Congratulations on his marriage, and Rath on how to celebrate his wedding.
Manuscript in Cod. chart. 181. 4. 402. f Bibl. Goth. Printed in Welleri Opp. omn. to end, p. 205 and in De Wette, vol. V, p. 10 f.
My dear Doctor! With joy I have heard and read that you have finally become a man and have obtained flesh to join you.3) For what is either a man without a woman, as Moses speaks, or a woman without a man, especially when you look at the first marriage. For both do not know their gender as long as they are alone. This kind of life was created by God, and so far He has preserved it against all heresies and thoughts of the devil, yes, against the excesses, complaints and impatience of men. May Christ now bless you and your bride, and grant you to dwell sweetly and in love with each other forever, amen.
With regard to the wedding, I do not yet fully approve of your intention, for you know the inadequacy of our market and all the things from which we still suffer daily, so that neither I nor my Käthe can hope how, with such great difficulty of circumstances, we could dine so large a crowd honorably, and as it should be. And yet I do not want to bring a stain on your and my honor. It seems to me advisable that you either celebrate your wedding at Freiberg, or, if that cannot happen, that you, after having arranged a splendid farewell feast of several tables there, come here in small company, as Kreuziger, Doctor Brück, and others have done, and to a
2) Seckendorf has the 6th of August.
3) Weller married Anna vom Steige, a ward of his brother-in-law, Georg von Lißkirchen. De Wette-Seidemann, vol. VI, p. 436.
Letters from the year 1536. No. 2266 to 2269.
I will give you and your friends this to consider. I will give you and your friends this to consider. For as much as it is in me to assist thee, to adorn thee, and to be of service to thine own, thou knowest that this is ready for thee. "Our market is a mess, and if the hemp is to be loaded, the university with all its children, and others who, in my opinion, cannot be left outside, there will be neither 9 nor 12 tables. You know how the matter was restricted at your doctorate, that children and women were absent and only men were invited, and yet it was a crowd of 7 or 8 tables. What will happen when all these people's wives, children and housemates are also to be fed and dined? This I write, not that you may suspect that I am putting off the work, but that you may consult with your friends and decide what you should do. Farewell in Christ and greet your bride and all yours in my name. Wittenberg, on the 5th day of August, Anno 1536.
No. 2267.