(Regest.)
In this letter, written by Balthasar Alterius (the secretary of the English ambassador in Venice), they pay their respects to Luther, as the champion of the holy gospel, and apologize for not having expressed it in a letter long ago, which they are now forced to do by necessity, since Christians are being persecuted. They ask Luther, through the Protestant princes of Germany, to influence the Council of Venice to suspend the persecution until a council is held. They deplore the fierce sacramental controversy, which, brought there from Germany, has also aroused unrest and discord among them and has done harm to the Church of God. Finally, they ask for news about the religious movements in Germany and express their desire for Luther's writings, which are unbelievably distributed to them by the dishonesty and greed of the booksellers to the detriment of the church. - Luther replied to this letter in great detail on June 13, 1543.
The original is in the Weimar archives, Reg. H, fol. 421. N 154. A. Printed in Seckendorf, Hist. Luth., lib. III, p. 401. The translation in Frick's German Seckendorf, p. 2117. A regest in Burkhardt, p. 419.
No. 2965.