Page:Luther's correspondence and other contemporary letters 1521-1530.djvu/381

 Martin Bucer. Because of his readiness and fluency he can render my work into Latin better than others, though here and there he does not stick to my words and figures, but that is only in a few passages which are not of much importance. Since the rest is well done/ I will take the blame for these things, for I may have spoken somewhat unclearly. Otherwise he has done the work well, and has correctly rendered my words and meaning, of which this is a testimonial.

But alas ! in the midst of these praiseworthy labors he fell, by God's permission, into the horrible blasphemy of the sacramentarian spirit, and his gift of facility and insight is contaminated, nay, it is destroyed by that pestilential poison. The earlier volumes were faithfully and correctly rendered, but in the fourth voltmie that spirit, which pants with eager- ness and incredible rage to spread its own opinions, could not restrain itself, and crucified my work with an awful and sacrilegious preface and virulent notes. These miserable men are not content to spread their virus in their own books, already infinite in number, but spoil other men's books by smearing them with that poison.

He did the same thing before to John Bugenhagen in his Psalter,* which was a piece of special perfidy, because he knew that he diflFered widely from that impious sect. A certain crazy Leopold* recently did the same thing to me. He pub- lished a tract in which he maintains that Erasmus, Luther, Melanchthon, Bugenhagen and all Wittenberg agree with them. What will happen to us after we are dead, if such things take place while we are still alive ? Will not all the writings of the Fathers be under suspicion ? * Can they not be heretics with-

1 The translator has adopted the reading suggested by the St Louis editors (xvii, 1580).

by Bucer and published in January, 1526. Certain of Bugenhagen's utterances on the Lord's Supper were so rendered as to make it appear that he held a Zwinglian view.
 * Bugenhagen's I«atin commentary on the Psalms was translated into German

■ Ludovicus Leopoldi, the pseudonjrm under which Leo Juda* on April 18, 15^6, published a tract entitled. The Opinion of the Learned Erasmus of Rotterdam and Doctor Martin Luther concerning the Supper of our Lord Jesus Christ. Leo (1482-1542) was the friend and co-worker of Zwingli at Zurich and chief contributor to the Zurich translation of the Bible. I (P. S.) have read the copgr in the Bodleian (Tract, Luth. 48, no. 16). On the authorship, BibKotheca Brat^ miana, iii, 32. Erasmus greatly resented it.


 * Le., of interpellation by heretical writers.

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