Luther advises Cordatus against the journey to Augsburg and tells him what he knows about Augsburg and how he is doing.
This letter is found handwritten in Wolfenbüttel, Cocl. Hslmst. 108, tot. 24b; there duck. 214, tot. 59 and in dock. cksu. b. 212. printed in Luckcksus, x. 106; in De Wette, vol. IV, p. 42 and in Erl. Briefw., vol. VIII, p. 9. A piece of the same is found in Huckcksus, p. 110, in Ooswstiuus, tom. I, praise 137, and by Walch (in the following number) as a letter addressed to Hausmann, dated June 25. But from this day there is another letter to Hausmann, which is found in De Wette, vol. IV, p. 47 and in Walch's old edition, vol. XXI, 1376.
1) Luther fulfilled this promise by inserting a tailor's shake verse written in Hebrew letters in a letter of reply to Camerarius. Camerarius was not able to decipher this, not even the Hebraists he had consulted. So he finally went to Augsburg to get information from the scholars there. They, informed by Luther, enlightened him. Mathesius reports this in his 12th sermon. Mathesius, St. Louis edition, p. 229.
Grace and peace in Christ! I have written this letter to you, dearest Cordatus, so that you may not doubt that I remember you and may not suspect that I have forgotten my promise. For I am still in this desert, and there is not much hope that I will be called to the Diet. But if I am called, you may be sure that I will send you word, as we have agreed. However, as the dear man, Nicolaus Hausmann, your pastor, writes, I do not know whether it is advisable for you to go to the Diet and leave your office in the meantime, especially since there is still no hope at all that the princes will act on the matter of religion; or if they do act, then they will negotiate in secret and among themselves according to the Emperor's decree, without any public disputation or interrogation. I would have answered this the other day when I received his letter, but no messenger soon showed up.
(2) We have not yet received any news, nor do our people at Augsburg write to us?) From what the rumor testifies, we have gathered that it is certain that the Emperor arrived at Augsburg on June 15; may Christ give grace and happiness to this, amen. Let us only pray and not let up. Christ lives and reigns; however unknown he may be to the wicked, yet to us he is the known and certain King of kings and the Lord of lords. I am quite well by God's grace and your prayers, and although Satan has hindered me for several weeks by roaring in my head, I have translated Jeremiah into German. Now there is Ezekiel left, which I want to tackle. But first I want to give our poor printers an alms consisting of several copies, among which is also the Psalm Confitemini 3), which I will soon complete in two days.
Greetings to Mr. Nicolaus Hausmann, who is extremely dear to me. The letter from his brother
2) The following to the end of this paragraph forms the next number of this appendix in Walch's case.
3) St. Louis edition, vol. V, 1174. See also the note there.
I have taken him with me here and will answer him as soon as possible. 1) From the desert, June 19, 1530.
Your Martin Luther.
No. 9.
To Nicolaus Hausmann.
At this point, Walch finds a piece of the previous letter, which is made into a special letter by a wrong caption and a wrong date together with a signature. See the previous number.
No. 10
To Gabriel Gemini.
Luther reports what he knows of Augsburg, of his condition and his works.
This letter is found handwritten in the 6od. Bostooü. Printed in Oooisstinns, tom. I, toi. 1025; in Buddeus, p. 107; in De Wette, vol. IV, p. 43 and in Erl. Briefw., vol. VIII, p. 11.
To Gabriel Didymus, pastor at Torgau.
Grace and peace in Christ! Through this messenger I am sending the letters to you, my dear Gabriel; whether you or Bernhard can do it most conveniently, I ask you both to diligently see to it that they are transported to Wittenberg. Perhaps you will learn something new from Bernhard. For our people from Augsburg have not answered us for a whole month. We have heard from the foreman here that the emperor entered Augsburg on June 15, and so our Riedtesel wrote. We know nothing else in this desert. We are well and living splendidly, only that I have suffered thunderous noise in my head for almost a month now, not a sound, may the blame and cause be attributed to the wine, or Satan may have made such a mockery of me. I have finished Jeremiah and am about to translate Ezekiel and the other prophets. You pray with the congregation for the prince, for the prince and the whole Diet, and you shall know that the petitions are not in vain; for you already feel their manifest
1) Luther enclosed this answer to the letter to Nicolaus Hausmann on June 25, and instructed him to forward it to his brother Valentin.
and great strength. Farewell and greet the Pausbacken 2) together with your Elsa, and the two: preachers (presbyteros) with their family. From the desert, June 19, 1530.
Your Martin Luther.
No. 11.
To Melanchthon.
Luther sends the writing from the schools and reports news from Wittenberg.
This letter is found handwritten at Wolfenbüttel in the 6od. Holrrist. 108, toi. 845; in the Ood. Bostooü. and in the 6od. den. 5, toi. 197. printed by Oosisstinns, toru. Ill, toi. 50; b^i Buddeus, p. 186; in De Wette, vol. IV, p. 138 and in Erl. Briefw., vol. VIII, p. 204.
Grace and peace in Christ! I believe that you have long since heard the news from Augsburg, my dear Philip, namely, that fourteen men have been chosen as new mediators, whose names we all know, and that you, with the corner, are the first to lead the word, but Spalatin is the scribe; 3) if this is true, it is wonderful. Moreover, that the Pope, after the siege of Florence has been lifted, is besieged at Rome in Castel Sant'Angelo by a Roman army. For what are we hermits to do but to announce news to you in a much wandered way (xxxxxxxxx), while in the meantime you are as silent as the frogs on Seriphos. 4)
I am sending here the Sermon of the Schools, 5) a completely Lutheran writing, which through the verbosity (verbositate) of Luther does not deny its author in anything, but represents him in the most complete way. That is my way. Likewise will be the booklet of the keys 6). Then, if Christ wills, I will deal with the article of justification.
2. our Wittenberg is plagued by the suspicion of the plague, which, it is thought, has affected students from
2) vnooatium, a word formed by Luther from 5U60N. What is meant is Zwillings Söhnchen.
3) Compare the documents No. 1041 ff. in this volume.
4) See St. Louis edition, vol. XVIII, 1731, note 1.
5) St. Louis edition, vol. X, 416.
6) St. Louis edition, vol. XIX, 902. See also the introduction there, p. 415.
Leipzig, because about four have died of the disease, and two houses are closed off. So Luft writes to me, the others are silent, because my mistress writes nothing about this. And "Häuptman" and the younger Prince Hans Ernst are still there, which is certainly a great proof that there is no danger. I am writing this so that the rumor does not disturb you.
May the Lord who sent you to Heiligenstadt (Augustam) 1) make you all holy (augustos), amen. A kind of sore (corrosio) has arisen again in my neck, so that I suspect that either the evil juices are increased by the sharpness of the wine, or that after so many years of health the old remnants [of the previous illness] are returning, or that it is Satan's fist blows. 3) I have a sore in my neck. But if only Christ is victorious, nothing matters whether Luther perishes, who, since Christ is victor, will be victor. Greetings to all of us. I do not know whether my letters have been delivered to you by Cyriacus and Caspar Müller, nor whether they themselves have reached you, since they have been away from here for almost three weeks now and have written nothing to us. Farewell. From the desert, on the day of Bartholomew [August 24] 1530.
Your Martin Luther.