Page:Luther's correspondence and other contemporary letters 1507-1521.djvu/69

 as I already hear some persons dream. But now, we can even swear that they were published without the knowledge of Frederic. More at another time, for now I am very busy. Farewell. Brother Martin Eleutherius/

Augustinian of Wittenberg.

P. S. — You wrote me that the elector had promised me a gown ; I would like to know to whom he gave the commission.

43. LUTHER TO JOHN LANG AT ERFURT. Enders, i. 124. Wittenberg, Novemt>er 11, 1517.

Greeting in Christ. Behold I am sending you some more paradoxes/ reverend Father in Christ. Even if your theolo- gians are offended, and say, as they all continually do, that I am rash, proud and hasty in condemning the opinions of others, I answer through you by this letter. I am much pleased with their ripe moderation and long-suffering sobriety, if only they would show it now instead of blaming me for levity and hasty rashness. But I am surprised that they do not look at their Aristotle with the same eyes, or if they look at him, how it is that they do not see that Aristotle in every sentence and clause is nothing but Momus, the very Momus of Momuses.' If that heathen, in spite of his cutting bold-

Theses against them (Weimar, L 229) and tent them with a letter to Albert (cf. Smith, p. 4off7. The prelate did not answer the letter, but began a process against Luther which was soon dropped in view of the process at Rome. In is 18 Albert was made cardinal. At this time he posed as a patron of art and learning, and, from entirely worldly motives, took a mediating stand in the Lutheran affair throughout 1520 and at the Diet of Worms, 1521. In 1525 he had thoughts of becoming Lutheran in order to turn his bishoprics into temporal estates, as his cousin Albert of Prussia had done, but he decided against this course. In 1530, at Augsburg, he again mediated between the hostile parties. The Reformation gradually encroached on his dominions and he became more consistently opposed to it. See Realencyehp&die, Boehmer: Luther im Lichte der neueren Fortckuug (Leipzig, ad ed., 19 lo), p. 66ff, and Preserved Smith, chap. v.

'From the Greek iJ^Wepoc meaning free. The custom of turning their names into Latin or Greek was very prevalent among the humanists. It has often been noticed that Luther adopted this name immediately after publishing his Theses on Indulgences, though he later dropped it Hutten adopted a similar name in his Eleutherii By sent in sequens enconium iriumpkanti Capnioni deeantatum. . . Praefatio. (Capnio was Rencblin. Erasmus also wrote an apotheosis of Reuchlia, issa.) This is put by Bocking {Hutteni opera, i. S36) in 1518. So Hess writes to Lang (ibid. 240, 1518?), *'Huttenus nocter f actus est Eleutherius."

•The Ninety-five Theses.

'According to Erasmus' adage, which Luther well knew, Momus was the god of fault-finding, born of Night and Sleep.

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