there are some even now who are drunk with good fortune and have forgotten what it means to be a bishop, and what is said in general terms ought not to be made a reproach to any individual, only so long as the thing is not done in a seditious or cruel manner, and the sweetness of Christian charity mitigates the austerity of the admonition. The author- ity of the Pope must not be diminished, but it is preserved by good deeds. This whole evil, or certainly a great part of it, comes from us, who embrace the world with our whole heart, and yet make a pretence of bearing the name of Christ. If we cut away these roots of evil the world will love and honor us as fathers ; now it hates and repudiates us as tyrants.
We are looking to see to what the new Pope * will call us. Perhaps he will show us some way of ending this evil, which has seized upon so many regions and has become so deeply fixed in the minds of so many men. So far as my age, ability, strength and leisure permit, I shall do my best for the cause of the faith and of Christian harmony, as I have done here- tofore according to my power. I trust your prudence, most illustrious Prince, to see that what I have written to you so frankly may not be turned to my hurt by others, for there is nothing that they do not make an occasion of slander. May the Lord Jesus long preserve your Highness safe and well.
556. LUTHER TO SPALATIN Enders, iv, 4. (Wittenbesg, September 20, 1522.)'
Grace and peace. You now have copies of the whole New Testament for yourself and the Elector, all except the preface to Romans, which will be finished to-morrow. I am also send- ing a copy for the younger prince,* which you will give him for me, as Lucas* and Christian* have suggested. I believe Wolfgang Stein • has already sent a copy for the elder prince.'
^Adrian VI. He had been elected January 9.
- The date of this letter is fixed by the reference to the pablication of the New
Testament, which appeared September 21, isas. DeWette (it, 587) puts it in the year 1524.
- Duke John Frederic
'Cranach.
- Doering.
- John's court chaplain at Weimar. * Duke John.
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