other; and in the Holy Scriptures marriage is said to be honorable. Whatever in this act may seem inopportune and improvident should not disturb us, even though, as a matter of course, the malice and censoriousness of enemies will revel in it; for it may be that some- thing hidden and divine underlies it, as to which it is not proper for us to put ourselves to trouble, or to be concerned with the silly talk of some who mock and revile us, and, nevertheless, observe neither piety towards God nor virtue towards man. But when I see Luther in low spirits and disturbed about his change of life, I make my best efforts to console him kindly. Nor should I venture to condemn this as a mistake; although God, indeed, has shown us many faults of His saints of old, since He wants us, pondering upon His Word, to regard neither the reputation nor the face of man, but His Word alone. That person is most godless who, because of the error of a teacher, condemns the truth of the teaching.
Nevertheless, as I have said, I do not think that anything has been done that is incapable of defence, or that is worthy of being altogether censured; besides, I have many and clear evidences of his godliness, so that they who abuse and slander Luther do nothing but the work of calumniators and buffoons, and gather whatever material they can find from whatsoever source for the charges of a shameless tongue. Nor, in my opinion, will the occurrence of any such humiliation, as it were, be useless either to those in the priesthood or to all men, seeing that it is always perilous to be exalted and lifted up. For successes give occasion for the ill-disposed, and those, too, not merely, as the orator says, the senseless, but sometimes the wise also; and, in all things, according to the proverb, another state of life will produce another mode of living.
I have enlarged upon these matters to you, lest you should be ex- cessively disturbed and discouraged about this unexpected occurrence. For I know that you are concerned about the good fame of Luther, and about his being kept blameless and beyond reproach.
The company of your people is most grateful to me in these tur- moils, and I wonder that you allowed them to leave you. Be very kind to your father and remember that you owe him this thanks for his paternal love, and pay it, I am awaiting a letter from you concerning things in Franconia, Farewell, The courier who wUl deliver this is to return to us immediately,
693. LUTHER TO WENZEL LINK AT ALTENBURG. Enders, v, 200. WrrrENBERG^ June 20, 1525.
Grace and peace. I know that my book* gives great of- fence to the peasants and the friends of the peasants, and that is a real joy to me, for if it gave them no offence it would
^ Wider die mSrderischen . . . Rotten der Bauem.
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