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 seem good and religious and a devout frequenter of churches, but all his counsellors ^re more Lutheran than Luther him- self. Moreover, he is extremely hard to see, but we did see him on November 4,* and worked on him so that he seemed to be persuaded by us and said that he had never spoken twenty words with Luther.

331. ERASMUS TO JOHN REUCHLIN. Erasmi opera (1703), iii. 589. Cologne, November 8, 1520.

. . . You see what a fatal tragedy is now being enacted, the catastrophe of which is uncertain. Whatever it may be, I pray that it may be for the glory of Christ and the evangelic truth. I prefer to be a spectator rather than an actor in this play, not because I deny the cause of Christ, but because I see it is beyond my littleness. Would that I were able to do what is best, as I wish. . . . The silent judgments of the good have perpetual authority and weight even with posterity. It has always been my endeavor to separate the cause of Luther from yours and that of sound learning, which would only bring odium on it and on us without helping Luther in the least. But others have acted otherwise. They hate me so that those conspirators against sound learning and the gospel have almost attacked me. There is no doubt about their actions, although they cloak them with high names and irritate the mild Pope to his own hurt for their advantage. . ..

332. BEATUS RHENANUS TO BONIFACE AMERBACH. 'Briefwechsel des Beatus Rhenattus, 250. Basle, November 8, 152a

. . . Our Erasmus of Rotterdam is now officiating as councillor to the Emperor; it is an honor to him, but a loss for literature. For some days he has been at Cologne, after the Emperor was crowned at Aix-la-Chapelle, on October 23. The Pope has sent Jerome Aleander with a monstrous bull to the Emperor to induce him to crush Luther. He also sent Caracciolo, Cajetan and Miltitz. It is to be feared that the Emperor will give his consent, as one too young to under- stand these things. The whole of Germany is for Luther, Hutten has fairly translated the Pope's bull which curses


 * 0n this interview and its results, cf. Smith, op. cit., lOO.

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