Page:The letters of Martin Luther.djvu/175

 yet prizes a golden gulden more than his temporal and spiritual welfare.

So let us enjoy present blessings, that when misfortune comes we may consider it a blessing in disguise.

My pen runs away with me when I extol God’s works.

May the Lord bless you, and ever remember me in prayer.

Give my kindest regards to your Frederika, but in Latin; the rest she will understand for herself. Written in great haste at supper, so forgive me if I have eaten too much, or been too prolix… MARTIN LUTHER.

CXV
TO FREDERICK MYCONIUS IN GOTHA

This letter acted like the dew of the morning on his friend.

May 3, 1525.

Grace and peace in Christ, who has said, “In the world ye shall have tribulation; but in me ye shall have peace. Be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”

I write this to you, dear Frederick, as one stranger to another, because I would gladly share with you all the consolation I enjoy in Christ.

So, seeing that Christ has overcome the world, then all which is done, except by Him, is mere outward show; and the victory is His alone, and His will be the glory, when the world with all its pomp has passed away.

No one who believes in Christ can really doubt this.

I pray Him to counsel you with His Spirit, and strengthen you and yours by His Almighty power.

Persevere, dear Frederick, in the Lord. Greet and admonish my Basil in the Lord. MARTIN LUTHER.

CXVI
TO THE MAGISTRATES OF DANTZIC

So early as 1518 the new teaching was proclaimed in Dantzic, and Johannes Knade, preacher in the Marien Church, married