Page:Luther's correspondence and other contemporary letters 1521-1530.djvu/187

 pire, or kad Christians into error, for I have often written and preached against this very thing; but my sole purpose from beginning to end has been, and still is, to write, teach, preach and do nothing else than what is necessary and profit- able for the increase of God's Word and honor, of the holy and true faith and of love of our fellow-man, and which thus serves the well-being of all Christendom. On this matter, by God's help, my conscience is clear before God But that I have heretofore written so harshly and severely against certain persons of all ranks, is not without reason, though I have done it without hatred and with no unchristian heart. To be sure, I know very well that my harsh writing has been displeasing to many of my friends and foes, and to your Grace as well, and that your Grace has more than once tried to prevent me from doing it, and to persuade me to refrain from it; but it is also true that I entered this conflict at first without your Grace's advice, knowledge and consent, and that I returned to Wittenberg last year at my own risk, not with the intention of injuring anyone on earth, but only of protecting the flock that my God committed to me and of serving the whole Christian Church to the best of my poor ability, as was my Christian duty. I should also be heartily disposed to refrain from any further writing, especially from harsh writing; but because of some of those who are ill-disposed toward me — especially John Faber,* the vicar of the Bishop of Constance, who has written a great Latin book against me that has re- cently been printed and published at Leipsic, and Emser, too, who is publishing one German book after another against me (though, to be sure, they are not very profitable and do not hurt me) full of slanders not only against my Christian pro- fession, but also against the "holy Gospel — ^because of this, I say, it will be hard for me, as your Grace and all Christians can well understand, to endure such blasphemy against God, my Lord, and to have my opponents' wanton attacks called honorable and my own necessary replies, which they force me to make, called evil and dishonorable, and forbidden. Never- theless, since the imperial decree, which has now been issued,

»C/. Vol. I. p. 315. His "great Latin book," A4v€rt%s Nova. . . #t, , , AHena Dogmata M, L,, was published at Rome in X52J, at I«eiptic xsaj.

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