62 Readings in European History 241, Letter of warning to Luther from Capito. humanist, Capito, written from Basel, September 4, 15 18, clearly shows the attitude of Erasmus and his circle. Greeting : I replied from Strasburg to the letter that you kindly wrote to me recently, and I added at the same time Eras- mus' opinion of you, and described his frank and gratifying admiration of your discussion of indulgences. In the mean- time I have seen your sermon on Penitence and another on Indulgences and Faith, both in the most obvious opposition to the received customs of our time. I was astounded, in my friendly solicitude, to see you exposing your unprotected body to the dense array of the enemy, even if you do appear to be fully equipped with the arms of truth. You will, I much fear, be attacked with other weapons, and the danger is that the question will be settled by force. If you will deign to lend an ear to the counsels of one who has had much experience in these matters, I would warn you to adopt the tactics of Sertorius. Believe me, you can undermine gradually what you can never overthrow by force. Your enemies hold a citadel which, as you see, is protected on every side. Behind a triple line of defense and beyond the range of missiles they are snoring peace- fully. Their threefold safety lies in the authority of the pope (that is, of the Church universal), in the potent arm of the despots, and in the persistent support of the universities. Surely you will never succeed in breaking this diabol- "ically stout rope. It would need another Alexander to cut this Gordian knot with the sword ; the problem is how to do it by mere skill or reason. Simple, pious folk meekly follow the beck and nod of our counterfeit Church. The more thoughtful have had their spirit quenched by its tyranny. As for us, the theologians, who loudly proclaim our special sanctity and knowledge of Christ, we constantly compromise his cause by our arrogance. We take advan- tage of all the abuses in religion and under the guise of piety we decently guard our own interests.
