Now follow all kinds of consolation writings in which Luther shows how spouses, parents, children, siblings, and friends should behave when their own pass away. They are found here in the following order:
36) "Three consolation writings because of death of a husband":
a. to Margaretha N. Wittwe, zu N., of December 15, 1528, whose husband had wounded himself in such a way that he died, but before that he repentantly recognized his sin and converted to God. It is found in the Wittenbergische Theilen (Thl. IX, p. 284), in the Jenaische (Thl. IV, p. 407), in the Altenburgische (Thl. IV, p. 462) and in the Leipzigische (Thl. XXII, p. 507).
[De W. m, 406. 407. Erl. Ed. 54, 53. 54J
b) to Mag. Cellarius' widow, who had been a preacher in Dresden, dated May 8, 1542.
[In the collections it stands: Wittenb. XII, 171. Jen. VHI,48. Altenb. VIII, 66. Leipz. XXll, 537. de W. V, 469. erl. Ausg. 56, 22. 23.]
c) to Mag. Georg Schultz's surviving widow, dated October 8, 1544.
37) "Six Writings of Consolation on the Death of a Wife."
a) to Dr. Laurentius Zoch, chancellor of Bishop Albrecht of Magdeburg, dated November 3, 1532, as well as
b) to the same from December 7, 1532.
[In the collections: Wittenb. IX, 476. Jen. V, 563 f. Altenb. V, 1005 f. Leipz. XX, 519 f. De W. IV, 412. 413. 419. 420. Erl. Ausg. 54, 336-338. 342-344.]
c) to Author Broitzer, citizen of Brunswick, dated August 25, 1534.
[In the collections: Wittenb. XII, 164. Jen. VI, 205. Altenb. VI, 259. Leipz. XXII, 525. de W. IV, 553. 554. erl. Ausg. 58, 61. 62.]
d) to Hans Reineck, citizen and metallurgist at Mansfeld, when his wife also died to him, dated April 18, 1536.
[In the collections: Wittenb. XU, 158. Jen. VI, 360. Altenb. VI, 908. Leipz. XXII, 532. de W. IV, 686. 687. erl. Ausg. 55, 131-133.]
e) to Hans von Taubenheim, dated January 10, 1539.
[In the collections: Wittenb. XII, 168. Jen. VII, 217. Altenb. Vll, 234. Leipz. XXII, 533. de W. V, 141,142. erl. Ausg. 55, 217. 218.]
f) Letter of comfort to Wolf Heinze, organist at Halle, dated September 11, 1543.
[In the collections: Wittenb. XII, 173. Jen. VIII, 173. Altenb. VIII, 344. Leipz. XXII, 538. de W. V, 588 f. Erl. Ausg. 56, 66. 67.]
Of all these letters, I have nothing special to mention. They are in the aforementioned German parts of Luther's writings, namely in the Wittenberg, Jena and Altenburg according to the order of the time in which each of them was written by Luther; in the Leipzig, however, they are in one class, namely the letters of consolation (Thl. XXII). In the case of the imprint found in this part, the first editions have been consulted for most of them and the copy has been overlooked according to the same.
§ LXIV.
If the preceding letters of consolation concern the deaths of certain spouses, the following ones have been drawn up at the death of parents, children, siblings and friends. These are:
38) "Letter of Comfort on the Death of a Father," to Duke John Frederick of Saxony. When the Elector Frederick of Saxony died on May 5, 1525, Luther wrote two letters of consolation on May 15, one to the new Elector John (which we also bring below under No. 40) and the other to his prince, John Frederick, who is the one who occurs here. In the latter, he says, among other things, that God has taken away the Elector, like King Josiah, so that he may not see the present and future evil in the world, because he led a peaceful, quiet and calm regiment all his life. It is precisely this passage that Seckendorf has published in "Histor. Lutheramsmi", libr. II, § 10, p. 34; the whole letter itself, however, was first published in the Leipzig Collection (in the "Supplement", p. 39).
[Cf. De W. II, 662 f. Erl. ed. 53, 300. 301.]
39) Now follow "Four Writings of Consolation at the Death of a Son," namely:
a) to a good friend, N. Zink, at Nuremberg [to whom Luther announced in this letter the death of his son, who studied in Wittenberg and also frequented Luther's house], of April 23, 1532. It is found in the Wittenbergische Theilen (Thl. IX, p. 474), the Jenaische (Thl. V, p. 560), the Altenburgrschen (Thl. V, p. 961) and the Leipzigische (Thl. XXII, p. 516).
[De W. IV, 362 f. Erl. ed. vol. 54, 293-295.]
b) to an unnamed person, to whom God gave a son and soon took him away, dated October 25, 1535. This letter is found in the Wittenbergische Theilen (Thl. XII, p. 167), in the Jenaische (Thl. VI, p. 349), in the Altenburgische (Thl. VI, p. 496) and in the Leipzigische (Thl. XXII, p. 531).
[De W. IV, 644. ed. 55, 112.]
c) to unnamed parents whose son died at the university, dated October 25, 1544. The same is found in the Wittenbergische Theilen (Thl. XII, p. 176), in the Jenaische (Thl. VIII, p. 228), in the Altenburgische (Thl. VlII, p. 378) and in the Leipzigische (Thl. XXII, p. 542).
[De W. V, 691 f. Erl. ed. 56,114,115.]
d) to Georg Hosel, mountain scribe at Marienberg, in which Luther informs him of the death of his son [who also studied at Wittenberg and consoles him about it]. It was written on December 13, 1544, and first printed in the Leipzig Collection ("Supplement," p. 109).
[De W. V, 704. ed. 56, 119. 120.]
40) "Trostbrief an Churfürst Johann über den Tod seines Bruders, des Churfürsten Friedrich", vom 15. Mai 1525, welches ist das Schreib, darin Luther bei Abstersterben des Churfürsten Friedrich zu Sachsen dessen Bruder Johann getröstt, wie ich schon kurz vorher angemerkt habe. One finds this letter in the Wittenbergische Theilen (Thl. IX, p. 218), in the Jenaischen (Thl. II, p. 522), in the Altenburgischen (Thl. II, p. 902) and in the Leipzigischen (Thl. XXII, p. 497).
[First printed in the German collection of letters by Flacius No. 1. The original is in the Weimar Archives. De W. II, 662 f. Erl. Ausg. 53, 298-300.
D. Red.]
§ LXV.
Since in this part many comfort letters of the blessed Luther occur, as can be seen from the news just given, so I want to note two things before I continue in the enumeration of the remaining writings, which are also included in this volume. One is that some comfort writings have been brought into special collections and promoted for printing. This was done by Caspar Creuziger, who published "Etliche Trostschriften und Predigten für die, so in Todes- und anderer Noth und Anfechtung sind, D. Martin Luther" with a preface at Wittenberg in 1545 and 1546 in octavo.
has given. This book was subsequently reprinted in Jena in 1554 and in Leipzig in 1559, after Georg Rörer had expanded it and added many things that were not included in the first edition. After this, Mag. Conrad Porta, a preacher at Eisleben, produced the beautiful and for teachers and preachers very useful book: "Pastorale Lutheri oder Unterricht von den vornehmsten Stücken des heiligen Ministerii, aus GOttes Wort und Luther's Schriften zusammengetragen". This book was published and reprinted in 1582 and 1586 at Eisleben; in 1597 and 1604 at Leipzig, also here at Jena with useful annotations by Johann Christoph Crämer, 1729, in octavo. Many of Luther's consolation writings are included in the same. This was done in the 7th chapter, p. 330 ff., where many of Luther's letters of consolation were given according to the order of the ten commandments; likewise in the 17th chapter, p. 786, where it is shown how to deal with the melancholy, the afflicted and the possessed. And finally, in the 18th chapter, p. 852, about the sick and evil-doers, how they are to be comforted. No less do I have to remember here that writing which was published under the title: "Dr. Mart. Luther's interpretation of the 129th Psalm. Also some of his letters of comfort to afflicted persons" appeared in Magdeburg in 1550. In our times, Dr. Joh. Jakob Rambach took over such work and compiled "Selected letters of comfort of the man of God Martin Luther, which he wrote to persecuted, challenged and sad persons with a quite evangelical pen" from the German parts of Jena and, together with some historical notes, also a preface about the gift of comforting, presented them for the first time here in 1721 in octavo to the light. They are now in the collection of Luther's exquisite small writings, which he is responsible for. When Fabricius in ,,Centifolium Lutheri.", p. 314, deals with Luther's comfort writings, he says among other things:
Consolatoriarum sententiarum αυναγωγην ex D. Lutheri scriptis, una cum ejus prophetiis edidit Io. Amsterdamus, ecclesiastes Bremen- sis, Magdeb. 1552, in octavo" (i.e.: "A collection of consolatory sayings from Luther's
Writings, as well as his prophecies were published by Joh. Amsterdam, preacher in Bremen, in Magdeburg 1552 in octavo"), which is undoubtedly the writing that was published under the title: "Etliche wahrhaftige Weissagungen und vornehme Sprüche M. Luther's, durch Joh. Amsterdam zusammengebracht", in the mentioned year in Magdeburg. However, I cannot say what Luther's comfort writings are contained in it, because I have not seen them myself. In Erasmus Gruber's "Lutherus redivivus", namely in the seventh class, that which Luther wrote to others for consolation has been compiled, which was also done by those who continued such work.