Page:Luther's correspondence and other contemporary letters 1521-1530.djvu/31

 Bible in Greek and Hebrew. I shall write a German tract on the Liberty of Auricular Confession;* I shall also continue work on the Psalter and the Postils,* when I get from Witten- berg the things I need, among which I am looking for the tm- finished Magnificat. You would not believe how kindly the abbot of Hersfeld" received us. . . . On the fifth day* they compelled me to preach a sermon, despite my plea that they might lose their regalian rights if the imperialists were to interpret this as a breach of my promise, since they had forbidden me to preach by the way. Neverthe- less I said that I had not consented that the Word of God should be bound, and that is the truth. I preached at Eisenach, too, but the parish priest was timid, and made a protest in the presence of a notary and witnesses, though he humbly excused his action on the ground of neces- sity, because they are afraid of their tyrants. Thus you will hear at Worms, perhaps, that I have broken my promise ; but I have not broken it, for it was not in my power to observe the condition that the Word of God should be bound, nor did I ever agree to it, and even though I had agreed to it, my agree- ment could not be kept, because it is against God's will. . ..

We were received by the people of Eisenach, who came out on foot to meet us, and entered Eisenach in the evening. The next morning my companions went away with Jerome* and I went across the forest* to my relatives (who occupy almost the whole of that region), and leaving them where we turned off for Waltershausen, I was soon afterwards taken prisoner near the castle of Altenstein. Amsdorf knew, of course, that

Weimar, iii, 559, 596. On the other hand, he also nses it of gluttony: "Sicut ebrdtas nimium bibendo, ita crapula nimium comedendo gravat corda," Weimar, ti, 591. Perhaps "surfeited" comes nearer Luther's meaning in this letter.


 * Von der Btichi, oh dtr Papst Macht habe mu gebieten, Weimar, viii, 129S.

ure lessons appointed for the Church Year. They are published in Weimar, x, part I.
 * Luther had already begun a series of Latin "postils" or homilies on the Script-

the cloister from its allegiance to Fulda, and made a close alliance with Hesse. From the time he saw Luther he was farorable to the Reformation, allowing his monks to leave the cloister. See W. Dersch, in Festschrift sum Ged5chtnis PhiUpps des GrossmUtigen. Kassel, 1904, pp. 88-98.
 * Kraft Myle of Hungen, abbot of the Benedictine cloister, 1516-56. He deliTered


 * I.e,, the fifth day out of Worms (May 1).


 * Schurff.


 * To Mohra, the old home of his father.

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