and the littlecatechism of which you once said, This book tells all about me For thou must needs assume the cares of thy God, as if He were not Almighty,and could not create ten
Martins if the old one were suffocated in the Saale or in the stove, or Leave me in peace with thy cares I have a better Protector than thou and all the angels. He it is who layin the manger and was fondled on a maiden's breast,but was at the same time seated on the righthand of God, the Therefore be at rest.
I think that hell and the whole world must at present be free from devils,who, perhapsbecause of me, have all now gatheredin Eisleben,to such a pass thingsseem to have come here.
Eisleben,where the wind blew so fiercely upon me, four hundred Jews walk and ride out and in.
Albrecht, who owns all the land round Eisleben,has refused his protection to the Jews.
There are often as many as fifty in one house here, as Still no one will injurethem.
Countess of Mansfeld, widow of Solms, is looked upon as their protector.
I do not know if all this be true, but I have given my opinionpretty freely on the subjectto-day,whether it will help or not.
Pray, pray, pray, and thus help us to right matters.
To-day I felt inclined to mount my carriage and set off, but my anxietyas to my Fatherland held me back.
I have now become a lawyer(Jurist), but that will lead to nothing. It would have been better had theyallowed me to remain a divine.
If spared,I should like to appear among them as a hobgoblin, so that I, through the grace of God, might set bounds to their pride. They try to pose as God, but they would be wise to retreat in time before their
Godhead is changed into a devil,as happened to Lucifer,who could not remain in heaven on account of his pride. Well, well,the will of the Philipread this letter, for I have not time to write to him, so you may comfort yourselfthat
I love you dearly,since,as you know, I can, and he will understand this,havinga wife himself.
We live well here, and the every meal about a hogsheadof good Rhine wine.
I drink it with my friends.
Naumburg beer is also very good.
The devil has ruined all the beer in the land with pitch,which causes the phlegm to accumulate in my breast,and with you he has destroyed the wine with brimstone.
But here the wine is pure, except what is made in the district.
And know that all the letters thou hast written have arrived,and to-day I have received those you wrote last Friday along with Philip's, so that you may not be angry.
Luther again teases his wife as to her useless worryingover him, and the narrow escape they had made.
He says that he is well,but longsto return.
To the saintly,anxious lady, Katherine Luther, owner of Zulsdorf,at Wittenberg,my graciousdear wife.
Grace and peace in Christ Most saintlyladydoctoress, we thank you kindly for your great care for us, which prevented you sleeping, for since you began to be so anxious we were nearlyconsumed by a fire in our inn justoutside my room door
; and yesterday, doubtless on account of your anxiety, a stone fell upon our heads and almost crushed us as in a mouse-trap
; and over and above, in our own privateroom, lime and mortar came down for two days, and when the masons came " after onlytouchingthe stone with two fingers
" it fell, and was as largeas a largepillow,and two hand-breadths wide.
We had to thank your anxious care for all this,but happilythe dear,holy angelsguardedus also.
I fear if you do not cease beinganxious, the earth may at last swallow us up and the elements pursue us.
Is it thus thou hast learnt the catechism and the God to care for us, as He has promised in the 55th Psalm and many other places,
Cast thy burden on the