protected and defended him, all against the mandate of his Majesty the Emperor, and the command of the Pope, and in behalf of a cause that would be sufficient reason for the deposi- tion of a pope or an emperor. The same man also said that if it had not been for a desire to spare his Grace, this would have been done long since, but it could not be long postponed ; he was afraid it must happen. He commanded me to inform your Grace of this ; if he were with your Grace he would tell your Grace of it himself. He was sure my gracious Lord, Duke John, would also be told ; and it would be well to disown the monk. I gave his Grace no definite answer and did not discuss the matter with him, except to say that I had no doubt his Grace had seen your defence before ; that your Grace had never taken Luther's part or defended him and did not do so now; in my judgment, therefore, your Grace was wrong- fully accused of this. . . .
593. LUTHER TO SPALATIN. Enders, iv, 199. * (Wittenberg), August 3, 15^
Grace and peace. I have not yet come to any decision about a tract in reply to the breve of Master Adrian.* If anything occurs to me, I will write in such a way that I defend only my own cause. ... I have been requested to ask you, since the Elector will not appoint a married man to our Bethaven,* that you suggest the calling of Crotus, who is well adapted for the position and could reform things there in a prudent way; so it has seemed to Philip and me, at least. I hope that their abominations will not go on forever,* but that, if the right men are appointed, the work and the stipends may be put to better use.
Francis Lambert asks through me that you get the Elector to increase the present or the stipend, whichever you call it, that he now receives. He complains of the ingratitude of the students, who pay nothing; he is, therefore, compelled to ask
^Not the official breve of December x, 1522 (supra, no. 558), but the breve Saiis
- i plus quam satis, which appeared in print in July, 1523 (Erlangen, opp. var. mrff,^
Ti, 478fF). It was suspected that it was a forgery and that Cochlaexis was the author.
> The position of dean of the Castle Church had been vacant since February.
■C/. supra, nos. 563, 577.
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