Martin Luther and his Revolt against the Church 73 among them, even they cling, to superstition, and pervert the law of life which Christ laid down for us. Now if all these who devastate Germany, and continue to devour everything, might once be driven out, and an end made of the unbridled plundering, swindling, and deception with which the Romans have overwhelmed us, we should again have gold and silver in sufficiency, and should be able to keep it. And then this money, in such quantities as might be avail- able, might be put to better uses, as, for example : to put on foot great armaments and extend the boundaries of the empire; also to conquer the Turks, if this seems desirable; to enable many who, because of poverty, now steal and rob, to earn honestly their living once more ; and to give to those who otherwise must starve contributions from the state to mitigate their need; to help scholars, and to advance the study of the arts and sciences and of good literature ; above all, to make it possible that every virtue receive its reward, want be relieved at home, indolence banished, and deceit killed. Then, too, the Bohemians, when they come to know this, will make common cause with us ; for it was material obstacles alone that kept them back, in earlier times, from dealing with the avarice of their priests. The Greeks would do the same, for they, unable to bear the Romish tyranny, have for a long time, at the instigation of the popes, been regarded as heretics. The Russians would also become Christians and join us, — they who, when recently they proposed to embrace Chris- tianity, were repelled by the demand of his Holiness for a yearly tribute to be levied upon them of four hundred thou- sand ducats. Even the Turks would thereby hate us less ; and no heathen, as formerly, would have occasion to molest us. For up to the present day the shameful lives of the heads of the Church have made the name of Christian hate- ful to all strangers. Ebernburg, September 11, 1520.
