Page:The letters of Martin Luther.djvu/98

 serpents, “Ye fools and blind”; and St. Paul says, “Children of the devil, full of all subtilty and all mischief,” and some false prophets he names “dogs” and “deceivers,” etc.

Were any fastidious people nowadays to hear such language they would say, “No one was so bitter as the Apostle Paul.” And who are more so than the prophets?—Jeremiah cursing the man who doeth the work of the Lord deceitfully.

Therefore, most holy father Leo, pray accept my apology, and be assured I never attacked your person, although I confess to having spoken against the Roman See, the Court of Rome, which not even thyself can deny, that it has been a very Sodom, Gomorrha, and Babylon, and is, so far as I can see, in a hopeless state.

Meantime, thou sittest, most holy father, like a sheep among wolves, and like Daniel in the lions’ den, and Ezekiel among scorpions. What canst thou do against such like? And even if there be three or four pious and learned Cardinals, what are they among so many? God’s wrath lies upon the Court of Rome, for it will not submit to a General Council, nor to counsel or reform, so what was predicted of her mother may be fulfilled in her, “We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed,” etc. It should be thy work, and that of the Cardinals, to put an end to this miserable state of things; but the malady defies the remedies, the horse and carriage pay no heed to the driver. I have ever regretted, thou pious Leo, that thou shouldst now be Pope, when thou wert worthy of better times. The Roman See is not worthy of thee — the Evil Spirit should be Pope, who rules more than thou in this Babel. Oh that thou wert free, and could live from thy paternal inheritance! Such a post should be reserved for Judas Iscariot and such like, whom God has cast away. The Roman Court surpasses that of Turkey in wickedness. Once it was a gate of heaven, now it is the very jaws of hell. This is why I have attacked it so mercilessly, most holy Leo!

And my efforts not having been vain, the Evil Spirit raised up John Eck, a special enemy of the truth, and