and then committed to the flames. The sad tidings of Zwingli's death at length reached Zürich. "These men may fall upon his body," said his sorrowing friends; "they may kindle their piles, and brand his innocent life, but he lives— this invincible hero lives in eternity, and leaves behind him. an immortal monument of glory that no flames can destroy.'

Peace was effected, but at such a cost that Protestantism in Switzerland suffered a by no means inconsiderable check. In Zürich, however, the work was carried forward in the spirit of the dead reformer. Henry Bullinger was made Zwingli's successor in the cathedral church, and, on the 28th of January, 1532, in a sermon on "The Prophetic Office," he paid a glowing tribute to Zwingli's memory. He also took Zwingli's family into his own home, and there the sorrowing widow lived until her death in 1538.

Zwingli's Bible with Hebrew annotations, and also the epistles of Paul, which he copied with his own hand, are carefully preserved in the city library at Zürich. His battle-ax, coat of mail, and helmet are exhibited in the arsenal. Near Cappel a metal plate, in a rock by the road side, bearing an inscription in German and Latin, marks the spot where Zwingli fell.

On this four-hundredth anniversary of his birth Zwingli's name will not be on so many lips as was Luther's seven weeks ago. The field of his labors was a narrower one, and in many things he was not the equal of his more illustrious contemporary; yet he did a work which his countrymen can not fail to remember to the latest generations, and which Protestants in all lands should most heartily recognize. In his doctrinal position, certainly in reference to the Lord's Supper, Zwingli was more in harmony with the evangelical churches of to-day than was either Luther or Melanchthon. He erred in insisting upon a union of church and state, and in arraying himself against the right of private judgment. Could he have made himself the champion of religious freedom, and held himself aloof from all entanglements with the state, he would have performed a service for mankind far exceeding that to which he gave the strength of his manhood, and in which he laid down his life.

ARTICLE VI.

BAPTISM FOR THE DEAD.

BY REV. R. J. ADAMS, d. d.

1 CORINTHIANS xv, 29: "Else what shall they do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why then are they bap tized for them ?"

THIS passage has greatly perplexed exegetical writers, and has received a variety of interpretations. The interpreter must approach it, bearing distinctly in mind that the object of the apostle in this chapter is to establish the truth of the resurrection of the body. He adduces at least three arguments.

First, the well authenticated fact of Christ's resurrection. After his burial he was several times seen alive by the apostles and by more than five hundred, brethren at once. And because he lives, all who are united to him by faith shall live also. His resurrection is the first fruits of them that sleep, and so becomes a pledge that all believers shall come forth from the grave.

Second, the sad consequences involved in a denial of the resurrection. If the dead are not raised, then Christ did not rise; and if he did not rise, the world has no Savior, and our preaching is vain, and those who have died in the faith have perished, and we the apostles are found false witnesses. This form of argument is the reductio ad absurdum.

The next argument is found in the twenty-ninth verse, which is the one for our present examination. This verse is logically connected with the nineteenth, the intervening verses being of the nature of a digression from the main line of argument. In the nineteenth verse Paul says, If there be no resurrection and no future life, then Christians

are, of all men, most pitiable, undergoing sufferings for a faith that is baseless, and cherishing hopes that are doomed. to disappointment. The conjunction ere, of the twentyninth verse, marks the resumption of the suspended thread of argument. "Else," an elliptical word, the ellipsis to be gathered from the preceding context, which is evidently something like the following: Else, that is, if there be no resurrection, what shall they do who are baptized for the dead? There is no difficulty in the grammatical construction of this sentence. The simple question is, What do the words. mean? "Ilonjoovan," what will they do? may signify, what will they gain? implying that they will gain nothing. Oi BanTóμEvo, who are baptized, is the imperfect participle, middle voice-the imperfect denotes a practice going on, and continuing to go on. Trèρ Tv vexpov, for the dead, refers to all who die in the faith of the Gospel. The two articles, of and tv, are generic, and denote two entire classes of persons, and not a few individuals of each class. The reference is to all baptized believers and to all who die in the Lord. Let this exegesis be remembered, for if it is correct, it confirms the interpretation which we accept.

It will now be well to glance at some of the views which have been held by different expositors. We are not prepared to accept the conclusion of Conybeare and Howson, in their work on the "Life and Epistles of St. Paul." They say, "The passage must be considered to admit of no satisfactory explanation. It alludes to some practice of the Corinthians which has not been recorded elsewhere, and of which every other trace has perished."

It is the opinion of many of the ablest Biblical scholars, such as De Wette, Meyer, Alford, Ellicott, and Hodge that Paul here refers to the practice of vicarious baptism; that his language implies that there were those in the Corinthian Church who had been baptized for, or in behalf of, friends who had died unbaptized, expecting thus to confer some benefit on the departed. They say that Paul alludes to this custom, not to indorse it, but to make use of the "argumen