Page:Luther's correspondence and other contemporary letters 1521-1530.djvu/114

 may cease to use them as they wax strong, so that charity may be the rule in external usages and laws.

Nothing vexes me more than this multitude, which abandons Scripture, faith, and charity, and boasts that it is Christian only because in the presence of weaker brethren it is able to eat flesh on Fridays, commune in both kinds, and stop fasting and prayer. I hope that you too will pursue this method of teaching. . . . All things are to be proved by Scripture, and hearts are to be helped little by little, like Jacob's sheep, that they may first receive the Word of their own accord and afterwards grow stronger. But perhaps you do not need this advice ; it was the solicitude of love that prompted it. Farewell in Christ, and aid the Gospel with your prayers.

Yours, Martin Luther.

538. HANS VON DER PLANITZ TO THE ELECTOR FRED- ERIC OF SAXONY.

Wulcker-Virck, no. German. Nuremberg, March i8, 1522.

Hans von der Planitz (f 1535) came of a noble family resident in the neighborhood of Zwickau. He studied law at Bologna (LL.D., 1499), and entered the service of the Elector of Saxony (1513-33). He was used by the electors in many confidential diplomatic missions, notably as the electoral representative in the Imperial Council of Regency (1521-24). In this capacity he was present at the Diets of Nuremberg (1522, 1523), and his correspondence (collected and edited by Wulcker and Virck, 1899) is one of our chief sources of information concerning the history of those diets. The best sketch of his life m Wulcker-Virck, pp. xix-lvxxxiv; the main facts in ADB.

... I shall keep to myself the news that Doctor Martin is back in Wittenberg, and if anything is said here in my presence reflecting on your Grace, I shall not fail to do my duty, so far as I am able, nor to defend and excuse your Grace. Neverthe- less I would remind your Grace that your Grace knows, or, perhaps has only heard, that his Imperial Majesty has put Doctor Martin and his adherents, protectors, etc., under the ban. I have not seen the ban myself, but have only heard that it IS to be posted publicly in many places. Now if Doctor Martin is publicly in Wittenberg, and lives there openly, it is my humble fear that it may cause your Grace some trouble, and that certain people who are very busy in this matter will

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