He is joyful and triumphant. In two boastful and congrat- ulatory letters he has summoned his wife to him. That is to say, Satan will make new portents for us there. Christ is our confidence ; may He strengthen us, who are weary and heavy- laden. Truly we are compelled to be Herculeses and Atlases, so entirely does the whole world rest on our shoulders. There is no bishop and no prince that is doing his duty. No bishop is caring for a single church, nay, for a single soul ; no prince for a single city, nay, for a single household. They all rage together for the injury of the will of God. Pray for us.
Yours, Martin Luther.
837. LUTHER TO PHILIP OF HESSE. Enders, vii, 121. German. Wittenberg^ June 23, 1529.
Grace and peace from Christ. Serene, highborn Prince, gracious Lord. I was glad to receive your Grace's letter and invitation, addressed to me, beyond all doubt, but in a gracious and Qiristian spirit; together with the letter of his Grace Duke John, the Elector, in which he strongly urges me to give your Grace a favorable answer, ii) the hope that God will graciously grant that the division among us on the subject of the sacrament may be ended. With this in view your Grace appoints Michaelmas^ as a time for us to come together at Marburg to talk over the matter with our opponents in a kindly and private way.
I thoroughly believe that your Grace is altogether serious about this matter and really means it well, and, therefore, I, too, am willingly inclined to render your Grace's Christian project what I fear is a vain, and for us, possibly, a dangerous service. For I, too, heartily delight in peace; others boast of it much with mouth and pen, but when it comes to deeds they take such a stand that there is no hope of it.
There is all the more reason, then, why I should speak out in time and tell your Grace dryly what I think. It seems to me that our opponents are seeking to use your Grace's diligence to accomplish an end from which no good will come, namely, that they may hereafter be able to boast that it was
^ September ap.
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